Chapter 634: Drawn Out

The clouds on the horizon were illuminated into an orange-red, and the setting sun pierced through the gaps between the buildings, stretching human shadows long.

A group of people stood still downstairs; He Youhan lowered the car window and waved his hand.

"General Manager Lin, goodbye. I hope that when I return, I will be able to hear good news from General Manager Lin."

He was referring to the funds passing the review smoothly and the project starting successfully.

But Lin Sicheng felt that even if someone were to trip him up or hold him back, one still had to follow the basic rules of the game. Therefore, whether He Youhan was present or not, or even if he were replaced by someone else, it did not matter much.

He replied with a smile: "I hope General Manager He gets what he wishes for!"

He was talking about that map.

Suddenly, He Youhan became suspicious again: Did Lin Sicheng already know that this was a Treasure Map?

But then he thought again: Even if Lin Sicheng knew, it wouldn't matter, because all the Information had been completely deleted by him—

He Youhan smiled: "I'll take your kind words, General Manager Lin!"

As he spoke, the car window closed, the driver started the engine, and the business vehicle drove onto the main road, gradually moving away.

Lin Sicheng turned around and shook hands with the two Experts: "Museum Curator Tang, Teacher Zhang, thank you for your hard work. I have booked a working meal at a nearby hotel; you two must do me the honor—"

The two of them, however, hurriedly refused: "General Manager Lin, we can eat anytime, but not today!"

As he spoke, Museum Curator Tang pointed to the bag in his hand, which contained the check He Youhan had given: "It was not easy to secure Artifact Research funding for the museum; we must report the good news to our leaders as soon as possible!"

Zhang Wenguang said half-jokingly: "This is a cash check, and it has my name and Museum Curator Tang's name on it. What if we get accused of pocketing it?"

Lin Sicheng smiled, indicating he understood.

It was only two hundred thousand; what kind of good news was that?

Therefore, these two were not rushing back to report their achievements, but to clear their names: "Look, leader, although I accepted the money, I did not keep it for myself; it is funding for the museum."

Although the items were appraised, they were not fully appraised, and they certainly did not say anything they shouldn't have. On this point, Director Tian could bear witness for them.

Of course, under normal circumstances, there would be no need to be this urgent. The key was that Sun Jingzhou was by He Youhan's side.

That was a ticking time bomb; whoever got involved with him would feel their heart tremble.

"Then I will thank Museum Curator Tang and Teacher Zhang another day!" Lin Sicheng pointed to the driver, "I will send a car to take you!"

Museum Curator Tang shook his head: "No need, we will go back with Director Tian!"

Tian Rulong was right there and sighed.

Thinking of He Youhan's final abnormal behavior, and then thinking of the expression on Sun Jingzhou's face as he looked at his phone, stunned, that map definitely had something strange about it.

Therefore, he actually didn't want to leave; he wanted to stay and discuss it with Lin Sicheng.

But these two were people he had called over, and even more so, people he had brought back; he could not just leave them behind.

Moreover, after these two went back to report, the leaders would definitely ask for verification. Rather than letting the leaders chase him with questions, it was better for him to be proactive and report it himself.

The two sides shook hands and said goodbye, and the three of them got into the car and slowly left.

Lin Sicheng turned around and gave instructions as he walked: "Senior Sister Li, remember to give the two Experts a Red Envelope, and have the finance department process it as expert training fees!"

This was just in case, to make it convenient for the units those two belonged to to audit the accounts later.

"Okay, Teacher Lin!" Li Zhen hurriedly took out a small notebook, "How much should I add!"

Lin Sicheng replied without hesitation: "Ten thousand each!"

If it were an ordinary appraisal, this price was a bit high: including costs, Lin Sicheng wouldn't even earn that much.

If it were an expert appraisal, one had to estimate the value of the antique being appraised: if the valuation was one million, given the rank of Museum Curator Tang and Zhang Wenguang, it would definitely be in the highest bracket, and two percent would be twenty thousand, which was exactly ten thousand each.

But today's item hadn't been valued at all, and even if one wanted to value it, there was no way to do so: the four layers of skin removed, the five main bodies, Silver Ornaments, Gemstones, and so on, as well as the final map, had all been packed up and taken away by He Youhan in one go.

To put it bluntly, it was a pile of parts, not even counting as a damaged artifact; how could you value that?

