Such a method was actually quite common among the gods. They would establish a preliminary connection with a selected potential believer through a dream. After that, they would bring the potential believer to a specific location and perform miracles to convert the potential believer into a true believer. There were similar stories in different mythological systems.
As one of the most well-known monsters in Norse mythology, it was not surprising that Jörmungandr would use this method to select its believers. The mortality rate of its potential believers was also astonishingly high.
According to the old man, he had come into contact with a total of sixteen potential believers. In the end, only three of them successfully left the island and returned to human society. The rest of them were either lost in the maze forever, or swallowed by Jörmungandr.
Now, he regarded Zhang Heng as the seventeenth potential believer on the island.
He couldn't be blamed for being careless. The main thing was that this island was abnormally desolate. There was nothing on it, and sometimes no one would come for more than ten years. Jörmungandr was the most ferocious monster among the giants, and it had always been it that targeted others. No one had ever provoked it on their own initiative.
The old man did not think that there would be such a stubborn person in this world, so he firmly believed in Zhang Heng's identity.
In that case, Zhang Heng simply accepted his new identity and politely asked the old man, "Is this maze difficult to walk through?"
The old man nodded. "I know what you're thinking. This island isn't big, and the area of the central maze is even smaller. No matter how complicated the maze is, as long as you use the stupidest method, you'll be able to find the right path."
"Isn't that the case?"
"Ordinary mazes may be like this, but you will never find the right way in the maze behind me if you use this method."
"Huh?"
"This maze is constantly changing," the old man said. The old man said, "So, the trial-and-error method won't work here. Not only will the places you walk through change, but the maze in front of you is also constantly changing."
"So it's purely a matter of luck?"
"No, this maze is actually to test whether the spiritual connection between you and it is strong enough. The previous three people who passed through the maze didn't have to spend much effort. The slowest one took less than half an hour, and the fastest one took only ten minutes." The old man said, "As long as your spiritual connection with it is strong enough, the moment you step into this maze, you will naturally know where to go."
This was not good news for Zhang Heng, because he was not a true believer. He had no spiritual connection with Jörmungandr at all. The only connection between the two was that Zhang Heng planned to kill it. If Cheng Sihan was still alive, he would rescue her. After that, he would bring Meinan, Meinan, and Milliped away from this subway line. If possible, he would find out Loki's whereabouts from Jörmungandr.
However, Zhang Heng did not show any anxiety or frustration. Instead, he continued to chat with the old man.
The latter seemed to have been on this island for a long time, and it was rare for him to meet other people. He did not want to wait for someone of his kind to come to the island, so he was happy to continue chatting with Zhang Heng.
Perhaps it was because of Zhang Heng's identity as a potential believer, but the old man's attitude was also very good. He basically answered every question asked. After all, if Zhang Heng passed the maze, he would become a believer, and from then on, he would be one of them. If Zhang Heng failed to pass the maze and died inside, no one else would know what he knew.
Even so, the old man still chose to avoid answering some of the more important questions.
For example, Zhang Heng asked how big Jörmungandr was, how long it usually moved, how often it left the maze, and so on. Once the old man heard such questions, he would shut up.
So Zhang Heng changed the topic and began to talk to the old man about himself. This time, the old man was obviously more talkative. "I've been on this island for fifty-one years.
"I've been on the island for fifty-one years. Before I came here, I was a construction worker in a construction team. Our construction team's construction speed was fast, and the quality of the project was good. We won many awards and were even featured in the newspapers. At that time, the capital wanted to build a subway, and the leaders first thought of our construction team. As a result, the noise made during the construction process attracted its attention. After that, I was summoned by it and came here to be a guide."
Although Zhang Heng had almost guessed the old man's identity before, this was the first time the latter personally admitted that he was the missing worker more than fifty years ago.
When the old man talked about this matter, the expression on his face became a little complicated.
It could be seen that he actually missed the old days. Although it was more than fifty years ago, when material things were relatively scarce, and there were neither mobile phones nor computers, it was much better than living on this red island. Besides, he still had his family and friends at that time. Now, many of them were gone.
But after such a long time, he seemed to have accepted his fate. The nostalgic look on his face disappeared, and he returned to his usual self.
"Have you also entered this maze?" Zhang Heng asked.
"Unfortunately, I'm not qualified to enter the labyrinth, so I can only do some miscellaneous work outside," the old man said. "I know you're probably feeling a little nervous right now. Maybe you're scared by the numbers I told you before, so you're hesitating whether to enter the labyrinth or not. But in fact, I don't think you need to be so worried because this might be the biggest opportunity in your life. It has always been very picky, and there aren't many people who can catch its eye. I've been here for more than 50 years, and including you, I've only received 17 people. The last time I received a guest on the island was 12 years ago."
"Twelve years ago?" Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, and that guy was impatient. He seemed to be in big trouble. We only spoke less than five sentences before he plunged into the maze," the old man said, "He is also the person I told you about who took only ten minutes to complete the maze. The old man said, "He's also the person I told you about who took only ten minutes to complete the maze. I wonder how he's doing now. When he came to the island, he was still an unknown singer who worked in a bar. If you can pass the maze, I'll tell you his name. I'm actually very curious about how everyone who left the island fared, but I can only ask about them from the next person."
Zhang Heng thought for a while and asked the last question, "Can I use any tools to pass this maze?"
"Tools?" The old man was taken aback. "What tools? Ladders? But you don't have a ladder … It didn't make any requests in this regard. So, I won't stop you if you want to use any tools."
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