For some reason, Lian Li always felt that the South Island Master exuded a sense of helplessness from head to toe.
Thinking about how a person with social anxiety might react when suddenly approached by a stranger, he could roughly understand why the South Island Master was acting this way.
However, what surprised him was that even though the South Island Master was a peerless expert, he still reacted like this to a stranger’s greeting. In his heart, Lian Li found the South Island Master quite cute.
Of course, the way he found the South Island Master “cute” was not the same kind of “cute” that Yun Huizhou saw in him.
It wasn’t until the seller left the courtyard that Lian Li felt the South Island Master’s sense of helplessness vanish, and the man returned to his usual quiet and composed self.
Before the South Island Master arrived, he had already sent a note back to Drunken Dream Island via a gyrfalcon. It detailed everything that had happened since they arrived at the border city and informed the people on Drunken Dream Island that they were preparing to enter the desert. He reminded them to frequently have the birds bring medicine and supplies so they wouldn’t actually die out there.
The South Island Master might be somewhat “timid and submissive” on the outside, but he was quite blunt with his acquaintances on Drunken Dream Island.
On Drunken Dream Island.
The West Island Master saw a bird he had raised circling in the sky. He reached out his arm, and a dark brown eagle landed upon it.
Li Hansong had seen the eagle in the sky long ago, so by the time it landed, he had already appeared beside the West Island Master.
“Did Nan Rong send news back?”
The West Island Master nodded. He removed the small wooden tube from the eagle’s leg and tossed it directly into Li Hansong’s hand. Then, he lay back down on his soft couch and said, “Nan Rong can’t be bothered to squeeze out a single sentence in person, yet he’s quite diligent when it comes to writing notes.”
Li Hansong didn’t mind the West Island Master’s obviously disrespectful behavior toward his Master. He took the note out of the wooden tube, read it, and then relayed the contents to his disciple.
He said, “Nan Rong and the others have already set off into the desert. However, he’s set his sights on your medicine again. He also wants us to have a few larger birds bring them water or food from time to time.”
Hearing this, the West Island Master rolled his eyes. “Since they aren’t birds he raised, he certainly doesn’t feel the sting of overworking them.”
Li Hansong chuckled and continued with the news from the note: “He also mentioned that Yun Huizhou and Lian Li encountered three groups of bandits fighting over something. Later, a group of assassins appeared, also after that same object. After the two of them killed all the bandits and assassins, they managed to get their hands on it.”
The West Island Master finally showed some interest. He asked, “What is it? To think it could attract four groups of people to fight over it.”
Li Hansong rolled up the note and tucked it into his sleeve. “It is a piece of colorless glass shaped like a lotus.”
“Drunken Dream Island has plenty of glass, but I’ve never heard of colorless glass before.” Just as the West Island Master finished speaking, he turned his head toward another direction.
Li Hansong made the same movement.
In the next instant, the voice arrived before the person.
“I’ve calculated something new! Quick, send a message to that boy Lian Li and see if he has any new ideas.” With a whoosh, the North Island Master appeared and stood before the West Island Master.
The West Island Master looked at him with eyes full of disdain and simply rolled over, turning his back to them.
Seeing that the West Island Master was ignoring him, the North Island Master wanted to reach out and ruffle him. But before he could touch the man, he heard Li Hansong call out to him.
“Bei Heng, what have you calculated?”
Since his Master had spoken, the North Island Master stopped harassing the West Island Master. He turned to answer Li Hansong’s question: “I calculated a flower—a sparkling, translucent lotus.”
As soon as he said this, Li Hansong’s expression changed. The West Island Master, who had been lying down, also sat up abruptly and stared fixedly at the North Island Master.
The North Island Master was annoyed by the stare and glared back fiercely. “Xi Yu, do you want to fight?”
As he spoke, he began to roll up his sleeves, his internal energy surging around him as if he were ready to strike at any moment.
The West Island Master curled his lip and spat out two words: “You dummy.”
Seeing that the North Island Master had clenched his fists and was about to rush the couch to punch the West Island Master in the face, Li Hansong had to intervene.
Otherwise, these two disciples would truly start a brawl.
He raised his hand and tapped the North Island Master on the head.
The movement seemed casual, but the moment he touched the North Island Master, he suppressed the restless internal energy surrounding him.
Then, he looked at the West Island Master and said, “We must tell them this news, lest that boy Lian Li doesn’t take that colorless glass seriously. Nan Rong said the boy keeps muttering about selling it once they return. They likely don’t know the importance of that item. It would be even worse if it were accidentally shattered.”
The West Island Master’s expression was somewhat complicated. “That kid really does have a bit of ‘dog-shit luck’ on him.”
After that remark, he called for a servant to bring a brush and paper. Once he had written down the message, he summoned another eagle, tied the wooden tube containing the note to its leg, and released it.
He wasn’t actually worried that Lian Li would sell the colorless glass lotus. Given the boy’s personality, if he were to sell it, he would definitely bring it back to sell for a high price.
He was mainly worried that the boy would be clumsy and drop the thing.
Therefore, he specifically added a warning on the note, telling him to hold onto it carefully and absolutely not to drop it.
Before the eagle flew off, the West Island Master suddenly asked, “News has also started spreading outside regarding the time the ultimate treasure will appear. It’s much later than the time Bei Heng calculated. What do you think?”
Li Hansong smiled. “What else is there to think? Someone capable of calculating the time wouldn’t be so far off from Bei Heng’s result. And those who can’t calculate it wouldn’t be able to calculate anything at all. Now, aside from the fact that there is a treasure—which matches Bei Heng’s calculation—the time and location are completely different. I don’t believe for a second that it’s a coincidence.”
The West Island Master reached a conclusion: “If they can calculate the time, it’s impossible for them not to calculate the location. We must be careful of those assassins.”
With these words, he was certain that the other party was someone capable of calculating both the time and place, but was intentionally spreading false information.
Li Hansong nodded.
The West Island Master added a few more things to the note. After ensuring nothing was missed, he let the eagle fly.
Watching the eagle disappear into the distance, Li Hansong suddenly spoke: “Nan Rong seemed to say in the letter that we should send some medicine and water when we message them.”
The West Island Master gave a “tch” and said, “Maybe another day. They’ve only been in there for a few days. If they manage to die of thirst already, then they deserve it.”
In the vast, empty desert, a heart-wrenching scream suddenly rang out: “Ah!! My priceless glass lotus!”
The violent, large-scale swaying of the camel as it stood up caused the glass lotus, which Lian Li had kept tucked in his robes, to roll out.
Worse still, this camel had previously been lying next to a large rock. When the glass lotus fell from Lian Li’s robes, it didn’t land on the sand. Instead, it smashed directly onto that large rock, letting out a crisp ding.