The reason Lin Sicheng was so generous was because he had earned quite a bit today. Secondly, it was also a gesture of "buying horse bones with a thousand gold," so as to attract more experts to come in the future.

Li Zhen wrote it down in her notebook, and the group entered the elevator.

After exiting the elevator, Lin Sicheng did not enter his office, but instead went into the Artifact Restoration room.

Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng were confused and followed behind.

Knowing that they were going to discuss that final map, Fang Jin and Li Zhen stood guard in the outer room, letting the others attend to their respective duties.

Entering the Artifact Restoration room and closing the door, Lin Sicheng looked at the two of them: "Teacher, Senior Brother, are you very curious about what that map is?"

The two nodded in unison: Wasn't that obvious?

Just to prevent the information on that map from being known, He Youhan had actually thrown away one million?

Whether his broken pot could even sell for one million was still an unknown—

Lin Sicheng paused: "If I'm not mistaken, that should be a Treasure Map!"

Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng were stunned for a moment, feeling it was both bizarre and reasonable.

What was bizarre was: a Treasure Map was actually hidden inside a pot?

What was reasonable was: no wonder Sun Jingzhou was shocked like that, and no wonder He Youhan acted so abnormally—

Just as they were pondering, Zhao Xiuneng suddenly gasped: "A Treasure Map of the Liao Dynasty emperor?"

"That's not quite certain yet!" Lin Sicheng thought for a moment, "But that pot is, in all likelihood, a wine pot belonging to a Liao Dynasty emperor!"

Wasn't that the same thing?

A Treasure Map hidden inside an emperor's wine pot—if it didn't point to the emperor's treasure, what else could it be?

Zhao Xiuneng's eyes lit up: "If there is a treasure, what kind of treasure would it be?"

Lin Sicheng shook his head: "Hard to say; it could be gold, silver, and jewelry, or it could be armor and grain—"

If it were the latter, it would have long since turned into a pile of junk. But if it were the former—

In an instant, Zhao Xiuneng's heart skipped a beat: even if it were all copper coins, they would be worth a fortune now.

Then again, what emperor would hide a treasure that only consisted of copper coins? It was likely that it contained a large amount of gold and silver ware.

In this day and age, wouldn't every single piece be a priceless treasure?

No wonder He Youhan was so cautious—

"Junior Brother, if I were you, I would have fucking slashed that map—" Zhao Xiuneng wished he could slap his thigh: "That bastard got off too easy."

It is true to an extent, but who could have guessed that Lin Sicheng's mouth is like it's been blessed; if he says there's something inside, there really is something inside?

"But even if there is, it's not easy to find: because the only clue is that map. The notes in the margins are all misleading Information Detachment—"

Lin Sicheng paused, "And even if one could find it, he wouldn't be able to take it away, because the burial site is in all likelihood within the country. Furthermore, there should be quite a lot of items; not only are they hidden, but they are also buried deep enough."

The key is that they are all in deep mountains and old forests.

You first have to find a way to search; in such vast mountains, the mountains are full of dense forests, and whatever drones or remote sensing technology you have are all useless.

Even if you got lucky and managed to find it, you still have to dig it out, right? If you want to dig it out, you have to hire a large number of people.

Once the news leaks, the relevant departments will catch the Wind and come right over.

By then, it won't be a question of how much wealth you've made, but how many years you'll be sentenced to—

"If that's the case, it's indeed useless to He Youhan, but it's useful to us, right?" Zhao Xiuneng looked annoyed, "The Liao Emperor's treasure, a rare treasure through the ages—Junior Brother, do you believe you could make the national news?"

By then, the whole country will know that there is a Lin Sicheng Cultural Relic Appraisal Center in Beijing. And there is an even more incredible young Expert who can even find the Liao Emperor's treasure that has been buried for thousands of years.

By then, Lin Sicheng would definitely be famous across the country. One can imagine how explosive the center's business would be?

Unfortunately, He Youhan is too cunning; fearing a leak, he actually forced Lin Sicheng to delete the surveillance footage and even the relevant records.

"Senior Brother, how could it be that easy?" Lin Sicheng couldn't help but laugh, "Just looking at the map, you know the places where things are buried are all deep mountains. Machines can't get through, and cars even less so; if you want to find them, you can only rely on your two legs."

