Chapter 128

Li Zhi took down the flower balloon she had tied outside before entering the haunted house and fastened it back onto her wrist.

On the way back, Pei Hongyu and Tang Nanshan didn't speak. The teammates who had died this round were from their group. They couldn't really be called friends, but they had survived life-and-death situations together many times. Watching those teammates die, no matter how capable a person was, it was hard not to feel sorrow for others of one's own kind.

Han Wenlin walked at the back with his previous teammates, bragging about the important role he had played at the final critical moment.

Cheng Jiayue glanced ahead and whispered, "I still feel Li Zhi is more impressive. Pei Hongyu barely paid any attention to us in there. And he even lost one of his own people inside."

Not only were the players in the instance discussing the outcome of this round's showdown, but the live chat was also talking about it:

【Li Zhi won again, hahaha! Let's see what those people have to say now.】

【Whether it's the smoothness of solving the story or the final completion, Li Zhi won by a mile.】

【The most important thing is that Li Zhi took five people in and brought all five people back out. What about Pei Hongyu? He couldn't even keep his own teammate alive.】

【If Li Zhi beats Pei Hongyu and gets first place in popularity this time, she'll probably jump straight into the top ten of the rankings, right?】

【Their votes are incredibly close. They're chasing each other the whole way. Until the very end, no one can say for sure who'll take first place.】

【Even if Pei Hongyu gets first in popularity votes, the MVP will still go to Li Zhi. When that happens, Li Zhi's ranking will still surpass his.】

【There are still amusement rides left to challenge. Isn't it too early to say all this? What if Li Zhi dies in the last two challenges?】

【Shut your cursed mouth! Even if you die, Li Zhi won't!!!】

...

When they returned to the verification area, the two black gates had already opened. This was the fifth round of voting, but Li Zhi already held three answers. Only two amusement rides remained. As long as she cleared them successfully, she would complete the nine major challenges and obtain the hidden clue.

This round, Li Zhi's group voted for the Hanging Boots Ghost, the answer they had confirmed during the Speed Kart race.

After voting, she heard Tang Nanshan inviting Chen Tianran and the other two to join their team.

With He Yuanyi dead, only Pei Hongyu and Tang Nanshan remained in their team. No one knew which attractions they still had left to experience, but judging by the other attractions, there was a high chance that two people alone wouldn't be enough to activate the challenge.

The other three had no objections. After all, only eleven people remained in the instance now. There was no need to stay split into three teams anymore.

Seeing that his former teammates had formed a team again, Han Wenlin happily said to Owen Dong and the others, "Then I'll keep staying in your group."

Owen Dong, You Jingmeng, Chi Yi: "............"

Han Wenlin's face fell. "What? You're not welcoming me?"

Owen Dong quickly replied, "No, no! Of course you're welcome!"

It was just... way too demanding on their acting skills. Every single second they spent with Han Wenlin, their consciences were being tortured.

After reorganizing the teams, Tang Nanshan nodded at Li Zhi from afar before leaving with her teammates. Han Wenlin looked around and asked Owen Dong, "Why aren't we leaving yet? What are we waiting for?"

Owen Dong said, "Stop asking about the boss's business."

Han Wenlin: "............"

Soon, the red light went out, and the amusement plaza returned to its colorful appearance. Standing where she was, Li Zhi's gaze softened as she walked toward the koala in the center of the plaza that was wobbling while holding a bunch of balloons.

The others hurried after her, preparing to watch another sweet interaction between the boss and the NPC. Instead, they saw Li Zhi suddenly stop in her tracks.

Chi Yi walked over to her. "What's wrong?"

Li Zhi withdrew her gaze. "It's not Li Jianxi." She sighed. "Forget it. Let's go to the next attraction."

Hearing that, everyone looked toward the koala. No matter how they looked, they couldn't spot any difference. They had no idea how the boss had identified it before even getting close.

Was this the difference between love and not being in love???

The group headed toward the next attraction.

You Jingmeng said, "Maybe Li Jianxi changed jobs again."

Everyone suddenly looked forward to where they would run into the handsome guy juggling multiple jobs next, but along the way they encountered plenty of NPCs dressed as ghosts trying to scare visitors, and none of them were Li Jianxi.

However, because they were carrying the mission of "Find Little Li," whenever these NPCs suddenly jumped out, nobody screamed in fright anymore. Instead, everyone eagerly rushed over to pull at the NPCs' faces. When they discovered they weren't the mission target, they left with disappointed expressions.

The rejected NPCs: "............"

Can you people show me a little respect!?

It seemed that amusement attractions they had already experienced would no longer appear along their route. After walking for less than ten minutes, a new attraction entrance appeared ahead.

This place was different from the others. It was filled with climbing vines, brimming with vibrant life.

Even the staff uniforms were green.

Smiling, the staff member said, "Welcome to the Treasure Hunt Maze. The rules for this attraction are one round only. Each round allows a maximum of four participants. Visitors who wish to experience it, please scan your tickets to enter."

"Another one-round attraction?" Owen Dong said in surprise. "And this time the challenge limits the maximum number of participants instead of the minimum. At most, only four people can go in."

One round only.

Maximum participant limit.

Treasure Hunt Maze.

