I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Then it watched as Lu Ban took the dried fish back and ate it in one bite.

The cat was stunned for a moment, its eyes seemed to well up with tears, and it started howling.

Are you the devil?

Drizzt tossed a small dried fish in front of the cat, watched it eat it happily, and then muttered a comment.

"Boss, do you know anything about the Hai family? I heard they can help fishermen have a good harvest?"

Lu Ban asked while eating dried fish.

The shop was deserted and quiet. There were few passersby in the town. The men usually went out to sea to fish early in the morning, while the women, the elderly, and the children stayed at home. This was a typical situation in an agricultural village.

"The Hai family? The Hai family are the benefactors of Kushui Town."

The shop owner's eyes lit up.

"Drywater Town was initially plagued by floods. The tides from the sea would often rush into the village and destroy the fields. Later, a mage from the Gray Tower passed by and suppressed the monsters in the sea, and things finally calmed down a bit."

"But later, the seal probably loosened, and the sea monster came out again. In order to take revenge on the people of the town, it controlled the sea. Since then, there have been no more tides here, and no fish have come. The people here can only go to the deep ocean to fish, and accidents often happen."

"People back then tried offering sacrifices to the sea, from livestock to living people. Sometimes the sea was calm, and sometimes it was no use at all. The town of Drywater was originally very large, but it gradually declined and became what it is now."

"But later, the Hai family came here. They summoned the tides and brought fish. When the fish were at their peak, you could just go to the beach and pick them up. Hey, that was the best time."

"Did you know that the Hai family has a special dance called the Wave Prayer Dance? It's a dance to pray for the tides and guide the fish. Every year during the fish tide season, they hold a ceremony, and it's quite a lively event."

"However, twenty years ago, for some reason, the Hai family did not hold the ceremony on time. Everyone was panicked and surrounded the Hai family mansion, but they could only hear strange noises coming from inside the mansion, and no one responded."

"Seven days later, the Hai family members came out, held the ceremony again, and everything returned to normal."

The shop owner didn't hide anything and talked on and on, as if this part of history was common knowledge and familiar to everyone.

"There are strange noises coming from the Hai family's house?"

Trist picked up his pipe and lit the tobacco.

"I don't know about that. I just heard it from someone else back then."

The shop owner smiled as he wiped the table.

"Why was the ceremony interrupted? Has anything unusual happened in your town since then?"

Drizzt pressed on with more questions.

"I don't know, nothing unusual."

The shop owner seemed reluctant to talk about what happened twenty years ago.

Do you know the Black Queen Mother?

Lu Ban suddenly spoke, causing Trist to break out in a cold sweat.

The shopkeeper's expression turned strange. He stared intently at Lu Ban, and that look reminded Trist of the numb villagers in the village last night, as well as the eerie humanoid monster standing behind the stone statue.

In the blink of an eye, the cheerful atmosphere in the store vanished.

The shop owner was silent for a moment, then uttered a sound that was difficult to understand in a low, eerie, and inhuman tone.

"Gallop..."

The sound was like bubbles bursting in water, with a somewhat murky quality.

Trist felt a chill run down his spine. The shopkeeper who had just been describing the situation in Drywater Town to him suddenly seemed like some kind of monster, and right in front of him.

He pulled out his revolver, aimed it at the shop owner, and was ready to pull the trigger at any moment.

"and many more."

Lu Ban stopped Trist, whose eyes were already bloodshot, and stood between the two of them.

"You know about the Black Queen Mother; she's a common belief in this area, isn't she?"

"Don't mention that name."

The shop owner squeezed out a few difficult words from deep in his throat, as if someone were choking him.

Trist noticed that the shop owner's eyes were wide open, his bulging eyeballs like fish, and blue veins bulged and spread under the skin of his neck and wrists, his whole body was in a state of extreme tension.

"I understand. Let's continue talking about the Hai family."

Lu Ban raised his hand, making a gesture as if trying to soothe the other party.

The shop owner remained tense, but the fear in his eyes had subsided considerably. After a few minutes, he completely reverted to his original self, only looking exhausted. He slumped back behind the counter, ignoring Lu Ban and Trist's shouts.

"The term 'Black Queen Mother' seems to be taboo for the people living here, but this also confirms that the belief in the Black Queen Mother does exist in this area, and even ordinary people know about it."

Lu Ban arrived at a conclusion through reverse thinking.

"The connection between the Hai family and the Black Queen Mother seems to be more than just a simple matter, because if the Black Queen Mother and the Hai family were connected, the boss wouldn't have revealed these things about the Hai family so easily."