"It's not like we haven't searched before? The Zhang Anshi Tomb and those five porcelain kilns in Shanxi, weren't those found by you relying on your two legs?"

Zhao Xiuneng looked regretful, "If only we could have kept a single photo, we should have tried. What if we hit the jackpot and actually found it? It's a pity it was all deleted by He Youhan—"

The more he spoke, the brighter Wang Qi Zhi's eyes became. Before Zhao Xiuneng even finished, he blurted out: "Lin Sicheng, why don't we—give it a try?"

Zhao Xiuneng sighed: "Professor Wang, how can you try without the map?"

Wang Qi Zhi didn't speak, looking at Lin Sicheng with hope.

Lin Sicheng lowered his head to ponder: if he were to speak his heart, even if the Treasure Map were real, and even if it could be deciphered, the possibility of finding the exact location was not high, perhaps even infinitesimal.

Because he could judge: the map looked small, but the actual scale was absurdly large, at least over a thousand square kilometers.

And it might even be two or three thousand.

For example: the area of Fangshan in Beijing is just over two thousand square kilometers, and the entire city of Beijing, counting only within the Sixth Ring Road, has an area of nearly twenty-three hundred.

Just imagine, within such a large area, how high the difficulty and how low the probability of finding several burial points would be?

Therefore, what Lin Sicheng regretted was not whether He Youhan could find any treasure, but the map itself: this thing is very likely linked to a major iconic historical event, or even one that could change the course of history.

Given to He Youhan, he would only treat it as a Treasure Map to mess around with, which is purely a waste of the item.

But then again: if one could find the treasure marked on this map, wouldn't it have greater significance and higher representativeness?

The probability is indeed very small, but it is only small, not non-existent.

Lin Sicheng thought for a moment, sat down, and took paper and a pen again.

Zhao Xiuneng glanced over, and his eyes suddenly popped.

What is he doing, drawing a map?

Looking closer: the pencil first drew a black line, then split into two branches—aren't these the three rivers on the map?

He suddenly raised his head and stared straight at Wang Qi Zhi.

Wang Qi Zhi raised an eyebrow, as if to say: have you forgotten how good Lin Sicheng's memory is?

Zhao Xiuneng certainly knew: no matter what kind of material it was, Lin Sicheng only ever looked at it once, and he could use it off the cuff when needed.

But the problem is, that was text; it didn't rely solely on memory, but also on understanding to deepen the impression.

And what he is drawing now is just a map, lines and punctuation marks; how does he understand it?

Zhao Xiuneng didn't even know how he would memorize it if he were asked to.

In astonishment, the marks Lin Sicheng drew became more and more numerous, and Zhao Xiuneng's expression became increasingly exaggerated.

Although he didn't remember the details, such as where the three river channels curved, where they were straight, or which direction they tilted.

Nor did he remember which mountain was in which position, how many valleys were sandwiched between them, how many passes each had, or which ones were connected.

But Zhao Xiuneng had counted them himself: one main river channel, two tributaries, and eleven even finer branches splitting off from the main and tributary rivers.

There were thirteen pointed mountains, and nine places that were not pointed and not large, which he estimated were hills.

What he remembered most clearly were the points: there were two double-circle overlapping, super-large dots, seven medium-sized ones, and four small ones.

And what Lin Sicheng drew was not a single bit off?

The key is the orientation and distance—although Zhao Xiuneng didn't remember it too clearly, he at least had an impression. He felt that what Lin Sicheng drew and the one He Youhan took away didn't seem to have any difference?

Suddenly, he turned his head, stared at Wang Qi Zhi, and his lips kept twitching.

There was no sound, but Wang Qi Zhi could read it: with a memory this good, he only scored around six hundred on his exam back then?

Wang Qi Zhi didn't know whether to laugh or cry: General Manager Zhao, what kind of thought process is this, and in what state of mind did you think of this?

At a time like this, you actually have the energy to care about how much Lin Sicheng scored on the college entrance exam?

Besides, he didn't score around six hundred back then, but 698, just two points shy of seven hundred.

The reason he didn't attend Tsinghua University or Peking University was that Lin Zhangqing wouldn't let him—

The two exchanged glances, neither speaking. After Lin Sicheng finished drawing, he made a few more corrections and then pushed it in front of the two.

"He Youhan's map is roughly like this; even if there are slight errors, it won't have much impact."

