Ancient Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 35 General Compendium of Maps of the World

Hearing Lin Xiu's words, Yao Rongrong was naturally pleasantly surprised.

The two huddled together, opened the book, and on the first page was a long passage that read:

It is said that the earth carries all things, and rivers and mountains are arranged in their forms. Distinguishing directions and mapping the land is the foundation of governance; examining maps and depicting landscapes is the duty of scholars. In the past, Li Yuanzhi's commentary on the *Shui Jing* (Waterways Classic) extensively drew upon numerous texts, delving into profound and hidden meanings, truly a wellspring of geographical knowledge. Now, inheriting its essence, removing its extraneous details, consulting historical records, extensively researching various places, and further incorporating details of prefectures, counties, mountains, marshes, scenic spots, ancestral temples, and other aspects, we have compiled them into a single volume, titled *The Comprehensive Map of the World*, blah blah blah…

The following sections elaborate on various aspects, such as: first, tracing the origins to clarify the system; second, listing the stars and fields to define the territory; third, marking the strategic locations to record the mountains and hills, and so on.

This should be the general outline of this map.

During his time in Mengzhou City, Lin Xiu had nothing to do, so he collected a lot of books, some of which he found in government offices, some in wealthy households, and some he dug out from bookstores in the city.

The reason it is said to have been dug out is because when the great disaster struck, the owner of the Dujianju Bookstore in the city, for some unknown reason, set fire to his own bookstore and burned himself to death, taking all the books in the room with him in death.

Therefore, the place had become a ruin. Lin Xiu searched for a long time before finding one or two books that were still relatively intact.

The books are now all in Mengzhou City, but Lin Xiu has already read most of them. In addition, with his previous education and his impression of the text, he can now read this long passage of classical Chinese without much difficulty.

After reading through the entire article, Lin Xiu's eyelids twitched involuntarily.

This comprehensive map is so detailed, showing the distribution of counties and prefectures, mountains and rivers, and what Lin Xiu didn't expect was that the general outline mentions the words "Waterways Classic" and says, "Li Yuanzhi annotated the Waterways Classic in the past."

There is also a book on water in another world, called "Commentary on the Water Classic," written by Li Daoyuan.

This must just be a coincidence, right?

Whether it's a coincidence or not, it doesn't really matter in today's world.

For them, the content itself is what's useful.

Yao Rongrong and Lin Xiu huddled together and opened the book, "General Compendium of Maps of the World," to read it.

This book is bound in a butterfly style with inward-folding pages. It has a very good texture. Although it is a bit old and damp, it does not affect the reading experience at all.

After flipping through the general outline, the first thing you see is a "General Map of the World," which marks the distribution of the mountains and rivers of Yu the Great, as well as the counties and cities. It is so densely packed that it can be a bit of a headache to look at it at a glance.

On the next page, there is another "General Map of Mountains and Rivers," which marks the direction of mountain ranges and the network of main river systems. It is just as dense and confusing.

Then came the division into volumes.

The book is divided into five volumes. The first volume is divided into sections on geography and records, with illustrations arranged by prefecture and county, supplemented by textual descriptions.

Volume Two, Records of Mountains and Mausoleums; Volume Three, Records of Waterways; Volume Four, Records of Famous Sites, Temples and Shrines; and Volume Five, Records of Passes, Forts, and Post Stations, are all drawn and described separately according to their respective categories.

After Lin Xiu and Yao Rongrong glanced through the book, they turned to a section of it, found Mengzhou County, and then located their approximate location.

— Mengzhou City is located in Mengzhou Prefecture, and it is the capital of the prefecture and the most prosperous county town in the prefecture. Lin Xiu already knew this.

Looking at the map, they hadn't even left Mengzhou County yet. After passing Liangjia Village to the north, they would reach Yanhe County. Along the way, there was also a large town called Liuxi Town, as well as many scattered villages.

However, if they had followed their original route northward, they would probably have only encountered one of these villages.

Lin Xiu then compared the approximate location north of Liangjia Village with the current location, and quickly found the corresponding place by looking at Volume Two, Records of Mountains and Mausoleums, and Volume Four, Records of Famous Sites and Temples.

They are currently located on Jianfeng Mountain, east of Lijiaji. The Fengpo Temple on the mountain is quite well-known in several nearby villages.

In previous years, during spring planting and autumn harvest, and on certain solar terms, villagers from surrounding areas such as Lijiaji, Woniugang, Chenjiazhuang, and Luxianyi would come to this mountain to burn incense and pray for favorable weather and abundant harvests, which was considered a time of great prosperity for the villagers.

No matter how lively it was in the past, it has now withered and decayed, and its prosperity is gone.

In this small temple nestled in the mountains, they couldn't even find the statue of the Wind Goddess, let alone the incense burner and offerings that once stood there.

Lin Xiu then flipped through another book called "The Tale of Granny Feng." The book was thin, with a curled and torn cover and pages, looking like it had been read countless times.

Opening the book reveals a very classic and rough comic book, telling a short story about villagers burning incense and the wind goddess appearing, also recounting the past prosperity.

"Miss Yao, tell me, who hid these things here? Was this hidden compartment always there, or was it discovered later?"

After flipping through the book "The Tale of Granny Feng," Lin Xiu asked a question.

Yao Rongrong said, "Sir, you keep asking me these questions. How would I, a mere woman, know these things?"

"Then I'll ask you some questions you already know."

As Lin Xiu spoke, he picked up the "General Map of the World" again, opened it to the page with the "General Map of the World", pointed to it and asked, "Where did you come from, heroine? Did you encounter any people or places along the way?"

Surely the world can't all be like the places we've visited, desolate and barren, right?

It has been less than a year since the disaster struck. The world should not be like this. The post-apocalyptic world should not end like this.

Lin Xiu had been pondering this question for a long time.

Yao Rongrong sighed and said, "How could there not be? Of course there is..."

She paused slightly before pointing to several places on the "General Map of the World" and said, "This Wild Fox Gully is a rather remote place. An old man lives there and has only cultivated half an acre of land."

That man was quite nice; he even made me some flatbread when I passed by. He just said that his land and food supply were so limited that there simply wasn't enough room for another person to live there.

He was relieved when I told him I didn't live there.

Here at Xiangshui Bay, a large number of people have gathered, harvesting their crops along the river. Among them are people like myself from the mountains, guarding our farms and villages, and quite xenophobic.

After I fought with them and neither of us could defeat the other, we were able to have a proper conversation and exchange some food with them.

But trying to enter their village is absolutely out of the question; they will stop you at all costs.

And here, Yuanjiabao, they did let me in, but none of them are good people. After luring me into the village, they wanted to arrest me and marry me off to one of the men in their village.

At this point, Yao Rongrong's face showed a hint of sorrow as she said softly, "Sir, tell me, how can a young girl like me withstand such a show of force?"

"I had no choice but to kill a few people and escape."