Scholar Eli pushed up his glasses and gave a suggestion to Lin Gui and the other two with a smile.
"You should take a stroll around Twin Reefs."
"It’s a small place, but if you look closely, you can find many interesting things."
Lin Gui glanced at Freya in the distance, feeling a bit hesitant.
"Without Captain Freya’s permission, we shouldn't just wander off."
The scholar laughed upon hearing this.
"After spending these past few days together, everyone stopped seeing you as outsiders long ago."
"That girl Betty often says she wants to change teachers and become your apprentice."
Remembering the girl who couldn't go three sentences without mentioning Levitation, Lin Gui couldn't help but chuckle.
"Did Captain Freya teach her a lesson?"
"Naturally," the scholar smiled. "She punished her by making her check the train's concealment magic runes."
"So, relax. No need to be so formal."
As he spoke, he waved to Freya in the distance and pointed toward Lin Gui and the others.
Freya looked over and waved back with a smile, giving her unspoken permission.
Theia immediately jumped up with excitement.
She grabbed Eve with one hand and yanked Lin Gui with the other.
"Let's go, let's go!"
She dragged the two of them toward the unique residential areas.
As they walked past several crooked stone houses, Lin Gui’s gaze passed through the gaps between the buildings,
Once again turning toward that deathly still, pitch-black sea.
Recalling what the scholar had told him about how the North Wind caravan would cross the Forbidden Zone tomorrow,
Lin Gui couldn't help but frown unconsciously.
A pair of hands suddenly cupped his face, forcing his head to turn back.
Theia glared at him, puffing out her cheeks.
"Lin Gui! You're not allowed to think about this and that right now!"
"Your primary mission at this moment..."
She let go of his face and gestured emphatically.
"Is to keep Eve and me company!"
"Exploring! The! Island!"
Her eyes sparkled.
"This is the first time I've ever seen the sea or set foot on an island!"
Under Lin Gui's helpless gaze, Theia began to pull and drag him again.
"Come on, come on!"
In the end, Lin Gui could only let her drag him along, following beside a softly smiling Eve,
Toward the little island standing at the threshold of the Forbidden Zone.
They passed through the clusters of noisy goblin stone houses,
Watching the green-skinned little fellows decorate their lintels with coral and seashells.
Then they walked past the wet spiral towers of the sea folk,
Where blurry shadows swam behind transparent fish bladder windows.
The two vastly different architectural styles were squeezed together,
Yet they possessed a strange sense of harmony.
Theia was curious about everything,
Standing on her tiptoes to watch the goblins mend tattered fishing nets,
Then squatting by the roadside to study the shiny beads on the sea folk stalls.
Eve followed quietly by Lin Gui’s side,
Occasionally pausing to feel the salty, damp sea breeze brushing over the reefs.
As Lin Gui was dragged through the narrow alleys by Theia,
His gaze would always inadvertently,
Pass beyond these exotic sights,
Falling upon that distant Silent Sea that could swallow even light itself.
His brow never fully uncurled.
A wet, cool object suddenly touched Lin Gui’s cheek.
He turned his head to find it was Eve.
She was holding a tiny, iridescent seashell between her fingertips.
"If anxiety can’t solve the problem," she said with a faint smile, "you might as well let it go for now."
"Just let nature take its course."
"Since the prophecy shows we will arrive successfully..."
"Then this time, we will surely cross through safely."
Lin Gui raised an eyebrow. "The word 'surely' shouldn't come from the mouth of someone who can perform Prophecy."
Eve smiled but said nothing.
However, she was right.
Since they had already reached the edge of the Silent Sea, they could only trust the North Wind caravan.
Even if the method they were to use tomorrow was extremely risky.
Lin Gui let out a sigh, his mind steadying slightly.
Only then did he have the frame of mind to look around,
Finding himself standing in a small market, in front of a sea folk stall.
The stall owner was a typical mermaid,
She had the beautiful face of a human woman, with translucent, gill-like thin fins connected behind her ears,
And from the waist down, she was covered in silver-blue scales that extended into a powerful fish tail.
Mermaids were the branch of sea folk whose appearance was closest to the human race.
Sea folk, like beastmen, encompassed many strange and varied races.
On the way here, Theia had curiously approached a member of the crab folk,
Reaching out to tap on the other's heavy carapace,
Only to be driven back by the waving of massive claws.
A series of gurgling bubble sounds burst from its mouth-parts lined with fine teeth.
Lin Gui and the others couldn't understand a word of it.
Marine humanoids like these, with their own languages, were also members of the sea folk.
Lin Gui looked around and was startled to find that Theia was gone.
"She went back to the carriage to get some things," Eve explained softly.
"They only accept bartering here."
"She said she was going to get some daily necessities to trade."
"I see."
Lin Gui crouched down to look at the items the mermaid vendor had on display.
Most were beautiful pearls, coral, and unique shells.
Many sea goods bore obvious demonic characteristics,
Such as black shells with fine scales,
Or dark-red coral covered in sharp spikes.
There were even some materials from deep-sea demons.
Lin Gui didn't know much about deep-sea demons, but that didn't stop him from asking.
"This," he pointed to a bone glowing with an eerie green phosphorus light, "what kind of demon is this from?"
"And this," he pointed to a clump of seaweed that writhed like a cluster of nerves, "did it move when it was alive?"
The mermaid vendor offered a sweet smile, her voice like waves gently lapping against the reefs.
"That is the finger bone of a drowned person, taken from a Specter Demon wandering the shallow waters of the Black Reef Sea."
"And this seaweed is the dried remains of Soul-Devouring Algae. It does indeed entangle prey when alive."
Her voice was extremely pleasing; it was a talent of the merfolk.
On the slave market, a mermaid with a lovely face and a beautiful singing voice,
Could command a price far higher than even an elven slave.
But for some reason, they hadn't been seen much in recent years.
Lin Gui asked about each item, mostly just looking.
Eventually, his gaze was drawn to an inconspicuous, crack-filled glass bead.
It was mixed in with a pile of shiny trinkets, looking dusty and gray,
But Lin Gui felt as if a glimmer of light had flashed through its shattered depths for a split second.
Lin Gui picked up the cracked glass bead,
Holding it up against the sunlight, but found nothing special about it.
"What is this?" he asked the mermaid vendor.
The mermaid blinked her large, beautiful eyes and hesitated for a moment,
Then spoke in a mysterious tone:
"This was salvaged from a shipwreck in the depths of the Silent Sea!"
"Legend says it is the mana vessel of an ancient archmage!"
"At night, it emits an eerie blue light."
"Look at these patterns; they contain ancient wisdom..."
"And look at this luster; it was formed from the condensation of mermaid's tears..."
She sounded more ridiculous as she went on, and she eventually reached a point where she couldn't even keep up the lie.
Lin Gui looked at her, speechless.
This knack for boasting was just like the crooks on land.
He didn't ask further and reached into his mage robes,
Pulling out a half-used but finely made charcoal pen,
And held it out.
"Want to trade?"
The mermaid vendor’s eyes lit up, and she snatched the charcoal pen away,
Turning it over and over in her hands as if she couldn't bear to let it go.
On this island far from the continent, such a refined writing tool was a rare sight.
"Deal!"
She answered decisively, afraid Lin Gui would change his mind,
Carefully putting the charcoal pen away.
And so, the dusty, cracked glass bead ended up in Lin Gui’s hands.
Rate on N.U.
