When Feng Bujue returned to the entrance of the tunnel, Mother Silkworm had disappeared without a trace, and Uncle Waste Chai was nowhere to be found.

Looking up, the silk webs they had cut earlier had already returned to their original state. Upon closer inspection, one could see that the broken parts had been filled with fresh, lighter-colored new silk.

"What's going on..." Feng Bujue murmured, "Was he captured?" He glanced at the game menu. In the team column, Uncle Waste Chai's status was still listed as "Alive." "Or did he escape on his own..."

While pondering, Jue-Ge began to examine the details of the surrounding environment. His gaze first stopped on the corpse of the Blade Butterfly Queen, and he muttered, "It hasn't been moved at all..." Then, he looked up and scanned the nearby crystal pillars. "The damage to the crystal pillars is also consistent with when we left..."

"Hmm... it doesn't look like there was a fierce battle." Feng Bujue stroked his chin and muttered, "So, he was controlled after all..."

Suddenly, Jue-Ge noticed something else. He immediately took a few steps forward and crouched down. "This cigarette butt..." He picked up a cigarette butt from the ground and examined it carefully. "This is undoubtedly left by Uncle Waste Chai. Assuming... he lit a cigarette as soon as we left, and then used words to stall the Boss, then... based on the degree of burning, the cigarette fell to the ground after about two minutes."

"But..." Feng Bujue put down the cigarette butt and stood up. "Honghu and the others were 'controlled' about five minutes after they ran. Could it be..." He looked up at the silk webs in the sky again. "...Could it be that this Boss's ability to 'remotely control' others with silk has a certain delay due to the distance?"

"Hey! Are you okay?" At this moment, the shouting of Tianma Xingkong came.

Feng Bujue turned his head and saw that Little Ma-Ge, Jibei, and Honghu had also run over.

"Aren't you guys resting a little longer?" Jue-Ge asked calmly.

"How can a hero let someone in trouble wait?" Tianma Xingkong replied loudly.

It must be said that this guy was really amazing. He had just faced the crisis of having his stamina value reset to zero a few minutes ago, but now he seemed full of energy again.

"Haa... haa..." Jibei was the same as always, panting non-stop as soon as he stopped. "Compared to long-distance sprints back and forth, I'd rather fight!"

"Was Uncle Waste Chai captured?" Although Honghu's face was covered in sweat, he could barely maintain his composure. His thinking ability was also unaffected, so he asked a constructive question as soon as he opened his mouth, "You've already observed the scene, right? What's the conclusion?"

"He was probably taken away by the Boss." Feng Bujue shrugged. "Anyway, judging from the team column, 'death' can be directly ruled out."

"Then the other 20% possibility is..." Honghu adjusted his glasses and tentatively asked, "...Uncle Waste Chai escaped from the Boss's control by his own power, but his whereabouts are currently unknown?"

"Yes." Feng Bujue replied, "If it were someone else, this 20% probability would not exist, but Uncle Waste Chai... might be able to do it."

"Hmm~ hmm, that sunglasses guy is unfathomable." Tianma Xingkong nodded solemnly in response.

"Huff... what should we do now?" Jibei finally caught his breath and opened his mouth. "Go find him?"

"Of course." Tianma Xingkong immediately replied, "How can a righteous hero abandon their partner?"

"First of all, I'm not a hero." Feng Bujue replied with narrowed eyes. "Secondly, at least in the game, I definitely belong to the evil camp..." He licked his lips. "However... considering that the new main quest has not appeared, it seems that we have nothing else to do besides looking for Uncle Waste Chai."

"Eh~" At this time, Jibei seemed to have suddenly thought of something and interjected, "Do you think Uncle Waste Chai might have escaped back into the tunnel?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone instinctively turned their heads to look at the tunnel entrance.

"You know... in a moment of desperation, this is really possible." Honghu muttered.

"If that's the case, he shouldn't have escaped very far." Feng Bujue said, and then walked towards the tunnel. "Because that giant silkworm can't possibly chase in. Uncle Waste Chai only needs to stay in a place closer to the exit, and wait for the Boss to leave before coming out."

[Warning, the front is filled with the energy of the defense formation.]

Jue-Ge had just walked to the entrance of the tunnel and hadn't even stepped inside when the system prompt sounded.

"Okay... it seems we can rule out this hypothesis." Feng Bujue immediately turned his head and told his teammates about the situation.

Everyone came over and tried it, and they all heard the system prompt.

"This corroborates our previous speculation." Feng Bujue said, "The previous main quest didn't mention 'obliteration,' and this is the reason. If we haven't come out of the tunnel by the time the mission limit is up, the defense formation will be activated, and then it will be a Tuan Mie (team wipe) ending..."

"Oh well..." Honghu continued, "At least we've confirmed that Uncle Waste Chai is still in this crystal labyrinth, and also confirmed... that we have no way back."

[Main Quest Updated]

[Side Quest Triggered]

Just as the four were discussing the next course of action, the quest prompt suddenly came, and two at once.

They opened the game menu and looked at the quest bar. The new main and side quests were: [Arrive at the Cage of Despair] and [Rescue Waste Chai from Mother Silkworm's Nest Before He Dies (Or Leaves the Script for Other Reasons)]

"Hey, hey... this time's main quest doesn't have any restrictions..." Jibei said, "Not only does it not mention 'obliteration,' but it doesn't even give a 'time limit'?"

"Heh... it looks a lot easier, doesn't it?" Feng Bujue said with a wry smile. "But if you think about it... this is a pit!"

"That's right, a time limit is not only a restriction, but also a hint." Honghu continued, "We can deduce the approximate distance between the quest target and ourselves from the time limit given by the system, as well as the average time required to handle this quest." He paused for a second and swallowed. "And this main quest is like having no hints at all, just a simple sentence... This is much more difficult than the previous ones."

"Let's not study the main quest for now." Tianma Xingkong interjected, "Rescuing a righteous partner is the top priority!"

"Ah... that's right, let's consider the side quest first." Feng Bujue muttered weakly, "Now the system has told us about Uncle Waste Chai's situation. Judging from the quest content, I'm afraid he won't last long..."