Chapter 63 The Meaning of the Stone Walls

Perhaps it was because his mind was too exhausted that he inadvertently spoke the word Styx.

However, Gu Shen did not panic.

His expression remained unchanged as he looked at the long knife held by Mu Wanqiu and said softly with a smile, "This trick doesn't work on me. I know... you won't draw your sword."

Mu Wanqiu coldly scoffed, "You think you know me well?"

"Of course not."

Gu Shen shook his head.

Although his mental strength had recovered a bit, his voice still sounded weak, "But I know... you are different from those in the Northern Continent military. If it were another captain, I wouldn't dare say that. "

Mu Wanqiu was slightly taken aback.

"Our meeting here says a lot... I don't believe your appearance here is an accident or a coincidence." Gu Shen said slowly, "What could make you, the ace of the Investigation Corps' First Team, willing to bear the responsibility of violating regulations and acting privately? I think you know exactly what this place is, even if I don't say it."

When he misspoke just now, Mu Wanqiu's face didn't show shock or surprise, but suddenly became solemn.

Clearly... she already knew the secrets related to Styx.

However, Gu Shen was curious about how she obtained this information.

Wait a moment.

A flash of inspiration appeared in his mind.

Gu Shen remembered visiting Mu Wanqiu before the restart mission began, but he was turned away that time. The reason he went to visit was to gather as much information as possible about the Doluo River Disaster Realm by peeking into her dream in advance.

Unfortunately, Mu Wanqiu refused to let anyone enter her dream.

Thinking about it now, the reason she did so was obvious.

Her dream was different from Zhong Yuan's.

It wasn't a mirror dream.

But... a dream related to the "Styx."

And her ability happened to be named [Judge], which was extremely similar to the nether aura of the Doluo River, and it was very likely that she had some divinely ordained connection with the Styx.

Therefore, this forbidden dream about the Styx naturally had to be kept secret from everyone.

Even Captain Lu Zhe was no exception!

Thinking of this, Gu Shen smiled and asked, "So, you dreamed of it through [Judge]?"

As soon as he said this, Mu Wanqiu's pretty face instantly turned cold, and a hint of annoyance appeared in her eyes.

"Crack!"

The battle blade was actually drawn!

It was only pushed out an inch, but it exploded with dense thunder!

The stone wall beside Gu Shen's cheek suddenly shattered!

He raised his hands, smiled helplessly, indicating his surrender, and obediently shut up.

Alright.

Although he wanted to get an answer from Mu Wanqiu... the slash just now was already an answer.

She was clearly embarrassed into anger.

Mu Wanqiu slowly sheathed her blade and said coldly, "Don't ask what you shouldn't."

This guy's brain was still useful.

But his words were really unpleasant, no wonder he was being hunted down by Zhen Yue.

Gu Shen accepted it when he saw the good and quickly laughed, "Understood. You're the boss now."

He was seriously injured.

He survived only because Mu Wanqiu came to his rescue... he would need to rely on Mu Wanqiu for the rest of the journey until he recovered.

This girl was strong and her fighting style was tough enough, but she was still lacking in the way she interacted with people.

Regarding her coming to the Styx, Gu Shen felt that there was no need to ask too much at the moment, he would slowly find out before long.

What was worth noting was that at the moment Mu Wanqiu attacked, Gu Shen released the Blazing Fire. As both were S-level and transcended realms by two levels, his mental level was actually on par with Mu Wanqiu.

Therefore, Gu Shen predicted that Mu Wanqiu's slash was just a warning, so he didn't dodge.

But what surprised him was that even the Blazing Fire didn't capture the complete phantom of [Judge] clearly... it could be seen how fast this guy was, it was simply unbelievable!

The intelligence from the Northern Continent military showed that [Judge] was a mental ability, but his feeling just now seemed to have other mysteries!

[Judge]'s close combat ability was probably no less than a power-attack type!

However, this was a good thing.

He was now traveling with Mu Wanqiu, and in this kind of ghostly place, it was likely to be a dangerous situation... the stronger Mu Wanqiu was, the safer he would be.

...

...

Ten minutes later.

Gu Shen's injuries had improved a lot and he could already walk slowly.

"It seems that Meng Xiao didn't catch up."

Mu Wanqiu crossed her arms, leaned against the stone wall, and looked in the direction she came from. This maze was actually not big. Although it was winding and twisting, it was only this one corridor after all, and even a small sound would be clearly captured.

