Chapter 3 Chapter 2 An Adventure Map

The four of us turned around together. However, it was too late for my words. When we turned around and went to the fire together, there was only a small half of the file cabinet left, and the paper in the cabinet had already turned to ashes! I smiled wryly, scratched my head, and said, "Doctor, do you know what the gold color on the expedition map means?" Botu Le Sheng shook his head and said, "I don't know, there shouldn't be golden ones on the map at all." Ruan Yao said: "Maybe it's a gold mine!" Tang Yuehai said: "Or, that place is full of pure gold!"

I shrugged my shoulders: "You are not people who have nothing to eat, why are you so obsessed with money?" Dr. Le Sheng frowned: "Yes, what does the gold color on the expedition map represent?" At this time, the fire has gradually weakened.The weather that day was already very cold. Standing by the fire for a long time, we naturally didn't feel cold, but now it was dark and the fire was weak, and we all felt cold. The map was in my hand, and I looked at the weakening fire and the pile of ashes, and said, "When Rollo was dying, he wanted us to burn everything in his house, didn't he?" ?”

Dr. Le Sheng nodded, "Yes, so this map──" While he was speaking, I folded the map as quickly as possible and put it in my pocket. Dr. Le Sheng opened his eyes wide and looked at me full of surprise, while I tried to put on a calm expression and said, "We all agreed to his request, but he didn't ask us to Burn all his things, I guarantee that this map will be turned into ashes, after a few days!" Ruan Yao didn't take everything seriously, so, among the three people, he was the first to accept my sophistry, and he said "ha", "You are a slicker, and I will be friends with you in the future. Just be careful!"

I looked at the other two people, Dr. Le Sheng frowned, Tang Yuehai said: "What do you want that map for?" I shook my head: "Nothing. I just want to find out where the map is." Dr. Le Sheng said: "You can't figure out what the map is, there is no word on it, and the world is so big." I said, "I have a way." Tang Yuehai and Dr. Le Sheng didn't say anything more. For now, this map is mine. To be honest, when I think about it afterwards, I don't understand why I kept this map. I have thought about it carefully, but after much deliberation, the only reason is an impulse. I like to solve difficult problems. The more difficult things are to understand, the more I like to study.There was not a word on that map, and it was not an easy task to figure out what it was, a detailed map of where it was, which piqued my interest.

And if on that map, like an ordinary map, every mountain and every river is marked with a detailed place name, so that people can know where it is at a glance, then even if there is a strange piece of land on the map Gold, also won't arouse my interest. If that's the case, then I might have thrown this map into the fire long ago, and then, there won't be so many things happening in the future. That day, after we thoroughly extinguished the ashes, we locked Luo Luo's house, then left, and talked for a while at Ruan Yao's house.All three of them seemed guilty of agreeing with me to put away the map, so they avoided mentioning it as much as possible.

And I was the one who talked the most. At this time, because I was thinking about what method to use to find out which corner of the earth that place is in, I seldom talked. Soon, we broke up. On the way home, I already thought of a way. The next day, I first took a photo of the map, and then reprinted it on a transparent film, large and small, and printed it into a dozen sheets, each with a different proportion.It took me a whole day, and all I got was a lot of transparent miniature maps. Then, I found many volumes of detailed maps of various countries. With these maps and those map miniatures printed on transparencies, it was only a matter of time to find out what the map actually depicted. A troublesome thing, not a difficult thing anymore.

Because on the map, although there are no words, the mountains, rivers and rivers are very detailed. I just need to pick up a film with the same size and ratio as the map, put the film on the map and move it. Once I find a map that matches the curve, I will Now we can know what place Rollo painted. So I started working. Although I am very familiar with the topography of several countries, I knew it would not be that place, but just in case, I still moved the film with the same scale on the maps of those places. , Compare. These tasks took me five days. If it takes five days and there is a result, then I will never complain after five days!

