Traveling through snow-covered mountains was no easy task. Fortunately, this was not Li Wei's first time trekking through snow. They had a mechanical mule that could pull a sled through the mountains, allowing them to sit inside and enjoy tea heated by the mule's steam engine.
That was especially useful in a cold place like this.
The area Jeanne did not recognize was vast, but Li Wei felt they had already narrowed down their search, because they had other "clues."
"Water."
Li Wei sat in the swaying sled and spoke to Jeanne.
"Water is the source of life. That saintess was an alchemist. Whatever she wanted to do, she would have needed water. And assuming she really had a castle here, that would mean a lot of people lived in it. Those people had to survive, too, so they also needed water."
"So our next step is to find a water source?"
Jeanne clearly understood what Li Wei meant, and he nodded.
"Exactly. We follow the water upstream. An ordinary little stream couldn't possibly supply an entire city. They would have needed a substantial water source, and I imagine those are rather rare high up in the mountains."
That was true.
Jeanne nodded. Knowledge in her mind, which had come from somewhere she could not identify, told her Li Wei was right. On level ground, the intricate networks of underground waterways and rivers would have presented a serious problem. High in the mountains, however, there were far fewer such sources.
Generally, the water in the mountains came from melting snow. It flowed downhill, gathered into streams, became waterfalls, and continued all the way to the foot of the mountains. Now they needed to head upstream and find the sources of those little streams, to see whether that would yield any