Chapter 132
Chapter 132
To make sure everyone could stand within the safe zone of the green light, Chen Lin had no choice but to stand in the middle while the others pressed close around her in a circle.
But this formation severely limited everyone’s movements. Just getting to the inn lobby had already wasted a fair bit of time.
Meiya said, “I can only hold the manager off for you temporarily. At your current speed, I’m afraid you won’t make it to that Red Door you mentioned before the manager catches up.”
Everyone had realized it too. Chen Lin’s mobile Safe House was certainly useful, but with so many people, it became inconvenient to move.
On top of that, the Safe House only had a little over an hour left. They noticed that as the remaining time decreased, the green light’s protective range was also shrinking. By the end, it would probably struggle to fit even two people.
Guo Lan was the first to speak. “When the Aurora appears later, I’ll run with Xiaoxue.”
Lao Wang said, “I’ll run on my own too.”
Huang Xinze said, “I’ll go with you. The ladies should be able to squeeze into the safe zone.”
“I’ll go alone too,” Wei Sen said.
With Chen Lin’s safe zone backing them up, their chances of escaping smoothly tonight were practically ninety-nine percent.
But she did not want to leave just like this.
She wanted to personally verify whether her guess about the secret of the Aurora was right. The risk would increase, but the reward would rise in proportion.
As long as she made it there before the Red Door disappeared, she could still leave the Instance.
Xu You began warming up before the run and said, “Anyway, when the time comes, we just run! Lin, the Anomalous Artifact is yours. Take care of yourself first. Don’t feel burdened.”
Chen Lin pressed her lips together and gave a slight nod. “Mm.”
Lin Xiaoxue took a deep breath, looking a little nervous. “I hope lots of Red Door locations appear!”
Meiya said, “If any of you fail to leave smoothly, you can temporarily hide in the cave for the night. Return to the inn tomorrow morning and stay there like before. As long as you don’t break the rules, the manager won’t attack you.”
“Okay, got it.”
Although everyone answered that way, they all understood in their hearts.
If they failed to leave through the Red Door tonight, then escaping the forest and returning to the inn afterward would also be a near-death ordeal.
And… on Aurora Night, the more no one mentioned making a wish, the more it proved that everyone remembered that rule perfectly clearly.
If anyone failed to leave this time and had to stay behind, they would probably face something even more terrifying than the Fetal Ghost…
Everyone stood together inside the safe zone and left the inn.
At present, the Red Door had not appeared yet, so they could only head into the forest first.
Back then, the village doctor had said to run south into the forest on the night the Aurora appeared. Combined with the location where the Red Door had descended the last time the Aurora appeared, which had also been to the south, this clue was reliable.
So everyone headed south first. That way, once the Red Door appeared later, they could reach it faster.
The forest at night was pitch-black. They could only use their flashlights to illuminate the path ahead.
The cold wind howled, and snow swirled through the night.
The group cautiously made their way deeper into the woods.
During this time, the Faceless Woman never appeared, which instead made everyone even more uneasy.
And from the moment they left the inn, the area covered by the green light from Chen Lin’s bracelet had been shrinking rapidly. Soon, aside from Chen Lin being fully enveloped, everyone else was already outside the light.
Second by second, midnight drew closer.
Huang Xinze looked at the time on his Watch. “Get ready! Three, two, one!”
At twelve o’clock, the Aurora appeared right on time.
Lin Ze opened his Watch to check the map. Red dots and directions appeared on it.
“There are six Red Door locations in total,” Lin Ze said.
Six Red Door locations, but there were eight of them.
Meiya suddenly turned to look in the direction of the inn, as if she had sensed something abnormal. “Run, all of you! She’s coming!”
Huang Xinze shouted, “First come, first served! Run!”
With that, Huang Xinze charged out ahead of everyone.
“Huang Mao, you!” Xu You rolled her eyes hard.
The others exchanged glances. With life and death on the line, they could not help but feel soft-hearted and hesitate.
