This was one of the joys of decryption.
Often, a casual inspiration could be the key to breaking the deadlock.
And then everything suddenly became clear.
Upon hearing Ji Xun speak, both Chu Jiu and Nan Jing looked at him in surprise and anticipation.
Nan Jing asked in confusion, "Key?"
Ji Xun's eyes gradually deepened, nodding, "Yes! More precisely, it's the 'secret key' to decryption."
He looked at the spiritualist lady and added, "Your words just now inspired me!"
Nan Jing was baffled, pointing at herself, "Ah... what did I... what did I say?"
Ji Xun's attitude made her doubt herself.
It sounded like she had found some crucial clue?
Chu Jiu tried to recall what Nan Jing had said, but after a moment, it was clear she couldn't remember.
Ji Xun found the solution, his gaze intense as he explained directly, "The maze and this secret room are connected! We shouldn't limit our puzzle-solving approach to just the murals in this room. The maze we traversed before is actually the method to decipher these contents."
Pausing briefly, he continued, "Simply put, the route we took in the maze is the key, and the writings in this secret room are the cipher. The previous maze was like a Rubik's Cube, and this secret room is the same! By solving the maze's path, we already hold the solution to breaking through."
This was one of the simplest ways to hide information in cryptography.
The difficulty lay here.
If you couldn't think in that direction, you'd rack your brains and still not figure it out.
Upon hearing this, Chu Jiu vaguely understood something, looking at the symbols on the wall bricks, "You mean, we need to disrupt these symbols and then rearrange them using a specific method?"
"Exactly!"
Ji Xun nodded, then said, "The craftsmen who built this maze concealed cryptic messages within their carvings. The sequence isn't what we see on the surface but is hidden."
Nan Jing blinked her large, lively eyes and finally caught on, saying, "I get it now too!"
But both girls struggled to recall the paths they had taken, which were already becoming fuzzy.
And how exactly were they supposed to disrupt them?
Copy each symbol onto paper, then cut and rearrange them like a puzzle?
No need!
Ji Xun could explain it; he clearly remembered the path.
↑←↓←↑→↓←...
This was the path they had taken to enter the tomb.
If you viewed this square secret room as a manipulable "Rubik's Cube," then each symbol-carved wall brick was a movable cube.
Following this sequence of manipulations, the cubes would move from their original positions.
Then they would form a new arrangement.
In Ji Xun's mind, the symbols he had memorized began to move automatically.
By the time he finished speaking, his mind had already moved all the Rubik's Cubes to their final positions, revealing a sequence of several consecutive mysterious symbols: '⊰', '☍'...
It wasn't necessarily fixed to this specific route, but ultimately, all paths led to the same outcome!
This was an extremely clever design!
Ji Xun felt a surge of excitement he hadn't experienced in a long time.
He recognized them perfectly.
In ancient Tarranese, those characters meant: "hidden passage."
Suddenly, it all made sense.
But even if one didn't understand, it didn't matter.
The method to escape the maze wasn't about triggering a mechanism or recognizing Tarranese symbols; it was about understanding this approach!
Ji Xun walked over and tapped lightly on two symbols that were far apart.
His tapping seemed to trigger the judgment mechanism of an alternate dimension.
With the final tap on the last symbol, an enlightenment appeared: "You have discovered a secret passage out of the maze. Congratulations on solving the Great Cemetery Maze."
"Found it!"
A slight movement appeared on Ji Xun's brow, and a faint smile tugged at his lips.
The fact proved that his earlier approach had been completely correct.
With the puzzle solved, the path forward suddenly became clear.
Three thousand years ago, the craftsmen who built this tomb chose to seal their secrets. One of them had prepared in advance, embedding an escape route within the maze's design. And he had cleverly hidden the information about that passage within these carvings.
...
Not only Ji Xun saw the enlightenment, but Chu Jiu and Nan Jing also saw it.
Nan Jing's eyes widened instantly, finding it hard to believe: they had found the exit just like that?
They had watched Ji Xun analyze a bunch of theories moments ago, and before their minds could catch up with the thought process, they saw him lightly tap a few wall bricks.
