The boss of a foreign organization called the police, claiming that he was defrauded by me

If they continue forward, they will get closer and closer to the center; if they go to either side, it's like taking a big detour, and they will get further and further away from the center.

They've already been out long enough; if this matter delays them further, it will be difficult to explain to the King.

Moreover, they had traveled smoothly without any obstacles, and the traps ahead had all been destroyed, so there shouldn't be any more problems.

Go in from here, and you might reach the center in a moment, saving you a lot of trouble. Faced with imminent success, he was unwilling to give up easily.

After hesitating for a while, Meng Yu said, "Then let's split into two groups. I'll lead one group to continue forward, and you can lead the other group to take the other route. If we really can't get out, you can still succeed."

Only by splitting up can we have a better chance of success. This way, we can at least ensure that even if one group of people dies here, the other group can safely reach their destination.

Gu Xiaowu disagreed with his suggestion. They should work together and put their efforts in the same direction, instead of being a disorganized bunch, each doing their own thing.

“I disagree with this decision. Either we all walk this path together, or I will follow you. We absolutely cannot go our separate ways.”

Going their separate ways will not do them any good; if an emergency occurs, they may not even have anyone to help them.

Meng Yu was somewhat conflicted, unsure of what to do, but in the end agreed with Gu Xiaowu's suggestion: "Then let's do it your way. We'll bypass this flower, but we need to speed things up. We've already wasted too much time here."

They seemed trapped in this tomb, as insignificant as ants, and their only chance of survival was to find a way out as soon as possible.

The road they came by was blocked, and they had no other choice.

Gu Xiaowu led everyone forward, hoping to get out of there as soon as possible and find the center.

But after walking a long way in, we still couldn't see any light, just like the path we came in from.

Gu Xiaowu began to have second thoughts. He wasn't sure if he had chosen the right path, and the people behind him were getting impatient and started urging him on.

Is there a road ahead?

“We’ve walked for so long. If there’s no road ahead, let’s turn back the way we came, so we don’t end up not even being able to find our way back.”

"If we still can't find a way out, it means this path is completely impassable. Why should we waste our time on it?"

"We should have listened to General Meng Yu and taken that route. We might have reached the center by now and found what we were looking for."

Gu Xiaowu could only patiently reassure them: "Don't panic, everyone. When you think you've reached the end of the road, you'll find a way out. As long as you're patient, you'll definitely get out of there."

Having already endured numerous trials and tribulations, everyone was already distraught and only wanted to complete the mission as soon as possible and leave this disgusting, awful place.

However, ever since they embarked on this path, everyone has felt inexplicably anxious and their speech has become aggressive.

"In my opinion, we should turn back. There's no way out here. Gu Xiaowu has led us into a dead end. Does he intend to trap us here to die?"

"I completely agree with you. Since there's no way forward, we should turn back instead of rushing ahead like a fool. People need to be flexible and adaptable, and think more creatively!"

"If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have come here in the first place, otherwise I wouldn't have caused so much trouble."

Everyone started arguing, each offering their own opinion.

Seeing that the morale of the troops was low, Meng Yu had no choice but to put on a stern face and said sternly, "Shut up, all of you! Now is not the time to blame each other. The most important thing is to find a way to get out of here as soon as possible, not to have a good argument here."

Instead of blaming each other here, we should work together to find a way out.

He didn't want to reprimand the crowd, but their words became increasingly outrageous, starting to demoralize the troops and causing panic.

He had to adopt the authority of a general to quiet everyone down.

After the general's reprimand, those who were originally dissatisfied could only obediently shut their mouths, but they were still indignant and found fault with everything Gu Xiaowu did.

Gu Xiaowu stopped at the end of the line because he wasn't sure if there was a road ahead.

Meng Yu stepped forward and asked, "What happened?"

Gu Xiaowu told the truth without any concealment: "It seems like the road ahead is impassable no matter which way we go. It feels like we're going around in circles. Plus, it's so dark here that we can't see the road at all."

