Chapter 473: Coded Language in the Record of God-Worship

Seeing him so solemn, even Jiao Yu became nervous.

He Lingchuan opened this *Record of God-Worship* and flipped through it page by page.

Back when he wanted to give a gift to Sun Fuling, he had memorized the entire *Record of God-Worship*, word for word. However, the copy he had been given by Second Master Shi, while identical in content, had a completely different layout and typeface from this one.

He Lingchuan flipped through it quickly, confirming that the book itself held no hidden mysteries, and then took out Mr. Mai's notebook.

Yes, that very notebook filled with coded language.

"What!" Jiao Yu's tiger eyes widened instantly. "This code is meant to be used with the *Record of God-Worship*?"

He Lingchuan smiled, his confidence absolute: "Why not give it a try?"

In fact, Zhongsun Mou had received this book first, and He Lingchuan, having observed this, had been pondering it for quite a while; once the lame beggar also came to deliver a *Record of God-Worship*, he would have been a fool not to understand! If the book were useless, why would the tall man have sent it to both sides? Jiao Yu became interested, his massive tiger head leaning in, blocking the light completely: "How do you decipher it?"

He Lingchuan had no choice but to push his big head away: "Don't block the light!"

He had to admit, the texture of that fur was truly top-notch, and he couldn't help but stroke it twice more.

General Ling also leaned in.

He Lingchuan simply took out some fluorescent grass.

"The difficulty in cracking this kind of code lies in finding the right book. Once you find the right book, you're more than halfway there." He Lingchuan pointed to the first row of code. "Each set of numbers has three digits, which should correspond to the page number, the column, and the row. So, this is page thirty-five, column six, row nine. Let me see—"

"This character is 'five'."

Using this method, he deciphered all the code on the first sheet of paper: "Seventh day of the first lunar month, noon, Bai Sha Shoal, Xingwang Village, South Tea House?"

The place name "Bai Sha Shoal" was quite eye-catching now.

Jiao Yu used the tip of his claw to carefully turn the second sheet of paper, so as not to tear it: "Next."

"Twenty-third day of the fourth lunar month, morning, Spirit Canal, Hundred Lions Courtyard."

Jiao Yu provided a note for He Lingchuan: "Spirit Canal is in the north of Chi Yan; it's a small town."

"Located in Qizhou?"

"Yes."

"How far is it from Bai Sha Shoal?"

"Hmm, about fifty li?" Jiao Yu asked him, "Do you think these are the times and places for a rendezvous?"

"Of course." He Lingchuan laughed. "But the handwriting in this notebook isn't Mr. Mai's. Which means the time and place for the rendezvous were designated for Mr. Mai by someone else."

Jiao Yu understood: "A superior?"

"Very likely." He Lingchuan said, pondering. "Mr. Mai wasn't this cautious when collecting pulp beads from Wan Song and the others, nor did he need to change the transaction location every time. This shows that this person has a higher or special status, dislikes risk, and requires more cautious methods."

He deciphered another piece of code.

"Twenty-ninth day of the seventh lunar month, second quarter of the Wei hour, fourth floor of the Tide Lake Pagoda at Bai Sha Shoal!"

Upon seeing this, Jiao Yu's eyes lit up. "Today is the nineteenth of the seventh month; they haven't met yet!"

"How long does it take to get to Qizhou from here?"

"At a normal pace, about five or six days." Jiao Yu calculated. "If we travel day and night, with our speed, two and a half days at most!"

"Which means, based on Mr. Mai's normal routine, if he stays in Frost Dew Town for ten full days before going to Qizhou, the timing is just right." He Lingchuan smiled. "He's going to hand over the pulp beads."

If Mr. Mai had a superior, he would have to regularly hand over the pulp beads he obtained from Wan Song.

General Ling stood up and shook his fur, showing his impatience: "Let's hit the road directly, we must arrive before Mr. Mai!"

Travel by night? Seeing He Lingchuan frown, General Ling wheedled: "My deadline for heading east is almost up, and missing it means punishment. I want to get this over with as soon as possible; that little brat Zhongsun is watching me."

He had to reach the battlefield within ten days, and now he had to make a trip to Bai Sha Shoal first; time was too tight to waste.

"Bai Sha Shoal, you say?" He Lingchuan smiled: "We aren't going!"

General Ling stared: "What?"

Jiao Yu also said: "The transaction isn't until the twenty-ninth; what's the point of going early?"

"I have an old friend in Bai Sha Shoal; he might be able to help us investigate." General Ling tried to persuade him. "If we can prepare in advance, wouldn't it be wonderful to catch them red-handed?"

"You forgot that Mr. Mai is on the run." Jiao Yu pointed out directly. "Mr. Mai's lair has been raided; he might warn his superior, so this transaction might very well be canceled."

"Uh..." General Ling was speechless, then became irritable. "Then what do you suggest we do?"

The two monsters stared at each other, then simultaneously looked at He Lingchuan, only to see him with one hand pressed on the *Record of God-Worship*, his face full of thought.

"Who do you think sent this book?"

Both monsters shook their heads quite simply: "Can't guess."

Jiao Yu even said: "Besides us and Zhongsun Mou, could there be someone else watching Mr. Mai?"

