"Sir, this should be a map of the mountain roads behind Da Jiang Mountain. Look, if you follow the main road north, then turn onto the side path, you’ll reach this valley marked on the map..."

"And this style of drawing is a habit common in the army; I’ve seen similar maps while serving in the military."

"But this marked mountain path looks a bit odd. Isn’t the second half crooked, as if it’s intentionally winding? And it looks like the terrain is deliberately enlarged in the latter half? What kind of drawing method is this?"

A local Xuanqing Guard studied the map for a while and figured it out, but still found some oddities.

Shen Hao took back the map and ordered Wang Yiming to immediately contact the Jingxi Army—he had to investigate Xu Tianwu, and see if he could trace the line from the Jingxi Army to uncover the context of Xiushan Village.

News from the Jingxi Army returned quickly. The official investigation request had been sent in the morning, and by afternoon, they had someone deliver all records related to Xu Tianwu directly. In their reply: As this concerns a major plague, the Jingxi Army dares not be lax in the slightest.

"Xu Tianwu enlisted thirty-one years ago, served at Zhuo Huo Pass, and even joined the sweeper Riding Patrol? He followed the path of a scout?"

"Scout Decurion... That’s considered a blade troop in the military, right?"

"Retired due to injury fifteen years ago, returned to farming. He has a son and a wife... Oh? And neither are from Jingxi? An unclear ancestral home? Once registered as refugees?"

Flipping ahead, Shen Hao found Xu Tianwu’s name in a retirement roster. The reason for discharge was: ’Leg injury not fit for further service.’ But just on Xu Tianwu’s page, seventeen men were retired, eight of whom shared the same record: Jingxi Army Left Division, Eleventh Guard, D Flag, Team A Scout Team. All discharged for injuries.

Normally such collective injury retirements are common among the border army, especially for the sweeper Riding Patrol, because even without full-scale battle, they must eliminate Barbarian Race remnants, and sometimes things just go wrong.

"Are the men who retired with Xu Tianwu still traceable?"

"Yes. They all retired as elite scouts; there are records of them in the files. In special situations, they’re even called into recruit training to assist. Should Lord Shen contact them?"

"Yes, I’d like to meet them."

"Understood. I’ll send people to contact them immediately."

With those records came a Hundred Households Officer from the Jingxi Army Document Library—a decisive and efficient man. As soon as Shen Hao spoke, he arranged for it, promising they’d meet within three days at most.

But in these three days, Shen Hao would not sit idle. He dispatched a team along the route found on the Xu Family’s map to enter Da Jiang Mountain, to scout out what this red mark actually represented. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

But after only two days, the scouts forced to return to Wan River, frustratedly telling Shen Hao that the map was wrong—the second half of the route inside Da Jiang Mountain was completely inaccurate. Following the path only led to traps and sheer cliffs; it was impassable. One scout almost got his leg broken by a hidden beast trap.

"Traps?" Instead of discouragement, Shen Hao’s brows rose with interest.

Trying to deceive outsiders with a fake map—this proved the Xu Family was hiding something on purpose. Shen Hao stared at the map repeatedly; he was sure the puzzle’s answer lay upon it.

On the third day, as promised, the Jingxi Army Hundred Households Officer arrived, bringing three elderly men to meet Shen Hao. Though all well over sixty, pushing seventy, each man retained a distinct aura, like toothless old wolves—aged, but still daunting. One could imagine they were fearsome sorts in their youth.

"Lord Shen, these three are the only surviving former comrades of Xu Tianwu." Then he introduced Shen Hao: "This is Hundred Households Shen of the Xuanqing Guard Black Banner Battalion. The reason you were summoned is for an inquiry; there’s no need to withhold anything."

The three nodded. Shen Hao motioned his guards to offer them seats.

"Gentlemen, you all retired with Xu Tianwu due to wounds—I checked the records. Could you tell me what happened?"

The three fell silent for a while, recalling, faces tinged with anger.

"What else? During a sweep, we found a small Rat Race settlement—not big, maybe a few dozen. Our Scout Team decided to wipe them out ourselves. Who knew we’d run into real trouble: there was a Long Robe Rat Chief—a wizard. One cast of poison and we lost half our men. Decurion Xu led a few of us in a retreat, then the main force arrived and destroyed the settlement.

But the poison couldn’t be cured. I lost my eyesight, Decurion Xu his leg, these two—one’s lungs were ruined, the other’s hand. So we could only retire."

"Long Robe Rat Chief?" Shen Hao had never served in the army nor joined sweeps against the Barbarian Race, so these details were new to him. The Jingxi Army Hundred Households Officer beside him smiled and explained: a "Long Robe Rat Chief" was really a Barbarian Race wizard—a Cultivator with a different tradition, adept in all kinds of insidious magic.

With this, Shen Hao understood.

"Did you all stay in contact afterward?"

"Not really—too far apart, families to look after. If the army hadn’t called us together, we’d probably never meet again."

Shen Hao was a bit disappointed. He’d hoped there was contact between them, which might provide clues into the Xu Family’s affairs, but apparently that wasn’t to be hoped for now.

"By the way, you were all in the Scout Team—so all trained in map drawing, yes? Xu Tianwu as well?"

"Of course! Everyone in the Scout Team can draw maps. Decurion Xu was especially skilled—he even invented a folding method. Even if the map was lost for the enemy to find, they couldn’t understand it."

Folding method? Shen Hao’s heart stirred. He produced the map found from the Xu Family and handed it to them: "Can you understand this map?"

The three huddled together, and after a short while exchanged knowing smiles. "Who wouldn’t know? This is the handiwork of our army’s scouts, and in fact, that’s Decurion Xu’s signature folding method. Heh, who else even knows this these days?"

"So this map is likely drawn by Xu Tianwu himself. Can you read it? I feel like the second half is strange." Shen Hao guided them along his line of thought.

"Haha, my lord, as we said, this map uses the folding method. If you don’t know how, you’ll be misled. You have to use another piece of paper to fold this one, covering each section bit by bit, then fold again..."

One old veteran began to explain with pride. In just a few sentences, even outsiders understood how the folding method worked—simple, yet ingenious.

After reconstruction, the seemingly nonsensical part of the map took on a completely new appearance—this was the real map.