Then the enlightenment appeared.
There was a surreal sense of unreality.
Nan Jing, unable to contain her excitement, covered her mouth and exclaimed, "Chu Jiu, we can get out!"
Chu Jiu also felt a surge of joy.
But that joy lasted only a moment on her face.
Then she seemed to remember something, her expression becoming complex as she murmured to herself, "Have we survived...?"
Ji Xun let out a long breath.
The pleasure from solving the maze had put him into a strange state.
Truly understanding the maze's design and solving it gave him a profound sense of intellectual satisfaction, a mental gratification that was almost transcendent.
Looking at the myriad of carvings in the secret room, he muttered, "The encryption methods of that craftsman were truly masterful."
To hide clues within such complex carvings while ensuring the original content remained logical required computational power beyond that of ordinary human thought.
Ji Xun could crack it.
But designing such a maze himself would be at least a hundred times more difficult.
Was this the extraordinary ability granted by the [5 Wisdom] sequence?
Indeed, the world seen by the wise was entirely different from that seen by ordinary people.
Ji Xun suddenly felt that the extraordinary world was becoming more fascinating.
It allowed mortals to see the truth through the eyes of the extraordinary!
...
Sometimes, surprises come so suddenly that they seem unreal.
Nan Jing, at this moment, looked at the twisted black hole with stars in her eyes, her expression clearly saying 'I must be dreaming.'
The elite troops of the Governor's Mansion had been wiped out in this maze, and yet the three of them had survived?
The ecstatic relief of surviving a calamity was something that could not be truly understood without experiencing it.
Although she had heard a lot, this spiritualist lady still hadn't fully grasped Ji Xun's explanation of the Rubik's Cube principle.
Her mind wasn't enough to comprehend it all, so she was eager to ask, "Mr. Ji Xun, how did you do it?"
But as soon as she spoke, her excitement froze on her face.
She sensed something was off in the atmosphere of the secret room.
There was no joy, only silence.
Turning to look, Chu Jiu's face was somber.
Ji Xun also fell silent.
He seemed to have guessed something, lowering his brows with a deep gaze.
Nan Jing, puzzled, asked, "Chu Jiu...?"
Why were they not happy even though they had managed to escape?
The two seemed to have fallen into a subtle understanding that neither she nor anyone else could grasp.
Chu Jiu heard her.
Turning to her closest partner, she gave a faint smile.
She walked over, placing a hand on Nan Jing's shoulder, her eyes filled with a glimmer of expectation, "Little Nan, you must take care from now on."
Nan Jing found the words puzzling but sensed a tone of farewell, "You...?"
Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly felt her mind go blank, and she fainted.
Ji Xun watched silently from the side.
It wasn't surprising.
...
Chu Jiu placed the unconscious Nan Jing on the ground, then stood up and spoke to Ji Xun with a sincere tone, "Mr. Ji Xun, I leave Little Nan in your care."
Ji Xun listened, pausing for a moment.
There was a trace of complexity in his eyes, but he eventually responded, "Mm."
He had actually considered this before.
His old friend had a treasure capable of leaving the alternate dimension, meaning the maze could never trap her.
However, this also meant that those who wanted to kill her likely knew this information.
Thus, the ambush in the maze was arranged.
To prevent any mishap, there were likely people waiting outside the maze.
In case the assassination failed, there would be others to deliver the final blow.
To prevent future trouble.
Ji Xun had realized this from the beginning.
Even if they discovered the exit, Chu Jiu would never be able to leave with others.
Leaving together would only drag others into a death trap.
Ji Xun could understand this.
Chu Jiu knew he could understand this.
That was the reason for their mutual silence when the exit appeared.
This understanding had developed at some unknown point.
Chu Jiu couldn't bring Nan Jing along to face danger.
Seeing Ji Xun's agreement, Chu Jiu nodded slightly, "Sorry for the trouble."
With that, she took one last look at her partner and turned to walk towards the twisted light portal.
The ceramic pot and the spoils of the third-tier Frost Knight were left behind.
Roughly, it seems like the payment for the entrusted task.
Or maybe it doesn't matter anymore.
