After some consideration, Weilan presented his plan to Pippin:
"Mr. Pippin, since your Potion shipment went missing on its way to the client."
"Then I think you can have an owl send the Potion again. You can put anyone's name as the recipient, and the delivery address should be in the Fetterot area."
"However, this time, replace the Potion in the bottle with clear water, but don't change the name label on the Potion bottle."
"The Fetterot area is not extremely far from here. It would probably take about two hours to walk there."
"This time, instruct the owl to fly slowly and low, so we can track your owl and see who is deliberately hijacking your goods!"
Mr. Pippin was very excited and strongly supported this plan:
"Good idea! I trust you. I'll go find an owl for you right away!"
Not long after, Mr. Pippin returned to the Potion shop, carrying an owl cage.
Inside the cage was a very old owl. It had lost many of its feathers, and the sparse patches on its body looked unsightly.
At this moment, this Old Ciwei was perched on its stand, yawning listlessly.
"It's called 'Old Ciwei.' I temporarily rented it for 10 sickle from the magical creatures shop over there."
"It's too old; it always flies low and slow. Its shop owner was almost giving up on it, but for you, it's perfect."
"If it flew too high or too fast, you definitely wouldn't be able to track it."
"So, this is the one!"
Subsequently, Mr. Pippin found several brown bottles labeled with various Potion names, filled them with clear water, and tightly sealed the stoppers.
Then, he wrapped them layer by layer with opaque dark kraft paper, tied them securely with fine hemp rope, and fastened them to Old Ciwei's leg.
"Oh, by the way, Mr. Pippin."
While Mr. Pippin was tying up the goods, Weilan seized the opportunity to ask:
"There are many ruins near Hogwarts, right? Do you think the owl might have... hmm, been affected by some magical power from the ruins on the way?"
"Impossible." Mr. Pippin denied it almost immediately. "I've only heard that there's a Goblin ruin in the Fetterot area."
Weilan, Ron, and Hermione exchanged an excited glance.
Mr. Pippin then changed the subject:
"But it has been abandoned for many years. And it's located near the southern part of Fetterot, bordering Croft County."
"We are located in the northern part of Fetterot, so the owl sent there would almost certainly not pass through that Goblin ruin."
Weilan followed this topic and continued chatting with Mr. Pippin:
"Oh, but Mr. Pippin, where did you learn all this? Besides, even if the owl doesn't pass through that ruin, it doesn't mean it's immune to its influence!"
"Our family has lived here for generations. That place couldn't possibly affect us Wizards."
Mr. Pippin said confidently.
He finished securing the goods to Old Ciwei's leg, then held Old Ciwei with both hands and walked towards the door.
"My grandfather told me that it was originally a Goblin mine."
"When Goblins still guarded the mine, they deliberately set up a very hidden entrance and never actively revealed its location to Wizards because they feared humans would snatch their labor results."
"Now that place is abandoned, how could it still affect my owl? Besides, my goods sent to Croft County haven't been affected."
Mr. Pippin stretched out his arm, allowing Old Ciwei, perched on the back of his hand, to spread its wings and fly away.
Poor Old Ciwei, these "water" goods almost crushed its feather-deficient body.
It lifted the goods, flew into the air, looked around for direction, and then wobbled towards the south.
Weilan gestured in the direction Old Ciwei flew, signaling Ron and Hermione to follow the owl with him first.
To avoid alerting the enemy, they took out the Invisibility Cloak to conceal themselves and closely tracked behind Old Ciwei, watching every flap of the owl's wings.
Along the way, Weilan, under the Invisibility Cloak, took out a palm-sized, portable small map from his backpack.
He pointed to Croft County on the map and quietly explained to Hermione and Ron:
"Mr. Pippin mentioned that his Potions sent to Croft County didn't disappear—don't you find that strange?"
"South of Fetterot is Lake Marenweim, and beyond Lake Marenweim is Croft County. Both sides are high mountains; it's impossible for an owl to cross these high mountains and take a detour for delivery."
"This means that owls heading to Croft County must pass through the Fetterot area!"
"But why are the owls going to Croft County fine, while all the owls going to Fetterot have lost their goods?"
The three of them walked and pondered this question. However, Old Ciwei's condition ahead was truly not optimistic.
Old Ciwei simply couldn't bear the burden, flying lower and slower.
When they were halfway through the journey, this owl, too old to fly much longer, finally fell onto a path lined with tall birch trees.
Weilan, who was tracking behind, quickly lifted the Invisibility Cloak, ran up, and removed the goods from its leg.
Ron followed and poked Old Ciwei. The poor owl didn't even have the strength to hoot. Hermione had to pour water into its long, curved beak.
"Bah, I think that unscrupulous merchant just wanted to save money, which is why he chose this old owl."
Ron grumbled, but still took out the ham he had intended for lunch from his backpack, broke it into pieces, and fed it to Old Ciwei.
"You have a point."
Weilan sat on a protruding rock by the roadside, resting his chin in his hand, and said:
"We do need to be more careful when dealing with him later."
"But for now, he has paid us the full deposit as required. As long as he honors the contract, we should continue to complete the task he assigned—that is the most basic contractual spirit in business."
"It's just this owl..."
Weilan thought for a moment, unwrapped the fake goods, and reduced the Potion bottles from 10 to two.
Then he rewrapped the two Potions with kraft paper and tied them securely with fine hemp rope.
This time, the package was not only smaller but also much lighter.
Once Old Ciwei had rested and regained its strength, Weilan tied the goods to Old Ciwei's leg again.
"Hoot."
The old owl didn't fly but instead circled the eight bottles of clear water that had been thrown into Weilan's backpack.
It gently scratched Weilan's backpack with its claws, reminding him that these were also among the goods that needed to be transported.
"If you can't carry them, don't force yourself. Our purpose isn't to deliver goods, but to observe if anyone tries to ambush you during delivery."
This old but clever owl understood.
It gently bit Weilan's finger, flapped its wings, and took off again.
With the reduced weight, its flight was much smoother this time.
As night approached, distant lights began to twinkle. Old Ciwei led them gradually closer to the village nestled in Fetterot.
Old Ciwei was about to fly to the village entrance. Hermione, squeezed next to Weilan under the Invisibility Cloak, surveyed the surroundings.
The birch forest was quiet and dense, with faint village lights and lively chatter of people emanating from a distance. The air was mixed with the smell of earth and leaves. The village was not far ahead, making it hard not to feel relaxed.
"So far, there are no problems... Could our tracking be too obvious? Or was Old Ciwei seen by the hijackers when he fell earlier?"
"Shh—"
Weilan motioned for his two companions to be quiet.
As dusk fell, people in the village came out of their homes, either taking a stroll, visiting neighbors, stopping in front of shouting street vendors, or simply coming out to play.
Thus, this leisurely rural landscape gained a touch of lively human warmth.
And Old Ciwei also slowed down its flight because of this. It hooted, circling the village entrance to identify the recipient's address.
Just as they thought Old Ciwei was about to successfully deliver the goods safely, a sudden change occurred.
In the dim sky, a dark, irregularly shaped shadow shot out from the bushes beside the road, and by some means, it grabbed Old Ciwei's body!
"Hoot!"
Old Ciwei let out a hoarse, piercing shriek—it had been pulled into the bush!