Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 156 Beetles Beneath the Lake of Tears
On the icy sea of ​​the extreme, when the Green Hunters finally obtained permission to board the ship for inspection through diplomatic channels and finally rescued the nearly exhausted hunters from the lower decks, Cheng Lang and his companions also ushered in their second morning in Panjiao Town.

"Snapped!"

With a crisp crack of the whip, Gerta called out as he pulled the purchased carriage, carrying everyone, including the little beggar, away from the town of Panjiao, which was filled with the rich aroma of spices, and slowly continued towards Wolftail Highlands.

"Are you really going to the Elven Kingdom to your deaths?"

Inside the slightly cramped carriage, the boy king Krug asked, "He's already changed into a beautiful new outfit."

Unfortunately, no one answered this question.

Not only were Cheng Lang and the others, who had drunk too much last night, catching up on sleep in a staggering manner, but even the other beggars were also there.
No, no, no, they can't be called little beggars anymore. The clothes they wear are almost identical to those worn by the eldest son of the mayor of Panjiao Town.

Whether they were beggars, sailors, or pirates, these little guys, who had secretly drunk with Shenba the night before, all slept soundly.

"These idiots"

Krugs cursed, then lay down and buried his upper body in an empty oak barrel, closing his eyes as well—he had tasted sweet fruit wine for the first time last night.

In a world that is inextricably linked to the word "barbaric," no one cares about children drinking alcohol.

The rented carriage swayed irregularly but not violently, and the pirates, large and small, crammed into the carriage, slept soundly. Even Gerta, who was in charge of driving, slowed down the carriage slightly.

Unbeknownst to them, on the ice outside Frostflower Harbor, the Green Hunters, with their unsteady steps and even trembling movements, yet strangely wistful expressions, had become the focus of many eyes.

Whether to laugh at the spectacle, uncover the truth, or seek revenge, as falcons soar in the frigid winds from the Arctic sea, squads of falcons also urgently assemble and head straight for Frostflower Harbor.

They must find the culprit; it is a matter of great importance concerning the honor of the Elven Duchy and the face of the royal family.

Cheng Lang and the others didn't care about any of that. After leaving the city, Gerta and Shenba took out a much more spacious travel carriage and disguised it.

This novel contraption immediately caught the attention of Krug and the others, and they agreed to take turns being Gerta's co-driver, experiencing a traveling carriage they had never even heard of before.

As for the original carriage, unsurprisingly, it was released again at an intersection, and the cheaply bought discarded horse pulled the empty carriage in an unknown direction.

On the evening of the second day after leaving Panjiao Town, before sunset, Shenba put away the travel carriage and personally led the little sailors who had recognized him as their elder brother, following behind his sister Yunji, and under the protection of the others around them, left the road and entered the roadside forest.

"Let's do it here."

Yun Ji found a clearing in the woods, while Yun Lan immediately pulled out the hunting tent they had captured outside Frostflower Town and set it up.

This verdant hunting tent is indeed convenient; as the canopy opens, a hemispherical tent that doesn't look very big is already set up.

Seeing this, Crook immediately opened the umbrella his father had left him and set up the second tent.

We'll rest here tonight.

Yun Ji naturally took over the command of the campsite. "Shenba, you take half of the sailors and search for firewood around here. Don't leave my sight. Yafuso, Mr. Gerta, and Yun Lan, you are responsible for finding edible wild fruits or vegetables nearby. The other half of the sailors will come with me to find water nearby."

"What about me?" Cheng Lang asked, yawning, having slept the whole way.

"You're the captain, do whatever you want, just don't get lost." After saying that, Yun Ji led a few young sailors, including Kruk, into the depths of the forest.

Although he was being disliked, Cheng Lang didn't think much of it. He simply and firmly believed that the sailors were afraid of exhausting their multi-talented captain.

Amidst everyone's busy work, the fireplaces in the two tents were lit one after another, and the food that had been bought in advance from Panjiao Town was placed on the fireplaces and reheated.

Overall, apart from Kruk, who has dark elf blood, the other seven wolf cubs surprised everyone with their culinary skills.

The dinner cooked by these teenagers in the black hanging pot left to them by their mother tasted quite good.

Inevitably, Cheng Lang took out the ship bottle that still contained some fruit wine and poured a large glass of sweet fruit wine for everyone, including the young sailors.

Because of these limited or unlimited supply of fruit wine, everyone, whether it was Shenba who still chose to sleep in the same tent as the little pirates or the others in another tent, slept quite well, so much so that they had no idea that it was after they had fallen asleep that night.

