Chapter 230: Life-or-Death Maze (8)
Xing Ye and Sheng Churan mobilized together, replenishing Ji Ning's Arousal bar completely.
But after they finished, it was a case of one rising while the other fell—her Cleanliness dropped again.
This time, Ji Ning no longer trusted the men. She took off her dress herself and simply jumped whole into the creek to wash her entire body.
Judging from the patterns of stat changes the previous two times, her Health was the average of the three statuses: Arousal, Hunger, and Cleanliness. (She'd written the value wrong once before.) So as long as the other three bars remained healthy and she didn't sustain physical injuries, Health shouldn't be an issue.
Ji Ning scrubbed her dripping wet backside clean, wanting to return to her optimal full state. That way, she could hold out longer going forward.
Her two knights were also cleaning their bodies downstream in the creek, not far away. Their gazes drifted her way from time to time.
When Sheng Churan withdrew his gaze, he swept it incidentally over Xing Ye's physique and couldn't help asking, "Brother Xing, how do you train for this? How many times a week? Which brand of protein powder works best for bulking up?"
Xing Ye scanned him up and down and said flatly, "Haven't trained specifically."
"Tch! You just won't share with me. Stingy." Sheng Churan clicked his tongue, slightly unhappy.
"I really haven't. Not lying to you." Xing Ye brought his arm next to Sheng Churan's arm for comparison. "What's so great about it, anyway? It's too dark."
Standing next to Ji Ning, the contrast was too great. Better that Sheng Churan matched her instead.
Sheng Churan's eyes widened in disbelief that Xing Ye would actually dislike his own skin for being dark.
"It looks amazing! Plenty of people go for spray tans and can't even get results like yours. I'd love to tan but my agent won't let me."
Seeing Xing Ye shake his head, Sheng Churan put on a look of contempt for his lack of taste. "Men should be a bit dark. Haven't you noticed the way Ning-Ning looks at your body? It's different."
"Really?" Xing Ye's mood improved somewhat.
Sheng Churan reconsidered—why was he trying to cheer up a love rival? He pulled a long face and said, "Fake. I lied to you." Then he ignored Xing Ye's glare, finished washing, and quickly climbed ashore.
After Ji Ning bathed, aside from Hunger which had dropped by three points due to passage of time, both Cleanliness and Arousal were at full status.
Sheng Churan tore a strip of cloth from his clothes for her, dampened it to serve as a wet wipe, and added a pear, preparing to bring both out of the forest as backup supplies.
The creek was already the inner edge of the forest. Moving further forward was like hitting an invisible barrier that blocked the way.
The three of them could only follow the original path back, returning to that row of tree walls. Through the gaps between the trees, they could see the tall concrete walls of the maze passageway.
There was no transition whatsoever between the two environments. The connection was jarring—products specifically created for this instance's level design.
Just before exiting the forest, Ji Ning told Sheng Churan to stop.
The two men watched her pull out yet another pear, nibbling as she spoke. "To prevent items from being impossible to take out, I'm topping off my Hunger first."
Two minutes later, the three were standing back inside the maze. The remaining pears in Ji Ning's arms were gone, and the wet wipe had turned into a dry cloth.
Ji Ning wasn't the least bit surprised. She mused that she was, after all, someone who'd been through eleven instances. She knew this game's tricks well.
Just walking through a maze had no challenge whatsoever. So naturally they couldn't be allowed to bring out items from the forest—not even a tiny bit of moisture.
This way, the Knight Order and the princess would have to frequently enter and exit the forest to neutralize dangers and replenish stats.
Ji Ning recalled the line from when she'd contracted the knights: "If a violation occurs or the terms cannot be fulfilled, the contract fails. The knight will transform into a monster and return to the forest." Did that mean this forest sanctuary would grow more dangerous as they ventured deeper into the maze, perhaps even spawning monsters?
And this competition format also involved racing the two factions' forward progress. Ji Ning felt they still needed to rendezvous with the other men as soon as possible.
The three followed the maze corridor forward, taking turns shouting loudly. Fortunately, within half an hour, Song Weiyang's enthusiastic response came from far away.
"Ning-Ning!—"
Just like when Ji Ning had first met Xing Ye, Song Weiyang told Ji Ning to stay put while he came to find them.
Song Weiyang must have been running, because in less than ten minutes, he appeared from the far end of the corner and rushed to Ji Ning's front. Sheathing his sword, he pulled her into a full embrace.
Then Song Weiyang smiled and greeted each of them. "Brother Xing. Brother Ran."
"Xiao Song." Xing Ye returned his greeting.
These three had survived life-and-death together in the doomsday survival instance and had long since adjusted to each other's presence.
Sheng Churan patted his shoulder. "Brother Weiyang, why didn't you put your sword away while walking the maze? How troublesome."
Ji Ning had wanted to ask him the same thing. He'd been holding the sword aloft while running over just now, looking a bit adorably goofy.
Before Song Weiyang could answer, the face that appeared once more from around the corner had already answered the question.
Yan Qiao walked with his arms crossed, relaxed and carefree. But upon seeing him appear, none of the others—except Ji Ning—kept a warm expression.
Livestream comments:
"The dynamic's getting complicated."
"Little Sun is such a good boy, calling everyone 'Brother.' No wonder no one fights with him."
"Laughing so hard. He's just naturally mild-mannered and can't compete anyway. If he didn't behave in front of these sly old foxes, he wouldn't even get the dregs."
"Yan Qiao, take notes, or you're gonna get collectively targeted."
"Yan Qiao: Have you ever seen a wolf wag its tail?"
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