Chapter 1680: Mechanism
At this moment, Xu Ke suddenly thought that Murong Hai might have a few more patterns on hand, so he took the ones Murong Hai was holding.
After gathering all the patterns, Xu Ke suddenly found that the total number seemed less than what he had anticipated.
He remembered hypothesizing that there should be around 20, but now he only had 12.
Moreover, these 12 images were varied in form. Although they were all hexagrams, they each had differences.
Holding the patterns, Xu Ke was momentarily unsure of how to proceed.
If they hadn’t found the place where these were supposed to go, then these 12 patterns should be all the ones hidden in the company.
He initially thought that gathering all the patterns in one place would reveal something, but now it seemed different from what he had expected.
Though the patterns appeared different, they didn’t seem to have any unique interaction between them.
Xu Ke imagined they should form some mechanism, that when the 12 were gathered, some chemical reaction should occur.
Yet holding them, these medallions seemed useless, and some of them even started to slightly fade.
Temporarily without a good solution, Xu Ke turned to Murong Hai, hoping to ask if he had any good ideas.
Murong Hai looked at the patterns in Xu Ke’s hand, equally perplexed.
He couldn’t see any special connection between the 12 patterns.
In his understanding, these things might simply be toys to trick kids. Xu Ke put in so much effort gathering these; perhaps it’s just someone’s prank.
Just then, the two younger men besides Murong Hai were also very curious and came around.
These two were seeing such patterns for the first time but found them intriguing.
However, their curiosity was short-lived, as they also noticed nothing special upon closer observation.
Though they were ordinary minions, they could easily produce a few hundred of these themselves.
Suddenly, one of them noticed that the total number of patterns added up to 12.
And the statues on the wall also coincidentally added up to 12.
The minion thought this wasn’t just coincidence; there must be some special connection between them.
Though he couldn’t see the connection, he believed their boss might know something.
"Boss, don’t you think there’s a special link between the patterns in Xu’s hand and those 12 statues?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Ke and Murong Hai simultaneously looked at the statues on the wall.
Only then did they notice there were 12 patterns, and the statues on the wall also numbered 12.
for 12, it seemed like coincidence, but Xu Ke felt it definitely wasn’t coincidence.
Though the connection wasn’t clear, there was finally a hint.
Murong Hai looked at the wall and suddenly recalled seeing something similar in an ancient text.
One statue resembled a snake, but its structure didn’t resemble a snake at all.
Quickly, Murong Hai deduced the statue was actually depicting a dragon, with the remaining ones representing the zodiac.
In other words, the 12 statues were ancient representations of the zodiac.
"Xu Ke, these statues on the wall must be the zodiac, and the mouse and ox you just noticed are naturally part of them."
Upon hearing Murong Hai’s words, Xu Ke had a sudden realization.
The wall featured the zodiac, and he held 12 patterns, indicating that these patterns are indeed paired with the statues.
In other words, these patterns were likely keys or a mechanism for activation.
It seemed the key to the mechanism lay in the zodiac above. To unlock its secret, he needed to understand the connection between these zodiac signs and the patterns.
Now knowing what the wall statues were, Xu Ke looked at the patterns with clarity.
Just like the zodiac, each one looked different, but they shared a commonality: each representing a zodiac sign; combined they formed the complete zodiac.
The 12 patterns in his hand were identical; though various in shape, they shared being hexagrams.
No matter if they were fat, thin, short, or tall, all 12 were hexagrams — that much was certain.
With the connection between patterns and zodiac confirmed, Xu Ke began to carefully examine the zodiac again.
This time, surprised by what he hadn’t seen before, every face on the zodiac was incredibly lifelike.
Although they appeared unusual from afar, up close, each statue’s facial expression was vividly lifelike.
Some statues seemed almost alive, as if naturally chiseled by hand.
Xu Ke noticed each statue had an extremely inconspicuous hole; blending seamlessly with the statue’s color, it was hardly noticeable without careful observation.
He tested the size and found all the patterns perfectly fit into these statue holes.
Instantly, Xu Ke understood the purpose of the statues and the patterns.
He thought the mysteries would soon unravel, and the hidden office might indeed be here.
But some statues were too high, making it impossible for Xu Ke to reach them alone.
Hence, he asked Murong Hai and a few others to raise him so he could place each pattern into the statue holes.
Yet after Xu Ke put all the patterns into the remaining holes, he found the statues did not change.
Logically, something should have happened, but reality was otherwise.
Five minutes passed without a change in the zodiac statues, puzzling Xu Ke over the cause.
Thinking for a while, Xu Ke suspected the problem lay in the sequence they placed the patterns.
Maybe the patterns weren’t supposed to be placed randomly; instead, they might follow some rule.
Each pattern should correspond to a matching statue, and only by identifying these matches could the mechanism open.
Realizing this, Xu Ke removed all the patterns.
He carefully examined them again, hoping to find any shared characteristics.
The 12 patterns varied in appearance, yet resembled the zodiac.
Then Xu Ke understood why there was a connection; they were designed as a complementary set from the beginning.