Following the previous article “Luxin Winter Thanksgiving Fellowship,” we return to the online world.
This article will introduce the conclusion of the ARG. After obtaining the CD, players began using audio to restore clues, magically finding YouTube videos and obtaining the mysterious Gong Shaohua’s iPhone backup, finally learning the secret of the “Luxin Dharma Assembly” within the ARG.
Wu A’e’s identity was also finally revealed.
These preliminary ARGs all became part of the main Devotion game later.

Breaking the “Welcome New Tomorrow” CD Content

After reading the CD, it was presumed that this CD was made by Jian Jingjing.
The CD contains two audio files, which can be found here: https://goo.gl/wUr37T Track 01 is a song, presumably sung by Jian Jingjing.

Do good deeds, accumulate hidden virtues, everyone go release lives together
Lotus blooms, hand seals form, ten aspects (compassionate) blessed light shines on earth
Luxin Youth Service Group leads all beings toward brightness
Don’t be afraid, don’t panic, together welcome the new~ tomorrow
(Interlude)
Do good deeds, accumulate hidden virtues, everyone go release lives together
Lotus blooms, hand seals form, ten aspects
(compassionate)
blessed light shines on earth
Luxin Youth Service Group leads all beings toward brightness
Don’t be afraid, don’t panic, together welcome the new to~morrow

This should be sung by Jingjing.

Track 02 is a secretly recorded audio file. At the beginning, we hear a long environmental sound. Based on the sounds throughout, we can tell the audio was recorded around Christmas time, with clear SOGO hourly chimes.

At the end of the recording, we hear Jingjing being caught by someone, with another girl rushing out saying “I was recording!”

Based on this brief clue, a netizen found a suspicious YouTube video uploaded by “Wu A’e”:

The description under this video reads:

Wu A’e Upload Date: January 15, 2019
Is Taiwan’s public safety having problems?!
When driving past SOGO on Christmas Day, I saw this kind of thing
Originally thought it was a couple fighting, glad I got out of the car… F
ound a phone at the scene, but it’s locked, don’t know what happened
Those wanting the files can email me [email protected]
Please write “want phone data” in the subject line, otherwise I’ll get confused
(Won’t be in the country until 1/26, will check emails after that)

Seeing this message, everyone was excited but worried about making a mistake.
Fortunately, someone later discovered this Gmail’s main account belonged to Red Candle, so everyone felt comfortable emailing for the files!
“Emailing” was also the key to completing the final task verification.

Wu A’e Returns Early!?

If you had emailed Wu A’e beforehand, although she originally said she’d send files on 1/26, she actually started sending them from 1/23. The general content was as follows, with emails including a zip file containing an iPhone backup:

After enthusiastic netizens restored the data, the files can now be downloaded here (From Discord id: MazeQ)
Meanwhile, Wu A’e’s YouTube also updated its description:

1/22 Update: Mailbox got flooded, phone keeps ringing, really scary!!! Squatting in internet café replying…

1/23 Update: I really replied until my hands cramped, please don’t send anymore, won’t reply to later emails

Hey Gong Shaohua, Come Out and Play!

What exactly was the data Wu A’e gave us? From the data, we can find three important pieces of information:

• Phone owner: Gong Shaohua
• His phone number (staff’s phone, please don’t call)
• His Line ID

Below are divided into Line conversations and album contents.

Line Conversation Records

Jeff Liu

2018/06/04 Conversation between two people, seems Jeff and Shaohua know each other. Shaohua arranged to meet Jeff at Exit 3

2018/06/07 Shaohua received Jeff’s photos and asked if Jeff could dig more (they apparently had monetary transactions); Jeff also cared about Shaohua’s situation. Shaohua said:

“I’m not doing these things for money
This is also my own business
This has troubled me for many years
When I was little, I had a cousin who was very close to me, we often played together
One day she suddenly disappeared, my parents thought I was too young so they didn’t tell me the truth
I only found out when I grew up
Something happened to their family
That incident made the news”

Jeff asked if Shaohua thought it was related to Luxin. Shaohua:

“I don’t know, so now that there’s a chance, I want to investigate clearly. Those people owe my aunt an explanation. If no one reminds everyone, tragedies will just keep repeating”

2018/12/24 Shaohua told Jeff not to come out first, his stuff was doxxed so he was hiding 2018/12/25 Jeff asked Shaohua how to give him things. Shaohua gave him a Dropbox URL: https://goo.gl/24GLDx (shortened because it’s too long), and told Jeff not to contact him anymore.

