Legend of Mir 2: Seeking the Truth in Marfa

"I know a little bit," said Brooke. Uncle Forbes had told him some of it.

"That's good. But you still have to listen carefully, otherwise you will get lost. There is a formation behind me, called the Heaven and Earth Maze, which is composed of the ancient Fuxi Bagua. Do you want to know about this formation? But I can't tell you for free. It requires 3000 gold coins." The old man said cunningly.

Brook only understood the most basic gossip, and had no idea about the formation. So he obediently gave the money and listened to what the old man had to say.

"Listen carefully, it can be roughly divided into three formations. I'm not quite sure how to distinguish them, but it is said to be based on the principles of Zhen-Xun-Kan-Kun-Li-Dui-Qian-Gen-Zhen. Do you want to know the next piece of information? If you want to know, please pay 3 gold coins." The old man continued to ask for money.

Brooke continued to give money.

"Since you have already given me money, I will tell you. Based on the Tai Chi Bagua, in a clockwise direction, the order is Li-Kun-Dui-Qian-Kan-Gen-Zhen-Xun-Li. If you want to know the last formation, you need to give me another gold coin." The old man asked for money again.

Hey~ This old man actually wants money for every word. Brooke had no choice but to pay again.

"I'll tell you about the final formation. According to the principles of Fuxi's Eight Trigrams, it's Qian - Dui - Li - Zhen - Xun - Kan - Gen - Kun - Qian. Finally, I'll tell you the most important information, which is the direction of the formation. Of course, this will cost another 5000 gold coins."

Brooke reluctantly took out 5000 gold coins and handed them to the old man. He cursed inwardly, thinking that the old man had been talking for a long time just to ask for money. He had already given it three times before, and this was the last time. If he wanted more money, Brooke would not listen.

"Don't worry, this is the last piece of information I have. Remember: the direction of Li is 12 o'clock, the direction of Kun is 1 o'clock. The direction of Zhen is 9 o'clock, and the direction of Xun is 11 o'clock. I can't remember the others. Go in and take a look yourself. Remember my words and don't make any mistakes. Be careful, young monk, and good luck." The old man chuckled and accepted the money. He made way for the passage behind him, which led to the Heaven and Earth Maze.

Fortunately, Brooke had a good memory, otherwise how could he remember all these gossips? Brooke closed his eyes and recalled the old man's words again, especially the order of the gossips.

"It seems a bit complicated. I'll go in and try it first, you wait for my news." Brook said to Bayin, and then entered the Maze of Heaven and Earth.

The Heaven and Earth Labyrinth was a strange space. It lacked walls, yet invisible barriers prevented its exit. This small, square space was permeated with a psychedelic element, even the very sight before it seemed distorted and blurry. Not far away, a Womar Guardian stood with its back to Brook. It was unclear whether it was a real beast or an illusion of spatial distortion. The floor of the room was striped with orange and green stripes, and Brook was standing in the lower right corner.

Brook stood quietly, not moving, carefully observing the terrain. The outermost layer of the room was a green ground, and these orange symbols should be the Bagua pattern.

If you want to go out, the first step is to confirm the direction; then follow the old man's instructions and walk out step by step in order.

The old man finally explained the directions: Li is at 12 o'clock, Kun is at 1 o'clock. Zhen is at 9 o'clock, and Xun is at 11 o'clock. He also said that based on the Tai Chi Bagua, in a clockwise direction, it would be Li - Kun - Dui - Qian - Kan - Gen - Zhen - Xun - Li. These two statements perfectly matched. The remaining Dui is at 2 o'clock, Qian is at 3 o'clock, Kan is at 5 o'clock, and Gen is at 6 o'clock. The directions were confirmed.

So how do you get out of the maze?

The old man mentioned two Bagua sequences. One, he said, was the final formation. The other, he said, was the first. He said: Zhen - Xun - Kan - Kun - Li - Dui - Qian - Gen - Zhen. It's worth following his instructions.

Brooke was now at the 5 o'clock position in the lower right corner, the Qian position. Following the old man's instructions, after Qian, came Gen. So Brooke slowly walked to the green floor at the outermost edge of the room, to the Gen position at 7 o'clock, and then stepped onto the orange Gen position.

With a whoosh, Brook entered another gossip room. As expected, as long as he stepped on the orange ground, he would be teleported to another room.

Brook is now in the Gen position, and the next position is the Zhen position at 9 o'clock. Brook still walks to the outermost green ground first, walks carefully to the 9 o'clock position, and then steps on the orange ground.

With a whoosh, they entered a special Bagua formation room. There was only an orange floor in the center, and the rest was green. Brooke thought about it and realized this was most likely the exit from the Heaven and Earth Labyrinth, or more precisely, the exit from the first Bagua formation. There should be more Bagua formations later, as the Bagua sequence of the final formation had not yet been used.

So Brook didn't hesitate any longer, ran directly to the middle, stepped on the orange ground, and with a whoosh, Brook was teleported to another normal gossip room.

