Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 168 Tunnels and Murals

"So why extinguish the oil lamp?" Shenba asked, puzzled, as he entered the pitch-black burrowing beetle.

"The beetle's exterior is water. In other words, unless we turn around and leave now, the only air we can breathe is the amount of air inside the beetle's belly. Burning flames consume oxygen and air."

Cheng Lang paused for a moment, and before Shenba could ask any more questions, he said, "Strenuous exercise or even talking will increase our rate of air consumption, so in order to ensure that we don't suffocate, we should remain quiet and keep our breathing even."

Upon hearing this, the others immediately suppressed their curiosity, sat down in their seats, calmed their breathing, and tried their best to remain calm in the darkness, patiently waiting for the digging beetle to "arrive".

However, as time went by, the sound coming from outside was still like the sound of water flowing underwater, and the burrowing beetle showed no signs of stopping.

But just as Cheng Lang had predicted when he asked everyone to extinguish the oil lamps, they began to feel difficulty breathing.

"The undead that dug into the beetle have fallen into a deep sleep."

As Yun Lan spoke, she gently turned the first miner's lamp that was inserted into the control panel, releasing the second undead that Fan Hart had prepared in advance for the beetle.

"I never imagined that we pirates would die of drowning on land," Shenba said, lifting the floorboards and eagerly taking out his broken scythe and hugging it to his chest.

Don't talk nonsense.

As Yun Ji reminded him, Shen Ba quickly shut his mouth.

After an unknown amount of time, Yavso said in a panicked tone, "I feel like I can't breathe."

"65 turns have been made so far."

In the darkness, Yun Ji said calmly, "Hang in there a little longer. There are only 68 turns on the treasure map. We'll be there soon."

"Take this."

In the darkness, Cheng Lang took off a ring from his hand and handed it to Shenba in the dark. "This ring is what we stole back then. It allows a person to breathe underwater for a period of time. You're bigger, so you need to breathe more air. So this ring is for you."

"Yafso, did you bring the Sea Serpent Combat Suit?" Yun Ji asked.

“I brought it,” Yavso quickly replied, “I wore it underneath.”

"Put on the mask, and you can breathe for a short time underwater."

As Yun Ji spoke, she also took off a ring and handed it to the other person, "This ring is for you. It has the same effect as the ring the captain gave to Shenba."

"What about you?" Yafso became increasingly flustered.

"Don't worry, I'll hold out longer than you."

Yun Ji made a firm promise, and then somewhat forcefully put the ring on Yafso's finger.

"I can't breathe either," Shenba said with difficulty after a moment, his breathing becoming heavy.

“There’s one last turn, upwards,” Yun Ji said. “Hold on a little longer.”

“No more”

Yun Lan then said, "I have already seen my father and mother."

"Will water getting into the beetle cause it to malfunction?" Cheng Lang, who was also about to burst, finally asked.

"I don't know, maybe not," Yun Lan said.

"Be prepared for the water flow."

Cheng Lang took a small breath. "If the beetle malfunctions, Yun Lan will be responsible for putting it away. Your undead Xiao Bao will be responsible for leading you and Ya Fu Suo forward. Yun Ji and Shen Ba are my responsibility."

"Let's leave Shenba to Xiaobao."

Yun Lan said without any pity, "He is a ghost, he doesn't need to breathe and he doesn't know how to get tired. At most, he just takes a nap."

"Alright"

Cheng Lang did not refuse the other party's kindness, "Open the door."

"Sit tight, everyone!"

As Yun Lan spoke, she pulled the control lever and opened the metal elytra of the digging beetle with some difficulty.

Instantly, the cool mountain spring water rushed into the beetle's interior, and Cheng Lang, who had the ability to breathe underwater, finally caught his breath.

Fortunately, the technology of the ancient dwarves was still reliable. The water-damaged beetle was not affected by the water inside and continued to move forward.

However, while Cheng Lang, who could breathe underwater, had no worries, the others, even with rings that allowed them to breathe underwater for short periods, couldn't last long, especially since not everyone had one.

