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Early the next morning, Xia Zhiyao changed into a long, milky-white cotton-and-linen dress.
On her feet were soft leather-soled shoes that felt as light as clouds. Her long hair was casually tied up, and she walked out of her room.
She really disliked wearing that “Peacock King” outfit that wrapped around her entire body so tightly.
On the first floor, in the main hall, several maids stood on ladders, carefully wiping the enormous crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
Aunt Mei was directing the staff as they arranged fresh flowers.
“Miss Xia,” Xia Zhiyao called out softly.
Aunt Mei turned around and smiled.
“Miss Xia, why are you awake so early? The kitchen has prepared some porridge. Would you like me to bring some over?”
“I’m not hungry.”
Xia Zhiyao shook her head. Her fingers nervously twisted together.
“Aunt Mei, I want to… take a look at the small study room on the first floor. Yesterday, Mr. Ji said I could go there to pass the time.”
“The study room?”
Aunt Mei looked slightly unfamiliar with the name. She thought for a moment before suddenly realizing what Xia Zhiyao meant.
“Oh, you mean that storage room over there. Of course, you can go. Those are all books that Mr. Shen used to read. They haven’t been organized for a long time, so it’s quite messy. But if you’re bored, you can go there to pass the time. Do you need me to take you there?”
“No need to trouble yourself, Aunt Mei. I can go by myself.”
After receiving permission, Xia Zhiyao secretly let out a sigh of relief.
The study room was located at the very end of the first-floor corridor.
Just as Aunt Mei had described, it looked more like an abandoned storage room than a study.
When Xia Zhiyao pushed open the door, the musty scent of old paper immediately greeted her.
Tall redwood bookshelves stretched all the way to the ceiling. They were packed tightly with books, though everything was arranged in complete disorder.
However, the room itself was still fairly clean. It seemed that someone came regularly to wipe away the dust.
Xia Zhiyao casually pulled out a few books.
“Principles of Security Equipment.”
“Emergency Communication Systems.”
“Southeast Asian Economic Report.”
“Southeast Asian Geography.”
She stared at the titles in confusion.
These were not the kinds of books an ordinary person would read.
Was this really just a study room?
The bookshelves were filled with information about security, communications, economics, and geography. It was completely different from what she had imagined a private study would look like.
Xia Zhiyao slowly walked deeper into the room, her fingertips brushing over the old book covers.
The faint smell of paper lingered in the air.
For some reason, she felt as if she was slowly uncovering a hidden part of this mysterious place.
There was even a complete set of Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Most of the books were original English editions or specialized works written in various local languages.
Although the books were arranged messily, almost every single one showed signs of having been read. Some pages had even developed worn edges from repeated use.
Ji Chen was right.
Shen Yu truly loved reading.
Or perhaps, more accurately, this man who had crawled out from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, someone who should have relied solely on violence and strength, was instead desperately absorbing every piece of knowledge that could help him rise higher.
He had actually read all of these books…
At that moment, Xia Zhiyao couldn’t help but feel a trace of admiration toward him.
Her fingers quickly brushed across the spines of the books while her eyes searched through them rapidly.
History, art, geography…
These were her areas of expertise, and the only resources she could rely on right now.
Finally, in the corner at the very bottom of the bookshelf, she discovered a large-format atlas with a dark blue cover.
The cover was so worn that the hard cardboard underneath had already been exposed.
Xia Zhiyao silently read the words printed on it.
Her heart began pounding wildly.
She quickly crouched down and carefully pulled the book out.
When she opened the first page, a huge folded map appeared before her.
This was not an ordinary atlas.
It was a detailed topographic survey map of the Shan Plateau, left behind by a British expedition team in the 1990s.
Although many years had passed and some landmarks might have changed, the structures of the mountains, rivers, and valleys would remain the same.
To ordinary people, this was nothing more than a collection of contour lines and colored markings.
But to someone from the art history department who had studied ancient maps, it was a code—a key that could lead to survival.
Xia Zhiyao quickly spread the map across the floor.
She knelt there, her fingertips tracing over the densely packed contour lines.
This is a tributary of the Mekong River. During the dry season, the water level drops, exposing the riverbed…
This is a karst landscape. There should be a group of caves here…
If I avoid the roads and cross this Savage Mountain at an altitude of 1,200 meters, it will be dangerous, but I can avoid all the checkpoints…
She was completely absorbed.
Her mind worked at full speed, constructing a three-dimensional model of the surrounding terrain.
She completely lost track of time.
She even forgot that she was currently inside a wolf’s den.
Until.
“Can you understand it?”
A deep, cold male voice suddenly sounded above her head.
“Ah!”
Xia Zhiyao’s entire body jolted.
She looked up in shock.
Xia Zhiyao was so startled that her entire body jolted.
Her hand trembled, and the heavy atlas slipped from her grasp and thudded onto the floor.
She hurriedly tried to stand up, but she had been crouching for too long, causing her legs to go numb.
Her body tilted backward.
Just as she was about to fall, a strong hand firmly caught her back.
Through the thin cotton-and-linen fabric, the man’s palm felt unbearably hot.
Xia Zhiyao looked up in terror.
She met Shen Yu’s deep, bottomless black eyes.
At that moment, he was looking at her with a hint of amusement, while a trace of curiosity lingered in his gaze.
“Shen… Mr. Shen.”
Xia Zhiyao’s voice trembled.
She instinctively tried to move backward, but the large hand behind her held her firmly in place.
It was over.
She had been too absorbed in studying the map.
She hadn’t even noticed when Shen Yu had arrived.
Had he been standing behind her and watching everything the entire time?
If he discovered that she had been studying escape routes…
“Do you like maps this much?”
A little puppy who liked maps.
Heh.
She had been kneeling on the floor, staring at the map with such fascination.
He had already been standing beside her for a full ten minutes, yet she hadn’t noticed him at all.
Shen Yu had watched her little fluffy head with great interest the entire time.
And on top of that head, there was actually a…
Toothbrush.
A strange, silly little puppy.
Shen Yu did not let go of her.
He bent down and, with his other hand, picked up the atlas from the floor. His slender fingers casually flipped through a few pages.
“This map is too outdated.”
He spoke calmly.
“That river changed its course three years ago. Here, here, and here… these places are all minefields now.”
His fingers lightly tapped several locations on the map.
They were exactly the escape routes Xia Zhiyao had just planned.
A layer of cold sweat instantly broke out along Xia Zhiyao’s back.
Her face turned pale.
He knew!
With just one glance, he had seen through what she had been looking at!
“I… I was just…”
Xia Zhiyao’s thoughts raced rapidly.
Her instinct for survival forced her to quickly come up with an excuse.
“I just thought the contour lines drawn on this map were very beautiful… The techniques used are very vintage…”
She stumbled through the explanation, desperately trying to disguise her suspicious intentions as academic interest.
Shen Yu watched as she frantically tried to explain herself.
The gloom in his eyes faded slightly.
This silly little puppy was actually quite good at finding a way out for herself.
“Bored?”
He casually placed the atlas back onto the bookshelf and straightened up.
In an instant, his powerful presence filled the narrow passageway.
Xia Zhiyao didn’t dare say yes.
But she didn’t dare say no either.
She was afraid that if she answered incorrectly, she might lose her head.
So she could only lower her gaze and stare at the tips of his military boots.
“Since you’re bored, I’ll take you somewhere.”
“Come.”
Shen Yu turned around and walked out.
Xia Zhiyao finally came back to her senses.
With no other choice, she hurriedly followed behind him.