WangXian Forever 7

Chapter 36 Theories

Wei Ying needed a break, but there was no way he was going to admit that, not when Hui Gai's pile of books looked bigger than his own. He sidled up to Guan Zhang, looking over his shoulder at what the older man was reading.

"Past Catastrophes?" He asked, with interest.

"Yes. I keep wondering if it is a natural phenomenon we are looking for, or perhaps if we try to figure out how it was created, that might shine a light on where these mountains could be."

"In the library in Yunmeng, I came across a book that described huge stones falling from the sky, like falling stars. And when their locations were investigated, huge craters were made...do you think that's what we're looking for?" Wei Ying's eyes shone with excitement.

"But that would mean the rock that fell in such a place, it would have to be massive." Jiang Cheng came and stood by them.

"Hence the content I am reading, Young Master." The Curator smiled with a twinkle in his eye, tapping the title of the book he was currently reading. "If what we suspect is true, then a rock possibly the size of a small town had to have fallen from the sky...and someone must have thought it significant enough to make a note of it."

"That's a great idea." Wei Ying grinned. "Up till now, I've just been looking for strange mountain formations, and mostly they've all been located south of us. But, I wonder how long Dunshi has been wandering around? We know nothing of his kind, and what if the place he has told us about in so much detail, doesn't look like that anymore?"

"Still, that may not hinder our search. As long as someone thought it noteworthy to pinpoint its location, even if it has changed, the location would not differ." Guan Zhang returned to reading.

Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng watched him a while, admiring his speed. The older man was skim reading turning a few pages every minute.

"How many books have you looked through?" Wei Ying asked him, as they drifted away.

"Not enough..." Jiang Cheng looked at his much smaller pile compared to XiChen, who had discarded two stacks worth already.

XiChen smiled up at them.

"I'm tackling the water aspect of it." He told them. "A circle of mountains is certainly a striking feature as a landmark, but so is the five waterfalls. Someone, somewhere must have deemed that worthy of writing about."

"And what if they called them something else?" Wei Ying tapped his nose. "I don't know about you guys, but to me, five signifies a hand."

"Wait a moment!" XiChen checked his notes and efficiently pulled out the exact copy he was looking for. "This! This book mentioned the Five Fingers of NianLing, Wu Shouzhi." He turned to the end for the index. "Look! Located within the Ring of Fire. Huo Quan. Do you think that's our mountains?"

"It really could be!" Wei Ying sat on the edge of the table, still thinking aloud. "I mean, if something was to fall out of the sky, say into a massive lake, and that made a valley, where would the water go? And what if the thing that caused it was on fire? From a distance, you would think everything was on fire...right?"

"You might be onto something." XiChen started looking back through his previous books.

"I found something, Pengyou." Hui Gai said, calling Wei Ying over. "Circle of fire - a ring of sheer mountains known as Huo Jiezhi. This also says NianLing."

Lan Zhan came to stand next to Wei Ying with an illustrated book, pointing at a picture. A much better drawing of the one Wei Ying had hastily drawn was depicted, five waterfalls entering a huge valley.

"Thank you Lan Zhan." Wei Ying took the book from him. "This also says NianLing. So let's find that on the map."

Guan Zhang pulled out an incredibly long and wide tapestry. He cleared a space on his table and unrolled it, and because it was too wide for the table, he let the top half of it fall away, so they could concentrate on the bottom of the map, for that was what this was.

Wei Ying turned over a corner so he could see the other side, and he could feel the stitches between the layers of fabric. The entire thing was made out of silk, with silk thread embroidery and gold thread used to define the towns and cities.

"This must be expensive." He remarked, in wonder at the expert craftsmanship.

"Indeed." The Curator spared him an appreciative look. "It was a commissioned gift for Jin GuanShan, our previous Sect Leader. It is a priceless item. Longer lasting than if it was made from parchment."

"It really is a work of art." Wei Ying came to stand next to him, and look where he was pointing.

"That's NianLing...and look, doesn't this look like mountains to you all?" Guan Zhang asked, looking up at them.

Everyone gathered around to take a better look.

"Ju Xing valley?" Jiang Cheng said. "Why does that ring a bell? We've heard that name before..."

Wei Ying clutched his arm.

"Jiang Cheng! You're a genius! Do you guys remember what the Great Phoenix told us? About the memory plant? Jiyi Huifu? We asked him about how to cure Dashi and he told us about this plant, that it only grows in high mountain air."

"He also said you cannot use the plant dry, must be used fresh." XiChen reminded him.

"Follow the star, TianLang Xing, the dog star." Lan Zhan said.

"I forgot about that, Lan Zhan. That you know your stars." The reason was too painful for him to say out loud, but he knew Lan Zhan understood from the way his arm came around his waist.

Wei Ying cleared his throat and smiled.

"I guess you all know what this means, right?"

"What?" Jiang Cheng scowled. "It's probably another really terrible idea."

"It means we have to take Dashi with us."