Chapter 291 Honeycomb Maze

Chapter 291 Honeycomb Maze

Supporters of Isabella naturally weren't backing down and immediately fired back:

[What do you know! This is Isabella's magical tool, can't it have special abilities? If you don't understand, then don't talk nonsense!]

[Exactly! If you're jealous just say so, no need to throw around accusations here!]

For a while, the doubters and supporters in the livestream were going at it, both sides sticking to their guns and refusing to budge. The comments were flying so fast they were dizzying to watch.

Isabella casually glanced at the online comments. Seeing those questioning remarks, the corner of her mouth curved into a cold arc. She let out a cold laugh, her tone carrying a hint of mockery,

"Too bad you can only see the images but can't smell the rotting stench filling this maze. Don't ask, or tonight's dinner will end up in the toilet."

As soon as she finished speaking, the originally clear image in the crystal ball suddenly began flickering violently,

like an old film reel getting stuck,

frame after frame flashing and splicing together rapidly, barely forming a coherent video.

But the flickering was so fast it was dizzying. Whether it was Sophie and Melinda standing at the scene,

or the hundreds of thousands of viewers watching their screens in the livestream,

everyone only saw a blur of shifting light and shadow, unable to make out what the images actually showed.

Only Isabella gazed calmly at the projection on the wall,

as if she had pressed a slow-motion button, clearly taking in every rapidly flashing frame.

Those few dozen seconds,

for her, were like watching a complete short film,

all the joys and sorrows, conspiracies and despair that had occurred in the haunted house at the end of the corridor were etched into her mind.

The image finally froze on complete darkness, and the crystal ball's glow dimmed along with it.

Isabella let out a soft sigh, complex emotions churning in her eyes—regret, anger, and a barely detectable trace of compassion.

She reached down to pick up the crystal ball from the ground, carefully tucking it into her backpack. Her tone was flat but carried a lingering heaviness,

"Let's go."

"Wait!"

Sophie quickly called out to her.

That sigh and the complex look in Isabella's eyes just now were too unusual.

"What did you mean by 'pretty tragic'? What exactly did you see?"

Sophie held up the streaming equipment and moved closer, the camera focused tightly on Isabella. The livestream viewers also started posting comments asking questions, their curiosity completely hooked.

Isabella didn't answer directly. She just lifted her chin, gesturing toward the deep corridor ahead,

"There are about ten or so bodies up ahead. Let's go mark them first,

and when we reach the exit, we'll call the police to come do the autopsy.

I'll tell you the details later."

"What? There are really bodies?"

Melinda's voice immediately changed pitch. Her grip on Sophie's arm tightened even more, her knuckles turning white.

Melinda instinctively shrank behind Isabella, her eyes full of terror,

"Were they, were they murdered? Is this place a haunted house or a murder scene?"

Isabella shook her head, her tone still calm,

"You'll know when we get there. It's too early to say anything now."

With that, she took the lead and started walking forward.

The dim light stretched her shadow long, swaying on the mottled walls, adding an eerie quality.

Sophie and Melinda exchanged glances, both seeing fear in each other's eyes, but having come this far, they could only steel themselves and follow.

The air in the maze grew more and more stifling, the rotting smell getting stronger, mixed with damp mildew, making their stomachs churn.

Melinda couldn't help but cover her nose with her sleeve, her steps becoming somewhat unsteady.

They continued down the corridor, pushing open door after door, passing through thirty rooms of various styles.

These rooms still contained all sorts of horror props, but now they had completely lost any interest in appreciating them,

all their attention focused on the path ahead.

But just then, the way forward suddenly disappeared, leaving only a cold wall.

Unwilling to give up, they pushed open the doors of three or four more rooms nearby,

only to find that every path led to a dead end—a complete dead end.

Melinda raised her hand and patted the surrounding walls. The surface was hard and cold, echoing with dull sounds. She frowned and said,

"There are no more doors. Do we have to go back? We've come so far already—going back would waste so much time."

Sophie also frowned. She stood on her tiptoes to check the ceiling, then squatted down to tap the floor, and ran her hands along the patterns on the walls, trying to find a hidden door.

After a while, she stood up and said helplessly,

"Isn't this supposed to be a haunted house? Why did they make it into a maze?

And this maze even has paths that don't go anywhere. Did we miss a fork in the road earlier and take a wrong turn?"

She tried hard to recall the route they'd taken, but found that all the rooms looked pretty much the same—she couldn't remember the specific directions at all.

While Sophie and Melinda were at a loss, Isabella seemed exceptionally calm. She looked around at their surroundings and slowly said,

"It's not a fork in the road. We've entered a honeycomb maze."

"What?" Sophie and Melinda exclaimed in unison, their eyes full of disbelief. Sophie's eyes widened,

"They built a honeycomb maze inside a haunted house?

Was the manor's original owner crazy? Weren't they afraid of actually scaring customers to death inside?"

Melinda nodded along and added,

"Plus, isn't the honeycomb maze supposed to be the world's most complex maze?

I heard even professional maze-solvers can't get out. How could it be hidden in what looks like an ordinary square corridor?"

Isabella nodded and patiently explained,

"Yes. So the square corridor outside is just a disguise, meant to fool people.

The core of this haunted house is actually a honeycomb maze.

It's designed based on the ground level, basement level one, and basement level two spatial structure, creating a three-layer non-connected stacked design.

Each layer has countless intersecting passages,

and ordinary people who enter will easily lose their way and never get out."

She paused and pointed at the dead end before them,

"What we're seeing now is one of the dead ends in the honeycomb maze.

But we don't need to go back far. If we go back one room and push open that wall-like door on the left, we can reach another passage."

With that, Isabella didn't hesitate and turned back to the previous room.

She walked to a wall on the left side that looked no different from any other wall,

reached out and gently pushed at a pattern on the wall's surface,

and the originally solid wall slowly opened inward, revealing a narrow passage.

Melinda followed close behind and entered. Looking at the intricate passages ahead, she couldn't help but exclaim in admiration,

"It really is a honeycomb maze! Isabella, you're amazing!

With such a hidden design, how did you figure it out?"