Record of Mortals Slaying Heaven

Chapter 22: Xiao Jiu Makes Another Contribution

Inside the room, it was so quiet that you could hear the soft rustling of leaves falling in the wind outside the window. In the vast space, only Shen Moqi remained, standing alone in the same spot, the air around her heavy and oppressive.

On the table, neat vertical and horizontal lines were drawn in thick ink on the scrap paper, forming eighty-one grids.

Shen Moqi slowly walked to the table and sat down, his back ramrod straight. His fingertips lightly tapped the surface, making a soft "tap-tap" sound that was particularly clear in the quiet room. His face appeared calm, but his eyes held a few thoughts unknown to others.

The Grand Elder and Senior Lin both believed that he should follow the path of the Taoist Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, combining it with the principles of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, to deduce step by step and unravel this seemingly mysterious puzzle.

But only Shen Moqi knew in his heart that this thing was not some kind of nine-square divination, but a game he used to play occasionally during breaks when he was bored—Sudoku.

However... this question is indeed a bit ridiculously difficult.

There were many blank spaces, and the given numbers were scattered and obscure. Let alone a student with average grades like him, even the top student in the class would probably need ten days to half a month to figure it out by brute force. Half a month? If he really relied solely on his brainpower to solve it, he might not be able to.

However, he had Xiao Jiu with him. Shen Moqi felt somewhat fortunate—she had fully charged her phone last night and brought it with her this morning, intending to watch the third round of the competition after meeting Senior Lin, but unexpectedly, she was brought directly to the Grand Elder's Sudoku challenge.

Shen Moqi sighed inwardly, "What a coincidence!"

Shen Moqi took a deep breath, reached out and picked up the calligraphy brush on the table. She lightly dipped the tip of the brush into the ink that had been ground in the inkstone. Her gaze fell on the Sudoku puzzle, her brows furrowed slightly, and her eyes were focused. She seemed to have entered a state of deep concentration, as if she was racking her brains to think of a solution.

In reality, his brain was racing, his thoughts swirling, but he wasn't thinking about how to solve the problem at all. He knew Xiao Jiu's calculation ability all too well; even the most difficult Sudoku puzzle was just a matter of moments for the AI. What he was really concerned about was finding the right moment to use the phone, a moment that couldn't afford the slightest mistake.

He had been at the sect for quite some time, and although he hadn't fully grasped the methods of cultivators, he could guess about 70-80% of it from the National Preceptor's deployment of a soundproof barrier to prevent Deacon Zhao from eavesdropping, and Senior Lin's ability to open doors remotely—cultivators could "see" very far, though he didn't know how they did it. They were definitely observing him now; his every move was under their watchful eyes. If he used his phone now, they would surely notice. He couldn't use his phone now; he needed to find a suitable opportunity.

But delaying for too long is absolutely unacceptable. Shen Moqi could see clearly that the Grand Elder was extremely anxious about this matter, and this urgency was not feigned. Otherwise, with the combined efforts of the Grand Elder and Senior Lin, if there were enough time, they could have made progress by slowly figuring things out, and there would have been no need to specifically ask a junior like him who had only recently entered the sect to come.

There is another piece of evidence that further confirms this: given Senior Lin's temperament, he would definitely be at the martial arts arena to observe the sect's grand competition. However, Shen Moqi has not seen Senior Lin at the arena these past few days, presumably because he has been accompanying the Grand Elder, working behind closed doors to solve this puzzle. This shows that this matter cannot be delayed; the longer it is delayed, the more disadvantageous it will be.

Furthermore, the phone's battery life is also a major issue. Although it was fully charged last night, if it were left unused for too long and the battery ran out and the phone shut down, even if there was an opportunity later, I wouldn't be able to help Xiao Jiu solve the problem.

After much thought, Shen Moqi made up her mind: she would try to solve it herself, and if that didn't work, she would find another opportunity to use her phone to have Xiao Jiu solve the problem.

