Chapter 142: Puzzle Solving

Looking at the extremely abstract poem on the paper, Everly fell into confusion.

“Is that all? There’s nothing more?”

“That’s all.”

“Isn’t that… kind of strange?”

“That’s why I told you to be mentally prepared—the clue might be hard to understand,” Orff scratched his head, looking a bit guilty.

Everly stared at the poem for quite a while, then shifted her sharp gaze onto Orff, watching him for a long time. Only after confirming that he didn’t have the guts to mess with her did she nod, fold up the paper, and carefully tuck it into her pocket.

“We’ve got the clue. I’ll go back and study it carefully. If I run into anything I don’t understand, I’ll come to you. No problem with that, right?”

How could Orff dare have a problem! Others might not know, but he knew all too well what it felt like to get beaten up by Everly. So he nodded obediently and honestly, adding a quick disclaimer that if she asked him something he couldn’t answer, she wasn’t allowed to hit him.

“As long as you don’t play tricks on me and tell the truth, why would I hit you?”

Everly gave him a strange look and shooed him into the driver’s seat.

“Alright, it’s already late. Drive us back. The flesh monster has been dealt with, but we still have a lot of cleanup to do…”

…

Horror Movie Survival Rule #18: Properly dispose of shed materials such as hair, skin flakes, blood, and the like.

The three of them drove back overnight to Dalami City, returning separately to the ranger’s cabin and Mark’s house, where they cleaned up all the evidence left at the crime scenes.

Everly rechecked Mark’s basement, packing up all the research materials stuffed into every nook and cranny, taking them away to prevent them from falling into the hands of anyone with ill intentions again.

Before leaving, she also checked the cameras Mark had been using. The U.S. is a country where power outages happen from time to time, and she didn’t believe someone as clever as Mark would be careless enough to rely entirely on plug-in cameras. If that were the case, the moment the power went out, the monster would immediately lose control.

Sure enough, among the pile of plug-in cameras, there were also two hybrid cameras that could both be plugged in and run on battery as backups. However, one of them had an aged battery and had long since lost its ability to store power, while the other showed no response even when plugged in—its socket was likely broken.

In any case, due to a series of unfortunate coincidences, when the major blackout occurred, none of Mark’s safeguards worked. With just a single phone, he didn’t even manage to hold out long enough to turn on the backup power before the monster caught up to him and killed him.

Everly dug a pit in the cemetery next to Mark’s house and buried the stitched-together remains. After that, the three of them acted as if nothing had happened, returned the car (Orff had to pay a hefty repair fee), went back to school, and continued their studies.

With final exams just around the corner, although she was full of curiosity, Everly restrained her eagerness and set aside both the poem and the research materials taken from Mark’s house for the time being.

Only after finishing her last exam, with just one day left before the holiday, did she finally have time to deal with these matters.

She started with the materials obtained from Mark’s house. Most of them documented the various inhumane experiments Mark had conducted in pursuit of immortality. Only that one diary held some research value. Everly took the time to read the entire diary and was able to basically confirm that the research institute where he had previously worked was connected to the Megan Medical Group.

Unfortunately, Mark seemed to have some reservations. When it came to details about the institute, he was mostly vague and evasive, leaving the reader confused even after finishing it.

Everly copied down all the useful information from his diary, then burned it along with the rest of the research materials. Keeping such things would only harm others—she had no intention of preserving them.

Next, she turned her attention to studying the poem.

According to Orff, the poem had been passed down through generations in his family.

“This poem in our family holds the same status as Ten Little Indian Boys—it’s a must-learn poem for early childhood education. From the time I can remember, I had already learned it, and I knew that the ‘source of life’ it describes refers to the ‘Fountain of Youth.’ But I always thought it was just some boring ancestor making it up to trick people… until a few years ago, when my grandmother passed away…”

Ten Little Indian Boys is a traditional American nursery rhyme, often used to teach young children how to count.

“My parents were quite busy, so I was raised by my grandmother, and we were very close. When she was gravely ill, in her final moments, she suddenly opened her eyes wide, as if she saw some terrifying vision. She reached out her bony, skinny hand and gripped my wrist tightly. Then she opened her mouth and, with a voice like a bellows, told me: ‘In necessary situations, use this poem. It can save your life.’”

After saying that, Orff’s grandmother passed away.

At the time, he didn’t take her words seriously. After all, she had Alzheimer’s in her later years and often spoke nonsense. Orff thought she must have been babbling even at her death—otherwise, how could a single poem save his life…

“It wasn’t until I encountered you and Misha in countless loops, Everly, that I suddenly realized—what my grandmother said was actually true! That poem—it really did save my life…”

“Then have you ever wondered why you experienced one time loop after another?” Everly asked.

Orff looked completely bewildered. “Maybe… my grandmother has been watching over me from heaven?”