“Run. Now it comes down to everyone’s luck!” Guo Lan said gravely. There was no better option right now.
At that, the others began sprinting south through the forest.
Only Lin Ze and Wei Sen remained where they were, staring at each other, each with their own thoughts.
“I will do what I promised you. As for what you promised me, please make sure you do it too.”
Meiya turned and headed toward the inn.
Lin Ze operated his Watch and shared the map function with Wei Sen through a private message.
“The more people who have this function, the smaller your chances of survival become,” he said solemnly.
Wei Sen had not expected him to share it. Just as he had said, if everyone could accurately determine the location of the Red Door, then he would lose his advantage of finding one faster than the others.
Without the slightest hesitation, Wei Sen immediately shared the function with Xu You, Chen Lin, Lin Xiaoxue, Huang Xinze, and Guo Lan.
///Ding~ Congratulations, Host, for achieving a Good Deed: Selfless Sharing. Merit Points +1000! Current accumulated Merit Points: 7600. Current remaining Merit Points: 2400!///
She knew it. Sharing such an important function would definitely earn her a fat wave of Merit Points!
As for whether those people would share it again, the answer was obvious.
They should all understand this simple logic. Unless they met someone truly trustworthy, they would never share this kind of function with more people.
After all, in a situation like this, having a map that located the Red Door was basically the same as cheating.
Lin Ze looked at the barely noticeable smile at the corner of Wei Sen’s mouth. He truly had not expected her to forward it to that entire group without even hesitating…
What exactly was she after?
“You’re not leaving?” Wei Sen asked, looking at Lin Ze, who showed no intention of going anywhere.
“With only six Red Door available, I won’t join the crowd. I’m going back to wash up and sleep.” Lin Ze waved as he turned to leave. “Don’t forget our agreement.”
Wei Sen raised an eyebrow slightly.
He had actually given up on escaping through the Red Door. Was it simply because there were not enough Red Door available, or because… there was someone at the inn he did not want to say goodbye to?
Thinking this to herself, Wei Sen turned and headed southwest through the forest. That was the direction of the entrance to Aurora Village.
The secret of the Aurora had to be there!
In the forest, the people who were running were all especially surprised when they received the new function from Wei Sen.
“Everyone, stop for a moment. We have a map of the Red Door now, so let’s allocate them directly!” Guo Lan called loudly to the others.
With the map, directly assigning the Red Door was the most efficient method.
That way, they would avoid having several people choose the same Red Door and wasting time, only to be caught by the Faceless Woman.
Fortunately, they had not scattered too far yet. Hearing Guo Lan, they all slowed down and gathered closer.
Only two people not only failed to slow down, but ran even faster.
“Huang Mao! What are you doing?!” Xu You planted her hands on her hips and shouted at Huang Xinze, who was running in the opposite direction.
Huang Xinze paused briefly, glanced at Lao Wang beside him, then looked back toward Xu You. “You all go back to Origin Land first. I’ll come in a couple of days.”
Lao Wang said, “While Meiya is holding off the innkeeper, hurry and escape! We also need to get back to the inn as quickly as possible. Farewell, everyone!”
With that, Huang Xinze and Lao Wang ran toward the inn without looking back.
Only then did the others understand. No wonder Huang Xinze had been the first to bolt just now.
He had done it to create a tense atmosphere for everyone, making them all fight with everything they had for a Red Door. Meanwhile, the moment the news of “six Red Door” came out-or perhaps even earlier-he had already discussed it with Lao Wang.
If there were not enough Red Door, they would give the chance to the others first, while the two of them returned to the inn to wait for the next opportunity!
“Why are there only four of us?” Chen Lin asked in confusion, looking around but seeing neither Lin Ze nor Wei Sen.
Guo Lan looked meaningfully in the direction of the village entrance and then toward the inn. “It seems one of them is bound to achieve Perfect Clearance.”