Today felt a bit strange. On the shortcut she′d taken countless times, Baili Weibu got lost.

  She led Cen Kaiwen, only to keep ending up in the same pce over and over again. No matter which direction they took, they'd always come back to that irregur clearing surrounded by tall and short spruce trees, wedged between a small cave and a tiny ke.

  Baili Weibu distinctly remembered that each time she reached this clearing, she only needed to walk east for another twenty minutes to see the roof of the Dati restaurant.

  But today, why were they circling around endlessly? And with each step, the mist in the forest grew thicker. At first, it was just a thin, veil-like yer, but eventually, it thickened like smoke. Standing by the ke, they could see at most ten meters around them.

  “Uh… are you sure you′re taking the right path?” Cen Kaiwen stopped and coughed awkwardly.

  Baili Weibu frowned and scratched her head. "That's impossible. I've walked this path countless times." She took a few steps forward, saying doubtfully, "There shouldn′t be such thick fog at this hour. This is too strange."

  "We're doomed." Cen Kaiwen looked at his watch helplessly. "It's already six-thirty." He gnced around, his face darkening, then lowered his voice and said to Baili Weibu, "I heard people say that after sunset, there could be mischievous spirits or creatures in the forest. They use their powers to trap people, making them walk in circles and unable to find their way out."

  "There’s also the vampire version," Baili Weibu said, pulling a spooky face at him and fshing her little canine teeth. "Romania's famous creature likes trapping people in the forest, then sneaking up to bite their necks."

  "Aren't you even a bit scared?" Cen Kaiwen raised an eyebrow, staring at her.

  "Not at all." She nodded honestly. "I've never been afraid of these so-called yaokais and ghosts. Strange, right?" She pouted. "You guys just love telling these stories to scare girls. It's so me."

  Cen Kaiwen looked into her clear, unwavering eyes, smiling without a word.

  "But right now, I'm truly stumped," Baili Weibu exhaled deeply. "Whatever the reason, we're definitely lost now. Once it′s dark, the forest becomes dangerous in every way. You're new here, so you don't know how serious it can get."

  "So, what do we do? Should we go back the way we came?" Cen Kaiwen looked at the narrow path winding through the dense, shadowy forest, pulling out his phone as he spoke.

  "You're not seriously thinking of calling for help, are you?" Baili Weibu waved her hand at him. "There′s no signal here."

  Cen Kaiwen ignored her, pressing a few buttons on his phone and raising it high, pacing back and forth across the clearing. "I′ll try using the GPS to find our location. Hopefully, it'll work."

  But after walking around for a while, he finally lowered his hand in frustration, shaking his phone and muttering under his breath, “Shit! Not a single satellite connection.”

  "Forget it. Let′s try a different path." Baili Weibu picked up a few small bck stones from the ground and arranged them in a triangle under a tree to their left. She looked back at Cen Kaiwen. "We′ll use this as a marker, so we don′t end up on the same path. Let's go."

  Yet, thirty minutes ter, they found themselves back by the ke.

  Night had completely fallen. The forest was dark as the underworld, with a pale, ghostly sliver of moonlight casting an eerie chill over everything. Breathing heavily, Cen Kaiwen punched a nearby tree trunk, unable to hide his rising frustration.

  Baili Weibu plopped down against a tree, exhausted from pushing forward so relentlessly.

  "Still not afraid?" Cen Kaiwen leaned against the trunk, studying her tired yet calm profile in the moonlight, his gaze carrying a hint of something deeper.

  "I don’t have time to be afraid." She stuck her tongue out at him, then said confidently, "I led you into this forest, so it′s my responsibility to get you out."

  "Pretty bold of you," Cen Kaiwen smiled slightly. "But what can you do now? We've tried almost every path in this forest."

  A few piercing howls of wild beasts echoed through the forest, sometimes near, sometimes far. In a pce like this, they weren’t the powerful, dominant humans—they were prey, always one misstep away from danger.

  Baili Weibu stood up, looking up at Cen Kaiwen, who was a head taller than her. Her gaze shifted with a new resolve, and suddenly she asked, "If I had a bow and arrow that could lead us out of this maze, would you believe me?"

  Cen Kaiwen paused, surprised, then ughed. "Are you quoting some poet?"

  Baili Weibu didn’t respond. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a small, finely crafted Swiss Army knife, flicking it open with a click.

  A brief fsh of gold gleamed in Cen Kaiwen's eyes.