"No... not necessarily."

Gu Shen already knew what had happened before.

He stroked his chin and murmured, "Although you repaired the stone wall at the last moment, the stone wall doesn't necessarily mean [Door]... the [Door] at the bottom of the Styx may not close at the same time. With my premonition, Meng Xiao probably crashed into the [Door] at the last moment."

"Your... premonition?"

Mu Wanqiu frowned slightly when she heard the word premonition.

Although mental supernaturalists inherently possessed keen perception, supernaturalists who blindly believed in this kind of feeling at critical moments... often died miserably.

"Yes, a premonition. My premonition can be used as a clear guide to fate."

Gu Shen said seriously without changing his expression, "If you read more books and newspapers, you should know... I am a disciple of Master Chino's divination."

As he said this, he touched his pendant through his clothes.

The title of divination disciple was really useful.

"..."

Mu Wanqiu rarely remained silent. Although the supernaturalists of the Northern Continent Legion didn't pay much attention to information from other continents, they still had to know something about those "famous figures" in the world.

The diviner of the Qingqiu Cemetery and the seer of the Origin Tower were both familiar figures to supernaturalists in the Five Continents.

"Are you sure? Is this considered an application of divination?" Mu Wanqiu glanced at Gu Shen suspiciously. Her intuition told her that what this guy was saying didn't seem right, so she slowly tapped the hilt of her knife with her slender fingertips and asked again.

"Yes."

Gu Shen nodded again.

The reason he was so sure was that the familiar sense of crisis from the [Protection of the Goddess of Fate] hadn't dissipated.

Meng Xiao must have followed... but due to the rules, he wasn't in the same maze.

This was a very important piece of information.

The opening of the Styx Gate did not only lead to this small area. The maze where he and Mu Wanqiu were now was likely only a small part of the "Styx Ruins."

"Believe me... Meng Xiao's situation should be similar to ours. He must have also come to 'here'."

Gu Shen looked around at his surroundings.

This was the first time he had really carefully observed this maze.

He had seen before that the stone walls were covered with ancient writing, but Gu Shen was more self-aware than Mu Wanqiu... after studying ancient writing in the cemetery for a year, he was too clear about the characteristics of these things.

Without a teacher or mental transmission, if you couldn't understand it at first glance, you would never understand it.

Continuing to look at it was just a waste of time.

"Since you are a disciple of Master Chino... then what about these ancient writings?" Seeing Gu Shen looking so seriously, and even touching the stone wall with his fingers and tapping it, Mu Wanqiu's heart gave rise to some expectations.

But the next moment, she was doused with cold water.

"Don't think too much, I can't understand this stuff."

Gu Shen turned his head to glance at Mu Wanqiu and asked with a smile, "You wouldn't still be trying to 'decipher' these ancient texts, would you?"

Mu Wanqiu was silent.

"Since you can't understand it, what's the use of tapping and tapping?" She said grumpily, "Making a mystery out of it..."

"It's not completely useless."

Gu Shen pressed his finger against the stone wall and walked a short distance along the corridor. He said seriously, "Didn't you notice it when you drew your blade just now? This so-called 'maze' can't trap people at all?"

Mu Wanqiu was slightly stunned when she heard this.

That was true...

Just now, she had casually shattered the stone wall with a single slash!

Although she didn't know who the owner of this ancient ruin was or what his intentions were, it was clear that these stone walls couldn't trap her... then it probably couldn't trap those truly powerful supernaturalists either.

"Even a third-level supernaturalist should be able to damage the stone wall..." Gu Shen said leisurely, "Although they can't cut as much as you with one slash, if they are really trapped here and want to find an exit... as long as they aim at one place, they can always cut open a hole."

"That's right."

Mu Wanqiu was also a little confused, "Then what's the point of building these stone walls?"

Gu Shen stopped in his tracks.

Yes... this was really strange.

"I once heard that 'ancient writing' has other functions besides the characteristic of being understood intuitively but not verbally." Mu Wanqiu added, "A large number of ancient writings combined together can unleash incredible power. These stone walls, as the carriers of 'ancient writing,' don't they have any special power?"

Mu Wanqiu's words inspired Gu Shen.

He suddenly understood and murmured, "You're right... ancient writing must have unique characteristics and special power. These stone walls are carriers and are so easily damaged, there must be a pattern. Every stone wall and every point here can be a [Door]."

