Path of Light.

Chapter 179 180. Bad News

"Is this the Nightmare Vine?"

Although Roy hadn't seen it, he had seen the introduction about the nightmare vine in the album.

This is a very rare magical herb. Magic pharmacists can use nightmare vines to prepare wizard oil, special shadow energy potions, hypnotic potions, etc. It is very valuable in the magic market.

But how much it's worth, Roy doesn't know.

Claire covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, and picked a few pea-sized dark purple flower buds from this short section of nightmare vine, carefully put them into a glass bottle, and closed the cork tightly before taking out the handkerchief. Come down and say to Roy:

"This is the bud of the nightmare vine. This nightmare vine actually bloomed. No wonder it can make all the elves on the Nautilus fall into a nightmare. It turns out that we have inhaled the pollen of the nightmare vine. It would be great if we could collect the pollen Oh, these pollen are worth more than the nightmare vines!"

After Claire finished speaking, he threw the glass bottle to Roy, pointed to a section of nightmare vine in Roy's hand, and said:

"Just this part, you can take it to the pharmacy and sell it."

There was a knock on the door, and Claire walked to the cabin door and pushed it open.

Edith, who was wearing a leather armor, stood outside the door with her hands behind her back, looked into the cabin with a smile, saw Roy sitting on the bed, and said to him:

"Listen to Claire, a Naga Sea warrior took you away."

Roy stood up quickly and asked Edith to come in.

"Well, he wants to cut some nightmare vines, it's on the reef not far away..."

As Roy said, he showed Edith the piece of nightmare vine on the table.

Edith didn't expect to go out to sea to play, not only encountered a water ghost attacking the ship, but also saw this rare magic herb.

"Nightmare vines? That thing actually grew on the reef. It's because all the elves in our boat fell into a coma. It turns out that this thing is causing the trouble..."

Edith immediately found out the culprit who caused all the elves on board to fall into a nightmare.

"That Naga warrior brought you to the nightmare vine, did you cut down the nightmare vine?"

Edith was a little curious, so she asked Roy.

Roy said:
"Well, there are still many Naga sea warriors on the reef island who have fallen into nightmares. We directly found the nightmare vine and chopped it down."

"It's still a nightmare vine in flowering stage."

Edith picked up the nightmare vine and exclaimed when she saw a flower bud on it.

……

Edith, Roy, and Claire came to the deck. The Nautilus had already raised its sails and was heading towards Castletown. At this time, the tide had risen, and the reef island had long since disappeared into the sea.

From a distance, it is full of endless blue water.

"This nightmare vine actually grows in the sea..." Claire was still a little surprised until now.

Edith leaned on the ship's side with both hands, looked at the disappearing sea reef in the distance, and said:
"The reason why this nightmare vine can control water ghosts is probably because those water ghosts are the flower fertilizer of this nightmare vine. Last night, a group of Naga Sea Tribe just happened to want to cut down this nightmare vine. During the flowering period, when the tide receded, it appeared from the sea reef, and our Nautilus happened to appear near the sea reef. It thought that our Nautilus was also a huge threat, so it spread pollen wantonly and released the sleeping cloud, let us Falling into a nightmare, and then manipulating the water ghost to kill us in the dream."

"It's just that it failed in the end. The nightmare vine, which was in flowering period, was unfortunately not cut down." Claire sighed.

Edith turned her head to look at Claire and said:
"If you two hadn't woken up in time, I'm afraid our entire ship of elves would have turned into a boat of water ghosts last night. There are so many water ghosts here, maybe they were all passing crew members killed by the nightmare vine."

After hearing what Edith said, Claire and Roy realized that it was really possible...

Calm was restored on the Nautilus, the deck had been carefully scrubbed, and the disgusting stench was gone.

The breakfast of the elves is very simple, fruit tea and various fruits, and some elf biscuits.

Roy tasted this kind of elf army ration, which is said to keep you hungry for five days. It feels like a soda cracker, with a very crispy taste.

Probably because of fighting all night, the Silver Moon elves were a little tired, and there were not a few elves who were willing to get up and have breakfast.

But during breakfast, Roy and Claire saw Martina and Shirley, and the four of them simply sat at the same dining table and talked about the dangerous experience last night. Martina and Shirley were very grateful to Roy Yi and Claire.

She even implicitly said that if she attends such a dance next time, she can still be their female partner.

While eating breakfast, Martina kept staring at Claire, with naked eyes as if she wanted to eat Claire in one bite.

After finally finishing breakfast, Claire quickly found an excuse and slipped back into the cabin with Roy.

The elves are more willing to thank Claire than Roy.

