13: Chapter 13 Wet Map in the Rainstorm

Dark clouds, like spilled ink, flowed down the mountain ridge toward the valley floor.

By the time Chen Jie hammered the last tent peg into the soil, bean-sized raindrops were already pelting the pine needles with a crisp "pitter-patter," sounding just as if someone had scattered a handful of soybeans from the sky.

"Damn this weather!" Zhao Kai clutched his backpack and scrambled into the tent, mud from his pant legs splattering onto the moisture-proof mat. "It was sunny this morning, and now it's pouring rain—can that piece of junk jade stone absorb rain too? If it keeps coming down like this, we'll be farming fish in the tent."

Chen Jie ignored him and kept his head down, examining the hand-drawn map he had obtained from a local.

The paper was wrinkled from the earlier dew, and the ink had bled in the misty rain; the once-clear mountain trails had turned into blurry gray lines, as if someone had wiped them with a wet rag.

When his fingertip traced the three characters for "Suiyu Slope," he suddenly paused—in the folds along the edge of the map, there was actually some dark green powder; it felt delicate to the touch, somewhat similar to the texture of that jade stone.

"Stop touching it, or the map is going to fall apart."

Zhao Kai shoved a piece of compressed biscuit into his mouth, crumbs falling onto the map. "Uncle Liu said we could get out of the mountains by following this creek, but the rain is too heavy now; we'll have to wait until it stops—hey, listen to that thunder, it sounds just like that broken refrigerator of Wang Lei's, buzzing away."

As soon as he finished speaking, a bolt of lightning split the clouds, illuminating the tent.

Chen Jie saw the ink on the map suddenly emit a faint blue light, slowly flowing along the blurred lines like water moving through cracks in rocks in a mountain stream.

Even more strangely, those mountain trails that had been blurred by the rainwater slowly revealed their original outlines as the blue light flowed over them, and even the crooked tree at the fork in the road became clearly visible, as if someone were redrawing them on the paper with a pen.

"What's going on?" Zhao Kai's biscuit dropped to the ground. "Has your map become sentient?"

Chen Jie felt his tool bag; the jade stone inside was slightly warm.

He moved the map closer to the jade stone, and the blue light immediately brightened. The moisture on the paper actually gathered along the lines toward the jade stone, condensing into tiny droplets on its surface like iron filings attracted to a magnet.

The ink bleeding on the map became clear at a visible speed, and even the "Rain Shelter Cave" marked by the local in red pen revealed its edges.

"This stone... can absorb water?" Zhao Kai reached out to touch it, but Chen Jie held him back.

"Don't move."

Chen Jie's voice was very low as his fingertip traced the trajectory of the blue light on the map—those horizontal and vertical lines faintly echoed the Talismanic Incantation on the surface of the jade stone, intersecting at the location of "Suiyu Slope" to form an arc-shaped node, like an unfinished key.

He suddenly remembered the "Water-Suppressing Talisman" Auntie Wang had mentioned; the elders said the Jade God's Talismanic Incantation could divert water and move stones. Could it be that the ink on this map was originally mixed with stone powder from Suiyu Slope?

The rainstorm outside the tent grew heavier; raindrops hammered against the canvas with a "thump-thump" sound, like someone beating a drum outside.

Uncle Liu was squatting by the campfire, smoking; the spark on his pipe flickered, but the smoke rings weren't blown away by the wind; instead, they swirled around the tent, slowly drifting into the cracks of the canvas.

"This rain is eerie, just like that mountain flood three years ago," his voice came through the rain curtain. "The elders say that the stones of Suiyu Slope reveal their power when they encounter heavy rain, and they can show the way for those who are lost."

Chen Jie spread the map on his knees. The blue light gradually faded, but the paper was as dry and crisp as if it had just been sun-dried, and even the wrinkles at the edges had smoothed out.

He touched the map; the once-damp paper now only smelled of pine resin, as if it had been thoroughly dried by the mountain wind.

"Amazing..." Zhao Kai picked up the biscuit from the ground, brushed off the dust, and shoved it into his mouth. "With this treasure, why would we be afraid of not finding the way?"

Chen Jie didn't speak; he folded the map and tucked it into his jacket.

The jade stone in the tool bag had cooled down, and the water droplets on its surface had disappeared, but those horizontal and vertical lines were clearer than before, glowing with a faint luster in the shadows of the tent.

He gazed at the vast white curtain of rain outside the tent, suddenly feeling that this rainstorm was suspicious—it seemed as if some invisible force was using the rain to reveal a secret, and this stone he had picked up from the creek was the key to unlocking it.

"We'll go to the Rain Shelter Cave once the rain eases," Chen Jie said, slinging his tool bag over his shoulder. The jade stone inside the bag lightly bumped against a wrench, making a "ding" sound. "The cave marked on this map isn't far from here; it'll be a good place to rest."

Zhao Kai peeked out of the tent; the rain was as thick as a net. "You're certainly eager—but then again, if this stone of yours can really show the way, maybe we can sell it for a good price once we get out."

Chen Jie smiled and didn't respond.

He touched the dry map in his jacket, his fingertips still holding the warmth of the blue light.

This jade stone could absorb smoke, stabilize time, and dry the map; the secrets it held were likely far more than he had imagined.

And this wet map in the rainstorm was like a lifted curtain, giving him a glimpse of the legend of Suiyu Slope—perhaps Uncle Liu was right; the Jade God's Spiritual Qi was truly hidden within these stones, waiting for someone fated to discover it.

The thunder outside the tent gradually faded, but the rain showed no signs of letting up.

Chen Jie gazed at the location of "Suiyu Slope" on the map, suddenly having a premonition: this rainstorm, along with this stone that had suddenly revealed its power, were leading them toward that legendary place.

Just like when repairing a watch, the hands always involuntarily point to the correct time; some paths are destined to be taken from the very beginning.