The night had deepened, and the firelight in the tent had dimmed somewhat. Ekat, captain of the guards, stood in attendance at the side. Seeing His Highness sunk in thought before the desk, he summoned a guard and gave two quiet instructions. A moment later, someone came in carrying birch candles.
So-called birch candles were candles made by rolling up birch bark. Of course, other flammable bark could also be used, but it was more troublesome than birch bark, and most of it had to be steamed first. In the Celestial Empire, this kind of candle belonged to ancient candles, appearing around the Han and Tang periods and not entering common households until the Song Dynasty. As for the nobles of the Alliance, they had another equally ancient lighting method: splitting pinewood into thin strips and lighting them for illumination, which was the Celestial Empire's "pine torch."
Ekat carefully lit the birch candle, placed it in the corner of His Highness's desk, then stepped back to stand in attendance. Xolotl raised his head, swept a glance over the candlelight, and nodded slightly. Then he picked up his feather pen, dipped it in blue ink, and wrote on the yellow hide paper.
"South from Fruit City, there are two roads, east and west, that can lead to the south. The eastern route is a perilous waterway. Following the Abyss River downstream for 140 li brings one to the mouth of the Abyss River. From there, another 10 li south is the western part of Atoyac Lake!"
The eastern route of the second section of the third county road was precisely the waterway of Fruit City—the mouth of the Abyss River—Atoyac Lake. Fruit City stood at an elevation of 1,700 meters, while the mouth of the Abyss River was only 240 meters