Super Soldier in the City-Chapter 2087 - 2150: Escape Room Game
Xu Shanshan gave a slight smile, a hint of pride on her face, her delicate eyebrows raised as she shook her head and said, "Couldn’t you tell?"
"Hmm, I couldn’t. What’s so special about these two candlesticks?" Li Yifei asked, pointing to the candlestick placed about two meters away against the wall.
Xu Shanshan snapped her fingers as if channeling Conan, then straightened up and took off her backpack, pulling out a box of matches. Drawing one out, she struck it to light, slowly approaching the candlesticks from two meters away.
The flame flickered, illuminating the room more brightly, casting shadows of the two candlesticks on the wall.
"Hm?" Li Yifei murmured, "That’s interesting."
"Of course, I’m at a champion level when it comes to escape rooms!" Xu Shanshan proudly proceeded, inching closer with the flame, and as the shadow on the wall gradually became clearer, she adjusted the distance and finally froze in place.
"What does it look like?" Xu Shanshan raised an eyebrow. Li Yifei licked his lips, pondering, and when the match went out, Xu Shanshan lit another one. Li Yifei then said, "Is it a bird?"
"Mm-hmm, and then..."
"And then two birds!" Xu Shanshan said.
"A line from an ancient poem?" Li Yifei blurted out. Although he hadn’t played escape room games, he had been locked up more than once before, always relying on his own ability to escape, so he wasn’t completely clueless.
Xu Shanshan’s eyes also lit up; she wasn’t sure if this discovery was useful, but felt the positioning of the candlesticks was odd and couldn’t be moved, so she had this idea, thinking of similar puzzle games she’d played before, she struck another match. With Li Yifei’s prompt, Xu Shanshan felt inspired and said, "It’s very possible. Hubby, light another match and think of poems related to birds. People back in the day loved this."
This was tricky; most of the ancient poems in Li Yifei’s mind were those he’d read during childhood enlightenment. As for bird-related poems, there were quite a few. But the connection to the era was an issue. If the island’s owner arranged this formation method, from which era would it be?
If it were more recent, the scope of poems would be broad. If it were further back... the scope would narrow, making it challenging to guess.
Xu Shanshan simultaneously lit two matches and handed one to Li Yifei, signaling him to pull aside a bit. She had once played a game where shadows revealed clues. Li Yifei got it and moved aside with his match. The wall showed two shadows, two candlesticks—but oddly, the four shadows weren’t aligned horizontally.
Xu Shanshan clicked her tongue and muttered softly, "The bird is soaring, forming a line..."
"A line of white egrets ascending to the blue sky?" Li Yifei blurted out. Xu Shanshan nodded vigorously, saying, "Feels quite right!"
Li Yifei grinned and said, "That can’t be, it’s too simple."
"How could it be that easy? If our guess is correct, this should merely be the start." Xu Shanshan threw away the burnt matchstick, watching the shadows disappear, then continued, "Let’s just assume it’s ’a line of white egrets ascending to the blue sky’, so the next line is..."
"You don’t know?" Li Yifei retorted.
Xu Shanshan pouted and said, "Is it so embarrassing not to know?"
"No, it’s certainly not embarrassing." Li Yifei quickly shook his head and said, "This is a line from a poem by Du Fu in the Tang Dynasty. The full verse is two orioles singing on green willow, a line of white egrets ascending to the blue sky, the window contains the scenery of a thousand years of snow on the Western ridge, the door is anchored by a myriad of boats from the Eastern Wu."
"So Du Fu is from the Tang Dynasty?" Xu Shanshan asked. Then she asked, "How many years ago is the Tang Dynasty from today?"
"About... uh, thirteen to fourteen hundred years ago, since it’s after AD years," Li Yifei replied.
"Hypothetically!" Xu Shanshan used a matchstick to write down thirteen hundred, then said, "So the era this formation method’s creator came from is at least this period, not much earlier, although it can push forward. Literally reflecting a beautiful scene."
Li Yifei nodded, "That’s the gist."
"At first glance, just now the scene seems to align with our speculation. Look, these two candlesticks resemble two birds on top of the candlesticks, two orioles singing on green willow. When light shines on them, different angles can cast the image of a flock of birds flying. Of course, we guessed egrets, or any birds really, they’re soaring, slowly ascending. If this side is the west... then these two lines connect."
"Hey, it really does, impressive, impressive." Li Yifei listened to Xu Shanshan’s analysis, raised his thumb, and praised, "You managed to guess that."
Xu Shanshan smiled and said, "I didn’t guess, you did."
"Everyone’s amazing." Li Yifei laughed heartily and said, "Let’s continue analyzing. Let’s try to get out as soon as possible!"
Who would’ve thought that the usual trickery of the Formation Method couldn’t be applied now, having turned into an escape room. Fortunately, Xu Shanshan quickly found an entry point; otherwise, if it were up to Li Yifei, with just these two lines of poetry, he might not know how long it would take.
Having an entry point at least gave them some clues. Xu Shanshan analyzed the latter two lines of the poem and found that they seemed to be of no use.