Ji Xun remained silent.
But looking at the desolate figure turning away, he thought of something and called out, "Hey."
Chu Jiu glanced back.
Ji Xun thought for a second, then casually said a farewell, "It's rare to meet a friend who suits my taste. If you can live, don't die."
"..."
Hearing this, Chu Jiu glanced at him.
She wanted to respond politely.
But as the words reached her lips, the pain of being betrayed by her closest kin surged in her heart, and she couldn't utter a single word.
In the end, she just turned and left.
It seemed like she said "Hmm," but it was unclear, and her lonely figure had already disappeared into the secret room.
With one less member in the three-person team, Ji Xun sighed slightly.
There was no pretentious thought.
The first person he met in this world was Chu Jiu, and she suited his temperament.
Moreover, they had met twice, and both times she had helped him a lot.
That was rare.
The betrayal was clearly a significant blow to Chu Jiu, but it was her personal matter to deal with, and Ji Xun had nothing much to say.
Watching her leave, he glanced at the unconscious Nan Jing and cleared the fleeting chaotic thoughts.
...
Ji Xun turned his gaze back to the ancient Talon text on the wall.
Actually, he hadn't finished explaining earlier. Besides the hidden exit information, there should be another hidden plot in this secret room.
It's also something the craftsman hid within those symbols.
Clearing the level doesn't necessarily require understanding Talon language. Once you grasp the method, you can use the previous means to open the exit.
But to trigger this hidden plot, you definitely need to understand what is written in this secret room.
In Ji Xun's mind, on another side of the "cube," several characters combined to form this passage.
The translated content roughly means: "The queen used her beautiful singing to open the secret passage of the tomb, leading to where the king slumbers..."
It seemed like using some method, another hidden passage could be opened.
Trigger the ultimate easter egg?
Ji Xun had some ideas for cracking it.
But after thinking it over, he chose not to trigger this side hidden plot.
The exit had already appeared, and there was no need to go the extra mile.
He estimated that those who could clear the level now would probably receive an A or B grade evaluation. If the hidden plot was triggered, it might lead to an "S perfect evaluation." Or it could directly cause some easter egg to be uncovered, causing the entire space to disappear.
If it were elsewhere, he wouldn't give up such an extra reward.
But not now.
No need to think, Governor Cao Sihai had been trapped in the labyrinth for six days.
Now the outside was surely filled with people waiting for the result.
Not necessarily all from the Governor's Mansion.
But definitely, everyone was curious about what happened in the labyrinth.
If the different-dimensional space directly disappeared, Ji Xun could imagine the scene of a thousand guns pointed at his head as soon as he got out.
More importantly, this was a D-level different-dimensional space.
The reason it could entrap those from the Governor's Mansion was mainly due to the confusing nature of the labyrinth space and the disrupted order of solving puzzles, not its intrinsic difficulty.
And the space was called "Great Graveyard Labyrinth," not something like "XX King's Tomb."
So Ji Xun guessed that even if the hidden plot was triggered, the rewards wouldn't be very rich.
Currently, Ji Xun had eight Frost Knight trophies, plus this third-tier one, and that mysterious "Cursed Ceramic Jar."
This haul was already more than what many high-level different-dimensional spaces could produce.
There was no need to be greedy for the small gains from the hidden plot.
....
Thinking this, Ji Xun stopped considering the labyrinth side plot.
He walked to the corpse.
Chu Jiu had left, taking nothing with her.
So Ji Xun unceremoniously took everything.
He collected the Frost Knight's armor, greatsword, and storage ring.
These were high-level equipment with the "Exceptional" prefix, more valuable than the previous sets of fine armor.
And that mysterious "Cursed Ceramic Jar," which couldn't be stored in the storage ring, he wrapped in a piece of cloth and hung at his waist.
After organizing the trophies, Ji Xun sat beside the corpse and began meditating, simultaneously using "Feast" to continue absorbing the supernatural traits from the corpse.
Nan Jing hadn't woken up yet, and Chu Jiu's departure might cause some commotion, so he needed to wait a bit before leaving.
In a flash, eight hours had passed.
Only then did Nan Jing wake up.