Xiao Lou didn't rush to remove his Invisibility Cloak. He still had 25 minutes left in the cloak, so he could stay invisible and follow Yu Hanjiang. If they encountered danger later, it would prevent Yu Hanjiang from being distracted by taking care of him, and it would also allow him to secretly help Yu Hanjiang.
Yu Hanjiang understood Xiao Lou's thoughts. Just as he was about to speak, several dark figures suddenly darted out from the end of the corridor.
They all had the same face, bearing a striking resemblance to Yu Hanjiang, except their hair was gray, making them appear to be over 50 years old, though their figures remained upright. Armed with batons and with icy gazes, they attacked Yu Hanjiang without hesitation upon spotting him!
These men attacked fiercely, their batons aimed straight at Yu Hanjiang's head. Yu Hanjiang nimbly bent down to dodge, grabbed Xiao Lou's arm with one hand, and quickly turned to escape.
I had only run a few meters when I suddenly heard gunshots behind me.
Xiao Lou turned his head and saw several women in dark green military uniforms, holding black pistols in their right hands, firing coldly in the direction Yu Hanjiang was fleeing!
Bang bang bang—
Gunshots rang out one after another, and sparks flew everywhere in the corridor!
Although Yu Hanjiang couldn't see Xiao Lou, he held Xiao Lou's hand tightly. The moment he heard the gunshot, he almost reflexively hugged Xiao Lou and rolled on the spot. The bullet grazed their ears and embedded itself in the wall in front of them with a thud.
Xiao Lou was terrified and asked in a trembling voice, "They...are your parents?"
Yu Hanjiang said with a grim face, "Yes, they've been chasing me all the way. In this maze, there are my maternal grandfather, my paternal grandfather, my colleagues from the police station, my classmates from the police academy, and so on. They're all armed. Stay close to me and be careful."
Compared to Xiao Lou's experience of being "hunted down by relatives and friends," Yu Hanjiang's situation was much worse.
It's probably because Xiao Lou's relatives are all teachers, civil servants, or similar professions, and they don't use offensive weapons. Also, Xiao Lou's relatives and friends are generally not very physically fit, so they couldn't catch up with him in time because he was using speed-boosting shoes at 5x speed.
Yu Hanjiang's family was completely different. He came from a family with a long history in the military and police; his maternal grandfather and mother were both soldiers, and his father was an outstanding policeman. Therefore, the "fathers" who were chasing Yu Hanjiang were carrying batons, and his mother was carrying a gun!
No wonder Yu Hanjiang was covered in blood; he must have been injured while fleeing for his life.
He actually pulled out a submachine gun to deal with these people, which shows how serious the situation was.
Xiao Lou hurriedly reminded him, " Hanjiang, quickly use Invisibility Cloak! You can't beat so many people!"
Yu Hanjiang just encountered the most terrifying encirclement in the maze all by himself.
One moment it was his father, wielding a baton and viciously smashing it against his head; the next it was his mother, holding a pistol and shooting bullets into his chest; and then there were his colleagues, all with excellent marksmanship, appearing from all directions to fire sniper shots.
Although Yu Hanjiang narrowly escaped death, he was indeed quite injured. He had considered using Invisibility Cloak, but he dared not use this life-saving card rashly before figuring out the maze's layout.
Now that Xiao Lou was by his side, his tense nerves finally relaxed slightly, and his emotions, which were on the verge of collapse, stabilized. Hearing Xiao Lou's words, Yu Hanjiang did not hesitate to use the Invisibility Cloak card, concealing himself in the darkness.
To prevent the two from getting separated in the maze because they couldn't see each other, Yu Hanjiang held Xiao Lou's hand tightly. Xiao Lou knew that he must be in a bad mood after being surrounded and injured, so he immediately grabbed Yu Hanjiang's hand in return, their fingers interlocking.
Yu Hanjiang felt a long-lost warmth rise in his heart as his hand was returned to hers.
The living conditions in the Nightmare Secret Room are extremely harsh, and one could lose their life at any moment. Fortunately, Xiao Lou is by his side, which makes him feel at ease.
