Chapter 275: Great Meri (2/2)
His constant droning irritated me to no end.
Fortunately, there was only a fortnight left on our internship, after which we would go back to our own lives and never see this fellow again.
Although we had solved the case, there weren't any developments regarding the relics. Seeing that our internship period was coming to an end, I felt a little anxious and couldn’t stop myself from analyzing the code all day, speculating on countless futile clues.
First of all, the numbers weren’t in sequence, though they probably alluded to something.
They were followed by the twelve Earthly Branches from Ancient China, suggesting that the words in the cipher were a combination of the twelve sections.
I couldn't think of anything related to these words. There must be a corresponding key, perhaps a book, an article or a set of numbers; the list went on. But there was no such thing in the temple. So what exactly was it?
I spoke to Xiaotao, Bingxin and Lao Yao separately and asked each of them to look up information on the temple, using any methods within their capabilities. Unfortunately, the temple was so remote there wasn’t any information of importance.
The day before our internship ended, we had all planned a party but I was still staring blankly at the code in my room. Dali came in and interrupted my thoughts, ”Dude, stop thinking about the code! You’ve done nothing but stare at that piece of paper for the past two days. It’s like you aged ten years!”
”What did you just say?” I asked.
I quickly grabbed the mirror to look at myself, relieved to see the same youthful face staring back at me.
”Damn! What’s with that reaction?” chuckled Dali. “I almost thought my words reminded you of something!”
”Dear God, please give me a hint!” I smiled bitterly.
”If you can’t get any ideas from cooping yourself up indoors, you might as well go for a walk!” suggested Dali.
Dali dragged me to an internet cafe and excitedly gushed about a recent popular online game called “An Oriental Odyssey.” He begged me to play with him so I listlessly built a character, choosing a monk for my career.
The monk was born in the White Horse Temple in Chang'an, and as I was performing a beginner’s task, my eye suddenly caught something. Dali leaned in and asked, ”What's the matter?”
”There’s a monument in the temple!” I blurted.
Curious, Dali continued to ask, ”What's wrong with the monument? Doesn’t every temple have one?”
I stood up abruptly, overturning my chair. According to Dali's later description, I was just like a Fan Jin who had passed the provincial imperial examination when I shouted, “There’s a monument in the temple!” and ran out. Everyone in the internet cafe was staring at me.
Dali ran after me and cried, “You didn't even log out! Aren't you afraid someone might steal your account?”
But at that moment, my mind was preoccupied by other thoughts. I felt as if I was being dragged up the mountain by an invisible force.
”Hey, where are you going?” asked Dali.
”Back to that temple to have a look!” I exclaimed.
Dali hailed a motorcycle taxi to take us there. At the foot of the mountain, the driver said that this was as far as he could take us. As soon as I got off the motorcycle, I ran up the mountain but I could still hear the driver behind wondering out loud, ”What's wrong with that boy?”
”Oh, he was just discharged from the hospital,” sighed Dali.
My legs carried me swiftly all the way to the temple, heart filled with the delight and thrill one would feel after receiving an admission notice or watching the finale of Detective Conan, perhaps even more exhilarated. The temple had been cordoned off by the police but I ignored the barrier and barged right in.
By the time I had scanned inside and outside the temple, Dali had finally caught up. ”Dude, are you possessed?” he gasped. “What have you found?”
I took a deep breath and said, ”I know how to crack the code!” Previous ChapterNext ChapterPlease go to
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