Qin Rushuang went to the queen that night and found out Jin Erkan's location, which was in a dense forest on the border of Nanman.
The queen also said that she was lucky enough to visit that location many years ago, so she met Jin Erkan himself and learned about the effects of that medicine.
It was hard to say whether Jin Erkan was still there, but in order to keep her promise, she found several guides in the army who were very familiar with the place for Qin Rushuang to accompany them, and wished them to find Jin Erkan as soon as possible.
The second person went early in the morning.
Qin Rushuang and Xie Xun both changed into clean and neat clothes, took the insect repellent sachets specially prepared for them by the imperial doctor in the Nanman Palace, and set off with the guides.
Along the way, the journey for a group of people was not an easy one.
Even though the Queen of Nanman provided Qin Rushuang and Xie Xun with a guide, it took them a whole day of exploring before they reached the location mentioned by the Queen.
And when we got there, another strange thing happened.
They saw a small wooden house in the distance through the woods, and even saw the smoke curling up from the wooden house, indicating that someone was there.
The guides felt relieved, finally completing the task assigned to them by the Queen without any danger, so they said to Xie Xun: "It should be right in front, let's go together."
Then something strange happened.
The cabin didn't look far away from them, just visible to the naked eye.
However, the group of people walked for a long time and still did not reach the wooden house. They walked again and found that the wooden house was still not far or near from them.
Not to mention Qin Rushuang, even the guides noticed something was wrong.
One of the timid guides immediately panicked.
"What...what is going on? Are we unconsciously poisoned by miasma and hallucinating? Or are we encountering a ghost...?"
The folk customs in the southwest are different from those in Daqi, and there are many theories about gods and ghosts.
As soon as the guide said the words "ghost hits the wall", the expressions of several other people also changed.
Qin Rushuang looked at the sky and saw that it was almost dark, so she said to the guides, "You guys rest where you are first, and the prince and I will go explore the situation again."
Several people looked at each other and said hesitantly, "I'm afraid this is not good. The Queen's order to us is to protect the two distinguished guests.
"It's okay, we won't go far, you guys have a rest, we will be back soon."
After saying that, she and Xie Xun started walking towards the wooden house along the same road.
After walking for a while, Qin Rushuang turned to Xie Xun and said, "Has the prince noticed? We have been spinning in circles."
Xie Xun nodded: "That's true, but we followed the path between the trees, and this path seems to lead straight to the wooden house. How could it be so?"
Xie Xun frowned slightly.
"It's weird. Could it be some kind of deception that we don't know about? It's getting dark. If we really can't make it, we can only stay here for the night."
Qin Rushuang suddenly squatted down after hearing this.
Seeing her squatting down, Xie Xun felt worried and quickly walked over and asked, "What's wrong? Are you tired from walking or do you feel unwell?"
Qin Rushuang shook her head and actually pulled Xie Xun along with her.
"Your Majesty, please squat down and watch with me."
Xie Xun was full of doubts, but he still followed the instructions and squatted down, looking where Qin Rushuang pointed.
Qin Rushuang didn't say anything, she pointed to the trail they were walking on.
Xie Xun looked at it for a while and suddenly understood what Qin Rushuang meant.
It is indeed a deception.
But they said that there was some farmland left around the cabin, and the forest they were walking through was not too dense, and a path had been built.
There are channels, small trees, and sparse patches of fields on both sides of the path, growing some unnamed fruits and vegetables.
Qin Rushuang and Xie Xun took the guide and had been walking along the path. They felt that although the path was a bit curved, the general direction was leading to the wooden house, so they didn't notice anything wrong.
But at this time, Xie Xun was dragged down by Qin Rushuang, and then he realized that there was a mystery in this path.
The cobblestones on this path are of different colors. Looking straight ahead, it gives the illusion that it leads straight to the hut. However, when you squat down and compare the surrounding plants, you find that the path is actually curved.
Xie Xun took a brief look. If he kept following this road, he might never reach the cabin.
At the same time, he also had another doubt in his mind.
"But we see that the direction of the wooden house is always the same. If the road is curved, how can the scenery in front of us remain unchanged?"
Qin Rushuang smiled.
"Your Majesty, is there a possibility that this path is curved, but the surrounding scenery is arranged in a certain same pattern, so that every time we walk a section, we don't feel any change in the hut, nor do we feel any change.
You can see how the surrounding scenery has changed. In fact, we have already circled this path and that house several times."
"Also, the buildings on all four sides of the hut should be exactly the same. When we walked away, we would have been attracted by the surrounding scenery without looking at the house. As long as we were stunned for a moment, when we looked up again, it had actually changed.
It's just that they look exactly the same on that side, but you and I didn't realize it."
Xie Xun nodded, "Then let's go back and take those guides with us. Don't follow this road, just step through these fields and walk straight in."
After a while, Qin Rushuang and Xie Xun came over with the guides.
The faces of the guides were still worried. Seeing this, Qin Rushuang explained to them: "The prince and I have found a way to go in. You just need to follow me."
After saying that, she walked into a farmland.
One of the guides raised his hand and said, "Isn't there a road? What are you doing to ruin the crops if you leave a good road open and don't go in?"
The people next to him patted him and said, "We will just follow the two distinguished guests wherever they want to go. Don't talk too much."
Qin Rushuang smiled, but she actually admired the man who spoke.
So he said to him: "This road is curved. We didn't notice it before. We have to walk on a straight road. But your reminder is very reasonable. You shouldn't ruin the crops. Let's go to the edge of the farmland."
Don’t step on these crops.”
The guide didn't expect Princess Huai to be so easy to talk to, so he didn't say anything and followed Qin Rushuang forward.
Facts have proved that Qin Rushuang's guess was right.
They were not affected by the surrounding scenery and did not follow the guidance of the path. They only walked two sticks of incense and the hut was already in front of them.
Qin Rushuang looked around the hut, and as expected, it was right as she guessed, the hut was covered with the same roof on all sides.
No wonder people can't tell the direction. There is a fence around the hut, and there are a few walking hens leisurely catching bugs on the ground.
Qin Rushuang was about to go up and knock on the door when she heard an older girl's voice coming from the house.
"Who is visiting my little place? If I know that you have trampled on the vegetables I have worked so hard to grow, then you will be spared today!"
