Zhao Yusheng lowered his gaze to the map, bamboo pointer in hand, and pressed it to a spot, tracing a light circle.

“We are currently right here — roughly midway between the Southern Frontier and Fenghuang City.”

“My suggestion is to set out directly from this point, first moving eastward in search, then turning south.”

“The first place we’ll be dealing with is right here — Southern Frontier Fort.”

“Southern Frontier Fort?” Feng Jiu’er looked at that location, her brow faintly furrowing.

“Yes.” Zhao Yusheng nodded and continued, “Southern Frontier Fort also lies within the Black Gorge. The surrounding area is almost entirely mountain ranges — a particularly mysterious place.”

“More mysterious than Zhao Family Stronghold?” Feng Jiu’er raised a brow at Zhao Yusheng.

They had been trapped inside the stone forest of Zhao Family Stronghold at the time — if Zhao Yusheng hadn’t helped them, they could have neither entered nor gotten out.

“Certainly nothing to compare to Zhao Family Stronghold. Only, I myself have never been inside that place. Everyone says it’s very mysterious, so that’s all I can say.”

Zhao Yusheng smiled faintly, and his gaze returned to the map.

“Travelling east from Southern Frontier Fort, there is also a fairly large Qingshan Stronghold along the way.”

“Further ahead, to the northeast, is a faction called Black Dragon Gang. The farthest east is Pingdan Valley. And in the central-east-south area, the entire stretch belongs to Zhao Family Stronghold.”

“Finally, to the far south, bordering Black Pond and adjacent to the Southern Frontier, there is one more faction called Black Pond Gang.”

Zhao Yusheng held the bamboo pointer and swept his gaze over everyone.

“These are the larger factions and organisations in the Black Gorge besides Zhao Family Stronghold. Of course, there are also many smaller ones — smaller gangs, smaller strongholds, and so on.”

“All these years I’ve been very curious about the outside world, and yet the one stretch of land I never properly studied was this vast expanse of the Black Gorge.”

His gaze fell on Feng Jiu’er, and Zhao Yusheng gave a faint smile.

“If I’d known the Black Gorge held a treasure, I should have turned over every inch of it long ago.”

“If you’d known?” Feng Jiu’er raised her brows and shot him a look. “How can there be so many ‘if I’d knowns’ in life?”

“Besides, whether the treasure is even still there — no one can be certain. All the same, I still believe my father would never have deceived me.”

As long as they found the mountain range shown on the two map imprints, the treasure would surely be found.

Feng Jiu’er lowered her eyes to the map and nodded thoughtfully.

“From west to east: Southern Frontier Fort, Qingshan Stronghold, Black Dragon Gang, Pingdan Valley — then below that is Zhao Family Stronghold, and one more Black Pond Gang.”

“Yes.” Zhao Yusheng looked at her and nodded, his gaze returning once more to the map.

“Do you all think this route is the better one to travel, or would it be more suitable to go from Southern Frontier Fort first, then Qingshan Stronghold, then head south through Black Pond Gang, then loop back to Black Dragon Gang and Pingdan Valley, and meet at Zhao Family Stronghold in the end?”

At Zhao Yusheng’s words, the few people gathered around the table all looked carefully at the map.

Feng Jiu’er had seen maps of this region before and understood which areas represented mountain ranges, which were flatland, and which were valleys.

What they were searching for was a particular stretch of mountain range — and unfortunately, the one thing the Black Gorge was not short of was mountain ranges.

After studying the map for a time, Feng Jiu’er reached into her robe and produced a map, placing it flat before Zhao Yusheng.

“Take a look at this map — does anything about it look familiar?”

Zhao Yusheng straightened out the map and studied it carefully for a moment, then shook his head.

“At a glance, I can’t make out anything particularly distinctive.”

Xing Zizhou beside him also looked it over for a few moments and shook his head. “Going on this map alone, it’s genuinely impossible to pinpoint a specific location.”

“There are too many mountain ranges here. One could say that nearly half of the Black Gorge is mountain ranges. For now, we can only search location by location.”