As Yu Hanjiang continued walking forward, he asked in a low voice, "Did you also encounter an attack by your relatives just now?"
Xiao Lou said softly, "Hmm, this should be a series of mirror mazes. The mirrors will generate a large number of relatives based on our memories to attack us. The relatives and friends in your memories are all very powerful, so the difficulty on your side is much higher than mine."
Yu Hanjiang paused for a moment, then quickly understood Xiao Lou's meaning. No wonder his parents and friends in the maze were so agile; it turned out they looked just like he remembered them. He took a deep breath and asked, "You came out of a mirror just now, didn't you? I walked that path before and didn't see you."
"That mirror is actually a door, connecting the two mazes we're in." Xiao Lou paused, then asked, "You've been walking through the maze for so long, haven't you noticed any forks in the road? It's all just corners?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "That's right, there's only one road with many turns, but no matter which way you go, you can't get out."
Xiao Lou thought for a moment and said, "It seems that the maze structure here is the same as mine. The topography of the mirror maze should be arranged according to the principles of Qimen Dunjia, which is a large circular maze. You can't get out if you stay in the corridor. To leave the maze, you must find the [ Gate of Life ]."
Yu Hanjiang didn't understand these Qimen Dunjia concepts, only the concept of " Gate of Life." He trusted Xiao Lou's judgment, and upon hearing this, he simply said, "You find the way, I'll protect you."
The two continued walking forward, Xiao Lou quickly sketching out the maze's terrain in his mind.
He just walked out of that mirror and met Yu Hanjiang.
Assuming the two mazes are connected, then the northeast of his maze is the maze where Yu Hanjiang is located.
To the southwest of the palace, two mazes are closely connected. To find the exit of the maze where Yu Hanjiang is located, you need to continue diagonally to the opposite side.
The maze has a total of 8 corridors. To get from the previous corridor to the diagonal, whether clockwise or counterclockwise, you need to go through 4 turns. That is to say, after 4 consecutive turns, you will reach the [ Gate of Life ] direction of the maze where Yu Hanjiang is located.
Xiao Lou had 15 minutes left on his Invisibility Cloak. He gripped Yu Hanjiang's hand and said, "Quick, come with me!"
Yu Hanjiang immediately followed.
The room was completely dark. Because there were many mirrors on the walls on both sides of the corridor, and any of them could suddenly reflect the relatives they remembered, the two dared not touch the walls and could only grope their way forward.
In the pitch-black environment, they could clearly feel each other's body temperature and heartbeat.
The two remained silent, as if by unspoken agreement.
Yu Hanjiang alertly pricked up his ears, holding Xiao Lou's hand with one hand and gripping his gun tightly with the other, ready to retaliate in case of a sudden sneak attack.
Xiao Lou focused his attention on finding the way.
The presence of the Invisibility Cloak caused those in the maze to lose sight of their target, and the cloak also concealed their footsteps. In less than 10 minutes, the two found the " Gate of Life " corridor that Xiao Lou had located.
The layout here might not be exactly the same as before. If he finds the wrong mirror, it could very well drag Yu Hanjiang into an abyss of despair. Just to be on the safe side, Xiao Lou asked Yu Hanjiang in a low voice, "How many mirrors are there in the corridor? Have you counted them?"
Fortunately, Yu Hanjiang, having served as a Criminal Police Officer for many years, had a very vivid memory of details. Upon hearing Xiao Lou's question, he replied without hesitation, "There are nine mirrors on both sides of each corridor."
Xiao Lou said, "If I'm not mistaken, the fifth mirror from the very center on the right is the exit."
Yu Hanjiang never doubted Xiao Lou's judgment. Based on his memory, he led Xiao Lou along the corridor for 8 meters. He remembered very clearly that there was a mirror hanging on the wall every 2 meters or so, there were 4 mirrors in 8 meters, and the 5th mirror was further ahead.
He stopped in front of the fifth mirror and pushed it outwards forcefully—
There really was a door behind the mirror!
Yu Hanjiang was overjoyed and immediately led Xiao Lou into the doorway.
