(Foreword)

Cold ice can't break the water, and dead wood can meet spring again.

(Text)

We looked at the mechanism in front of us with anticipation, but it seemed that it had not been activated, it was still calmly placed in front of us, none of us spoke, as if waiting for the moment when the New Year's bell rang, as time passed, we finally realized that we had failed, and once again completely failed.

But none of us want to break the tranquility of our moments and accept our failures. It wasn't until a long time later that Arthur said softly, "It doesn't seem to have worked...... her words seemed to tell us that we were back to square one.

"How is that possible?! Didn't we do what the book says? There should be nothing wrong with that! Why didn't it start? Why? Cui Li erupted in a desperate roar, the defeat at this time was too big a blow for us.

"Could it be that they are placed in the wrong order? You see, the word 'east' can be placed in the bottom two squares, and it may be successful. Zhao didn't seem to want to give up the only glimmer of hope, and she moved the two pieces down a block at the same time, but the result didn't change at all.

"Damn!" Cui Li casually grabbed a bunch of chess pieces on the ground and threw them into the distance.

"What the hell are we doing wrong? Damn, it's better to rush out like this and have a decisive battle with the enemy! At this time, Cui Li obviously didn't want to waste more brainpower on this puzzle. In fact, it was not only him, but almost everyone felt quite tired, and we couldn't accept the failures again and again, should we really just give up?

However, without the help of this organ, we would not have been able to defeat the army of Soochow, and in the end we would only be defeated.

Two extremely difficult choices arise in front of us: give up or continue? As Shakespeare said it is to live or to perish, it is a difficult question for all people in the world to solve. ”

At this time, all people tend to give up, as if the puzzle that appears in front of us cannot be solved at all, it is like an equation with no answer at all, everything is just unsolvable.

"Cheng Yin, let's give up, there is no answer at all, there is no ...... The answers we believe are nothing more than self-deception, and I'm just fed up. Failure or success, even if it is to stay in this world forever, I don't want to waste a second of my time on it. I'm tired, really tired......" Zhao Yuyu had obviously collapsed, and the repeated failures made everyone discouraged.

We have indeed endured so much along the way, like the last straw carried by a camel, it has crushed our hearts deeply. Moving forward is simply impossible for us. Our beginning seemed to doom us to failure. Sometimes giving up may be a good choice......

I looked at everyone present, I looked at the blue sky. Why do all endings be like this?

"Perhaps...... It's time for us to ......" Before I could say the word give up, I suddenly felt something touch on my left cheek. I turned my head to see Arthur looking at me angrily, and to be honest, I rarely saw Arthur look like that.

"Arthur, you...... What does this do? ”

Arthur had tears in his eyes: "The Cheng Yin I have ever seen has never been like this, even if he encounters great difficulties, he has never given up hope." When I was lost and hesitant, he always told me not to give up, but if you look at you now, where did Cheng Yin, who I once knew, go? Where have you been to that tireless effort for a glimmer of hope? You've really disappointed me. ”

"I ...... I ...... "I don't know what to say at this point, I promised never to give up, but what am I doing now?" What the hell are you doing......

I hated myself now, I hated myself now, Arthur's words woke me up like a dream.

Yes, now is not the time to give up, the puzzle in front of me has not been solved, I still have my mission, I still have my faith.

I looked at Arthur with tears in his eyes and said solemnly: "Arthur, you are right, now is not the time to give up easily, at least we have not failed, not completely failed." ”

I continued to look at the nine-square grid in front of me, thinking back to the middle-aged man's necklace, I had a feeling that the answer I wanted was approaching me, and I seemed to be able to feel his footsteps......

"Cheng Yin, it's over, it's really over. It is impossible for us to unravel this 'odd array', it has no answer at all. Zhao Yuyu said desperately.

I stared at the nine-square grid in front of me, and suddenly the door of truth quietly opened to me, and I understood everything in it......

My gaze returned to Zhao Miyu: "Zhao Miyu, it's not that there is no answer as you said, it's just that we haven't found the answer all along." ”

"Cheng Yin, don't waste any more time. Your previous conjectures have failed again and again, isn't that enough? How smart and wise Mr. Ouyang Yu was, how could a few of us easily unravel his 'strange array'? Zhao Yuyu got angry at my answer and yelled at me.

"Yes, Cheng Yin, we have tried the methods you said, but the result is not nothing?" Cui Li looked at me with helpless and desperate eyes.

I understand their feelings very well at this time, as if they have been in a labyrinth for too long, but they have never been able to find the right path, and the despair in their hearts is naturally self-evident.

"Cui Li, believe me, this time I can definitely solve the mystery in front of me." I swear.

"Cheng Yin, are you telling the truth? Do you really have a way to activate this mechanism? Professor Wu confirmed.

"This time, it will definitely work." I walked over to the nine-square grid, took down the two chess pieces representing "East" and threw them on the ground, and continued: "Actually, this 'East' chess piece has been around us all along, but we didn't notice the existence of this chess piece. "I took out the token that Liu Xuande gave me, obviously that token has been broken in half, but the only thing I am glad about is that the word "Shu" on half of the token is still intact. Looking at the token in front of you is like seeing the dawn of victory.

(End of chapter)