Chapter 889 - 887: Searching for Relics
Chen Tianlong and Wu Mengting were currently standing inside a grand hall at the highest point of the mountain. The hall was magnificent, with a touch of ancient Greek architecture. It resembled a gigantic pavilion, supported by stone pillars all around. Beneath their feet were slabs of blue stone, and above, great eaves!
However, everything here was made of stone. It seemed that this place used to be where the Ancient Sect gathered, practiced martial arts, or held significant events.
But now, everywhere was filled with ruins, with many fallen stone pillars. More than half of the hall’s roof had collapsed.
Yet, even so, it could not hide the grandiosity that was once here!
Standing inside this great hall, the terrain of the Southern District Mountain Range was within a clear view, although not very detailed, the general outline was clearly visible!
Chen Tianlong took out the map and started to determine their position and the direction of their destination by comparing it with the map!
"Wow, wow..."
Seemingly overwhelmed by the grandeur and magnificence of the hall, Wu Mengting couldn’t help but exclaim.
"Haha, yes." Chen Tianlong was observing the terrain, but seeing the beauty laugh out loud, he turned back with a slight smile and said.
Chen Tianlong checked the position on the map and started searching.
The Southern District Mountain Range was vast, especially the upper range, which was boundless. This upper range should be the most prosperous area once, where the Ancient Sect’s disciples cultivated. But overnight, it turned into ruins.
Being able to establish a sect here was indeed a magnificent and admirable thing.
Although Chen Tianlong had decent eyesight, finding an exact location within this upper range wasn’t easy!
Since the map was sketchy, without specific coordinates or landmark buildings, it was merely a topographic map, which added a lot of difficulty for Chen Tianlong.
In a blink, a long time passed, yet Shi Xiaohong and the others still hadn’t climbed the mountain, as they got lost.
Though not tall, the mountain was vast, and Shi Xiaohong and the gang didn’t know the way well, wandering around cluelessly.
After observing for a while, Wu Mengting sighed, realizing that worrying wouldn’t help: "Let’s take a break, have some food?"
"You go ahead, I’ll keep looking, seems like I’m onto something!" Chen Tianlong said, "If we wait further, the sun will set. We must make good use of this time."
"Alright, I’ll join you in searching!" Wu Mengting saw that Chen Tianlong wasn’t eating, so she felt guilty eating alone, picked up the map, and continued the search.
With no choice, Chen Tianlong rushed to observe the terrain...
They came here to see if the Wu Family left anything behind that could help Wu Mengting uncover family secrets, like something valuable from her parents or hints if they were still alive.
Half an hour later, when Chen Tianlong moved his gaze from the farthest mountains to the nearest ones, he suddenly felt like crying...
Because Chen Tianlong abruptly discovered that the sketchy topography marked on the map precisely matched the terrain right under their feet... This gave Chen Tianlong a feeling of getting what he sought effortlessly!
Where is the way? The way is at your feet!
However, it wasn’t Chen Tianlong’s fault. Generally, when people stand on a mountain top searching for terrain, they start from the furthest visible point, narrowing the range, eventually seeing right before their eyes. By doing so, nothing gets overlooked.
But precisely due to the order, Chen Tianlong wasted half a day. The terrain shown on the map was right beneath his feet, leaving Chen Tianlong at a loss for words...
Seeing Chen Tianlong’s strange and speechless expression, Wu Mengting was also a bit puzzled: "Chen Tianlong, what’s wrong?"
"The place indicated on the map is right under our feet..."
Chen Tianlong pointed at the depicted topography on the map and said.
"Right under our feet?" Wu Mengting was stunned.
"Exactly, it’s the area atop the mountain!"
Chen Tianlong said, "Earlier, we were dazzled by this grand hall. Actually, if you remove the hall’s columns and the remnants of beams and roof, the blue stone floor beneath matches perfectly with this shape on the map?"
"Oh? Is this the main court of the Wu Family?"
Listening to Chen Tianlong, Wu Mengting was shocked looking at the map in her hands. Unbeknownst to her, what Chen Tianlong said was indeed true. If you disregard the columns and ruins inside the hall, the shape of the floor beneath did match the map!
However, upon entering this mountaintop hall, everyone’s first impression was captivated by its grandeur, focusing on its majestic facade, overlooking the blue stone floor.
The shape formed by these blue stones, observed carefully, was irregular because the mountaintop naturally wasn’t regular. So, even though the hall was built regularly, the blue stones were not, covering the mountain top entirely!
And the shape of this area matched the shape on the map!
"So it is... It turned out to be this obvious... yet we overlooked it!" Wu Mengting said with a bitter smile.
"I finally understand the saying, the most dangerous place is the safest. Here is a hall, a prominent place, while the marked Wu Family’s court is here on the map!" Chen Tianlong exclaimed: "However, anyone coming here would unconsciously focus on this hall..."
"Indeed..."
Wu Mengting said: "If you hadn’t reminded me, I’d still be searching back and forth... Moreover, I was searching from near to far, yet even so, I ignored this hall beneath my feet and started from the mountain top down, expanding to the surroundings..."
Chen Tianlong nodded: "Since we have confirmed the location, let’s search for the exact spot with the detailed blueprint."
"Yes, the sky hasn’t completely darkened, we can still search for a while with the sunset’s afterglow." Chen Tianlong said, having a rough direction now.
It became much easier to start searching again. Even though the map was crudely drawn, it could roughly determine the direction from the diagram...
Chen Tianlong and Wu Mengting worked hard together, and soon they determined the approximate location on the map...
"Mengting." Chen Tianlong called out to Wu Mengting but found Wu Mengting lazily sitting on the blue stone not far away, looking bored.
"Chen Tianlong..."
Wu Mengting said weakly, possibly due to the fatigue from recent days.
"Mengting, the location shown in the blueprint should be around here. Let’s continue searching to see if anything is hidden nearby?" Chen Tianlong said to Mengting.
"Chen Tianlong!" Wu Mengting suddenly noticed the blue stone on the ground was somewhat peculiar.
"What’s wrong, Mengting?" Chen Tianlong was startled.
"Chen Tianlong, it seems there’s something strange here..." Wu Mengting picked up a stick and tapped twice on it, then pointed to the blue stone beneath her feet.
"You mean... there’s something here?" Chen Tianlong widened his eyes.
"Seems so!" Wu Mengting said with a bitter smile, just following an inexplicable feeling.