Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 152 Whispers of Pancorner
At the entrance of the Red Lotus Grass Inn, the group, who were nominally preparing to go to sea, moved all the goods from their rooms onto the rented carriage.

"Children, this is a little gift I prepared for you to make your journey at sea more comfortable."

Mrs. Ronique said, placing several earthenware pots wrapped in felt into the cargo bed of the wagon. “These contain my stewed sea fish and freshly baked bread, as well as a pot of red lotus flower tea. I hope these will keep you warm on your journey.”

"Thank you, Mrs. Ronnie."

Yafso was the first to thank them, saying, "We'll bring you a gift when we return to Frostflower Harbor."

"The best gift is that you're all back. Have a safe trip, my lovely little elves."

Mrs. Ronique waved her scarf enthusiastically as she saw off the young and generous passengers in the two carriages.

After walking several intersections in the direction of Frostflower Harbor, the carriage driven by Gerta and Yunji made several turns and took another road out of the city, heading south from Frostflower Harbor towards the heart of the Starsea Continent.

“Gerta, tell me about that lake. Where is it?” Cheng Lang asked curiously from inside the carriage driven by Gerta.

That lake is called Wolf's Tail Tears Lake.

Gerta explained, "It's located in the southern border of the Frost Duchy, outside a town called Wolftail Highlands."

There is also a very beautiful legend about that place.

Sitting in the car, Yafso said with great longing, "Legend has it that there was once a beautiful elf and a wolf-man beastman who fell in love."

However, because the two races were forbidden from intermarrying, the elven lady was captured and banished to the border of the elven duchy.

The wolf was also imprisoned on Wolftail Highlands. Day and night he gazed towards the elven border, weeping and howling. His tears gathered there, forming a lake, and he himself became a stone in the middle of that lake.

"Stupid dog"

Driving another car, Shenba sarcastically ruined the atmosphere, "You have the energy to cry, and you can cry so many tears. Why not just kill your way across the street, rescue that pointy-eared lady, and then escape to Murphy Tower together? In that paradise-like place, even grass carp are legal."

"You idiot, it's rare for you to say something smart," Yun Ji said with a smile.

"Actually, I'm very smart!" Shenba said smugly, completely unaware that this statement had initially labeled him as a fool.

"If we follow the planned itinerary, will we pass through there?" Yun Lan asked the question Cheng Lang wanted to ask.

"It will indeed take several more days to travel."

Gerta said, "But it won't be too far. Wolf Tail Highlands is not only a trading post and transportation hub, but it is also located on the outer edge of the Beast Corpse Territory."

"Then let's go take a look," Cheng Lang said, his anticipation growing.

In the conversation about the Lake of Tears, the two carriages traveled south after leaving Frostflower Town, eventually stopping at a deserted fork in the road.

"Follow this road straight and you'll reach the capital of the Frost Kingdom."

Gerta pointed straight ahead with his whip and said, "The left fork in the road leads to Murphy Tower, but of course, it will pass through many towns along the way. The right road leads to the Beast Corpse Territory, and it will also pass through many towns along the way."

"Get off the bus."

Cheng Lang gave a call, and everyone immediately got off the two carriages.

Needless to say, Yafso followed Yun Lan, stepping up the winding thorny steps to the top of a large tree by the roadside. They then each raised a pair of binoculars and cautiously observed the surrounding movements.

“Let’s begin, there’s no one around,” Yavso shouted a reminder.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Lang, who was already prepared, immediately opened the box containing the traveling carriage and let Gerta carry one out and place it on the ground.

Just like when I took it out on the ship last time, this carriage grew larger and larger as I walked forward, until it stopped and was no different from a normal carriage.

"I have a question," Cheng Lang asked, "Will anyone be able to tell that this is a carriage?"

"Unless you can recognize those horse harnesses made of silver urns."

Standing atop the tree, Yun Lan said confidently, "But even if they recognize it, very few people would dare to intercept a traveling carriage."

"Furthermore, I have already bought some concealing items in advance as instructed by Princess Yunlan."

As Gerta spoke, he rummaged through the rented carriage and tossed two sets of items, including horse masks for protection against the cold, to Shenba. Shenba then helped the two black draft horses pulling the carriage put on the masks, covering the silver-plated ones and the horseshoes of the same material.

