Maps are generally found at bus stops, subway stations, local air defense command posts, earthquake disaster emergency response centers, neighborhood committees, fire stations, local military and police dispatch centers, public transportation system dispatch centers, local radio administrations, large publishing houses, hospitals, motorcycle rest stops, and RV parks.
City hotels, city halls, city libraries, city police stations, city transportation bureaus, city armed police forces, city hospitals, and the new Guangdian (Radio and Television) center also have them, but maps in city hotels are usually placed at the entrance, making them easier to find.
Lin Yuan remembered that west of Yue County, there was a county town called Bailong County, where he should be able to find a paper map. Once he found the map, he could find his way back.
Since he was unsure of his current location, he still needed to determine the general direction.
There are many ways to determine direction, such as ant nests facing south, wide tree rings facing north, and dense ones facing south.
However, the method Lin Yuan used was one he saw in a military official video. He took five branches, found a clearing exposed to sunlight, and first inserted a long branch into the ground. He observed the shadow and then placed a short branch at the tip of the shadow as a marker.
After some time, the shadow shifted. He then placed another short branch on the shifted shadow. By connecting these two points with a branch, he determined a straight line, and then used another branch to draw a perpendicular bisector.
The direction indicated by the perpendicular bisector was north. He could also use the mnemonic "up north, down south, left west, right east" to determine the other three main directions simultaneously.
In fact, Lin Yuan also knew a method of telling direction using the hands of a mechanical watch. He would point the direction indicated by half of the current time towards the sun, and the 12 o'clock mark would represent north. For example, at 10:00 AM, half of the time is 5:30. If you point the hour hand towards the sun, the direction indicated by the 12 o'clock mark is north.
Alternatively, if you lay the watch flat and point the hour hand towards the sun, the direction of the extension of the bisector between the hour hand and the 12 o'clock mark is north.
Or, you could place the watch flat in the sunlight and stand a small stick vertically in the center of the watch. Rotate the watch so that the stick's shadow coincides with the hour hand. The bisector between the hour hand and the 12 o'clock mark is north.
However, he had heard that this method was not very accurate due to latitude and longitude differences, leading to deviations.
The perpendicular bisector method, taught by the military, was relatively more reliable.
After about fifteen minutes, Lin Yuan had roughly determined his position. The road the convoy took was southwest of Yue County, and he should be in the mountainous forest northwest of Yue County.
However, the convoy wasn't going through Bailong County. Instead, they were turning onto a provincial road, bypassing the two populous counties of Bailong and Qingshe, and heading directly to the rural road where Lin Yuan's home was located.
Therefore, besides returning to the original road to catch up with the convoy, Lin Yuan could only circle in the opposite direction to rendezvous with the convoy midway on the provincial road.
But without a map, it was easy to get lost. What should he do?
Rely on his intuition, or walk a section and then borrow the sun's power again?
While Lin Yuan was deep in thought, Jiang Ziqi was catching butterflies nearby. They were common pale clouded yellow butterflies in the mountains of Shuzhou. A few, fluttering their small wings, struggled to evade Jiang Ziqi's grasp.
Suddenly, Jiang Ziqi's ears twitched.
She turned her head sharply, her movements stopping, and stared intently at a certain spot.
Lin Yuan also noticed Jiang Ziqi's reaction, and his guard immediately went up.
He said nothing, but took out his pistol, cocked it, and then reached out to break off a thick branch, stripping off the small twigs to make a simple wooden spear.
He held it in his hand, ready to throw.
"Ziqi, what did you find?"
Jiang Ziqi frowned, her face filled with deep suspicion, and said softly, "I'm not sure of the exact location, but there's definitely something in that direction. I heard it."
"Could it be wild chickens or wild boars foraging?"
"I'm not sure yet. Lin Yuan ge, don't speak for now. I'll listen carefully."
Jiang Ziqi calmed herself, expanding her hearing range to its maximum and focusing on one direction. However, after listening for a long time, she heard no unusual sounds.
Just as she was about to think it was indeed small animals foraging, a gasping sound, as if someone had held their breath to the extreme, reached Jiang Ziqi's ears.
There was someone in that direction!
Knowing where someone was, Jiang Ziqi did not show it on her face. Instead, she feigned an expression of having discovered nothing and turned to continue catching butterflies.
However, her body gradually moved behind the trees, while she signaled Lin Yuan with her eyes.
Lin Yuan understood and also lowered his voice. He deliberately looked around, pretending to be cautiously surveying the surroundings.
Only when more than half of their bodies were hidden did Lin Yuan resume his cautious expression and ask, "What did you find?"
"Someone, someone is observing us!"
"In that direction? Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. I focused my hearing range and can still hear that person's breathing. It's much weaker now; they should have been holding their breath just now."
Lin Yuan gave Jiang Ziqi a thumbs-up. Her actions were correct. It was unclear if that person possessed any lethal weapons like sniper rifles, so it was right not to alert them.
"This person has probably been following us for a long time, otherwise they wouldn't know we are here. They shouldn't show any killing intent now. Let's find an opportunity to see if we can capture him alive."
Jiang Ziqi was speechless upon hearing her captain's words. Shouldn't they just leave now? Who knew if the other party was good or bad.
Moreover, Lin Yuan's personality wasn't like this.
Actually, Jiang Ziqi didn't know that upon hearing Jiang Ziqi say someone was observing them, Lin Yuan immediately connected everything.
Why was his recovery ability so abnormal? Why wasn't he infected after being scratched by a special mutant zombie? Why did Li Wen suddenly encounter him by chance?
All these questions seemed to have answers. Although not very clear, he had roughly guessed that he was being targeted by some organization and that his body had undergone some changes without his knowledge.
When did they tamper with my body?
Lin Yuan frantically sifted through his memories but couldn't recall anything, making him antsy enough to scratch his ears and cheeks.
Suddenly, his peripheral vision caught the scar on his right arm from the BCG vaccination, and he instantly connected it to an event.
In college, he had made an appointment at a small clinic for an infectious disease vaccine.
While getting the vaccine, he remembered that the little nurse giving him the injection was particularly beautiful. The doctor next to her, wearing a mask, was unrecognizable, but he remembered her eyes.
But now, recalling that masked face and those eyes, they surprisingly began to overlap with Li Wen, whom he had met before!