It’s a strange invasion, is it okay for me to fight back?

Chapter 684 A Labyrinth Within a Labyrinth
This maze is a maze within a maze.

The dense vegetation forms the walls and ceiling of the maze; if the ceiling is disregarded, the design resembles the hedge mazes popular in ancient Europe.

Hedge mazes are a category of traditional European garden art, consisting of tall, trimmed green hedges, and are typically used as decorative landscaping in places such as castles and manors.

Of course, the maze that Feng Ling and his group are facing now is much larger than the traditional hedge maze. The height of these plant walls alone is close to one hundred meters, which is about thirty stories high.

The foliage at the top is so dense that the entrance is difficult to spot from above, but once people come to the ground, the arched entrance hidden among the plants becomes very noticeable.

Feng Ling walked in curiously and found it very magical.

Logically, with such dense plant growth and the top sealed off, the maze should have been pitch black inside, but it was surprisingly bright. I wonder where the light source came from.

She looked around and soon arrived at the first fork in the road.

"Turn right, this way." Huangfu Miaomiao held her tablet computer, looking down at the route map as she gave directions.

Feng Ling followed Huangfu Miaomiao and turned right, with Pei Xianjue, Ling Feiran, and the others following behind.

“It’s so big and so quiet here.” Feng Ling couldn’t help but touch the plant wall on one side of the passage. “From my third-person perspective, there are many red dots among these plants, but they don’t show any signs of attack. You see, even when my hand touches the plants, no tentacles come out.”

Ye Zheng pondered, "It seems that as long as we stay on the right path, we won't trigger the maze's attack mechanism."

She and Feng Ling had previously tried to force their way into another forest. It was exhilarating to blast a large hole with a rocket launcher, but that was all. Tentacles surrounded them from all directions, and a fleshy lump resembling an organ was parasitizing a human-faced crow. They gained nothing.

I thought the area below the forest was an absolute no-go zone, but I never expected to find such a safe passage hidden there.

"Approximately how far?" Ye Zheng asked Huangfu Miaomiao.

“Hmm…” Huangfu Miaomiao assessed, “The straight-line distance is less than two kilometers, but if you count the twists and turns, it might be about six… uh, seven kilometers.”

"The reason we didn't find a safe house might be because the entire passageway falls within the safe house's area," Ye Zheng guessed.

Huangfu Miaomiao nodded, "That is indeed possible."

Feng Ling thought for a moment, then turned to look at Pei Xianjue, Lin Pengpeng, and Ling Feiran behind her. "Since it's safe now, why don't you rest here? I'll take Miaomiao and continue to scout ahead."

Ling Feiran gently shook her head, "No need, I feel very comfortable here, and my energy is slowly recovering. Walking won't have any effect on me."

“I feel the same way,” Lin Pengpeng said incredulously, spreading her hands and grasping at the air. “It’s warm and bright here. No wonder it’s called the Spring Maze. It really nourishes everything like springtime.”

Pei Xianjue also spoke up, "Let's stay together. After all, we might get lost in the maze after a few turns. Let's not separate."

Feng Ling had no objection and replied as they walked, "Okay, there are still about seven kilometers left. Let us know if anyone gets tired."

After walking for a short while, we came to another fork in the road.

Huangfu Miaomiao glanced at it, then stepped into one of the intersections, with Feng Ling and the others following behind.

"What if we go the wrong way?" Feng Ling asked.

Huangfu Miaomiao was slightly taken aback, "...It won't be anything serious, right? Maybe, it'll just take a few more detours?"

If players were to enter, they certainly wouldn't be unprepared; they could easily leave marks along the way to avoid getting lost.

We've reached another fork in the road.

"This time we don't need to turn, just go straight." Huangfu Miaomiao continued forward.

Feng Ling stopped in the middle of the intersection, looked left and right. She was so curious that she said, "Wait for me, I'll go check the left side and I'll be right back."

"Hey!" Ye Zheng watched her leave quickly and glared at her, shouting, "Don't cause any trouble!" "I'll just take a look!" Feng Ling waved her hand, quickened her pace, and in the blink of an eye, she had reached the end of the left passage, then slipped into a side path.

She thought to herself: I'll just take a look, and then I'll go back.

There is no fork in the road ahead; the road extends to the left.

Feng Ling wondered if she would encounter a new fork in the road or a dead end. Whatever she did, she planned to return the way she came to avoid getting confused by taking too many detours.

As she walked ahead and turned left, her eyes lit up, for at the end of the road stood a knight in iron-gray armor!
Feng Ling perked up immediately. "Wow, this maze does have some clever design elements."

She took out her phone, wanting to take a picture and show it to everyone when she got back.

But then the armor moved!

It staggered forward a step and raised the heavy sword in its hand!

"It moves!" Feng Ling was even more excited and immediately switched from taking photos to recording.

The armored figure sped up, took large strides forward, and slashed fiercely at her!

Feng Ling nimbly leaped backward to avoid the attack, barely managing to stand firm, only to see the armored figure once again raise the two-handed sword!

Not yet fully understanding the maze's mechanics, Feng Ling didn't get entangled with the armored monster. She picked up her phone, turned around, and ran away, with the sound of clattering footsteps echoing behind her!

With each step the armor took, a heavy metallic clang resounded!
She had only turned two corners and quickly ran back to rejoin the group. Holding up her phone as if she had discovered a new continent, she exclaimed, "Not every path is safe! If you take the wrong turn, you'll encounter monsters. I just spotted an armored monster! It's guarding the end of that path!"

Ye Zheng's expression immediately changed, and he stepped forward to ask, "Where is the monster now?"

"It's coming right away!" Feng Ling pointed behind him. "It was chasing me and hacking at me the whole time, it made a huge noise, didn't you hear it?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Ling Feiran frowned slightly. "Xiao Ling, we only heard your voice just now."

"Huh?" Feng Ling thought it was impossible. The armor made such a loud noise when it was moving, how could she not hear it?
She looked at the road she had just run along and found that it was very quiet all around, and she could not hear any unusual noises.

"Strange, it was clearly chasing me just now, why did it stop..." Feng Ling muttered to herself, and walked towards that road again.

Ye Zheng said irritably, "If it doesn't want to chase you, fine, but you still insist on going to find it!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than Feng Ling came running back excitedly, "They're here! They're chasing us again!"

Clang, clang——

Two clear metallic sounds rang out.

This time everyone heard it.

The sound only rang twice.

Feng Ling was speechless, staring in astonishment, "Why aren't you chasing after them anymore?"

Just as she was about to go over to take a look, Ling Feiran stopped her: "Xiao Ling, could it be that this monster... only moves when it sees you?"

After thinking about it, Feng Ling realized that it was indeed true.

She wanted to test the possibility, so she tiptoed to the edge of the corner and peered inside—

The stiff, motionless armor suddenly came to life, raising its heavy sword and charging towards her!
Feng Ling quickly pulled her head back and listened carefully to the sounds coming from the other side of the road. They had stopped; there was no sound.