Zhao Ling'er looked up and saw that the Suzhou government office was not far ahead.
About half an incense stick's time later, Lin Yi returned unharmed.
Zhao Ling'er felt a little relieved. She didn't quite understand what was wrong with her. Without this "devil" by her side, she felt empty inside, like a rootless duckweed. It was a perfect opportunity to escape, yet she had foolishly stood there waiting?
A child who has run away from home grasps at a straw and dares not let go.
Lin Yi looked at Zhao Ling'er and asked, "What were you trying to say just now?"
Zhao Ling'er snapped out of her daze and mustered her courage to say, "I want to get rid of the harmful monster. Can you help me?"
"Why?" Lin Yi asked.
Zhao Ling'er opened her mouth, biting her red lips lightly, and said, "If Ling'er is captured by a monster, Grandma will be frantic. So I think..."
“Actually, you’re thinking about your family too,” Lin Yi said.
Zhao Ling'er hesitated for a moment, then nodded gently. After hearing about the monsters capturing people in the teahouse during the day, she couldn't help but put herself in their shoes.
"Grandma, how are you now? Are you still angry with Ling'er? Ling'er misses you so much," Zhao Ling'er silently called out in her heart.
“It’s actually a good thing that someone wants to,” Lin Yi said, looking up at the night sky. “If you miss home, you can go back and visit.”
“I…” Zhao Ling’er didn’t know what to say.
Lin Yi smiled and waved his sleeve. Zhao Ling'er felt dizzy and disoriented. When she came to her senses, she was in a completely different world.
"Fairy Spirit Island." Zhao Ling'er said in disbelief. The scenery before her was so familiar, as if she were in a dream.
Lin Yi's fingers moved like swords, drawing in the air. As his fingers moved, a thin, pale blue light appeared out of thin air, twisting and turning, and in the blink of an eye, a spirit talisman was written.
The talisman landed on the back of Zhao Ling'er's hand, flashed, and then disappeared.
"Go ahead. If you need anything in the future, just activate the talisman on your back. There aren't many things in this world that can stump me." After saying this, Lin Yi patted Zhao Ling'er's head and then turned and left Immortal Spirit Island.
"Grandma, Grandma..." Zhao Ling'er ran out, calling out loudly.
………………
As the sun rises, auspicious purple clouds drift from the east.
On the summit of a green mountain outside Suzhou, after finishing his morning lessons, Lin Yi took out a map and looked at it for a while, then frowned.
In ancient times, people called maps "yutu".
The original meaning of the character “舆” is “carriage or vehicle”, which summarizes the way people surveyed and drew maps: sitting in a vehicle (or riding a horse, taking a boat, walking, etc.) to travel to areas yet to be explored, then using simple orientation equipment to determine their location, and then recording the geographical information they observed and drawing it on a map.
The "maps" drawn using this primitive method can be considered a kind of "travelogue." They are entirely centered on the cartographer's location, depicting whatever they see.
This place has beautiful mountains and clear waters, so I'll draw a few more strokes. But the next place isn't worth seeing, so I'll just gloss over it. I don't care about the absolute direction or scale at all.
As for how far it is from point A to point B, you'll have to ask the locals; you definitely can't tell from a map.
Some might ask, are there any accurate maps?
Of course there were, but those were state secrets, hidden in the Ministry of War and the Imperial Palace. Even ordinary officials and generals were not qualified to access them.
Lin Yi climbed to a high vantage point and, first of all, figured out the directions on the map.
The map in his hand was not arranged in the typical "north at the top, south at the bottom, west on the left, and east on the right" manner. Instead, it was arranged according to the topography of Suzhou and the direction of the main rivers, with the northwest at the top and the southeast at the bottom.
Suzhou city was drawn in the center, and the mountains, rivers and scenic spots within its jurisdiction were drawn according to their approximate location relative to the city. Finally, the villages and towns were filled in on the corresponding mountains and rivers.
"Baihe Village, Heishui Town, Jade Buddha Temple, General's Tomb..." After figuring out the directions, Lin Yi quickly found his target.
"It's time to retrieve the Earth Spirit Orb." Lin Yi's voice still echoed on the mountaintop, but it had already disappeared into the wind.
Riding the wind, soaring like a dragon in the sky.
Lin Yi accidentally flew too far ahead. Seeing a village not far ahead, he landed prematurely. After entering the village, he found a large crowd of residents crowding the road.
A middle-aged farmer couldn't squeeze in and stood outside on tiptoe, peering inside. Lin Yi walked over and asked, "Excuse me, what does this shop sell? There are so many people here."
Upon hearing this, the farmer's face darkened, and he said irritably, "You heartless scoundrel."
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Chapter 153 Saving Lives with Talisman Water
Then, the middle-aged farmer recounted the whole story, as if pouring out beans.
This village is called Baihe Village. The neighboring town of Heishui is plagued by zombies. The village's wealthy man, Luo, received advance notice and bought glutinous rice at a price slightly higher than the market price. All the farmers and rice shops sold their glutinous rice to him.
When the news arrived, the villagers of Baihe were filled with panic. They also heard that glutinous rice could cure zombies, and they suddenly realized what was going on. However, they could only scramble to send it up to Master Luo for slaughter.
In the end, the middle-aged farmer sighed and said, "Master Luo only knows money, not human life."
"Isn't there anyone who can cure this zombie?" Lin Yi asked.
"The village doctor, Dr. Han, is trying to treat the people injured by the zombies, but alas..." The middle-aged farmer said, pointing forward to a grove of apricot trees not far away, emitting a faint fragrance. The houses in the grove were clean and tidy, appearing peaceful and elegant under the shade of the trees.
Lin Yi shook his head and said, "No matter how many people Dr. Han can save, it's only treating the symptoms, not the root cause. Without addressing the problem at its source, it's all for nothing in the end."
The middle-aged farmer said with a wry smile, "That's true, but who dares to go? Our Baihe Village is only temporarily spared because it is separated from Heishui Town by a river. If this drags on, we will eventually be doomed."
"Although I have heard that Master Zhixiu of Jade Buddha Temple is highly skilled in Buddhism and has great supernatural powers, no one dares to go out. If they encounter a zombie, wouldn't they be like lambs to the slaughter?"
It is easy to compose inspiring words, but difficult to die a heroic death; this has always been true.
Lin Yi pointed to the shop selling glutinous rice and said, "The zombies outside the village are killing people, and the zombies inside the village are sucking people's bone marrow. Natural disasters are terrible, but man-made disasters are even worse."