He wasn't even sure if the path beneath his feet was the one they were going to take.

Perhaps they were working in the wrong direction from the very beginning.

The path you can take may not lead to the exit; you might just be going in circles, which is why you haven't gotten out yet.

Meng Yu patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "If it really doesn't work, we'll just turn back the way we came. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Nobody wants something like this to happen, but if we keep going and it doesn't work, we're just wasting everyone's time and energy."

He didn't want to say anything too harsh, but that's just how it is.

If one path is blocked, you should try another, instead of wasting all your time on it.

This not only betrayed everyone's trust in him, but also wasted everyone's time.

Gu Xiaowu nodded solemnly. He knew he was being too stubborn, but his intentions were good. He hoped to avoid the dangers and get everyone out together.

But once he embarked on this path, he discovered that things were far from as simple as he had imagined, and the path was far from easy to traverse: "I'm sorry, I've wasted everyone's time. If I hadn't insisted on taking this path, we wouldn't have wasted so much time."

Meng Yu said, "This isn't your fault. Let's go back the way we came."

General Meng Yu did not blame him, after all, his intentions were good.

Just because he doesn't blame others doesn't mean others won't.

The goodwill that had been there when they arrived at Gu Xiaowu was gone from everyone's gaze; they only dared not get angry because the general was there to keep them in check.

Everyone was seething with anger as they followed the general back.

They walked for quite a while but couldn't find the place where they had started. Instead, they kept going around in circles on the same road.

One of them said, "Could it be that we went to the wrong place from the beginning? I remember when we came here, the road wasn't this wide; only two people could walk side by side. Look at it now, five people can walk side by side without any problem."

He had noticed this a long time ago, but he just hadn't said anything.

He thought he had misremembered, but after talking to his companion, he found that his companion said the same thing.

The path wasn't wide at first; it was only wide enough for two people to walk side by side, and there wouldn't be room for more than one person. Meng Yu stood there, stunned, and said in disbelief, "There was no other way when we came here, and we went back the same way. How could we not be able to get out?"

Gu Xiaowu's heart skipped a beat, and he said with some doubt, "I've heard that there's a kind of formation in the tomb called the cross formation. Originally there was only one path, but when people from outside come in, the path will become two or four. So the path we're on now may not be the same path we came from."

He saw it in an old book and flipped through a few pages out of curiosity.

Because of training, there wasn't much time, and I didn't observe carefully.

Now that he has encountered the same formation, he truly regrets not having studied it more carefully.

Meng Yu reached out and touched both sides; they were all walls, and he couldn't see a third path at all.

He said with some doubt, "I haven't seen any other roads yet, how could there be three or four roads?"

Gu Xiaowu quickly stepped forward and explained to everyone, "This kind of formation is unpredictable and will constantly change according to the trajectory of our movement. It is simply beyond human control."

This explains why they couldn't see any other paths along the way.

This is like having your eyes covered by an illusion, only able to see the path in front of you, while the rest of the path remains completely invisible to the naked eye.

At present, we can only rely on everyone to carefully explore and move forward, and perhaps in this way there is hope of getting out of the predicament.

Meng Yu was filled with despair, but he could only force himself to stay alert and said, "Let's try again. Everyone should watch their step and report to me immediately if you find anything unusual."

"Yes!"

Everyone responded in unison.

In order to investigate the anomaly of the stone wall, Gu Xiaowu slowly moved forward, hugging the wall. Sure enough, after walking more than a hundred meters, he noticed something unusual.

He quickly stopped everyone and raised his voice, saying, "This place is different from other places. This is soil, not rock."

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing, and saw that the yellow soil, after he gently rubbed it, slowly scattered to the ground like a cloud of yellow sand.

Then, with a loud "boom," the yellow sand and gravel shattered into several pieces. The sight that appeared before everyone's eyes greatly shocked them.