“I know that.” Feng Jiu’er pressed her lips together and let out a soft sigh.

“I only wanted to see whether either of you, with your considerable experience, might have happened to come across this particular stretch of mountain range before.”

“In that case, let’s search place by place.” Long Feiyan, who had been silent until now, lowered her head to look at one small spot on the map.

“Southern Frontier Fort — we start from this place.”

“Coming out of Southern Frontier Fort, we split into two groups. One heads northeast, taking this route through Black Dragon Gang and Pingdan Valley.”

“The other heads southeast, passing through Qingshan Stronghold and on to Black Pond Gang. In the end, everyone rendezvous near Zhao Family Stronghold.”

“General Long’s suggestion is excellent. Our brothers number quite a few — splitting into two groups is indeed very feasible.” Zhao Yusheng looked at Long Feiyan and bowed his head respectfully.

Feng Jiu’er looked at the map for a moment, then raised her eyes to Xing Zizhou.

“What are the military strengths of these organisations?”

Xing Zizhou looked at the map and frowned. “To be honest, I don’t have figures for Southern Frontier Fort’s strength.”

“Qingshan Stronghold also has over ten thousand soldiers. Black Dragon Gang and Black Pond Gang are said to each have over twenty thousand — though I’m not certain whether those figures have any gaps.”

He looked up at Zhao Yusheng. “Zhao Yusheng, have you gathered any relevant information?”

“What I know is no different from what you know.” Zhao Yusheng’s gaze fell once more on Southern Frontier Fort. “For that place to be called mysterious — it truly isn’t an empty claim.”

“Either way, let’s all enter Southern Frontier Fort together first, and decide from there once we’ve left.”

Feng Jiu’er lowered her eyes and studied carefully the place on the map labelled Southern Frontier Fort.

After a while, she raised her eyes and looked at Long Feiyan, who was seated across from her.

“Mother — are you familiar with Southern Frontier Fort?”

“Southern Frontier Fort borders the Southern Frontier. Word has it that the people there are highly versed in Gu Poison.” Long Feiyan looked at a small spot on the map, her brow creasing faintly.

At the mention of “Gu Poison,” Feng Jiu’er felt an involuntary shudder run through her.

“Jiu’er, are you all right?” Qiao Mu gave Feng Jiu’er a light pat on the shoulder.

“I’m… fine.” Feng Jiu’er pressed her lips together and shook her head.

“I have told you what happened. With both me and Xue Gu here, there is no need to worry.” Long Feiyan glanced at Feng Jiu’er and said quietly.

“Yes.” Feng Jiu’er met her gaze and nodded. “Mother is also versed in Gu Poison?”

“I know a thing or two.” Long Feiyan answered casually, her eyes returning to the map.

“Now that the route has been confirmed, we set out after midday. Xue Gu and Qiao Mu, go and make the arrangements. Let’s continue discussing the detailed route in the meantime.”

“General Long.” Qiao Mu stood up, clasped her hands together in a bow, and said, “Once we leave Southern Frontier Fort — how do you plan to arrange the two teams?”

“If we settle that now, it will be easier to arrange what needs doing at the moment. That way, when the time comes to split up, we won’t need to rearrange everything from scratch.”

Long Feiyan glanced at Qiao Mu, then swept her gaze over everyone.

Zhao Yusheng composed himself and looked at Feng Jiu’er.

“General Long, Jiu’er and I will be in one group. Allow me to arrange some brothers for your team as well — how does that arrangement seem to you?”

Long Feiyan composed herself lightly and nodded. “With you by Jiu’er’s side, I can rest a little easier. Let it be settled then.”

Getting Long Feiyan’s answer, Zhao Yusheng appeared to be in good spirits.

He curved his lips slightly and clasped his hands toward Long Feiyan in a bow. “Many thanks for General Long’s trust!”

“I, Zhao Yusheng, hereby give my word to General Long — even at the cost of my own life, I will keep Jiu’er safe without fail.”