Sure enough, we have to continue. Baruch is still in the Qian position at 5 o'clock. According to the old man's instructions, the order of the final formation is: Qian - Dui - Li - Zhen - Xun - Kan - Gen - Kun - Qian. Now in Qian, the next position is Dui, or 3 o'clock. There are still eight rooms left to go.

No problem, come on.

When he first entered the first Bagua formation, Brook had cautiously walked along the outer green ground. But now, Brook had mastered the plan. He moved directly along the inner green ground of the Bagua formation, following the old man's instructions, passing through each Bagua room.

Some Bagua rooms had one WoMa Guardian, others had two, three, or even four, but they didn't pose much of a problem for Brook. Brook had memorized the directions and moved through the rooms without hesitation, often reaching the next room before the WoMa Guardians even approached. Twice, Brook encountered WoMa Guardians blocking his path, but he simply turned invisible and had Xiaobai lead them away while he continued on his way.

Soon, Brook walked to the last Bagua room, stepped on the orange Qian position, and entered the special Bagua exit room.

Brook stepped onto the only orange ground in the middle. With a whoosh, the distorted orange-green space before him finally disappeared, revealing him in a mine.

"Wow~ It's out! Success at once, haha, I must be a genius!" Brook couldn't help laughing.

Brooke soon calmed down and began to observe his surroundings. There were no monsters nearby. Behind him was what appeared to be a mine entrance, but it was now sealed with wooden bars and frames.

This mine was called Between Life and Death. Brooke remembered there was also a cave called Between Life and Death in Centipede Cave, but this was clearly not Centipede Cave. It was probably just a coincidence that the names were the same.

"Bayin, can you hear me?" Brooke asked in the team.

"I can hear it." Bayin replied.

"I've made it through the Heaven and Earth Labyrinth. This is a maze of the Eight Diagrams formation, with two levels. It's quite complicated, so I'll have to explain it to you slowly..." Brook was still trying to figure out how to explain it to Bayin. If Bayin were nearby, Brook could draw a diagram of the Eight Diagrams on the ground and explain each step one by one. But since they were talking remotely, it was a little difficult to explain.

"Wait a moment. I'll try to figure something out," Bayin said from the group. She'd just listened to the old man talk about the order of the eight trigrams, and she'd been so confused she couldn't remember it at all, let alone understand it.

But there was one thing she understood.

"Hey, old man. I don't understand gossip and I don't want to listen to it, but I want to go over! You just took Brook's gold coins. I'll offer double the price, 5 gold coins. No need to give me the extra change. Let me pass through the maze of heaven and earth." Bayin did not follow the usual path. He directly took out 5 gold coins and handed them to the old man.

"Straightforward! I like generous monks like you! Oh~ it would be great if every monk could be like you. You would be relaxed and I would make money, the best of both worlds, and I could save a lot of energy, hehe~ that's great." The old man took the gold coins and laughed.

The old man made a casting gesture towards Bayin, and then with a whoosh, Bayin was teleported to Brook's side.

Brooke saw Bayin and asked in confusion: "So fast?"

"Hmm!" Bayin said casually.

"How did you do that?" Brook was very surprised. Although he quickly solved the maze in the Heaven and Earth Maze, it still took him several minutes.

"Hmph~ cater to his needs. 5 gold coins, directly teleported in." Bayin snorted.

Brook suddenly realized and gave Bayin a thumbs up.

"What should we do next?" Bayin asked, looking around.

"I tried it, and I can't teleport randomly here. I guess it's the same as the first mission map, I need to run to the end." Brook said.

Bayin nodded. Without further ado, the two began running along the road between life and death.

A WoMa guard appeared in front of him. Bayin rushed over with a flash, only knocking off more than 10 points of the opponent's blood. It seemed to be the same as the mission map he just entered. These monsters were very difficult to kill, and they didn't drop anything. They just blocked the way and delayed time.

Bayin immediately froze it with a tempting light, ignored it, and continued running forward.

This map, "Between Life and Death," was slightly larger than the first mission's. There were also slightly more Womar Guards, but that didn't stop the two from advancing. Under Bayin's enticement and Brook's collective invisibility, they ran along the road toward the lower right corner for over 2 minutes. Then the road turned upwards, and after another 20 minutes of running, they finally saw an entrance.

This entrance is not an ordinary mine, but is made up of complete stone slabs and towering stone pillars, which are neatly and squarely stacked, giving people a solemn and dignified feeling.

Brooke walked in first. Inside was a spacious hall, with a smooth brick floor. A straight path led forward, flanked by towering, square stone pillars. The ceiling above was exceptionally high, exuding nobility, grandeur, and elegance. There were no demonic beasts here, but several ornate stone coffins were placed on either side of the hall.

Brooke finally realized that this was an underground mausoleum. The sarcophagi on either side of the hall were likely the remains of the master's subordinates or concubines. The master of the underground palace must have been a person of exceptional status, perhaps even a king.

Regardless, this place is safe for the time being. Brooke informed Bayin to enter. The two observed for a while and found nothing unusual.

Not knowing if there were other tests ahead, the two men walked towards the hall.

After a while, a person appeared in the hall ahead. When they got closer, they saw that it was a gorgeously dressed woman, the man they had been searching for!