I Just Won't Play By The Book
chapter-28

As currents surged beneath the entire town of Luoxia, Jiang Beiran and his party had already traveled a long way. They were currently standing on a plain and looking around.

"Huh… I'm clearly following the map. How come we're going along the wrong route again?" Liu Zijin held a map and looked left and right, but somehow, she just could not find the correct route.

"Let me try," Fang Qiuyao said and took the map, looking at it upright for a while. She then looked at it upside down. She even looked at it from an angle when she began to grow anxious, but she just couldn't make sense of it, and her pretty face reddened.

"Don't look at us… We don't know how to read this either."

Seeing Fang Qiuyao look toward them, the three sisters of the Yu family waved their hands in unison.

Sighing helplessly, Fang Qiuyao looked at Brother Jiang, who was sitting on a boulder drinking water not far from them.

Soon after leaving Luoxia Town that morning, the senior Brother told them that they must rely upon themselves to find the way for the rest of the journey. After all, reading the map and finding the way was a necessary skill. Otherwise, you would get lost in the deep mountains and forests once you left your place. What could you be expected to accomplish then?

In the beginning, Liu Zijin could still somewhat manage to recognize the map route, but after two hours of walking, she was increasingly unsure of where she actually was on the map.

"Actually…why don't we go and ask Brother?" Fang Qiuyao said as she put down the map and looked at the others.

The three sisters of the Yu family nodded their heads and all spoke separately.

"Agreed."

"But who will go?"

"Brother will definitely still be mean to us."

Actually, on the way, they had already asked Brother Jiang several times about the map. The first few times he would still patiently answer, but whenever they asked the same questions they had asked before, he would teach them a lesson. So they were a little afraid to speak up in the end.

Fang Qiuyao looked at Jiang Beiran and then at the map. She was just about to grit her teeth and say, "I'll go."

Then she saw Liu Zijin had taken the map from her hand and said, "Then I'll go."

"No, Sister Zijin. How can we let you go get scolded by senior Brother every time?"

Liu Zijin shook her head and smiled. "I'm all right with it. Isn't the purpose of having a trial down the mountain to learn new things? What are a few scoldings?" she said.

"But…"

"Enough said. You guys just wait for me here," Liu Zijin said. She then took the map and walked toward Jiang Beiran.

Looking at Liu Zijin's retreating figure, the three sisters of the Yu family were touched and said in unison, "Sister Zijin is really a good person."

With some anticipation…no, apprehension, Liu Zijin came up to Jiang Beiran and then bowed and shouted, "Brother Jiang."

"Don't know the way again?" Jiang Beiran asked after stuffing the water gourd into the storage ring and looking at Liu Zijin.

"Yes… It's really hard to recognize where we are when there are no official roads around," she replied.

"Didn't I teach you before to keep an eye on the nearby beacons? Did you forget about that again?"

In the Land of the Black Dragon where there was no navigation system, the people naturally had their own way of getting around, such as setting up a mound of earth every five miles along the road, which is called a beacon.

Some main roads even had beacon maintenance officers, who were responsible for managing and maintaining them.

Hearing Jiang Beiran's question, Liu Zijin lowered her head and said, "Zijin is foolish. Please punish me, Brother."

"Here we go again…" he thought.

Jiang Beiran did not know if it was because Liu Zijin was too determined to excel, but whenever she could not answer the questions he asked during a conversation, she would ask to be punished.

"Am I that brutal in their hearts?"

Shaking his head, Jiang Beiran jumped off the boulder and took the map from Liu Zijin's hand.

To be fair, the map issued by the sect was indeed poorly drawn. Under the premise of using the mountains and rivers as the benchmark, in the center of the map was Xihua City, which had the largest area within the jurisdiction. Around it was the approximate locations of the various mountains and rivers within the jurisdiction, and finally, the names of the villages and towns were filled in on the corresponding hills or riversides.

This mapping method might sound very clear, but the actual map looked just like mountains connected to mountains connected to mountains. It was just a mess.

Rolling up the map, Jiang Beiran said, "Actually, the fastest way to learn how to read a map is to learn how to draw a map."

"Draw a map?" Liu Zijin was puzzled.

"That's right. When you understand how this map was drawn, you will naturally understand how to follow what was drawn," he said.

"I see. Brother, you do indeed have a solution." Liu Zijin's eyes shone after hearing this.

"Here. Take this book and take a good look at it. It should help you," Jiang Beiran said as he took out a copy of the Drawing Records from the storage ring and handed it to Liu Zijin.

"Many thanks, Brother." Bowing at Jiang Beiran, Liu Zijin took the Drawing Records with both hands and began to read it.

Looking at Liu Zijin's serious expression as she read the book, Jiang Beiran also began to think about the coming arrangements.

The reason why he suddenly wanted to let Liu Zijin and the others fend for themselves was that as an Iron Seal, in addition to protecting the new disciples, teaching them some common sense was also within the scope of Jiang Beiran's duties.

Especially given that Law Protector Yu had entrusted him with her most beloved disciples. If she found out that they hadn't learned anything after returning to the sect, she would inevitably come after him and seek trouble again.

So Jiang Beiran decided to still train them a little in the most basic skills such as reading maps and wayfinding.

After an hour had passed, Liu Zijin closed the book and said to Jiang Beiran, "Brother, I seem to have somewhat understood."

Jiang Beiran nodded after hearing that. "All right, then continue finding the way."

It turned out that Liu Zijin was indeed very smart and soon found the official road after realizing the trick to wayfinding.

"Jifu Village should be right ahead," Liu Zijin said, pointing ahead. Then she walked past a junction.

"Wow! Sister Zijin, you're amazing!" Fang Qiuyao couldn't help but clap her hands.

"It's the book that Brother showed me that's amazing. The things written in it are easy to understand. It's very helpful for wayfinding."

"Book? What book?" Fang Qiuyao asked.

"This one," Liu Zijin said as she showed Fang Qiuyao the Drawing Records.

"Show it to us too." The three sisters of the Yu family also came over out of curiosity after hearing what Liu Zijin had said.

"The… Drawing… Records…" Reading out the three big words on the cover softly, Yu Guizhui said, "I have noted it down. I'll buy a copy to read when I get back."

Liu Zijin smiled after hearing her words and did not say anything. Although she was not very sure, she felt like the book was probably written by the senior Brother himself. The words and the lines were really very different from those written by famous scholars who could publish books, giving off a very casual aura.

Putting the Drawing Records away once more, Liu Zijin led the other sisters to Jiang Beiran and asked, "Senior Brother, what should we do next?"

Jiang Beiran gave them a sweeping glance and said, "Tell me what you all think."

After thinking for a while, Fang Qiuyao answered first.

"Should we go to the village to ask about how all those children disappeared and figure out the time and place first?" she asked.

The other sisters also agreed after hearing this.

But Jiang Beiran shook his head and said, "You will only alarm the perpetrators unnecessarily by doing so."

Looking at the five bewildered faces, Jiang Beiran explained, saying, "We knew back when we received the quest that the children of Jifu Village went missing frequently, which means that the culprit may still be active or even lurking in the village. Once you go and ask around, you will certainly have to reveal your identity as a disciple of the Sect of Returning Hearts. If the culprit hears about it, he will naturally be much more cautious and may even stop committing crimes."

All the sisters nodded their heads after listening and Liu Zijin said, "Brother, what you said makes a lot of sense, but if we don't ask around, then how should we investigate?"

Jiang Beiran smiled slightly and replied, "There's no need to investigate. Just quietly wait for them to commit their next crime."