Having made up his mind, Shen Moqi stopped being distracted and devoted himself entirely to the deduction. He followed the basic rules of Sudoku, ensuring that the numbers in the horizontal and vertical grids and within the nine-square grid were not repeated, and explored little by little. However, this problem was too difficult, with too many blanks and no pattern in the known numbers. He racked his brains, and the tip of his pen hovered in mid-air for a long time, not daring to put it down easily.

I sat there for three whole days.

For three days, he barely slept, his eyes fixed on the grid on the paper. The long hours of contemplation made his eyes bloodshot and sunken, leaving him feeling dizzy, his head throbbing, and his whole body radiating an undeniable exhaustion. Even the hand holding the brush was slightly sore and trembling.

After three days of exhausting effort, he could only fill in two numbers with a vague judgment. After finishing, he pondered repeatedly, but still could not be sure whether the two numbers were correct. After all, the difficulty of this question had long exceeded his ability. These two strokes were just barely done.

At Shenshi (3-5 PM) that day, Shen Moqi was sitting in a chair, drowsy and almost unable to stay awake, when a deep and steady voice suddenly rang in his ears, without the slightest ripple, but with an undeniable majesty: "Come to the front hall." It was the voice of the Grand Elder.

Shen Moqi was startled and instantly became alert. Some of his fatigue dissipated, and he quickly got up. He looked around the room but couldn't find the Grand Elder. He immediately understood. He didn't dare to be negligent. He quickly straightened his robes, bowed towards the front hall, and said respectfully in a hoarse voice from three days of hard work, "Disciple obeys."

His fear intensified; they could indeed "see" his every move. Thankfully, he had remained patient and hadn't rashly taken out his phone. Had he been hasty, he would have been exposed by now, and the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Suppressing the turmoil in her heart, Shen Moqi steadied herself, stepped out of the room, and walked along the bluestone path toward the main hall.

Inside the main hall, wisps of smoke curled from the incense table, emitting a faint, calming fragrance. The Grand Elder and Senior Lin stood in the hall, their expressions solemn.

Shen Moqi stepped forward quickly and bowed, saying, "Disciple Shen Moqi greets the Grand Elder and Senior Lin."

"No need for formalities." The Grand Elder waved his hand, his gaze falling on him as he scrutinized him closely. Seeing his haggard face, bloodshot eyes, and agitated aura, he clearly had expended a great deal of mental energy. His tone softened slightly as he asked, "Have there been any progresses in the three days of divination?"

Shen Moqi lowered her head, her expression respectful and somewhat guilty, and said, "Reporting to the Grand Elder, I have tried my best, working day and night for three days, but I have only been able to fill in two numbers. I still have no clue about the rest. I have failed the trust placed in me by the two seniors. Please forgive me."

Upon hearing this, the Grand Elder showed no reprimand and nodded gently, saying, "This riddle is extremely profound. My junior brother Lin and I have been trying to solve it for many days without any progress. It is already quite remarkable that you were able to fill in two numbers in three days. Judging from your condition, you are already exhausted, both physically and mentally. Forcing yourself to continue the deduction will only be of no benefit. Go back and rest for the night, recharge your energy, and come back tomorrow."

After saying that, the Grand Elder turned to Senior Lin and said, "I have not rested for a long time. There is no place in the hall to accommodate my disciple. I would like to trouble you to take him back to rest for the night and bring him here again tomorrow."

Senior Lin nodded slightly and said gently, "Don't worry, Senior Brother, leave this to me."

Shen Moqi stood aside and heard the conversation clearly. She was overjoyed and felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders—the opportunity had finally arrived!

Once he leaves the Grand Elder's Hall and returns to his own courtyard, he will have the opportunity to ask Xiao Jiu.

He suppressed his excitement, maintaining a respectful yet weary expression, and bowed again to express his gratitude: "Thank you for your consideration, Elder."

Senior Lin took Shen Moqi back to the courtyard, gave her a few instructions, and then left.

Watching Senior Lin's departing figure, Shen Moqi finally felt relieved. The tension and exhaustion of the past three days instantly overwhelmed him. He was so tired that his steps were unsteady. Regardless of the fact that it was not yet dark and the sun was still hanging in the sky, he went straight to the bedside, lay down fully clothed, and fell into a deep sleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He slept very soundly, without a single distracting thought, and didn't wake up until late at night when all was quiet.