It was an endless expanse of red spider lilies, covering the entire wall, leaving no place to even step.

Those who are less timid are so frightened that they dare not even move their legs and can only stand there blankly, not daring to move at all.

Seeing this, Gu Xiaowu quickly reassured them, "The situation isn't too bad yet. At least these plants won't attack people on their own. Let's leave this place as soon as possible and try not to disturb what's inside."

As long as we leave here quietly, there shouldn't be any problems.

Meng Yu realized this as well and quickly said to everyone, "Everyone, please walk quietly and try not to touch these flowers. Although the path next to us is a bit steep, it is still feasible to walk across."

Before them stretched vast fields of red spider lilies, but there was indeed a small path beside them that they could use to pass through.

Although the path led upwards, forming a small hill, they had no other choice but to go up from there.

Seeing that no one dared to be the first to step forward, Gu Xiaowu stepped forward and said, "Follow my footsteps closely and try not to look at the scene below. As long as you get past here, you'll be fine."

Only he knew the dangers involved. Rather than staying here and waiting for misfortune to befall him, leaving his life and death to fate, he might as well take a gamble and perhaps there was still a glimmer of hope.

He led the way, followed by Meng Yu, and then the others, forming a long line as they climbed up the narrow path.

This road is not only rugged and uneven, but also very slippery. Even if there is no rain, you can easily slip and fall if you are not careful.

Although it's not very tall, there are red spider lilies below, and nobody knows if these flowers are poisonous.

We can only take one step at a time.

Gu Xiaowu was the first to stand at the edge of the narrow opening. He wasn't sure if there was a way out, but he didn't dare let the person in front of him stop.

The second person to go up was Meng Yu. He felt that although the road was rugged and difficult, as long as he was careful, there shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Almost everyone had come up when suddenly, with a "bang," the person in the middle of the line fell down.

He screamed in pain on the ground. Gu Xiaowu hurriedly reached out to pull him up and shouted, "Come up quickly. This place isn't high. You won't be seriously injured if you fall. This place is not safe to stay for long."

Gu Xiaowu really couldn't understand it. It was only two meters high, and everyone there was a soldier who had experienced far more hardships than that.

He only fell once, but people below were screaming in pain. This was clearly an attempt to demoralize the troops.

He reached out to pull the person, only to find that the person was tightly wrapped by red spider lilies, and was being swallowed up by the flower little by little, his body gradually becoming nourishment for the flower.

A living, breathing person was reduced to nothing but bones in just two minutes.

Those who hadn't yet come up were so frightened that their legs trembled uncontrollably. They didn't even dare to look at the scene below, and could only close their eyes tightly, unable to imagine it.

The more panicked and confused they were, the more likely they were to have an accident. One after another, several more people fell down, and before they could be rescued, their bodies were quickly devoured, leaving only piles of bones.

The speed was so fast that it happened in the blink of an eye, leaving no time for anyone to take any action.

In just a short distance of a dozen meters, they had already lost several men. Thankfully, they hadn't gone through the flowerbeds below, otherwise they would have been wiped out.

Looking at the soldiers below, Meng Yu felt a pang of heartache and said, "Be careful of these strange flowers. Let's go!"

Gu Xiaowu nodded, understanding that those people had no hope of survival, and said, "Everyone be careful."

Stepping into the small cave, everyone's hearts finally settled down. At least this place was far away from those evil flowers, and they were safe here for the time being.

Meng Yu was heartbroken and hadn't recovered from the shock when she felt a dizzying sensation and then lost consciousness.

Not only did he lose consciousness, but everyone around him was also affected, falling into a brief coma.

When they regained consciousness, they found themselves in a completely unfamiliar environment.

This time, it didn't resemble a tomb; instead, it was like a secluded paradise filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers. Before them lay a verdant pond, densely covered with lotus blossoms. (End of Chapter)