Chapter 228: A Letter

That stinking monk was being so secretive; he was definitely up to no good.

The two of them hid in the tree and waited for a good while. Suddenly, Yun Huizhou glanced in a certain direction.

Lian Li didn’t dare make any other movements, so he could only shift his eyes to peer in that direction.

In the direction they were looking, three figures were rapidly approaching the thatched hut.

When Monk Suixin saw them coming, he looked up and signaled to them, and then they all entered the thatched hut.

Lian Li felt a bit anxious. This clearly looked like they were plotting something, but unfortunately, he didn’t dare get closer, so he couldn’t hear anything.

Just as he was frantically scouring his memory, attempting to extract any useful information from his fragmented memories of the novel, Yun Huizhou lightly patted his shoulder.

Lian Li turned to look, only to see Yun Huizhou point first at himself and then at the thatched hut.

Without needing words, Lian Li understood his meaning.

Yun Huizhou was going to move closer to overhear what they were discussing.

Lian Li knew they only had two choices now: either turn back or let Yun Huizhou go over to listen for news.

In any case, it was impossible for him to go; the probability of him being discovered was far too high.

Without much thought, he nodded.

Seeing him agree, Yun Huizhou pointed at Lian Li again and then at the tree. The meaning was clear: he wanted him to wait in this tree.

This wasn’t a problem at all, and Lian Li readily nodded in agreement.

Then, Yun Huizhou’s figure moved slightly, and like a gentle breeze blowing past, he vanished from the tree.

Lian Li looked toward the thatched hut again and saw that Yun Huizhou had already landed lightly upon its roof.

***

Back at the residence.

The South Island Master suddenly emerged from his room. He stood in the courtyard and raised his arm; a moment later, a gyrfalcon descended from the sky and landed on his arm.

A wooden tube the size of a thumb was tied to the gyrfalcon’s leg. The South Island Master removed the tube and opened it. After pouring out a small slip of paper from inside, he took the gyrfalcon to the kitchen and cut a piece of mutton for it.

Once the gyrfalcon took the mutton in its beak and spread its wings to fly to a tree in the courtyard to begin eating, the South Island Master sat down at the stone table in the courtyard to read the note.

A moment later, after he finished reading the message on the slip, his fingers moved slightly, and the paper crumbled into powder.

Then, he pulled out a slip of paper about the same size as the previous one and wrote three words with a brush.

Understood.

He rolled up the paper, stuffed it into the small wooden tube, and tied it back onto the gyrfalcon’s leg.

The gyrfalcon hadn’t finished the piece of mutton yet, and the South Island Master had no intention of rushing it to leave, letting it stay in the tree in the courtyard.

When Yun Huizhou and Lian Li returned, what they saw was the South Island Master sitting silently in the courtyard, staring at the tree.

The two followed the South Island Master’s gaze and saw the bird, which had a white base color speckled with dark brown patterns.

Lian Li was startled. “Is that… a gyrfalcon!?”

When Yun Huizhou saw the bird appear, his expression became a few degrees more serious, but he didn’t forget to explain to Lian Li, “It was raised by Grandmaster. He usually treasures it dearly.”

Knowing it was raised by their own family, Lian Li wasn’t as worried about scaring the gyrfalcon away. He approached cautiously, saying, “Gyrfalcons are treasures to begin with.”

Seeing that he was so interested in the bird, Yun Huizhou didn’t stop him. In any case, the bird wouldn’t hurt Lian Li, and Lian Li wouldn’t hurt the bird.

This kid really loved all kinds of animals.

Yun Huizhou walked over to sit opposite the South Island Master and asked, “Master, has something happened?”

The South Island Master nodded. Fearing there might be an information gap if he relied on his two disciples to figure it out themselves, he spoke directly: “The Blind Divine Calculator is dead. Before he died, he sent a letter to Beiheng, saying he had calculated something, but he didn’t say specifically what it was. It’s very likely the Blind Divine Calculator died because of what he calculated.”

Lian Li happened to see the object tied to the gyrfalcon’s leg and heard the conversation between the South Island Master and Yun Huizhou. He instantly realized that this gyrfalcon had actually come to deliver a letter.

Their current location was truly far from Drunken Dream Island. If they used pigeons to send letters, there was a high probability the pigeons would be hunted and killed by other birds of prey on the road.

To ensure a message was received, one usually had to entrust the Martial Arts Alliance or a courier agency to deliver it.

However, even with fast horses, things running on the ground were nowhere near as fast as things flying in the sky.

Flying in the sky is a straight line, while running on the ground requires many detours.

This time, they actually sent the gyrfalcon directly to deliver the letter; it was likely that the death of the Blind Divine Calculator was no small matter.

Thinking of this, Lian Li stopped staring at the gyrfalcon. After all, the bird didn’t really pay him any mind. He wanted to reach out and pet it, but he was afraid this raptor would peck him.

Even if it pecked him, he wouldn’t have the heart to get angry, let alone strike back.

Thus, he decided to join Yun Huizhou and the South Island Master’s conversation first.

As soon as he sat down, he said to the South Island Master, “Master, we saw Monk Suixin when we went out today. He was acting very suspicious; he’s definitely up to no good.”

The South Island Master was somewhat surprised. He turned his head to look at Lian Li and then at Yun Huizhou.

At this time, Yun Huizhou also spoke up to supplement: “We followed him and found that he went to a thatched hut five miles outside the city to meet with some people. They are preparing to set off for the Border City tomorrow and then leave the pass from there. As for where they are going after that, they didn’t say.”

“Their speech was very cautious. I could only gather that Monk Suixin seems to have found out something and wants to leave the pass to tell someone in person; he was unwilling to let the people who came to meet him relay the message.”

“Furthermore, that thatched hut is extremely remote. If we hadn’t followed Monk Suixin there this time, we probably wouldn’t have known such a hut existed even if we lived here for a year or two.”

“Monk Suixin, however, was very familiar with the place. He likely hasn’t been there just once, and his contact with those people isn’t limited to this single occasion.”

After Yun Huizhou finished speaking, Lian Li immediately chimed in, “Anyway, we also have to go to the Border City and then leave the pass for the grasslands. We’re going the same way as them, and then… hehehehe…”

That “hehehehe” instantly rendered both the South Island Master and Yun Huizhou silent.

After a good while, Yun Huizhou finally spoke: “Although it’s on the way, if we go to meddle in his business, we might miss the time for catching horses this year.”

Lian Li: “Horses can be caught any year, but there isn’t always an opportunity to deal with Monk Suixin.”

Yun Huizhou sighed helplessly and stopped trying to persuade him, looking instead at the South Island Master.

Although he didn’t know what was fishy about the Blind Divine Calculator’s death, for Grandmaster to send this bird to deliver a letter, he must regard this matter as very important.

If he had previously felt that it didn’t matter whether they dealt with Monk Suixin or not, he now felt that with such a coincidence, perhaps there really was some connection between Monk Suixin and the death of the Blind Divine Calculator.