Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 143 Tea and the Workshop
Amidst the constant relay of commands, the Valkyrie and the Thorn successively lowered their sails and dropped anchor.

On this ice surface, the anchor naturally cannot break through the solid ice, and there is no need to do so.

In fact, as soon as the bridle and anchor hook, which served as the ship's anchor, landed on the ice, members of the Bear Tribe rode over in sleds pulled by war bears and, without saying a word, attached the cable to the anchor hook.

"Warriors of the Sea!"

An old man covered in fur and sporting a large beard waved a boat lantern in his hand, tilted his head back, and shouted, "Want to visit our tribe? Stopping the boat is free and we even offer a hull cleaning service. If you're willing to trade some unused supplies, we'll also give you free ice cores."

"They really live off the land they live by."

Impressed by what he saw, Cheng Lang immediately replied, "That's right, warriors on the ice, we two boats do indeed wish to visit your tribe."

"Thank you for your compliment, handsome captain. Please hold on tight and let us handle the rest!"

After the bearded man on the ice finished speaking, he took out a horn wrapped in fur from his pocket and blew it out. Instantly, more lights lit up in the distant tribe, and the war bears that had already hooked the anchor with cables began to exert their strength, easily dragging the two boats towards the tribe a few hundred meters away.

Amidst the busy work of these bear-tribe towmen, the Valkyrie and the Thorn were dragged to an open area adjacent to the tribe, and their anchor hooks were attached to the thick chains frozen into the ice.

"Warriors of the sea, please disembark!"

The bearded old man shouted, "All sleds with orange lanterns can ride for free within sight of our lighthouse. We will also send soldiers to guard your ships."

"These people really know how to do business," Yun Lan couldn't help but exclaim.

“As long as life is tough enough, even if Poseidon came back to life, he would still be able to sing and dance.” Cheng Lang said, already swinging his whip to entangle the mast and swinging down.

"Our generous captain occasionally utters some very philosophical remarks."

As Yun Lan spoke, she had already made a thorny gangplank connecting the two adjacent boats to the ground.

Whether it's just her imagination or not, Yun Lan has recently felt that she's become more adept at using thorns.

“We must keep our captain’s generosity a secret,” Yun Ji joked, “especially in a place where even the warriors have become good singers and dancers.”

"Our first mate can also say some very philosophical things," Yun Lan joked as she carried Wu Ying down the stairs.

"My captain is too," Yafso, who had once again become a lecherous old man by putting on a mask of hypocrisy, foolishly echoed.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Shenba scratched the back of his head, breaking the formation with just one sentence.

Once aboard the ship, the group lined up and received a small tag made from the bones of an unknown wild animal from the bearded old man.

According to the old man, these things are like their tickets; whether riding a sled or making a transaction, you have to show these tokens first.

Of course, they can also sell various goods on the spot where the boat is moored. As long as the blue boat lights are raised and the boat bell is rung, villagers from the tribe or even sailors from other merchant ships will come to trade.

Of course, in order to take care of the villagers in the tribe, it is not allowed to use gold or silver coins to trade goods here.

It's hard to say whether this bear tribe is clever or foolish. Bartering may seem primitive, but it can also make people lose their usual standards of value and become extravagant.

Moreover, after the "abolition" of gold and silver coins, it became easier for goods in the tribe to be traded.

After briefly explaining the rules, the bearded old man assigned two strong men, each with their own war bear, to guard the front and back of the two boats.

Immediately afterwards, two more teams of women arrived with their war bears, each wielding a long-handled shovel to begin cleaning the sea creatures from the bottom of the ship.

These marine creatures will not go to waste either; they are a rare delicacy.

"Captain, is there anything we want to sell?" Yavso asked Cheng Lang eagerly.

"Did the Thorn ship have a good harvest?" Cheng Lang asked.

"That's right!"

Yafso said proudly, hands on her hips, "All kinds of mushrooms and bean sprouts have been harvested in abundance. My grandfather and I stayed here when we were on an escape trip before, so I prepared a lot of vegetables in advance."

"Then let's try making a trade."

Cheng Lang said nonchalantly, "We can bring out some of our fruit too."

"In that case, I'll stay and take charge of the transaction."

Gerta said, "I've been here many times, you guys go and have fun."

"Then I'll have to trouble Captain Gerta. The Magic Mirror will help you."

Before Cheng Lang finished speaking, Yun Lan had already set up a row of stalls in the open space between the two boats using thorns. The female sailors of the Ray tribe, who also did not intend to disembark, hung blue ship lanterns on the masts of the two boats and rang the ship bells.