In this anxious wait, everyone's hearts grew increasingly frantic as the time dragged on.

Especially Yun Ji, who didn't have the underwater ring, had already started covering her mouth with her hand.

Just then, Yafso took off her ring and, ignoring Yunji's refusal, forcefully put it on her hand.

But this drop in the ocean of help couldn't last long. Soon, Yavso covered her mouth with her hand, and the ring, which could no longer offer much help, returned to her hand.

Cheng Lang wanted to give any girl a breath of air, but his underwater breathing was almost like turning his lungs into gills.

In other words, his lungs were full of water, so even if he wanted to, he could only give the other person a mouthful of "human lung soup".

Fortunately, just as Yun Ji was about to give up and Cheng Lang was thinking about how to help her, the beetle suddenly turned around and started climbing upwards.

Finally, just as Yun Ji lost consciousness and was in a panic, Ya Fu Suo and Shen Ba each tried to put the ring on her hand, the burrowing beetle finally broke out of the water amidst the splashing water!

Before the icy spring water inside the beetle had receded, Cheng Lang had already tightened the whip around Yun Ji's abdomen. The girl, who had just fallen into a coma, also spat out a stream of water, followed by violent panting.

"Are you OK?"

The people inside the beetle asked the same question in unison. Yun Ji, who had regained consciousness, also waved her hand with difficulty while breathing heavily, and then pointed to the outside of the beetle.

"Light the oil lamps," Lang said.

“I’ll do it!” Yavso agreed to the task.

“Yun Lan will take care of her. Shen Ba, let’s go outside and take a look.”

As Cheng Lang issued the second order, he pulled on his whip and emerged from the beetle's belly amidst the flickering oil lamps.

This is an abandoned tunnel, and its design is exactly the same as the tunnels drilled out by the digging beetle.

However, this tunnel was exceptionally long, so much so that even with the Dark Elf's excellent vision, Cheng Lang couldn't see its end.

Where is this place?

As the question subconsciously popped into his head, the lights behind him grew brighter, allowing him to see more details.

On both sides and overhead of the tunnel, springs of all sizes flowed with cool water. This water gathered in the tunnel and eventually flowed into the water-filled shaft they had just drilled through.

Besides these springs that resemble waterfalls, the rock walls on both sides of the tunnel are also covered with numerous murals.

These murals depict a sailboat, a long-haired female captain, and, of course, a dwarf standing beside her. This so-called dwarf isn't actually much shorter than the blonde captain. In fact, he's exceptionally tall and robust, and even by human standards of beauty, he could be considered handsome.

After glancing at Yun Ji, who had already gotten up behind him, Cheng Lang took the oil lamp handed to him by Ya Fu Suo, and together with Shen Ba, who was holding a sickle and looking on guard, they cautiously explored forward along the tunnel while carefully looking at the murals on both sides.

In these comic strip-like murals, the ship would occasionally raise the pirate flag to plunder, and gradually, ship after ship would appear around it, eventually growing into a fleet.

"It's Eleanor's fleet."

Shenba pointed at the pirate flag with the scythe in his hand and said, "That's the pirate flag of Queen Eleanor. I recognize it."

"Do you remember Fanhart's prophetic poem?"

Cheng Lang repeated a part of the prophetic poem he had heard, "The brave pirate stepped onto land, and finally wandered underground. Perhaps her image can still be found in the clear spring."

"You mean to say that these were left behind by the Pirate Queen?"

"Maybe"

Cheng Lang's tone was filled with uncertainty, "But Fan Hart has already gone to the spring to look for her shadow."

"What about us?"

Shenba asked, "Us."

"In his prophetic poem before he left, he said that the terrified dark elf turned into an unshakeable tail."

Cheng Lang pointed to the dripping spring water on both sides and above his head, "We can't go back the way we came, we'll drown."

And are you willing to bet that after using beetles to drill through the rock walls on both sides and even overhead, water won't pour down?

After asking the question, Shenba swallowed hard, filled with lingering fear. If it had been just a fraction later, his sister Yunji would probably have drowned.

