684 Chapter 684 - Partially burnt scrap of paper (2/2)
”Let's go take a look,” Sword Demon headed over right away. Gu Fei saw that there were common reeds that reached waist height all around them, so he quickly reached out and reminded Sword Demon, ”be careful not to step on people.”
”People?” Sword Demon was confused.
”Just look if you don't believe me,” Gu Fei removed his equipment and stowed away his sword. He raised his hands to chant a spell directed straight at the huge patch of reeds right in front of him as flames instantly appeared in the sky. Three pairs of men and women leaped out from this entire patch of reeds and the reactions that all of them had were all different. One pair was looking all around in a state of confusion, another did not even turn to look back as they fled in their panic, while the final pair had already begun cursing indignantly. Their eyes were glaring daggers as they swept right over to Sword Demon, and the man yelled, ”You there, Thief. Did you see who did this?”
Sword Demon was astonished. He subconsciously turned around, but Gu Fei was no longer there. He then crooked his head down and saw that Gu Fei was actually squatting among the tall reeds, his finger extended over his lips, miming a shushing sound. So Sword Demon had no choice but to help cover for him, ”I didn't see anyone.”
While the pair barked out their expletives, countless other heads poked out from the reeds almost instantly, looking all around as they tried to find out what just happened. There were even two heads that popped out less than five meters away from where Sword Demon was standing, which gave him quite the fright.
”See that!” Gu Fei sent a message to Sword Demon.
”Amazing.”
”Everyone has their own pursuits,” Gu Fei mused.
”Indeed.”
”Tell me after they've settled down…” Gu Fei said.
These players with their own pursuits slowly submerged themselves back into the sea of reeds after they poked their heads out that one time and the lakeside returned to being a place of peaceful tranquility. Sword Demon called Gu Fei and pointed in a certain direction, ”Let's go that way.”
The location that Sword Demon had pointed toward was close to the lake. It was just mud and water around there, so there should not be anyone there seeking to set the mood. Thus, it could be seen how much more considerate Sword Demon was as Gu Fei had merely used his magic staff as a guide cane to beat the bushes and tall grass when he had been searching through the area the last time to stop himself from stepping on people.
As the two men continued their way over to the log cabin, Sword Demon began to express his concerns, ”Could there be an NPC hiding out in the reeds here? It would be quite difficult to locate.”
”It would be great if we could contact Brother Assist and ask. He should probably know more about this,” Aside from knowing what made Yunjiao Lake unique, how much more would Gu Fei even know about the place?
They circled around a quarter of the lake and finally made it to the log cabin. The log cabin had seen years of disrepair, and they could already get the musty smell without stepping through the door as a result of the location being exposed to moisture. Inside was a fireplace left in disuse, a collapsed bed frame, an empty bookshelf and a desk with a thick layer of dust on it. There was also a pile of wood pieces right by the desk which looked to be the remains of a chair.
Everything could be seen in a glance, yet Sword Demon did not become dejected so soon. He proceeded to check behind the bookshelf, the cracks amidst the collapsed bed frame and the drawers in the writing desk, till he finally stuck his neck into the fireplace to see if there was anything in the chimney.
”There's no need to do that, right?” Gu Fei exclaimed at how meticulous Sword Demon was being.
”Wait, there seems to be something here. Do you have anything that can illuminate this chimney?” Sword Demon's voice echoed out from the fireplace.
”Oh?” Gu Fei hurriedly pulled out a lantern, lighting it before handing it over to Sword Demon. Sword Demon lifted the lantern and his voice could be heard just a bit after, ”Where did you get this?”
”Xiawu City. Yan Xiaozhu mailed this to me before we left,” Gu Fei said.
”Oh, that place…” Illumination tools were local products from Xiawu City. The players in that city would often bring along something to shine light into the gloomy fog that pervaded the region so as to indicate their position. The torch was the most convenient creation, but a player's wants were not so plain and simple. Gradually, there were people who began to craft lanterns and such handheld illumination tools as ornaments as well. The more intricately made ones even utilized elemental gems found in the game, making them into pendants that hung about their necks or their waists, which became wildly popular in Xiawu City. Rumor had it that the Xiaowu City of today had plenty of trendy men and women who began to popularize using their lanterns to communicate with each other through morse code, creating a very romantic sentiment unique to Xiawu City.
”Did you find anything?” Gu Fei was not in the least bit interested in any of that.
”There seems to be a piece of paper stuck inside the fireplace!” Sword Demon said.
”What sort of discovery is that…” Gu Fei had no idea if he should laugh or cry. He had thought Sword Demon had discovered some switch that would open a secret passageway or something.
Sword Demon's reply was very somber, ”This is a game, so everything would be programmed into existence. For there to be a page stuck inside the chimney here, that naturally means that it was specifically placed there for a reason.”
”Who's to say that it's not just some scrap of paper someone tossed away that happened to find its way into the chimney. Look at just how many players visit this map, I reckon they must surely produce plenty of waste paper. Perhaps someone was being a litterbug, so it fluttered all the way into that chimney.” Gu Fei was poking fun of Sword Demon's discovery even as he sat fitfully on the table that Sword Demon had wiped clean in the process of his inspection.
”We'll know what it's about once I get it out. Give me something longer, like a magic staff or something,” Sword Demon called out.
Gu Fei pulled out a magic staff and handed it over to Sword Demon. After a good moment of fiddling, Sword Demon finally ducked out of inside the fireplace with half a page in hand and he was eager to study it.
Gu Fei came over to take a look and saw that the paper itself was browning. However, it was not what would come from age, but a coloration that was the result of being treated by intense heat over a period of time. There was only half a page, and it was obvious from what was left that the other half bore the traces of being burnt.
”What's drawn on it?” Gu Fei saw that there was an image drawn on the paper, but Sword Demon was holding on to the paper trying to examine it as well.
”Go and wash your face first!” Gu Fei could not help but chide him. After he searched around in the chimney this whole time, it was obvious how he looked now he was out. To put it into words that Sword Demon had used, even the soot found inside was programmed onto his face.
”There's no rush!” Sword Demon was a person with his pursuits as well.
”The story for this scrap of paper should go something like this: It was originally thrown into the fireplace to be burnt, but the intense heat gave off a burst of hot air that sent it flying upward, sticking it to the walls of the chimney before it burnt fully. Thus, it appears as what we see of it now. As for what was drawn on it, we will need to find some in-game specialist to decipher it,” Gu Fei said.
Sword Demon saw the drawing of circles and crosses and was deep in thought. Suddenly, he stuck his hand into his dimensional pocket, pulling out a huge piece of paper and began unfolding it onto the desk.
”What's that?” Gu Fei could not help but ask.
”A map of Yunduan City,” Sword Demon answered, pointing to a certain point before picking the scrap of burnt paper up, ”Look here. Doesn't this image look like Yunjiao Lake?”
Gu Fei gave it a few glances over and quickly pointed out seven to eight differences between the two.
”Of course it cannot be completely the same. This map I have is drawn by a player, so I reckon it would not be very detailed. This is created by the system, so it would naturally be far more precise. We can clarify these differences by going to the site themselves and compare them in person.”
Sword Demon enthusiastically gathered up the scrap of burnt paper and the map before running out of the cabin. The player-made map had a rough estimation of coordinates, even listing a scale pretentiously on it. A simple calculation would yield the approximate location of the area depicted. Sword Demon first chose a location nearby and very quickly found it. He was holding the scrap of burnt paper and slowly became lost. The real world and the map were completely different; the map showed a hook in the bend, but in actuality, Sword Demon saw that it was bent in an N-shaped.