Chapter 56
Chapter 56
“Sister Sen!” Lin Xiaoxue suddenly cried out beside her, delighted.
Wei Sen looked over and saw that Lin Xiaoxue had somehow already torn the label off her bottle of mineral water.
“Look, I found the second half of the rules!” Lin Xiaoxue’s eyes sparkled.
Wei Sen hurriedly peeled the label off her own bottle to check.
Sure enough, the back was densely printed with rules in tiny black text.
“Nice!” Wei Sen gave Lin Xiaoxue an approving look.
Lin Xiaoxue chuckled. “I have a habit of tearing the label off when I drink bottled water. I never thought I’d stumble onto the rules by accident.”
The two of them examined it carefully. Every single rule was crucial to them.
[Passenger Identity Rules (Part 2):
1. A sudden drop in cabin temperature is normal. You may close the air vent, but try not to ask the crew for a blanket, because you cannot be certain whether that blanket belongs to this airline.
2. The captain will not leave the cockpit. If you encounter someone outside the cockpit who claims to be the captain, please be extremely careful!
3. Please remember your identity at all times and stay clear-headed. Do not mistake someone for the wrong person, or no one can guarantee your safety!
4. If you see crows outside the window, they must be an illusion! Crows cannot appear at the altitude of this aircraft! Please hide in the restroom immediately until the cabin returns to silence!]
After Wei Sen finished reading, she stuck the label back exactly as it had been.
Only those who had asked the flight attendants for mineral water had any chance of discovering the second half of the rules.
There was no way everyone in Group B had chosen to drink mineral water. And even among those who had gotten bottled water and successfully found the rules, they might not immediately share it with the rest of the group.
The death of that Fat Uncle just now was the best proof.
Wei Sen knew that if she told Group B the rules were printed on the back of the mineral water label, she could earn a wave of Merit Points, but she did not do so.
Some people were born undeserving of salvation.
Besides, one should let go of the urge to help, respect other people’s fates, and not casually interfere, because everyone had their own karma.
Although the System wanted her to be a good person, ever since she had woken up after the car accident, she had not been a good person in the truest sense.
Just then, her watch vibrated.
“Sister Sen, look! What is this?!” Lin Xiaoxue stared at the group chat in surprise.
Wei Sen opened the messages. Zhu Zhaoyang had sent two pictures.
The picture showed a round Stone Disk a little larger than a palm.
The front of the Stone Disk had five layers of concentric circles. Each circle was carved with different things, and it looked extremely delicate.
The first layer contained twenty symbols made up of shells, dots, and horizontal lines.
The second layer had eighteen symbols: Pop, Wo’, Sip, Sotz’, Sek, Xul, Yaxk’in’, Mol, Ch’en, Yax, Sak’, Keh, Mak, K’ank’in, Muwan, Pax, K’ayab’, and Kumk’u.
The third layer was made up of symbols formed from dots and horizontal lines, thirteen in total.
The fourth layer had five symbols: a skull, a hurricane, a cross, a little person, and a circle.
The fifth layer was divided into left and right halves, one side the sun, the other the moon.
The other picture showed the back of the Stone Disk, where a shallow inscription had been carved in Chinese:
[When the sun embraces the moon,
At the meeting point of the number and the final month,
Avoid the day of black wind,
The answer lies within the sacred 13.]
“What is this? I don’t understand it at all…” Lin Xiaoxue said, scratching her head.
[Zhu Zhaoyang: I found this suspicious item in my backpack. Every ring on the Stone Disk can rotate. It should be some kind of code.
Huang Xinze: The words on the back look like a hint.
Zhu Zhaoyang: But I don’t really understand what it means… What do you all think?]
By then, Xu You had finished dealing with the corpse and returned to her seat in the back. She opened her watch and began checking the messages.
[Xu You: The shells, dots, and horizontal lines look like Mayan numeral symbols!
Huang Xinze: Even if the first and third layers are numbers, what do the other layers mean?
Xu You: I’m not sure. I just saw something like this somewhere before. It should be related to Mayan civilization.
Lin Xiaoxue: (crying) My brain is dead!
Xia Susu: If it’s this complicated, there must be a clue inside! Try brute-forcing it open!
Zhu Zhaoyang: I tried. It won’t break.]
Wei Sen stared at the picture for a long time.
The Daoist had been right. The riddle on the Stone Disk really did use symbols related to Mayan civilization.
Wei Sen sent a voice message directly. “Shell equals 0, dot equals 1, bar equals 5. Combine and stack them.
