Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 150 The Hunted Hunter
Cheng Lang and his group of six escorted the three prisoners further into the forest. In a clearing among some pine trees, they spotted a white, hemispherical tent.

"It's actually a verdant hunting tent. It seems these hunters are really prepared to defend this place to the death," Yun Ji said in astonishment.

"A verdant hunting tent? What's that?" Cheng Lang asked curiously.

“The standard squad tents of the Verdant Hunters,” Yun Ji said. “You’ll find out once we go inside.”

Upon hearing this, Cheng Lang became interested, but to be on the safe side, they stopped far away and Yun Ji carefully circled the tent, which didn't look very big and was covered with a layer of snow.

Only after confirming there was no danger did he carefully open the wooden door on the leeward side of the hemispherical tent, which was just big enough for one person to bend down and crawl through.

Cautiously peering inside, Yun Ji put away her dagger, replaced it with the flintlock pistol she had won from Cheng Lang, and was the first to crawl inside.

A moment later, she popped out again and said, "Come in and take a look, there's no one inside."

Upon hearing this, Shenba and Gerta immediately stopped the sled, and Cheng Lang pushed a prisoner, following Yun Ji into the unassuming tent.

Although the tent doesn't look very big, the space inside is surprisingly large, even unexpectedly so.

Unconvinced, Cheng Lang peeked outside and was astonished to find that the tent's interior was at least ten times larger than it appeared from the outside, and its height was comparable to that of a normal room.

Even more outrageous, this tent not only had a fireplace and carpet in the middle, but also a sofa circle, and a large portion of it contained ten small rooms, as well as toilets and showers located on either side of the entrance.
This is too illogical, unless it's also armor? This is way too practical! Cheng Lang couldn't help but think.

Yafso, Gerta, and Shenba were also surprised, while Yunlan seemed unfazed.

"This has nothing to do with armor."

Yun Lan seemed to have guessed what Cheng Lang and the others wanted to ask. After she waved her hand to control the other two prisoners with the rampant thorns, she sat on the sofa by the fireplace and explained, "Before becoming a duchy, the Elven race was just a primitive tribe, and they originally lived in these kinds of tents."

Although this tent looks magical, it's actually achieved primarily by using the calyxes of the sacred, verdant tree as a frame.

"Legend has it that when the Valkyrie crafted the goblet to hold the blood of Poseidon, the materials she used included the calyx of the sacred tree," Yun Ji added. "And it's said that the ship's bottle also used this material?"

"It seems so."

Yun Lan replied, "But it's just a guess. And like these hunter tents, it's not important what materials were used; the key is how they were made. Although the Elven Duchy doesn't have armorers, its weavers are quite famous."

Seeing that he was increasingly unable to understand the topic being discussed, Cheng Lang cleared his throat and suggested, "Ladies, since there are no other elves here waiting to be captured by us, shouldn't we discuss what to do next?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Ji stood up and walked to the side of the three prisoners. Seeing this, Yun Lan also waved his hand in unison, making the thorns on the prisoners' heads disappear without a trace.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

With three consecutive heavy blows to the ears, Yun Ji easily knocked out the three elf prisoners.

“I think we can lure the rest of the Green Hunters over here,” Yun Ji and Yun Lan said in unison.

"And then what?"

“Rob them,” Yun Ji said, sitting down again. “Take everything from them.”

“Including their faces,” Yun Lan added.

“That’s right,” Yun Ji nodded.

“The identity of a Verdant Hunter is very useful in the Elf Duchy,” Yun Lan said.

“Okay,” Cheng Lang was the first to recover from his shock, “So what do we do?”

"give it to me"

Yun Lan and Yun Ji answered in unison once again, "We still need Yafso's help."

"I have no opinion"

Cheng Lang spoke first, then got up from the rattan sofa and began to tour the verdant hunting tent with great interest.

"Shenba, come and help, carry them all outside."

Yun Ji gave an order, and Shenba, who had been running around in the various small compartments, immediately ran out, grabbed a prisoner by the wrist in each hand, and dragged them out of the tent.

After Gerta helped drag the remaining prisoners outside, Cheng Lang was left alone in the rather large tent.