For five full days, lying on the table, moving the film on the map, trying to find the same curve, this is really a very boring thing, not to mention that after five days, I finished aligning the map of the world, and it turned out that Still can't find that place! I got seventy or eighty copies of detailed maps of various countries. These maps are piled up on the ground, and they are taller than me. They cover all the places in the world. I have many maps of even the small islands in the South Pacific. It can be compared, but I can't find where the map drawn by Rollo is! Half an hour after I checked all the maps, that was already the sixth night after I got Rollo's map, I called Dr. Lesheng: "Doctor, I can't find the place, you still Remember that map of Rollo? I can't find where he drew it."

Dr. Le Sheng said: "I have already said, you have no way of knowing where it is." I was a little unconvinced: "Maybe you can't think of what method I use, wait for me to tell you!" I told Dr. Lesheng the method I used in detail on the phone, and he stayed for a while before saying: "Your method is very smart. According to it, with your method, you should be able to find out which is the Somewhere, unless the map you used for comparison missed something." I said with certainty: "No, I have all the maps of every corner of the world!" Dr. Le Sheng raised his voice: "That's impossible, unless the place is not on the earth!"

I smiled wryly: "Don't tell me that this map is not a place on the earth. I am also tired of other planets other than the earth. I think it may be that the map I found is not detailed enough." Dr. Le Sheng said: "This is easy to remedy. I can connect you with the Geographical Museum. They have the most detailed maps in the world. You can use their place to work." I sighed: "Okay, I'll try again." The next day, I met with Dr. Le Sheng first, and then, with his letter of introduction, I went to meet the person in charge of the Geographical Museum.It wasn't until I walked into the special room where the museum collected detailed maps from all over the world that I realized that the seventy or eighty maps I borrowed were really nothing.

