News from the North
On the third day after returning to the stone house, Shen Mo walked into the courtyard from the fork in the road with a roll of paper tied with thin hemp rope in his hand.
He untied the knot by the well, and the scroll of paper unfolded on the table. The handwriting on the paper was messy, written quickly, and the lines were uneven, as if it had been written in a hurry. Shen Mo sat down at the table, turned the scroll around, and pushed it in front of Long Tian, saying, "Tang San sent this through someone. After the patrol team moved north to Soul Hunting Town, they didn't stop but continued north. They searched several towns in the north for about ten days, going through the files of all the academies along the way, mainly looking at students who had abnormal Soul Power fluctuations in the past three years but were not registered. They didn't find any valuable clues in Soul Hunting Town, but they took away a list with the names of several students who had Soul Power fluctuation records but whose files were incomplete. One of the names matched the alias Zhao Xiaopang used when registering at the academy."
Long Tian sat down at the table and read through the contents of the scroll line by line. He knew the alias Zhao Xiaopang used when registering at the academy before; it was a backup identity that Mr. Wang had registered for him when he was in Class C. It wasn't used normally and had only appeared once on the academy's official roster. The fact that the patrol team included that name in the list they took away meant that they had indeed found that registration record in the archives around Soul Hunting Town.
"Zhao Xiaopang is currently in Bluestone Town." Long Tian placed the scroll back on the table. "If the patrol team follows that list, they'll eventually reach the academy. Mr. Wang might not be able to handle that level of questioning."
Shen Mo nodded, rolled up the paper again, and placed it on the corner of the table. "Tang San wrote a sentence at the end of the paper, saying that besides Zhao Xiaopang's alias, the list taken away by the patrol team included two other names. Both were students who transferred to the Shrek Academy from local academies in recent years, one of whom was a distant relative of a certain deacon within the Spirit Hall. He suspects that this round of investigation by the patrol team is not just targeting the movements at sea, but is using the guise of coastal defense patrols to investigate everyone related to Shrek. Tang San wants you to keep an eye on the direction of Bluestone Town. If the patrol team turns back, someone needs to pass the message in advance."
Long Tian sat at the table for a while, going over Tang San's guesses in his mind. The patrol team moved from the coast to the inland, stopped in Soul Hunting Town and took away the list, and most of the names on the list were related to Shrek. This clue was indeed more complicated than a simple coastal patrol. He stood up from the table, walked to the door, stood on the threshold for a moment, and then took the leather bag from the corner and rearranged it.
"I'm going back to Bluestone Town." He sat down at the table and rearranged the map and food bag in his leather bag. "Zhao Xiaopang is over there, and Mr. Wang also needs someone to deliver a message in advance. If the patrol team turns back, at least give them time to clear the registration materials on the list."
Yu Jin walked in from the side of the house, picked up his bundle from the corner, slung it over his shoulder, and stood by the doorway waiting for him. Shen Mo tucked the rolled-up paper into his sleeve, stood up at the table, and said, "The patrol team from Bluestone Town has been gone for several days now, and there's no new activity in the town. But there are still a few people left behind in Soul Hunting Town. If they want to turn back, it only takes a day to travel from Soul Hunting Town to Bluestone Town."
Long Tian stood at the door for a moment, tightened the straps of his water bag, and walked down the slope. Yu Jin followed behind, and the two headed towards Bluestone Town along the official road. The road surface was bleached white by the afternoon sun, and the wild grass by the roadside swayed continuously in the wind, casting a layer of dappled shadows above the road. As evening approached, they rested for a while in an abandoned melon shed by the roadside, drank the remaining water in their water bags, and leaned against the shed pillars until the moon rose before continuing their journey. The official road gleamed with a grayish-white cold light under the moonlight, and the ruts and footprints on the road surface were clearly illuminated by the moonlight, like old lines drawn, extending in the same direction as they continued walking.