The Secret Under the Table Leg

  "What are you doing there? Come here." A low voice came from the darkness, and it was very close.

  Following the sound, when my line of sight finally caught a glimpse of light in the darkness, I felt relieved. It turned out that he was just one meter away from me, but I hadn't noticed him because the light source was below and blocked by something. As I approached, I saw that he was crouching in front of a table, shining his flashlight on my face, and heard him say: "Your face is so pale it could be mistaken for a female ghost."

  I didn't make a sound, thinking to myself that I really thought I had seen a ghost just now.

  As he gazed at the high castle, his eyes fixed on the table leg. It was an ordinary table leg, but because it was a dark color, it couldn't be discerned in the dim light. Suddenly, his mind sank, and it seemed as if he saw a hand reaching towards the table leg, then...

  "What are you doing?" A sudden shout awakened me, and I was shocked to see my left hand stretched out in mid-air. Gao Cheng stared at me for a few seconds before warning, "Don't touch anything carelessly." He then lowered his head again, holding the flashlight to continue searching.

  I awkwardly withdrew my hand and couldn't help but ask, "What are you looking for?" He ignored me, and suddenly a soft "hmm" escaped from his mouth. Without even lifting his head, he ordered, "Take a step back."

  I slightly backed away, and he took out a pair of black gloves from his pocket, put them on slowly, and then half-lifted the table leg. What surprised me was that despite his slender appearance, his arm strength was incredibly strong, and with one hand, he lifted up one leg of the heavy wooden rectangular table.

  His actions became even more baffling, one hand lifting the table leg and the other seemingly feeling underneath it. A few seconds later, he reached into his pocket and pulled out something, pressed it against the bottom of the table leg, then withdrew his hand and put the table leg back down.

  From my angle, I saw his mouth corners curve upwards after a moment, and I couldn't help but lean in to take a look too.

  "What is it?" I asked in surprise.

  There was a soft membrane similar to ink pad in the palm of his hand, on which something was clearly engraved. Even I thought of what he had been doing just now, and it seemed that the seal was taken from under the table leg.

  Gao Cheng observed for a while, then suddenly asked: "What does this look like?"

  I squinted and took a closer look, although it was carved crookedly, the basic shape could still be discerned. I hesitated for a moment before answering: "The two ends look somewhat like the English capital letters 'l' and 'k', and the middle one looks like either a symbol or an 'm'." It's unclear whether the person who carved it did so intentionally or if it was worn away, but the middle part is very blurry, resembling a smudge on an elementary school workbook.

  "Elm, em, kay." Gao Cheng whispered.

  I also couldn't help but think: what do the three letters represent? The table's factory code? It's unlikely, if so, it would be too careless, and I've never heard of engraving codes on the bottom of a table leg.

  Thinking of a problem, the table legs are knocked on the ground, how does the high city know that there is an inscription underneath?

  He seemed to hear the doubts in my mind, "Strange, how did I know there was a cat hiding under the table leg?" I stiffly nodded in acknowledgement, not feeling too good about being seen through.

  "The entire room, except for the traces that the suspected murderer had cleaned up, all the evidence that could be collected by the police had been collected. However," Gao Cheng paused, and I couldn't help but look up at him. In the dim light, the flashlight reflected off his face, making his eyes sparkle like stars. "Everyone has overlooked this place!" Following the direction of his pointing finger, I saw that the floor tile was spotless and clean, with nothing on it. I leaned forward a bit more, still unable to make sense of it, when I heard his disappointed voice from above: "With your IQ, sigh."

  "What's wrong with my IQ? Just getting angry, I heard him say: 'It's not the brick you're looking at, it's the seam of the brick.'"