Free Web NovelChapter 130: Chapter 130: Red Thorn Labyrinth
Floor 23 smelled of iron and flowers.
The team appeared at the entrance of a towering hedge maze. The walls were made of red thorn vines as thick as arms, covered in dark leaves and crimson flowers. The sky above was pale and empty, but the maze walls rose so high that climbing them looked dangerous and pointless.
At the entrance stood a stone sign:
Do not feed the maze unless you wish it to remember you.
Qin Mo stared at it.
"That is one of the worst signs we have ever seen." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
The mission panel appeared.
[Floor 23: Red Thorn Labyrinth]
[Main Mission]
Find the Heart Gate and exit the labyrinth within 18 hours.
[Sub-Missions]
1. Defeat 25 thorn creatures.
2. Collect 10 Red Thorn Seeds.
3. Keep blood loss below dangerous level.
4. Avoid repeating the same path more than 3 times.
5. Discover why the labyrinth changes.
[Warning]
Blood spilled on maze roots may alter paths.]
Qin Yuheng immediately issued rules.
"No unnecessary bleeding. Defensive talismans before thorn contact. Cut vines cleanly, burn roots only when needed. Mark paths with non-blood materials."
Qin Mo lifted a pouch.
"Chalk dust, stone powder, mirror ice fragments, and anti-root markers."
Qin Lian scanned the maze entrance.
"The walls are listening."
Qin Yuchen drew his sword.
"Then we speak carefully."
They entered.
At first, the labyrinth seemed simple. Left path, right path, straight corridor, flower arch. Qin Mo marked each turn. Qin Lian scouted ahead but stayed within communication range. Silent Soul Communication Jades worked, but the maze distorted direction pulses slightly.
The first thorn creature emerged from the wall.
It looked like a wolf made of vines, with red flowers blooming from its ribs.
[Red Thorn Hound]
[Level: 26]
[Type: Blood-draining plant beast]
[Weakness: root core beneath chest flower]
Qin Yuheng killed it quickly, but when its body fell, red sap splashed onto the ground.
The maze wall shifted.
A path behind them closed.
Qin Mo’s face darkened.
"Even plant blood counts."
New rule.
Kill away from roots or contain sap.
They adjusted.
Qin Mo created absorbent ash circles. Qin Lian lured hounds into stone patches. Qin Yuchen severed root cores without crushing flowers. Qin Yuheng used thunder to cauterize vine wounds instantly. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
By the third hour, they collected six Red Thorn Seeds and defeated twelve creatures.
Then they found the first blood memory.
A red flower opened on the wall, showing an image of a wounded climber running through the maze, bleeding from the arm. Every drop of blood opened a new path behind him and closed one ahead. Eventually, he entered a circular chamber and vanished beneath vines.
The panel updated.
[Labyrinth clue discovered.]
[The maze records blood paths.]
Qin Yuheng looked at the flower.
"It remembers those who bleed."
Qin Lian said, "And hunts them."
The labyrinth changed at the sixth hour.
A hidden thorn struck from the wall and grazed one of Qin Mo’s fingers before a talisman activated.
One drop of blood fell.
The maze reacted immediately.
Walls shifted.
The team was separated.
Qin Yuheng stood alone in a red corridor.
Qin Mo’s jade pulse crackled.
Sorry. Finger. Maze rude.
Qin Yuheng’s mouth twitched despite the danger.
Status.
Qin Yuchen answered from another path.
Clear. Alone.
Qin Lian answered.
Clear. Moving silently.
Qin Mo answered.
Clear. Annoyed and bleeding minimally.
Qin Yuheng activated Gate Thunder Command Field, but the maze walls blocked most of the sense. Range was distorted.
He took out the True Soul Guiding Lantern.
Its flame pointed not toward the exit, but toward the nearest teammate.
Good.
He followed.
The maze tried to lure him with red flowers showing images of Qin Zhengyuan wounded, Qin Xue’er lost, and Qin Mo trapped. He ignored the images and followed the lantern’s steady flame.
He found Qin Mo first.
Qin Mo had wrapped his finger with three layers of cloth, a cleansing talisman, and what looked like personal resentment.
"The maze tasted me," he said.
"Do not let it again."
"I was not planning to."
Using the lantern, they found Qin Yuchen next, then Qin Lian.
The regrouping itself triggered a hidden update.
[Team regrouped after blood-path separation.]
[Evaluation increased.]
The final section of the maze led to a circular garden.
At its center stood the Heart Gate, wrapped in red vines.
Before it grew a massive flower with a human-like face.
[Red Thorn Labyrinth Heart]
[Level: 31]
[Floor Boss]
[Status: Bound to Heart Gate]
It spoke in many voices.
"Bleed, and I will show the way."
Qin Yuheng looked at it.
"No."
The battle began.
The Labyrinth Heart did not move, but the entire garden fought for it. Thorn hounds emerged. Vine spears struck from walls. Blood flowers released memory illusions. The boss tried repeatedly to scratch them, not to kill, but to draw blood and reshape the arena.
Qin Mo created ash containment circles.
Qin Lian cut illusion flowers.
Qin Yuchen guarded against vine spears.
Qin Yuheng advanced step by step, cauterizing every cut he made with thunder.
The Heart became desperate.
It opened the central flower and revealed a red core shaped like a seed.
"Your blood knows old seals," it whispered.
Qin Yuheng’s eyes turned cold.
Blood Sun influence?
No.
The maze itself sensed blood memories.
Still dangerous.
He refused to respond.
Gate Thunder Command Field compressed around the team.
"Final pattern. No blood."
Qin Mo anchored roots.
Qin Lian severed the side vines.
Qin Yuchen opened the core guard.
Qin Yuheng pierced the seed core with thunder.
The Red Thorn Labyrinth Heart screamed.
The maze walls stopped moving.
[Red Thorn Labyrinth Heart defeated.]
[Heart Gate opened.]
[Blood path memory avoided.]
[Final Evaluation greatly increased.]
Qin Mo looked at his bandaged finger.
"I contributed blood unwillingly."
Qin Lian said, "Minimal blood."
"Still mine."
They stepped through the Heart Gate.
Floor 23 was complete.
But Qin Yuheng knew the whisper mattered.
Your blood knows old seals.
Even the Tower’s plant labyrinth had sensed something buried in the Qin blood.
