Chapter 1542 - 1532: Results

Chapter 1542: Chapter 1532: Results

Mu Xue leaned closer to Jiang Cheng, "Why is it so pitch black all around? There’s not even a single light." Mu Xue looked at this inky place and recalled the ghost stories she usually read, mostly involving tomb robbing, zombies, and such, making her a bit scared.

There hasn’t been traffic here for a long time, so naturally, there’s no human presence. If you’re scared, just go back first, I can handle it alone." Jiang Cheng looked around and comforted her, hoping she would go back.

"I won’t go back. It’s so dark here, if something happens to me on the way, you’d worry, right? Besides, you might need my help in the future." Mu Xue continued to walk with Jiang Cheng.

"Then stay close, let’s make a torch." Jiang Cheng took Mu Xue’s handkerchief from her phone, tied it to one end of a stick, and took matches from his bag to light it. The moment the match struck, the ink-dark tunnel became slightly illuminated, making Jiang Cheng and Mu Xue feel much at ease. "Jiang Cheng, look, there’s a door ahead. It seems we’re almost out of the tunnel," Mu Xue said happily, looking at the door ahead.

"Don’t get too excited, look, there’s still a lock on the door." Jiang Cheng pointed at the lock on the door, squatting down to inspect it. Then he started turning the dials of the combination lock, pressing his ear to the door to listen.

"This won’t open either; how about this, why don’t we get a technician to help us?" Mu Xue looked helplessly and anxiously at Jiang Cheng, who was glued to the door.

"No way, waiting for a technician to pick the lock would take too long, and by then Mo Xiao and Ande would have had plenty of time to escape," Jiang Cheng naturally dismissed Mu Xue’s suggestion immediately.

"Then let’s go back and see if there are any clues. Random guessing here is futile." Mu Xue felt a little helpless and anxious seeing Jiang Cheng so fixated on unlocking the door.

"You go, I’ll stay and keep trying to unlock it. Maybe I can open it accidentally." Jiang Cheng naturally wanted to stay in place, hoping for a lucky shot at unlocking it.

"You haven’t opened it yet either. Think about it, if I go looking for clues, I’ll definitely need light, right? If I take the torch with me, you won’t have any light here to unlock it with. Besides, it’s so dark, are you really comfortable letting me go alone?" Mu Xue had a sudden idea and thought of a small trick.

"Alright, let’s go," Jiang Cheng stood up, admitting she made sense. He grabbed Mu Xue’s torch phone and walked into the darkness.

"Jiang Cheng, look, there’s a painting here," Mu Xue said, pointing to a drawing depicting five people on the wall to Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng looked where Mu Xue pointed. It showed five women, each wearing different regional clothing and holding a musical instrument.

"Is this telling us something about ’five’?" Mu Xue wondered aloud. "No, it can’t be that simple. Let’s look for more clues." Jiang Cheng led her further ahead.

"Look, there seems to be a text corresponding to that picture," Mu Xue pointed to a text a bit further from the drawing. Jiang Cheng ran his fingers over the uneven patterns on it, realizing the patterns were noticeably bumpy.

"Wait, this isn’t that simple; there must be some sort of mechanism here," Jiang Cheng said as he examined the bumpy patterns more closely.

"Thunk!" A chunk of the wall pushed by Jiang Cheng dropped in, revealing a compartment with a large book inside.

"What’s this?" Jiang Cheng picked up the book and started to flip through it, noticing four pages highlighted with letters from the 24-letter alphabet. "I know the password now! Look, these letters correspond to numbers in the alphabet’s sequence, so we’ll use those."

Jiang Cheng and Mu Xue hurried to the password door, with Jiang Cheng squatting down, his slender fingers gliding across the door as Mu Xue held her breath watching, but the lock remained unyielded.

"It’s not working, Jiang Cheng, did you make a mistake? How come it won’t open?" Mu Xue couldn’t believe it; Jiang Cheng absolutely should have been able to open it.

"Wait, there must be something important we’re missing. Come, let’s go back and look again." Jiang Cheng picked up the torch and moved forward, with Mu Xue silently following behind him.

"I told you, we should’ve gotten a technician; maybe he’d be here by now. At this rate, you’re not going to unlock it, and Mo Xiao and Ande would have long gone," Mu Xue complained from behind.

"Then go look for one, why are you following me then? I didn’t say you had to follow me," Jiang Cheng reacted with a hint of irritation.

"I’m sorry, it wasn’t intentional. It’s just because I’m worried. I apologize, okay?" Mu Xue was scolded to tears, scared and slightly regretful.

"Alright, my bad, I shouldn’t have yelled. I’m just anxious. Let’s go find some clues." Jiang Cheng realized his bit of hysteria and tried to console her.

Jiang Cheng and Mu Xue continued onward, making two passes without finding any other clues, "Impossible, we’ve checked twice, how could there be nothing? Do you think there might be something wrong with our thinking, or maybe those letters mean something else? Or perhaps those numbers aren’t the most crucial ones?"

Mu Xue’s words instantly snapped Jiang Cheng’s mind back, "Right, maybe the method is wrong, let’s go back and try again." Jiang Cheng hurried back, nearly sprinting.

"I’ll try again." Jiang Cheng input the password following another strategy, but it still wouldn’t open, "Impossible, I’ve tried every possibility. How is it not unlocking?"

"Mu Xue, give me the book again." Jiang Cheng wanted to find an answer in the book, so he asked Mu Xue to hand it over.

"Here," Mu Xue handed over the book and brought the torch closer, "Do you think maybe it’s not in the book? Think, did we see any other words or pictures somewhere else? The secret might be hiding in plain sight, just a disguise."

"Possibly," Jiang Cheng looked at Mu Xue, thinking quite highly of her observation, "Think, there are five regions in the picture, could there be numbers or initials related to those five regions?" Mu Xue continued.

"Let me try," Jiang Cheng attempted to input the code on the lock as suggested by Mu Xue. Expecting a click, his hopes were dashed as it yielded the same result as before.

Jiang Cheng personally took charge of cracking this lock; he was among the best in the city, a genius who had become a master calligrapher since high school, making such tasks seem effortless. He studied the lock in the tunnel, appearing deep in thought.

Jiang Cheng and a technician took out a computer, prepping everything calmly. After booting it up and launching some software, they tried to decipher the code. This attempt was more complicated than previous ones, "Why is this harder than before?" he muttered, quickening his pace, eagerly hoping to unlock it quickly.

Whether it was due to the lock’s complexity or the pressing situation, however skilled Jiang Cheng was, he couldn’t manage results quickly.