On the first page of Lu Hua's notebook, with "09" as the title, such a strange quatrain poem is recorded-

"Before Octavian became Augustus,

Illuminate the Southern Cross at 55 degrees.

The scorpion that came ashore met Prometheus,

Heaven and earth shine brightly. ”

The three of Kirton recited the poem several times, raised their heads and looked at Lu Hua, expecting him to interpret it. But Lu Hua always frowned and didn't say a word.

Lan Qian couldn't help but ask, "Lu Hua, what does this poem mean?" I don't understand it at all. ”

Lu Hua sighed and didn't speak, and Kirton said: "Actually, although I don't fully understand the meaning of this poem, I can also see a rough idea - if I guess correctly, it should indicate a major fire, right?" ”

"Fire ......," Lan Xi thought for a moment, "did you see it from the phrase 'the sky and the earth shine brightly'?" ”

"Not only that, but the last three lines of the poem all imply a fire." "First of all, 'lighting up the Southern Cross' at 55 degrees already suggests that it's a fire. And the 'Prometheus' in the third sentence is the god of stealing the heavenly fire, and the 'scorpion that comes ashore' meets Prometheus who holds the heavenly fire, which obviously means 'on fire'. Of course, the last sentence 'the sky and the earth shine brightly' is a description of the fire scene. ”

Sean asked, "So what does 'Southern Cross 55 degrees' mean?" What is the 'scorpion ashore'? And what should be the interpretation of the first line of the poem, 'Before Octavian became Augustus'? ”

"The first line must be the same as the previous poems—a subtle hint at the time of the event," said Kirton, holding his chin in his hand. It is now generally accepted in the history books that Octavian, the Roman consul, was crowned Roman Emperor in August and awarded him the glorious title of 'Augustus'. Then - 'before Octavian became Augustus' obviously refers to ......"

"End of July!" Lancy cried out in surprise. "It's already the twentieth of June!"

Kirton pondered solemnly, "It seems to me that it hints at this time more precisely. If 'before Octavian became Augustus' is to say 'the night before', then this exact time would be 'July 31'! ”

"Ah...... On July 31st, will there be a major fire? Lan Xi was surprised, "And where is the location?" ”

"This is exactly what the second line of the poem says - 'light up the Southern Cross at 55 degrees'!"

Sean said in confusion: "'Southern Cross fifty-five degrees'...... This place is like heaven. ”

"Not necessarily, but it could be somewhere on earth." "As far as I know, when the Southern Cross appears in the summer sky, it's not visible everywhere. Only a handful of countries and regions on Earth can see the 'Southern Cross' – and '55 degrees' may refer to the latitude and longitude of the Earth...... In this way, if you add the two conditions together......"

Sean somewhat understood: "That is, this place where the fire broke out is fifty-five degrees in latitude and longitude, and the Southern Cross constellation can be seen!" ”

"It's just my guess," said Curton thoughtfully, "whether or not that is what I mean—I'm not sure." ”

"Let's assume that's it." Sean said, "The last question – what does the 'scorpion that came ashore' mean? ”

"I'm completely confused about this." Kirton raised his head and asked Lu Hua, "Do you know what 'scorpion ashore' means, Lu Hua?" ”

Lu Hua, who had been standing next to him and didn't speak, shook his head and said, "Like you, I can explain the other words and phrases of this poem, but this 'scorpion on the shore' doesn't know what it means." ”

"Is what you thought the same as what we just analyzed?" Kirton asked.

Lu Hua said: "I think you mean 60 percent of the analysis is correct. But from what I know about this collection of poems—the author of these poems must have been a very rigorous man, and he attached great importance to the high precision of the verses he wrote—from this point of view, there is at least one point where your analysis is wrong. ”

"Oh, is it? Let's hear it. Instead of being upset, Kirton showed great interest.

"First of all, I have to make sure of your precise analysis of the first verse. I think your prediction that the specific time of this incident is 'July 31' is quite correct. However, there are some minor errors in the understanding of the third verse—so much so that the understanding of the second verse is very different from mine. ”

Kirton's eyes widened, listening intently.

Lu Hua continued: "The main thing is that I don't think you have the right understanding of 'Prometheus'. You think 'Prometheus' symbolizes 'fire', but I don't think so. ”

"And what do you think he represents?"

"Prometheus only stole and spread the heavenly fire in mythology, and he cannot be seen as a representative of 'fire', but only as a 'bearer of fire' - the real god of fire in Greek mythology is Hephaestus. As I said, all the verses in this book are highly precise – imagine if the author wanted to convey the meaning of 'on fire', why didn't the third line read 'The lion on the shore meets Hephaestus'? ”

"Well, that makes sense." Kirton nodded, "And how do you think the third verse should be interpreted?" ”

Lu Hua pondered: "I think 'Prometheus' refers to something that has a flame and is moving at high speed, it collides with the 'scorpion that comes ashore', and the explosion will completely light up the sky above the Southern Cross at 55 degrees!" ”

"Hey, wait, wait." Sean opened his mouth in surprise and said, "Move with flames and high speed...... And you think that the collision did not happen on the ground, but in the air - Lu Hua, what you mean is already so obvious, why don't you just say it? Do you think the poem refers to a rocket crash? ”

Lu Hua frowned and said: "Actually, like Kirton, it's just speculation, and I'm not very sure, anyway, none of us know what the 'scorpion on the shore' refers to - of course, I'm not sure if the guess is correct." ”

Lan Xi, who was almost stunned on the side, let go of the hand holding her chin and asked, "Why, Lu Hua, you don't know the meaning of this poem very clearly?" That means you don't know what will happen on July 31, 2009? ”

Lu Hua nodded.

Sean frowned and asked puzzledly, "Then I don't understand, since you're not sure what this poem means—then why have you been nervous and worried from the moment you entered my house?" ”

Seeing that the three of them were all looking at him together, Lu Hua sighed and said, "Actually, I didn't intend to explain this poem that predicted 2009 at all. It's just that when I heard that some parts of Kirton's analysis might be wrong, I couldn't help but express my opinion. In fact—"

He glanced at Kirton, Sean, and Lancey next to each other, and said with a solemn expression, "If you read the last poem in this collection, you will find that the first poems are actually meaningless at all. ”