Card Room

328 – Secret of the Exit

The previous labyrinths were like treasure mazes in RPG games. At the end of the path, there was a treasure chest and opening the treasure chest would reveal a card. If they encountered a door, there was usually a password mechanism and a corresponding question. Solving the question and entering the password could open the mechanism.

This time, the labyrinth was completely different. There were numerous doors in the entire maze and all the doors were locked with a password—but where was the question?

This was like an exam candidate getting the answer sheet and the examiner asking everyone to fill in the options with a pencil, only for there to be no questions? If there were no questions, did they have to choose between A, B, C or D randomly? Did they have to throw the eraser and choose whatever they wanted? The five people were lost.

Old Mo scratched his head. He was able to draw the labyrinth floor plan in the shortest time and had done his best. Solving puzzles wasn’t his strong point. Old Mo glanced at Yu Hanjiang and suggested, “Or should we continue getting Professor Xiao’s off-site help?”

This suggestion immediately got everyone’s approval. “Yes, please get off-site help!”

”We need Professor Xiao!”

Yu Hanjiang told them, “I’m talking to him, don’t worry.”

It was the consensus of the team members to find Xiao Lou if there was a problem that couldn’t be solved. During the Shangyuan Lantern Festival, so many riddles were beaten by him. Everyone believed that today’s strange ‘回’ shaped labyrinth wouldn’t bother Xiao Lou.

In fact, Xiao Lou was also a bit confused at this time. Previously, the problems he solved had a problem. This time, there was nothing?

How could he solve it? He frowned as he looked at the labyrinth pattern drawn on the white paper. He thought about it for a moment before suddenly realizing something wrong. “You said that when you went to the basement this afternoon, there were seven rooms on each side. Now there are five on the left and six on the right?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Yes, I’m sure I remember it correctly.”

Xiao Lou felt that he had found something and continued to ask, “The ones missing are rooms 601 and 701 on the left and 702 on the right?”

“That’s right.”

“On Old Mo’s plan of the labyrinth, there are five 回 horizontally and 6 回 vertically. The layout of this labyrinth should be related to five and six.”

The labyrinth is limited to 30 minutes. If you can’t find the right exit, each of you will lose one kidney. This was the hint from A of Diamonds when entering the secret room instance. Everyone didn’t think much of it at the time. They thought it was just a punishment warning from the keeper.

A missing kidney! Now it seemed that the last sentence of A of Diamonds was a hidden clue.

Yu Hanjiang heard Xiao Lou’s analysis and his mind became clear. “Each corridor in the labyrinth is missing three rooms. The keeper said that we will lose a kidney. Then the missing rooms should be the password.”

Xiao Lou nodded appreciatively. “Yes, 601 and 701 are missing on the left and 702 is missing on the right. Since the password is four digits, remove the 0 and it is likely to be 6712. The key now is to find the corresponding room.”

Yu Hanjiang wondered, “Is it related to the keyword ‘kidney’?”

“Yes, the missing kidney.” Xiao Lou took out a pen and drew carefully on the paper.

The five viscera organs were the heart, the liver, the spleen, the lungs and the kidneys.

The six bowel organs were the stomach, large intestine, small intestine, bladder, gallbladder and san jiao. (san jiao = triple burner or triple energizer is a concept in traditional Chinese medicine. It is the hollow space inside the trunk. In TCM, there are five solid organs and each solid organ has its counterpart in a hollow organ. For instance, the heart is considered a solid organ, and the small intestine its hollow counterpart, or Fu organ. San Jiao is believed to be a body cavity of some kind which has the ability to influence other organs, and overall health, mainly through the free movement of Qi, the fundamental energy or life force.)

The five viscera organs and six bowel organs was the general term for human organs in Chinese medicine and all human organs were located in the torso. It just so happened that Cheng Shaoyu’s torso couldn’t be found. Could this ‘回’ shaped labyrinth with five horizontal and six vertical ‘回’ also be regarded as the torso of an individual?

The more Xiao Lou thought about it, the more he felt that he was right.

