Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 187 The Truth Mill
Amidst the increasingly intense and clear artillery fire, Yun Lan's burrowing beetle desperately climbed towards the surface along the ever-thickening iron chains.

She did consider crawling directly to the surface, but the roots of the sacred tree around her were becoming increasingly dense. If it weren't for the chains that were constantly tightening and shattering her, this digging beetle would have had no room to move forward!
"Oil! There's no oil left!"

As Yun Lan shouted, she took out two miner's lamps and handed them to Cheng Lang behind her.

"Come and help!"

Before Cheng Lang finished speaking, Yafso and Yun Ji each took a miner's lamp and unscrewed the cap.

"predict with confidence!"

As Cheng Lang spoke, he unscrewed the bottle and poured the slightly viscous fish oil into the oil reservoir of the miner's lamp that Yun Ji was holding.

In just a few breaths, she filled the tank, then immediately screwed on the cap of the oil tank and handed the miner's lamp to Yun Lan, while Cheng Lang began to refuel the miner's lamp in Yafusuo's hand.

"Snapped!"

As the massive chain outside, almost as thick as a ship's hull, suddenly taut, the dense root system around them was snapped once more, and a spot of light appeared directly in front of them.

"Get ready! We're going out!" Yun Lan shouted, gripping the joystick tightly.

Almost as soon as the spot of light hit the horn of the digging beetle, Yun Lan immediately pulled the control stick she was already gripping tightly.

Amidst the gasps of the crowd, the digging beetle immediately arched its back and rushed up, almost climbing over the dense root system that was everywhere around it!
"Snapped!"

As the terrifyingly thick iron chain tightened once again, the roots clinging to it were torn off once more. Yun Lan's burrowing beetle was also fortunate enough to break free from the roots that were about to bind its body and rushed straight up and down following the light!

"Prepare!"

As Yun Lan issued the reminder, she also manipulated the digging beetle to unfold its thick metal elytra, while the others prepared themselves.

"It's now!"

With a loud shout from Yun Lan, the digging beetle suddenly changed direction, from head to tail, and at the same time, its cross-shaped horns began to spew out a large amount of foam.

Using the centrifugal force generated by the digging beetle's change in posture, Yun Lan jumped out of the digging beetle, causing a series of thorny paths to grow around her. Shen Ba, meanwhile, was diligently wielding his scythe to clear away the surging roots.

Meanwhile, Yun Ji hugged Ya Fu Suo, who was constantly snapping the large scissors, and used the thorny path for support to run towards the light.

Cheng Lang was not idle either. He first put away the digging beetle, and then vigorously swung the whip above his head.

Once the whip tip caught on something, he immediately grabbed Gerta's belt with one hand and used the whip to lift himself up.

Halfway there, Shenba naturally reached out and grabbed his captain's ankle. Following closely behind, Yunji also reached out and grabbed Cheng Lang's belt, while Yafusuo, whom she was pulling, grabbed Yunlan's wrist.

Dragged by the rapidly contracting whip, the pirates, resembling a nest of opossums, were swiftly lifted out of the water.

This is a well!

As everyone saw the surrounding vertical shaft walls, Cheng Lang's whip did not stop retracting. Instead, he used the momentum to lift them all directly to the top of the well.

It was only at this moment that Cheng Lang realized that the whip he had casually flicked had actually entangled the back of a carriage. At that moment, the two horses pulling the carriage were struggling against the sudden increase in drag force in a difficult position, as if they were squatting down to defecate.

As he put away his whip, the carriage surged forward, and the two horses nearly crashed headfirst into what appeared to be a tavern building by the roadside, their cries filled with alarm.

After he dragged Gerta to the ground, looking somewhat disheveled, the other four also managed to regain their footing in various ways.

"Where do we go next?"

As Cheng Lang asked his questions, he also took in the sights of the "skyscraper-filled" Elf King City.

The house trees are towering structures, and between them are suspension bridges woven from vines.

"Follow me!" Yun Lan called out, leading them towards the sacred tree.

"The carriage!" Cheng Lang called out.

Who knows what got into Shenba? He charged straight at the two draft horses that had just regained their footing, untied the reins from a tree root, and pulled the carriage towards Yun Lan.

Seeing this, everyone quickly jumped onto the carriage, and Cheng Lang also cracked his whip to pull Yun Lan up.

