Chapter 72: You're Messing with Us, Right?

Chapter 72: You’re Messing with Us, Right?

Alo was just thinking about his situation when a staff member spoke up, "Sir, congratulations on reaching the first stage rest area. You can clock in here to record your completion time for the first stage!"

Alo snapped back to reality and quickly asked, "How do I clock in?"

The staff member instructed, "Please show your ID, sir."

Alo immediately took out his ID and handed it over. The staff member swiped it on a device and said, "Sir, your first stage time has been recorded. I wish you all the best in completing the next three stages!"

Alo hadn't realized that he had only completed the first stage after walking for so long. There were still three more stages to go.

Damn it.

Who designed this maze?

It's deadly.

Just this first stage felt way harder than any maze he had ever tried before. How could Noahda claim to be the best?

"Am I the first one here?" Alo asked, noticing that there was no one else around. This was what he cared about the most. The difficulty didn’t matter; his performance had to be the best.

The staff member smiled and replied, "Sir, you are the second visitor to reach the first stage rest area. You can check the specific time on the LCD screen over there."

"Second?" Alo couldn’t believe it.

Someone had beaten him?

He hurried over to the LCD screen and saw that two people had completed the first stage. One was him, and the other was He Ruo, who had challenged him earlier. She had completed the first stage 15 minutes faster than him.

Alo’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. Before entering the bamboo maze, he had been so confident and insisted that she follow his method. But he had already tested it and found that using the sun as a reference didn’t work.

This was a major blow to his pride.

He was in a hurry now.

He had made a big deal out of the challenge with his video, and if he didn’t perform well, he would lose face. Without hesitation, he rushed toward the second stage of the maze.

His urgency only made him more frantic. In the second stage, he quickly lost his way, forgetting the paths he had memorized and becoming trapped.

At the entrance, many visitors were queuing up to enter the bamboo maze, but even more were watching the LCD screens for names and times.

The screens were now full, but only He Ruo and Alo’s names were listed as having completed the first stage. He Ruo had taken 38 minutes, while Alo had taken 48 minutes.

The long times made the visitors realize that the bamboo maze was not what they had expected. It was different from what they had read online before coming.

The 1 million yuan prize was tempting, but it wasn’t as easy to win as they had thought.

After all, no one had claimed the prize yet.

The 1,000-acre bamboo maze had an entrance, an exit for completing the challenge, and a safe exit path. This path was marked with signs, and visitors could follow it to leave through a side exit. After more than an hour, a group of visitors emerged, looking dejected and exhausted.

Zheng Kai was among them. He had been the first to enter the maze, confident that he would win the prize. But once inside, he found that everything was different from what he had expected.

For an entire hour, he and the other visitors wandered around aimlessly, like headless flies.

It was ridiculous.

The staff member at the exit greeted the group with a smile, "Visitors, this is the safe exit for the maze. The entrance and the sunflower fields are this way!"

Zheng Kai, seeing the staff member’s smile, couldn’t help but complain, "This is the maze you claim can be solved by anyone with average intelligence?"

This comment sparked a chorus of complaints from the other visitors:

"Right, what kind of average intelligence can solve this? Is my IQ really below average?"

"You guys are playing a cruel joke. I almost doubted my own intelligence!"

"Are we here to play the farm, or is the farm playing us?"

"..."

Despite their complaints, the visitors felt an intense urge to try again, even though they had just been defeated.

Zheng Kai grumbled, "I’ll rest up today and try again tomorrow. With the experience from today, I’m sure I can make it through."

He made up his mind and then, thinking of something, took out his phone and snapped a photo of his bamboo maze ticket. He loudly proclaimed, "I’ve just experienced the bamboo maze at Liyuan Farm. It’s really fun, and it’s easy to complete. Anyone with average intelligence can pass. There’s no way someone can’t get through this maze!"

The other visitors in his group were taken aback.

What’s going on?

Did you actually complete it?

But they had all been influenced by modern internet culture and quickly understood his motives.

If they were feeling defeated, they might as well drag others down with them.

With that in mind, several visitors took out their phones and started filming:

"Already completed the bamboo maze at Liyuan Farm. You can’t pass if you’re not of average intelligence."

"No way, my friends, are there still people who can’t get through the bamboo maze at Liyuan Farm?"

"Don’t tell me you can’t pass the bamboo maze. It’s such a simple challenge!"

"???" Staff Member 1.

"???" Staff Member 2.

They were full of questions.

What’s going on?

Isn’t this the safe exit?

When did these visitors complete the maze?

While Zheng Kai and his group chose the safe exit, the first few batches of visitors who entered the bamboo maze were also feeling defeated.

Xiao Zhenjie found himself in a similar predicament.