The Nautilus turned back in a 'Z' shape in the sea and returned to Castleton Harbor against the sea breeze.

Claire rewrote the tune in the cabin, and after he stopped writing, he did not forget to say to Roy:

"No wonder Instructor Nora wants to pull you into her adventure group, she really has vision..."

Roy smiled and said nothing.

In fact, he didn't understand what the holy light seed in his body was.

……

The Nautilus docked at the beautiful Castleton Harbor on time, and a row of carriages had long been waiting on the port pier.

The young Silvermoon elves stepped off the Nautilus, boarded the carriage, and left Castletown Harbor...

Sitting in the carriage, still chatting about last night's battle.

Roy said goodbye to Claire at the pier, but instead of going home directly, he walked to the gate of the Statue of Liberty.

Roy found several carriages parked at the gate of the temple, and one of the carriages had the emblem of the Port Wharf Guard. A bad feeling came from the bottom of his heart. He quickly opened the gate and walked into the yard.

Just in front of the main hall of the temple, two elf patrols were chatting with High Priest Reed.

Roy ran over quickly, looked at Priest Reed and asked, "Teacher, what happened here?"

Priest Reed turned to look at Roy and said to him, "Roy, you're back."

He casually pointed to the side hall of the temple, and said, "Go and see Jasper!"

Roy's heart seemed to be hit hard with a fist.

He only felt that his legs were a little weak, and he quickly walked towards the side hall.

If Jasper had only been injured, he wouldn't be in the wing of the temple.

Walking into the side hall, he saw a coffin in front of the high platform. Just as Roy thought, Jasper was lying in the wooden coffin with a pale face.

Roy held the door with his hands, calmed down, and then walked slowly to the wooden coffin.

There was a red line on Jasper's throat, which must have been cut open by some sharp weapon. After the blood flowed out, there was no trace of blood on his body.

Apart from this wound, Jasper didn't have any other wounds all over his body. With his eyes closed, he seemed to be in a deep sleep, and there was no distorted and painful expression on his face.

Priest Reed should have finished baptizing him. He was wearing a suit of robes for a trainee priest, with his hands in prayer on his chest.

Roy held the edge of the wooden coffin with both hands, a familiar voice came from behind, and the elf patrol came over and said to him:
"There was no trace of a fight. Someone secretly cut his throat. He didn't even struggle. He died on the bed in the dormitory. The blood soaked the quilt of the bed. You went to sea to attend a dance at noon yesterday?"

The elf patrol stared at Roy.

Roy nodded and said, "I left the port yesterday afternoon on the Nautilus, and just landed..."

The elf patrol nodded: "Your suspicion has been ruled out for the time being, but we will further verify the situation later."

Roy was noncommittal, but asked, "Are there any clues about the murderer?"

The Elven Patrol is blunt:

"Currently the trainee priest Abt has a major suspicion. We are looking for his traces. Someone saw the temple where he left in the morning."

"About?" Roy was taken aback.

He and Jasper have been friends for many years, especially since Abbott has always been Jasper's best partner, and Abbott likes to echo what Jasper says...

It was only recently that the two had a little conflict, and it was all caused by the gray dwarf pirate treasure.

Jasper felt that the treasure was a trap, but Abbott was a little obsessed with that treasure...

Roy lifted Jasper's priest's robe, and sure enough, Jasper's magic pocket was gone.

Roy didn't understand. He knew that Abbott had always wanted to go treasure hunting, but he didn't expect him to be so eager.

"Have you thought about where Abt will be hiding?" Elf patrol asked Roy.

"The three of us jointly own a ship called the Black Pearl, which is on the beach on the west side of Castletown Harbour."

"I know this. Our captain told Jasper himself when the shipwreck was given to you. Back then, we also hoped that your three trainee priests could purify the souls in the shipwreck. Otherwise, those souls would run away at night." It’s scary on the beach, and I’ll ask you to deal with it then!” The elf patrol said, “Do you mind if I go to your boat to have a look?”

Roy nodded.

The two came to the Black Pearl, and the elf patrol inspected the ship, especially inspecting Abt's room, and found no trace left by Abt.

Abbott has hardly been on the Black Pearl recently.

Without any clues, the elf patrol left the Black Pearl.

Returning to the Temple of Liberty, several carriages parked at the entrance of the temple have already left.

Priest Reed was sitting by the pool in the vestibule. Originally, the Statue of Liberty in the middle of the pool was still spraying water, but now the water in the pool had grown a layer of moss.

The Statue of Liberty also looks a bit worn out.

The inside of the temple was very quiet, and Roy's leather boots stepped on the stone road, making clear footsteps.

Priest Reed looked back at Roy with a wry smile on his face...

(End of this chapter)