Lying Low
For the next three days, Long Tian did not travel far.
Every morning, he would fully unfold the Dragon Shadow on the hillside behind the house, letting the embedded Light Core run along the spine of the Dragon Shadow once, and then finish the exercise. The position of the Light Core within the Dragon Shadow was now completely fixed, like an object embedded in the lining of an old box. After each run, the light layer on the vertical line of the Dragon Shadow Shadow's forehead would be slightly brighter than before, as if it was gradually adapting to the rhythm driven by the new light source.
On the afternoon of the third day, after finishing his practice on the hillside, Long Tian squatted on the grass at the top of the slope. He felt that the Light Core inside the Dragon Shadow had reached a synchronized frequency along the entire ridgeline, and no longer needed additional guidance to maintain its operation. Yu Jin walked up from the bottom of the slope and squatted down next to him. The light of the dark gray bead shone through its collar, almost invisible in the afternoon sun, but Long Tian could feel the airflow fluctuations it generated when it was in operation, which were perfectly in sync with the airflow fluctuations of his own Dragon Shadow light layer.
As evening fell, Shen Mo walked over from the fork in the road. He entered the courtyard empty-handed, stopped by the well, bent down to scoop up some water to wash his face, shook the water droplets from his hands, and then said, "The Spirit Hall is mobilizing people. They've set up observation posts in several fishing villages along the southeast coast, ostensibly for coastal defense patrols, but the post locations overlap with the distribution of waterways along the Longfish Bay to Great Abyss."
Long Tian sat on the threshold, listening without immediately responding. He bent down to re-tie his worn-out bootlace, then looked up at Shen Mo: "When did the relocation of people begin?"
"A few days ago, shortly after you returned from Great Abyss," Shen Mo squatted down by the well, wiping the remaining water droplets on his hands onto his trousers. "The sentry post distribution just happened to cover the key shipping lanes you've traversed. If it were just a routine coastal defense patrol, it wouldn't have focused precisely on these points."
Long Tian remained squatting on the threshold, mentally comparing the locations of the sentry posts Shen Mo had mentioned with his own flight path. He confirmed that the overlap was indeed quite high, suggesting it wasn't a random selection. Long Tieshan came out of the house, stopped by the doorframe, and asked Shen Mo, "Are the personnel stationed at those sentry posts directly under the Spirit Hall's command or transferred from local areas?"
"Directly subordinates. Their attire and affiliations are standard configurations for the Spirit Hall; they are not personnel temporarily drawn from various branch halls."
After listening, Long Tieshan didn't ask any more questions. He turned and went back into the house, as if he had obtained enough information. Long Tian squatted on the threshold for a while, mentally reviewing all his movements and the main waterways he had passed through, confirming that the times he went into the water and boarded the boat each time had not been directly observed. Yu Jin stood by the well platform, the light from the dark gray bead shining through his collar, glowing in the twilight like a continuously lit night lamp, maintaining a stable brightness as it burned.
The next morning, Long Tian got up early and repacked his bag. He didn't pack everything, only a map, a water bag, and some dry rations. Yu Jin tied the bag straps in the courtyard. When the two walked out of the courtyard, Long Tieshan was squatting by the stove boiling water, not looking up. Shen Mo was already waiting at the fork in the road, and seeing them come out, he walked along the dirt road. The three of them walked along the main road all morning, arriving at the fork in the road outside the Shrek Academy in the afternoon. Tang San was standing under the old elm tree, without any books in his hands. Seeing Long Tian and Yu Jin walking from the main road, he straightened up, patted the dirt off his hands on his trousers, and said, "The Spirit Hall's order to transfer people to the southeast coast, issued by the Spirit Hall Elder Hall, and I've compared the signatory's handwriting with the archives; it's from the group that signed the Iron Guard's files back then."
Long Tian stopped under the elm tree. He compared this information with the sentry post distribution Shen Mo had provided yesterday, and the missing link was now complete. The issuing party was someone who had handled the Iron Guard's files back then, indicating that the deployment along the southeast coast was not a spur-of-the-moment coastal patrol, but a targeted deployment with a clear objective, aimed at all the routes and sea areas he had traversed along the southeast coast. Standing under the elm tree, he quickly reviewed all the areas and nodes of his activities along the southeast coast in his mind during this period, and then asked, "The Elder Hall's personnel transfer cycle—what is the rotation period for these sentry posts?"
"At least three months." Tang San squatted down and drew a short arc on the muddy ground with his fingertip. "The first batch of personnel has arrived. If they find nothing unusual along the coast after three months, they will withdraw their forces. But during these three months, all ships and people entering and leaving that area will be recorded."
Long Tian stood in the shade of the old elm tree, watching the arc Tang San had drawn on the muddy ground, noting the intersection between its southeastern convergence point and the direction directly opposite the end of the long wall. He mentally superimposed the determined path on the map with the observation range of the coastal deployment, confirming a safe distance between the two. Then he withdrew his gaze, tightened the straps of his leather pouch, and spoke, "Three months. During these three months, maritime operations need to be suspended for a period, allowing the observation records from the sentry posts to naturally fill the gaps. We'll consider the next surface operation once the deployment begins to decrease in density. Before that, I need to return inland and maintain a state of stillness for a period to reduce the possibility of being continuously tracked."
Tang San stood up from the ground and stepped aside, as if to make way for him to leave. Long Tian walked out along the edge of the shadow under the elm tree, with Yu Jin and Shen Mo following behind him. The three of them returned along the official road.