"Could it be... there's something wrong with this parchment scroll?"
A pensive look flashed in Bai Li Hongzhuang's eyes. She had heard before, while following her family elders, that some people would conceal genuine treasures and mask them with something else. This way, many people would overlook the treasure, and only those who understood the technique could uncover it.
Carefully rubbing the parchment scroll with her fingertips, Bai Li Hongzhuang pondered various possible methods. Suddenly, a firm light appeared in her eyes. Regardless, she should give it a try.
Without hesitation, Bai Li Hongzhuang brought over a candle flame.
Seeing her actions, the three spirit beasts displayed a puzzled expression and quickly asked, "Master, what are you trying to do?"
"Since we don't know if this parchment scroll is useful or not, I might as well try a different method. If it succeeds, that would be the best outcome. If not, then so be it. It's useless to keep it in my hands all the time."
Bai Li Hongzhuang's expression was calm. She knew that using fire to burn it was somewhat risky, but how could she know the result without trying?
If she really failed, it wouldn't matter either.
Hearing her words, the three spirit beasts pondered for a moment before nodding. The master's reasoning was sound, and they had no reason to object.
Bai Li Hongzhuang placed the parchment scroll onto the candle flame, and the intense heat instantly enveloped it. The parchment scroll curled up under the temperature, revealing three layers. The front and back were ordinary parchment scrolls, while the once beautifully drawn landscape painting had now turned into nothingness.
However, in the middle of these two layers, a thin piece of paper emerged.
"We succeeded, we succeeded!" Xiao Hei couldn't help but exclaim in excitement. It felt like they had discovered a treasure.
A smile appeared on the corner of Bai Li Hongzhuang's lips. It seemed that her judgment was correct.
When she rubbed the parchment scroll earlier, she only felt that it was slightly thicker, but there was no significant difference. She didn't expect it to be composed of two layers of parchment scroll, with something hidden in between. It seemed that the creator of this parchment scroll had put a lot of thought into it.
Just thinning the parchment scroll alone was already challenging, let alone perfectly integrating them together.
Although she hadn't seen what was written on the middle piece of paper yet, Bai Li Hongzhuang was already certain that the contents were not simple.
After burning the entire parchment scroll, Bai Li Hongzhuang placed the middle piece of paper on the table. As the burned red color gradually faded away, she could finally see the content.
"Is this a map?" Bai Li Hongzhuang couldn't help but exclaim when she saw the depiction on it.
"Master, this should be a map!" Xiao Hei nodded in agreement. "However, it seems to have a beginning but no end!"
Bai Li Hongzhuang carefully examined the depiction of mountains, rivers, and the red route on the paper. It was undoubtedly a map. However, it only showed the starting point, and she had no idea where the endpoint was referring to.
Looking at the mountains and rivers at the edge of the map, Bai Li Hongzhuang could confirm that this was not a complete map.
"This should only be a part of the map. As for the other parts, we probably have no idea where they are," Bai Li Hongzhuang said helplessly.
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