The pool water was so clear it glowed blue, while the Taj Mahal’s reflection was nothing short of magical.
The pure white Taj Mahal was bathed in red-orange by the setting sun, yet it was completely overturned in the reflecting pool.
The tapered pagoda on the roof became the girl’s chin, while the rounded roof was the girl’s full cheeks.
The ornate vine shaped floral patterns along the cross-section of the roof were the girl’s narrow eyes. They were shut and seemingly asleep.
From the perspective of the photo, one of the stone pillars before the Taj Mahal appeared to be the bridge of the girl’s nose.
As for the two small roofs and one larger roof of the Taj Mahal – they formed a crown in the pool’s reflection.
Gu Nianzhi carefully analyzed the girl’s face in the reflection of the Taj Mahal, then noticed it seemed somewhat familiar.
The snow-white skin, round cheeks, narrow eyes, and tiny lips seemed a bit reminiscent of the photo of a younger Gu Nianzhi.
Or in other words, it was very similar to the doll she had as a child. Of course, it was even more similar to Wen Shouyi’s face.
Wen Shouyi was older and more mature.
Gu Nianzhi’s current looks were completely different from when she was younger.
With this thought, she wondered if she had a similar face to Wen Shouyi when she was a child.
This was a new breakthrough for Gu Nianzhi.
She disliked Wen Shouyi from the very beginning, and she appeared completely different once she grew up, so she had never thought about things this way.
The girl’s face in the reflection of the Taj Mahal’s pool seemed to remind her of this similarity.
Pursing her lips, Gu Nianzhi pushed this unpleasant thought to the back of her mind. She focused her attention on the Taj Mahal and poem.
She walked around the front corridor of the Taj Mahal several times again.
Yet her eyes remained attracted to the girl’s face reflecting in the pool of the Taj Mahal.
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help but think of two lines from the poem.
“This was the hope in your heart,
built of gems, diamonds, and pearls…”
The pillars of the Taj Mahal were once encrusted with many jewels, but it had all been pried away during the world war.
For example, the shorter pillar in front of the Taj Mahal that resembled the girl’s nose bridge in the reflection of the pool was one of them.
When Gu Nianzhi walked closer, she could see the pits and holes left behind after the once encrusted jewels were pried off.
The pillar wasn’t very tall but was topped by a small umbrella-shaped entablature.
Gu Nianzhi’s mind began to work as she walked over and took another look around the pillar.
The pillar wasn’t very remarkable amongst the rest of the architecture in the Taj Mahal, but it was positioned in the very center of the girl’s face in the pool reflection.
Could this somehow have a special meaning?
Gu Nianzhi instinctively thought it might appear normal, but it actually concealed something more.
She carefully examined the pillar inch by inch.
Soon afterward, she noticed a Sanskrit engraving amongst the flourishing patterns near the very top of the pillar.
While Gu Nianzhi didn’t read Sanskrit, she could look up the meaning online.
She scanned the Sanskrit engraving and used graphic recognition software to extract the writing. Then she used a Sanskrit translation website and inputted the words.
The translation displaying on the website was, “…This was the hope in your heart.”
Gu Nianzhi, “…”
Oh my god, this was something huge!
Her expression was a bit shocked, and her hands began to tremble.
“What is it? You think there’s something wrong with this pillar?” Reinitz walked over and stood next to her. He also looked up to examine the pillar.
The pillar wasn’t very tall. Because Reinitz was about 5’9″, he only needed to raise his hand when standing in front of it to be able to touch the entablature.
“…The hope in your heart, built of gems, diamonds, and pearls…”
Gu Nianzhi murmured, “Look here, doesn’t this look like the line from the poem? This pillar was once encrusted with many jewels.”
Reinitz examined it a bit more. “…Many parts of the Taj Mahal were once encrusted with jewels, so this wasn’t the only pillar. What are you trying to say?”
“But this is the only pillar that read, ‘the hope in your heart!’” Gu Nianzhi pointed to the Sanskrit writing near the top of the pillar. “Look here. This is in Sanskrit, so I translated it.”
Reinitz’s heart thumped violently. “…It’s right here?!”
He had been walking around the Taj Mahal for two weeks now, but never noticed this pillar. So, of course he hadn’t noticed the Sanskrit engraving on the top of the pillar either!
But this wasn’t really his fault.
There were roughly only ten thousand people on the Blue Planet who spoke Sanskrit, and most of them were Brahmins in India.
Furthermore, there were only about one thousand people who could actually read Sanskrit.
Reinitz’s specialty wasn’t linguistics, so it was very understandable that he couldn’t read Sanskrit.
His focus was never on this nondescript pillar, either.
Anyone who came to the Taj Mahal would only look at the main hall.
Gu Nianzhi had only come out to take a look after she failed to find any clues in the main hall.
She took photos, following her instincts as a tourist.
To Gu Nianzhi, one of the greatest joys of traveling was being able to take photos.
Reinitz’s attention was also shifted to the pillar.
“It’s even stranger if it’s actually here. Can this pillar possibly hide the data?” Reinitz muttered to himself as he walked around the pillar in circles.
Finally, he raised his hand and stood on his tiptoes to reach towards the small umbrella-shaped entablature on the top of the pillar.
The small entablature was hollow, so it was just enough space for him to put his hand into.
Reinitz’s hand rummaged around inside, circling around the entire inside of the pillar. Finally, his expression was stiff when he felt a small, lighter sized box that had been secured inside the pillar.
He then felt around it again to realize it was probably taped on the surface inside.
Reinitz, “…”
Taking out his army knife, he placed one hand against the pillar and reached his other hand inside. Using the army knife, he cut away the tape and forcefully pried the small lighter sized item out of the pillar.
“There’s actually something inside?!” Gu Nianzhi was also very shocked, but smiled happily and said, “Hurry up and check what’s inside!”
Reinitz looked at what he had thought was the lighter in his hand. Precisely speaking, it was not a lighter, but a small tin box the size of a lighter.
The tin box was secured by an even more exquisite little lock.
Reinitz checked all sides of the box before removing a tiny tool from his army knife. He inserted it into the keyhole of the lock.
His hand cautiously made small movements inside the keyhole as he attempted to find where it met.
Finally, the tiny lock clicked open.
Gu Nianzhi, “…”
He actually knew how to pick locks…
Reinitz turned around to see her shocked look. He was feeling overjoyed and couldn’t hold back anymore, so he leaned over to give her forehead a quick peck. “Thank you, Cereus.”
He Zhichu was still hiding close by and witnessed this from his binoculars. He couldn’t take it anymore.
“Motherf*cker!” He Zhichu threw down the binoculars once again. He grabbed his gun with one hand and slammed the window sill with the other as he jumped down.
“Attention everyone! Attention everyone! The target is in the corridor square! The target is in the corridor square!”
He Zhichu gathered his bloodthirsty subordinates and rushed towards where Reinitz and Gu Nianzhi were standing.
