Facts have proved that Ji Yuan’s confidence in some things is still quite confusing. This is certainly not referring to spiritual practice, but something more metaphysical.
Ji Yuan was 100% sure that he had not made a mistake in the direction. After leaving the city and climbing over a small hill, he ran south along the ridge.
But Ji Yuan now suddenly realized a serious problem, that is, the maps he knew might not be accurate.
In the end, the impression of my thinking in my previous life was too deep, and I forgot that ancient maps were sometimes very abstract, and their level of detail naturally could not be compared with the real-life photography and satellite positioning in my previous life.
The biggest terrain that Ji Yuan relies on is the one carved by Wupan of the Ning'an County City God's Office, so the question arises.
It must have been dozens or hundreds of years since Wu Pan's death, and he may not have traveled far during his lifetime. The maps he engraved were naturally copied from found maps, and some of these maps may be old maps stored in the City God's underworld.
We cannot assume that the picture is magical and accurate just because the person who carved it is a ghost cultivator of a religious cult. In fact, the accuracy may be questionable.
After thinking about it for a while, Ji Yuan stopped and muttered to himself.
"It's a little different than I imagined... So... where's the road?"
Ji Yuan was a little confused. After running and stopping for a whole day, he ran slower and slower and became more and more panicked. Finally, he admitted that he was lost again.
A life question of "I know who I am, but where am I?" arose in Jiyuan's heart.
We should have been able to see a river a long time ago, but we didn't see any obvious waterway along the way, so Ji Yuan ran boldly without worry until now.
All I could see on both sides was a not very dense forest, and the terrain was composed of low hills and slopes with gentle undulations. The highest one was probably only a few dozen meters high, and could not even be considered a peak.
However, there were some trails on the ground, some of which looked like they were walked by wild animals, while some were obviously left by humans. Although they were covered with weeds, Ji Yuan could still feel some traces of car wheels when he stepped on them.
Having said that, when it comes to the comfort of wearing shoes, Ji Yuan feels that his two lives have their own merits. Nowadays, shoes are all made by embroidery workshops or by girls and wives of ordinary people. The soles are relatively soft, and the uppers are made of multiple layers of cloth. They are comfortable to wear and not disgusting. However, this may also be because Ji Yuan did not understand shoes in his previous life and did not have much money, so he had never bought high-end shoes.
Ji Yuan was not worried about anything, as long as the direction was roughly correct. After all, he was no longer an ordinary person. If he was hungry, he would not have trouble finding food or drink with his ability to smell and taste.
The accountant Yuan did not run anymore. Instead, he strolled forward to take a rest. He chose a narrow path that followed the direction and might be a wild animal trail. He also took out the pot of wine from the bag on his back, opened the cap and took two sips, then put it back in the bag.
When he stepped over a patch of dry grass on the ground, Ji Yuan, who was about to step down, suddenly stopped and withdrew his suspended foot. He squatted down, reached out and carefully pushed aside the dry grass, revealing a trap for catching animals.
I put my face close and tried to take a closer look. I could vaguely see that the main part had two iron hoops with sharp serrations. In the middle there were some small holes with a number of bamboo sticks that looked like they were made by oil immersion. However, the bamboo sticks were now severely bent and seemed to be tied with some animal tendon-like things. Although it was quite different from the spring technology used in my previous life, it should be a trap.
"How much force can this have without the help of a spring?"
Curious, Ji Yuan found a wooden stick as thick as a thumb and as long as his forearm and pressed it against the iron plate in the middle of the trap that served as a trigger.
“Click…”
With a crisp biting sound, the branch in his hand was directly broken.
"Hiss..."
Ji Yuan took a deep breath. He knew that he wouldn't be seriously injured from stepping down like that, but he couldn't help but feel his scalp tingling.
However, where there are traps there must be hunters, which means there are still people living nearby.
After thinking about it, Ji Yuan put the not-too-complicated animal trap back into place according to the order of the patterns. This kind of trap made of bamboo and animal tendons is estimated to not be bitten very often, and the bamboo will quickly become elastically fatigued.
After covering the weeds, Ji Yuan got up again and continued on his journey, but this time he did not take the animal trail.
When they climbed over a low hill several dozen meters high, Ji Yuan's eyes lit up. Although his poor eyesight made it blurry, he was sensitive to dynamic things. He could see black smoke rising in the distance, which must be someone making a fire.
. . .
Three miles away, on the leeward side of the mound, four men wearing light leather jackets and leather arm guards tied tightly around their trouser legs and forearms were resting by a campfire. Most of them were carrying bows and arrows, some on their backs and some placed aside, and there were also some machetes, spears and the like.
