Escape Plan
Mu Yu saw a green live vine hanging approximately ten metres up the cliff face. Though the vine was only three centimetres, it stood out. The rest of it had to be somewhere. When Mu Yu crossed the border, he didn’t see the vine. That was a hint.
Lively, Ol’ Tan asked, “What do you have in mind?”
“See that live vine? It’s only visible here. It’s not visible on the other side, get it?” Mu Yu enthused.
“What?”
“Hahaha, it means that, although the formation covers the length of the valley, it’s only ten metres high. Look at the live vine again. It’s only one short section. In other words, the rest of it is hanging on the other side, yet we can’t see it. There’s only one explanation for that. Let’s say the border is a wall, and the live fine jumped over the wall. We don’t see it on the other side of the wall because it’s not on the other side of the border.”
“You have me spinning. If it jumped over the wall, why isn’t it visible on the other side?”
Mu Yu drew a rectangular box on the ground and elucidated, “Imagine the long sides are the two cliff faces, and the short sides are the mirror boundaries. Because of the formation, we will keep looping in the box regardless of which end we try to leave from. We can’t walk or run out of the box. We need to climb out of it.” Mu Yu pointed back to the vine, then continued. “Logically, the rest of the vine should be hanging off the other side of the box, but the small segmented hanging off this side inspired the idea. Owing to the flying restriction, nobody knows how high up the formation goes, which is why it’s more than enough to trap Body Severing Realm cultivators.”
Ol’ Tan mulled over it for a while before he understood what Mu Yu was saying. “I’m wholeheartedly impressed you could think of that.”
In truth, the formation caster deliberately left the vine segment hanging there as a hint. It just happened to be the case that nobody utilised it.
“So, we’re going to have to climb ten metres up?” queried Ol’ Tan.
“Can you do it?”
“While it won’t be easy, I can manage. I’m worried about you. I don’t want to abandon you when you’re the one who figured it all out.”
“Where do you plan to climb from? Are you going to go deeper within or climb out from the way in?”
Ol’ Tan understood Mu Yu was referring to his decision to seek help for his vengeance. Was it worth just leaving after suffering there for half a year? He brooded over it for a while before answering “I’m going to leave. If I’m stuck here, it makes no difference. Which way is out?”
Mu Yu checked for his marking. “From memory, climbing up where the live vine is will take you further into the valley. If you climb from the side where the vine isn’t visible, you will be led to the entrance you came from. I’m guessing we only need to climb up to the same height as the vine, cross over and jump off.
“Let’s recover before we start climbing. There was a huge-eyed-fire-breathing monster that almost roasted me.”
The two washed the blood and filth off them in the river. It dawned on Mu Yu that maybe the poison was merely to prevent people crossing the river. Mu Yu cold finally sleep that night.
Ol’ Tan peered outside the cave and spaced out, too excited to sleep. He resolved himself to avenge his grudges himself instead of betting on something he barely had a chance of obtaining.
Someone shrouded in the darkness rocked up at the riverbank. He moved swiftly, and his presence was enough to terrify the fiend beasts gathered at the riverbank. He flew up and toward the cave entrance.
The fact that the individual could fly could only mean one thing: he was Ageless Ku Mu.
The fiend beast’s unusual silence disturbed Ol’ Tan. He shifted forward and looked down. A dark shadow flitted up and over, landing behind him. The scent coming from Ageless Ku Mu induced a lightheaded sensation he couldn’t fight.
Ageless Ku Mu paid an unconscious Ol’ Tan no heed and sauntered over to Mu Yu. With a gentle wave of his hand, Ageless Ku Mu lifted Mu Yu off the ground and left without making physical contact. Once they reached the boundary, he set Mu Yu on the ground. Next, he performed a series of hand seals, turning the boundary into a solid wall.
Ageless Ku Mu watched everyone who entered his maze. He watched Mu Yu solve the mystery and heard Mu Yu say he wanted to leave. That irritated him. He finally found someone who could solve the mystery, so he wasn’t going to let Mu Yu go so easily. After crossing the border and sealing it off, Mu Yu had no choice but to venture further in.
Ageless Ku Mu’s cackle was as spooky as his silhouette in the darkness. He vanished into the darkness without waking Mu Yu up. Xiaoshuai was so sound asleep and dream talking. As such, neither of them had any clue they had been kidnapped.
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