Lighting a few glow sticks, I meticulously examined the walls of the secret chamber and realized that most of the masks stolen by the monkeys were animal-themed.
The masks depicting gods, ghosts, and demons were largely left behind.
What could this mean? Did the monkeys know they were animals, which is why they only took the animal masks?
Such purposeful behavior seemed remarkably strange.
Even recognizing that their actions were intentional, no one could be certain of the specific objective.
After checking the masks, finding nothing else, I retreated from the chamber.
"Alright, since we couldn't protect the masks, there's no need for us to linger here. I think we should leave this maze as soon as possible," I said to the other two.
"Leave the maze? Do you already know the way out?" Da Xiong asked excitedly.
I nodded and replied, "It's a bit complicated; I can't explain it now. You'll understand when we get there."
Da Xiong paused, slightly hesitant, but still nodded, saying, "Fine, then why are we still hanging around here?"
We then gathered our things and were about to leave the entrance of the secret room.
However, as we started climbing the stairs upward, we suddenly heard thudding sounds coming from within the chamber, like heavy footsteps echoing inside the room.
A strange feeling washed over me, and I turned to look at the other two.
They were clearly just as surprised, both turning their heads to look at me.
I considered it for a moment and said, "Let's go back and check. We've been here so long; if we miss something, we'll surely regret it."
The other two obviously thought the same, so the three of us retraced our steps.
When we reached the entrance of the secret chamber, the thudding sound abruptly stopped.
Uncertain if there was danger, we chose not to use the smaller- glow sticks this time, instead lighting another flare.
Holding the flare aloft, I stepped into the chamber first.
The other two followed me in.
Then, I swept the flare around, illuminating the space, only to find that nothing was happening; the chamber was still empty.
At that moment, Nie Chuan remarked, "Is it that natural phenomenon of the masks playing back sounds again?"
I remained silent, as I was uncertain myself.
"Did you notice," I said to them after looking for a while, "that where the masks were removed this time, there are no facial indentations beneath them?"
They both nodded at first, but within a few seconds, Da Xiong shouted, "No, there's one here!"
He pointed to a spot near the floor by his feet. I remembered there was supposed to be a dog-face mask there, and now there was just an empty space.
The three of us clustered around, crouching down to look closely. Indeed, we found that only in that empty spot was there a protrusion resembling a dog's nose.
As we were scrutinizing it, the looking-around Da Xiong exclaimed again, "And over there, there's another one!"
He was pointing to the spot where I had been standing just moments ago. This sent a chill down my spine.
Because when I stood there, I had clearly seen nothing unusual on the wall, yet after Da Xiong pointed, I turned back and found a very flat cat-face mask shockingly present on the wall.
Just as I was about to say something to comment on the situation, the thudding sound, like footsteps, began again.
This time, it wasn't coming from one direction but from all around us.
The sound was like countless hands banging forcefully against the walls from behind them.
"There really is something behind the walls! Be careful..." Nie Chuan's voice trembled as he warned us, his own face turning pale.
It was then I noticed that not only was the strange knocking sound unnerving, but countless faces were gradually bulging out on the walls that had previously been blank—faces of all kinds of animals.
And these faces lacked any vibrancy; instead, they exuded gloom and eeriness.
It was as if they could open their hollow eyes and cavernous mouths at any moment to swallow us whole.
"No, we have to get out of here quickly..." I said, backing away.
The other two clearly agreed with my assessment, and we slowly retreated toward the doorway together.
Just as we were about to reach the exit, a cat's paw suddenly pierced through the wooden wall and lunged towards us.
Its target was Da Xiong, but thankfully, I was quick enough to pull him aside, preventing him from being scratched.
Looking at the cat's paw, which was almost thicker than a tiger's, and its long, sharp black claws, I couldn't help but feel a deep shudder.
Next, we bolted upstairs like rabbits fleeing an eagle.
As we ran, I listened intently, only to hear that the room below had returned to silence, as if nothing had ever happened.
I knew those creatures from the walls weren't truly alive because they lacked Nian ().
Things that move without Nian, I had no idea what they were, but they were certainly not illusions.
Running upstairs with confusion lingering, after only a few steps, I recalled the secret to exiting the maze and said, "Slow down, spread out, don't run close together."
The other two followed my instructions. Da Xiong, who was in front, slowed his pace, while Nie Chuan simply stopped to wait for me.
When I was about to reach Nie Chuan, he started running again.
I told Da Xiong, "Just keep running up without worrying about us."
Da Xiong didn't reply but did as instructed.
Then I said to Nie Chuan, "Use Da Xiong as a reference point, just like before, and we won't get disoriented."
Nie Chuan nodded and watched Da Xiong run alongside me.
Indeed, our method worked. Whenever Da Xiong reached the middle section of a flight of stairs, we would wait at the very back to observe. Only after he passed, confirming he hadn't turned, would we follow.
Following this method, we ran up eight flights of stairs before seeing the platform of the top floor above us.
At this point, I knew that the Fisherman would make a final struggle to keep us trapped in its net.
So, following our prearranged plan, I stopped Da Xiong.
The monkeys on the top platform were long gone, but the platform itself, with its structure differing from the stairs, served as a landmark. Thus, I wasn't afraid of losing our way.
The three of us reached the final set of steps, and I asked Da Xiong to move forward slowly.
Da Xiong cautiously stepped up the stairs. When he was halfway up, I saw his entire body twist around.
Knowing this was the best moment, I called out to Da Xiong, "Step back, move backward."
Da Xiong was stunned, clearly unaware that his direction had been altered. He froze for a full two seconds before beginning to retreat.
Just as he was about to reach the center and be turned around again, Nie Chuan and I stepped onto the stairs together.
The timing was perfect. As soon as we stepped onto the stairs, we felt the direction change again. We should have been on the first step of the final flight, but we were suddenly transported to the very top.
If we took one more step forward, we would be on the top platform.
Of course, the Fisherman wouldn't let us pass that easily.
The moment we lifted our feet, it shifted the direction once more.
At that moment, I shouted to Da Xiong, "Keep walking forward."
Da Xiong didn't realize that due to our recent maneuver, he had broken through the central turning point and could continue straight ahead.
When Da Xiong stepped forward again, Nie Chuan and I remained stationary. If we stayed put, the Fisherman wouldn't dare shift direction, because shifting it would send us straight up.
After Da Xiong walked two steps, I said to Nie Chuan, "Go to the middle."
Nie Chuan understood immediately, realizing this was like a check in chess. He smiled confidently and walked forward, continuing until he reached the middle critical point.
When he reached the center, Da Xiong had already reached the end. Now, with one of us at the head, one in the middle, and one at the tail, no matter how the stairs twisted, someone was bound to get through.
Just as I expected, the oblivious Da Xiong had unknowingly reached the top platform and began cheering, shouting down to us, "There's an exit up here! We made it to the exit!"