In the tenth year, Lin Yue closed the medicine shop and left the county town. She returned a month later.
A brother coming to collect the protection money stepped through the front door, but he froze when he saw the person inside the shop. He pulled his foot back, turned his head to glance at the familiar blacksmith shop and the familiar old man across the street, then turned back and asked softly.
"Miss, may I come in?"
"Please."
Lin Yue set down her teacup, stood up, and handed him the money. Seeing him hesitate as if he wanted to say something, she spoke up.
"There's a mine at home, so he went back to inherit the family business. I am his younger sister."
The young man nodded. "Your elder brother is truly fortunate!"
After he left, Lin Yue took out the map she had traced from the parchment and examined it closely. She had spent two years drawing this map, creating a one-to-one replica. The lines on it varied in size; the thick ones were like pencil marks, while the thin ones were as fine as a needle's tip, looking like extended wrinkles. She only dared to trace at noon, fearing she would eventually go blind if she did it in the mornings or evenings.
This map was only as small as half a side table, but it was drawn with such detail that the mountains and rivers were densely packed, covering a vast area.
Based on her analysis, the continuous lines represented rivers, and the small protrusions represented mountains. Aside from these two features, there were no words, city markings, or land enclosures, much less a marked treasure location. There was simply no starting point, which explained why that old man wouldn't let anyone look at it before buying.
Lin Yue picked up some borrowed maps of the Great Qian. There were maps of various regions, as well as zoomed-in and zoomed-out versions. She compared the terrain with them; at a rough glance, many seemed to match, but upon closer inspection, they were all different.
She could never find where it was, and there were no maps of foreign lands.
With no better options, she once took it to a master to see where a treasure might be buried. The master pondered for a while, pressed his finger onto the map—covering several mountains—and recited something about the Azure Dragon in the east bringing auspiciousness and the White Tiger in the west guarding the four directions... Finally, he said with absolute certainty that this was a plot of land with excellent feng shui.
Lin Yue praised his high technical skill and turned to find the next person to verify it. That master pointed at a different mountain range, saying it was backed by a dragon vein with undulating peaks and a small river winding around the mountain; it was a place of outstanding people and concentrated spiritual energy.
After thinking it over, Lin Yue pointed to the spot the previous charlatan had mentioned. This master shook his head, belittling it and elevating his own choice, saying it wasn't as good as his.
Lin Yue circled the county town and found the youngest one. This charlatan actually spoke the truth, saying that one couldn't see much from a map and had to conduct an on-site investigation. He pointed out more than twenty locations, none of which were mountains; he said they were good for building cities.
This person seemed a bit more honest. Lin Yue spent a large sum of money to study feng shui under him for three months. Most of that time was spent looking for mountains. Undulating mountain ranges were called dragon veins. To read feng shui, one had to observe the position and flow of the dragon vein's qi within the strata. After a whole process of searching for the dragon and pinpointing the spot, she found he didn't actually know much.
Now, looking at this map, she could roughly point out a few spots suitable for habitation.
The problem returned: she couldn't find the area covered by the map, nor the location of the treasure.
Perhaps the grandfather of the grandfather of that old man had been scammed.
But her luck had always been quite good; she shouldn't stumble here. It should be real; the map was detailed and didn't look like random scribbles. The fact that the treasure's location wasn't marked only emphasized its mystery...
Perhaps only someone fated could find it.
Lin Yue turned the map over and studied it intently. As she was looking, two sets of light footsteps reached her ears, coming from a distance and finally stopping at the door. She looked up and saw two twelve- or thirteen-year-old youths standing at the entrance. They wore tattered clothes with ash smeared on their faces, looking at her pitifully. The girl spoke in a weak voice.
"Sister, are you hiring help in the shop? I can do anything; just give me a bite to eat."
"Sister, please be kind. I haven't eaten for three days..." the boy's voice was even more hollow.
"I'm not hiring. Leave."
The two wailed outside, having no intention of leaving. Lin Yue ignored them, took a sip of tea, and continued studying the map.
As the sky grew dark, the two still hadn't left. They sat leaning against the door, watching the person inside. Seeing her get up and walk over, the two scrambled to their feet. Before they could open their mouths to speak, the door shut with a bang. Then, the sound of footsteps receded and vanished.
The two were stunned for a moment, and then the girl laughed. "This sister really has character!"
"I'm not very fond of studying medicine. I don't know what kind of gongfu she practices. It would be great if it were the hard-power kind," the boy said.
The girl shot him a look. "If you don't want to learn, then leave. Don't come and compete with me."
The boy shook his head. "She's the youngest person on this entire end of the street, yet no one messes with her. That's so unreasonable. Maybe she's a monster."
The girl rubbed her stomach. She hadn't eaten all day. She sighed, thinking that since she couldn't leave on the first day, she had to persist no matter what. She sat by the medicine shop and closed her eyes to sleep.
The second day.
As soon as Lin Yue opened the door, two figures tumbled inside. The two quickly scrambled up, apologized, and then helped open the doors, rushing to do chores.
Lin Yue chased them out, then went back to continue drinking tea and studying the map. The two would chat occasionally, talking about this and that while asking her questions in a roundabout way. Lin Yue didn't respond to a single word.
Seeing her staring at two maps the whole time, the girl asked, "Sister, what place are you looking for? I'm the best at finding things! Let me try."
There was still no reaction. The girl continued talking about how she had been able to find anything her family hid since she was a child, how she never got lost, and how she had a photographic memory...
The boy also started boasting. The more they spoke, the more the air grew thick with hostility, until they finally started arguing.
With her ears buzzing, Lin Yue raised a hand to stop them. "If you two can find it within two months, you can stay."
The two instantly perked up and asked what they were looking for.
The other party replied, "A place."
They asked again, what place? The other party answered that it was just a place.
The two nodded and agreed. The less said, the more challenging it was. If they could find it, wouldn't the other party have to teach them an ultimate technique?
Thus, the two spent all day studying that map, holding a stack of other maps to compare them one by one. Lin Yue lay on the lounge chair and continued drinking tea.
A month passed, and the two still had no clue. they began to grow anxious.
As soon as the two months were up, Lin Yue began to chase them away. The two hurriedly asked her to give them more time, saying they could find it.
Seeing the cold look in her eyes, they wanted to beg again but didn't dare provoke her. The two could only leave dejectedly.
Lin Yue stopped fussing with that map and went to attend the martial arts exchange hosted by Yu Fei's son, Yu Xiang. She watched them trade moves on stage and talk about the profoundness of martial arts. She also bought some medicinal herbs and manuals to study, selling the Second-Rate manuals she had upgraded from Third-Rate ones. The price had gone from dozens to over a thousand taels.
Selling one a year was enough to live on for a year.
Another five years passed. During this time, many young people and children came to the end of the street. Most of the young people would glance at Lin Yue and leave. At the same age, they didn't think her strength was anything special, and being peers, not many were willing to lose face by asking to be her disciple.
Most of those who came to Lin Yue were children. Watching them with their clear, innocent eyes, she simply took out that map and told them to study it. The rule remained: two months. If they couldn't solve this entry question, they had to leave.
Her ears instantly became much quieter. She couldn't help but sigh; it turned out the real use of this map was here.
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