Klasse 0 der 10

Kapitel 56

After walking around, I was greatly disappointed. Not only were the rooms identical, but even the patterns on the marble were exactly the same. The patterns themselves weren't anything special; they were traditional designs of flowers, birds, fish, and insects, crudely carved, clearly the work of an ordinary craftsman.

When Ma Nan was inspecting the room, Yang Mei stayed by his side the whole time, until Ma Nan entered room number 8 where Zhao Sihai had died.

Zhao Sihai's body was still there, lying face down on the ground, the bloodstains behind him already dried.

Yang Mei stayed outside, while Ma Nan entered the room alone. It was no different from the other rooms. Later, as Ma Nan looked at Zhao Sihai's corpse, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

Besides Liu Hongzhong, who had just died, two other corpses had appeared in these eight rooms. The first was a man who had died after being branded on the face, and the second was Zhao Sihai. After Zhao Sihai died, Ma Nan saw the first corpse, but it later disappeared. Even a living person could disappear, let alone a silent corpse, so Ma Nan didn't pay much attention to it at the time.

Thinking about it now, it seems a bit strange. Of the two bodies, only one is missing. If it were that there was no opportunity to move Zhao Sihai's body, that could be explained, but from the time Ma Nan and Yang Mei fell into a coma until Liu Hongzhong was killed, so much time had passed. Even if ten bodies were moved, why is Zhao Sihai's body still here?

Although Ma Nan wasn't entirely sure, he had already realized something.

The discovery of a cell phone on Liu Hongzhong is suspicious; the only explanation is that someone is secretly helping Ma Nan and the others. Could this person be using Zhao Sihai's body to convey some kind of message?

Ma Nan squatted in front of Zhao Sihai's corpse, suppressing his nausea, and examined it carefully.

He noticed a watch on Zhao Sihai's wrist—an old-fashioned mechanical watch. Ma Nan froze, then quickly grabbed Zhao Sihai's hand and turned it over.

He saw a compass.

This type of watch was very popular in the 1960s and 70s. The compass was not on the dial, but on the strap, commonly known as the "tank chain," which was positioned opposite the dial and was only about the size of a little fingernail. This type of watch is now rare, and can only be seen on the wrists of some elderly people.

Ma Nan was excited but also a little nervous. Things don't happen that coincidentally; just when he needed directions, a compass appeared. He became even more certain that someone was secretly helping him. Although he couldn't guess who it could be, it was at least something to be happy about.

With the compass, they quickly found their way. When Manan finally entered room number 3, located due east, a strange tension began to rise within him. If he obtained clues about the Ba tribe's sacred object, he could use it to blackmail the Ba people into releasing those they had captured. But if his guess was wrong, then he could only place his hopes on the police outside.

The thought that all the mysteries before him were orchestrated by his adoptive father, Ba Rong, before his death filled him with inexplicable sadness.

Yang Mei remained standing by the door, staring at Ma Nan's retreating figure, her eyes now filled with a deep sorrow. Was she thinking of the missing Yang Zheng again, worried about his safety?

All the brick walls in the room looked the same, so Ma Nan went straight into the bathroom.

The toilet, sink, faucet, marble walls, and crudely carved patterns—they were all no different from the other rooms. Manan surveyed the room but still found nothing amiss. Finally, his gaze fell upon the roughly carved patterns. If there was any secret hidden here, it could only be found in these patterns.

Flowers, birds, fish, and insects—very traditional patterns, so they couldn't possibly have any symbolic meaning.

Ma Nan's eyes ached from looking at it, but he still couldn't figure out the mystery. Later, he sat down on the ground, closed his eyes, and tried to rest for a while, while also thinking carefully about things related to the fire god Zhurong or the eight-pointed star pattern.

Time passed slowly, and silence flowed through the room.

Ma Nan suddenly opened his eyes, quickly pressed himself against the opposite wall, and searched carefully. Finally, his gaze settled on a feather. There was only one feather, located in the lower right corner of the pattern. There was a branch on the feather, and a bird perched on the branch. Where there is a bird, there will be a feather; this seemed unsurprising. But Ma Nan seemed to have identified this feather, tapping his knuckles around it repeatedly.

The sound finally changed from "thump-thump" to "thump-thump," a sound only a hollow wall could produce.