Seeing that everyone was well-prepared, Cheng Lang, who was used to being a hands-off manager, honestly became a porter and, together with Yun Ji, moved everyone's luggage, the food that Mrs. Ronnie had given them before departure, and even some oak barrels that they had purchased, onto one of the travel carriages.

After he finished his work, Shenba and Gerta also put camouflage and cold-weather gear on both draft horses.

With everything ready, Gerta and Shenba each lashed the hindquarters of the two rented carriages. Yunlan, showing no mercy, caused a long thorn to grow from the hindquarters of each of the two carriages, just long enough to pierce the flesh.

Driven by excruciating pain, the two empty carriages began to race along the forks in the road leading to the capital of the Frost Duchy and the Duchy of Mofita, respectively.

Let's go too.

Cheng Lang waved towards the treetops, and Yun Lan and Ya Fusuo immediately stepped down the thorny steps and climbed into the spacious cargo bed of the traveling carriage.

Once everyone was seated in the cargo bed, which was adorned with a warm miner's lamp, Gerta, who was in charge of driving, gently flicked the reins, guiding the two tall, black draft horses to run smoothly along the side road leading to the Beastman Territory.

“This carriage is really good. Not only do you not feel any bumps, but it doesn’t even leave any ruts,” Yavso exclaimed, sticking his head out of the cargo bed.

“Aside from being a bit rudimentary,” Yun Lan said.

By her princess standards, the cargo bed of this carriage was indeed rather rudimentary. The only thing they used as seats was a wooden box filled with bundles of straw. The table was a bit better; several boxes stacked together were covered with animal hides they had bought from the Bear Tribe, which looked passable. But only she knew that the reason these boxes were stacked so securely was because she had secretly secured them with thorns.

While Yun Lan was secretly picking and choosing, Shen Ba, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, couldn't wait to open an oak barrel and take out wooden cups and put them on a simple table.

Then he pulled out a small oak barrel, removed the stopper, and poured a full glass of beer into each of the glasses.

"This is my first time back since I left the Star Sea Continent, and I believe it's the same for you, so I think we should have a drink."

Shenba raised a pitcher full of beer and suggested that the thick foam accidentally dripped onto the fur tablecloth, easily shattering the only thing Yunlan was somewhat satisfied with about the interior of the carriage.

"Although you said something stupid, it's definitely worth a drink." Yun Ji politely picked up the pitcher, but also accidentally spilled some of the rich foam onto the tablecloth.

This is my first time setting foot on the Star Sea Continent.

As Cheng Lang spoke, he also picked up his own pitcher, and in doing so, he also stained the tablecloth.

"That's not important, anyway, we can have a drink!"

As Yavso moved from the back of the car to near the front, she spoke while handing a glass to Gerta behind her.

“This is not bad either,” Yun Lan said with a smile, picking up her pitcher and deliberately spilling a large amount of foam onto the tablecloth.

cheers! "

Amid cheers, the pirates who had just landed raised their jugs high and brought them to their lips, drinking heartily.

After a brief celebration on the carriage, everyone turned their attention outside, listening to Gerta, the driver, introduce the Frost Duchy.

Overall, this is a principality primarily engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, with lubricating oil and mineral resources as secondary industries. Even the Eagle Clan royal family, which governs the principality, probably doesn't know exactly how many types of beastmen exist within its borders.

Of course, there's no point in figuring this out. According to the orcs' own standards, if someone has something that humans don't have, and doesn't have scales or pointed ears, then they're definitely an orc.

Although this standard is a bit broad, it is precise and easy to use.

As Cheng Lang secretly used this standard to evaluate the orcs he encountered along the way, the Green Hunters who had lost contact with Frostflower Harbor also attracted the attention of the Green Hunters' headquarters in the Elven Duchy.

"Still haven't you been able to get in touch?" asked a middle-aged male elf with a slightly aloof appearance.

Still no.

The elf in charge of the report said, "The first batch of falcons couldn't find a suitable scaffold to land on, so the second batch has already set off. We've also notified the hunters in Blue Ice Bay to send someone over to investigate."

"Five more hunter squads from the surrounding area will serve as reinforcements."

The middle-aged man standing by the window said, "We must find the murderer who killed Viscount Shenfei, and especially find the stolen digging beetle before anyone else."