He was very familiar with human anatomy. The kidneys were located behind the waist of a person. If the labyrinth image was regarded as a human torso then the middle row could be regarded as the central axis of the human body the spine. Then the kidneys should be in the lower position, in other words, the second-to-last position of the torso.

On the map of the ‘回’ shaped labyrinth, Xiao Lou quickly drew the distribution of the five viscera organs.

Lung, lung—lung lung.

Lung, lung—heart lung

Lung, lung—lung lung.

Liver———spleen.

—kidney—kidney—

—————

The human body had two kidneys and the keyword of the labyrinth was ‘missing’. The deceased Liu Renyuan was missing his right kidney and the delivery man Wang Wei also died after surgery to remove his right kidney. The key room must be in the right kidney area.

This labyrinth diagram was from a top view, like a person lying on a bed. It could be understood as the frontal image in human anatomy. The right kidney grew on the back of the human body. Naturally, it must follow the ‘mirror rotation rule’. So the right kidney was located on the left side of the map.

If they ignored the ‘left and right mirroring’, they were likely to open the wrong room.

Xiao Lou finished drawing the picture, confirmed his reasoning again and told Yu Hanjiang the result. “Since we are seeing the front view and the kidney is on the back of the human body, the right kidney needs to be mirrored to the left. In the lower left corner of the maze, the ‘回’ unit area in the second last row and second column is the location of the right kidney in the trunk. There are 11 rooms in that corridor. The second last row and second column should be room 201 on the left. That is the exit of this labyrinth.”

Yu Hanjiang heard Xiao Lou’s words. It didn’t matter if he understood it or not. He felt that Xiao Lou must be right. Time was urgent and Yu Hanjiang moved without hesitation. Everyone came to the door of the room indicated by Xiao Lou.

At this point, there were still 5 minutes left on the countdown. Yu Hanjiang entered the four digit code of ‘6712’ into the code lock of room 201. There was a soft sound in their ears and the door really opened!

Yu Hanjiang led his teammates into the room. The entire room was empty but connected to another corridor. This corridor was exactly what Yu Hanjiang saw in the afternoon—the real Antai Garden’s basement!

There was a light switch next to the corridor entrance. It was pressed and a dim light turned on overhead. The five people received prompts at the same time.

[Congratulations on resolving the Antai Garden underground labyrinth. It took 25 minutes and 03 seconds. This labyrinth is evaluated as S-grade.]

They sighed with relief and Ye Qi almost jumped up with excitement. “We’re really out? There were so many rooms. Group Leader Yu, how did you find the exit? You got it right immediately!”

“It was Xiao Lou who found it.” Yu Hanjiang told everyone Xiao Lou’s theory of the ‘five viscera and six bowels’ and the ‘missing’ keyword. The team members listened with their heads in the clouds. They didn’t know how the kidney matched with this room number 201 but they all felt ‘I might not understand it but it is awesome.’

Ye Qi finally murmured, “It is great to receive off-site help.”

Old Mo smiled. “Fortunately, Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao have the heart connection. Otherwise, we are people who don’t understand human anatomy. How could we get the position of the kidney from the five viscera and six bowel organs?”

Everyone, “……”

This was true. If it wasn’t for Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang taking the team members through the maze, forget 30 minutes. They wouldn’t even know that the entire labyrinth was the torso of the human body and the exit could be found by finding the position of the right kidney if it was 24 hours.

The labyrinth was also connected to the five viscera and six bowel organs. The organ trafficking case this time was far more complicated than everyone thought. The deceased so far had undergone a heart transplant, a kidney transplant…

Would there be a liver transplant?

Xiao Lou sensed Yu Hanjiang’s thoughts and said, “A liver transplant is common and removal of one or two liver lobules will do little harm to the human body. If the illegal clinic’s transplant business is more comprehensive, the entire human body is a treasure. We can’t ignore the cornea transplants. After all, matching the corneas is the simplest.”

Yu Hanjiang’s face was calm. “Okay, I will take everyone to search.”

The basement was dimly lit and there was a strong cold air. What would be found when the closed rooms in the corridor were opened?