It all started with one person becoming a shaman, but the Stand user...

"It feels... more like a privileged young master who has never suffered much hardship since childhood, who has run away from home and can't bear to see human suffering."

"Do you know which direction he came from? Have you found any clues?"

Huang Wulang pressed on with the question.

"No. After I returned, I specifically asked the men who guarded the nearby mountain passes these past few days, and they all said they had never seen it."

Huang Liu shook his head:

"Such conspicuous and strange clothing, if I say I've never seen it before, then I really have never seen it before. It's probably true, as he said, that he came here via a remote mountain path."

"Let's leave it at that for now."

Huang Wulang pondered for a moment and made a decision:

"Send someone to keep an eye on him, keep an eye on him, and see what he's up to. If he really just wants to be a quiet Taoist priest, then let him be for now. Write a letter back and ask Father to inquire about him in the county as well."

As he spoke, he effortlessly and almost instinctively nocked the arrow again, his gaze once more fixed on the bullseye in the distance.

"Don't forget. Send a gift in my name later."

Huang Wulang's fingers firmly gripped the bowstring as he gave instructions:

"In any case, etiquette should not be neglected. Consider it a congratulatory housewarming and a gesture of neighborly friendship. Such an extraordinary person may come in handy sometime."

It is still unclear whether this person's arrival is a blessing or a curse.

But so far, there has been no direct conflict between the two sides regarding their local ecological niches.

Huang Wulang and his ilk were typical local warlords in chaotic times, who built fortresses in the mountains and controlled their respective areas.

Qinghe Miao, at least on the surface, claims that he only wants to build a Taoist temple and has nothing else to do with it.

To some extent, these two types of people can even coexist peacefully.

This is traditional wisdom accumulated over hundreds of years.

As Huang Wulang spoke, his gaze instantly turned sharp as a knife.

With a soft "thud," the bowstring vibrated.

The arrow, released from the bow, became a blur too thin for the naked eye to catch, and with a sharp "snap," it struck the bullseye of the distant target with unparalleled precision, its fletching still trembling slightly.

"it is good!"

Huang Liu cheered from the side.

……

In the depths of winter beyond the Great Wall, there seems to be an invisible boundary.

When the power of the cold wind, carrying ice and snow, accumulates to a certain critical point, the outdoors becomes a complete no-go zone, where breath turns to ice and water droplets freeze into icicles.

No one wants to stay outside for even a quarter of an hour unless absolutely necessary.

Fortunately, the houses outside the pass have heated brick beds (kang).

Once enough coal is filled into the stove pit, flames lick the fire in the stove hole, and heat continuously radiates through the thick mud bricks or stone kang surface, making the entire kang scorching hot.

The heat, conducted through the edges of the kang (heated brick bed) and the radiator, made the whole room warm and cozy, creating a completely different world from the harsh cold outside.

Especially the kang (heated brick bed), if you wear socks and stand on it for a long time, your feet will get so hot.

Qinghe Miao was standing on his own warm kang (heated brick bed), facing a wall.

I could feel two streams of hot air rising straight up from the soles of my feet.

The interior decoration of the previous generation was far less fancy and complicated than that of later generations.

The most common things on the walls are usually chubby babies with various meanings and roughly printed landscape paintings.

Then there are portraits or promotional images of certain great figures.

In addition, there is a very practical type of decorative, often large-scale, giant map of China.

There is such a painting hanging on the wall of Qinghe Miao's house.

It is about two meters long and a little over one meter wide. The paper is already yellowed and the edges are slightly worn.

The printing is still fairly clear.

The outlines of each province, major cities, mountains and rivers are marked in different colors, and place names are densely labeled.

Chapter 36 Geographical Location

In earlier years, this type of map could even be used to plan routes in advance when someone in the family needed to travel far away.

It can be of some use.

In that era, it was considered an object that combined decorative and practical functions.

Knowing how convenient electronic maps would become in the future, Qinghe Miao naturally had little interest in this old map.

At most, I'd think this thing is outdated now.

But if it's kept for another seven or eight years, it can be made into a short video and posted online.

It might actually have some commemorative significance now.

But now he's looking at it very seriously.

Holding the hardcover black notebook that my teacher required me to buy after I entered junior high school, I turned to the last few pages.

That photo was taken when he took some time to visit the internet cafe in town.

Based on the information I had, I found and copied down the data.

As for how he, being a minor, accesses the internet.

Never mind that.

This was commonplace in this era.

It can only be said that the system is developing towards a more sound future.

He slowly moved his finger across the map, starting from the chicken's head and going down along its neck.

After gliding over vast plains and crisscrossing mountain ranges, the fingertip finally rested on the north-central part of the map, in the HEB province.

