After visiting the dazzling display area of African animal specimens, Li Jingwei and Keiko came to the African indigenous culture exhibition area.

As soon as I walked into this exhibition area, a wall of replicas of original African stone carvings attracted Li Jingwei's attention.

On a huge wall, some traces of original stone carvings have been deliberately magnified in the process of reproduction. The advantage of this is that visitors will be able to better observe the details of these stone carvings during their visit.

However, even so, not too many people are interested in these stone carvings, and few people stop here.

Li Jingwei walked in front of the wall and looked at it carefully. At the first glance, he felt that these traces originally carved on the stone were not ordinary petroglyphs or hieroglyphs, but some kind of symbol. African hominids seem to be sending some kind of message through these symbols.

The difference between symbols and hieroglyphs is that hieroglyphs were used by the ancients to convey a certain message intuitively. For example, a word like a fish may represent a fish, and it is not deliberately used to convey some kind of implicit information.

Symbols are different, symbols want to convey information, not directly through the external shape, but hidden behind the symbol, which needs people to decipher.

To put it simply, it's a bit like what is commonly referred to as a password. Intuitively, it may be some chaotic symbols, but in fact there are some underlying laws, and by using these rules, you can find out what you really want to convey through symbols.

The main points depicted on this wall are five kinds of shapes, such as lines, gardens, squares and triangles. These shapes appear scattered in twelve areas on the wall.

According to the museum's description, the symbols depicted in these twelve areas come from twelve different caves that historically belonged to different tribal areas. For the convenience of the exhibition, the museum put them on the same wall in the process of reproduction.

Scholars have also studied the symbols of these twelve regions. However, due to its age, there is no written record of it, and even in ancient legends passed down by word of mouth, it is not mentioned. This makes scholars feel at a loss as to what to do in the process of conducting research.

In addition, the symbols of each area are still lost and damaged to varying degrees, which increases the difficulty of research.

Therefore, to this day, the research on these symbols has not reached a conclusive conclusion.

Some scholars have speculated that this is some kind of early ancient writing, which was lost for some reason in the process of later development. Some scholars have speculated that this is a symbol similar to a knotted rope record, which records the number of hunts or harvests, and is a purely numerical symbol.

Scholars are inconclusive, leaving room for imagination. As a result, there are all kinds of bizarre theories.

Some say it's some kind of ancient spell used to curse trespassers. There are also some people who say that it was left by aliens, some kind of revelation left by aliens to earthlings.

Always, there are different theories, but there is still no agreement.

Li Jingwei studied mathematics and was sensitive to all kinds of symbols, as well as the permutations and combinations of symbols. He felt that it was some kind of ancient method of transmitting information through passwords, but it was a little uncertain.

According to the available literature, the traditional encryption method appeared in ancient Rome. In order to ensure the safe transmission of information and intelligence, some of the encryption methods used in the early days were very simple. For example, the letter shift method is used to carry out primary encryption of intelligence, that is, all letters are shifted backwards. After the information is passed in hand, it is decrypted by moving the letters forward.

This method, although an innovation in the early days of messaging, is very simple to encrypt and decrypt, so it can be easily cracked by the enemy.

On the wall in front of Li Jingwei, in all the twelve areas, there were only five symbols. However, he noticed that in fact, there are some damaged places in each area, and maybe there are other things that match these damaged places.

In addition, even if there are only five symbols, if you are in a group of five, there will be 3,125 combinations. If you are in a group of ten, the number is even larger.

And, more importantly, no one knows the rules of the combination arrangement, which makes it even more difficult to crack.

After observing closely for a while, Li Jingwei took a few steps back, wanting to shift from local observation to global overview.

However, these twelve stone carving traces originally belonged to different places, but now they are artificially placed together, and the location of the discharge is very arbitrary, so naturally there is no law to be seen.

Li Jingwei just wanted to get closer to observe again, and suddenly saw that Keiko, who had been holding his arm, was standing aside at the moment, with his backpack on the ground, holding a small notebook and pen in his hand, copying something on the stone carving on the wall.