This maze that seemed to have no exit actually had an exit everywhere.

As long as you break the wall, it's a [Door]!

"However, the rules corresponding to these [Doors]... are different because of the different ancient writings painted on them!"

Mu Wanqiu frowned her beautiful eyebrows, "You mean, if you break the wrong [Door], you won't be able to get out?"

"No... it's likely to be even more serious than that."

Gu Shen raised a finger and said in a deep voice, "Behind some [Doors] is 'life,' while behind some [Doors]... it's likely to be 'death'!"

Mu Wanqiu was instantly silent.

She vaguely felt cold sweat seeping out of her back.

If Gu Shen's prediction was true...

Then her previous behavior of casually smashing a stone wall was a gamble on her life!

Once she stepped into the wrong [Door], wouldn't she already be dead?

Remembering her nonchalant slash at the time, Mu Wanqiu couldn't help but feel a little scared. She really hadn't thought so much when she smashed the stone wall...

"Come... slash here."

Gu Shen slowly took a step back.

He touched a stone wall covered with ancient writing and seemed to understand something.

Mu Wanqiu gripped the hilt of her blade.

"Here?"

She took a deep breath. After realizing the terrifying rules of this maze's stone walls, she felt a lot more psychological pressure.

Gu Shen nodded, "Don't hesitate, slash, smash it."

"Ha!"

At the moment of drawing her blade, Mu Wanqiu's pupils bloomed with a dazzling snow-white light.

The huge phantom of [Judge] instantly struck, almost overlapping with her palm. An ordinary battle blade erupted with unprecedented lethality... with just one slash, the stone wall was shattered!

Stone chips splattered everywhere!

The [Door] appeared, but what appeared with it was a chaotic torrent of darkness!

"Is this... the gate of life?"

Mu Wanqiu's pupils shrank slightly. Her mental perception seemed to have failed here, unable to provide any warning. Behind the [Door], there seemed to be only eternal emptiness and darkness, and she couldn't sense anything.

She didn't know what she would encounter after stepping into that [Door].

But when Mu Wanqiu turned her gaze to Gu Shen, she found that he was just shaking his head and saying calmly, "Fill it back in."

[Judge] struck again.

Rumble rumble rumble——

The flying stone chips were stuffed back into the stone wall by the giant phantom!

A few seconds later, the stone wall was as smooth as new.

"What... what are we doing?" Mu Wanqiu couldn't understand Gu Shen's actions just now.

"Two very important pieces of information."

Gu Shen approached the stone wall again, examined it for a long time, and then held out two fingers.

"First, we guessed correctly. This maze has countless exits... After breaking each stone wall carved with ancient writing, a passage will appear. Theoretically speaking, we can find countless [Doors] leading to countless destinations."

"Second..."

Gu Shen paused slightly.

His expression was solemn as he said softly, "These ancient writings are 'changing'."

"What did you say?"

Mu Wanqiu couldn't believe it.

The ancient writings couldn't be memorized. Did Gu Shen memorize the ancient writings at the place he just broke?

That... was impossible, right?

"Divination," Gu Shen's explanation was still simple. In fact, the principle was not difficult. The protection of the Goddess of Fate was indeed a kind of divination in a sense. After the experiment just now, the pendant's mental induction of the stone wall had changed.

This meant that if it was broken again, the [Door] that appeared would be different from just now!

Then, there was only one possibility...

"After being broken, the ancient writings on the wall are changing again."

Gu Shen said calmly, "Perhaps this is why Zhen Yue didn't catch up. Every break in this maze means that a [Door] will appear, and every healing means the disappearance of the [Door]'s information and the change of the ancient writing. Even if you don't use [Judge], these stone walls will slowly return to their original positions over time."

"From these two pieces of information, we can speculate further."

Gu Shen stood up and said, "Good news, these ancient writings that we can't understand must have a special meaning. There must be an 'exit' connecting to the correct destination."

"Is that considered good news?" Mu Wanqiu rubbed her forehead.

"Of course, but we have another piece of good news."

Gu Shen said lightly, "If Meng Xiao really chased into the [Door], and if he's unlucky, he's very likely to be transported to an environment that is more severe and cruel than the maze."

...

...

(ps: Update notice, after tomorrow, there will be a lot of updates in November.)

(End of this chapter)