However, just a few steps later, a blinding light suddenly shone through the door, causing Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou to reflexively close their eyes.
The sunlight was even more dazzling than the midday sun.
The two closed their eyes for a moment to adjust before opening them at the same time.
The maze was completely dark, but a bright light appeared at the end of the corridor, clearly indicating the exit. The two exchanged a glance, then without hesitation, walked towards the direction from which the light was coming.
They quickly reached the door, and upon stepping outside, both of them froze in place—
Before me stretched an endless desert.
The Nightmare Secret Room is similar to a regular escape room, but the difficulty is significantly increased. This was something that teammates like Ye Qi and Jiu Ge, who had experienced the Nightmare Secret Room, had already told Xiao Lou.
Don't be surprised to see a vast desert; Twin Kings Secret Room is a desert.
What shocked the two was that the sky over the desert was split in two.
One half of the sky was a clear, cloudless blue, with a blazing sun high in the sky; the other half was vast and deep, with countless stars and a softly glowing crescent moon hanging in the air!
The sun and moon rise into the sky at the same time, dividing the sky into two equal halves.
Such a strange sight was something the two of them had never heard of before.
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou stood in the desert, looking at each other in bewilderment.
After a moment, Yu Hanjiang looked up at the split sky and frowned, saying, "The sun and moon shining together? What does this mean?"
Xiao Lou suddenly thought of a theory and guessed, "Could it be the two kings?"
Yu Hanjiang turned to look at him: "You mean, the king represents the sun and light, and the prince represents the moon and darkness?"
Xiao Lou nodded, his expression serious: "A deck of cards has 54 cards, and that's no coincidence. Of the 54 cards, the Joker represents the day, and the other Joker represents the month; the remaining 52 cards represent the 52 weeks of the year; the four suits —hearts, spade, plum blossom, and diamond— represent the four seasons of the year; and the 13 cards of each suit represent the 13 weeks of each season. Adding up the total value of all 54 cards, if the Jokers are counted as half a point, it's 365 days in a common year. If the Jokers are counted as one point, it's 366 days in a leap year."
Yu Hanjiang: "......"
He had never studied playing cards before and never imagined that there were so many intricacies involved in a deck of cards.
Yu Hanjiang said, "So, with the sun and moon, the four seasons, and 52 weeks and 365 days, a deck of cards can continuously cycle to form a complete Card World?"
Xiao Lou nodded and said, "Moreover, each card in Card World represents a secret room, and the two kings are the rule-makers of the entire world. The scene of [the sun and moon shining together] that we saw in the Nightmare Secret Room is very likely a metaphor for the core rules of Card World."
Yu Hanjiang stroked his chin and pondered for a moment, a bad premonition rising in his heart: "In the sky, light and darkness alternate, the sun and moon coexist, the contradiction has reached its extreme."
Half day, half night—such a sky is extremely eerie. The sun and moon coexist, yet remain independent, each controlling half of the world. At times, the azure sky seems to replace the night, and at other times, the pitch-black night sky seems to devour the blue…
Are the two kings in Card World also ruling their own separate ways?
Xiao Lou analyzed: "If [Sun and Moon Shining Together] is the core rule of Card World, then it's highly likely that Challenger and..."
The two factions of Hunter are the same factions represented by the Two Kings. They coexist, each operating independently, yet they are also contradictory.
Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement: "That makes sense. Hunters represent the night; they appear and disappear unpredictably, and to survive, they must kill us. Challengers represent the daytime; they can improve their strength by openly and honestly overcoming challenges."
He paused, then suddenly asked, "Do you remember when we first came to Card World, we had a choice: A or B?"
Xiao Lou said, "That's right, we all chose B back then and became Challengers. Perhaps, at some point, others faced the same choice, but they chose A and joined another camp..."
The different choices ultimately placed everyone on opposing sides.
Yu Hanjiang said solemnly, "It seems that Hunters are not natives of Card World, nor are they NPCs—all Hunters are actually humans themselves."
That's why Hunter understands them so well.
What's most terrifying is often not the various puzzles and challenges of Card World, but the human heart.