Xi Xi took a few steps closer and noticed an inconspicuous signature in the lower right corner of the painting: GH0310.
Suddenly, a "click" sound came from beside her. Xi Xi saw Li Jinshao walking up to her side. He stared intently at the painting and said in a low voice, "Take a picture of anything suspicious you see, and we'll study it later." After saying that, he walked away as if nothing had happened.
The first floor was crowded and noisy. Xi Xi first went to the vending machine to look at the snacks. After the other adventurers left, she casually went to the opposite side of the painting and pretended to open the light screen to send a private message, but actually took a picture of the entire painting.
Having finally explored the first floor's public area, Xi Xi was still thinking about the painting in the elevator. She pulled down her hat brim and whispered to Li Jinshao:
"Don't you think that painting is a bit too obvious in its implications? It's a transit station in a mountain town, but the painting depicts a starry sky like ocean waves."
Li Jinshao seemed to be thinking, touched his chin, covered his mouth, and said, "Indeed, compared to a painting, this painting technique is more like freehand brushwork, which may be the artist's unique expression method."
"However, the mountains are connected to the sea. Due to the erosion of seawater and waves, the contact zone between the mountains and the sea may be eroded by the waves, creating cavities at the base of the mountains, which in turn leads to the collapse and reshaping of the terrain."
"Therefore, although this type of terrain exists, the landform is not static and unchanging, but constantly evolves with the passage of time and the influence of natural forces."
Xi Xi didn't know much about painting, let alone how to appreciate it, but she had a vague feeling that something was wrong. She frowned and said, "This is a survival game. You can't always use the geographical rules of the original world to fit it."
Xi Xi and Li Jinshao strolled around the second floor. Only guests were allowed to enter, so it was much quieter than the first floor. Unfortunately, they didn't find anything special. The two went to the elevator and pressed the up button.
Xi Xi's gaze was suddenly drawn to a string of symbols next to the button—several symbols with very fresh engravings.
"Li Jinshao, come and look at this," she called out.
Li Jinshao leaned closer to examine it, her brows gradually furrowing: "This is... a symbol used by fishermen in the old days to record the tides. But..."
As a geological researcher, he immediately noticed something amiss: "But the way these symbols are combined is very special, and it doesn't feel like a simple tidal record."
Xi Xi didn't say much. She glanced around to make sure no one was there, then took a few close-up photos of the symbol. "Go wait for me on the third floor. I'll go down to the first floor to check if there are any other symbols."
Li Jinshao nodded in agreement, and the two of them walked separately, one above the other.
Just as Xi Xi had expected, the elevator buttons on the first floor did indeed have different symbols, but some of them were even worn out due to excessive use.
She frowned slightly, adjusted the focus, took a picture, and then took the elevator to the third floor.
The salt crystals on the pipes at the entrance of the three-story sauna room were gone, indicating that they had been cleaned.
"Strange, why would they hang two identical paintings in the same hotel?" Li Jinshao was also surprised. He had just come out of the laundry room when he suddenly noticed a small print hanging on the opposite wall. The content of the print was exactly the same as "Tide Star" in the lobby downstairs, only much smaller.
Upon hearing this, Xi Xi walked behind him, turned on the light screen camera, and aimed it at the painting.
Through the viewfinder, she noticed a signature in the lower right corner of the print, but this time it was GH0315.
She was mentally composing the images, carefully comparing the details of the two paintings, when suddenly her pupils contracted slightly: "No, these two paintings are different. Look at the position of the stars."
Li Jinshao's expression changed. He walked to the corner and quickly flipped through the photos he had just taken. Only then did he notice that the stars in the painting in the hall were not exactly the same as those in this painting, indicating that they were painted at different times.
0310……0315?
Li Jinshao murmured to herself, "If this is a date, it might be some kind of time marker..."
For a whole day, Xi Xijun and Li Jinshao explored everywhere, recording everything from the structure of the post station to the ingredients for food with a light screen camera. However, apart from the button signs in the elevator, there seemed to be nothing special about it.
As night fell, Li Jinshao suggested going to the observation deck on the top floor of the hotel.
In the elevator, Xi Xi summarized the descriptions of the buttons for each floor below the fifth floor in one place, and she tore out a page from her diary and handed it to Li Jinshao.
The observation deck was open-air, and the cold wind was even more biting than during the day. Xi Xi wrapped her coat tighter around herself and looked at the surrounding mountain textures. The mountains and forests looked extremely realistic. If she hadn't experienced the dungeon , she might have actually believed it to be real.
Li Jinshao held the page with the pattern on it, leaning against the top railing. He rubbed it with his fingertips and suddenly noticed a row of copper markings inlaid on the railing, with a special symbol at intervals.
“These are tidal height markers!” Li Jinshao explained with a hint of surprise, but his voice suddenly stopped, “Wait… the order of these symbols…”
He quickly took Xi Xi's pen and started writing something on the paper. Xi Xi leaned over to look and saw that he was drawing a complex coordinate graph.
“I understand. These symbols aren’t random,” he whispered. “They correspond to some kind of cycle. If I’m not mistaken…” his pen slid rapidly across the paper, “this might be some kind of early warning system.”
A warning? Xi Xi's eyes darkened slightly. A maritime warning was hardly a good thing... These kinds of natural disasters are mostly beyond human control...
Li Jinshao's face also turned pale. He silently calculated something and stopped talking.
Xi Xi felt a chill run down her spine: "You mean, this inn is actually a giant tide warning device?"
“Not only that,” Li Jinshao’s voice trembled slightly, “those two paintings, those symbols, all hint at some kind of pattern. But…”
"But I lack data. I can calculate the warning countdown based on the celestial changes in the painting, but I can't calculate the initial time. The initial time can't be today, can it?"
"How long is the warning period?" Xi Xi asked coldly.
“Seven days.” Li Jinshao pushed up his glasses and said, “Without knowing the initial time, just calculating the warning period is completely useless…”
“That’s not right.” Xi Xi pondered for a moment, then looked at Li Jinshao. “The sandstorm in the desert before didn’t conform to meteorological rules either, did it?”
"I think it's not about what will happen in 7 days, but rather..."
"It breaks out every 7 days."
At this moment, Xi Xi's voice was cold and terrifying, sounding especially chilling in the wind.
In the distance, a loud noise suddenly came. Xi Xi gripped the railing and looked around. It seemed that trees in the mountains and forests were collapsing in large swaths.
The ground beneath their feet seemed to be trembling slightly. Having experienced one major earthquake after another in her previous life, Xi Xi's face turned ashen. She quickly pulled Li Jinshao down and squatted down, covering their heads.
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