Li Zhi pondered for a moment. "This attraction is called Treasure Hunt Maze. The treasure inside the maze should represent the clues we need, so it sets a maximum number of participants because the more people who go in, the easier it becomes to search for treasure. The one-round-only rule means we can collect all the clues in a single attempt, but the 'treasures' inside the maze won't necessarily all be good things. While searching for clues and looking for the exit, we might also uncover dangerous things like ghosts and monsters."

Chi Yi said, "Like opening blind boxes, right? Whether the treasure inside is a clue or a danger, nobody knows until it's opened."

You Jingmeng sucked in a breath. "Then that's really a test of luck! If someone with terrible luck goes in and opens nothing but dangerous things every time, they're finished."

Everyone discussed it animatedly. Han Wenlin stood beside them completely dumbfounded.

"You guys can analyze the rules before every attraction even starts?"

Owen Dong looked at him sympathetically.

Sigh, this was what happened when you failed to latch onto the right powerhouse. As for him, he had picked the right one from the very beginning.

That was luck.

Owen Dong immediately raised his hand. "I want to participate in this round! I think I'm pretty lucky!"

He really was lucky. Not only had he picked the right powerhouse to follow, but in the haunted house he had also drawn the safest identity card. He was even surnamed Ou.

No one had any objections to him joining this round's challenge!

You Jingmeng quickly said, "I want to go in too!"

She hadn't had much of a chance to perform in the haunted house. There weren't many attractions left now, so she had to seize every opportunity to get some screen time and accumulate more popularity.

Qi Yongyi only needed to make sure he wasn't eliminated and didn't care much about popularity. Besides, since entering the instance, he had spent most of his time participating in challenges and hadn't had time to investigate the special mission on himself, so he took the initiative and said, "I'm sitting this round out. You guys go."

Han Wenlin was just about to say he wanted to go too when Chi Yi beat him to it.

"You never take me with you! I'm going in!"

Since he had only recently joined them, Han Wenlin didn't fight for the spot.

Chi Yi glanced at him, secretly letting out a sigh of relief while suppressing the sadness and guilt in her heart.

After confirming the participants, the four of them walked toward the entrance. The staff member stamped the back of their tickets with the Treasure Hunt Maze seal, a small green plant archway.

This time, Li Zhi didn't leave the balloon outside. She brought it in with her.

The staff member in the green uniform glanced at it and stopped her.

"Sorry, you can't bring that inside."

Li Zhi blinked. "Why?"

The staff member said, "Items that don't belong to the park aren't allowed inside."

Li Zhi raised her voice. "I bought this in your park. When your coworker sold it to me, they never said I wouldn't be allowed on rides if I carried this balloon. Your own rules contradict each other, yet you're making the customer take the blame. Do you believe I'll file a complaint against you?"

The staff member: "..."

Li Zhi kept a straight face. "If carrying a balloon means I can't go on attractions, then why do you sell balloons inside the park? Go call your manager over! Today, I'm definitely getting an explanation!"

"..."

After freezing for a long moment, the staff member forced a smile.

"Since it was purchased in our park, then please go ahead."

Li Zhi smiled at her.

"Thank you."

Owen Dong secretly gave her a thumbs-up from the side.

After all four entered, the staff member resumed her professional smile.

"Plants are gifts bestowed upon us by nature. Please do not damage the plants. We hope you enjoy treasure hunting in the Plant Maze."

Before them appeared an enormous lush green plant wall. The entire wall was made of various plants, trimmed very neatly. At the bottom were four arch-shaped entrances.

Li Zhi untied the balloon string that had been wrapped around her wrist layer after layer, and the flower balloon immediately floated into the air.

The long string extended higher than the plant wall. Li Zhi nodded in satisfaction, pulled the balloon back down, and said quietly,

"After we go in, I'll keep holding this balloon. Try to find your way to meet up with me by following the direction where the balloon is. If you can't find the path and can't meet up with me, then pay attention to the balloon's movement. When it starts bobbing up and down, it'll mean I've already found the clue and located the exit. Wherever the balloon is, that's where the exit is."

The others nodded.

You Jingmeng couldn't help saying, "Li Jianxi didn't give you this balloon just to help you get through this stage, did he?"

At first, none of them had known there would be a maze among the amusement attractions. They had thought the balloon was simply a gift he had given Li Zhi. They hadn't expected it to come in handy here.

The NPC role he was playing in this instance truly couldn't provide her with any direct help. Giving her this balloon was already the best way he could help within the limits of what he was able to do.

Li Zhi smiled.

"Probably."

When she met him again, she'd ask him.

"That thing the staff member said was a hint, right? I didn't find any other clues." After several rounds, Chi Yi had become very sensitive to hint-like clues. "If plants are gifts, then they're on our side, right? So if we run into danger inside, can we ask the plants for help?"

Li Zhi nodded.

"We can try."

Owen Dong sighed.

"We have to choose a door again. Heaven bless us. Please don't let me be the unlucky one this time!"

He was the first to walk through the first door.

Different entrances led to different routes through the maze, but now that they had the balloon to locate the boss, everyone felt much more confident. You Jingmeng entered the second door, Chi Yi entered the third, and as usual, Li Zhi went last, entering the fourth door.

As soon as she passed through the archway beneath the plant wall, the vines immediately stretched down, sealing the entrance shut in the blink of an eye.

Li Zhi turned around and looked at the plant maze before her.

The entire maze was made of green plants. Tall plant walls lined both sides of the path, and at the end of this road sat a golden treasure chest.