After devising a plan, the players began their action, entering the Stone Cave in batches.

Once inside the Stone Cave, a team of players would be transported to a simple and crude square stone chamber.

The chamber was sparsely furnished with tables, chairs, and benches, with a white candle on the table emitting a faint glow,

and each of the four walls had an open door leading to another nearly identical room.

After some exploration, the players confirmed that the rooms inside the Stone Cave were somewhat like [Schrödinger’s Cat].

When there are no observers, the rooms keep changing,

but once an observer appears, the room becomes fixed,

and as long as a mark is left, the room remains unchanged.

This means that the room doesn’t change randomly and no infinite loops appear.

The primary task of the players is to find and eliminate the Sibi King,

and to accomplish this, they must quickly confirm the locations of other teams and match their respective routes

to piece together a complete map.

The Stone Cave forbids the use of electronic equipment and GPS systems, leaving them unaware of directions or orientation,

so the teams inside the Stone Cave rely on walkie-talkies for communication,

each team has someone drawing a map and recording their route,

and every time they enter a stone chamber, they leave a mark in the stone room,

indicating the team number, current time, the current number of the stone chamber, and the previous map.

To find traces of other teams early,

the player teams began moving from the starting point, proceeding a hundred rooms in one direction,

turning left at the hundredth, two hundredth, and three hundredth rooms, forming a large square.

If players see marks left by other teams during their progress, it means they have identified the other team’s location.

If no mark is seen, they continue to increase the side length of the square.

If they don’t meet the other teams for a long time, they have to consider other possibilities,

like the Stone Cave separating them into different layers.

"So, your Bell Tower doesn’t use owls to send out admission letters to new students?"

Li Ang, wearing a Dragon Head White Lab Coat, walked through the Stone Cave maze, asking casually.

It’s been twenty minutes since the players entered the Stone Cave in batches,

and by the tenth minute, the five player teams had already seen marks left by others.

After assembling the maps, the players confirmed that the distances between them were not far,

all within a 600*600 room square range.

The Stone Cave Puzzle Lock is far larger than this, and moving randomly might make them stray further.

The players discussed for a while,

and to avoid too many people gathering in one place causing mutations in the Stone Cave,

they continued to act according to their original grouping, proceeding in different directions,

intending to find the Stone Cave’s boundary first, then slowly locate the Sibi King’s position.

"Owls? Of course not,"

Hoenhem shook his head with a wry smile, "We don’t have any sorting hats or Triwizard Tournament,

and that J.K. Rowling wasn’t a graduate who recorded her mage stories in novels from our Bell Tower.

Before the killing game started, our Bell Tower was short on talent, and it was hard enough to keep up, let alone scout for talent among civilians.

Now, our survival conditions are better—England’s officials assist us in our work and help us search for naturally gifted talents with magic circuits and mage qualifications.

In the future, we’ll expand our search range, setting up patrol stations in every city nationwide,

where eligible children and adults can test their magic circuit talent by touching the crystal ball."

"Wow, you really do have a project for testing children’s talent with a crystal ball."

Li Ang clicked his tongue in surprise: "I wonder if there will be any world-class geniuses with [full nine magic element affinity],

or losers with [zero nine magic element affinity]."

"What’s that?"

Hoenhem didn’t understand the joke and was just about to ask when his eyebrows furrowed, his Mage’s Robe fluttering without wind, and several crystal-shaped magic artillery turrets appeared in the void behind him.

His hostility wasn’t directed at Li Ang, but at the Stone Cave itself—

A nameless cold wind blew, instantly extinguishing the white candle on the table in the stone chamber,

and the four large doors on the front, back, left, and right slammed shut with a "bang," plunging the entire room into darkness.

The players in the room are elites among elites and did not panic in the slightest in the face of the sudden darkness,

either casting defensive barriers on themselves and their companions,

or unleashing spells to grant everyone night vision in the dark.

One second, two seconds,

no further change occurred, the room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

"The candle can’t be lit with fire."

