Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 123 The Spying During the Interrupted Dinner (Bonus chapter for the great author Hua Bixuan, thank you for the generous donation)
Where is Ganquan Village?

In the conference room, after Cheng Lang asked this question, everyone subconsciously looked at Yafuso.

"I...I don't know."

Yafso quickly waved her hand, "But my grandfather Gerta certainly knows that he once traveled to many places in the Elf Kingdom with merchants from the Frost Kingdom."

"Magic Mirror, what is Mr. Gerta busy with?" Cheng Lang turned his head and asked. He knew that the Magic Mirror would provide some answers, but he also knew that he needed to involve as many subordinates as possible.

“Mr. Gerta is currently planting vegetables in the forecastle of the Thorn,” the Magic Mirror replied respectfully. “Should I invite him over?”

“Don’t bother Gerta with running back and forth,” Cheng Lang said. “Let’s communicate through the mirror.”

"Please wait"

After the magic mirror finished speaking, it disappeared into the wall. A short while later, everyone saw Gerta sitting at the table on the wall.

“Captain, I’ve heard of Ganquan Village, but I’ve never been there.”

As Gerta spoke, he pulled out a treasure map from his pocket and unfolded it. "This is the treasure map that you entrusted to me some time ago, pointing to the Beast Corpse Territory of the Frost Duchy. This treasure map had a campfire drawn on it, and it was discovered together with the one you have here."

“Yes, I remember,” Cheng Lang replied.

"I have studied this treasure map carefully."

Gerta pointed to the treasure map in his hand and said, "The Beast Corpse Territory is in the southwest of the Frost Duchy. What I want to say is that although the locations pointed to by these two treasure maps are in the Frost Duchy and the Elf Duchy respectively, the two places are actually only separated by a mountain."

"Are these two border towns?" Yun Lan frowned, as if she had realized something.

“That’s right, Your Highness Yunlan.”

Gerta said, "The mountain that separates the two places belongs to Rica, it's that famous one."

"Dwarf Mountain?" Yun Lan, Yun Ji, Gerta, and the Magic Mirror all uttered the same place name in unison.

“That’s right, Dwarf Mountain,” Gerta replied, “and it’s also a forbidden area for the Frost, Rica, and Elf kingdoms.”

"Wait, can someone explain this to me?"

Shenba asked blankly, and the same blank expression appeared on the faces of Cheng Lang and Yafusuo.

"The Dwarf Mountain is said to be the ancestral mountain of the ancient dwarf tribe."

The magic mirror explained, "It is also the place where the fate of the dwarves ended. The dwarf race dug out of the mountain from there, leaving behind a glorious history, and finally dug the mountain to seal themselves off, disappearing completely into history."

"Do you have any different introductions?" Cheng Lang asked.

There have long been rumors that the Rican royal family has affairs with the dwarves.

Yun Lan spoke as if she were talking about someone else's business, "A large part of the reason is that Li Ka's royal tomb is also in the Dwarf Mountain, and Li Ka does indeed possess the best metal forging technology in the Star Sea Continent."

After saying that, Yun Lan took out her substitute puppet and waved it, "And the substitute puppet comes from the belly of Dwarf Mountain."

"It is said that the Elf Kingdom and the Frost Kingdom signed a pact with Rika to help guard Dwarf Mountain, even if they were at war with Rika?"

Shenba asked curiously, "I heard this in the tavern in Pirate City. Is it true or false?"

That was just a joke.

Gerta chuckled and explained, “The Dwarf Mountain is like a sharp axe, with the Frost Kingdom and the Elf Kingdom on either side of its cliffs, which are hundreds of meters high. The only gentle slope that leads up the cliff is located within Rica’s territory.”

"The highest point of that cliff is already above the clouds."

Yun Lan explained, "Because of the clouds and mist, at most you can only vaguely see the canopy of the Elf Kingdom's lush sacred tree there, so it has absolutely no strategic value."

That's true.

Gerta said with a smile, "But the Principality of Rica still set up hundreds of cannons on the top of Dwarf Mountain."

“Those cannons have never fired a single shell since they were set up, and they can’t actually go very far.”

Yun Lan continued, "There aren't even any guards up there. Your orcish eagle royal family once sent a noble flying regiment up there."

“That’s true,” Gerta nodded in agreement.

"Gentlemen, shall we go back to Ganquan Village?" Cheng Lang suggested, having had his fill of the commotion.

