Chapter 99: Searching For The Ruin Map
Jun Wu stared at Mei Ling in astonishment, his brows knitting slightly as if trying to confirm she was real.
Her sudden arrival was something he had never expected, not now, and perhaps not even for several more months, if ever.
Mei Ling, however, sat with poise, her back straight, exuding a cold, frigid aura that seemed to push the air around her into silence.
People instinctively kept their distance from her.
Her beauty was undeniable, but her expression was as unreadable as frost over a frozen lake.
Clearing his throat, Jun Wu straightened in his chair, his gaze steady. "Miss Ling, what brought you here today?"
Though he already had a strong suspicion about her intentions, he chose not to jump to conclusions.
Mei Ling was not the kind of woman one could afford to misunderstand.
"The map." Her answer was simple, concise, and heavy with meaning.
Jun Wu wasn’t surprised.
He had anticipated this, yet hearing her say it made the matter more concrete.
He leaned forward slightly. "Have you discovered something?"
"Yes." Mei Ling’s tone remained cool.
With measured movements, she produced an ancient parchment and spread it across the small table between them.
"I found an old map, and it bears a resemblance to the one we already have."
Jun Wu leaned in to examine the fragile parchment.
The ink was faded, the drawings archaic, and the labels nearly unrecognizable.
The landforms etched onto it felt foreign, as though drawn by a civilization long forgotten.
"Don’t tell me you’ve tried to find the map?" Mei Ling’s gaze lifted, sharp and penetrating, locking onto him.
Jun Wu froze under her stare.
Caught red-handed, he gave a shameless grin and rubbed the back of his head.
"Miss Ling, you see, I’ve been rather busy these past few weeks..."
A light scoff escaped her lips, soft but biting.
She understood perfectly well that Jun Wu had been consumed with work.
His array plates were in high demand across the city, and his upcoming public lecture had already stirred an uproar. Excuses aside, his busyness was genuine.
"This," Mei Ling continued, her slender finger gliding across the ancient parchment.
"Is a map of the Soaring Cloud Region, the White Mountain Region, and the Shadowless Region. But as you can see, much has changed."
She unfurled another piece of parchment, this one their Tier-2 ruin map, and overlaid it on the ancient one.
"Look here. When you trace the main roads and compare the landmarks, it matches with this valley—situated right at the convergence of the three regions."
Jun Wu narrowed his eyes, studying the overlapping maps. Indeed, the similarities were undeniable.
Rivers aligned, mountain ranges connected, and the valley she indicated bore striking resemblance to their ruin map.
He raised his head and met her gaze.
"I take it you’ve already done some research on this valley?"
Mei Ling gave a small nod. "I have. Unfortunately, I found nothing tangible."
Silence settled between them for a moment.
Jun Wu tapped his fingers against the table, thinking.
She had already done the hard work of piecing together the puzzle. It would be shameful to simply sit back.
"Give me a moment." He rose to his feet and stepped out of the room.
Mei Ling watched him leave, her face as impassive as ever, though her eyes glimmered faintly with curiosity.
A minute later, Jun Wu returned, resolve etched across his face. "Miss Ling, why don’t we visit the City Lord’s mansion? Perhaps their library holds something we can use."
Without a word, Mei Ling reached into her sleeve and pulled out a delicate white veil.
She draped it across her face, concealing her features.
Jun Wu understood immediately.
A woman of her status and beauty could not simply wander about the city without drawing dangerous attention.
....
They arrived at the City Lord’s library, a towering hall.
Inside rows upon rows of towering shelves stretched across the vast space, each groaning under the weight of centuries of knowledge.
Jun Wu had already sent Zhang Wei ahead to notify the City Lord of their arrival, and so they encountered no resistance at the entrance.
The guards simply bowed and allowed them through.
As they entered, Jun Wu glanced at Mei Ling and was surprised. Her movements were precise, almost instinctive, as if she already knew exactly where to go.
He watched her stride purposefully deeper into the library, weaving between shelves until she arrived at the ancient texts section.
Her delicate fingers traced the spines of old tomes, pausing now and then.
One after another, she began pulling out history books, stacking them into a small mountain on the nearby table.
"Let’s start with these," she said curtly, settling into a chair.
Jun Wu nodded and sat opposite her.
Her dedication left him no room for idleness.
Together, they divided the books and began to read.
Hours seemed to blur away.
The quiet scratching of pages turned, the faint rustle of parchment, and the soft sound of their breathing were the only noises that filled the library corner.
Before long, a small mountain of books surrounded them.
The elder overseeing the library peeked at the sight, his mouth agape.
"What are they doing?" he muttered under his breath. But since Jun Wu had the City Lord’s approval, the old man dared not intervene.
He could only shake his head in disbelief.
Eventually, Jun Wu set down one of the thicker tomes, rubbing his temples.
"Anything?" he asked wearily.
Mei Ling closed the book in her hands with a soft thud and shook her head.
"No. It seems everything relevant has been deliberately cut off."
Jun Wu frowned. "I noticed the same. Whole sections are missing—or perhaps erased."
The records were strange, fragmented.
The history they read did not flow in chronological order.
Some passages skipped centuries, and others glossed over entire events with vague, meaningless words.
It was as if someone had intentionally buried the truth.
The more they read, the clearer it became: the ancient era was little more than a rumor.
The Shattered Era was even more scarcely documented, riddled with gaps and contradictions.
Only the Middle Era contained somewhat coherent records, yet even it was marred by blank spaces and unanswered mysteries.
Jun Wu leaned back in his chair, brows furrowed. "How could so much history vanish?"
The world speaks of four great eras: the Ancient Era, the Shattered Era, the Middle Era, and the Current Era—the so-called Age of Uncertainty.
But the first two are practically nonexistent here.
Mei Ling’s gaze darkened. "It’s as if someone wanted the past erased."
Jun Wu’s eyes fell upon one particular missing piece that disturbed him more than the rest.
"Take this, for example...the sudden disappearance of an empire that once ruled the Soaring Cloud Region."
His voice dropped lower, his tone filled with weight.
"The Blackstone Empire."