"A line of white egrets flies up to the blue sky... up to the blue sky." Xu Shanshan muttered, drawing lines in the air with her finger, line by line, slowly moving herself, then followed the wall and walked to the other side.
After a while, Xu Shanshan cheered and shouted, "Honey, over here."
Li Yifei hurried over, seeing Xu Shanshan tapping a square meter of wall with her fingers, listening to the sound point by point, saying, "If a line of white egrets flies up to the blue sky, then according to that angle, it should be here..."
"So what’s the next step?" Li Yifei also helped to tap, but unfortunately, this wall was solid, with no discoveries.
Xu Shanshan puffed her cheeks and then said, "I’m just speculating, hmm, maybe it’s not here."
As she spoke, Xu Shanshan pointed at the previous wall, walked over, and followed the route pointed out by the line of white egrets flying up to the blue sky. Her fingers touched the entire path, her face gradually showing joy, and seeing this, Li Yifei knew she had made a new discovery.
Walking over, he saw Xu Shanshan drawing out the Blue Glow, pinching the tip of the sword, carving on the wall, no, not carving, but digging something out. Some stone flakes fell from the wall, and Li Yifei also joined with his sword.
He discovered that these stone flakes were loose, and a gentle swipe with the sword would make them fall. Uh, some tendril-like things appeared on this wall as well, and Xu Shanshan happily said, "Sure enough, it’s here. Hehehe, this proves we’re headed in the right direction."
"Keep it up! I’ll clean this side." Li Yifei was also pleased.
The two sped up, spending some time to clean half the wall, stepping back to find that it was a picture, hmm, it should be a picture.
"People, hillside, a picture of the mountain, there’s also a mountain in the distance. I think I know now," Xu Shanshan’s mind opened as she stared for a moment, came to an answer, drew a few strokes with her finger, and said, "Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern hedge, leisurely seeing the southern mountain!"
Li Yifei tasted it carefully and thought it made sense, saying, "It does resemble something. So which side does the southern mountain indicate?"
"Look, the whole poem is ’Building a hut in the human realm, unperturbed by the noise of horses and carriages. Asking you how it can be, the heart is distant, and the place becomes remote, picking chrysanthemums under the eastern hedge, leisurely seeing the southern mountain. The mountain air is wonderful in the sunset, and the flying birds return together. There is true meaning within, already forgetting words in discernment...’ Xu Shanshan muttered. She was very familiar with this poem and didn’t need Li Yifei to remind her. Moreover, she remembered the poem’s author, continuing saying, ’The author is Tao Yuanming, a person from the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Eastern Jin means... After the Han Dynasty came the Three Kingdoms, after the Three Kingdoms came the Jin Dynasty. I remember Sima Yi... which means several hundred years before the Tang Dynasty, or even more."
"Completely correct analysis, but where does this poem point to?" Li Yifei clapped his hands in praise.
Praised by Li Yifei, Xu Shanshan secretly delighted, raising her chin, saying, "Don’t rush, let’s analyze slowly, this is the fun of the room escape."
Alright, so I’m the anxious one, Li Yifei nodded, saying, "Alright, let’s leave it all to our Lady Xu."
"Virtue." Xu Shanshan rolled her eyes, refocusing on the wall painting. This poem can be temporarily decided, so let’s follow the meaning of the poem downward.
"Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern hedge, leisurely seeing the southern mountain, the southern mountain is naturally in the south. And the line of white egrets flies up to the blue sky, what’s the next line of poetry, it’s the window framing the western ridge’s eternal snow. Uh, let’s boldly assume this side is a window that can see the western ridge, meaning this side represents west, and the south is supposed to be on this side, or the opposite side." Xu Shanshan pointed at the walls on both sides, while Li Yifei savored the poem.
"Building a hut in the human realm, perhaps this suggests the mindset of the island lord who chooses to dwell here, and unperturbed by the noise of horses and carriages, asking you how it can be, the heart is distant, and the place becomes remote. Uh, these two lines seem a bit off again, but the flying birds return together has some flavor to it. Isn’t this precisely in harmony with the line of white egrets flying up to the blue sky?" Li Yifei said.
"Honey, I find that being with me has made you smarter."
Li Yifei laughed heartily and continued, "So within that, there’s true meaning, wanting to discern, but the words are already forgotten."
"So I guess it’s on this side; there will be corresponding things here. Come quickly, we’re one step closer to opening the door and getting out." Xu Shanshan pointed to the wall she misidentified earlier, which is right opposite the door.
Li Yifei, however, shook his head, saying, "I think there’s a possibility here too. Let’s split up and search, that way we can be faster."
"Okay!" Xu Shanshan immediately agreed.
The designer of the Formation Method is quite skilled, Li Yifei thought as he turned, momentarily reducing his dislike for the other, albeit only a little. Then, following Li Yifei’s thoughts of those green eyes, his body naturally shivered, hoping to find the key quickly to get out of the escape room, to hurry inside.
