"Next time, let's say something more auspicious."

Ronald shook his head, trying to stay as clear-headed as possible.

However, at this time, the position of the waterfall tunnel was right in front of them, so Catherine violently pushed Ronald up and stood herself, both of them ending up facing each other.

Ronald instinctively unfurled the hunting net.

He wrapped his arms around Catherine, ready to face the most dangerous junction of the maze.

Rumble——

Being a tunnel structure, the sound of the water beneath the waterfall emanated upwards, the noise so loud it drowned out all other sounds.

Ronald and Katrina tried to exchange a few words.

But they couldn't hear each other clearly, barely discerning a few syllables.

Seeing that complex communication was no longer possible, Ronald decisively extended his palm, in front of Catherine, closing his five fingers one by one.

"Five... four... three... two... one!"

In their ears, there was only the roar of the rushing water.

But with the change in the number of fingers, they both heard each other's voices in their hearts—this was the countdown to the adventure!

When the palm finally clenched into a fist.

Ronald and Catherine acted simultaneously, exerting force and jumping to the opposite side.

In their vision, the wall seemed to get closer and closer to them.

Given the current trajectory, they would surely slam into the opposite side of the tunnel, and Ronald's plan would be a success!

Bang——

The sensation of collision followed immediately.

After hitting the wall, just as Catherine had anticipated, they fell backwards due to the recoil, unable to grasp onto any protrusions on the wall.

But just as Ronald had thought, the holes in the hunting net caught onto it.

Entangled together, the net held on tighter than human hands could, and its sturdy quality ensured there was no issue with bearing weight.

Catherine, who was slightly ahead, grabbed the net rope and quickly stabilized herself.

But Ronald was a bit unlucky.

Because Catherine was caught in the middle of the net rope, after the impact, he bounced back and failed to grab the life-saving net!

——It's over.

——Am I going to fail here?

In an instant, countless thoughts surged in his mind.

As the feeling of falling hit, Ronald had no way of saving himself and could only let gravity drag him down to the abyss of death.

But at that moment, his arm tightened, his palm being gripped, and a wave of pain came from his shoulder.

He looked up in a daze and found Catherine's arm, like a doll's, holding him firmly, with no gap between the mechanical and flesh palms.

In fact, Catherine's current position was also quite dangerous.

To catch Ronald, the Astrology Tower Master had abandoned her own safe spot, using only her feet to wrap around the hunting net, hanging upside down to catch Ronald below.

Gazing at the bewildered Ronald, Catherine's face showed a characteristic strong smile:

"What, aren't you going to say thank you?"

"Otherwise, I'll let go."

Ronald's ears were still filled with the booming sound of water, but for some reason, he seemed to clearly hear Katrina's teasing.

So, Ronald also smiled:

"If you let go, I'll drag you down with me with all I've got!"

"..."

Then the two of them struggled quite a bit to rescue themselves from that awkward position.

Thanks to Catherine's formidable core strength, she was able to do an inverted sit-up in midair, and finally, they cautiously grabbed onto a protrusion on the wall, inching their way to a safe spot out of the water.

Clap, clap——

Jumping down from the wall, Ronald and Catherine collapsed on the ground simultaneously.

The physical exertion hadn't directly overwhelmed them, but after such a thrilling adventure, they really needed a break.

"Hey, you owe me a life," Catherine said, giving Ronald a pat.

"I'll treat you to a feast once we're out," Ronald replied, catering to her interest.

"..." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Catherine leaned against the wall, blinked, and then smiled sweetly:

"Alright, then we're even."

They chatted softly for a bit, and then had no energy left for further conversation, resting shoulder to shoulder.

About twenty minutes passed.

They got up one by one, facing the current situation of the maze again.

A new issue was right in front of them—where should they go now?

The jellyfish kidnapping, drifting on the Digestion River, and the successive crises had completely disoriented them.

Even carefully observing their surroundings yielded no clue whatsoever.

Catherine was straightforward by nature; faced with a dilemma, she didn't bother thinking and tossed the problem to Ronald:

"Ronald, which way do we go now?"

Ronald could only respond in kind:

"Let me think."

"..."

In the silence, Ronald's gaze swept around.

The Dust Beast itself had a massive mountain-like body; after transforming as the Maze Picture Book, the cavities formed by its organs were no small matter either. Trying to determine direction from here was no easy task!

The only thing in sight was the Digestion River they had escaped from earlier.

Behind them were walls formed by the Dust Beast's body; looking far ahead, there were no references, and the pressing situation offered no clues.

Meanwhile, while Ronald was pondering, Catherine wasn't idle either.

She walked over to the edge of the Digestion River, throat moving slightly:

"Huh——"

"Ptooey!"

The Astrology Tower Master spit into the Digestion River as revenge for the dangers brought by the Dust Beast. After all, this was inside the Dust Beast, the fastest revenge one could exact.

Right at that moment, Ronald's gaze lingered on this side, watching Catherine's actions with a thoughtful expression.

Noticing this scene, Catherine immediately came over:

"Ronald, what's up?"

"Do you want to have a go too?"

"I'll pass," Ronald shook his head decisively, but then his tone rose excitedly, "However, Catherine, I think I know which way we should go!"

Catherine raised an eyebrow; it was quite strange for Ronald to be inspired by her spitting:

"Oh? Do tell."

Ronald pointed to the Digestion River:

"You know, this maze world is based on the real world outside. So even if the structure of the Dust Beast's body has changed, the overall position remains the same."

Catherine was also naturally quick to respond.

Previously, she was too lazy to think, but now that Ronald was explaining, she quickly understood.

Her eyes brightened, and she proactively joined in the conversation:

"So this digestive system corresponding to the Digestion River could actually serve as our guide. We might even judge our direction of travel in real-time based on the changes in the flow of the Digestion River!"

Ronald nodded in agreement, his actions even swifter than his words:

"Exactly, now we should continue moving forward."