When they were trapped in the maze, their greatest wish was to escape.
Now that they were out, they felt even more lost.
The world had changed, and their lives were in danger at any moment. Where should they go?
The five students huddled together, discussing in low voices.
Bai Youwei sat in her wheelchair, quietly watching them. She stroked her fluffy rabbit, her face expressionless.
She could feel a tingling sensation in her legs and feet.
Since the car accident when she was 12 years old, her legs had felt numb. This was the first time she had felt anything, but she remained silent, not telling anyone.
Because she hated false hope.
If one data upgrade could bring back the feeling in her legs, could the second data upgrade make her stand up again?
What was the maze?
… God or demon, she didn't care.
She just wanted to stand up again.
…
The students finally came to a decision.
Zhang Tianyang said, "We plan to go south along the Yangtze River and see if we can find any rescue or meet up with other survivors…"
He paused and looked at Chen Hui. "Chen Hui wants to go north to Beijing to find Teacher Tu's son."
Everyone was surprised.
Teacher Cheng said, "It's a long way, and you're just a young girl…"
"Yeah, Chen Hui, Teacher Tu's son must have gone to safety. You won't find him." Her classmates also tried to persuade her.
Chen Hui took out Tu Dan's wallet, opened it, and pulled out a family photo to show everyone.
"Teacher Tu wrote a letter to her child. I want to give it to him, to return it to its rightful owner."
On the back of the photo, there was a paragraph of text.
It wasn't really a letter, more like a message. There were only two sentences in total.
— Xiaohui, Mommy misses you very much.
— My child, I hope you are safe.
The two sentences were written in different shades of ink, indicating that the latter sentence had been added recently.
Everyone looked at the photo and fell silent.
Chen Hui said, "There's an address on her ID card. If I can't find them, I'll leave the photo at Teacher Tu's house. Don't worry, I know my limits, I won't do anything reckless."
She paused, her voice softening. "Teacher Tu brought us this far, and I want to do something for her too."
Zhang Tianyang's heart ached when he heard this. He couldn't help but say, "I'll go with you!"
"No need." Chen Hui smiled faintly. "Your mission is to finish what Teacher Tu couldn't and bring everyone to safety. And don't forget, I have a puzzle piece. Even if we encounter a game, I can protect myself. If you all come with me, even if we use two puzzle pieces, we won't be able to save everyone. So, it's enough for me to go alone."
She and Zhang Tianyang each had a puzzle piece, but there were five students in total. They couldn't let all five of them give up on the game.
After thinking it over, everyone realized that Chen Hui's arrangement was indeed the most suitable.
"Don't worry." Chen Hui smiled and raised her fist. "I'm very capable now. Although I can't compare to you guys, those who haven't been in the maze definitely can't bully me."
With that settled, everyone stopped persuading her.
Shen Mo then asked Tan Xiao and Teacher Cheng.
Tan Xiao was an orphan, with no relatives or friends since childhood. He only had a group of brothers he hung out with, but they had all gone their separate ways. Now, he had nowhere else to go and naturally continued to follow Shen Mo.
Teacher Cheng hesitated for a moment.
His wife had passed away in middle age, and his children were all abroad. He came to Yangzhou because he was worried about his elderly parents, but now it seemed that the chances of his parents boarding the rescue ship were slim to none.
Cheng Wei pondered for a long time and sighed. "Let's go to Hangzhou. I'm old, and I've lived long enough. If we can really gather all the puzzle pieces, it can be considered as doing something good for the people, dying a worthy death."
Rather than dying in vain in the game, it was better to die a meaningful death.
Even if it was just a little bit meaningful.
…
Author's Note: Recently, there's been a crackdown on incest, even fake ones, so the setting of this story has been changed! Originally, I wanted the female lead's mother and the male lead's father to be divorced, but that wasn't enough! Now, the male lead's father is just a friend of the female lead's mother! Just friends! Pure friends!