"These protrusions are a complete jumble. How are we supposed to find a pattern?"
Bu Er and Fen Liyou had also examined the lock, but could make nothing of it. They cast a discouraged glance at Yang Qing.
Yang Qing, however, had already focused all his attention on those protrusions.
Only after a long while did he tell the other three, "These protrusions follow the arrangement of the stars in the heavens. Take the positions of the Big Dipper: north is the cardinal direction, so naturally, we begin in the north."
As Yang Qing spoke, he pointed to the protrusions and explained them to the three one by one.
His explanation was extremely complicated, however, and there was no way to verify its accuracy in so short a time.
Naturally, Yang Qing felt somewhat uneasy himself.
He could open this lock, of course, but was the reasoning he had just worked out truly correct?
Seeing Yang Qing staring blankly at the lock, Jiang Zhizhou told him, "Whether it is right or wrong, one attempt will tell us. Binding your feet and refusing to advance will do you no good."
Yang Qing wholeheartedly agreed.
Perhaps his fixation on the Treasure Pavilion had been too deep, leaving him afraid to move either forward or back.
At Jiang Zhizhou's reminder, he let go of that fixation and began pressing the protrusions step by step, following the plan in his mind.
Though there were only a dozen or so protrusions, Yang Qing actually took the time it took to drink a cup of tea to press them all.
All the protrusions had now sunk into the body of the lock, yet Yang Qing saw no change.
Could the method I used have been wrong?
But Yang Qing knew that if he had been wrong,