There are so many maps in the museum and they are so detailed. For example, the map of China is as detailed as the "county map", that is, each county has a separate map the size of an ordinary wall chart!Just think about it, there are more than 3,000 counties in China, and there are nearly 4,000 maps of the Chinese map alone.If I am not a person who must have a result from the beginning, otherwise I will never stop, I will definitely shrink back. I worked in the map collection room of the Geographical Museum for a full month. In order to adapt to the different scales of various maps, I added a lot of transparent films. During this month, the museum also sent two staff members to assist me in my work. I worked in the dark for a whole month, if there is any result, then forget it. A month later, all the maps in the museum were compared, but there was no result. I let out a long sigh, and when I walked out of the gate of the museum and down the stone steps in the dark and cold sky, I let out a long sigh that made people ten steps away from me turn their heads to look at me. That night, at Ruan Yao's home, the four of us had another meeting. Ruan Yao's house covers an area of ​​twenty acres, and the living room of his house is naturally surprisingly large.None of us like that big living room and usually sit in the smaller one. It was cold, and there was a fireplace in the living room. We drank delicious wine, and although the wind was howling outside, it was as warm as spring inside. We talked about other things first, and then I took out Rollo's map and spread it out completely, I said: "Everyone, I admit defeat, I think, there is only Rollo in the world Know what he painted, and he's dead!" Ruan Yao stared fixedly at me, I rarely admit defeat, so he felt strange. But as soon as he opened his mouth, I realized that I would have misunderstood it! He looked at me for a long time before he said, "Wesley, is it possible that you have already found out where it is, and you know what that piece of gold means, but you refuse to tell us?" When Ruan Yao said that, Tang Yuehai and Dr. Le Sheng looked at me with the same doubts! I felt angry and wanted to argue loudly, but in a flash, it occurred to me that this is really a funny thing, and I just shrugged: "No, I'm telling the truth." None of the three of them responded, and I laughed at myself: "Maybe I broke my promise to Rollo with sophistry, so the retribution has come, and even my best friends don't believe me anymore!" Ruan Yao was the first to laugh: "Forget it!" I said: "Of course I have to forget it. No matter what place Rollo drew or what his purpose for drawing this map is, I won't bother with it anymore. Let's burn it!" As I spoke, I held the map toward the fireplace. The map, falling on the burning fire, caught fire almost immediately. And at that moment, the four of us, at the same time, shouted together! We all saw that a line of words appeared in the middle of the map in less than a tenth of a second before the entire map was burnt to brown and caught fire.The line read: "Scale: 1:400". One to four hundred: That line of writing is written with invisible ink, the most common invisible ink that will reveal the handwriting once it is baked! And the ratio clearly written on the map by Rollo is 1 to 40,000, which is a hundred times worse! The difference is too far, the difference between a map of 1:400 and a map of 1:40,000 is too far. The blue of the latter must be a big lake even if it is not a sea.But in the former, that might just be a tiny pond! My reaction was the fastest, I immediately rushed forward and reached out to grab the map, but I was still a step too late, the moment after that line of words written in invisible ink appeared, the entire map had already melted For Ashes, I caught nothing. Ruan Yao immediately cried out, "So Luo Luo played tricks!" Tang Yuehai exclaimed: "The map has been burned!" Dr. Le Sheng stood up: "Wesley, you have already taken pictures, and all the films are there, right?" I'm in front of the fireplace, turning around, Dr. Lesheng was right, it doesn't matter if the map is burned or not, I have many copies. From the expressions of the three of them, it can be seen that the three of them are also very interested in this map. I took a breath: "We already know why we couldn't find that place before, what should we do now?" Dr. Le Sheng said: "That's too simple, you made the scale wrong by a hundred times, now, you only need to reduce your transparent films by a hundred times, and then compare them in detail on all the maps in the world, and you will be able to Find out the place on the map." I smiled bitterly: "How much time will it take?" Ruan Yao suddenly said: "I see, the four of us will preside over this matter in turn, and at the same time, invite ten assistants. This is a very simple job, as long as someone who has a little knowledge of the map can do it, then , the time can be shortened!" As Ruan Yao said, Tang Yuehai and Dr. Le Sheng kept nodding their heads. I looked at them: "It's very strange, why are you suddenly interested in this map?" Tang Yuehai said with a smile: "The map has been burned, we have followed Luo Luo's last words, so we don't need to feel that we owe him anything!" Dr. Lesheng thought for a while: "Rolo has never been a cunning person, but on this map, not only did he not write a word, but he also used invisible ink, which is in line with his usual style. It is very different, so I see that there must be a big secret on this map." Ruan Yao scratched his head and thought for a while: "That piece of gold, there shouldn't be gold on the map, I think it must have great significance." The three of them each gave a reason for their sudden interest in this map, but it sounded reasonable. I looked at Ruan Yao: "What do you think that piece of gold represents?" Ruan Yao said: "How do I know?" I smiled: "I don't know what's going on in your mind, but you may not have any idea about the scale, you should pay attention, this is a 1:400 map!" Ruan Yao stared and said, "What's the difference? In short, there is a piece of gold on this map, which has a special meaning." I shook my head and said with a smile: "That's quite different. This piece of gold is only the size of two fingernails. If it is a map of 1 to 40,000, such a piece represents a large area of ​​land, but in a On the map of Bi 400, it is only the size of a