“On the first ring, starting from one dot and moving clockwise to the final symbol, they represent the Mayan numbers 1 through 20.
“On the second ring, starting from Pop and moving counterclockwise to the final Kumk’u, they represent the eighteen months of the Mayan Haab calendar.
“On the third ring, starting from one dot and moving clockwise to the final symbol, it’s 1 through 13, representing the cycle of the Mayan sacred calendar.
“The fourth ring has five ‘forbidden day’ symbols. The Maya considered them unlucky days. The skull, hurricane, cross, little person, and circle all represent bad things.”
Beside her, Lin Xiaoxue listened with her jaw practically on the floor.
Wei Sen continued, “Where number meets the final month: rotate the number 18 on the first layer until it aligns with month 18 on the second layer.
“Avoid the day of black wind: rotate the five forbidden day symbols on the fourth layer so they don’t align with any day.
“The answer lies within the sacred 13: rotate the symbol representing the number 13 on the third layer until it aligns with the central axis of the sun and moon.”
As someone who had heard this entire chain of reasoning with her own ears, Lin Xiaoxue held her breath and waited for the group’s reply.
After a long while, the watch vibrated again.
[Ding~ Host has helped a teammate solve the puzzle. Merit Points +20!]
[Zhu Zhaoyang: It’s open!!! @Wei Sen, you’re my actual sister!]
Wei Sen let out a breath of relief, but she was still staring thoughtfully at the picture of the Stone Disk.
Immediately after, Zhu Zhaoyang took a photo of the words carved inside the Stone Box and sent it to the Group A chat.
“Oh my god, Sister Sen, you are so, so, so amazing!” Lin Xiaoxue said worshipfully. “How do you know so much about Mayan civilization?”
Wei Sen shook her head. “I can’t remember why I know any of this either. It’s just that when I saw it, it felt like it came back to me…”
“Sister Sen, you’re a genius!” Lin Xiaoxue was so excited she almost jumped.
“Let’s look at what they sent in the group,” Wei Sen said, pulling her back.
“Oh, oh, right! Let’s see what good stuff was hidden inside such a difficult mechanism!”
The two of them looked at the latest photo Zhu Zhaoyang had sent.
[Infinite Flight Clearance Rules:
1. Eliminate the Doom Beast. Merit Points +500.
2. All other survivors will clear automatically. Merit Points +50.
Hint 1: The Doom Beast hates everything red.
Hint 2: Once the Doom Beast awakens, it will bring immense misfortune!
Hint 3: The Doom Beast can disguise itself as a human!]
[Huang Xinze: If we have the Clearance Condition, this is much easier!
Xia Susu: How do we know whether this is Group A’s Clearance Condition or Group B’s?
Lin Xiaoxue: Well, look at that. Some people actually learn from their mistakes. (smug smile)
Xia Susu: Shut up!!!
Zhu Zhaoyang: Based on the few Instances I’ve cleared, in low-difficulty Instances like this, if the Clearance Conditions are different for Group A and Group B, it will say so directly. Since it doesn’t specify, it should apply to everyone!
Huang Xinze: So that means, out of the twelve of us still alive, the person who eliminates the Doom Beast gets 500 Merit Points, and everyone else only gets 50?
Xu You: That should be what it means.
Wei Sen: Mm.
Xia Susu: Ah! I risked my life entering this Instance, so why should I only get 50?!
Zhu Zhaoyang: Should we share this with Group B?
Xia Susu: Of course not! Only one person can get the 500. Better to keep it within our own group than hand it to someone else!]
No one answered.
Xia Susu’s words were crude, but her logic was not wrong.
The difference between 500 Merit Points and 50 Merit Points was enormous. The whole reason everyone had risked their lives to enter the Instance was to gain more Merit Points and see “God” again as soon as possible so they could fulfill the wish in their hearts.
So every one of them wanted to be the person who got those 500 Merit Points.
Only belatedly did Wei Sen realize why Zhu Zhaoyang had waited so long before sending the information from the Stone Box to the group.
Most likely, at first, he had wanted to figure out what was inside by himself before deciding whether or not to share it with everyone.
If he had been smart enough to unlock the Stone Box and discover the Clearance Condition, then in all likelihood, he would never have shared it with anyone…
Unfortunately, he could not crack the password. After trying for a long time and finally running out of options, he had taken a photo and sent it to the group to ask for help.
[Wei Sen: Don’t share it for now.]
Wei Sen sent the message too. Everyone had selfish motives. There was nothing shameful about admitting that.
Although they were all teammates in the same group, who would ultimately claim those 500 Merit Points would depend entirely on ability!