Chapter 28: Solving the Puzzle, the Prize

In the car, Ji Cheng gave Tea Immortal a detailed account of the morning of May 1. When he reached the visit to Jixian Garden, however, he concealed what had happened, saying that he and Li Wei had simply walked around inside before leaving. They had not managed to bug the third phone before that visit, so there was no way to verify his account, and Tea Immortal did not question him further.

The people found dead in the conference room had all been identified by noon. Every one of them was a wealthy businessman or powerful figure from the Dragon Commandery. Tea Immortal had received the report while still on the plane. By his reckoning, the upheaval their deaths would cause far exceeded that of the armed conflict between Steel Commandment and HL. Over the coming week, the chain reactions would presumably become increasingly apparent, until things spiraled out of control...

Halfway there, the surveillance team at Li Wei's villa suddenly contacted Ji Cheng. Before setting out, he had called to give them a heads-up, essentially saying that His Highness the Seventh Prince was about to visit, so Li Wei should be ready. Who would have thought they would now report that Li Wei had disappeared?

Tea Immortal took a small sip of tea and said calmly, “Then there's no need to see him. It seems he's served his purpose.”

This was a luxury car, with enough room in the back for as many as six people to sit in a circle and hold a small meeting. Besides Ji Cheng, two middle-aged men sat with Tea Immortal: the two most senior officials at Beijing HL. Both broke into a cold sweat at his words. Served his purpose? Did that mean Young Master Li had been killed in the space of half a day, right under their noses? If his father held them responsible...

Before they could dwell on it, Tea Immortal spoke again. “Let's rescue the hostage first.”

Beside him, Ji Cheng said, “But... we still don't know where the hostage...”

Tea Immortal set down his cup, picked up a pen and casually tore a sheet from the report he was holding. Writing on the back, he said, “3│3, 3, 36 is just a little puzzle based on Chinese characters, not a particularly difficult cipher. The numbers represent stroke counts, and the symbols represent character structures. 3│3 is a character with a left-right structure, three strokes on the left and three on the right. The second number, 3, represents a Chinese character with only three strokes. The third number, 36, sent the codebreaking experts down the wrong path. Though, of course, they don't seem to have been on the right one at any point.

“It doesn't actually stand for a slash. Tian Yi sent the information by text message, where the characters are constrained by the line height. In fact, 36 represents three over six. In other words, it's a character with a top-bottom structure, three strokes above and six below. This number is a very obvious hint. The fact that he didn't reduce 36 to 12 tells us this has nothing to do with mathematical calculation. Those numbers represent exact quantities.”

Ji Cheng said, “I understand! So now we just need to find all the Chinese characters whose structures and stroke counts match each number, then test the combinations...”

“3│3, 3, 36. ‘basement,’ in Chinese,” Tea Immortal said without hesitation. “2, 32, 22, 3√4. ‘Warehouse No. 2.’ The √ is a radical sign, indicating a structure that encloses from the upper left. And the third clue, which just came in, 44, 6, 7│6. ‘Qingnian Road.’”

“But... how...” The other three men did not know what to say.

“There are over twenty thousand Chinese characters, around three thousand in common use. Assuming he's giving us place names, with the hints provided by structure, stroke count and character combinations, and taking Beijing's geography into account, these are the only reasonable answers,” Tea Immortal said. “He started with the most specific location, then gave the name of the building, and only then the street. Giving us an address in reverse order like this shows that he allowed for the possibility that you might crack the code immediately. The way Tian Yi has done it, even if you understand how to solve the puzzle, you still need at least three clues to find the hostage. Conversely, if he'd followed the usual order, giving the district first, then the street, once we broke the code, just one or two clues would let us find the hostage by conducting a thorough search of the specified area.”

He tossed aside the pen and paper and took another sip of tea. “This so-called kidnapping is just a ‘game’ to Tian Yi. In this contest, we're already at a severe disadvantage. He's controlled everything up to this point.

“Li Wei is insignificant. His role is to give our opponent a single thread he can pull to set everything else in motion. Tian Yi must have a larger scheme. That is his real plan. What we're seeing now is only the tip of the iceberg...”

The two senior officials sat there utterly stunned. Ji Cheng at least managed a response, though it took him quite a while. “In... in any case... let's rescue the hostage first.”

...

Li Wei took a taxi to the house he had seen earlier on the computer. It was in the suburbs, in what could be considered an upscale residential development: a lawn, a garage, a two-story home, all for a single family.

After sending the driver away and lingering outside for quite some time, Li Wei finally made up his mind, went to the door and rang the bell. There was no answer, nor any sound from inside. He rang a few more times with the same result. He tried turning the handle, and the door actually opened.

The room was empty, completely and utterly bare. The floor was concrete, and the walls had neither wallpaper nor paint. That doorbell might well have been the only electrical appliance in the entire house.

“Anyone here?” Li Wei did not dare close the front door, leaving it ajar instead. He took a few steps inside and called out, but there was still no answer.

He thought that since he was here, he might as well look for the supposed “prize.” Given how thoroughly Tian Yi had handled everything so far, surely he couldn't leave without bringing something back. Besides, searching this house would hardly take any effort. Open a door, take a glance, and that room was done.

So he started on the second floor and worked his way down, searching one room after another. He found nothing. Finally, only the basement remained. Summoning his courage, Li Wei crept down, thinking that if this too was empty, it would be the best possible outcome. He would finally be free of this so-called game and could simply turn around and go home.

Yet as he descended the basement stairs, he did find an unexpected “prize.”

There were a few things in the dim basement. A light bulb glowed overhead, and a rocking chair stood in the middle of the room. Jiang Yun sat in it, wearing a simple, elegant dress, her hair carefully arranged. She looked like a beautiful girl from a fairy tale.

She was neither tied up nor gagged. She simply stared straight ahead with vacant eyes, saying nothing.

“Jiang Yun! You're all right!” Li Wei rushed over, crouched down and took hold of her shoulders. “Did they do anything to you? Are you hurt?”

Jiang Yun raised her eyes and looked at Li Wei. “Why are you here already?”

“What are you talking about?” Li Wei had expected tears of joy, never imagining she would say something like that. “I'm here to save you.”

“Hmph...” Jiang Yun gave a cold laugh. A chilling, evil smile appeared on her pale face, so ghostly it made his blood run cold. “So you're here already... it makes no difference, really.” She seemed not to have heard Li Wei at all, speaking only to herself.

“What's... what's happened to you... what did they do to you?” Li Wei was growing frightened. He withdrew his hands and backed away, step by step.

..