well! Also, there are a few dots here, we thought it was a town before, but now, it may be just a tree, or just a small hut!" I turned to Dr. Lesheng again: "Now, it's my turn to say that we can't find that place. You suggest that I shrink the current transparencies by a hundred times, unless we can find a detailed map of the whole world, other The level of detail is such that even a well and a tree are drawn, otherwise, it would be impossible to compare the place that Luo Luo painted, so if you are interested, you can go find it, I quit!" As I spoke, I pulled a chair, sat near the fireplace, and warmed my hands. The three of them, after looking at me for a while, began to discuss enthusiastically.I know that no matter what method they use, it is impossible to achieve their goal, so I have never participated. This night, I left early, and when I was leaving, I was still very angry at the obsession of the three of them, so I said loudly at the door: "You three, no matter what the outcome of your discussion is, Please don't tell me, goodbye!" I walked alone through the unrealistically large hall, then through the garden as large as a whole pasture, got into the car, and went back. I don't know what the three of them discussed and what conclusion they got. The next day, Ruan Yao came to my door and asked for all the photos I took and the printed film.I didn't ask him, and he didn't tell me.Just full of mystery and kept smiling at me. I also expect that they can't think of any better way, they are just following my old way. And as soon as I knew that the scale of Rollo's map was 1:400, I knew that my method would not work, because the entire map of Rollo was only two feet long and one foot wide. That is to say, the land shown on the entire map is only 800 feet long and 600 feet wide, which is only about 50,000 square feet.The garden of Ruan Yao's home is more than 50,000 square feet.May I ask, on which map can one find Ruan Yao's residence? But the three of them obviously expressed an extraordinary interest in that small piece of gold on the map, and perhaps they had some special hope that they did not express.But no matter what they think, they are bound to be disappointed! I ignored them like that. In hindsight, it was really a cruel thing, because the three of them took turns to each serve as a host for a day, and they really hired ten assistants, working non-stop every day, full and full of work. for two months. At that time, the weather was already warm, and I had already started swimming. That day, when I came back from exhaustion, it was in the evening. As soon as I entered the door, I saw Tang Yuehai, Dr. Le Sheng, and Ruan Yao sitting in my home. I haven't seen them for two months. At this time, when I saw them, it was the most appropriate to describe the three of them as "face pale"! The faces of the three of them were surprisingly pale, and when they saw me, they shook their heads and sighed together. I hurriedly said, "Aside from the fact that your efforts have failed, is there any worse news?" Ruan Yao hurriedly said, "Is there any worse news?" I smiled and patted their shoulders in turn. After all, we are old friends. Seeing them like this, I couldn't help but feel very sad: "Forget it, this is expected, because the map drawn by Rollo The whole place is not as big as the garden at Ruan Yao's house, how could it be found on the map?" I said this just to comfort them, but Ruan Yao suddenly seemed to go crazy, he yelled loudly, his eyes widened, and he remained silent for a long time, I hurriedly said: "What are you doing?" Ruan Yao said: "Garden, my garden!" Dr. Le Sheng frowned: "What happened to your garden?" Ruan Yao screamed again: "My garden, the map drawn by Rollo, is my garden, it's my garden!" Tang Yuehai said with a smile: "Stop talking nonsense, I see you are a little crazy because of that map!" Ruan Yao took out the photo of the map from his pocket, pointed to the map and said, "Look, this is a lotus pond, this is a diversion channel, this is a fish pond. This dot is the big shadow tree , that round dot is a plant of Murata, and this hexagonal shape is a stone table." Ruan Yao said it vividly, but I, Tang Yuehai and Dr. Le Sheng still didn't believe him. Dr. Le Sheng said: "Then, what is that piece of gold?" Tang Yuehai said: "There are still so many dangerous marks, what do they mean? Could it be that there are dangerous traps in your garden?" Ruan Yao couldn't answer these two questions, he blushed and seemed very annoyed. I smiled and said, "There is no need to argue about it. Ruan Yao's home is not far away. If he insists on saying yes, we can take a look together." Ruan Yao said it so affirmatively that the three of us were a little moved. Although, it was simply unreasonable——Why did the famous explorer use such a secretive attitude to paint Ruan Yao's garden? Moreover, the most difficult thing to explain is that there are no dangerous traps in Ruan Yao's garden, but there are more than a dozen dangerous marks on the map.Ruan Yao's garden has absolutely no value for exploration, why use an exploration map to draw it? Ruan Yao began to urge us to leave, to go to his home to see clearly. To be honest, after the three of us glanced at each other, we knew what the rest of the people were thinking, and we were actually unwilling to go. However, Ruan Yao was full of confidence, he pushed and caught the three of us, and forcefully forced us out. We went out and got in the car. Along the way, Ruan Yao kept pointing to the photo and saying that it was his garden. I was driving the car, but Tang Yuehai and Dr. Le Sheng were silent. Ruan Yao spoke louder and louder. Finally, he almost shouted, "You don't believe it, you don't believe it at all, don't you? Yes?" I smiled: "You don't have to be angry at all, now, it's only ten minutes away from your home, you can keep your mouth shut for ten minutes, and then speak again, right?" Ruan Yao stared at me for a long time, but he really obeyed my words and said nothing more.The car was speeding forward, and ten minutes later, it approached a large iron gate.On the big iron gate, there is a huge "Ruan" character cast in copper. Don't think that after entering that door, you are Ruan Yao's home. When a gatekeeper sees a car coming, he immediately pushes the door open. There is still a long road inside the door, and that road is naturally Ruan Yao's home. private industry.