On the desk in front of Ji Man was a hand-drawn map, with places already visited meticulously marked, and those not yet visited sketched out, noting legends and observations awaiting verification.
The guide bowed as he entered, performing a newly learned gesture of 礼.
The girl tilted her head to observe, thought for a moment, and then mimicked the gesture herself, though she mixed up her right and left hands, and her feet weren't together. After a moment of self-reflection, she burst into laughter. She abandoned the gesture and began to study the intricate, stern drawings on the carriage ceiling, wandering inside the carriage following the sequence of the drawings.
The illustrations depicted the founding stories of the ancestors of Zhou. Ji Man observed the map on the desk and asked, "From here to the Divine Mountain, approximately one thousand two to three hundred miles. How many tribes are along the way?"
The people of the Chi Clan respectfully replied, "About a hundred."