One after another, platoons of verdant soldiers set off from Wolf Tail Heights, passing a road not far from them, single-mindedly heading towards Frostflower Harbor on the edge of the Arctic.

As a new day quietly began, bathed in sunlight, Cheng Lang and his companions packed up their hunting tents, returned to the road, and set off again in their travel carriages.

After traveling slowly, setting off at sunrise and stopping at sunset every two or three days, the group finally arrived at the edge of Wolf Tail Highlands.

The so-called Wolf Tail Heights truly lived up to its name. The journey had been uphill the whole time, especially after passing through the winding and difficult forest they had just come from. Now they could see the tops of the forest canopy in the direction they had come from—right below them.

"Wolf Tail Heights is just ahead."

Gerta explained, "The Lake of Tears is located at the northwest corner of the very edge of the highlands. You'll see when you get there."

Urged on by the crowd, Gerta urged the carriage to speed up slightly. Even so, by the time they put away the carriage and arrived at Wolf Tail Highlands, it was already completely dark.

Gerta explained in a low voice, "We need to pass through Wolfskin Town in the Wolftail Highlands to reach Lake of Tears."

"Can we go around it?" Cheng Lang asked in a low voice.

"I like it here."

"I know the way."

Crook said in a low voice, "I know how to get around Wolfskin Town. My father led me around here before. I know how to get there."

"Which way do we go?" Cheng Lang asked directly.

"there"

Crook pointed to the forest on the right side of the road. "Go into the forest, and there's a ibex trail halfway up the mountain. You can get there from there, but it's very difficult to walk."

"Walk behind me"

As Yun Ji spoke, she took the lead without hesitation, while Cheng Lang took out a whip, wrapped it around Kruk's waist, and walked behind him.

“Mr. Gerta, you take Krug and the others directly into Wolfskin Town, and then go to the Lake of Tears to find us first thing tomorrow morning,” Yun Lan said. “Pointy Ears is looking for Dark Elves, so you don’t need to hide.”

“Yun Lan is right,” Cheng Lang agreed. “Remember to bring us breakfast tomorrow. Also, Krubb, you’ll be coming with us. If anything happens, you have to let us know.”

“No problem, Captain!” Krubb immediately replied.

“That’s fine,” Gerta agreed after only a slight hesitation, and confidently led the little pirates, except for Krub and Kruk, swaggering towards Wolfskin Town.

Guided by Kruk, or rather, Bebedo, Cheng Lang and the others ventured into the roadside forest. By the faint starlight, they indeed found a narrow path for ibex, only half a meter wide, on the edge of a cliff.

This road is not easy even for a dark elf with night vision—if it weren't for Yun Lan.

In fact, with the help of the thorny boardwalks, handrails, and even suspension bridges she created from time to time, their speed in traversing the mountainside was not much slower than that of Gerta and the others.

However, just as they were about to bypass Wolfskin Town via this path, Yun Ji, who was walking at the front, suddenly rushed out.

"Snapped!"

At the same time, Cheng Lang also cracked his whip to release Kruk, and then accurately deflected an arrow flying from directly in front of him.

"Whoosh!"

Just a moment too late, Yafso, who had already been warned by Yunji, reacted extremely quickly and shot an arrow, accurately sending the arrow, which was tied with a bottle of unknown spores, into the observation window from which the arrow had just been fired.

At the same time, a pair of large but silent wings grew from Yun Ji's back. With a single gliding motion, she easily flew behind an elf who had run out of the fortress and precisely and silently plunged a long, sharp dagger into his collarbone.

"Go quickly"

Cheng Lang gently urged her on, and Yun Lan, who had just woven a large shield from thorns, immediately dismantled the thorn shield and replaced it with a plank road, allowing Cheng Lang to lead Kruk and Krub behind him to run across the last trap at top speed.

Cheng Lang glanced briefly at the elven hunters covered in corpse mushrooms, but didn't stop walking—their time was starting to count down.

For the last few kilometers, everyone sped up, with Shenba even carrying Kruk and Krub on his shoulders.

Finally, as lights from Wolfskin Town began to converge on the Rock Sheep Trail and poisonous mushrooms started to sprout on their bodies, Cheng Lang and the others finally ran onto the main road, jumped into the traveling carriage that Shenba had brought out, and headed towards the Lake of Tears outside Wolfskin Town as fast as they could.

"Hurry up, we don't have much time."