For over an hour, he had no idea where he was. But the thought of the bet—six months of household chores, laundry, and cleaning—drove him to stubbornly prolong the time. Now, however, his resolve was crumbling, and he had no more energy to drag things out.

He turned to his fiancee, Julie, and said, "Julie, let's get out of here!"

Julie, however, smiled sweetly and replied, "Six months of cleaning, laundry, and chores. If you miss a single day, it means you don't love me!"

"..." Xiao Zhenjie's spirits sank even further.

To buy more time and avoid upsetting his fiancee, he had extended the bet from three months to six. The thought of the next six months filled him with dread. "Damn it, they said that anyone with average intelligence could pass this maze. What a joke! Is this maze even designed for normal people?"

At that moment, Julie held up her phone and said, "It looks like someone has passed it. Check out this video!"

Xiao Zhenjie leaned in to see a video posted by someone named "I Am Zheng Kai Kai": "I've just experienced the Bamboo Forest Maze at Liyuan Farm. It's really fun, and it's easy to pass. Anyone with average intelligence can definitely make it through. There's no way anyone can fail this maze!"

"..." Xiao Zhenjie was stunned.

What did that mean?

If an average person could pass, did that mean he was less intelligent than an average person?

He began to doubt himself.

Why could others pass the maze, but he couldn't?

"Sweetheart, don't be sad. I'll make you a pig brain soup when we get back. What you lack, you can make up for!" Julie tried to comfort him, but this only made Xiao Zhenjie want to cry. He had always thought his intelligence was normal, but now he was starting to doubt himself.

Zheng Kai had no idea that his casual video would become a minor hit and end up causing someone to doubt their own intelligence.

"Let's go! We're getting out of here!" Xiao Zhenjie didn't want to humiliate himself any further. He decided it was time to leave, as staying in the maze was too much of a torment.

But suddenly, they found themselves in an unexpected place.

It was a strange clearing with a beautiful swing, its ropes intricately woven and very appealing.

"There's a sign here. It says that if you swing 10 times, you'll get a surprise," Julie said, pointing to a sign hanging nearby.

"Is there such a place in this maze?" Xiao Zhenjie was surprised. He urged, "Julie, go ahead and swing."

Julie nodded and climbed onto the swing. After 10 swings, they noticed a compartment in the swing open, and a piece of paper floated down.

Xiao Zhenjie quickly picked it up and read aloud, "Cash Exchange Scroll. This can be exchanged for 500 yuan at the Bamboo Forest Maze ticket booth or the Liyuan Farm ticket office. You can find these scrolls at the puzzle-solving spots and lucky surprise areas within the maze."

Both of them were astonished. Lucky surprise areas and puzzle-solving spots? Were there such places in the maze?

"Can this really be exchanged for 500 yuan?" Julie asked in surprise.

"Let's go and find out!" Xiao Zhenjie said urgently, leading Julie toward the exit. They quickly reached the safety zone and approached a staff member, showing the scroll and asking, "Can this be exchanged for 500 yuan?"

Several other visitors who had just exited the maze overheard and curiously approached.

"What is that?"

"Did you find it in the maze?"

"..."

The staff member explained, "Sir, Madam, our Bamboo Forest Maze is full of surprises. If you find the puzzle-solving spots and lucky surprise areas, you can get these exchange scrolls. You can exchange them for 500 yuan at the ticket office."

The explanation left the other visitors amazed, and they began taking photos and uploading them to social media.

They had wandered around for so long without finding any of these spots, and now they discovered that the maze had so many hidden features.

As time passed, it was almost two hours since the first batch of visitors had entered the maze.

At the entrance of the Bamboo Forest Maze, Zheng Kai and many other visitors who had just exited the maze gathered, all watching the LCD screens curiously.

They knew how difficult the maze was and were eager to see how many people could pass it.

But so far, only three people had completed the first stage. Surprisingly, the highly anticipated Aaron was not the first or second to complete it; he was the third. Wasn't he supposed to be so impressive?

Inside the maze, Aaron was drenched in sweat. He felt completely lost, and the second stage was proving too challenging. His energy and strength were waning.

He decided to go back, rest, and return the next day. He had memorized the first stage, so he wouldn't need to struggle with it again. He would start from the second stage.

But his bold claims earlier would now be proven wrong.

On the other side, Noah's Bamboo Forest Maze manager, Ao Youda, was waiting for news.

His assistant, noticing that there were no videos on social media comparing Noah's maze to Liyuan Farm's, frowned and asked, "Mr. Ao Youda, Aaron sent us a message when he arrived there. It's been two hours, and they should have passed the maze by now. Why haven't they called to tell us the news?"

"Aaron should have passed it with his abilities!" Ao Youda nodded and took out his phone. "I'll call Aaron myself and urge him to post a video. We need to capitalize on this wave of attention."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end