In that case, he naturally had to—plunder it thoroughly!
Just like Shenba before, Cheng Lang strolled around the several small cubicles with great interest.

Unfortunately, finding anything of value here was practically a pipe dream. The only thing he found that might be useful was a huge box full of wooden arrowheads.

Undeterred, Cheng Lang wandered around the restroom and shower room, but found nothing. Finally, he sat down on the rattan sofa by the fireplace and placed what appeared to be a family of three miners' lamp on the table.

His action was originally unintentional, but the little figures on the wicks of the three miners' lamps seemed to want to stick their bodies to the crystal lampshade.

Under Cheng Lang's curious gaze, the tiny figures, resembling a family of three, began to spin in circles, holding hands, through the crystal lampshade.

As they rotated, the three miners' lamps flickered on and off, causing the temperature inside the tent to fluctuate.

Especially among the three miners' lamps, a scene gradually unfolded, a scene that constantly surged with the changes in light and shadow.

In the scene, a female elf and a male elf with a beautiful curved sword at his waist are holding the hands of a black-haired boy, standing by a beautiful lake with their backs to Cheng Lang.

The lake was surrounded by blooming flowers, and next to where they were standing was a huge rock.

In the middle of the lake, there is a small hill that is not very big, but is covered with flowers.

He walked around to the other side of the table and looked around. The image projected by the three miners' lamps was still the same one he had just seen, and the figures were still facing away from him.

Why are people in this world so mysterious and fond of playing these riddle games?

Cheng Lang muttered to himself for a moment, then, seeing the little figures in the three oil lamps holding hands and turning around to exchange lamps, he simply ignored them and got up to walk outside the tent.

At this moment, the three elven prisoners had been stripped of their clothes and tied to a pine tree, their heads covered by their trousers, and were being questioned by Yun Lan, Yun Ji, and Gerta.

Every now and then, Yavso would furtively pull out a small bottle, pour out some unknown substance, and smear it around their noses.

Who knows what effect those things have? The three elven captives, who were already shivering from the cold, began to writhe and laugh and cry.

Before long, Yun Ji and the others returned together.

"We've already found out how to notify the other hunters and the code word."

Yun Ji said, "We plan to use this hunting tent as a trap to capture the others as well."

"And then?" Shenba asked instinctively, still confused. "Then borrow their faces for a bit," Yunji said.

"And sell them while you're at it."

Yun Lan added, "Sell them to those flower boats on the ice; these male elves can fetch a lot of money!"

"I have a kind of mushroom spore here that can keep them dreaming for days on end!" Yavso said excitedly, even eagerly.

"gollum"

Not only Cheng Lang, but also Gerta and Shenba swallowed hard. They had never realized that the three ladies traveling with them were so "evil".

"There's no need to pity these hunters."

Yafso snorted and said, "Every hunter has banished at least one dark elf, so they should be treated well no matter what."

"How about I sell them out then!" For some reason, Shenba actually chose to join.

“I’ll go with you,” Gerta added. “I’ve had enough of these arrogant pointy-eared people.”

"Does the captain have any objections?" Yun Lan asked with a beaming smile.

"Just don't sell me off," Cheng Lang's joke immediately made the others laugh.

"Since the captain has no objections, you shall follow my instructions from now on."

As Yavso spoke, she pulled out one small bottle after another from all over her body, which should have been hung around Xinweng's neck to deliver messages. These bottles were all filled with spores of various colors.

After careful selection, Yafso stepped onto the thorny steps that Yun Lan had made and hung a seemingly ordinary little bottle on the top of the round skylight in the middle of the tent.

"This will do!"

Yafso clapped her hands and said, "I guarantee everyone who comes in will get a good night's sleep!"

“We should also make some preparations outside,” the cautious Yun Ji reminded.

"Yes! I have this too!"

As Yafso spoke, he immediately selected two bottles and handed them to Yun Ji, then whispered something in her ear.

“Captain, Mr. Gerta, Shenba,” Yun Ji said with a smile, “please bring those three elves in.”

They all shuddered again, and the three men didn't dare to say a word before turning around and running out of the hunting tent.

“These girls were terrifying,” Gerta said, still shaken.

"That was truly terrifying."

