"Let the country handle the rest; I’m not going in."

Although curious about the depths, Xia Liang didn’t plan to go further, as he didn’t lack anything.

"But we must guard against those bastards. If they come here, they might not remain stagnant."

Thinking about it, Xia Liang’s eyes landed on that barrel of Fierce Fire Oil. The power of its explosion should be considerable.

Holding the wooden barrel filled with Fierce Fire Oil, Xia Liang began to set things up, knowing it wouldn’t expire. As long as it touched a spark, it would surely ignite.

After some thought, Xia Liang decided to place the barrel of Fierce Fire Oil in the room, but he couldn’t let it explode, as that might collapse the entire cave.

"If these treasures get damaged by fire, it would be a huge loss for Dragon Country."

Thinking this, Xia Liang moved some of the gold and silver treasures from the first room to the second room, leaving only gold bars in the first room. This way, even if the Fierce Fire Oil ignited, there would be no concern, as true gold fears no fire.

After about half an hour, Xia Liang had set everything up. In the first room, besides the gold bars, the floor was covered with Fierce Fire Oil, ready to ignite with a single spark.

Then Xia Liang took out the sleeve arrows he had previously seized from the enemies and placed them strategically. If the enemies moved the gold bars, the sleeve arrows would fire.

However, the target wasn’t the enemies, since Xia Liang had no idea of their exact location.

But the sleeve arrows would hit the gold bars, sparking and igniting the Fierce Fire Oil in the room.

To prevent the enemies from escaping too quickly, Xia Liang placed a third of a barrel of Fierce Fire Oil above the door, suspending it with a thin string connected to the floor. Once the oil caught fire, the string would instantly snap, causing the oil to spill onto the enemies below, cutting off their chances of survival.

"Still not here."

After finishing all this, he looked towards the exit and found no one emerged.

Seems like this maze is quite troublesome, trapping those bastards inside.

"If they’re truly trapped, I won’t have to lift a finger. Speaking of, why haven’t they come yet?"

After waiting for another half hour, still no one emerged, so Xia Liang decided not to wait and instead returned to the maze.

Though the maze was troublesome for Kawai Matsutake and his group, for Xia Liang, it was no longer an issue.

If he encountered Kawai Matsutake and his crew, he might even play around with them.

Meanwhile, Kawai Matsutake and his team were still wandering aimlessly through the maze.

"Mr. Nakamura, we’ve been circling here for three hours and still haven’t found an exit. At this rate, we might really be trapped."

Kawai Matsutake sighed.

Initially, he hadn’t taken the maze seriously, but after three hours without finding an exit and ending up back where they started, his confidence began to crumble.

He’d rather die fighting Dragon Country people than be trapped here.

"What are you afraid of? We’ll find the exit eventually, and we brought plenty of food this time. As for Xia Liang, he doesn’t have any food or even water. By the time we get out, he might have starved to death."

Despite his anxiety, Nakamura Komachi knew that calming the group’s nerves was crucial.

When they entered, Xia Liang didn’t have any luggage; all the food and water were with them.

Even though they were many, they had enough food for three days. That should buy them enough time to exit the maze, while Xia Liang, without food, would likely be weak even if he weren’t starved by then, becoming easy prey for them.

"Mr. Nakamura is right; I was too anxious."

Kawai Matsutake nodded, and the group continued ahead, even though they’d traversed this path several times already.

Another two hours passed, and Kawai Matsutake and his team found themselves back at the same spot, looking around helplessly at the maze.

This maze, crafted by Zhuge Liang, was truly formidable. Five hours had passed without them finding an exit.

"Let’s rest and eat something to replenish our strength."

Nakamura Komachi, exhausted, sat on the ground. As an old man nearing a hundred, he’d only endured due to Kurokawa Motoishi’s aid halfway.

The group nodded, taking out food from their backpacks to eat.

"Xia Liang must be starving and thirsty by now, not much better off than us."

"Right, once we get out and find him, he’ll surely be too weak to resist. Killing him will be easy."

"To think he dared scheme against us. We can’t let him die easily; I want to slice open his stomach."

As they rested, they spoke venomously about Xia Liang, their faces revealing hatred. Trapped by his machinations, they’d lost five companions.

While they cursed Xia Liang, not far from them, a pair of eyes watched.

"Seems they’re enjoying their meal."

Xia Liang squinted at the feasting group, while Su Yu pulled a drumstick from the System Inventory.

He muttered to himself.

"If they reckon I’ll starve, it wouldn’t be too much to starve them instead."

With that in mind, Xia Liang checked his belongings: no sleeve arrows left, one had been used against Kurozawa, and the rest were set in the gold bar room. All he had was a military dagger, three smoke-emitting iron balls, three shuriken, and one blow dart.

Besides the military dagger, the rest were scavenged from defeated enemies.

Looking at his items and the surroundings, Xia Liang smiled, having devised a plan.

"We’ve rested enough; let’s move on."

About half an hour later, the full and rested Kawai Matsutake group resumed their maze exploration.

As they moved, Xia Liang followed, his eyes fixed on a man and a woman, each backpack filled with food. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Getting all their food without full strength was nearly impossible, but grabbing one would be a victory.

After considering, Xia Liang decided to target the woman’s food, instilling fear in them.