Urged on by Cheng Lang, Yun Lan, who had already climbed into the driver's seat, waved her hand and created a thorny boardwalk on the calm lake surface, allowing the traveling carriage, driven by Yun Ji herself, to run along this thorny boardwalk towards the rock in the center of the lake.

Before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, Cheng Lang was the first to jump onto the rock. While Shenba was putting away the travel carriage, he took out the three mining lamps he had brought and gathered them together.

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

"I do not know"

Cheng Lang answered in a low voice, his attention now entirely focused on the three tiny, hand-in-hand, constantly bouncing wick figures.

This time, the jumping of the three little figures changed. They seemed to be unlocking a safe's combination, sometimes spinning clockwise and sometimes counterclockwise.

As they turned, the foot of the small hill in the middle of the Lake of Tears gradually began to tremble. Eventually, the originally solid and intact rock was pried open from the inside by a strangely shaped horn and turned into rubble.

As the horn slowly retreated, a dark cave, large enough for anyone to crawl into, appeared in the area illuminated by the three miners' lamps.

"Are you all ready?" Cheng Lang asked, already picking up a mine lamp and jumping in first. "Come on in, everyone!"
Upon hearing this, Yafso closed her eyes and jumped down without hesitation, letting the captain catch her and put her aside without worry.

Following closely behind, Shenba also jumped down with two little sailors with a "thump".

Before the three of them could even stand still, Cheng Lang had already brandished his whip and pulled them aside. Almost simultaneously, Yun Ji and Yun Lan also jumped down, each carrying a miner's lamp.

Just then, the giant burrowing beetle beside them began to move again. It slowly used its cross-shaped horns to block the entrance to the hole, and a large amount of grayish-brown slime, almost the same color as the stone, immediately gushed out from those horns.

Soaked in this slime, the broken hole slowly healed, and by the time it had completely pulled out the horn, the hole had completely disappeared.

"This is the burrowing beetle?"

It wasn't until this moment, until Shenba lit the large ship lantern he had brought, that Cheng Lang could finally see the beautiful, sturdy metal beetle clearly.

It was almost the same size as the "Golden Cup" in the world he was more familiar with. Its cross-shaped horns pointed straight ahead, and its limbs, which had a lot of metal joints, were exceptionally large yet exceptionally flexible. Each time they rose and fell, they made absolutely no sound.

Looking at this sloping tunnel, the surface is flat and has neat anti-slip patterns, which should have been carved out by the moving machinery.

Above their heads was a dome with a standard semi-circular cross-section. The highest point was just above the ground, barely exceeding the height of the giant Shenba. Every so often, about the length of a beetle, there were even reinforced arches carved into the rock face, as thick as Shenba's waist.

"Is this the technology of the ancient dwarves?"

While Cheng Lang was praising it, Yun Lan, already used to it, walked around to the back of the beetle and easily opened the two thick metal elytra, revealing the seats inside—ten in total, very simple, but enough for anyone, including Shenba, to sit down.

"Hurry up and get on here!"

Yun Lan urged, "You should be glad that I studied ancient dwarven mechanical theory at the Royal Academy of Lika."

“This doesn’t sound like something a girl should be learning,” Cheng Lang couldn’t help but say.

"You'd better not treat any princess of any principality on the Star Sea Continent as a simple girl."

As Yun Lan spoke, she was the first to climb in and sit in the only seat at the very front of the two rows of seats. There were several levers around this seat, and directly in front of it was a window that, while not large, was large enough to see outside.

After everyone "got on the vehicle" or rather, got on the insects, Yun Lan muttered something that no one could understand, then first pressed down a dusty metal rod to close the open metal elytra.

As she pulled the second metal lever, the burrowing beetle's tail began to spew out large amounts of grayish-white bubbles, and at the same time, the burrowing beetle began to move forward rapidly, step by step.

Behind him, the white bubbles had gradually filled the tunnel, eventually turning into hard rock.

“This burrowing beetle is almost out of food,” Yun Lan said after maneuvering the burrowing beetle forward less than 20 meters.

"Isn't its food stone?" Shenba asked matter-of-factly.

“Yes,” Yavso nodded in agreement, while Kruk and Krub were completely dumbfounded.

"He doesn't want to eat stones."

Yun Lan said, "It's grease! I know! Miner's lamp! Give me the miner's lamp right now!"

This thing is so convenient.
As Cheng Lang sighed, Yun Lan snatched the miner's lamp from his hand and stuck it into a dent next to him.

After three miner's lamps were inserted in succession, the beetle-shaped mechanical creation shook its body and then ran along the underground tunnel, which led to an unknown destination, at a speed that no one could react to!
(End of this chapter)