The memories of all humanity are awakening, except for mine.

"Definitely." Li Yi smiled brightly, her eyes sparkling like stars. At this moment, she felt as if she possessed all the courage and happiness in the world.

"Hey, don't forget we're still here. Where are we going next?" Wu Zhen interjected from the side, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Haha, don't rush, let's explore some more next. I heard there's a newly opened escape room that's pretty exciting, how about it?"

“The haunted house is always open, so there’s no need to worry,” Zhong Huahua suggested.

"Alright, this time I won't let you laugh at me again."

Li Yi spoke confidently, her tone no longer showing the timidity she had before.

Filled with excitement and curiosity, Jiang Chuan and his group stepped into the "Misty Ancient City" themed escape room area.

This place mimics an ancient and mysterious abandoned city, with dim lighting, mottled stone walls, intricate passages, and the occasional low chanting, creating an atmosphere that is both unsettling and irresistibly inviting exploration.

"Wow, this is quite interesting!" Wu Zhen said, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

They were divided into two groups: Jiang Chuan, Li Yi, and Wu Zhen in one group, and Tang Songming and Zhong Huahua in the other. They had one hour to see who could uncover the secrets of the ancient city and escape alive first.

As the heavy stone door slowly closed, a silence descended, leaving only their heavy breathing and heartbeats.

"The first challenge: find the lost key." Li Yi read aloud the ancient inscription on the wall, the characters blurred, as if telling a secret from a thousand years ago.

The secret room was filled with various mechanisms and puzzles. They first discovered an ancient map marked with several key locations. Only by solving the puzzle at each location could they obtain clues to the next location.

"The first stop on the map, the abandoned library, sounds like it has a story to tell." Jiang Chuan said as he led everyone toward a stone gate engraved with hieroglyphs. These symbols seemed familiar and were related to the knowledge he had learned in an ancient book.

“I remember these symbols represent elements: fire, water, wind, earth… Arranging them in a specific order can open the stone door.” After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Chuan began pressing the corresponding hieroglyphs on the door.

With a hum of machinery, the stone door slowly opened, revealing an ancient library filled with dusty books.

"That's interesting!" Wu Zhen chuckled.

They moved among the bookshelves, searching for clues, when suddenly a yellowed book fell off the shelf on its own and landed on the ground. On the open page was a complex pattern with cipher text next to it.

“This is a maze diagram, and the ciphertext seems to be the key to decoding it.” Li Yi keenly grasped the crucial information.

Jiang Chuan carefully observed the maze map and discovered that it was actually a visual trap, using light and shadow to hide the true path. "The maze's exit points 45 degrees north of east; the key we're looking for should be there."

Sure enough, at that angle on the wall, they found a hidden mechanism. With a gentle pull, a stone slab moved aside, revealing a beautifully carved bronze key.

"First hurdle cleared." Jiang Chuan smiled at his teammates, holding the key, his confidence greatly boosted.

"I wonder if Zhong Huahua and Tang Songming have completed the game so quickly."

“It seems we need to speed things up. The clue to the second level should be hidden somewhere in this library.” Jiang Chuan’s gaze swept around and finally landed on a dusty corner where a seemingly inconspicuous old music box sat quietly.

“This music box looks quite old. Could it be related to our mission?” Li Yi walked over and carefully picked up the music box.

Its surface is covered with intricate carvings, seemingly telling a distant story, but the most eye-catching feature is the few small buttons, each engraved with a different musical note.

“This should be the key to the second level.” Wu Zhen leaned closer to examine it. “But how do we operate it? What kind of music will these notes create when combined?”

Jiang Chuan frowned in thought, then his gaze settled on a parchment scroll that had been almost forgotten in a corner. The scroll was decorated with a sequence of musical notes, which coincided with the buttons on the music box.

"I think we've found the answer. These notes, seemingly arranged randomly, may actually be an ancient code."

"let me try."

Li Yi spoke softly, her fingers gently touching the buttons and pressing them in the order shown on the parchment scroll.

The music box then turned, emitting a melodious yet slightly eerie tune, the melody seemingly concealing some kind of rhythm.