"...Indeed, if the Hai family wanted to deliberately conceal it, they should have been able to make the people in the town stop mentioning the events of twenty years ago."

Still shaken, Trist glanced at his boss huddled in the corner before looking at Lu Ban.

At this moment, Lu Ban bent down and snatched the food from the cat's mouth, which was munching on dried fish, and even hissed at the cat.

"Cats cannot eat salty food because their kidneys cannot break down salt."

He put the dried fish into his mouth.

"..."

Trist couldn't tell whether the shop owner who suddenly changed his expression was more terrifying, or the companion who was fighting with the cat for dried fish.

"Why don't we go ask that person?"

Lu Ban carefully put the remaining dried fish into his pocket, then pointed behind Trist.

There stood a man dressed in short clothes, with dark skin and a strong build, clearly a fisherman who often went out to sea to fish.

“He’s been standing there since just now.”

Trist looked at the man with suspicion.

The man then spoke in the local dialect, which was difficult to understand even with the help of a translator from Silent Land.

"You must be guests of the Hai family. I have something to discuss with you."

"My sister is the Hai family's bride."

Chapter 070 What are your demands?

"My sister is the Hai family's bride."

After saying that, the man turned his head as if to leave the inn.

Trist glanced at Lu Ban, who had already put away the dried fish. Lu Ban then vigorously stroked the cat's head before getting up and following him.

The two followed the man through the deserted streets until Trist realized that although there was no one on the street, there seemed to be pairs of eyes watching him from behind the old windows of the buildings along the way.

These townspeople, like those in the previous villages, were hostile to outsiders, cautious, and secretly observed them.

Their faces could be vaguely seen, not much different from ordinary people, but their expressions were numb, like zombies or the living dead.

The three of them continued onward until they reached the edge of the town, a place where they could see the sea.

"My name is Ayu. I fish in the east of Kushui Town. My sister's name is Shuangyu. She is fifteen years old this year."

The man pointed to the beach not far away.

As you can see, some women and elderly people are with children, collecting seashells, small crabs and other seafood on the beach.

The beach in the morning is sparkling, and the rising sun dyes the sea golden. You can vaguely see fishing boats in the distance, with white sails swaying in the waves, showing a peaceful and serene atmosphere, which is completely different from the closed and gloomy atmosphere in the town.

What are your demands?

Lu Ban didn't dwell on the differences between the two; instead, he asked directly.

"I want to ask you to save Pisces."

The man's voice suddenly became uncertain, trembling, and filled with even more fear.

"Save your sister? But didn't your sister marry the young master of the Hai family because they were in love?"

Lu Ban asked.

"...Yes, Pisces and the young master of the Hai family do have a very good relationship. She may have really fallen in love with that person, but...but no, that's not love. She's been bewitched, she's been bewitched!"

At this point, the man who called himself Ayu became somewhat agitated.

"You mean, the Hai family used magic or something similar to bewitch your sister and make her become a bride?"

Drizzt took a deep drag of his pipe and exhaled a smoke ring.

"No, no... It's hard for me to tell you, but the Hai family... We all like the Hai family very much. The Hai family is the savior of our town. No, I need to save Pisces. This won't do..."

Ah Yu's words were somewhat vague, making it difficult for people to understand what he was trying to say.

"Wait a minute, we were invited by the Hai family to attend the wedding. Why do you think we can save your sister instead of helping the Hai family?"

Trist noticed something was amiss.

"Because, because you are outsiders."

Ah Yu seemed to have found his footing and finally uttered a sentence that was understandable to everyone.

"Outsiders? Don't you like outsiders?"

As Trist asked, he suddenly remembered Lu Ban, turned around, and saw that Lu Ban was gone.

He hurriedly looked around and discovered that Lu Ban had somehow run into the group of old people and children, and was catching crabs on the beach with one of the children.

"I'm not counting on him anymore..."

Trist continued to look at Ayu.

“Drywater Town doesn’t welcome outsiders. Outsiders won’t gain the Hai family’s trust. I have no choice. I want to save Shuangyu, and I can only rely on you.”

Ah Yu answered in a strange, forceful tone.

"...You said you wanted to save Pisces, but the Hai family is probably the biggest family in your town, right? They can really do whatever they want. Shouldn't marrying into their family be a happy thing?"

Trist thought for a moment and felt that he could get some more information about the mission and the town out of Ayu, so he went along with it.

"No, you're definitely not happy in the Hai family... The people in the Hai family are all very strange."