Chapter 68: The 4th Rule
Through the whale’s eyes, she gained a new understanding of this maze.
It was abundantly clear that escaping this maze on foot was simply impossible.
Now she could use the whale to try and lead everyone out.
But if they cut the whale open, she would lose this opportunity, meaning no one would ever escape the maze.
She didn’t care if Shen Ling’an and Xu Ruming got out. In fact, she wished she could control the whale to spit them out right now and leave them trapped in the maze.
But Lu Jingyu was here, as were the other team members. She couldn’t just leave them to die.
With no other choice, she had to suppress her disgust for that wretched pair and persuade everyone to stand down.
"What else do you have to say? Don’t think I don’t know you. Aren’t you just trying to use this as a chance to show off? You want everyone to think you’re so smart, that you can lead them out of this predicament?"
"But please, don’t gamble with everyone else’s lives. None of us are obligated to indulge your vanity."
Xu Qingsui had to fight the urge to rush over and throw Xu Ruming out herself.
She glanced at Lu Jingyu, then turned to the other team members. "Please, just hear me out. If you still think what I’m saying makes no sense, it won’t be too late to act then."
As Xu Qingsui spoke, Lu Jingyu deliberately stood behind her, showing his support through his actions.
Seeing Lu Jingyu still siding with Xu Qingsui, the others couldn’t object and decided to hear her out.
"We’re inside the whale’s body right now. You could certainly try to cut it open from the inside, create a passage, and get out of here."
"But don’t forget, the whale will feel it when you start cutting. You don’t actually think it will just let you disembowel it, do you?"
In reality, the whale wouldn’t react anymore, but Xu Qingsui, the only one who knew this, would never reveal that to them.
The team members exchanged glances. They understood the meaning behind Xu Qingsui’s words and naturally imagined what kind of reaction the whale might have.
Seeing their reactions, Xu Qingsui knew her words were having an effect. She pressed her advantage, "When that time comes, the whale definitely won’t let you succeed so easily. A cornered animal will always fight back. If you push the whale, it will definitely react."
"For now, we’re safe inside its stomach. We still have time to think of another way out. But if you provoke it, we might really become its next meal."
"And if we try to get out then, we might just end up as waste, expelled through another... exit."
Xu Qingsui painted a vivid picture, but it was the only way to make them feel the urgency of the situation and change their minds.
Sure enough, after hearing her explanation, many of them showed expressions of discomfort.
Even Xu Ruming, who was unwilling to agree with Xu Qingsui, gagged a few times.
"Let’s just wait, then! I hope the guide can think of a better way."
"Guide, we’re counting on you. Whether we get out of here is in your hands."
Soon, team members began to voice their support.
Seeing the team members switch sides so quickly, Xu Ruming was furious.
"You..."
"’You’ what? You talk so much. If the whale really decides to turn someone into waste and expel them, you’d be its first pick."
Before Xu Ruming could even finish her sentence, Xu Qingsui shot back a retort.
She glared at her fiercely, with an expression that said, ’You thought I was a pushover just because I didn’t show my claws?’
Xu Ruming was so choked with anger she couldn’t speak. In the end, she could only stomp her foot hard at Xu Qingsui to show her displeasure.
Xu Qingsui ignored her, exchanged a few words with Lu Jingyu, and sat down on the ground again. She claimed she was thinking of a plan, but in reality, she was continuing to control the whale and search for an exit.
Throughout this, Shen Ling’an stood to the side without a word, his gaze fixed on Xu Qingsui, his expression unreadable.
He felt more and more that Xu Qingsui had become a completely different person since leaving the Xu Family.
Especially after entering this instance, Xu Qingsui, though a woman, had demonstrated a dominant role on many occasions.
Sometimes he even began to wonder if there had been something wrong with his eyes back then, for him to have not noticed these brilliant qualities in Xu Qingsui.
He became more and more determined to find a time to talk to Xu Qingsui alone.
Xu Qingsui controlled the whale, swimming above the maze, but it seemed endless. She still couldn’t see the end.
This made even the once-confident Xu Qingsui begin to have second thoughts.
’Is it possible that I can’t leave this place even with the whale’s body?’
She felt a surge of unwillingness, wondering if she had overlooked something.
Just as she was mentally reviewing the events of this instance from the beginning, she suddenly remembered something.
The fourth rule: When all returns to the origin, new hope will arrive, and the future will continue.
This rule hinted at the key to clearing the instance.
And the most important part was the first sentence: *When all returns to the origin*.
’Could the exit be the entrance?’
’If they gave us a rule, it must have a purpose.’
She had been completely clueless until now, her hope turning to despair.
’I might as well give it a try. Maybe a new hope really will arrive.’
Having made up her mind, Xu Qingsui immediately had the whale turn around and swim back in the direction they came from.
A new hope gradually kindled within her, and she began to pick up speed.
With the help of the whale, their travel was much faster than it had been on foot.
Soon, Xu Qingsui was looking down at the maze’s many forks in the path.
Just a little further ahead was the entrance where they had first entered the maze.
Looking ahead, the maze still stretched out as far as the eye could see.
No wonder it had taken them so long to find the first fork when they were walking.
Xu Qingsui continued to accelerate, pressing straight ahead.
Having cut the travel time by more than half, Xu Qingsui finally saw the edge of the outer walls.
But looking down from above, it seemed slightly different from when they had first entered the maze.
For a moment, she even began to doubt herself. ’Have I really returned to the origin point?’
But she had made it this far and could finally see the periphery. No matter what it was, she had to go down and see.
Especially since she could already feel the spirit body she was using to control the whale growing weaker and weaker.
’It seems the spirit body is about to be assimilated by my own.’
Once it was fully assimilated, she wouldn’t be able to control the whale’s body anymore, and she wouldn’t be able to make it spray them out.
Under the circumstances, Xu Qingsui no longer hesitated. Hovering above the edge of the maze, she used the last of her spiritual power to control the whale and have it spray them out.
Everyone had been waiting for Xu Qingsui to come up with a plan. Caught completely off guard, they were all swept up by a powerful suction and shot out of the blowhole.