This scene suddenly made Li Jingwei feel a little curious.

You know, Keiko has never been interested in mathematics, and she often gets some mathematical symbols wrong. When I took the exam, it was also under the guidance of Li Jingwei that I barely passed. It was hard to imagine that she would be interested in these seemingly messy matches.

So, Li Jingwei walked up to her to see what she was doing.

Keiko was carefully copying a stone carving on the wall in a small notebook, and as she copied, she stopped to think from time to time. It seemed as if she had discovered some pattern.

Li Jingwei stood quietly on the side and looked at her, without making a sound. After a while, Keiko shook her head, a little disappointed on her face.

"Keiko, have you found anything, I see that you seem to have found something from the stone carvings here, it's really remarkable!" Li Jingwei saw that she seemed to be a little lost, so he encouraged her, "I didn't see anything." ”

When Keiko heard Li Jingwei's words, she immediately became happy. In front of Li Jingwei, she never hides her true emotions, laughing when she is happy and crying when she is sad. Her frank nature makes Li Jingwei appreciate it very much.

Keiko smiled like a flower, and asked Li Jingwei: "Jingwei, do you also think that these stone carvings are symbols used by ancient humans in Africa to convey information?"

"Well, at first, I did think that these stone symbols seemed to be the ancients transmitting some kind of message, a bit like what is commonly referred to as a password. However, after closer inspection, I didn't find any patterns, and it felt like the symbols were carved at random. ”

Li Jingwei paused for a moment, as if he was thinking. Then he continued:

"However, I still tend to think that this is not a random portrayal by the ancients, it must be an expression of something. It's just that I haven't discovered the mystery yet. “

"Can't even you, a great mathematician, find out?" Keiko said with a mischievous smile, "Then you're going to be defeated by me!"

"Oh, what did Keiko find?" Li Jingwei shook his head when he saw her before, thinking that she had also found nothing. Now hearing her say this, Li Jingwei also wants to know what information these symbols are conveying.

It's rare to be Li Jingwei's teacher, Keiko cleared her throat, pretended to be a teacher, and said in a decent manner:

"It's a lot like the Yamato cipher code created by the Japanese imperial family during the shogunate period. During the Edo Shogunate period, although the emperor was a symbol of the state and enjoyed high prestige, he was only the nominal supreme ruler of the country, and the real power was in the hands of the shogun. The imperial family was under the watchful eye of the shogunate at all times. ”

"In order to facilitate the transmission of information, the emperor ordered the advisers to invent a set of ciphers. This set of ciphers draws on China's Five Elements Theory, using the mutual restraint of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth to encrypt information. At the same time, the transformation of the seven rays of sun, moon, fire, water, wood, gold, and earth hides the change mode and transformation relationship of information symbols. ”

"This set of Taihe ciphers is not complicated, but it is no longer used, so that many people forget that it exists. A few years ago, I stumbled upon an introduction to it in the Imperial Collection. Its principle is not complicated, I will tell you about it and you will understand. ”

Then, Keiko gave Li Jingwei a detailed introduction to the principle of the Yamato password.

Li Jingwei originally studied mathematics, and was extremely smart, so he quickly mastered the encryption method of Yamato's cipher.

Then, he looked again at the stone carvings on the wall in front of him, and it turned out that these conformities did indeed have certain patterns similar to those of the Yamato cipher. However, it's not entirely consistent.

However, this confirms from one aspect that there are indeed some rules for these stone carved symbols.

Of course, even if these patterns are discovered, Li Jingwei cannot judge what information they convey. Because, he doesn't know what each individual match and what it represents.

The two discussed for a while, and then they were a little interested and prepared to continue their visit to other exhibition halls.

Keiko suddenly took Li Jingwei's hand, stared at his eyes, and said seriously: "Jingwei, I'm sorry that some things haven't been told to you. Probably, this has also led you to have some misunderstandings about me, so you deliberately avoided me for a while. I'm just scared, afraid that after I tell you, you'll leave me. ”

As she said this, her eyes began to fill with tears, trembling, as if they were about to fall.