Ma Nan sighed, looked around but couldn't find the tools, and turned to go outside. Surprisingly, Yang Mei wasn't at the door. Ma Nan hesitated for a moment, though he already sensed something was wrong, but he still jogged back to the room where the household registration officer was and pushed the door open.

The people and the corpses inside the house were gone.

Ma Nan stood frozen by the door, his breathing rapid. Now, in this vast corridor and eight rooms, he was the only one left, and a chill slowly crept into his heart. Zhang Shanren, Yang Zheng, the police officer in charge of household registration, and Yang Mei had all vanished without a trace. Besides the certainty that these rooms contained secret passages and mechanisms, the Ba people's movements were incredibly swift. Had they left Ma Nan alone, waiting for him to discover the whereabouts of the sacred object?

The only usable thing in the room was that chair. As Manan dragged the chair along the quiet corridor, he could even hear his own heartbeat.

Back in room number 3, entering the bathroom, Ma Nan unhesitatingly picked up a chair and slammed it against the wall where the feather pattern was. Ma Nan used all his strength; with each blow, his hand went numb. But marble was clearly much harder than wood, so after more than a dozen blows, a crack finally appeared in the marble on the wall.

At this point, Ma Nan stopped pounding on the wall and instead used one of the chair legs to forcefully strike the crack. The marble wall cracked immediately, and several small pieces of stone fell off, revealing a small hole behind it.

Ma Nan then inserted the chair leg into the small hole, swaying it up and down and side to side, searching for a fulcrum, and then used a prying method. Several more slightly larger stone slabs fell down, and soon, a complete square opening appeared before Ma Nan's eyes.

The opening wasn't large, about the size of a magazine. It wasn't deep either; Ma Nan crouched down and could see the cement at the bottom.

There was a black box inside the cave.

Ma Nan's heart raced, and he hurriedly took the box out. It was icy cold to the touch; it turned out to be a metal box.

It's impossible for a sacred object of the Ba people to be in such a small iron box, but the fact that it's hidden so well suggests that it must contain something important. And for the Ba Rong or the Ba people, the most important thing is undoubtedly the sacred object of the Ba people.

Ma Nan reached out and slowly opened the lid of the tin box—

Just now, as he closed his eyes and pondered, a sudden inspiration struck him. He thought of some characteristics of the Li hexagram. The "Shuogua Zhuan" mentions that "Li represents fire, the sun, and lightning..." Later, it was extended to represent feathers, literary talent, and so on. In short, Li represents light.

He vaguely remembered seeing a feather in the pattern on the wall.

Only then did he fully decipher the hidden secrets of the fire god Zhurong and the eight-pointed star pattern on the Star Platform.

The iron box was in his hand, the lid open, and inside he saw only a thin piece of paper. But he was not disappointed; this paper must contain something extremely important, very likely the whereabouts of the sacred object of the Ba people.

With a slight tremor, he picked up the paper, unfolded it, and saw the powerful, vigorous handwriting on it. At this point, Ma Nan had no more doubts, because he recognized it as Ba Rong's handwriting.

Chapter 34

The waiter brought over the drinks, but Qin Ge didn't drink a drop. At this crucial moment, any carelessness could be fatal, so he had to stay absolutely clear-headed.

Helan and the fashionable girl sat opposite him, both looking nervous.

Qin Ge suddenly took out his business card and handed it to the girl: "Go back first, and tomorrow when you have some free time, go to the Criminal Investigation Team. Don't worry, we won't make things difficult for you, we'll just take your statement."

The girl nodded, stood up, said "goodbye" to the two of them, and left.

Once outside the bar, the girl sighed, looked around, then took out her phone and dialed a number.

The first time, the voice prompt indicated that the other party's phone was switched off. The girl walked a little further, thought for a moment, and dialed again. This time, the call actually went through.

“It’s me. Yes, that’s right, they’re already in the bar, two police officers, a man and a woman,” she said.

The voice on the phone was very magnetic: "Alright, your job is done here. I'll transfer the money to your card. Here's my advice: if you don't want to cause trouble, you'd better leave this city as soon as possible."

"You don't need to tell me that. If I hadn't wanted to leave this city a long time ago, would I be helping you fool the police?"