"Hard to say, but that person definitely wants us to arrive in Qizhou in time." He Lingchuan thought to himself. The person behind the scenes wasn't sure who had ended up with these pages of code, so they had to send books to both him and Zhongsun Mou, hedging their bets.

This was probably because when he took the scroll from Mr. Mai's study, the old gatekeeper who had been implanted with eye-mites hadn't returned yet.

Which means the person who implanted the mites in the old gatekeeper and the person who sent books to both teams were one and the same.

Who could this person be? He couldn't simply judge that this person had no ill intent toward him.

"They know very well what Mr. Mai is doing, and they know very well how Mr. Mai contacts his superior." He Lingchuan said sternly. "They are even anxious to push all the clues in front of us."

Jiao Yu speculated: "Could this person have a deep grudge against the mastermind?"

He Lingchuan said: "Perhaps this is another trap."

"A trap?"

"Have you forgotten?" He Lingchuan hadn't forgotten. "We went to Mount Yulun to check the porcupine nest, and Mr. Mai took the opportunity to send Wan Song to intercept us, just because he had mastered our whereabouts. If he does the same thing again this time... how many routes are there from Frost Dew Town to Bai Sha Shoal?"

Jiao Yu thought for a moment: "Two? Three?"

"Two, two!" General Ling tapped the floor impatiently, not caring if the guests downstairs were sleeping. "Just tell me, what should we do now!"

"I already said, we aren't going to Bai Sha Shoal."

"Then what are we doing?"

"Let's leave Bai Sha Shoal to Zhongsun Mou. If he can solve the case, we're happy to sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor." Fu Shanyue's goal was to find the truth; the process wasn't important, and who solved the puzzle wasn't important, as long as he was given a definitive result. "We will stay behind to track down Wan Song's whereabouts, which is exactly the opposite of our previous division of labor."

Previously, Zhongsun Mou chased the killer, and he investigated Mr. Mai; now it looked like it was going to be reversed.

General Ling exclaimed: "Right, we have to track down Wan Song!"

The direct killer of the Drilling Wind Beast clansmen was Wan Song, so of course he should be the first to pursue Wan Song for blood debt! It was all because the current situation was so confusing that it almost led him astray.

"Then where do we start?"

"I want to go back to Youtian Town." He Lingchuan said. "We left in too much of a hurry during the day, and there are some things I didn't ask clearly."

Yesterday, after asking for Mr. Mai's address from Wealthy Wan, they had rushed over here.

"By the way, what clues are there about that ivory ball?" General Ling suddenly remembered this object. "I saw you holding it for a long time."

"It's just an ivory ball, what clues could there be?" He Lingchuan smiled slightly. "I like ivory, is there a problem with playing with it a bit?"

"Uh..." General Ling turned to leave. He Lingchuan summoned the goshawk from the tree and instructed: "Keep an eye on Zhongsun Mou; don't let this team out of your sight."

The goshawk nodded.

Before taking flight, it gave him a tail feather to use for guidance later.

Birds were truly the best at surveillance and tracking. He Lingchuan sighed again, then set off with the monsters back toward Youtian Town.

"This time, let the Spirit Void City Inspector explore the path for us." He Lingchuan laughed. "We received the *Record of God-Worship* but didn't go to Bai Sha Shoal, instead leaving Frost Dew Town for Youtian Town; the person behind the scenes will probably think the scroll was taken by Zhongsun Mou, and their subsequent attention will be focused on him."

Jiao Yu nodded: "In any case, we cannot let the person behind the scenes lead us by the nose!"

"They went to such great lengths to guide us to Bai Sha Shoal, they must have set up a trap. It would be a pity to walk into it, but also a pity not to." He Lingchuan said leisurely. "Then let the Inspector explore the path for us; if it's peaceful, that's best, but if we encounter a trap..."

Jiao Yu chuckled: "The Inspector is highly skilled and bold; we don't need to worry about him."

"Exactly."

The road between the two towns was relatively flat, so traveling by night wasn't strenuous.

He Lingchuan rode on the back of a rock sheep, with a Drilling Wind Beast on his left and a fierce tiger on his right, causing passersby along the way to turn their heads repeatedly, wondering what kind of background this human had to be so imposing. He Lingchuan had long since stopped caring about the eyes of others, and said to the monsters: "As for Zhongsun Mou, I suspect he knows more than he shows on the surface."

Both monsters were startled: "How so?"

"Remember in Mr. Mai's courtyard, I said we found out the mastermind was engaged in killing monsters to take their beads?"

"Remember."

"At the time, Zhongsun Mou casually asked, 'Take beads, what beads?'" He Lingchuan repeated. "And then he didn't pursue the question."

General Ling tilted his head, not hearing any problem.

"He is here to investigate a case; he shouldn't let any clues slip by. We clearly revealed such an important motive for the crime, why didn't he ask or mention it?"

Not mentioning it because...? Jiao Yu blinked: "Could it be he knows what that is?"

"I was vague, not saying exactly what kind of beads. And not every monster can condense a monster bead, yet Zhongsun Mou didn't ask." He Lingchuan said slowly. "This was a subconscious act; there was no need to ask, because he knew in his heart what it was."

"Of course, I can't rule out that this guy is careless, but I don't think the probability is high. Someone who can be appointed as an Inspector by Spirit Void City should at least have some attention to detail, right?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 474 =====