Wang Qi Zhi is a Cultural Relics Expert, and although Zhao Xiuneng is not, he had at least learned about it: ancient times had no unified scale and would not strictly shrink or enlarge according to a fixed ratio. Key areas were drawn enlarged, secondary areas were compressed and simplified, the overall length-to-width ratio was inconsistent, and only the relative relationships of local distances were generally reliable.

Therefore, even if this map has some deviations from He Youhan's, it doesn't hinder anything.

Zhao Xiuneng rubbed his hands excitedly: "Professor Wang, how do we search?"

Wang Qi Zhi was stumped: "General Manager Zhao, how would I know how to search?"

Zhao Xiuneng was stunned: "Professor Wang, if you don't know how to search, why are you giving Lin Sicheng ideas?"

Wang Qi Zhi said with a wry smile, "Just because I can't, doesn't mean Lin Sicheng can't!"

Zhao Xiuneng slapped his forehead: he was the same, worshipping Guanyin in a Guandu Temple; he had worshipped the wrong deity and, even worse, entered the wrong temple.

This question shouldn't have been asked of Wang Qi Zhi, but of Lin Sicheng.

But before he could ask, Lin Sicheng had already begun: he was still drawing on the paper—oh no, this time he was writing:

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Carbon-14 Dating:

Test subject: Cellulose extracted from different layers of the birch bark.

Conclusion: The entire pot body is made of material from the same period, 900±50 years old.

2. Thermoluminescence dating: Testing the surrounding rock and mineral inclusions inside the silver ornament inlays—

3. Material and craftsmanship determination—

4. Detection of burial and ancient disturbance traces—

5. Specialized testing of glue layers and later repair layers—

He wrote down seven or eight items in total, all of which were the results of the previous instrumental testing of the birch bark pot. Likewise, at He Youhan's request, they were all deleted.

Taking money to do a job is only natural; Lin Sicheng wouldn't play tricks over this.

But that didn't stop him from having a good memory.

Having just seen Lin Sicheng draw the pot, Zhao Xiuneng was not too surprised that he could write out all the appraisal results from memory.

He was just curious: what connection did these machine test results have with what he and Wang Qi Zhi had imagined—finding the location of the treasure from the Treasure Map?

While he was suspicious, the pen in Lin Sicheng's hand moved again: CT Micro-Computed Tomography, Ultra-Depth Three-Dimensional Microscopy System:

The measured thickness of the birch bark slices is uniform, and the interface contact between layers is dense—the overlapping parts use a slanted bevel, with the slope thinning from the outer surface toward the inside—the seam transition is continuous and gentle, with no obvious stepped protrusions or ridges—

Lin Sicheng added a line at the very bottom: Thinning and Lapping Technique for Northern Song Dynasty lacquerware and leather armor, widely used by the Imperial Manufactory during the reign of Emperor Zhezong.

Continuing downward: Chasing and engraving of the silver ornaments. Craftsmanship: Flat Chisel Grounding—no forging ripples on the base, the overall base surface is uniform and flat. The chased lines are consistent in depth, the borders are regular, and the boundaries between the decorative patterns and the flat base are clear and distinct—Conclusion: Standard official workshop procedures of the Imperial Manufactory in the late reign of Emperor Zhezong of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Third, rivet gaskets: The gaskets are uniformly of a rounded-square standard format, and the overall assembly of the object follows the Liao-style outward-flaring rivet structure. Inference: Song Craftsman improved the production based on Liao usage requirements.

Fourth: Silver components. The surface uses a matte polishing process, presenting an overall soft matte texture without a mirror-like high-gloss reflection effect, typical of the matte fine-grinding style of the late Zhezong reign.

Fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth—

Finally, Lin Sicheng wrote the conclusion: The craftsmanship system of the Northern Song Imperial Manufactory in the early period of Emperor Huizong's succession.

At first, Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng didn't notice anything, and both were secretly happy: Lin Sicheng's speed was truly fast; how long had it been, and he had already deduced the production era of that pot?

But immediately, the two were stunned: was something wrong?

The two frowned, thinking hard. At the same time, they looked at the data Lin Sicheng had handwritten, comparing it line by line from back to front.

comparison of the strips.

When they compared to the end and saw the first line Lin Sicheng had written, they suddenly realized: the entire pot body was material from the same period, belonging to the late Liao Dynasty: 900±50 years old.