"obey"

The soldier respectfully responded to the order, then turned and quickly left. A short while later, five more emerald falcons flew towards the northern border of the Frost Duchy.

While the elves' hunters were busy gathering at Frostflower Harbor, the road surface where Cheng Lang and his companions were traveling by carriage was already quite dry.

But in the past few days, apart from occasionally encountering orc caravans traveling in horse-drawn carriages, they haven't seen any towns or even villages along the way.

They were fortunate to have captured the hunting tent from the Green Hunters; otherwise, they would have had to squeeze into the carriage the whole way.

"We've been traveling for a long time today, shouldn't we find a place to camp?"

Inside the carriage, Yun Lan yawned and asked. Although she wasn't responsible for driving, sitting in the carriage all the time was still very tiring.

"We don't need to sleep in a tent today."

Gerta said, "The town of Panjiao is just ahead. At our current speed, we should be able to get there before dark."

“It’s said that the barbecue and spice market in Panjiao Town is very famous,” Yun Lan said. “I wonder if it’s still like that now.”

“That’s right, Your Highness Yunlan.”

Gerta proudly stated, "Coilcorn still boasts the largest spice market in the Frost Duchy."

"I can see it!" Shenba asked excitedly, "Is that Panjiao Town up ahead?"

Upon hearing this, everyone craned their necks to look in the direction of the front of the car.

At the edge of the field of vision, directly ahead, lies a town built on a small hill.

“That’s it,” Gerta said. “That’s Cornertown.”

"Let's all put on masks of hypocrisy too."

As Cheng Lang spoke, he took out his mask of hypocrisy and covered his face, replacing it with the elven face he had borrowed from the Sea Fish Tavern when he first arrived in Frostflower Town.

"Put the carriage away too."

Yun Ji's suggestion was met with everyone's approval. They had had enough of riding in carriages these past few days and everyone wanted to travel on their own.

Cheng Lang naturally had no objections. He took out the box, jumped down, and placed it at the front of the carriage. Shenba, who was driving, patted the horse's rump and let the carriage walk into the box on its own.

After stretching their bodies, everyone put their luggage back on their backs. Shenba even haphazardly stuffed the horse tack that couldn't be put into the travel carriage box into the oak barrel he was carrying.

"Once we pass through Panjiao Town, we can reach Wolf Tail Heights in three more days."

Gerta, carrying a huge backpack that actually only contained an animal hide, explained, "Let's go. Without a carriage, it will probably take us a while to walk."

“That’s still better than sitting in a carriage,” Yun Lan said, slinging her own bag over her shoulder.

The others nodded in agreement and followed Gerta.

Walking is indeed much slower than a carriage, but even so, when they arrived at Panjiao Town, the moon had only just climbed to the treetops.

"This is the other world I wanted to see!" Cheng Lang couldn't help but exclaim.

Panjiao Town, located on this highland, is not very large, but the earthen-yellow stone houses are exceptionally beautiful, and the air is filled with the rich aroma of roasted meat, as well as the even stronger aroma of spices.

Of course, there were also bright oil lamps hanging at the door of almost every household, various stalls under the oil lamps, and all kinds of orcs and silver-haired elves coming and going.

“We didn’t have time to explore this place when we left last time,” Yafso said, already taking out silver coins to buy several skewers of grilled meat and distributing them to everyone.

“We have time to explore this place properly this time,” Cheng Lang said, already accepting the barbecue offered to him.

However, before they could even taste the skewers of grilled meat, Cheng Lang, Yafusuo, and Yun Ji were all stunned and subconsciously looked in the same direction.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Yun Lan, who had already taken a bite of her own skewer of grilled meat, was the first to ask.

"It's nothing," Cheng Lang was the first to react, speaking before Yafso could say anything.

Let's go take a look over there.

Yun Ji then said, "I just smelled a very familiar scent. Was it the same for you?"

“That’s right, it does taste very familiar.” Cheng Lang quickly responded, afraid that Yafso might let something slip.

That wasn't a familiar smell; it was the whisper of a dark elf's undead.

Why are there dark elf undead here too?

Cheng Lang exchanged a puzzled glance with Yun Ji, who nodded almost imperceptibly, quickened her pace, and silently followed the direction from which the whispers had come.

(End of this chapter)