Meanwhile, they, along with the gorillas on the Valkyrie, who were dressed in thick robes, unloaded boxes of vegetables and barrels of fruit and fruit wine using baskets.

As these items were brought down, the bearded old man's eyes lit up. He immediately blew his horn, and the arriving villagers quickened their pace.

Leaving the transaction to the Magic Mirror, Gerta, and the mixed-race female sailors of the Ray tribe, the remaining young sailors or captains, led by the most robust Shenba, confidently boarded sleds and headed towards the nearby tribal settlement.

This ice village is surrounded by a windbreak wall about the height and thickness of a person. Inside this windbreak wall are rows of hemispherical igloos.

Although these igloos do not appear very tall from the outside, and could even be described as low, their entrances are sunken. Stepping into any igloo reveals an interior area of ​​over a hundred square meters, with thick fur carpets draped around the walls and thick felt mats underfoot.

That's why it's much warmer than expected, and there's even a fireplace burning with fish oil.

Of course, these igloos were also very lively, with many sailors browsing around them with great interest.

"Warriors of the sea, please feel free to explore!"

The bearded old man said, "Given that you brought such precious fruits and vegetables, I will have these sleds specially arranged for you. They will be waiting outside whichever cabin you go to. In any case, have a great time."

After saying that, the old man shouted and ran his war bear sled towards a large sailboat that had just been pulled aboard.

"Little friend, are there any fun places to visit here?"

Wearing a mask of hypocrisy, Shenba stepped forward and asked the question, while also taking out a tangerine from his pocket that was bigger than his fist and handing it to the other party.

"We don't have any taverns here."

The little guy driving the sled quickly took the tangerine offered to him and smelled it deeply. "It's too cold here. If you get drunk and collapse on the way, you'll freeze to death. So, for the safety of the warriors at sea, there are no taverns here."

That's really something.

"But we have a teahouse here."

The little guy, holding a tangerine in his hand, sniffed it again and said, "The flowers used to make this tea are Red Lotus Grass, which grows deep in the Eternal Night Ice Mountain in the far north. It's a local specialty! I guarantee it tastes just as good as wine."

"Are there any other unique little shops around here?" Shenba asked, prompted by the captain in the same vehicle.

"There are also fur shops and bone jewelry shops that ladies like, casinos that men like, and a lively bonfire market right outside the teahouse."

"Of course, besides these, the most interesting thing here is the shipwreck dismantling workshop." "Shipwreck dismantling workshop?" Shenba asked curiously before Cheng Lang could even hint, "What kind of place is that?"

"That's the only place around here where you can only trade with gold coins."

The little guy driving even lowered his voice when he introduced the ship, saying, "There are many sunken ships in the extreme icy sea, ships that have crashed into icebergs, ships that have been overturned by floating ice, ships that have failed to break through the ice and capsized, and some that are even frozen to the icebergs."

Thanks to the extremely low temperatures of the Arctic Ocean, most of the ships and their cargo were able to be preserved for a very long time.

So during the few months each year when the sun can be seen, the strongest bear warriors brave the low temperatures and, under the protection of their war bears, dive into the sea to salvage.

All the salvaged shipwrecks will be taken back to the tribe for dismantling, and the items we no longer need will be sold.

Where are you planning to go?

Cheng Lang asked his companions in the sleds next to him.

“We plan to trade furs,” Yun Lan said first, and the “we” she referred to included Yun Ji, Ya Fu Suo, and Wu Ying.

"Where is Captain Gerta?"

Cheng Lang asked, "This was something they had agreed upon on the way. After entering the Extreme Ice Sea, Gerta and Shenba would be the captains in name only, and they would share the same name."

Even the real Gerta who remained on the ship at this time received a hypocritical mask provided by Yun Hai, and back on Windmill Island, he had already borrowed a face from a drunken villager.

All of this was, of course, to evade the wanted notice from the pirate city.

"I'm planning to go to a teahouse," Shenba said eagerly. "I'm thinking of finding a warrior from the Bear Clan to test my strength. What about you?"

“I plan to visit the shipwreck dismantling workshop,” Cheng Lang said.

Within a few hundred meters of each other, just as they made their decision, the sled arrived at a plaza built on the ice. It was only then that everyone realized that, apart from the shipwreck dismantling workshop, most of the shops the young man had mentioned were located around this plaza.

In the middle of the square, a bonfire was burning, clearly indicating that this must be the bonfire square.

