Deadly Game: Almighty Boss’s Guide to Making Money

Chapter 1360. Exploring the Old House (7)

The painting depicts four men dressed in ancient costumes, each with a different expression. Judging from their clothing styles, they seem to belong to different eras, but they all share a similarity in their features, clearly indicating that they are from the same family.

"These must be members of the Shi family, right?" Wen Yang leaned closer to one of the portraits. "Their cuffs seem a little different."

After he pointed it out, everyone else noticed.

In each portrait, a small flower is embroidered on the cuff of the man's sleeve; the flowers are all different in shape and clearly discernible.

The first painting depicts plum blossoms with delicate petals, exuding a proud and unyielding spirit; the second depicts orchids with slender leaves, pure and refined; the third depicts bamboo with upright branches and distinct joints; and the fourth depicts chrysanthemums with unfurled petals, dignified and majestic.

“Plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum?” Su Xiaoqing softly murmured the flower names. “These four flowers are known as the Four Gentlemen of Flowers. Could there be some special meaning behind the Shi family embroidering them on their portraits?”

"It's likely a clue. But it's just ordinary embroidery; how could it help us find the key to open the wooden box?"

He reached out and touched the embroidery on the portrait. His fingertips felt the rough texture of the canvas, but there was nothing unusual about it.

—This must be a clue!

—But what use are just a few embroidered flowers?

—Should we take the painting down?
—Or is it just copying a drawing?
—Wouldn't it be too much trouble to just copy it?

—Some of them want to study sculpture, that's what I'm saying.

Su Xiaoqing also summoned a flashlight and shone it around.

I noticed a small bronze incense burner in the corner of the desk.

The incense burner has a simple and ancient design, with simple cloud patterns carved on its body. It is filled with grayish-white incense ash, which is obviously a sign of long-term use.

"Look at that incense burner, could it be related to the portrait?"

Wen Yang ran over, picked up the incense burner, and weighed it in his hand.

"This is full of incense ash. You mean, you want to smear incense ash on the embroidery?"

“We can give it a try,” Lin Xi said. “Many clues require external help to become apparent. The fine incense ash might reveal what’s hidden in the embroidery.”

"I'll come, I'll come!"

Wen Yang volunteered, found a clean tissue, and carefully scooped some incense ash from the incense burner. Afraid of spilling the ash, he even folded the tissue into a small funnel.

He ran to the first portrait embroidered with plum blossoms, held his breath, dipped his finger in incense ash, and gently smeared it onto the embroidered plum blossoms.

He was quite skilled with his hands, applying the incense ash very evenly without making a mess.

Before long, a light gray number—3—gradually appeared around the plum blossoms that were originally just red embroidery!

"There are numbers!"

The crowd immediately gathered around, and by the light, they saw that below the plum blossom embroidery, there was a clear "3" shape, the outline of which was filled in with incense ash. It was easy to miss if you didn't look closely.

—What were you thinking?

—Who just said the designer of this instance didn't want to use their brain?

—This time, they won't give any hints at all; the players have to guess for themselves.

—Warm sun, not bad, you applied it quite evenly.

—If the plum blossom corresponds to the number 3, then the other three types of flowers must also correspond to different numbers?
“Keep applying the others!” Lin Xi said.

Wen Yang scooped up some more incense ash and ran to the second portrait embroidered with orchids.

This time he was more skilled, and in no time he had evenly spread the incense ash on the orchid embroidery.

Soon, a number appeared below the orchid—1!

Next, he immediately began painting the third image of bamboo, and the number 4 gradually emerged; finally, he painted the image of chrysanthemums, and the number 2 appeared.

四幅画像对应的数字清晰明了：梅=3，兰=1，竹=4，菊=2。    “3、1、4、2……”白也把数字念了一。，“这四个数字能组成什么？难道是密码？”

"It's most likely a password," Lin Xi pondered. "Plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum are in a fixed order, so the numerical sequence should be 3142. Now we need to find where to enter the password."

The group dispersed again, searching the study for possible places to enter the password.

Wen Yang lay down on the ground and checked under the desk.

Lu Kexing checked the doors and windows of the study.

Su Xiaoqing then re-examined the frames of the four portraits.

Bai continued to peruse the ancient books on his desk.

Time passed by, and only the soft footsteps and breathing of the group remained in the study.

Lin Xi also turned her gaze to the desk. She walked to the desk, bent down, and carefully examined the desktop and legs.

Apart from the books, writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, there was nothing unusual on the surface of the desk.

The table legs are cylindrical and engraved with simple patterns.

Just as she was about to give up, her fingertips suddenly touched a tiny bump under the table.

She immediately crouched down and used her phone's flashlight to illuminate the area under the table.

In the center of the inner side of the table, there was a square area about the size of a palm, with four small grooves engraved on the surface. Each groove was just big enough to accommodate a finger. Above the grooves was a small "#" symbol, which was obviously a password input device.

This location is very well hidden; it would be impossible to find without specifically crouching down to check.

"Here!" Lin Xi shouted.

Bai Ye and the others immediately gathered around the desk and squatted down to examine it.

Wen Yang reached out and touched the grooves.

"This must be where you enter your password, right? There are exactly four slots, each corresponding to one of the four numbers."

"Enter 3142 in the order of plum blossom, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum".

Wen Yang took a deep breath, first pressing his finger into the first groove three times; then the second groove, pressing once; the third groove, pressing four times; and the last groove, pressing twice.

When the last press was made, there was a soft "click" sound, and a small hidden compartment under the table popped out.

The hidden compartment was small, lined with a layer of red velvet, on which lay a seal.

—What is this thing?

—What is a seal used for?
—Does this mean they'll put a stamp on the painting?

—It could also be to stamp the wooden box!

Lu Kexing reached out and took the seal out of the hidden compartment.

The seal is made of jade, pure white, and warm to the touch. A small plum blossom is carved on the top of the seal, while orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums are carved on the sides, corresponding to the four flowers in the portrait.

The bottom of the seal is square and engraved with intricate patterns, which should be the mark corresponding to the groove in the wooden box.

Wen Yang couldn't wait to push the wooden box on the desk in front of Lin Xi and Lu Kexing.

Lin Xi took the seal and carefully compared the groove on the edge of the wooden box with the pattern on the bottom of the seal. After confirming that they matched perfectly, she took a deep breath, aligned the seal with the groove, and gently pressed it down.

With a soft "thump," the seal was firmly set into the groove.

Immediately afterwards, the wooden box lid, which had been tightly closed, slowly popped open a crack, and a faint scent of ink wafted out from the crack, mixed with a hint of old paper.

(End of this chapter)