Having a reliable direction to move forward.

Ronald and Catherine's exploration became smoother.

They didn't encounter any traps, nor did they come across the group of jellyfish by the Digestion River again. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

They walked in this spacious cavity for about half an hour.

After bypassing several undulating folds, a blood vessel-like upward passage appeared before them, inclined at about thirty degrees.

Before stepping in, Ronald glanced at Catherine:

"Judging by the flow direction of the Digestion River, this should be a direction deeper inside the giant beast of dust."

Catherine quickly concluded:

"Since it covers the entire city of Hamono, the treasures originally protected in the city's center must be near the core inside this creature. Let's boldly move forward!"

The conversation was both a communication of thoughts and mutual encouragement.

Ronald and Catherine then set off again, stepping into the tunnel ahead.

At first, this organ, akin to a beast's blood vessel, was relatively stable, but soon the rhythmic vibrations encountered on the ground appeared again.

The road, already inclined upwards, was not easy to walk on.

Now with these vibrations, their energy consumption increased significantly.

Fortunately, Ronald and Catherine quickly adapted.

They immediately controlled their pace, stepping with the rhythm of the giant beast's inner vibrations.

With this approach,

not only was the issue of increased energy consumption resolved, but it even became lighter compared to their previous travels!

Solving another problem, Ronald and Catherine naturally felt good, and their steps became more spirited.

However, the tunnel underwent notable changes.

As they cautiously advanced some distance, having dealt with a few fork choices along the way, the white on the tunnel walls began to change, gradually darkening.

"This time, it's the color changing..."

Ronald curiously touched the wall.

Not only the color, but the softness of the tunnel walls also reduced, now feeling hard, almost similar to concrete.

Catherine, however, offered her own perspective:

"Before entering this world, didn't I go down to attack the core of this creature? That thing was starkly different from the white body parts elsewhere, pitch-black, and also quite hard!"

Ronald raised an eyebrow:

"You mean—we are approaching this creature's core?"

Catherine indeed had a point.

They had been inside the giant beast of dust for some time, excluding the journey and navigating the maze, and advancing along the rapids on the Digestion River had covered quite a distance.

Even though the giant beast of dust's body is as large as a mountain,

through these successive adventures, they had actually traversed a significant distance.

Catherine nodded and replied:

"Exactly, that's what I believe."

Ronald trusted Catherine's judgment, but didn't forget to remind about the details:

"Since we are nearing the core, we must be more cautious."

"Don't forget what the narration at the start mentioned, we have to face the obstructer's tricks. Even if the previous maze and dangers were brought on by its body, I think that's far from everything."

Steady the mindset, confirm the objective, and then naturally continue forward.

However, only a few minutes after this conversation, the tunnel under Ronald and Catherine's feet steepened significantly, becoming nearly a sixty-degree incline upwards. Some sections even had vertical angles of ninety degrees, requiring climbing to pass through.

After climbing another corner, Catherine sat heavily on the ground once she made it up.

The difficulty of this climbing was second only to rock climbing, and taking regular breaks to recover energy was a necessary choice to avoid mishaps.

Then, looking at Ronald, who was also sitting beside her, Catherine teased:

"Ronald, do you think this terrain is intentionally disgusting us, or is it just naturally like this?"

"I think this question is meaningless; either scenario is possible." Ronald waved his hand dismissively, though he didn't engage Catherine on the topic, his attention was on the surroundings, "Wait, do you notice? The tunnel we are in, the color on the walls hasn't deepened further."

Catherine turned her head to look, and the surrounding tunnels now remained in a grayish tone.

She also reached out to pat the ground.

The firmness of the tunnel hadn't changed much either, and the occasional vibrations from inside the giant beast of dust were still palpable.

Catherine's expression dropped slightly, a bitter smile on her face:

"This isn't good news."

"The unchanged color and hardness mean we haven't significantly closed the distance to this creature's core."

Ronald summed up this judgment in one sentence:

"So—we are not moving in the right direction."

"..."

The tunnel fell into silence.

Only Ronald and Catherine's breathing, and the occasional tremors spoke of time's passage.

As mentioned before.

After entering the tunnel, Ronald and Catherine went through several forks.

In such an environment, utterly devoid of reference points, determining direction shouldn't rely on just the tunnel itself as that can easily lead to deception, and relying solely on one's sense of direction is a perilous decision.

Now, Ronald and Catherine had this feeling.

Had they made a wrong turn at one of the forks earlier, leading them onto the wrong path now?

If so—

Continuing back wouldn't only drain their energy but also squander precious time!

Turning back to choose another path?

Seizing the early hour to retrace steps to other forks, hoping to find the correct path.

But what if the path they are currently on is, indeed, the correct one and the present predicament is merely the maze's own obstruction, meant to mislead them into abandoning the right track with false information?

At this moment, Ronald's mind inevitably fell into confusion.

The root of all the issues was the current inability to determine direction, seemingly an unsolvable problem!

Pa—

Suddenly, there was a pat on Ronald's shoulder.

He looked up to find that it was Catherine who had patted his shoulder.

"Catherine?"

The chief of the celestial studies tower returned a confident smile to Ronald:

"Recovered your energy? Let's move on."

Ronald immediately voiced his concern:

"Catherine, the path we're currently on might not be correct. Considering the previous forks..."

"Ronald, let's not discuss this." Catherine interrupted Ronald's rational analysis.

The leader of celestial studies grabbed Ronald with both hands and pulled him up from the ground, wrapping her arms around him just like when they entered the body of the giant beast of dust, pushing him forward.

"Since we've chosen this path, we must pursue it to the end."

"Ronald, have courage! Courage!"

"This maze doesn't only require the wisdom of judgment but also the courage to face difficulties boldly and move forward!"