For a sailor, drowning on land is the greatest humiliation and the most despairing way to die.

"So we have no choice but to keep going along this tunnel?" Shenba gave the only answer.

Let's discuss it with everyone later.

As Cheng Lang spoke, he stopped chasing the seemingly endless murals on the rock wall and turned to walk towards the direction of the digging beetle.

Yun Ji had recovered by this time, but judging from her lingering fear, she had probably just had a near-death experience.

"It seems we have no choice but to continue along this tunnel?"

Before Cheng Lang and Shenba could speak, Yun Ji had already grasped the situation.

"That's right"

Cheng Lang nodded. "The murals on both sides depict the experiences of Eleanor the Pirate Queen, but I think this tunnel might be guiding us."

"Fan Hart?" Yun Lan answered quickly.

"It seems so."

Cheng Lang nodded. "Fan Hart should be just ahead. We're probably just a tail he can't shake off."

"Once I catch that weaver of fate, I'll bury him inside a poisonous mushroom spore!" Yavso said through gritted teeth.

“Fan Hart has guessed that the weaver of the net is the Valkyrie,” Shenba kindly reminded him.

"Never mind then," Yafso readily chose to give up.

After everyone made some preparations, Cheng Lang put away the digging beetle, while Shenba took out the moose van from his bag.

Given the constant danger of the tunnel being flooded, they dared not take shelter in the hunting tent to rest. Instead, they all sat cautiously in the not-so-spacious carriage, on guard against anything that might happen.

As the moose pulled them forward, they were distracted by the murals on the rock walls on either side, and soon noticed that something seemed amiss.

"There's something wrong with these murals."

"These murals don't look like they were carved out and then eroded by water," said Yun Ji, who had fully recovered.

“It looks more like it was deliberately eroded by the water flow,” Yun Lan added.

"How long will this take?" Yavso exclaimed.

"These murals have probably been sculpted by the water for just as long as Eleanor the Pirate Queen has been dead," Cheng Lang remarked.

"I'm starting to get curious about Eleanor, the Pirate Queen."

Cheng Lang said that he originally thought the other party was a love-struck scoundrel, but now it seems that their relationship is probably much purer and more sincere than he thought.

“Some bards believe that Eleanor, the Pirate Queen, like Santa Barbara, was a rare accidental birth of an elf and an orc,” said Yun Lan, a former die-hard fan of the Pirate Queen.

"How can this be?"

Have you forgotten the legends of this place?

Yun Lan pointed around and said, "According to legend, if an elf and an orc in love can enter the tunnel of Dwarf Mountain from Ganquan Village and Beast Corpse Territory respectively and meet, then they will be blessed and will be able to give birth to a child that is not a beast."

"Could the rumors be true?!" Yafso exclaimed.

"A rumor is a rumor because there is no evidence."

Yun Lan pointed around again, "And look, there's no description of this rumor in the murals around here."

"If that's the case, then what you just said..."

Before Cheng Lang could finish speaking, Yun Lan explained, "No one knows where this rumor came from. I initially thought it was just a baseless rumor, but..."

After a slight hesitation, Yun Lan still said, "But look around, why would a pirate choose to come here? Just to wait for her Fan Hart? She could have waited on Windmill Island. And these murals, I'd rather believe the rumors are true now."

None of this matters.

Cheng Lang temporarily ended the topic by saying, "Since we have no other choice now, let's continue along this tunnel. I believe we will eventually run into Fan Hart again, and perhaps he will give us a reasonable explanation then."

"Do you think this tunnel might be the legendary tunnel?" Yavso asked.

"Perhaps," Yun Ji replied, "Now we..."

Before she could finish speaking, a wisp of smoke rose from Yafso's bag, startling the girl into letting out a gasp.

When she opened her small bag, she exclaimed in surprise, "The part of the treasure map that was cut out has been burned!"

"Look ahead!" Just then, Shenba, who was driving the car, shouted.

Looking up instinctively towards the front, everyone was stunned. On the wall in front of them, there was a white human skeleton marked with arrows—as a way of banishing elves.

(End of this chapter)