It is now 2009; if the test result has a positive fifty-year margin of error, that would be around 1060, which was the late reign of Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song.

At that time, let alone Emperor Huizong, his grandfather Emperor Yingzong hadn't even succeeded to the throne yet, his father Emperor Shenzong was only twelve, and it would be another twenty-two years before he was born.

If it were a negative fifty-year margin of error, the time would be even earlier, around 959. That year, Zhao Kuangyin had just donned the yellow robe.

Therefore, no matter what year that pot was made, it was a long way off from Emperor Huizong; how could it possibly use the craftsmanship system of the Imperial Manufactory from Emperor Huizong's time?

Seeing the two look stunned, Lin Sicheng explained: "The purified cellulose test method used for birch bark has a maximum C14 dating error of forty years and a minimum of twenty-five. But this is standard test data for woody plant samples after removing humus and fully purifying them—"

"And that pot was buried underground for a long time, undergoing soil water seepage and microbial infection, so the error must expand to at least over a hundred years. Secondly, it was dismantled once in the Ming Dynasty, and each layer was brushed with glue, so the error range must be increased by another fifty years or so."

"Adding the original one hundred years, plus or minus another fifty, makes three hundred years, so the era is roughly in the 960—1270 range. The reason it is 900±50 years is inferred based on the time of the Liao Dynasty's fall, not accurate data—"

Zhao Xiuneng stared: 960, Zhao Kuangyin had just succeeded to the throne, and the Northern Song had just been established. And 1270 was only nine years away from the Battle of Yamen, and the Southern Song was about to perish; where would there be any "Liao"?

"Then what should we do?"

"Of course, infer it based on the craftsmanship, designated as the period of Emperor Huizong. And it was the early period of his succession; he hadn't yet started collecting the Flower and Stone Transport, nor had he founded Daoism. Otherwise, let alone the reign of Emperor Shenzong (Huizong's father), we wouldn't even be able to see the craftsmanship traces of the reign of Emperor Zhezong (Huizong's brother)—"

Emperor Huizong loved antiques, especially imitating the ancients; from the Shang to the Tang, as long as there were famous antiques, he had them all imitated.

For example, the Dasheng Bell (Spring and Autumn period Bronze Bo), the Zheng He Tripod (late Shang Dynasty), and the legendary Nine Tripods of Shen Zhou.

The most famous is the "Fake Chencang Stone Drum"; of course, he didn't order this to be imitated, but his subordinates, in order to please him, made a fake set and coaxed him into believing it was real.

But if he didn't like it, how could there be such a trend of subordinates following the leader's preferences?

Therefore, after Emperor Huizong succeeded to the throne, the craftsmanship system of the various workshops under the Imperial Manufactory was completely overhauled: imitating the ancients was only one aspect; deep reforms were carried out in terms of craftsmanship paradigms, standardized management, craftsman selection, and aesthetic imitation, implementing standardized control.

The reason Lin Sicheng dared to conclude that this was the craftsmanship of the early Emperor Huizong period was based on this point: it had just started to change, and it hadn't reached the point where it was distorted beyond recognition by his changes.

"And the time matches perfectly!"

Lin Sicheng exhaled, "In the first month of the third year of Yuanfu (1100), Emperor Huizong succeeded to the throne, and the following year the reign title was changed to 'Jianzhong Jingguo' (1101). That year was the seventh year of Shouchang of the Liao Dynasty (1101). It also happened to be the first month when Yelu Yanxi succeeded to the throne following the imperial edict, and the ministers bestowed upon him the title 'Tianzuo Emperor'—"

Zhao Xiuneng and Wang Qi Zhi were suddenly stunned: The Tianzuo Emperor of the Liao Dynasty?

These two were a pair of brothers in misfortune; the two missed each other, and the time of their succession happened to be one year apart. Twenty-five years later, the two brothers missed each other again by a year, and both lost their countries.

The Jingkang Humiliation was in 1125, when Emperor Huizong was captured. One year earlier, in 1124, the Tianzuo Emperor was captured in Yingzhou New City (west of present-day Huairen County, SX Province), and the Liao Dynasty perished.

But this is not the point; the point is the Tianzuo Emperor.

Before, Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng had been thinking: if this is a treasure map, why hide it in the deep mountains?

If it were an emperor's treasure map, that would be even more impossible: which emperor would be so bored that he wouldn't put the treasure in the palace, but hide it in the mountains?

