The spiritual energy in Master Ji's palm did not dissipate, and he still looked cautious. He shook the piece of silk and it spread out.
After unfolding, there was nothing inside the silk, but his eyes lit up, because as the silk unfolded, he saw a picture painted on one side of the silk.
He spread the silk flat on the ground and looked at it intently. After a while, he couldn't help but smile sinisterly.
"Haha, I was wondering why you bought so many clothes every time you came back. It turns out that you painted a picture on it somewhere in the city. You are really smart.
How could I always prevent you from bringing this thing in? You didn't dare to put the painting in the house because you were afraid that I would accidentally discover it, so you moved the flowers and plants here and buried the painting in a remote place.
I wouldn't mind if you came here to weed and plant flowers, or even lie down here. But this picture has been buried for a long time, and the flower roots have lost moisture, so they will inevitably begin to wither. Do you usually sit or lie down here to study this picture?"
At this moment, there was a map drawn on one side of the silk on the ground, which turned out to be a map of the mountains near the north city.
This kind of map is sold in many shops in the city. It is not a military map, but a map for business travelers or nearby residents.
This kind of map depicts the geographical features of the nearby Daqing Mountain, and some shortcuts leading into the mountains, but these are not the main points. The main thing is the markings on the map, which indicate the monsters that will appear within a certain number of miles of the nearby mountains, as well as the types of monsters, etc.
The main purpose is to let nearby residents and passing business travelers know about the Daqing Mountain, so as not to go too deep into it or go to the wrong place, otherwise they will never come back.
There are two sources for this kind of map. One is that the military will publish a part of it. Every year, the military goes into the mountains to hunt some monsters. One is for training, and the other is to prevent too many monsters from appearing on the edge of the Daqing Mountain.
Although the levels of these monsters are not too high, they are deadly to ordinary mortals.
Another source is some private business guilds, which also explored the Daqing Mountains and gradually drew their own maps during the exploration process.
The map drawn on the piece of silk in front of us shows that it is not the type that is sold. It should have been drawn by someone on purpose, with the intention of making it difficult for others to find and easily mixed in with clothes.
Strategist Ji is no longer concerned about the source of the map. He thinks that Hong Linying must not know about this map.
This was also a way for Li Yan to save his life, so he would never let others know his whereabouts. What he was concerned about now was how to infer Li Yan's intentions from this picture, so he turned it over and over to look at it carefully.
After a while, Division Master Ji was already very happy.
"Hehehe... I know you are very smart, but how could you know that there is such a thing as divine consciousness in the world."
After initially looking at the silk carefully, he did not find much. But when he held it up to the sunlight and squinted his eyes to examine it carefully, he discovered that there were traces on the silk, but they were not clearly visible.
So he simply released his spiritual sense to probe the piece of silk, and immediately several lines appeared in his spiritual sense. The scratches were of varying thickness, but one of the thicker lines was very obvious.
It was a line that started not far from the north city gate, a path that went to the west side of Daqing Mountain and finally stopped at a place about seventy or eighty miles deep. There were very few marked monsters in that place.
These lines should be caused by someone running their fingers or nails on the silk for a long time, but it is difficult for the fabric to retain such unintentional scratches. However, after Master Ji used his spiritual sense, they immediately appeared.
Master Ji repeatedly observed the thicker scratched line with his spiritual sense. After a while, the smile on his face became more and more intense.
He knew that the reason this line was thicker than the other lines was that it was drawn the most times by hand, leaving the most repeated scratches, forming overlaps and making it appear thicker.
This means that among these routes, Li Yan considered this route the most and is most likely to use it. Moreover, there are very few marked monsters there, making it a good place to hide.
"Humph, I knew you wouldn't run back to your hometown so easily. It would be too easy to find you. Sure enough, the clothes and flowers you bought were for a purpose."
Advisor Ji put the piece of silk in his arms and rushed out of the valley like lightning. When he arrived at the field outside the valley, he called Chen An and Li Yin again. Seeing the uneasy expressions on their faces, he whispered a few words to them and quickly rushed down the mountain.
After receiving the order, Chen An and Li Yin showed thoughtful expressions on their faces. Soon after, they entered the forest, led the horses, and rode down the mountain.
The two of them received an order from Military Advisor Ji to quietly go to Lijia Village at the foot of the Daqing Mountain and secretly inquire about the situation in the village.
If Li Yan is found in the village, one person will be left to guard it, and the other will come back to report to him. Although Advisor Ji is basically certain that Li Yan will not return to the village, he still does not want to miss any possibility.
After going down the mountain, Strategist Ji did not immediately look for Li Yan according to the map. Instead, he went into the city again and secretly searched the "Natural Wine House" and "Iron Pavilion". Only after confirming that Li Yan was not there did he feel relieved.
Advisor Ji looked up at the sky. It was almost noon. He got some food at "Natural Wine House". After a simple meal, he got up and went out of the city.
The mountain road is rugged and covered with thorns. Like many mountain roads leading into the Daqing Mountains, not many people usually walk on this road. The weeds and vines in the mountains grow very fast, and soon the small paths that were occasionally opened up by people will be covered with intertwined branches and stems.
The mountains in early summer are already hot at noon, but a breeze occasionally blows, bringing a hint of coolness. The wind is mixed with the scent of wild flowers, giving people a comfortable feeling.
But the people walking in the middle did not feel very good at this time. Master Ji, who was dressed in a black robe and had a "dark" face, bent down from time to time to search before continuing to move forward. Now his face was covered with sweat.
Here, spiritual awareness does not seem to be very useful. The place marked on the map is about seventy or eighty miles away from the official road. It is not too far, especially for someone like him who has special skills.
