The morning mist shrouded the mountains of Xichuan Commandery as Zha Zhonglang stood upon a steep cliff, the sheepskin map in his hands snapping loudly in the mountain wind. He narrowed his eyes and gazed into the distance at the winding ruins of the ancient Tea-Horse Road—a trade route long buried by the passage of time, now reduced to a few broken stone steps and rotting timber pilings of the old plank roads.
"Captain, Eagle Beak Cliff is just ahead," the guide Ma Laoliu said, pointing to a precipice shaped like an eagle's beak. "The old path detours five miles around here. If we can blast straight through, we can save a good half of the journey."
Zha Zhonglang squatted down, scooped up a handful of dirt and rubbed it between his fingers, then tapped the exposed rock face with a slightly furrowed brow. "The rock formation is hard enough, but the structure is still stable. We can blast it." He turned his head and shouted to the surveyor behind him, "Mark it with red paint! We're cutting a five-zhang-wide tunnel right here!"
Chapter 206