Li Ang calmly examined the candle on the table in the darkness and said to Hoenhem: "Ask the others what’s going on."

"Alright."

Hoenhem nodded, casting a light spell to brighten the room,

while picking up the walkie-talkie to inquire about the other teams.

"It’s the same here. A gust of wind came, the four doors shut automatically, and the candle extinguished spontaneously."

On the walkie-talkie channel, Nebula from the third team said: "It’s the same for David and them as well."

Xing Hechou from the second team asked: "When we were transported in, the Stone Cave’s entrance showed differently shaped doors,

but once we were transported in, everyone ended up on a map of identical stone rooms.

Now that the candle’s out, what does that mean?"

"Humans think, set traps, but the Maze Lock doesn’t."

The Side Truth from the fourth team rasped on the walkie-talkie channel: "The Maze Lock has a certain level of intelligence, but that intelligence is relative.

Without a controller, all actions of the Maze Lock follow a basic logic.

Every action has a consequence; everything in the Maze Lock has a purpose.

The doors closing, the candle going out, this could be a signal with special significance.

It hints that from now on, the Maze Lock has entered the next stage."

"Like the air raid siren in [Silent Hill]?"

Xing Hechou pondered for a moment and was about to ask further when a mournful, inhuman shriek sounded over the walkie-talkie, "Gawu—"

Xing Hechou was startled, "What sound is that?!"

"Uh... it’s Li Rising, playing with that rubber squeaky toy, the screaming chicken."

Hoenhem twitched at the corner of his mouth and handed the walkie-talkie to Li Ang.

"Hello, everyone, good afternoon, I’m Li Rising."

Li Ang squeezed the screaming chicken with one hand, holding the walkie-talkie in the other, speaking lazily: "Old Xing, really, others might not know, but you don’t either?

It’s the old rule of the grave-robbing trade,

people light the candles, ghosts blow them out, and when the chicken cries and the light goes out, we stop the grave-robbing.

This is a hint from our ancestors, suggesting it’s time for us to stop and retreat."

???

Are you filming "Ghost Blowing Lamp" here?

And when the rooster crows, the lamp extinguishes. How can you be cheating by squeezing a rubber chicken yourself?

Xing Hechou tried to vent his frustration but couldn’t, his eye twitched a couple of times, and he had to sigh, "Brother Li, just tell us your plan if you’ve got one."

"My plan is simple: Heaven, Earth, Man, Ghosts, Gods, Buddhas, Demons, Beasts, Frighten, Suppress, Disappear, Object, Transform, Yin, Yang, Empty."

Li Ang righteously declared, "These sixteen words yin-yang Feng Shui secret technique unveils the secrets of heaven and gathers the wisdom of the ancients. One can observe celestial phenomena above to understand fate, and delve into earthly veins below to derive myriad changes.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a compass, live chicken, black donkey hoof, Vajra Umbrella, or Grave Robbing Talisman on me, and since we’re in India, Feng Shui techniques might not be effective."

Then why did you mention so much?

Xing Hechou’s lips twitched again,

Li Ang waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "But I do agree with what Side Truth just said, the closed doors and extinguished candles signal that the Maze Barrier has entered the next phase.

You all stayed in the original room and didn’t move around since earlier, right?"

Xing Hechou replied, "Yes, why?"

"Stay put and don’t move."

Li Ang said, "I’m going to check the next room. If it’s safe, I’ll call you."

Hoenheim frowned, "Are you sure you’ll be okay alone?"

"I’m fine."

Li Ang shook his head, offering no further explanation.

The Maze Barrier has a certain suppressive effect on outsiders,

but his Spiritual Energy was abundant, Swamp God Power was full, ready to transform into Deadwood Titan Form anytime, and he also had the Shining Dice of Destiny as backup, completely unfazed.

Acting alone actually removes many concerns.

He tossed the walkie-talkie to Hoenheim and walked toward the front of the room.

The four stone doors in the stone chamber weren’t sealed; they felt like they could be pushed open,

Li Ang pushed open the front stone door and found that as soon as he did, the candles in the next room inexplicably went out,

Meanwhile, the other three stone doors in the original room all sealed shut, unable to be pushed open again.