A skinned hare and a plucked and gutted pheasant were being skewered and roasted over the fire.
"Hey, I've been out for a few days now, and not only have I not caught any big game, I also lost the beads my mom gave me. It's so damn unlucky!"
"Well, you can just go back to the temple stall and buy another string of beads for five cents. Why do you have to keep repeating it?"
"What do you know! My mother got it from the temple, not from the stalls. They are different!"
"Look at you. I didn't say anything. You bought it to trick your mother. Otherwise, you would be scolded to death."
"Uh...that makes sense!"
The two people nearby also smiled when they heard this, but they were not depressed about not having any prey. It is impossible to return with a full load every time when hunting in the mountains.
"Shh... don't say anything, someone is coming over there!"
The sounds around the fire suddenly stopped, and several hunters either took out their bows or picked up spears.
But it was not dark yet, so the few people were alert but not nervous.
"My dear brothers, I lost my way when I was on the road. I saw the fire here, so I came to ask you for directions."
Ji Yuan's clear voice came from a little distance away. He made some noise on purpose so that they could notice him. He stopped when he was about ten steps away from them.
"Where are you going?"
A hunter holding a spear asked loudly, while several people were observing Ji Yuan.
The visitor was carrying a bag and an umbrella, and the clothes he wore were not suitable for traveling in the mountains. Although he looked gentle, he was still a little suspicious.
"Excuse me, which direction is Qingshui County? Logically, after I cross Luoyue Ridge and walk south, I should be able to see a river. I should be able to reach Qingshui County by following it. Why is there no river along the way?"
"River?"
Several hunters looked at each other, all confused.
Then the older one among them suddenly seemed to think of something.
"You're not talking about the Old Qingshui River, are you?"
Ji Yuan didn’t know what the name of the river was, but in this case it was probably that.
"should be."
"I heard from the elders in the village that the old Qingshui River used to flow from Qingshui County through the Qianling area, but it seems that in order to facilitate the irrigation of fields, the county magistrate mobilized the villagers to change the river course more than 20 years ago, and it no longer flows to this side of the mountain."
Ji Yuan suddenly realized.
"So that's how it is. How far is this place from Qingshui County?"
"Walk east for about 20 to 30 miles and you'll see the official road. Walk further for another half a day and you'll see people."
Twenty or thirty miles doesn’t seem very far.
"Thank you for telling me!"
Ji Yuan bowed and left. He didn't intend to make himself bored or to ask for free barbecue. People were obviously on guard against him. Twenty or thirty miles would only take a while to run.
Seeing Ji Yuan leave so decisively, and dressed like a gentleman, the hunters were a little surprised.
"Uh, sir, you're leaving now? It's a 20-30 mile mountain road, and it's almost dark!"
After all, he was a kind-hearted man. Finally, a hunter shouted towards Ji Yuan. He was the one who lost the beads.
It was this shout that made Ji Yuan look twice more at the person who made the shout, and he could tell something was up from this one glance.
Since his magic power took shape, Ji Yuan's eyes have changed again. He can see some of the "qi" of ordinary people. Tongming Ce calls this "reading qi". Both talent and magic can achieve similar effects. Ji Yuan thinks it should be a talent.
In order to confirm, Ji Yuan opened his eyes slightly. The blurry feeling did not decrease, but the "atmosphere" revealed by the hunters was much clearer.
The person who just spoke had an inconspicuous red and black aura lingering above his head, like a wisp of smoke that accidentally passed through the smoke outside the body of the vague life fire. If you don't look closely, you won't notice it.
Ji Yuan stopped and complained to the man cautiously.
"There's no other way. If we don't leave quickly, are we going to spend the night in this wilderness? What if there are wild beasts? And the bows and spears in your hands are scary..."
Ji Yuan's slightly nervous look actually reduced the hunters' vigilance.
"Hahaha, don't worry, sir. We are just hunters, not warriors. If there are wild animals at night, we will just go and hunt them. If you don't mind, come and sit. We have to go back to the village tomorrow morning. It's not far from Qingshui County."
Ji Yuan looked overjoyed but still didn't dare to approach.
"Is that appropriate?"
"Hahahaha... Sir, come here. What's wrong with that? Look, the pheasant and hare are almost roasted. How about you try the cooking skills of our country hunters?"
The other hunters also laughed kindly.
Now that things had come to this, they had let down their guard a lot, and Ji Yuan naturally came over with many thanks.