Named after the method of engraving the characters on tortoise shells and animal bones, oracle bone script could be considered the earliest form of Chinese characters and one of the most developed writings in the ancient Chinese dynasty.
Even on Earth, such texts could only be seen from ancient ruins or antique books and materials, yet a script as ancient as that happened to appear in a completely sealed metal room in a completely remote world. Had it not been under such a circumstance, Xiao Lin would even have thought that someone had tried to play a ludicrous joke on him.
Xiao Lin studied it carefully for a moment and said thoughtfully, “I think I probably know the rules of this game. It’s actually just a very simple translation puzzle. You see, on the grids are basic words written in Ancient Normese, and the missing grid is probably to allow us to find the corresponding translation from the wood pieces, which are all written in oracle bone script.”
“Does that mean you’re able to solve the puzzle?” Lilith ignored the first half of the explanation and was only interested in the result.
Xiao Lin smiled bitterly. “Well, this will be a bit hard for me. I only know very little about it. It’s not like I’m an archaeology professor. In any case, we’d still have to try it.”
Oracle bone script was essentially hieroglyphic in nature and was the most primitive way of creating characters. Its limitations were the decline of pictoriality, the rise of symbolism, and the difficulty of drawing certain physical objects or abstract concepts.
Xiao Lin’s Ancient Normese allowed him to recognize the words in the table, and he was fortunate that they were the most basic words, such as the sun, the moon, the mountains, the rivers, and the sky. It was slightly better than knowing nothing, although it was still possible to guess the general meaning of the hieroglyph even if he did not recognize the word.
The puzzle was initially completed very smoothly in the beginning, as simple words could more or less be identified according to the graphics and were not that complicated. As it went further however, the increasing difficulty became more apparent, with many strange vocabularies that were unique to Ancient Normese while being absent from oracle bone script. Xiao Lin had to look for the closest possible word to fill the blanks.
Although Lilith had quite some doubts, she still chose not to interfere with him. She rested her chin on her hands in boredom and stared quietly at Xiao Lin, who had a look of seriousness on his face.
The remainder of the time was spent in silence. Xiao Lin thought that deciphering the words would be a big obstacle as the difficulty increased, and that was true at first, but after a short period of decreased efficiency, it actually began to improve again.
It was a very strange feeling. For example, some of the terms which he completely could not understand suddenly became understandable after some time. It was as though Xiao Lin was undergoing self-learning and self-improvement in the process of deciphering the puzzle.
Unbeknownst to him, Xiao Lin SS-level talent was subtly producing a tremendous effect, especially after his learning efficiency had undergone an advancement. The effect was even more startling when he learnt some of the oracle bone scripts which he already had a certain foundation on.
Of course, it could be that he had a language talent that he was unaware of, as that was the evaluation given to him by the central computer after the initial monthly exam.
Xiao Lin did not know how long he took. It could have been a few hours or even more than ten hours. When he finally got ready to stand up, his legs turned numb and he nearly fell, startling the sleepy Lilith.
“Are you done?”
“Uhh, I guess.”
“You guess? ”
Xiao Lin massaged his legs and looked at Lilith yawning again and again. He said helplessly, “You have to at least show some concern for me. This job isn’t any easier than fighting... I can’t guarantee the accuracy of my answers.”
After some time, there was a slight noise in the room, and a milky-white door appeared again in the corner. It was the best answer Xiao Lin could get.
“Thank goodness it wasn’t in vain.” Lilith patted him on the shoulder and gave an appreciative look.
After taking barely a few steps, Lilith discovered that Xiao Lin was standing there in a daze instead of following along. She could not help but ask, “What are you thinking about? Do you need me to lend you some support?”
Xiao Lin refused, not knowing where to laugh or cry, and pointed to the wood pieces that had been filled out according to the notes. He said, “Doesn’t this feel strange to you? Don’t you think this looks more like a translation chart?”
Lilith was silent. Since she was not a linguist, she had no way of distinguishing between Ancient Normese and oracle bone script. However, she could understand the significance of that translation chart.
It was a sign that Earthlings conversed with Normans tens of thousands of years ago, and when any ambiguity in language occurred, someone created that corresponding translation chart to communicate.
Colonial academies first arrived in the New World more than two centuries ago, which was equivalent to four centuries ago in Earth’s time. They were the first batch of visitors, and that was a historical fact recognized by every academy. If the translation table in front of them was not deliberately fabricated by that mysterious woman to deceive them, perhaps there was a need to revise their colonial history textbooks.
Whatever the case may be, far too many mysteries about Planet Norma were hidden in the flow of time. Similar secrets about Earth could also exist, secrets that even Earthlings like Xiao Lin and Lilith had no idea of.
Due to Xiao Lin’s concern of facing more battles down the road, he sat for a while to relieve the fatigue in his entire body, especially in terms of his mental strength. His achievements left him feeling rather satisfied, and he even felt that he ought to take a few more language courses after returning to the academy. Perhaps he might have the talent for it?
A quarter of an hour later, Xiao Lin and Lilith once again stepped into the white light gate. It was the same brief burst of light and the scene before them changed again. This time they did not appear in the sealed environment again, but rather, a vast and huge world.
It was a blood-filled world, where the sky was as red as blood and even the ground under their feet is also stained with blood that had probably dried up after years and years. The soil was reddish-brown on the surface and deep down, with countless skeletons scattered all over the ground. Some had loosened up into bones, while others were turned into powder by the weather and a few were preserved intact. A number of those skeletons were obviously human, but there were those with an alien-like shape.
“Such strong death energy!” Lilith frowned. With her meditation level, she could perceive death energy in almost every corner and every area they walked on. It was obvious that the denseness had reached its ultimate peak.
“This feels similar to The Final Land. Is this the final checkpoint?” Xiao Lin remarked snarkily.
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