But here the ground is covered with thorns, and there are huge tree crowns on top. As you walk, more paths will branch out. Those paths are also covered with thorns and bushes, and you can easily go in the wrong direction.
Although he can fly away on the ground with his current spiritual power, this will inevitably alarm the birds and beasts in the forest. The boy may hear it from afar and become a "frightened bird".
At that time, his search would become more difficult, so he had to move forward carefully and try to capture Li Yan in one fell swoop.
Looking at the bushes on the ground, Master Ji's forehead was throbbing with veins. It was obvious that someone had tampered with this place.
He walked carefully for a while, but found himself turning in another direction. He had encountered this situation several times before, and this time he had to adjust his direction again. That kid actually knew how to make camouflage and traps, and these camouflage mechanisms could not be detected by spiritual sense.
Spiritual consciousness can only replace the eyes to see more clearly or farther. Of course, with the current spiritual power of Master Ji, it is not possible for the spiritual consciousness to see farther than the eyes.
Even if we can see it clearly, whether it is right or wrong, true or false still needs human judgment.
Since he entered the mountain, in just a short distance of about twenty miles, Division Master Ji adjusted his direction at least four times, and once he almost startled the birds in the forest.
Although he didn't think Li Yan could see it here, he didn't dare to be careless. Now he had a new understanding of Li Yan and knew that this boy was patient and his mind might not be inferior to his.
This was because he lacked some detailed understanding of Li Yan. Li Yan had followed the adults in the village into the mountains to hunt since he was a child. Half of the village's income originally came from hunting, so he had a set of hunting methods passed down from his ancestors.
Camouflage and traps are just things they do frequently. Otherwise, given the alertness of monsters, even those that are not very advanced, their natural alertness makes it extremely difficult to catch them.
Although the third-place division of the "Xunxian Lineage" also has means of hiding and searching, they mainly focus on avoiding monsters and beasts, and their means of searching are aimed at various clues left by the immortals.
Time passed little by little, the sun slowly moved westward, and when night was about to fall, Division Master Ji finally arrived at the foot of a mountain without disturbing too many birds and beasts.
At this moment, Division Master Ji was lying in the crown of leaves on top of a giant tree, looking forward.
About a mile away from him, halfway up the mountain, there was a platform of about 20 to 30 feet in height. On the platform, several huge pine trees were swaying in the breeze, and the sound of pine waves could be heard faintly.
At this time, under a pine tree, a man was sitting and eating.
Master Ji used his spiritual power to surge his eyes and looked intently. The man was also wearing a black robe and sitting on a huge rock under a pine tree. He was eating bite by bite and looking around from time to time. Behind him was a cliff.
"You, are you here?"
Advisor Ji looked for a while and found that the man was Li Yan. He couldn't help but mutter to himself.
Master Ji was lying in the huge tree canopy and did not move immediately. He was thinking about how to hit the target with one strike, because Li Yan was sitting on the rock under the giant pine, very close to the cliff behind him.
As for how deep the cliff is, it cannot be judged based on the direction he is coming from now. It is possible that he has been climbing the slope since some time after he entered the mountain, but the slope on his side is just gentle.
If he fails to capture Li Yan with one strike, and Li Yan is forced into a desperate situation, there is no guarantee that he will not fight for his life.
In desperation, all he had to do was turn around and he would be at the bottom of the cliff, and then he would be completely doomed.
He lay in the huge crown leaves and observed quietly. After Li Yan on the mountain finished his meal, he took out a water bag from the package on the ground, took a sip, and then put the water bag on the stone slab under his feet.
Suddenly, he seemed to hear something and suddenly fell to the ground, which frightened Master Ji.
He clearly didn't make any sound just now. Could it be that this guy discovered me
Then, he saw Li Yan lying on the ground, slowly raising his head and looking towards him. His heart suddenly lifted.
"Damn, this guy actually found out. How on earth did he find out about me?"
Advisor Ji was secretly complaining in his heart. He had been very careful all the way to this place, and he thought he had not even disturbed the birds in the forest.
But since he was discovered, he had to get out. Just as he was about to stand up and speak to calm Li Yan down, he suddenly felt something was wrong.
At this time, Li Yan's eyes had left here and slowly swept to the left side of his body, and his eyes began to become extremely alert.
"Is there someone else on my left? No, I searched the area when I first arrived, but didn't find anything there, so I hid here. Is this kid too sensitive? Maybe he's just seeing things?"
So, Master Ji calmed himself down and decided to wait and see before making any further plans.
Sure enough, after a while, Li Yan, who was on the hillside, looked for a while and then moved his gaze again. However, he also looked carefully at the right side of Master Ji for a while. Then, his figure slowly climbed up again.
"Fuck, he really is insecure. Is this kid a little neurotic? He acts like this at the slightest sign of trouble."
Advisor Ji was furious and couldn't help but curse in his mind. He almost exposed his whereabouts just now. If he really showed up and failed to calm that guy, he would regret it very much.
At this time, Li Yan stood up halfway up the mountain, looked around again, listened for a while, and finally sat down on the boulder again dejectedly.
When he looked down, he couldn't help but hurriedly picked up the water bag that he had just placed next to him. It turned out that when he suddenly leaned down, he kicked over the water bag that he had casually placed next to the boulder and had not yet covered it.
At this time, clear water was flowing from the mouth of the water bag. Although there were clear springs in the mountains, there were none nearby, so one had to walk a long way to fetch water.
Li Yan quickly picked up the water bag, plugged it in, shook it next to his ear, and couldn't help but sigh.
At this moment, Division Master Ji on the huge tree canopy narrowed his eyes suddenly, and as the clear water in the water bag poured out, the rock beside Li Yan turned a different color.
Advisor Ji's heart moved, and he concentrated his mind and energy again to look at it. After a few breaths, he couldn't help but be shocked.