However, the first attempt failed to trigger any mechanism. "No, something crucial is missing from this piece."

Jiang Chuan pondered for a moment, then examined the parchment scroll again. "If we consider this as part of a musical score, rather than a complete melody, perhaps we can discover its secrets."

After some discussion, they realized that the notes on the parchment scroll needed to be combined with the cues on the music box and subtle clues in the surrounding environment to form a complete movement.

In the corner of a painting on the wall, there is a string of almost invisible numbers;
Hidden within an upside-down book on the bookshelf is a note on music theory.

They collected all these fragmented pieces of information one by one and pieced them back together.

"I understand now. This music box not only tests our intelligence, but also our observation skills."

Li Yi said excitedly that her fingers danced across the buttons again, and this time, the melody was more harmonious and complete, with each note hitting a hidden frequency precisely.

As the music box's melody reached its climax, one side of the library wall slowly moved, revealing a dark passageway.

"We did it!" Wu Zhen cheered. The three of them looked at each other with smiles full of accomplishment.

An ancient and strange atmosphere permeated the passage. They stepped forward cautiously, each step feeling as if they were stepping into the abyss of history.

Finally, they arrived at the center of a secret room, where an exquisite treasure chest was placed.

Jiang Chuan gently pulled open the lid of the treasure chest, and a faint beam of light shone through, illuminating his excited face.

Jiang Chuan hadn't had such a brain-teasing experience in a long time; it was so exhilarating!

Inside the treasure chest was a parchment, which not only contained ancient writing but also depicted a wondrous arrangement of mirrors and beams of light. Clearly, this was the clue to the next challenge.

"What does this mean?" Wu Zhen scratched his head. After these two trials, Wu Zhen's brain was about to explode.

“Mirrors, light, and angles…” Li Yi murmured to herself, quickly scanning the diagram, already forming a preliminary solution in her mind. “According to the diagram, we need to refract the light to a marked point at the deepest part of the room; that should be the key to opening the next door,” Jiang Chuan analyzed, pointing to a tiny mark on the diagram.

The three looked around. The walls of the secret room were covered with ancient mirrors. Some mirrors were covered with the marks of time, while others were smooth and new, as if waiting for a destined person to awaken them.

At the center is a seemingly ordinary yet extraordinary stone platform, upon which sits a crystal-clear gemstone, absorbing the dim light of the room and faintly emitting a blue glow.

“Let’s split up and each of us will be responsible for a section of the mirror. We’ll adjust the angles according to the instructions on the blueprints,” Jiang Chuan suggested. After assigning their tasks, they began their intense and meticulous work.

“Like this, shift three degrees to the left… Yes! That’s the angle!” Li Yi carefully moved a mirror in her hand, and the light danced between the mirrors, gradually forming a complex light path pattern.

However, just as the light was about to reach its intended position, it was unexpectedly blocked by a piece of stone that had somehow fallen off, causing it to deviate from its path. The three looked at each other, a sense of frustration welling up within them.

"Don't worry, there must be a solution," Jiang Chuan comforted him, his eyes scanning the room before finally settling on a pile of scattered tools in the corner.

“We can use these tools to make a simple lever to move that stone slab.” He had a sudden inspiration and quickly picked up several tools, working with Wu Zhen to clear the obstacle.

Li Yi continued to fine-tune the angle of the mirror, each subtle change potentially affecting the entire situation. As time ticked by, the atmosphere in the room grew increasingly tense.

Finally, under a perfect refraction of light, the gem seemed to be activated, emitting a dazzling light, and a path of light slowly appeared on the other side of the secret chamber.

"We did it!" the three shouted in unison, their faces beaming with indescribable joy and a sense of accomplishment.

Just as they were about to step into the newly opened passage, a melodious bell suddenly echoed in the air, followed by an old and mysterious voice: "Congratulations, you have passed the test."

"What? What is this... " Wu Zhen was interrupted by Jiang Chuan before he could finish speaking.

"This escape room is interesting." Jiang Chuan's eyes gleamed with determination. He hadn't expected Happy Valley to have such a fun attraction.

“Of course, we’re the best partners!” Li Yi replied with a smile.

