In most people's minds, the desert was vast and boundless, with only hills of yellow sand rising and falling like waves.
Yet when the wind blew, the sand and dust it swept up became a labyrinth. Unlike the kind with solid walls that could block people, this one could be passed through.
When people looked up, they could no longer see the stars in the sky to guide their way.
If only they had a compass.
But compasses were not commonly carried. Who would bring one along for no reason?
When traveling, people often prepared for a rainy day. "Preparing" originally meant repairing one's roof, expressing the idea that one should not wait until the flood came to think of reinforcing the dikes, nor wait until famine began to think of storing grain. But if one carried an umbrella merely because it might rain, it would create many unnecessary burdens. Would anyone prepare an umbrella before heading into the desert? Yet Britons carried umbrellas at all times. Their rainy climate throughout the year made it perfectly reasonable for them to keep an umbrella with them.
In the "Book of the Southern Mountains" of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, there was a plant called the Lost Valley Tree. It resembled a paper mulberry tree, but had black patterns and seemed to shine with countless rays of rosy light. "Wear it, and one would not lose one's way."
This was what puzzled the imam. The Jiyin People possessed a miraculous power: they could create labyrinths and trap Mountain Demons. If they themselves became lost and trapped in a labyrinth, they would be like the Greek youths sent into the Cretan Labyrinth, hunted by the monster within. Therefore, they should have possessed the ability to escape labyrinths.
When the book described the