Since that's the case, the group, who had just decided to split up, decided not to separate anymore. After the sled came to a stop, they went together into the teahouse named after the Red Lotus.

This igloo is tunnel-like, and the temperature inside isn't very warm. There's even a skylight overhead, making it easy to see the stars in the night sky and the occasional aurora borealis.

The group found a table and sat down. Immediately, a young woman dressed in furry clothes brought over two teapots that seemed to be carved from ice and a set of cups that seemed to be carved from the same material.

Red lotus flower tea

The pretty young woman said, "It's worth a basket of fruit, vegetables, or grains."

As she spoke, the pretty young woman pointed to the basket hanging overhead, "Such a big basket, gentlemen, would you like to try a pot of it?"

"Give me a pot of tea."

Shenba nodded. Upon hearing this, the pretty girl immediately took out a piece of animal skin and wrote down "One pot of Red Lotus Flower Tea". She then copied down the number on the domino in Shenba's hand and had Shenba press his fingerprint on it.

"Please use this, everyone. Someone will go to the ship to collect goods of equivalent value."

After the pretty girl finished speaking, she handed the small animal skin, no bigger than a palm, to a boy who was about half a year old. The boy immediately ran out of the teahouse, mounted a war bear, and rode towards the direction where the Valkyrie was.

“What a unique way of trading!” Shenba exclaimed.

"This way, a lot of goods will be traded away without anyone noticing."

While Yafuso was pouring tea for everyone, Yunlan said, "Moreover, there isn't even a single tea stem in this teapot."

“Beautiful lady, a basket of fruit can’t be exchanged for a single red lotus flower, not even a single petal.”

An old sailor wearing an eye patch at the next table said, "Even in the capital of the Frost Kingdom, a single Red Lotus Grass is worth at least 5 gold coins. The prices at the Red Lotus Tea House are quite reasonable."

Thank you for reminding me.

Yun Lan, who has the appearance of a mixed-race siren, said politely, then picked up her cup and took a sip, "I take back what I just said, this tea tastes really good."

“Let me try it too.”

As Shenba spoke, he and Cheng Lang picked up the ice-sculpted teacup and took a sip of the brownish-red tea.

The cup, the teapot, and even the tea itself were all cold, but when you took a sip of tea, it felt warm and incredibly comforting. Even the teahouse, which was originally a bit chilly, became much more pleasantly warm.

"A pot of tea like this can keep you warm all day."

The one-eyed old sailor said, “If it’s not very warm on your ship, you can ask your captain to buy a red lotus flower. Just one will be enough for the whole ship’s passengers to drink until we reach Frostflower Harbor.”

"Uncle, thank you for your suggestion. I will think about it carefully," Shenba replied politely at Yunji's prompting.

"The average price of a single red lotus flower is about the equivalent of ten buckets of fruit or 15 buckets of flour, but that's just an estimate."

The one-eyed old sailor was clearly very happy to share. "Of course, don't buy too many, two at most, just enough for your return voyage. Red lotus flowers don't keep for long after being picked."

"Thank you for reminding me," Shenba said again, raising his teacup to clink with the other person's.

"Should we buy it?" Shenba asked in a low voice.

"No rush," Cheng Lang and Yun Lan made the same judgment.

This pot of tea was only enough for two cups per person, but even with just two cups, it warmed everyone up completely.

Unfortunately, this teahouse was not a tavern. Although the red lotus flower tea warmed their bodies, it did not take away the sailors' sobriety.

That's why Shenba couldn't find anyone to arm wrestle with, and Cheng Lang and the others couldn't hear any valuable information either.

“We’re planning to go to the fur shop,” Yun Ji said, standing up. “Would you like to come along?”

“I’m not going.”

Cheng Lang waved his hand, but also got up, "I'm going to go check out the shipwreck dismantling workshop."

"I want to go to the shipwreck dismantling workshop too!" Shenba, who had been sitting still for a while, immediately said.

Having decided on their destination, everyone left the teahouse together. However, the one-eyed old sailor who had taken the initiative to strike up a conversation remained seated, continuing to approach the sailors who came in and enthusiastically introducing them to the price of red lotus flowers, as if it were his job. Who knows?

Stepping out of the teahouse, Cheng Lang and Shenba boarded the sled that was waiting for them. Upon learning that they were going to the shipwreck dismantling workshop, the little guy driving immediately urged the war bear to run.

"We might find some treasures in that workshop!" Shenba said expectantly.

"Who knows?" Cheng Lang was equally full of anticipation.

(End of this chapter)