Now they understood: if it were a last emperor of a fallen country, with the imperial capital captured, where would he have a capital, where would he have an imperial palace?

He could only flee with the treasure.

Look again at the experience of the Tianzuo Emperor: In the first month of the fifth year of Tianqing (1115), the Tianzuo Emperor personally led a large army to conquer the Jin Dynasty, but the Khitan soldiers and generals were fearful, and the morale of the army was unstable.

In the ninth month, the Jin army captured Huanglong Prefecture, and the Tianzuo Emperor fled the battlefield, which then led to the legendary miracle of "two thousand Jin soldiers defeating five hundred thousand Liao troops."

After that, the Tianzuo Emperor lost every battle he fought; he was either fleeing or on the road to fleeing.

In the first month of the second year of Baoda (1122), the Jin army captured Zhongjing (present-day Ningcheng County, Chifeng, Neimenggu), and then captured Zeze Prefecture.

Hearing the news, the Tianzuo Emperor fled out of Juyong Pass and then fled to Yuanyang Po.

Midway, he killed the Jin King who had remonstrated with him, causing the nobles to lose heart and contemplate rebellion one after another; Emperor Tianzuo had no choice but to abandon the camp and lead five thousand guards to flee to Xijing (modern-day Datong, Shanxi).

In the third month, upon hearing that the Jin army had marched west of the mountain range, Emperor Tianzuo fled to Baishui Po (modern-day north of Huangqi Sea, Zhangbei, Inner Mongolia), and later to Nvgu Dicang. Hearing that the Jin soldiers were about to arrive, he abandoned his camp once again and rode light cavalry to flee into Jia Mountain (in modern-day Hohhot, Inner Mongolia).

In the fourth month, the Jin army reached Juyong Pass; Emperor Tianzuo and the Jin soldiers engaged in battle at Baishui Po, and he was later severely defeated. Emperor Tianzuo feigned surrender to the Jin Dynasty, then fled west to Yunnei. The following year, the fourth year of Baoda (1124), in the first month, Emperor Tianzuo fled to the army of Dutong Mage; the Jin army came to attack, and Emperor Tianzuo abandoned his camp and fled north again.

In the seventh month, Emperor Tianzuo led various armies out of Jia Mountain, captured Yuyang Ridge, and took prefectures such as Tiande, Dongsheng, Ningbian, and Yunnei. When marching south to Wuzhou, he encountered the Jin army, fought a great battle at Yan'e Xiashui, was defeated by the Jin army again, and led his army to flee to Shanyin once more.

In the fifth year of Baoda (1125), Emperor Tianzuo passed through the desert via Tiande Army (east of modern-day Hohhot, Inner Mongolia) and fled west. He managed to escape to Yingzhou New City (west of modern-day Huairen County, SX Province), but was caught and captured by the Jin General Wanyan Loushi. Finally, he was sent to Shangjing, and the Jin Emperor enfeoffed him as the Sea-shore King.

He passed away shortly after, ending his dramatic life at the age of fifty-four—

The two flipped through historical materials, searching one by one. Halfway through, Zhao Xiuneng had already begun to ponder: if Emperor Tianzuo had carried treasure while fleeing, where would he have hidden it?

Having no leads for the moment, Zhao Xiuneng simply found a map and began drawing on it according to the materials.

Starting from Huanglong Prefecture, Emperor Tianzuo fled to Chun Prefecture, then to Gui Prefecture, then to Yuanyang Po (in modern-day Zhangbei County, Zhangjiakou, Hebei), and then to Heli Prison. In the seventh month, he fled to Datan Mountain, and later fled to Nanjing (modern-day Beijing).

This was the first stage, from 1115 to 1120.

Then came the second stage: 1121 to 1125, until he was captured; Emperor Tianzuo had fled across most of the Liao territory, and the Jin army had occupied most of the Liao territory as well.

Placed in today's context, this is roughly equivalent to the majority of Liaoning, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Hebei.

Zhao Xiuneng did not let a single one go, marking every mountain passed along Emperor Tianzuo's escape route.

Then, he was dumbfounded: among the mountains Emperor Tianzuo had visited, the large ones included the Yin Mountain, Taihang Mountain, Luliang Mountains, Yanshan,

Changbai Mountain, and the Greater Khingan Range. The small ones included Zhongtiao Mountain, Dama Mountain, Longgang Mountain, and Gan Mountain—the key was that many of them were mountain ranges.