A door slowly opened.

A series of notices were written on the wall.

"Reconstruct the astronomical calendar of Qing City in ten minutes."

"Ten minutes, Qing City's astronomical calendar... this is a very difficult challenge."

This is not just a task, but a highly difficult challenge that requires a deep understanding and precise calculation, like a puzzle set by the wisdom of the ancients, waiting for modern solvers to decipher it.

Jiang Chuan gently stroked his chin with his fingers, his deep gaze seemingly able to pierce through the mists of time, fixed on the huge star chart in the center of the room.

This image is like a microcosm of the night sky, with intricate star trails outlined by delicate lines. They intertwine to form an ancient and mysterious cosmic canopy.

Hidden among the stars are the unchanging laws and secrets of nature that have existed for thousands of years.

Beside the star chart, a series of exquisite metal discs are arranged in an orderly fashion, gleaming with a cold metallic luster, like mechanisms left behind by ancient sages, waiting for a destined person to turn them and uncover the secrets of the sky.

With her keen intuition and rapid learning ability, Li Yi got into the zone almost instantly.

Her fingers gently brushed over the metal discs, and with each slight touch, she could feel the delicate and subtle interaction between them.

It's as if every movement is a dialogue with the stars in the sky, trying to build a bridge between reality and the star map, and through precise rotation and adjustment, to restore the unique starry sky of Qing City on that specific date.

Meanwhile, Wu Zhen searched every corner of the room for any clues he might have missed.

In a dusty corner, an old-fashioned logbook with the words "Astronomical Records" written in seal script on its cover lay quietly.

Wu Zhen's heart stirred, and he quickly opened this diary full of the wisdom of the ancients.

The log not only records in detail the astronomical observation data of Qing City over the past few hundred years, but also describes its unique calendar calculation method, revealing the endless exploration and awe of our predecessors towards the vast galaxy.

"found it!"

Wu Zhen's voice was filled with excitement as he passed this valuable information to Jiang Chuan, emphasizing the key phenomenon described in the log.

On a specific day, the North Star in Qing City will form a perfect isosceles triangle with two other bright stars on the horizon, and this astronomical spectacle is the key to solving the current mystery.

Jiang Chuan quickly compared the data he obtained from the log with the massive star chart in front of him.

His gaze was sometimes solemn, sometimes flashing with inspiration, as if he were building one model after another in his mind, trying to perfectly piece together the fragments of history with the needs of the present.

Each data verification and each adjustment of the star orbit brings him one step closer to unraveling the astronomical mysteries of Qing City.

"Let's split up. Li Yi and I will adjust the disc, and Wu Zhen, you will verify the coordinates on the astronomical record." Jiang Chuan laid out the plan, and the three of them immediately began the tense and precise operation.

Li Yi focused intently on turning the metal disc, each adjustment requiring extremely high precision. Her gaze shifted back and forth between the star chart and the disc, as if she were having a dialogue across time with the ancients.

"The track here needs to be moved one space to the right, so that Beichen's position is correct." Jiang Chuan directed, while his fingers also kept adjusting the moon phase on another disc, striving to match the waxing and waning of the moon as described in the log.

Wu Zhen, meanwhile, consulted the astronomical records, gesturing with his fingers in the air and muttering incantations as he calculated the points of convergence between the angles and times of the stars. He occasionally offered corrective suggestions to ensure that the team's efforts did not stray from the right direction.

Time ticked by, and the tense atmosphere almost froze the air.

As the disc was continuously adjusted, the star chart gradually revealed a clear night sky scene, with Polaris and the stars on both sides forming a perfect isosceles triangle, and everything seemed to be moving towards success.

"Look, isn't that..." Li Yi's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement. She was pointing to the precise constellation map made of a metal disc on the star chart, which at this moment was exactly the same as the scene recorded in the ancient books.

"We did it!" Wu Zhen shouted excitedly. Their seamless teamwork made the previously impossible task a reality.

Just as they were basking in the joy of victory, the floor of the room suddenly began to slowly descend, and a soft beam of sunlight shone through the newly opened crack, guiding a path of light to the outside world. (End of Chapter)