"What’s this? Can you only choose one direction?"

Li Ang muttered as he walked into the next room to check it out.

The setup in the new room had not changed at all except for the candles automatically going out.

And when he tried to push open the second room’s doors, he found all four doors in the second room were also sealed shut, not budging at all.

"Hmm..."

Li Ang thought for a moment, then returned to the original room, closed the front door, and tried to open the left door,

finding that it couldn’t be opened,

and neither could the back or right door.

Only the front door could be opened, and once opened, the candles in the second room automatically went out.

So Li Ang, through the walkie-talkie, had the other team members try it out too, and they encountered the same situation.

"What does this mean? Are all the rooms in a quantum state, only collapsing into reality upon observation?"

Li Ang muttered, falling into thought,

and after a moment, he tried again.

He had everyone else in the room enter the second room with him,

and once everyone was in the room, the door automatically closed from behind, with no way to return,

In the second room, only the left door could be opened.

Following the left door, they entered the third room, finding that the candles automatically went out, and once again only the left door was openable.

The third room was the same.

The fourth room was the same.

Upon entering the fourth room, everyone was now confused.

Nothing had happened along the way except the continuous extinguishing of the candles,

According to the pattern of continuously turning left, their next step should bring them back to the original room.

Could it be that they’re going to be in an infinite loop?

Li Ang’s eyes shone as he pushed open the left door of the fourth room, and indeed he saw the initial room with its marked wall,

but this time, the candles in the room ignited by themselves the moment the door was opened.

"The candles lit by themselves?"

Hoenheim frowned and walked into the initial room, casually casting a dozen detection spells.

"Candles aren’t like ’Boruto’; of course, they’re flammable."

Li Ang casually remarked, glancing around the initial room.

Besides the candles lighting up, there were no changes to the room’s arrangement,

and the candles themselves were likely part of the Maze, merely emitting light and heat without dripping wax or shortening.

"So, what’s the meaning of this?"

Hoenheim pondered, "Is it trying to trap us here indefinitely?"

"I don’t think so."

Li Ang said, "If it just wanted to imprison us here, it could easily seal the room; no need to lead us around.

Plus, the Maze can’t hold players indefinitely—it relies on the Power of Faith supplied by ordinary believers outside to maintain itself,

If we were forced, and if we disregarded the lives of ordinary people and dismantled it with force, the Maze would definitely not withstand that.

The situation seems to be more of a delaying tactic."

Hoenheim frowned, "A tactic?"

"Just a stalling tactic."

Li Ang waved his hand, "The ultimate goal of the Maze is to protect the core, the Sibi King, to delay outside players as much as possible from finding him.

But the Maze can’t lock players in,

Any player group has the power to forcibly dismantle a door or several within a short time, and if worse comes to worst, there’s also Michael outside who can provide support.

So, what the Maze Barrier is doing is taking full advantage of its rules to guide outsiders away from the Sibi King’s location.

And the strange phenomena appearing in these rooms now,

such as candles lighting and extinguishing on their own, doors sealing shut, are part of the Maze Barrier’s rules.

What we need to do now is find the original path that the Maze Barrier intended us to take,

and the Sibi King’s body is likely in the opposite direction of that path.

If I’m not mistaken, after re-entering the initial room, some rule here has changed..."

As he spoke, he tried to open the four doors of the initial room in four directions.

Previously, he had pushed open the front door and entered room number two,

But this time, the front door of the initial room was locked,

while the back door was openable.

Considering the initial room as the origin of an axis, they then entered the (0, -1) room.

On the fifth move, entering the (0, -1) room, the candle went from light to dark, the left door opened.

On the sixth move, entering the (1, -1) room, the candle went from light to dark, the left door opened.

On the seventh move, entering the (1, 0) room, the candle went from light to dark, the left door opened.

On the eighth move, entering (0, 0), they returned to the original room, the candle went from dark to light, the right door opened.