“…Do you think that’s reasonable? Everyone has lost relatives, and many people have closer bonds than you and your grandmother. So why is it only you who can loop on the day of death, while no one else gets that luck?”

Hearing Everly’s words, Orff looked even more confused.

“I suspect there might be something special about your family’s bloodline. How about going back and investigating? Since this poem has been passed down through generations in your family, tracing your family tree upward might reveal some clues to interpret the poem.”

Orff nodded. “Alright. But my family situation is a bit unusual—we don’t have a complete genealogy… The holiday is coming soon, so I’ll go back home and ask the elders. I’ll try to gather all the information you need.”

Everly nodded. “That’s perfect. Thanks.”

After agreeing with Orff to stay in touch as soon as he had news, Everly began her own investigation into certain terms in the poem that looked like proper nouns.

It was now 2X14, during the rapid rise of the internet. Many entries could already be searched online, but some obscure terms were impossible to find that way and required consultation with experts in the relevant fields.

Everly searched for all the terms that might have specific references, such as “On the right side of the land where the sun rises,” “On the day Venus crosses,” “Pawuka Oris Ananino,” and “At the foot of the mountains that encircle the world.”

Most of these searches yielded no corresponding results. Some gave a little information, but it was clearly unrelated to what Everly needed. Only two terms produced useful results.

The first came from the second line of the poem: “On the day Venus crosses.” Everly discovered that the “On the day Venus crosses” is a special astronomical event, where Venus passes directly between the Earth and the Sun. This phenomenon typically occurs in pairs: it appears once, then after more than a hundred years, appears again eight years later, and then continues the cycle with another interval of over a hundred years… repeating like this indefinitely.

In simple terms, the “On the day Venus crosses” refers to the phenomenon when Venus moves between the Earth and the Sun, forming almost a straight line with the two. From the perspective of someone on Earth, Venus appears as a small black dot crossing the Sun’s surface. In astronomy, Venus is naturally named “Venus,” so this line of the poem doesn’t mean “the day the goddess of beauty crossed,” but rather “On the day Venus crosses.”

Everly checked: the last crossing occurred in 2X09, and the next one would be three years later, on December 11, 2X17.

Once she understood this line, the first stanza of the poem could largely be interpreted:

“On the right side of the land where the sun rises”—this probably indicates a direction.

“On the day Venus crosses”—this gives the time: the day of the Venus transit.

“Pawuka Oris Ananino”—this line was unclear; it seemed like a place name or some object, but Everly couldn’t find any reference.

“Slowly rises from the realm of Poseidon”—Poseidon’s realm naturally refers to the sea, so this line suggests something rising from the ocean.

Taken together, the first stanza seems to provide the location and timing of the Fountain of Youth. This meant Everly had just under three years to investigate the poem’s full meaning—a welcome bit of good news for someone still mostly in the dark.

The second term with a clear source appeared in the eighth line of the poem: “Aurelbis has laid His trial.” Everly found online that Aurelbis is the chief deity in the legend of the Winton tribe, a Native American tribe in the southwestern U.S. His name means “He who is above.” However, since the name is quite obscure, Everly could only find information about his identity and nothing more.

This was also why she had been flipping through books on Native Americans during the flight—Everly wanted to understand exactly what kind of deity Aurelbis was, and how he might be connected to the Fountain of Youth.

Unfortunately, the books she had grabbed from the library in haste weren’t quite right. Everly couldn’t sleep, so she stayed up most of the flight reading. All she could confirm was that the Winton tribe had settled in the southwestern United States; as for the legend of Aurelbis, the books she had didn’t cover it.

She would need to find other sources or consult someone who specialized in Winton tribal mythology for more information.

After some turbulence, the plane landed safely. Everly packed up her books, stood with the crowd, slung on her backpack, and walked off the plane. Other matters could wait—her winter break had begun.

Old John had arrived in Sunken City ahead of her after receiving her message. Everly and Misha wheeled their suitcases out of the arrivals hall and immediately ran into Old John chatting with Misha’s parents.

A whole semester had passed, and Old John looked older. His posture was still upright and his build still sturdy, but the hair at his temples had suddenly turned white, as if a frost had settled overnight.

When seen daily, such changes aren’t so noticeable, but seeing him again after a semester gave Everly a sharp, almost tangible sense of time’s passage—a feeling of aging chasing closely from behind.

She couldn’t hold back; her nose stung with a sudden sharp ache.

Three years… just under three years. She had to decode that poem as soon as possible!

Returning with her grandfather to the long-unvisited gas station, seeing it weathered further by wind and sand in the wilderness, and looking at Buddy’s grave in the yard, the ache in her heart intensified.

Carefully hiding her emotions, Everly spent time with Old John at the gas station. Together, they marked her first Christmas and New Year’s since starting college.

Once the holidays passed and the library in Micano City reopened, Everly planned to borrow some books on Native American culture, so she and Old John drove into the city together.