Rebirth and Reversal of Fortune

Chapter 77 Discovering clues

Su Jinxiu and Xiao Ling stared at the reappeared wooden block bearing the mysterious symbols, lost in thought. Xiao Ling gently stroked the texture of the wooden block, trying to decipher the secrets hidden within.

“The appearance of this wooden block is no accident; someone must be trying to lead us to discover something,” Su Jinxiu said with a firm gaze.

Just then, Xiao Ling noticed some fine scratches on the back of the wooden block, which were hard to notice without careful observation.

"Jinxiu, look here." Xiao Ling handed the wooden block to Su Jinxiu.

Su Jinxiu took the wooden block and carefully examined the scratches against the light, discovering that they appeared to be simple patterns.

"Could this be some kind of code?" Su Jinxiu asked doubtfully.

They began searching through various books and documents in the study, trying to find clues related to these patterns. After a long search, they finally found a similar pattern recorded in an old book of cryptography.

"So these patterns represent specific locations and times," Xiao Ling said excitedly.

Based on the deciphered information, they learned that something important would happen at midnight three days later in an abandoned temple on the outskirts of the capital.

Su Jinxiu and Xiao Ling decided to prepare in advance and go to the temple to investigate. During the three days of waiting, they did not relax at all, continuing to investigate the forces colluding with the bandits, while strengthening the defenses of the Marquis's residence.

Finally, the appointed day arrived. Su Jinxiu and Xiao Ling, accompanied by their trusted confidants, quietly arrived at the abandoned temple under the cover of night. The temple was eerie and terrifying, filled with an ancient and gloomy atmosphere.

They cautiously entered the temple and suddenly heard a low murmur of conversation.

"Everything is ready; we're just waiting for the Marquis's residence to fall into our trap."

"This time, we must ensure they never have a chance to recover."

Xiao Ling and Su Jinxiu exchanged a glance and quietly approached the source of the sound. They saw several dark figures sitting together, plotting something.

"Judging from what they're saying, it seems they've set up a huge conspiracy against the Marquis's mansion," Su Jinxiu said softly.

Xiao Ling gripped his sword tightly, preparing to rush out and capture these people. But just then, an unexpected event occurred.

Suddenly, shouts of battle erupted outside the temple. It turned out they had been discovered, and enemy reinforcements had arrived.

"Oh no, we're surrounded," Xiao Ling said.

Su Jinxiu calmly said, "Don't panic. Let's find a place to hide first, and then think of a way to break through."

They hid in a side hall of the temple, while the enemy searched everywhere outside.

"We must find them, we can't let them get away!" the enemy leader shouted.

Xiao Ling and Su Jinxiu were anxiously thinking of a solution when Su Jinxiu discovered an entrance to a tunnel in a side hall.

“Perhaps this is our only chance to escape,” Su Jinxiu said.

Without hesitation, they crawled into the tunnel, which was dark, damp, and filled with a foul odor. But they paid no heed to that and desperately groped their way forward.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, they finally saw a glimmer of light. They emerged from the other end of the tunnel and found themselves in a forest.

"Although we've escaped for now, we're not completely out of danger yet," Xiao Ling said.

“But at least we’ve found an important clue. As long as we return to the Marquis’s residence and redeploy our forces, we’ll definitely be able to uncover this conspiracy,” Su Jinxiu said.

However, as they prepared to return to the Marquis's residence, they discovered that the road was spies of the enemy...