In just a short while, several more digging beetles emerged directly from the well in the distance!

Before they even came to a complete stop, these burrowing beetles unfolded their metal elytra and then released grass carp hybrids!
These disgusting creatures, still covered in slime, squinted at the dappled sunlight overhead, then brandished their scimitars and charged at the surrounding houses, trees, and any elves they could see!

But the digging beetles did not stop. They rushed toward the sacred tree at top speed before their elytra could close!

"Get closer to them!" Cheng Lang and Yun Ji shouted in unison.

Just as Shenba pulled the reins, Yunlan snapped her fingers, and instantly, a large number of thorns and spikes grew all over the bodies of two of the digging beetles, especially under the chassis.

Although these spikes did not stop the opponent at all, they did manage to slow it down by more than half and jam the metal elytra that was about to close.

Taking advantage of this tacit cooperation and the rare opportunity, Cheng Lang once again lashed out with his whip, wrapped it around the elytra, and jumped over. Yun Ji then stepped on the edge of the carriage and jumped onto the roof. She then spread her black wings and glided silently over, disappearing into the interior of another digging beetle just as Cheng Lang was.

"Snapped!"

Before he could even regain his footing, Cheng Lang swung his whip again to entangle the "driver" controlling the beetle, while simultaneously stepping on the slime on the ground to close the distance between them.

He yanked the whip, causing the other person to turn around. Cheng Lang, with practiced ease, reached behind the other person's ear and ripped it off, effortlessly tearing away a mask of hypocrisy.

Looking at the person's appearance again, this time it turned out to be a real human being.

He reached out and tore a firefly necklace off the other person's neck, then jumped out with his whip and snatched it away from the burrowing beetle.

"captain!"

Shenba called out, reached out and grabbed Cheng Lang, pulling him onto the carriage that had been switched to Gerta's driver. Then, he grabbed the whip and dragged the prisoner who was being dragged onto the carriage as well.

At the same time, Yun Ji had already put away the other digging beetle and jumped back onto the carriage.

"The driver is a siren, a pure siren, from the pirate city," Yun Ji said with certainty. "I've even seen him before."

"I haven't had a chance to ask yet," Cheng Lang said.

You tell me.

As Yun Ji spoke, she drew her Black Elf dagger and pressed it against the chest of the prisoner Cheng Lang had brought back.

"Ghost Fleet! We are from the Ghost Fleet!"

The human prisoner hurriedly said, "Our fleet commander has announced a black raid on the Elf Duchy."

Every ghost ship must send its bosun with half its crew into the Elven Duchy!

"What is the purpose?" Yun Ji asked.

"Kill all the elves!" the prisoner hurriedly said. "And at the same time, occupy and protect the Sacred Tree of Verdant Green! Don't allow any elves to come near."

"What did you just say?" Yun Lan asked in astonishment, "Protect the Verdant Sacred Tree? It needs your protection?"

We don't understand either.

The sailor hurriedly said, "But that's the order we were given!" "It's the same result I just got from interrogating her," Yun Ji said, already sheathing her dark elf dagger.

At the same time, Cheng Lang cracked his whip and threw the prisoner out of the carriage.

"Why do they protect the sacred evergreen tree?" Yun Lan asked, puzzled.

“Someone must be trying to destroy the sacred tree,” Shenba replied matter-of-factly.

"Who wants to destroy the sacred, verdant tree?" Yafso asked.

"How would I know?" Shenba's tone remained as matter-of-fact as ever, though it was undeniably irritating.

“I guess the captain of that ghost fleet is either a dark elf or he’s on guard against dark elves,” Cheng Lang suddenly said.

"you mean"

“If he is a dark elf, then perhaps he wants to gain the approval and blessing of the sacred tree. If that’s the case, then he must be nearby.”

Looking at the increasing number of burrowing beetles emerging around them and the half-blooded sirens slashing about indiscriminately, Cheng Lang asked, "If he's on guard against the dark elves, who do you think he is?"

“But if he is a dark elf, why doesn’t he sneak in like we do?” Yafso asked.

"If he were a dark elf, perhaps he wouldn't want the other dark elves to touch the sacred tree again?" Cheng Lang countered.

"Poseidon?!" Yun Ji exclaimed, her eyes wide. "You mean, the other party might be Poseidon?!"

