Chapter 670: News from the South Sea Region 3
That afternoon, Gu Shuo, Qian Fanji, and Zhan Chi arrived one after another. Along the way, they had heard that the Immortal Sea Building was buying bottles containing strange notes for one hundred taels, and they had a good idea of what was going on.
They rushed to the Immortal Sea Building, but Dean Chen was out and hadn’t returned. They waited until nearly noon the next day before a travel-worn Dean Chen finally came back.
"Dean, where have you been?" Zhan Chi was the first to step forward and greet him.
Dean Chen took off his bamboo hat. "I went to the sea domain outside the city to investigate something. Come, follow me upstairs. I have something to tell you."
The men had a vague idea of what it was about and followed Dean Chen upstairs.
Once inside the private room, Dean Chen retrieved a porcelain bottle and some notes from a hidden compartment in a cabinet and placed them on the table.
"What does this say?" Zhan Chi picked one up and examined it closely.
Qian Fanji’s eyes narrowed. He snatched up another note, his fingers trembling slightly. "This is... her handwriting."
Gu Shuo shuddered at his words, his eyes fixed on the note. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I’m sure. Her handwriting is one-of-a-kind, and with this strange script... I doubt anyone else on the entire continent could write it," Qian Fanji said, suppressing his joy.
Zhan Chi’s eyes widened. The words he was hearing left him overwhelmed with excitement. "So... so... our previous guess was right all along."
"That’s right. She’s alive, and she’s well."
"Really? Dean, is it really true?" Zhan Chi asked excitedly.
Dean Chen nodded and took the note back from Gu Shuo’s hand. "You may not be able to read this, but I can."
"Dean, you know what it says?" Gu Shuo asked in astonishment.
"Yes. The little lass taught me simplified characters before. To make it easier for me to understand, she listed out twenty-four letters." As he spoke, Dean Chen picked up a brush and wrote the letters one by one on a sheet of rice paper. "These letters can be combined to form the syllables of any word. She once told me that after I learned it, we could use this phonetic script to send secret messages. That way, even if they were intercepted, not a single bit of information would be leaked."
The three men looked and saw that the letters the Dean was writing were identical to the ones on the notes. They were overjoyed.
"What do these three notes say?"
"This one here spells out, ’Master, your disciple is well. Do not worry. I will return in ten years.’" Dean Chen wrote it down, then picked up the second note. "This one says, ’For Master’s eyes only: I am on an island in the sea domain. All is well. Say hello to my dads for me.’ The last one... seems to be cursing someone..."
Hearing the first two notes, the three men were one hundred percent certain they were written by Ye Qianning. They were thrilled, but the last part left them confused amidst their excitement.
"Cursing who?"
"She says... some old man is withholding her food, not giving her meals... and abusing her all day. She hopes the Sea God sees this and floods his little island..."
"He’s not feeding her?" Upon hearing this, Zhan Chi slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet, furious.
Qian Fanji’s face turned cold as well. "I’ll go arrange for men. We’re going to the Southern Sea Domain."
"Let’s go now," Gu Shuo said, also standing up.
"Don’t be so hasty. Let me finish what I have to say," Dean Chen said, motioning for them to sit down.
The three men remained standing, barely moving, the fury on their faces saying it all.
They weren’t feeding their girl? They couldn’t imagine how skinny she must be by now; she had always been a big eater since she was little.
An image couldn’t help but form in Zhan Chi’s mind: a small child in tattered clothes, skinny as a rail, swinging a small axe to chop wood. Forced to work without food, and even locked in a dark room.
At the thought, his nose started to tingle, and he turned away, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve.