"Hello, big sister, could you please tell me where this is?" Ye Lang was now very puzzled. Where he was, exactly what place was it, and why wasn't it on the map?
"Little brother, this is Mivira City. Are you lost?" The older sister kindly replied.
"Isn't this Chelsea City? Mivira City should be in the northwest direction, but I need to go southeast..." Ye Lang looked at the map and found that Mivira City was in the opposite direction of where he needed to go.
"It looks like you are really lost. It's 200 miles from here. How come you didn't notice." The older sister looked a little worried as she spoke kindly to Ye Lang.
"I don't know, I've been avoiding someone. I'm afraid of being discovered!" Ye Lang shook his head and honestly explained some of his current situation.
"Avoiding someone? Who are you avoiding?" The older sister asked strangely.
"I'm avoiding... I can't tell you, or it will reveal my identity!" Ye Lang shook his head and said, "I'd better go back for now. Where can I go from here to quickly reach the Vermillion Bird Empire?"
Ye Lang still had his guard up, although it was a bit weak.
Watching Ye Lang searching the map, the older sister continued to ask, "Little brother, where in the Vermillion Bird Empire are you going? Tell me and big sister will help you find it!"
"..." Ye Lang's movements suddenly stopped, because he found a very serious problem - he had no idea where in the Vermilion Bird Empire he was supposed to go, nor where he should meet up.
Everyone said to go to the Vermilion Bird Empire, but no one ever said where to go!
His cousin seemed to have not mentioned where to go either, only saying to go to the Vermilion Bird Empire. What should he do? Could he just go to any place randomly?
Ye Lang was lost in thought, trying to figure out where to go, and his final decision was to just go to any place, and figure it out later!
In the past, as long as Ye Lang entered the Vermilion Bird Empire and showed his cousin's jade pendant, someone would immediately come to escort him. And now, it was even simpler - as long as he revealed his identity, someone would immediately protect him and take him to meet with others.
"Where should I go? What's the closest place?" Ye Lang asked.
"If you set off from here, the closest place would be Crimson Sunset City, the largest city near here in the Vermilion Bird Empire. I’ll help you draw a route on your map so that you won't get lost again," a kind-hearted lady said as she took out a pen and drew a line on Ye Lang's map.
This pen was used in this world to make temporary markings, and the ink would disappear after a period of time!
"Oh, I understand. Thank you, madam!" Ye Lang said, then set off following the route drawn on the map.
"Wait!" the lady called out.
"What's wrong? Is there something else?" Ye Lang turned around, puzzled.
The lady looked at Ye Lang, her eyes somewhat strange as she asked, "Are you just adjusting nearby or in a rush to go?!"
"I don't have time now, I need to hurry. I have to go to the Vermilion Bird Empire!" Ye Lang said, appearing as though he had no time to waste on leisure.
"If that's the case, then you should take this road. How do you even read a map?" the lady pointed to a road completely opposite to the one Ye Lang had in mind, very curious about Ye Lang's map reading abilities.
"Just like this!" Ye Lang held the map and replied to the lady.
If someone saw the map in Ye Lang's hand, they would surely be curious and ask, "Little brother, are you used to reading maps in reverse?"
Yes, the map in Ye Lang's hand was held upside down!
"… You had it upside down, no wonder you ended up going in completely the opposite direction!" the lady said somewhat helplessly.
"Huh, upside down? But, the compass points north, isn't it?" Ye Lang asked, puzzled.
"Who told you the pointer indicates north? This points south! Haven't you seen a map before?" the lady said somewhat irritably.
Ye Lang scratched his head and said, "Um, I haven't seen it. Someone else has always handled it! This is my first time traveling far..."
Just as he was about to say that he had seen maps of the Earth, where the maps habitually marked the direction of north, the maps of this continent were exactly the opposite, all marked with the direction of the southern compass.
And since he grew up, someone had always taken care of him, and he never had the chance to be exposed to the maps of this world. Also, he rarely traveled far, and when he did, he was always accompanied by someone.
"I knew it, a young master... Even if you didn't know this, didn't you notice that all the words on the map are upside down?" The lady had already guessed that Ye Lang was the type of noble young master, pampered and spoiled, who had either run away from home or was playing some adventure game alone.
On this continent, many noble young masters liked to play such adventure games, so it was a very common phenomenon. Therefore, the lady wasn't very concerned about Ye Lang's identity.
"I saw it, but I'm used to reading north-south, so I looked at it upside down!" Ye Lang replied.
"…" The lady had no words. This young master, wouldn't he think that he had it upside down?
"Now I understand, I'll definitely be able to reach the Vermilion Bird Empire quickly!" Ye Lang turned the map right side up, looked at it, and then ran in the opposite direction, except—
"Come back! You're still going the wrong way!" The lady caught Ye Lang, who had corrected the map and his direction but was still off course.
This deviation would become larger as the journey went on, and Ye Lang's way of walking might lead to him reaching the Aila Empire instead...
From Ye Lang's record, it seemed that he might just do that. And he didn't know what was wrong with him - when he played alchemy, he never made such mistakes, and his directions were always precise to the minutest detail.
"Wrong? Forget it, I'll rent a carriage and go directly. I wanted to travel discreetly, but it's such a hassle!" Ye Lang frowned, as if he had made a very resolute decision.
"Wait!" The lady didn't let go of Ye Lang, preventing him from running away even after he corrected the map and his direction.
"What now? I won't make a mistake this time. I'm very good at spending money!" Ye Lang said proudly.
"…" The lady was silent for a moment. Even without being told, she knew that this young master was very good at spending money, a prodigal son type.
Originally, the lady didn't particularly like this kind of young master, but she didn't dislike Ye Lang, and instead felt a bit fond of him; he gave her a very familiar feeling, as if he were her little brother.
"You don't have to go out of your way to find others. You said you could go anywhere, as long as it's in the Vermilion Bird Empire, right?" the lady asked.
Smiling at Ye Lang, she came up with a solution...