Shenba added, "My sister must have been corrupted by Princess Yunlan!"
"That's not important. Quickly carry these prisoners inside." Cheng Lang said, already grabbing a prisoner's hand and pulling him back into the tent.

What followed was almost entirely the ladies' show. Under their direction, the three prisoners were moved into three compartments of the tent and secured tightly with thorns, unable to even turn over.

Soon, everyone, including the elf's corpse, was loaded onto a sled and left, heading deep into the forest.

Immediately afterwards, after consuming a bottle of Poseidon's blood and replicating the appearance of a comatose prisoner, Yun Ji removed the leather glove covering the head of the emerald falcon, then tied a secret letter written by the prisoner himself to the falcon's foot and released it into the air.

Only after the emerald falcon circled and took off, finally heading towards Frostflower Town, did the rest of the sled emerge from under the canvas where they were hiding.

"Will this work?" Yavso asked in a low voice.

"You'll know once you try," Yun Ji said, but her tone was exceptionally confident.

Not long after they continued deeper into the forest, Yun Ji and Yun Lan got off the vehicle one after the other, even taking Ya Fu Suo with them. On the other hand, Cheng Lang and the other two were left behind, ostensibly to guard the sled and the corpse.

Although he wasn't allowed to follow, thanks to his excellent night vision, Cheng Lang, who had already climbed to the top of a pine tree, could still clearly see that the three girls, each with a miner's lamp hanging from their waist, seemed to be hiding in the treetops as well, and had wrapped their bodies tightly in thick fur.

What followed was an exceptionally long wait, but thankfully, it was not in vain. Accompanied by the cries of falcons in the air, one after another agile figures darted through the dense forest.

They only stayed at the burned-down cabin for a moment before rushing toward their camp.

If Cheng Lang and the others could get closer to these people at this moment, they would definitely be able to smell the strong stench of alcohol on them.

If you were to remove their masks, they might even recall encountering these hunters at the Sea Fish Tavern.

Of course, none of these possibilities are likely to be true at this moment. The hunters who were drinking on the cannon deck of the Seafish Tavern had just received an urgent message from the Falcon—they had captured the traitorous Captain Erlin and imprisoned him in the Green Hunting Tent, and were now chasing the mysterious sled that had taken the dark elf Ryan away!

That's a dark elf, that's Erlin who stole that treasure!
The captain of the hunter squad couldn't help but get excited. He even began to regret not having one more drink to celebrate before setting off!
Without a doubt, whether they banished a dark elf or found Erlin, the credit for this was enough to transfer them to the warmer southern, eastern, and western regions, or even the elven capital!
Either one is far better than Frostflower Town, a place so cold it freezes your ears off!

"Captain, should we split up?" one of the hunters asked in a low voice.

"We released two more falcons to search for where they went."

Suppressing his excitement, the captain ordered, "Let's greet Mr. Erlin first!"

"Pullingleng!"

As soon as the order was given, two of them immediately released the falcon that had been perched on their shoulders.

Immediately afterwards, of the seven hunters, except for the two who released the falcons and stayed outside to look up and observe their aerial companions, the other five couldn't wait to follow their captain into their lush green hunting tent!

"let's start"

Before Yun Ji could finish speaking, Yun Lan waved her hand lightly, and the three emerald falcons in the sky were instantly wrapped in thorns and fell straight down.

Moreover, the glass jars filled with spores in the central skylight of the hunting tent, and even the glass jars filled with spores in the snow directly above the entrance, were all shattered by the suddenly growing thorns. The light and delicate spores inside, pushed by the wind, quickly spread throughout the interior of the tent and the area near the entrance.

"Clap!"

Just as three falcons crashed into the snow overhead, the two hunters at the tent entrance also went limp and entered a hallucination.

Inside the tent, the other five hunters were already lying on the carpet, like big worms, their buttocks sticking out as they began to wriggle around the fireplace.

“These hunters aren’t so scary!” As Yavso spoke, she was the first to step down from the tree onto the newly grown thorny steps.

"yes."

Yun Ji was stunned for a moment, then stepped down from the treetop. These hunters were not nearly as frightening as she remembered from her childhood.

That being the case.
Yun Ji looked at her gloved hands. Had she and her brother gone too far in their years of hard-fought combat training?
(End of this chapter)