Chapter 677: Chapter 677: There Is Still Hope
Despite understanding the need to rest well, she couldn’t relax mentally.
All day, Asarina and Along stayed in the living room watching over Aqing.
There was constant moisture on Aqing’s body, which they initially attributed to sweat. However, they later discovered it was water, water with a fishy smell.
He couldn’t lie on the sofa for a few minutes without dampening a large patch of it. They had to move him back to the side of the fireplace and keep him close to the fire to try and keep him dry.
Semi-conscious, Aqing was constantly muttering for water.
He became increasingly confused…
At night, Master Cheng took Pan Xiaoxin upstairs to rest, leaving only Asarina, Along and Aqing in the living room.
Bai Youwei sat at the dining table, calculating with paper and pencil.
The maze was extraordinary to her, so she was very careful not to miss any opportunity to find clues.
On her scratch paper, the initial entrance was marked as “Mother Cave.” The other seven entrances were numbered from left to right from Sub-cave 1 to Sub-cave 7.
She believed there must be a pattern among the seven Sub-caves. As long as the pattern was discovered, they could escape. No matter whether they went forward or backward, right or wrong, the fishing boat would always return to the Mother Cave, suggesting a kind of spatial jump.
Unfortunately, the information was inadequate. If she could enter the caves two more times, she might be able to determine the crux.
However, with Aqing in his current condition, perhaps Asarina didn’t feel up to looking for clues?
At that thought, Bai Youwei quietly sighed.
After the first maze, her leg regained sensation, and after the second maze, she could force herself to walk. Perhaps if she experienced another maze upgrade, she might recover completely.
… Was she too cold-hearted? Aqing was in this condition, yet she still considered her own legs.
He wasn’t one of her own, so even though something bad happened to him, she could only feel some sympathy. She couldn’t truly empathize with the pain Asarina and Along were experiencing at this moment.
Bai Youwei stared at the scratch paper in front of her, lost in thought.
Humans are indeed complex creatures. Sometimes they could shed tears for others’ tragedies, and sometimes… they could display their selfishness and heartlessness to the fullest.
Asarina walked over quietly, picked up the scratch paper from the table and looked at it. There were some numbers and messy diagrams.
“Did you find anything?” she asked softly.
Bai Youwei slowly shook her head, “I have a few conjectures, but they all require verification.”
From the direction of the living room there came several low groans. The two looked over upon hearing the sound. It was Aqing talking in his sleep.
He curled up next to the fireplace, one side of his body dried by the heat, the other side wet again, constantly secreting fluid.
Perhaps it was because he was cold, his limbs tied with ropes twitched occasionally, and he muttered nonsense.
Along was already exhausted and was sound asleep on the sofa.
“Will he get better?” Asarina looked at Aqing mumbling, unclear whether she was asking Bai Youwei or talking to herself.
Bai Youwei looked down, not saying a word.
She held a pessimistic attitude towards this.
From the experience of the previous two mazes, the maze could consume the ones who failed.
She remembered the dolls embedded in the wall in the Mirror Maze. She also remembered the man in the Gluttonous Snake Maze, his body fused with the maze.
Now, given Aqing’s condition, she feared he might not recover…
“You should get some rest.” Bai Youwei said softly, “If we could get out of the maze, perhaps the maze upgrade could cure him.”
Her words gave Asarina hope. She looked at Bai Youwei and nodded, “You’re right. As long as we can get out of the maze, there’s hope for Aqing.”
The premise was, would Aqing be able to hang on until the moment they escaped?