Xiao Xia

2018/11/02 Shaohua contacted Xiao Xia, learning that Xiao Xia had stayed at Luxin for half a year. Xiao Xia:

“At first I thought it was general social welfare work
But their way of doing things was strange
They also didn’t respect my expertise
The organization mysteriously had many funding sources, but they didn’t actually invest all resources in the disadvantaged, yet
They could still grab so many subsidies, which I found very unfair
(…)
I once met Lu Shangren once
He was gentle and very good at talking
After chatting with Lu Shangren, I got confused and went in
But we social workers also had to pay tea money, those who couldn’t handle it had it deducted from salary
Yes, but what we paid was really just a little bit
(…)
They didn’t hire many people, most of those doing work were actually volunteers”

Later there were no more messages, presumably Xiao Xia and Shaohua communicated by phone.

Hong Sir

2018/10/30 Hong Sir contacted Shaohua, introduced through Hanxiang’s father. Hong Sir:

“Our kid also participated in that camp (…)
The camp was three days and two nights
They held it in a remote mountain area
But what they said and did were completely different Xinwei started having high fever after returning from camp
That’s when I learned that students there soaked in cold water daily
Saying it washed away sins
They were also force-fed blessing water, claiming it was blessed, but it was just burnt talisman ash water
Xinwei has completely changed now I work night shifts and don’t have time to supervise him, I thought making friends would be good
Didn’t expect it to become like this”

Shaohua expressed:

“We’re still collecting data, we need your experience”

Jian Yueying

2018/11/19 We learn Jian Yueying is Jian Jingjing’s mother. She said:

“Please help: My daughter Jingjing hasn’t come home since last year. I used to call her every day, but recently no one answers. I feel something strange about her. Jingjing is a sensible child, she wasn’t like this before. Our family situation isn’t well-off so she started working early to pay her own tuition. However, recently she often asks me for excessive living expenses. I send ten thousand yuan each month but it’s still not enough, and she won’t tell me what difficulties she’s encountered.
Yesterday I received contact from her class teacher saying Jingjing hasn’t been attending classes. I’m very worried she’s made bad friends. I’ve gone north several times to look for her unsuccessfully. I don’t know why my daughter keeps avoiding me. If there’s personal safety issues, I can’t bear it, so I need your assistance. Could you please investigate my daughter’s situation?
(..)
Jingjing hasn’t introduced any university classmates to me, and school teachers also don’t know about her friendships.
We’re a single-parent family depending on each other. There’s an elderly father at home in Kaohsiung needing full-day care, so I can’t travel between the two places frequently. Please help me, Mr. Gong, okay?”

2018/12/01 Shaohua sent a secretly taken photo, asking if it was Jian Jingjing. The mother confirmed it was Jingjing. The mother hoped Shaohua could talk to Jingjing, but Shaohua said: “Can’t talk to her directly yet.” After that, Shaohua didn’t reply to messages.

Album

Shaohua’s photos include these cat images, showing Shaohua is a cat lover (?)
But! Hidden in cat form, yet containing something.

Remember when contacting Jeff earlier, Shaohua mentioned having something for Jeff? And that strange Dropbox URL? If you click it, you’ll find the Dropbox file we got earlier was empty, but the folder was called “meow.”

BOX + meow? Could it be hinting that cat photos with boxes contain something?
Indeed, when we select the IMG_0061 file and change the extension to .zip, then extract it, we see a folder “here you go.”

It turns out the photos, when opened, contain six Morse code images; you can decode Morse code using this tool.

When we input the Morse code, we get six coordinates:
2502397N12130287E
2237535N12018048E
2457162N12113338E
2259451N12012437E
2501151N12127592E
2410457N12038454E

These lead to six locations:

• 108 Wanhua District, Taipei City, Wuchang Street Section 2, No. 18
• 800 Xinxing District, Kaohsiung City, Zhongshan 1st Road No. 115
• 320 Zhongli District, Taoyuan City, Zhongping Road No. 12
• 701 East District, Tainan City, Beimen Road Section 1, No. 296
• 220 Banqiao District, New Taipei City, Wenhua Road Section 1, No. 339
• 407 Xitun District, Taichung City, Fengjia Road Lane 20, No. 6-2

These turned out to be six grid shops.