"We went off-topic," Yun Lan said apologetically, bowing slightly.

"Sorry, Captain."

After apologizing, Gerta reopened the topic, saying, "I heard about Ganquan Village because of an ancient legend."

Rumor has it that Ganquan Village hides a dwarven tunnel that leads through the Dwarven Mountains to the Beast Reef of the Frost Duchy.

As Gerta spoke, he put away the treasure map he had just shown. "According to legend, if an elf and an orc in love can enter the tunnels of Dwarf Mountain from Sweet Spring Village and Beast Reef respectively and meet, then they will be blessed and will be able to give birth to a child that is not a beast."

"Really?" Shenba, who had no brains at all, immediately asked.

Who knows?

Gerta said, “When I was as young and brainless as you, many orcs fell in love with elves and ventured into the dangerous Beast Realm in search of a cave that could pass through the Dwarf Mountains.”

But I never saw those idiots who actually did it again; I guess they're probably all just skeletons of the Beastmen's Territory by now.

The Elf Kingdom also has the same legend.

Yunji added, "My father said that every year many elves would go to Sweet Spring Village, fill their water bags with sweet spring water, and then enter the caves in Dwarf Mountain without hesitation, never to come out again."

Startled, Yafso swallowed hard and pulled her chair closer to Yun Lan.

"In that case, if things go smoothly when we go to the Elf Kingdom, we should go and take a look."

Cheng Lang made his decision, then lowered his voice and asked, "How's it going on deck?"

"Lord Night God is asleep next to Lady Silver Queen, and Mist Shadow is lying on top of him."

The magic mirror lowered its voice as well, "Mrs. Silver Queen is also asleep on the piano."

"In that case, let's not bother them."

Cheng Lang said, "We're having fish tonight, Yun Lan. Have your sailors catch lots of big fish, the bigger the better."

"give it to me!"

Yun Lan confidently made her promise, then pushed open the floor-to-ceiling window of the conference room, waved her hand and wove a walkway with thorns to the next ship, leading Ya Fusuo back to their ship.

"Shall we entertain Lord Yedi?" Yun Ji asked.

"If he likes to eat fish," Cheng Lang replied nonchalantly.

"Shenba, go help out on the Thorn Ship," Yun Ji casually instructed.

“No problem!” Shenba said, getting up and enthusiastically following after them on the pier.

Only when Cheng Lang, Yun Ji, and the Magic Mirror were left in the conference room did Yun Ji speak up, "Captain, our food and vegetable reserves are still quite plentiful, but our fruit reserves are almost exhausted."

"Did you eat it all?" Cheng Lang asked, puzzled. "No, we didn't eat it all, but it started to rot because of the high temperature."

Yun Ji said, "We need to make jam or fruit wine from the ones that haven't spoiled as soon as possible. Of course, it would be best to pick some out and put them into the Eternal Coffin. The journey back will be a long one, especially since the Thorn Ship isn't very fast."

"You'll take charge of this."

Cheng Lang once again acted as a hands-off manager, and at the same time got up and walked down to his bedroom.

He had once thought of using rotten oranges to make something like penicillin, but after actually arriving in this other world, he realized that he probably couldn't even recite twenty ancient poems, so making something like penicillin soy sauce was just wishful thinking.

Instead of racking your brains, it's better to be a happy, hands-off manager and let the "locals" handle the problems more comfortably.

Yun Ji was not surprised by this, and got up and went downstairs to call Magic Mirror, who had officially started working as a chef, to deal with the fruit that was beginning to rot in the cabin.

That evening, as the last gold coin from the last shipwreck was salvaged and cleaned, a long table was set up on the side of the two ships, which were tightly bound together, and various kinds of sea fish, cooked in different ways, were placed on the table.

On the open-air deck of the Valkyrie, two adorable little wooden figures held up a large, crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside roasted sea fish, looking up at Nightbringer, who was squatting in front of them with a white tablecloth tied around his neck by the Silver Queen.

"Aww!"

The big cat, which had been drooling, took a big bite and squinted its eyes comfortably as it chewed—the Silver Queen was sitting right next to it playing the piano, and the two little girls, Mist Shadow and Yafso, were boldly stroking its glossy fur.

Ye Di felt very comfortable being touched, but he would never admit it!
"Let's set off after dawn," Cheng Lang said, clinking glasses with Yun Lan and Yun Ji while holding a glass of fruit wine.