When Li Jingwei saw it, he was suddenly a little at a loss. He had never seen Keiko so sad.

So, he said a little nervously, "Keiko, what's wrong? What did you say you didn't tell me? I don't quite understand. ”

As he spoke, he gently rubbed Keiko's cheek with his other hand.

"I am a descendant of the Tokugawa family, and I have a deep connection with the Japanese Imperial Family. My grandmother is Princess Niko, the younger sister of the previous emperor. You know what happened during the war, and I'm very worried about your resistance to Japan. Keiko grabbed Li Jingwei's hand tightly, and then said: "I've always wanted to tell you this, but I'm afraid you won't be able to accept it." “

The Tokugawa family reached its peak during the shogunate period and gradually fell into silence. Many people think that the Tokugawa family has fallen and died. In fact, in Japan, the influence of the Tokugawa family is still very great, but many things have not surfaced.

It can be said that the Tokugawa family is an uncrowned imperial family.

Li Jingwei was also very surprised, he thought that Keiko was a member of a chaebol family, but he didn't expect that he would have a relationship with the royal family. When I heard Keiko introduce the Yamato password before, she said that she saw it from the "Imperial Collection", and she didn't pay much attention to it, but she didn't expect her to really have something to do with the royal family.

However, he did not know much about the Tokugawa family.

"Keiko, your words really surprised me. Li Jingwei said truthfully: "However, I'm glad you told me the truth." I don't want any gap between us, okay?"

"Okay, okay!" Keiko was clearly pleased.

When she first met Li Jingwei, she was always worried that her Japanese identity would make Li Jingwei hate her.

Later, she found that although Li Jingwei had a strong patriotic spirit, it was not aimed at herself. So, she began to worry that her family identity would affect Li Jingwei's view of herself, and she was even more troubled by gains and losses, and she didn't know whether to tell him the truth.

After saying it now, she found that Li Jingwei seemed to be very indifferent, which also showed Li Jingwei's confidence and calmness.

Because, a confident and calm person will not dwell on the past. A self-confident nation will remember the past, but it will also look to the future.

Suddenly, the sound of gunfire was heard in the street. As the gunshots rang out, a woman in her thirties and four sturdy men in suits and leather shoes rushed in from outside.

This woman, whom Li Jingwei knows, is the one who often appears by Keiko's side. And the four men, he didn't know. He instinctively pulled Keiko behind him, watching warily at the five people who were running towards them quickly.

"Mr. Li, there is an emergency outside, and there is a shootout between several groups. I don't know why, but it's dangerous right now. These are Keiko's bodyguards, and they want to keep the princess safe. The woman said with some eagerness.

"Don't worry, Orinai, the warp and weft will protect me. Keiko poked her head out from behind Li Jingwei and said a little arrogantly, without thinking about any danger.

Li Jingwei's actions just now made her intoxicated for a while.

Oriai was also satisfied with Li Jingwei's actions. She has followed Keiko for more than ten years, taking care of her and accompanying her, Keiko is like her own sister.

She knew that the rules of the Tokugawa family were complicated, and she had to pay extra attention to her every move, and Keiko was not happy when she was in the country. Three years ago, after Keiko and Li Jingwei dating, they were happy from the bottom of their hearts. Therefore, Oriai not only did not report her love affair to Keiko's parents, but instead helped hide it.

Ori Nei had privately investigated some of Li Jingwei's circumstances, and knew that he was an extremely outstanding person, and he was also happy for Keiko. She doesn't know if the two will be together in the end, and as for what will happen in the future, she also has the mentality of taking one step at a time.

Later, Keiko returned to Japan because of the family's call. More than three years have passed, and he has also cut off contact with Li Jingwei. Oriai also thought that the two would never see each other again in this life.

She didn't expect that not long after Keiko returned to the United States, she met Li Jingwei again. She even began to believe that fate was predestined.

The gunshots in the streets are still coming and seeming to be getting closer.