Looking at the area, adding them together would be at least hundreds of thousands of square kilometers; how could one search this?

Previously, Lin Sicheng had used Fangshan as an example for them; that was only two thousand square kilometers, and it was already like looking for a needle in a haystack.

This had suddenly expanded by a hundred times; even if there really were treasure buried in one of those mountains, how would you find it?

Zhao Xiuneng and Wang Qi Zhi looked at each other: the two of them finally understood why Lin Sicheng was so certain that even with the map in hand, He Youhan could not possibly find it.

While they were hesitating, a "rustling" sound came from the side, and the two subconsciously turned their heads: Huh, why was he drawing again?

Finding drawing paper from somewhere, Lin Sicheng laid it flat on the desktop, pieced it into a large sheet, and then began sketching with a pencil.

First the rivers, then the mountains, then the valleys, hills, and mountain passes—the two understood, this was enlarging that Treasure Map.

Then, Lin Sicheng stepped back a bit, crossing his arms to examine it.

No, he should be thinking: although his eyes were fixed on the drawing, there was no focus in his pupils.

The sky had long since turned completely dark, and there were sparks of light outside the window; Wang Qi Zhi walked over quietly to close the curtains and turned on a few more lamps.

Zhao Xiuneng walked out quietly, brewed a cup of hot tea for Lin Sicheng, and instructed Fang Jin, who was waiting outside, to buy them something to eat.

It was best to buy the kind that could be eaten even after it had gone cold, because no one knew how long Lin Sicheng would be busy.

Then, the two sat behind Lin Sicheng, waiting quietly.

After watching for a full half-hour, Lin Sicheng finally put his pen to paper, modifying it stroke by stroke, and adding to it stroke by stroke.

First was that main river; Lin Sicheng widened it stroke by stroke and made subtle changes to the two tributaries.

Then there were those reddish-brown mountain-shaped symbols; Lin Sicheng used these as extensions, adding them to the top-left and bottom-right respectively. Gradually, the mountains increased; some were wide, some narrow, some straight, some curved. But regardless of the type, they were all shorter than this first one.

And he extended them again in sequence, drawing more ridgelines to form mountain ranges.

Next were the branch lines under those mountains: in order, they were watersheds, mountain passes, valleys, and small rivers and streams that were not shown on the original map.

The key was those small dots: Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng thought those dots should be the burial locations of the treasure. But under Lin Sicheng's pen, they became rivers and lakes, shoals, mountain Taidi, river valley terraces, and various turning points in the terrain.

These were on the map; even if some were not, Zhao Xiuneng could at least understand how Lin Sicheng's train of thought came about and why he added these.

But the rest, he could not understand: in some blank spaces, Lin Sicheng drew long mountain ranges, and in other blank spaces were wider ridges.

Under the mountains, gullies and exits appeared out of thin air, and between the gullies were secondary gullies.

As well as inexplicably appearing springs, shoals, river valleys, basins, and even lakes.

No matter how Zhao Xiuneng looked at it, he did not understand how these came to be.

He subconsciously looked at Wang Qi Zhi, but before his mouth could open, Wang Qi Zhi shook his head first.

Zhao Xiuneng could not understand, and he could not understand either.

Curiosity was curiosity, but neither of them spoke. Really unable to bear the hunger, the two hid in the corner and chewed a few mouthfuls of bread with mineral water.

As for Lin Sicheng—they were long used to it. When he didn't say he was hungry, you must never call him. In Lin Sicheng's own words: when the stomach is hungry, one meal can make up for it; if the train of thought is broken, then it is truly broken—

After having a little something, the two sat back down.

Lin Sicheng would write at times, pause at times, and occasionally erase a part to modify it again.

Just like this, repeatedly, back and forth, Lin Sicheng drew for three whole hours.

Wang Qi Zhi and Zhao Xiuneng did not move, staring at the pencil in Lin Sicheng's hand. As the map gradually took shape, the eyes of the two grew wider and wider—

The Treasure Map that He Youhan regarded as a treasure, was it just drawn out like this by Lin Sicheng?

Zhao Xiuneng was even thinking, with this map, if one compared it mountain by mountain, could the place where the treasure was buried be found?