Our ship is not fast.

Yun Lan said, "So I'm afraid it will take some time."

"Meow—Awoo—!"

Before Yun Lan could finish speaking, Ye Di, who had just been eating fish with his eyes half-closed, suddenly let out a threatening roar.

Subconsciously looking over, everyone discovered that Ye Di's glossy black fur had bristled, and it was hunched over, staring intently at the sea not far away.

"Prepare for battle! Split the ship!"

As Cheng Lang gave the order, the mixed-race sailors quickly cleared the food off the table, and the sea vines and thorns that had been binding the two ships were separated under the control of the two captains.

A moment later, the two ships separated slightly, and everyone stared intently at the sea that Ye Di was watching.

"Did you see anything?"

Cheng Lang asked in a low voice. After the second baptism of the Fountain of Repentance, his eyesight had improved significantly again, but even so, he still couldn't see anything on the sea.

"I didn't see it," Yun Ji replied softly.

"Magic Mirror?"

"I didn't see it either," the magic mirror replied in a low voice.

"Lord Yedi?" Shenba gently stroked Yedi's bristling fur.

“Ugly, hairless rat with two legs, get your filthy paws off.”

Ye Di bared his teeth at Shenba, then squatted down, licking the spot Shenba had touched with his tongue as he said, "You're in trouble. There was a gaze watching this place just now, seemingly observing your ship."

"Is it a sea monster hiding underwater?" Yun Ji asked.

Not those water rats.

Night God said, "It is an extremely evil gaze, coming from both the dead and the living, carrying a foul curse."

"So what is it?" Cheng Lang asked.

"I do not know"

Night Di said, “Ugly, hairless rats with two legs, the banquet is over. You’d better leave here immediately. Also, pack up those fish for me. Yes, pack up every single one.”

"Are you sure you're not just lying to us so you can keep all the fish for yourself?" Shenba asked suspiciously.

"My name is Ye Di, the 77th generation guardian beast of the royal city. Why would I lie to you for a few fish? *slurp*" Ye Di said, licking away the saliva that was about to drip.

"What are you going to do?" Cheng Lang asked.

"This time, no one will dare to break into the royal city."

As Night God spoke, he nuzzled against the Silver Queen again, then against Mist Shadow, "I should leave now. You should leave as soon as possible too, and remember to pack up and send over every single fish."

Having said that, he leaped onto the deck ventilation grille and returned to the royal city through the medium's passage.

"Trust him this once."

Cheng Lang said, "Pack up dinner and deliver it to Ye Di. We'll set off immediately, our destination: Dragonfly Island."

"Oh! Whoa!"

On the Valkyrie, the gorillas and Shenba gave equally indistinguishable responses, while Yunji, Wuying, and the Silver Queen patted their foreheads in unison. As for the Magic Mirror, he was busy packing food for that greedy big cat.

After a brief preparation, as plates of fish were sent into the medium's channel, the two boats set sail one after another towards Dragonfly Island.

Behind them, the island shrouded in night gradually sank completely underwater.

If Cheng Lang could find a suitable angle at this moment, he might discover that the foundation of this island was slowly extending its head, tail, and limbs—it was actually an enormous, swallowing island!

"Ye Di, is that our princess?" A clear, aged voice echoed through the empty royal city.

"That's right"

With his face almost completely buried in the pot, Ye Di ate heartily as he said, "That's our princess. The web of fate is complete, and everything is beginning to come true."

"What do we do next?" the aged voice asked.

According to the prophecy

As Ye Di spoke, he raised his head and deftly pried out a piece of fish bone stuck between his teeth with a sharp fingernail. "We should hide in the mist at the edge of the Sea of ​​Despair to escape this plague, but I don't intend to do so."

"What are you going to do now?" The aged voice seemed completely unsurprised.

"The fish on that boat was delicious."

As Ye Di spoke, he buried his face back into the pot, "I plan to visit their ship often."

"If you don't want that stinky octopus Panini to notice our princess, you'd better stay away."

The aged voice reminded, "And who was that just now?"

"They are the ones who took the princess away."

Ye Di swallowed the last fish in the pot and said, "He's the one who stole that egg; he's come after us."

"We should leave."

As soon as the aged voice finished speaking, the small island that had sunk underwater began to move rapidly along the seabed, leaving only the sudden surge of waves on the surface of the sea.

(End of this chapter)