Yu Fangbai rolled his eyes from the side, while Luo Xunan watched with keen interest, as if munching melon seeds.
Xun Ji waved them both off, stood up, and brandished the card again. “Enough fooling around. Solve the question first—this stage has a countdown.”
When the elevator reached the top, a timer on the wall had already begun its 30-minute countdown. While Lu Zhou and Yan Qian fussed around Xun Ji, over three minutes had passed.
The group sobered instantly, took the card, and read it carefully.
The final stage was a physics puzzle, reportedly penned by the former principal. The card bore a single short line:
“Stage Seven—Bell Tower Puzzle. The ancient clock has suddenly stopped. Find the cause and repair it within half an hour.”
The Bell Tower’s outer wall embedded a massive cast-iron Roman numeral clock face, where both hour and minute hands had halted. They now stood in the room behind the clock face, one entire wall covered in large and small mechanical gears and drive shafts, all stalled.
“As expected.” Luo Xunan said, “The rooftop clock stopped after the heavy rain a couple days ago, and no one fixed it. Everyone guessed the final stage might be repairing it.”
Guessing was one thing; doing it another. Yu Fangbai frowned: “How do we fix such a complex large mechanical clock?”
“If it’s a test question, it won’t exceed our capabilities.” Xun Ji said, “First, split up and check the likely problem spots to find the cause.”
“Young Master Xun, where are the likely problems? How to check? How to find the cause?” Yan Qian fired off his soul-searching trio.
Xun Ji: “…Forget it, just wander around.”
Lu Zhou shot Yan Qian a waste-of-space look and began inspecting circuits and bearings on his own. Yan Qian sulked, milling about pretending to be busy.
“Huh, this backup power box has a password lock.” Luo Xunan spotted the anomaly first. “Must need cracking!”
“Indeed.” Lu Zhou pointed to a platform on the gear wall’s right side, fitted with a Tesla Coil linked to the main gear shaft.
“Probably damaged by the rain.” Lu Zhou said, “Backup should have a new one in the power box. We need to replace the coil.”
The group gathered at the backup power box, eyeing the password lock. Luo Xunan punched in random digits; at the 12th, it beeped an error.
“12-digit password?” Yu Fangbai frowned. “Any hints?”
They searched but found none.
Xun Ji propped his cheek thoughtfully. “If not here, then it must be…”
“From previous stages?” Lu Zhou asked.
“Right.” Xun Ji nodded. “Think carefully—numbers appeared multiple times in the first six stages.”
Stage one’s 10 literature questions, stage two’s 55 Time Dial fragments, stage three’s 37 notes, stage four’s 100 famous paintings, stage five’s 3 colored fireworks…
“Missing two digits.” Luo Xunan counted on his fingers. “Stage six was physical—any numbers there?”
“The number of gears Young Master Xun climbed!” Yan Qian blurted first, shouting triumphantly. “I took photos; we can count.”
He pulled out his mobile phone, smugly glancing at Lu Zhou.
“28 gears on the outer wall total.” Yan Qian counted and inputted the sequence.
105537100328.
Click. The lock opened.
“Nice one, Yan Qian.” Luo Xunan patted him.
Yan Qian beamed sweetly: “It was Young Master Xun’s idea—thanks to him.” Seeing Lu Zhou’s darkening expression sweetened his mood further. A mere second-year challenging a senior? Still too green.
The backup box held a spare Tesla Coil, wiring diagram, and full toolkit. Lu Zhou silently grabbed them and set to repairing the circuit.
Xun Ji lounged cross-legged again, happily slacking.
Lu Zhou worked deftly, finishing in about 15 minutes. He flipped the wall switch; circuits connected. Instantly, current surged like a pacemaker, invigorating the wall of gears into slow motion.
“Fixed!” Luo Xunan and others cheered, but Lu Zhou’s brows gradually furrowed.
The gears rumbled dramatically for a bit, then jammed, grinding in place with grating squeaks from the drive shafts.
“Not that simple after all.” Xun Ji pointed to the towering cast-iron pendulum opposite him. “The pendulum’s likely the final puzzle.”
The pendulum linked the clock to the gear wall; its precision was crucial for accurate mechanical operation.
“And these Lead Blocks determine its precision.” Xun Ji indicated a pile of variously weighted Lead Blocks in the corner, sighing. “I noticed them oddly piled when we entered—didn’t expect the school to make it that tough.”
With only ten minutes left, Yan Qian anxiously asked: “What now?”
Xun Ji stood, grabbed measuring tools from the kit, and instructed: “I need room data to calculate the pendulum counterweight. You three measure; Lu Zhou, help me compute.”
They sprang into action, meticulously measuring gear wall and pendulum data for Xun Ji. Lacking a pen, he scratched a calculation model on the concrete with a small stone; Lu Zhou verified beside him.
Yan Qian watched Xun Ji’s flying hand—pure physics whiz vibe. Even national Physics Competition gold medalist Lu Zhou merely assisted.
A chilling thought crept up: the mysterious physics tutor Lu Zhou publicly praised schoolwide… could it be…
He exchanged a glance with Luo Xunan, seeing mirrored shock. They tacitly held their questions, minds churning.
Time ticked away. Finally, with under two minutes left, Xun Ji paused and called out a set of numbers.
The others had already hauled all Lead Blocks under the pendulum. At his word, they swiftly selected the matching weights and slotted them into the pendulum’s lowest groove.
Under one minute remained. Lead Blocks loaded, Lu Zhou flipped the switch again.
Circuits hummed, gears thrummed, the cast-iron pendulum swung slowly, emitting an ancient toll.
Dong—dong—dong—
The clock resumed, its resonant chimes echoing over Yaoxing Academy.
“Wow! The first team to summit has cracked the Bell Tower Puzzle! This Star-Plucking Championship’s champion is born! Congratulations!”
From below, the host’s hoarse shouts mingled with roaring cheers and applause.
“We won! We won!”
Yan Qian and Luo Xunan excitedly pounced, hugging the five-person team tightly. Even perpetually gloomy Yu Fangbai cracked a rare smile.
Lu Zhou frowned as if to dodge but was pulled into Xun Ji’s embrace. Golden hair framed laughing eyes. Lu Zhou relented, not dampening the mood, letting teammates jostle him.
After much revelry, they finally prepared to descend and claim their exclusive Star Crown.
The Mechanical Elevator waited quietly at the top. The five boarded, pressed descend. It shuddered, emitted a harsh scrape like gravel on gears, then wobbled downward.
“What was that sound?” Lu Zhou alerted.
“It’s a Mechanical Elevator—not like a regular one; all about retro thrill.” Yan Qian dismissed. “Junior Lu scared?”
Xun Ji rode such an elevator for the first time, peering around curiously. Lu Zhou shot Yan Qian a cold look and sidled closer to shield Xun Ji from leaning out.
None of the five imagined this tiny oversight would exact a heavy price.
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