Entering the Grid Shops

After solving this puzzle, the next day players who went to the grid shops could find CDs wrapped in kraft paper.

The CD contained a mini-game – “Little Luxin Climbing Stairs,” similar to the old children’s up/down stairs games.
You can find the game files here (From Discord id: 小六)
As you pass each level in the game, the master gives different teachings. Besides going up, there’s also a down version. After completion, you get the words “Become Buddha at 30.”

However, everyone had already brute-forced it before finishing the game XD
But the correct way to complete the game:

Although the game is the same, each location would give you a QR code fragment. When pieced together (From Discord id: 茉莉海豚茶－福爾摩殺) and scanned, it leads to a Google document “For Jeff”:

For Jeff

When we click the URL, we find lots of newspaper materials.

Document 1

October 14, Year 76 of the Republic

Luxin Dharma Assembly Statement: Regarding recent newspaper reports, we make two statements: 1. Luxin Dharma Assembly is a legitimate Buddhist meditation organization with no recognized branches. We do not interfere with believers’ private actions nor bear legal responsibility. 2. Regarding all matters at Cigu Altar, these not only violate Luxin Dharma Assembly precepts but have no direct connection to our assembly. Please do not believe others’ implications. From today, we will not respond to related matters.

Document 2

April 28, Year 78 of the Republic
News clipping: Master Lu (Lu Gongming) giving teachings at Taipei gathering place.

June 1, Year 78 of the Republic
News clipping noting Lu Gongming’s abdication:

Lu Dianfa = Lu Gongming’s son-in-law
Rumors say he abdicated due to health issues
Lu Gongming went into seclusion after abdication
No data available.

So a new figure appears: Lu Dianfa

Document 3

News: Religious Practice – Student Hospitalized with High Fever
Note:

Hong Sir’s child’s activity
Definitely not an isolated case, there must be other things not yet uncovered.

Document 4

PTT post from someone named Xiao Fei who once joined Luxin but discovered unclear accounts and strange activity content, plus demands for believers to pay money.

Document 5

12/04 Protest photos at Luxin Changhua gathering place, also recording: Uncle Li, Mrs. Xu, Mr. Huang, Miss Wang’s victim experiences. The content mainly concerns major problems with Luxin’s charitable funds.

Document 6

Many secretly taken photos of Luxin believers, all appearing at the café during the 19-21 period as Luxin brothers and sisters.

Document 7

Let’s make it public.

Then there’s a URL. Clicking it shows ARG completion lottery information, which I’ll leave for you to find yourself.

Jian Jingjing IG Update

At this time, returning to Jingjing’s IG, we find she uploaded three video segments, plus many early photos we hadn’t seen before appeared. The videos are now gone, but their transcripts were:

Her video:

“Thank you everyone for your concern, I’m safe now! Thank you Wenxin senpai, and even more thanks to Master Lu!”
I am Jian Jingjing, 21st term officer of Luxin Youth Service Group, Northern Universities Division, guangxi pride. Recently there have been questioning voices from outsiders. Have you ever thought how painful it would be when your most beloved family is mocked and questioned? Justice lies in people’s hearts. Jingjing won’t say much more here, believing time will give everything its due explanation. Since joining, Jingjing is very grateful to be able to learn Buddhism under Master Lu’s guidance. With Master Lu’s protection, Jingjing escaped fate’s predetermined track. Before joining, Jingjing was full of various anxieties about life, forcing herself to smile during the day, but every late night I was alone, hiding under blankets crying. Only after senpai’s sharing did Jingjing enter the path, experiencing the beauty under Master Lu’s guidance. Grateful to Master Lu, just after Jingjing joined and followed teachings, whenever meditating I could always feel surrounded by infinite light, even seeing Master Lu protecting in the void. At that moment, feeling my whole body heating up, thoroughly comfortable. Most miraculously, the asthma Jingjing suffered from since childhood was cured without medicine. Under Master Lu’s guidance, Jingjing felt unprecedented peace, began having hope for the future, no longer feeling lonely. Jingjing vows here to follow Master Lu for life, together sweeping away endless disasters and sufferings from this world. Grateful to Master Lu, guangxi pride.

