After resting for a few minutes, Yang Hanxue began to operate again. He twisted it back and forth, completely unaware of what he was trying to do.
However, he was a professional, so he must have his reasons for doing this.
"Done!" Yang Hanxue let out a breath and said, "I've figured out its password rules. The next step is up to Miss Bai."
I waved to Bai Hanyan, and she walked over, asking, "What do you need me to do?"
Yang Hanxue turned the box and said, "Please help me find the positions of the eight gates."
Bai Hanyan nodded, took out her compass, calculated with her fingers, and listed the positions of all eight gates.
Yang Hanxue nodded and then said a lot of things to Bai Hanyan that I couldn't understand.
The general idea was that he wanted to find a pattern or sequence, and only by finding the correct sequence could the box be opened.
Bai Hanyan nodded and said, "I'll give it a try."
Yang Hanxue inserted the sleeve-turning core key into the box again. Bai Hanyan calculated with her fingers and said, "Upper Fire..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Yang Hanxue turned it half a turn and it wouldn't turn anymore. "That's not right."
Bai Hanyan pursed her lips, her brows furrowed as if she were thinking about something. After a moment, she said, "Upper Water."
Yang Hanxue gave it a twist, and this time it turned a full circle. His face lit up with joy, clearly it was correct!
"Continue," he said.
Bai Hanyan calculated with her fingers and deduced, "Lower Fire."
"That's it!"
"Left Metal."
"Not right..."
"Left Earth."
"That's it!"
Listening to their conversation about directions and the five elements, I roughly understood.
The password for this box should be set by combining directions with the five elements. The directions are: Up, Down, Left, Right, Middle, and the five elements are: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth.
Matching the directions to the corresponding five elements is the key to unlocking it.
Just as I thought I was quite clever, Yang Hanxue suddenly stopped, his face solemn. "There's only one chance left!"
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"This Qimen Shuanghe turning core lock has a mechanism. If you make another mistake... the contents inside might not be preserved."
Just now, I was still thinking that the combination of directions and the five elements wasn't that many. To crack the password, why not try every combination?
For example, if Upper Fire doesn't work, then try Lower Fire, Left Fire, Right Fire, and Middle Fire. Trying them one by one would unlock it, right?
Now it seemed this method wouldn't work at all.
"Then what should we do?" I glanced at Bai Hanyan.
She pursed her lips and said, "Its password deduction is very complicated, and each deduction has to be based on different trigrams... I can't remember them all. The further down the deduction goes, the more complex it gets... Unless..."
"Unless what?"
Before I could ask, Wu Tingxiu leaned over and said.
Bai Hanyan said, "Unless I let my dad take action... I've already done my best."
Hearing this, Wu Tingxiu nodded. "Everyone rest first. Xiao Fei, come out with me for a moment."
Is this woman going to make me find Bai Zhujing?
We left the private room and walked along the corridor to a pond. She took out a cigarette and was about to light it when I also asked her for one.
"It's already good that I could get Bai Hanyan to come. I'm not very confident about Bai Zhujing," I said first.
Wu Tingxiu looked at me, smiled, and said, "What if you asked Bai Hanyan to go?"
"You really think of everything," I said irritably. "What if she can't get Bai Zhujing to come either?"
Hearing my words, Wu Tingxiu frowned slightly, slowly exhaled smoke, and fell silent, seemingly thinking about something.
"Why don't you ask Wu Hao to think of a solution?" I asked.
"Wu Hao and I have already agreed. I'll handle the lock opening, and he won't interfere. After the lock is opened, we'll share the contents inside together."
I took a puff of the cigarette and found that this ladies' cigarette was very light, but it had a nice taste, with a hint of chocolate.
"Alright," I exhaled smoke and said, "I'll go and try. If Bai Zhujing really refuses to help, then there's nothing I can do."
As I spoke, I suddenly thought of something and said, "Don't you have business dealings with Bai Zhujing? If you ask him, logically speaking, he shouldn't refuse..."
Wu Tingxiu smiled and said, "There are some things that are difficult for me to say, so don't ask too much."
Actually, I had always been curious about the relationship between the Wu family and the Bai family.
Back in the ancient tomb in Yuncheng, Bai Hanyan had said that her grandfather and Wu Tingxiu's grandfather went there together back then, and her grandfather fell ill midway...
Later, Bai Zhujing held a grudge about this matter. Bai Hanyan only told me half of it when she told me this.
She said that after her grandfather fell ill, he returned, and had a last dying wish. She wanted to tell me what that wish was, but didn't have the chance.
The reason I asked knowingly was to test Wu Tingxiu, but this woman was so tight-lipped.
When we left the farm, I called Bai Hanyan and got into Hong Yunpeng's car.
On the road, I said, "Do you think your father will come?"
Bai Hanyan spread her hands and said, "How should I know... But I guess he probably won't. He hardly gets involved in the Wu family's affairs."
"Then if he knows you're here, won't that be..."
Bai Hanyan grinned and said, "I haven't done anything for the Wu family. I'm here to help you."
I smiled and said, "Last time in the ancient tomb in Yuncheng, you told me that your grandfather had a serious illness back then, and your father suspected that the Wu family was involved... What did your grandfather say before he died?"
Bai Hanyan glanced at me and said, "You still remember this?"
"Of course."
She said, "It was nothing much. My grandfather said on his deathbed to tell my father to be careful of people from the Wu family..."
"Why?"
"How would I know? Anyway, ever since my grandfather passed away, besides business dealings, my father basically kept his distance from the Wu family."
I nodded, feeling a bit uncertain whether Bai Zhujing would agree to help if I went to him.
I cared more about the contents of the Five Elements Twin Dragon Box than anyone else.
Although it seemed like I was just helping Wu Tingxiu now, I was actually using her to investigate the Su Hou Bead and find out some things about my father.
If this clue was broken, I wouldn't know where to start investigating.
Moreover, I had a feeling that the Su Hou Bead was definitely related to the group of people who went to find my father back then.
No matter what, I had to find out who those people were who went to find my father back then, and what my father was doing during the years he was away from home.
Thinking of this, I took a deep breath and looked at the scenery rapidly receding outside the car window.
When the car stopped at the Bai residence, Bai Hanyan and I walked in.