Combining the Maps
Long Tian stood in front of the map on the wall for a long time.
Its line density was higher than any map he had ever seen before. Each forking path was marked with a small symbol at the fork point. There were only three or four types of symbols, but they appeared frequently, like the same structural mark in different locations corresponding to different paths. He started looking at the map from the lower left corner—where a thick line outlined the coastline, its shape matching the southeastern part of the continent. A dashed line started from the coastline, extending eastward through an unmarked blank area of water, turning south at the first fork, and then merging with another, thinner line. It continued forward along an arc, eventually merging into a dense cluster of lines in the central area of the map.
He paused at the edge of the area of tangled threads. The density of lines in that area was higher than the surrounding area, as if multiple paths were converging in the same direction and forming an overlapping intersection at their ends. At the center of the intersection, a circular mark was carved into the stone surface, about a palm's width in diameter, with a ring of fine engravings around its edge. The outer ring of the mark consisted of a wavy line, while the inner layer was a smooth concave surface, like a mirror that had been preserved for a long time embedded in the stone wall. Under the continuous airflow and light, it maintained a texture distinctly different from the surrounding stone surface, like an entrance that had not yet been opened but whose space for opening had already been reserved.
Long Tian traced the edge of the map again with his finger. He matched the positions and directions of the symbols at each fork in the map, like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle that had been separated and was finally aligned. The overall layout of the map was a complete route map extending from the southeast coast of the continent to the deep sea area, with multiple paths converging in the middle of the map and leading to the central marker. The direction and direction were exactly the same as the path he had pieced together from the East Sea Cave, the Mountain Hall, and the fragments of the sea chart provided by Tang San.
Yu Jin, standing beside him, had also finished examining the entire map. He pointed to a detail on the upper right side of the map—where the lines branched more than elsewhere, like a path that had been cut off and then reconnected to a new route. At the end of each branch, a short horizontal line was drawn, like a later addition. He hovered his fingertip over that line without pressing it, only glancing at Long Tian: "This branching line didn't appear on your previous nautical charts. It was added later; the markings are shallower than the surrounding lines."
Long Tian examined the short line closely. It was indeed shallower than the surrounding lines, and the width and angle of the engraving were slightly different from the original drawing. It was as if someone had returned to this wall after completing the original drawing and added a new path, connecting the original path at the break point to a more distant direction. The end of that new path had no markings, only a shallow trail pointing to the upper right edge of the wall.
He looked towards the upper right corner of the room, following the direction of the shallow mark. There were no engravings on the upper right corner of the wall, but there was a slightly darker area—like an old surface that had been affected by different light and temperature multiple times. Over time, it had formed a different hue from the surrounding area, and with the continuous coverage, it had formed a clear boundary with the surrounding texture, like the remnant left after a panel was removed.
Long Tian walked to the area and pressed his palm against it, giving it a push. The surface of the area shifted slightly inward under the force, like a piece of material embedded in a wall, which, under sustained pressure, finally slid back a short distance along the pre-existing track. This revealed a narrow cavity containing a flat metal box. The box was made of dark gray metal, without any carvings or markings, except for a shallow scratch at one corner.
He took the box out of the cavity. The box was lighter than he had expected, as if it were empty inside. He held it in his hand and turned it over, finding no locks or seals. It was like a sealed, flat container, with only a joint running along one edge, connecting the lid to the body. He ran his fingernail around the joint, and it loosened slightly under his continued pressure. Then, it began to automatically curl outwards along its own elastic structure, like a roll of paper that had been tightly rolled for a long time unrolling its edges after the tension was released.
The box lid was opened. Inside, there was a layer of gray padding, on which was embedded a roll of extremely thin white silk. The texture was similar to the roll of silk in Long Tian's robe, but the color was slightly darker. After years of sealed storage, it had developed a uniform old white color, like a piece of material that had been covered under a protective layer for a long time and was slowly adjusting its temperature and humidity balance when it first came into contact with air. He carefully took it out of the box and unfolded it in his palm.
A more complete map was drawn on the silk. It not only included the entirety of the map on the wall, but also added an extended path. This path continued southeast from the central marker for a distance, all the way to the very edge of the silk map, where it was abruptly cut off by a wavy line. The wavy line was the same style as the three-wave pattern on the seaweed paper and the stone gate, only the strokes were finer and the color darker, as if drawn with mineral pigments. Nothing else was marked outside the wavy line, as if the path had ended before reaching that point, its end cut off by a marked line, as if the painter had stopped there.
Long Tian carefully rolled up the silk map and placed it back in the box, closing the lid. He stood up, glanced at the map on the wall in front of him, then at the closed map in the box, combining the two in his mind to form a complete image. He placed the path that Dragon Shadow had guided him on the sea, the direction of the path on the wall of the mountain hall, and the extension line of the nautical chart fragment that Tang San had found in the old archives into the same superimposed map. The final direction of the superimposed map pointed southeast, where there were no land or islands marked.
He put the box into his leather pouch. As he did so, the Dragon Shadow slightly raised its wing membranes, and the light layer on its forehead continued to shine in the darkness of the room, like a stable anchor providing continuous illumination. After the box was put away, his Origin Return Pearl slightly adjusted its rotation speed, as if quietly confirming the continuous connection between the silk map and its own pulse. During this process, it maintained a steady, uniform operation, unaffected by external interference, like a ship continuously moving forward in the same current without frequently adjusting its course, only needing to maintain the appropriate speed in the already determined direction.