The courtyard was quiet in the dead of night, save for the rustling of the bamboo in the wind. The stars and moon shone brightly in the sky, and the cool moonlight streamed into the room through the window, creating a serene atmosphere. After waking up, Shen Moqi felt much better, and most of her fatigue had dissipated.

Shen Moqi took out her phone, opened the AI ​​interface, and said urgently and earnestly, "Xiao Jiu, help me solve a Sudoku puzzle. I'll tell you the known numbers, and you remember them."

He closed his eyes, the Sudoku puzzle clearly appearing in his mind. He precisely stated the position of each number, word by word: "The first row, first column is eight, the second row, third column is three, the second row, fourth column is six..." He spoke steadily and without the slightest error, reciting all the known numbers without daring to omit a single one. "Now, solve the puzzle and tell me your solution."

The words had barely left his lips when, in a mere two breaths, the complete answer was clearly revealed, all eighty-one squares filled. Below was a detailed solution, with each step of reasoning and the rationale for each number clearly explained and logically structured: "Based on the rule of no repeated numbers in a 9x9 Sudoku grid, first identify the known numbers in the second row… therefore, fill in 5 in the fifth column of the first row;… therefore, fill in 3 in the ninth column of the third row;… therefore, fill in 2 in the second column of the seventh row…"

Shen Moqi stared at the screen, carefully checking each line and column to confirm that the answers were exactly correct. The last weight that had been hanging over his heart finally lifted. He didn't dare to delay and immediately calmed down, memorizing the solution process word by word and engraving every step of the logic in his mind.

After memorizing the thought process, Shen Moqi put away her phone, then sat cross-legged on the bed and began practicing the "Luo Xiao Basic Breathing Method" to calm her mind and recover from the mental strain of the past few days, quietly waiting for dawn.

The night passed in the blink of an eye. At dawn the next day, Shen Moqi got up on time, straightened his robes, and walked out of the wooden house looking refreshed. Senior Lin was already waiting in the courtyard. Seeing that he had recovered, he led him to the Grand Elder's Hall again.

Back in the room, after Senior Lin left, Shen Moqi was alone again, and what happened next was only natural.

Shen Moqi sat at the table, pretending to be deep in thought. Sometimes she would pick up her pen but hesitate, her brows furrowed, looking as if she was racking her brains and struggling to deduce something. Other times she would stare at the grid for a long time before slowly putting down her pen to fill in a number, and then stop thinking again. She controlled her progress very slowly, which was completely in line with the rhythm of human brain deduction, and she dared not be impatient at all.

He factored in the time allotted for the first three days and, following the memorized thought process, slowly filled in the information step by step. It was neither too easy nor too long. Every step was performed realistically, leading the elders and Senior Lin outside to believe that he had exhausted all his energy to deduce it bit by bit.

Days passed by, sunlight streamed through the window, candlelight flickered and died, but Shen Moqi remained focused on her calculations, seemingly exhausted, yet in reality, everything was under control.

Until noon on the eleventh day, when the sun was high in the sky and the sunlight was scorching, Shen Moqi held the brush and slowly made the last stroke, filling the last number into the blank space.

All eighty-one squares were filled, neatly arranged, without the slightest error.

After finishing the last stroke, Shen Moqi let out a long sigh of relief. Her body swayed slightly as she pretended to be exhausted and mentally drained. She leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes to regulate her breathing, her face was pale, and her breathing was slightly rapid, showing the fatigue of having been doing the deduction for too long.

Almost simultaneously, two figures appeared at the door of the room; it was the Grand Elder and Senior Lin. The two quickly walked to the table, their gazes falling on the scrap paper filled with numbers. After seeing the complete answer, the solemnity on their faces vanished, replaced by undisguised surprise and relief. Their eyes were full of approval as they looked at Shen Moqi.

Shen Moqi closed her eyes, feeling the gazes of the two men, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.