The so-called Caesar cipher is currently the simplest and most widely known encryption method.
In short, it involves shifting all the letters in the alphabet by a fixed number of positions. For example, “A” becomes “B”, “B” becomes “C”, and so on.
Take the common English word “CAN” as an example. Using the Caesar cipher with a shift of one, it would be written as “DBO”.
At first glance, it appears to be a string of gibberish, but after decryption, it can become a meaningful word.
“Now, the only thing left to confirm is how many positions the letters have been shifted?”
Qi Xia wasn’t an expert in code-breaking after all. Although he had figured out the general direction, he could only rely on the most tedious and direct method to solve the remaining problem—
Trial and error.
He first assumed that each letter had been shifted by one position, but after spending several minutes deciphering, he still ended up with a string of nonsense.
So he tried a shift of two.
This seemingly simple step made Qi Xia fall silent for a long time.
“MLGDRZDQVXL”.
Without paper and pen, everything had to be calculated mentally. Shifting each letter in this long string by two positions—imagining “M” as “K” and “L” as “J”—was genuinely no easy task.
“It’s still not right…”
A few minutes later, Qi Xia slowly furrowed his brows.
He had already tried twice but still hadn’t cracked the code. Could it be that his entire approach was wrong?
There are a total of twenty-five possible shifts for each letter. In other words, “A” could represent any letter except “A” itself. If he had to calculate each possibility mentally, the workload would be unimaginably massive.
“Is this your method?” Jiang Ruoxue leaned against the door frame and asked.
Qi Xia didn’t answer. He steadied himself and began the third shift.
From now on, he would attempt to shift each letter forward by three positions.
Imagining “M” as “J” and “L” as “I”.
However, this time, after testing only five letters, Qi Xia’s expression turned serious.
Jiang Ruoxue watched him with interest: “Oh? Did you figure it out?”
Qi Xia’s lips moved slightly as he whispered his answer: “JI…DAO…WAN…SUI?”
“Exactly!” Jiang Ruoxue clapped her hands in delight. “So it really decrypts to ‘Ji Dao Wan Sui’ (Long Live the Yakuza)! I thought we might have failed.”
At the mention of these four characters, Qi Xia showed a rare sense of panic.
He sat heavily on the chair, looking at Jiang Ruoxue with alarm, muttering: “What exactly are you people trying to do…?”
“Not much,” Jiang Ruoxue shook her head. “I’m going to die anyway. This is just a way of saying hello to you.”
“Hello…” Qi Xia clenched his teeth. “The last time you people ‘said hello,’ you killed two of my companions…”
“Oh? Did that happen?” Jiang Ruoxue looked momentarily surprised. “So Xiaoxiao actually took action? She never mentioned it to us. But it doesn’t matter anyway. You need to be more tolerant. Xiaoxiao has always been like that, but she’s actually a decent person.”
“What nonsense are you spouting at me…” Qi Xia slowly stood up. “A ‘decent person’? Right now, I wish I could tear her apart…”
“You do seem really angry…” Jiang Ruoxue stepped forward and patted Qi Xia’s shoulder. “How about this? After this game, I’ll die, an eye for an eye. Will that calm you down a bit?”
Qi Xia didn’t answer. He just felt that Jiang Ruoxue was acting strangely.
Or rather, everyone from the “Yakuza” seemed strange.
He paused, turned back, and picked up the letter on the table, asking: “What about the original password? By changing the password, won’t you end up killing my teammates again?”
“What are you talking about? This is the password,” Jiang Ruoxue looked puzzled. “Isn’t this the letter sent by your teammate?”
“You…” Qi Xia was equally confused. “You’re saying ‘Ji Dao Wan Sui’ is the password? Are you working with the ‘Earth Hounds’?”
“Not at all. We have nothing to do with the ‘Zodiac,'” Jiang Ruoxue shook her head. “Qi Xia, you need to understand a logical relationship here. Since the Earth Hounds said ‘the letter is the password,’ and ‘the letter is Ji Dao Wan Sui,’ then ‘Ji Dao Wan Sui’ must be the password.”
“What…?”
Qi Xia felt this logic was somehow strange.
Jiang Ruoxue didn’t seem like a completely irrational madwoman, yet her words still sounded confusing.
Slowly, Qi Xia walked to the cabinet, hesitating as he handwrote the four Chinese characters “极道万岁” (Ji Dao Wan Sui) on the touchscreen.
Seeing this, Jiang Ruoxue smiled and said: “It’s quite something to see these four characters written by you.”
With a soft click, the cabinet door opened.
Zhang Chenze was sitting inside, trembling. When she looked up, she met Qi Xia’s gaze.
Before Qi Xia could say anything, Zhang rushed forward and hugged him tightly.
“Qi Xia!!”
“I…” Qi Xia looked somewhat embarrassed, not knowing where to put his hands.
“I’m so glad… I was so scared…” Zhang’s whole body was shaking, whether from fear or cold, no one could tell. “I thought I would be roasted alive in there…”
“Zhang, Zhang lawyer, I remember you don’t like being touched by others,” Qi Xia said awkwardly.
“Oh…” Zhang quickly let go, wiping her tear-streaked face. “I’m sorry… I didn’t bother you, did I?”
“Not really a bother, just a bit of a shock,” Qi Xia shook his head. “I don’t like unexpected things. From what I remember, you’re not usually like this.”
“I’m sorry,” Zhang lowered her head slowly, returning to her usual demeanor.
As the two remained silent, the room’s public announcement system suddenly came to life.
“A team has successfully rescued their teammate. The game is over.”
The entire building instantly filled with noise.
As the saying goes, joy for some, sorrow for others.
Qi Xia heard heavy footsteps approaching, as if someone was running toward his room.
He sensed something was wrong and immediately stepped out to look.
Old Lü, with a bruised face, was running toward him like his life depended on it.
“Qi kid… save me!!”
Qi Xia frowned. He noticed that behind Old Lü was a green-haired man chasing him like a rabid dog, beating him relentlessly.
“Old dog! I told you already?! If I die, I’m taking you with me!!” The green-haired man seemed to have lost his mind, continuing his pursuit of Old Lü.
“Isn’t he your boyfriend?” Qi Xia turned and asked. “Are all the people from ‘Yakuza’ this crazy?”
“He’s not ‘Yakuza’,” Jiang Ruoxue folded her arms. “My role-playing for this game is over. It’s so exhausting pretending to be a lovesick woman.”
“So you’re saying you won’t get involved in what happens next?” Qi Xia said.
“Nope, I’m just waiting to die.” Jiang Ruoxue entered the room and sat down, beginning to meditate.
Qi Xia nodded and grabbed the iron box from the table.
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