"Do you remember the prophetic poem we received?"

Cheng Lang lashed out with his whip, lashing away the mixed-blood sea monster blocking his path. "One of the lines is, 'The second heart transforms into blood rain to nourish the continent; the one who brings the rain deserves a reward.'"

"We killed the first heart. I don't know where the second heart is or how it turned into blood rain to nourish the continent, but the one who brings the rain will be rewarded."

Cracking his whip again to clear away any obstacles in his path, Cheng Lang asked, "What if they're after that reward?"

"No matter what, let's get there while things are in chaos!"

As Yun Lan spoke, towering thorns sprouted from both sides of the road directly in front of her.

With these unpredictable thorns and spikes blocking their way, the mixed-blood sirens who tried to stop them all clutched their groins and knelt on the ground. A few unlucky elven hunters also followed suit when they tried to stop them.

"there!"

Yun Lan drew her rapier and pointed in a direction, "See that house with the mill? Mr. Gerta, charge in!"

"Yes, Your Highness Yunlan!"

As Gerta responded, he drew the dagger from his waist and slashed the rumps of both horses.

Driven by the intense pain, the two draft horses suddenly sped up, violently ramming aside any elves or pirates blocking their path, and then slamming their iron hooves down hard on the wooden door of the first floor of the treehouse.

"Boom!"

With the force of the impact, the gate was smashed open, but Cheng Lang and the others had already jumped off the carriage.

Fortunately, there was no one in the mill, but at that moment, elven hunters were rushing down the spiral staircase outside the house tree one after another.

"Xiao Bao! It's up to you now!"

Yun Lan forcefully swung her sword sheath, and the undead Xiao Bao also performed a forward roll and jumped out. Before he could even stand up, he had already drawn his bow and nocked an arrow, and began to intercept the elven hunters running down from upstairs.

"I also."

You can't do it.

Yun Ji stopped the eager Yafso and pointed in the direction behind her, saying, "Throw spores at those half-blood sea monsters."

"Alright!" Yafso readily switched targets.

At the same time, Yun Lan, holding up her skirt with one hand and carrying a rapier in the other, walked into the first floor that had been knocked open.

It looks like a real mill, but the millstone isn't turning.

"Is this really just a mill?"

"This is the Truth Mill"

Without turning her head, Yun Lan explained to Cheng Lang, who had asked the question behind her, "It's also the headquarters of the Elf Hunters."

"Why is it in the mill?" Shenba asked curiously.

"Because the commander who founded the Hunter Corps was the son of a miller, and he founded it in his own mill."

The first group of hunters swore their allegiance around the millstone. The answer, however, came from Gerta, who had followed them in.

"That's right"

Yun Lan said, "Mr. Shenba, please lift the carpet on the left side of the millstone."

"It is my pleasure, Your Highness."

Shenba gave a perfunctory bow with his hand on his chest, then swung his scythe, hooked it onto the carpet, and pulled hard.

Once the carpet was pulled aside, everyone immediately noticed an iron door on the floor.

“If I remember correctly, the key is in the filling port on the millstone,” Yun Lan said.

"Boom!"

Cheng Lang didn't care about anything else and directly cracked his whip, causing the anchor hook that Vanhart had helped to build to smash into the ground.

Under his control, the anchor hook transformed into the size of a real anchor before hitting the ground, and with its immense weight, it easily smashed open the iron gate.

“What a coincidence, I have the key too,” Cheng Lang said as he put away the whip and anchor hook.

"I made a stupid mistake."

As Yun Lan spoke, she lifted the hem of her skirt and walked towards the secret passage hidden beneath the floor, explaining, "This secret passage leads directly to the base of the Verdant Sacred Tree, where there is another tree hollow used to recognize and bless the elves."

After a brief pause, Yun Lan added, "It's specifically used to bless dark elves."

"What special blessing?" Yun Ji exclaimed in surprise.

"Specifically used to bless dark elves"

Yun Lan repeated, “Almost all elves know that the Verdant Hunters were founded in the Blood Mill, but few know that the first Verdant Hunters were actually dark elves.”

"Few outsiders know about this, so how did you find out?"

The question was not asked by Cheng Lang or the others, but by a man who emerged from the broken-open secret passage.

(End of this chapter)