From the newly appeared IG content, we know Jingjing was probably deeply brainwashed.
These were IG contents she had previously hidden, including:

• Explaining that joining Luxin improved grades and cured stomach problems
• Previously wanted to bring Peipei in, but Peipei later said the club was strange and told Jingjing not to contact her anymore
• Planning turtle release activities, mentioning someone had sabotaged before
• Students donated a large sum of money, Jingjing donated fifty thousand yuan
• “No worries in heart, naturally away from disease”
• Student testimonial sharing

Hmm… so we originally thought Jingjing led people astray, but she was actually brainwashed?! However, some people suspected something strange about the three videos:

• Cut short hair
• Reading from script
• Right wrist seems to have a bandage

Story Unfinished? Undercover Agent Appears!

Combining Jian Jingjing and the data for Jeff, everyone began suspecting if the game was over.
While everyone was discussing on Discord, suddenly Brother Xinwei appeared!

This made everyone even more nervous orzzzzz Everyone started worrying about Shaohua’s safety.

Wu A’e Also Comes Out to Play

After Brother Xinwei appeared, everyone was super panicked. Not long after, we received another email from Wu A’e.

It turns out Wu A’e was Wenxin senpai? Audio file is here.

Red Candle Official Announcement: ARG Ends

With Brother Xinwei’s appearance and Wu A’e’s email, everyone didn’t know if the game was over, wondering if they should look for Shaohua’s whereabouts. At this time, Facebook announced the game’s end, and the official undercover people came forward:

“Really super grateful for everyone’s enthusiastic participation. From the last ‘Fangfang’s Den’ to this ARG, never imagined we could get so much attention.
Sincerely hope everyone enjoyed this process. We were always worried about how to provide a good experience in Taiwan’s environment that’s relatively unfamiliar with ARG culture. So for rabbit hole arrangements, what puppet strings could be pulled and what couldn’t, we tried to be careful with every step.
This ARG’s planning started a year ago. Everyone worked on Devotion while conceiving the Devotion ARG. Most implementation was handled by our PR Tiff and main planner Dangdang. Though it was a free activity, we found it fun so kept making it more detailed. From planning to execution took many colleagues a long time. Because we added physical location elements for the first time, complexity increased even more. We deeply apologize for any disturbance to nearby shops and residents.
Looking at the results, many unexpected situations and bugs still occurred~ Really sorry~ Main reasons besides the explosive increase in participants this time is that our 14-person team needed to complete all this while simultaneously developing the main game. Even the night before the café event, we decided to have many brothers and sisters work overtime. Every actor was a colleague working on the main Devotion game, from planning to programming to art, everyone participated, joining the grand event, guangxi pride.
But in the end we gained a lot, despite some small imperfections~ For example, we originally hoped everyone could be more immersed in the story situation, but it seems everyone focused more on ‘puzzle solving,’ or treated the ARG experience as a competition. There was also some brute force cracking and personal information leaks due to inadequate preparation~ But these are ARG’s beautiful aspects. The game itself is alive, there’s no winning or losing. While playing against you all, we sometimes relaxed, sometimes anxious, spending most time laughing while working overtime.
Anyway, thank you. Red Candle friends are really a high-quality group, and because of this the event could end perfectly. Thanks to students who participated despite upcoming exams, thanks to office workers who worried about unsolved puzzles after work, thanks to the great ones who spontaneously helped us manage groups and maintain order, thanks to daughters who brought mothers to physical ARGs, thanks for various magical song adaptations, thanks for various unexpected wonderful fan creations, thanks to everyone from Taiwan and even around the world.
We’ll meet again when Devotion launches on Steam~ wink wink
P.S. Usually ARGs don’t have rewards~ because the process is everything~ but we provided them this time. Hope everyone won’t be angry if there are no prizes in the future~”

After the official announcement, the game truly ended.

Was everyone impressed by this spectacular ARG? Looking forward to more surprises Red Candle brings us in the future 🙂

Thanks for reading:D

If you enjoyed this article, feel free to buy me a coffee — and a treat for my lovely dog Lottery! 🐾