The fairy maid cheers for her deceased master today.

"The ancient crown guarded by crows..."

Ex muttered to himself.

The Tower of London has an ancient legend of "ravens guarding the kingdom".

Specifically, it is said that if the ravens left the Tower of London, Britain would perish, hence the ravens are the iconic symbol of the Tower of London.

So it's still inside the Tower of London.

The ancient crown, on the other hand, has an even clearer meaning.

"This must be referring to the treasury of the Tower of London, where the British crown jewels are kept. And 'the truth hidden by lies'..."

"It's the legend of the prince in the tower again!" Elena added. "Many people believe that their uncle Richard III killed them, but others suspect other forces. This mystery seems to refer to this story."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Angel said. "Let's go check out the treasury!"

Ax put away the copper box and parchment, and nodded.

"Let's go to the treasure room."

■

The treasury of the Tower of London is perhaps one of the safest places in the entire tower.

This place houses the British Crown Jewels, including the King's crown, scepter, and orb, each piece priceless and a symbol of British royal power.

They should all be genuine products, right? They can't possibly put replicas here...

When X was planning to steal the artifacts, he had considered trying his luck here. Therefore, it wasn't entirely unfamiliar to him.

X, Elena, and Angel made their way through the crowd and soon arrived at the entrance to the treasure room.

Security here is much tighter; you need to buy another ticket and even register your identity for a simple verification before you can enter. This is understandable, given that the items inside are all valuable genuine artifacts.

"Buy tickets," Ax said to the guard, handing over a few more silver coins according to the prices on the wall.

The guards there eyed the three of them warily, but still accepted the silver coins and let them into the treasury.

The treasury was brightly lit, and the glass display cases glittered under the light of candles and kerosene lamps.

The crown jewels were meticulously displayed in showcases, each piece radiating unparalleled brilliance. Enthusiastic visitors crowded in front of the displays, exclaiming in amazement.

"Where should we begin?" Elena asked, her gaze sweeping over the display cases.

Ax's gaze fell on the explanatory label on the display case.

"The 'Ancient Crown Guarded by Ravens'... perhaps it doesn't refer to a specific piece of jewelry, but rather to the entire treasury, or..."

His gaze wandered before finally settling on an ornament above the display case—a gilded raven statue perched atop a simulated tower, guarding the crown jewels below.

found it.

"There!" Ex gestured with his eyes to the raven statue and whispered to the fairy, "Under the ancient crown guarded by the raven!"

The three of them immediately walked up to that display case.

The display case holds the king's crown, studded with countless diamonds and gemstones, gleaming under the lights. A raven statue sits directly above the crown.

So here's another question—

"Where is the truth 'hidden by lies'?" Angel blinked and asked.

Ax carefully examined the display case and the explanatory plaque. Suddenly, his gaze fell on a line of small print on the plaque: "The jewels in the crown were replaced, and the whereabouts of the original jewels remain a mystery to this day."

"A replacement?" Elena exclaimed in surprise. "Is this the 'truth hidden behind lies'?"

"Yes, it should just be a supplementary explanation of the ancient crown. So the key to the puzzle lies in the second half of the sentence—only the crown and the end of time can reveal everything."

Ex continued his analysis.

In this sentence, the crown and time are side by side, indicating that "time" also refers to something else.

He looked around again, his gaze finally settling on a corner of the display case.

There was a small hourglass there, the sand in it had all flowed out, but the hourglass was still exquisite.

"An hourglass!" A flash of realization crossed X's eyes. That was "time."

He walked over, then looked down and aligned the crown and the hourglass with a line. A straight line.

Then, at the end of the straight line, there is another display case.

"here!"

He quietly called to everyone to come over together.

There was actually a drawer at the bottom of the display case.

X immediately had the other fairies cover him while he quietly pulled the door open. Since it wasn't part of the exhibits in the display case, no alarm was triggered.

Then he reached into the drawer... and took out an old parchment. The parchment was tied with ribbon and looked very old.

It's not convenient to look at it closely here.

So when they left the treasure room and came to the stairwell, X untied the ribbon and unfolded the parchment.

The paper contained a map marking a secret location of the Tower of London, along with the words: "The final puzzle lies where it all began."

"The place where it all started... we can't go back to the mines, can we?" Ex muttered to himself. "The place where the Tower of London all started..."

"The White Tower!" Elena and Angel exclaimed in unison.

Axe rolled up the scroll and nodded. "That's right, the White Tower is the original building of the Tower of London, the 'place where it all began.' The kidnappers are leading us back to that starting point."

What are we waiting for?

Elena quickly said, "Let's go to the White Tower!"

Ax nodded, and led Elena and Angel through the crowd again toward the White Tower.

■

The White Tower is the central building of the Tower of London and also its tallest tower.

X, Elena, and Angel arrived at the White Tower. The tower soared into the clouds, its thick stone walls exuding the vicissitudes of history.

"Where should we begin our search?" Elena asked.

"Follow the map."

X unrolled the scroll and examined the map closely. A location was marked on the map, on one side of the White Tower, where there was an inconspicuous door.

"There," Ex said, pointing to the door, "that's where it's marked on the map."

It's not hard to find.

The three of them walked up to the door and found that it was very small, almost blending into the wall.

An ordinary passerby would not notice it at all if they didn't look carefully. It's easy to overlook.

This type of door typically leads to a basement or some secret room.

Ax tried pushing the door, but it didn't budge.

"It's locked," X said, taking out his revolver.

Then Elena held him down.

"Ex, this is making too much noise. Leave it to me."

"Elena said, extending her finger, the tip of which glowed green."

Several thin vines sprouted from the ground, climbed up, and crawled into the keyhole.

The vines twitched for a short while, and then with a "click," the door lock opened.

"Alright." Elena stepped back gently, as if she had done something insignificant.

X nodded, pushed open the door, and a narrow passage appeared before them. The passage was pitch black, with only a faint light shining through at the end.

"Looks like we'll need lighting equipment."

Ex smiled at Irene, then lit his kerosene lamp and carried it into the passage first.

The passage was cold and damp, with moss and cobwebs covering the walls. The three of them carefully made their way forward and finally reached the end of the passage.

It was a small, empty room, except for a line of text carved on the wall:

"The truth is often hidden in the most conspicuous place."

"The most conspicuous place..." Ex murmured to himself, his gaze sweeping across the entire room.

The room was small, and there was nothing there except the walls.

"Huh, there's nothing here," Angel said, looking troubled.

But X remembered the time Angel discovered the mechanism, so he examined the wall more carefully.

He soon discovered that some of the plaster on one wall had peeled off, revealing the bricks underneath.

The exposed bricks are the most conspicuous.

Ax immediately walked to the wall and reached out to peel off the loose plaster.

As the plaster peeled off the wall, a line of writing gradually appeared before them:

"The truth is buried underground."

This is more specific.

Irene quickly noticed that a brick on the floor was loose. She crouched down and pried the brick off with force.

Below is a small hidden compartment containing five sheets of parchment.

The first sheet of paper clearly stated the following words.

……

Dear detective friends:

We have allowed Miss Catherine to write down two of her own theories, which you can use as clues. Of course, we have also added two interesting theories in imitation.

If you do not find Miss Catherine by midnight tomorrow, this lovely lady will be gone forever.

This is the final puzzle. Good luck!