There is a tiny printed typeface there—"Laoshui County".

Even on a giant map that is two meters long, when the scale is reduced to show the whole country, the county-level markings appear crowded and tiny.

Among a pile of names that are emphasized in layers, the three characters "淶水瀣" are so faint that they are almost impossible to recognize.

Fortunately, the old items were made to a genuine standard, and all the necessary features were present.

After Qinghe Miao's finger found the location of "Laoshui County", it moved a little distance to the northwest.

We stopped at the edge of a mountainous area, outlined with fine lines.

Based on his limited interactions and indirect inquiries with locals and Huang Liu and others in the world of "Bad Guys" these past few days, he learned that...

After repeated calculations, it can be basically confirmed that his initial location in that instance was in this vicinity.

In other words, the area he is currently active in is located in the Hebei region, which has been historically known as Hebei.

No wonder it's almost Chinese New Year there too.

As it turns out, the temperature is actually quite warm!

At the same time, we should thank the great Chinese nation, whose culture has been passed down for thousands of years.

Qinghe Miao only found out after checking in an internet cafe that the place name "Laishui" was established during the Sui Dynasty and has not been changed since.

The name itself has a history of over a thousand years.

Combine this with historical knowledge of the early Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period to understand the general plot of "The Bad Guys".

The "Master Liu" in the northern part of Laishui County should be Liu Rengong, a warlord who controlled the region at that time.

The vast area south and east of the Lai River belonged to the territory of Zhu Wen, the powerful warlord and founding emperor of the Later Liang Dynasty.

This appeared in the story, so it's quite familiar.

"Zhu Wen's sphere of influence..."

Qinghe Miao muttered to himself.

What does this mean?

This means that if we continue south, we are very likely to encounter the Xuanming Cult, an organization whose members are all traitors, much like a winery!

In other words, if he had gone further west, according to the map, he might have entered the territory of another warlord, Li Keyong, the Prince of Jin.

Tongwen Hall, another important underworld organization in the drama, is located there.

Unfortunately, this modern map cannot be zoomed in or out; it can only show a general location.

There is no indication of which specific mountain he belongs to in the instance.

However, where his finger hovered on the map, in the lower left corner, four large characters were clearly printed: "Taihang Mountains".

Qinghe Miao measured it simply with his fingers.

According to the rumors he had heard in the martial arts world these past few days, there doesn't seem to be a person named "Li Xingyun" in the martial arts world yet.

The supreme leader of the Xuanming Sect is rumored to be Zhu Wen's eldest son, the "Underworld Emperor" Zhu Yougui.

"In other words..."

A glint flashed in Qinghe Miao's eyes:

"It's very likely that the main storyline of 'The Bad Guys' hasn't officially started yet! Li Xingyun, that idiot, should still be in Qingcheng Mountain in Sichuan right now. Goodness, that's almost half of China, most of the Central Plains."

The image of that unreliable protagonist involuntarily flashed into his mind, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly:

"He's a henpecked husband. No wonder he's completely under the thumb of the female characters. He must be able to handle spicy food very well."

This is the same man from Sichuan who, in a few days, will be heading to Henan and Guanzhong to cause quite a stir.

In this respect, she is just like the legendary White Snake Lady; they are both very clever.

He never stirs up trouble in his hometown, nor does he ever seek a partner from his hometown.

Qinghe Miao stood on the kang (a heated brick bed), his finger unconsciously tapping various locations on the map.

My mind raced, trying to figure out if I should take advantage of this time to do something in advance.

But as soon as the idea popped into his head, he dismissed it as too far-fetched!

That era was not like today; transportation was underdeveloped, and even a decent official road might not be passable.

Across thousands of mountains and rivers, there may be checkpoints filled with defeated soldiers, bandits, and separatist regimes.

Without a precise location, in this vast and boundless world, how long would it take to find someone?

It doesn't seem like a good deal.

What's more, there's also that old monster, the Bad Boys, who's lived for over three hundred years, here at this time.

Most of the opportunities that appear in the drama are pre-arranged.

Gangzi, oh Gangzi.

It's a problem.

Just as I was pondering this, the door creaked open, bringing in a blast of cold air.

Qing's mother came in carrying a bag of frozen meat in a plastic bag and a box of milk, and casually placed the items on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Stop playing that crappy map all the time. There's something I need you to do."

Qing's mother covered her hands on the kang (a heated brick bed) and said.

"What's up?"

Upon hearing this, Qinghe Miao slammed the hardcover notebook containing scattered information shut and sat down to ask.

"The Lunar New Year is almost here."

The mother pointed to the things that were brought in and said: