Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 45 Qin Jinyan
“I’ve never been inside.”

When Cheng Lang reached the top of the mound, Yun Ji said, "I don't know what it's like inside either."

"You've never been in there?"

"I can't produce a cup of Poseidon's blood," Yun Ji explained in a low voice, "Before I came here, I used these undead to hone my skills."

"Shenba was also trained here?"

Cheng Lang inexplicably thought of the last time he fought with the siren, when Shenba used the siren's corpse as a weapon in a peculiar way.

"Fighting is prohibited in other places in Pirate City," Yun Ji gave a tactful affirmative answer.

"Let's go, I brought the blood of Poseidon."

Cheng Lang said this and stepped into the dark gap where the ship was broken.

However, he didn't expect that his foot would miss the target. Not only that, he immediately fell into the icy sea!
Before he turned around to remind her, Yun Ji also fell in with a scream, but strangely, neither of them heard the sound of falling into the water.

Not only that, the water wasn't as dark as the gap they had just entered. Instead, a faint blue light emanated from somewhere. And in the far distance, there was a flickering red light.

Yun Ji tried to float up but couldn't find an exit, so she quickly pulled up the mask of the sea snake combat suit at her neck to cover her mouth and nose. Then Cheng Lang saw fine bubbles coming out from around the mask.

Patting Cheng Lang's arm, Yun Ji pointed to the flashing red light in the distance and then swam over.

Seeing this, Cheng Lang simply took out the whip and wrapped it around the other person's waist, and swam towards the red light with her at a faster speed.

After all, the ship's heart gave him the ability to breathe underwater, but he was not sure how long Yun Ji could hold on.

Perhaps the sea snake combat suit really did have some added underwater capabilities, so even though he was dragging a person with a whip, he didn't feel much increased resistance.

But looking at the way Yun Ji covered her mask with her hands, we could guess that she might not be able to hold on for long.

"Don't move! Otherwise you won't last even longer!"

Cheng Lang gave a reminder, then stepped on the water even harder, leading the other person to swim towards the flashing red light.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes passed. Seeing that Yun Ji was about to lose the mask, Cheng Lang finally saw everything around the red light. It was an underwater cave entrance. On one side of the cave entrance, there was a red ship lamp hanging. The ship lamp was even in the shape of an octopus.

Without taking time to look closely, he stomped the water hard again and swung the whip, throwing the almost suffocated Yun Ji into the cave. Then he swung the whip again to wrap around the boat light at the cave entrance to gain leverage and rushed in at a speed not much slower than Yun Ji.

He took Yun Ji in his arms and used the momentum to move forward. The two of them finally left the water half a second before Yun Ji was about to choke.

"Wow!"

Amidst the splashing water, the two emerged from the water one after another, and then Cheng Lang heard Yun Ji's rapid breathing beside him.

"Hurry up and get the boat light behind you," Yun Ji reminded while breathing heavily.

Cheng Lang didn't dare to delay and didn't have time to ask any further questions. He turned around and dived underwater back to the cave entrance, took down the red boat light and swam back to Yun Ji's side.

"just"

Yun Ji took another breath and said, "This ship's lantern has sent a light signal. It will ensure our safety if we enter the cemetery with the lantern."

"Teach me how to interpret the light signals when you get back."

As Cheng Lang spoke, he had already dragged Yun Ji forward under the illumination of the red light, and soon they stepped out of the water on the wide steps.

"There's a pirate cemetery outside every major city, and I heard that all the tombs will eventually be together."

After catching her breath, Yun Ji introduced, "But I never knew a cemetery would be like this."

"What's it like here?"

Cheng Lang asked. Although he was holding a red ship lantern, it could only illuminate an area of ​​two or three meters around him. All he could see was the stone road under his feet and the corridor walls on both sides with various sea monsters and sirens carved on them.

“We are in a corridor.”

Yun Ji walked behind Cheng Lang and introduced, "The walls on both sides are covered with reliefs of various ancient sea monsters and sirens. About two stories up, stone coffins stacked on top of each other begin to appear. These coffins are all carved with anchors and pirate flags, and there are also groups of numbers.

I... I could actually see the end of my head."

"What's ahead?" Cheng Lang asked.

"Front."

Yun Ji lowered her head and looked straight ahead. "There was a very large stone table far ahead. Now it's gone. There's only a stone table, but there seems to be something lying on the table."

Hearing this, Cheng Lang secretly became more alert, and he and Yun Ji behind him also became more alert and walked forward step by step.

The corridor was very long, perhaps several kilometers in length. Behind him, Yun Ji's judgment was more accurate. "I'd guess this corridor is about a mile long."

"Can you see that far?"

"Normally, I can't," Yun Ji whispered, "but here, my eyesight seems to have improved."

"Do you think this road is dangerous?" Cheng Lang asked in a low voice.

“I can’t see it.”

"Go slowly, we have plenty of time."

“We don’t have much time”

Yun Ji whispered, "The Pirate Cemetery will disappear during the day. We need to leave here before dawn, otherwise we might end up staying here."

“Keep your distance from me”

As Cheng Lang spoke, he walked faster and tightened his grip on the whip, ready to swing it out and grab anything at any time.

However, contrary to his expectations, there was no danger or ambush along the way. In fact, his eyesight seemed to have improved as time went by.

As his footsteps became more and more hurried, Cheng Lang gradually came into sight of the stone table at the end of the corridor. At the same time, he and Yun Ji heard the even... even snoring sounds.

After walking a few steps forward, Cheng Lang raised the red ship lantern in his hand, and then he saw an octopus sleeping soundly lying on the huge stone table. Among the scattered tentacles, there was even a snot bubble that kept getting bigger and smaller with the snoring, but never burst.

Let's just call it a snot bubble
Cheng Lang continued to look at it. The octopus was wearing a golden crown on its head, and the crown was inlaid with a large number of gems that reflected charming light.

"Should we wake him up?" Yun Ji stood on tiptoe and whispered in Cheng Lang's ear.

"Is he Panini?" Cheng Lang asked in a low voice.

"I guess so," Yun Ji whispered, "but I've never met Lord Panini."

After a moment of thought, Cheng Lang took out a cup of Poseidon's blood from his pocket and gently placed it on the large stone table.

Almost as soon as his hand left the blood of Poseidon, the sleeping octopus reacted immediately.

"Snapped!"

The snot bubbles between the tentacles made crisp bursting sounds, and the octopus also let out a cry of surprise, then "stood up" with several tentacles. At that moment, Cheng Lang even subconsciously thought of the kitten that was awakened from its sleep and its fur stood up - although this octopus had no hair at all.

Using one tentacle to straighten the crooked crown, the octopus's other tentacle quickly scooped up the cup of Poseidon's blood. At the same time, Cheng Lang heard a childlike voice saying, "How could I have forgotten my Poseidon's blood here?"

"Mr. Panini, that is the blood of Poseidon that I brought." Cheng Lang reminded.

"That's my Poseidon's blood." As the octopus spoke, he had already used his tentacles to stuff the cup of Poseidon's blood into his mouth.

"Well, it's yours." Cheng Lang didn't argue. "I also brought a cup of Poseidon's blood."

"Where is it? Where is it? Give it to me quickly!" the octopus asked anxiously.

"I came here following the guidance of a treasure map."

Cheng Lang was completely determined to get what was hidden here first.

"Show me the treasure map"

As the octopus spoke, it stretched out a tentacle towards Cheng Lang. As they got closer, Cheng Lang discovered that the tentacle actually wore a thick gold ring inlaid with gems.

"Please wait"

As Cheng Lang spoke, he took out the treasure map of Count Walesa from his arms and handed it to the other party.

The octopus used its tentacles to roll up the treasure map, but without even looking at it, it stuffed it into its mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it. It then mumbled incoherently, "It's Mr. Walesa. Wait here."

Before he could finish his words, the octopus shot up and flew over his head, then disappeared.

As Yun Ji and Yun Ji looked at each other in bewilderment, they both heard the friction sound of the sarcophagus above their heads, as if a huge stone drawer was being opened.

Just a moment later, the octopus returned to the stone table with a pitifully small box in one of its tentacle.

"This is what Mr. Walesa left behind"

The octopus said, and stretched out a tentacle towards Cheng Lang again, "Give me the blood, and then I will send you away."

"Can I ask a trivial question?"

While Cheng Lang was speaking, he had already taken out the second cup of Poseidon's blood and handed it to the other party. He didn't mind being cheated out of a cup of Poseidon's blood by the other party. He even hoped that he could feed this octopus like he did with Swallow Island. That would be a profit.

"Since you bought me a drink, feel free to ask any questions you have."

The octopus said this as he rolled up the blood of Poseidon, but this time, he did not put the cup of Poseidon's blood into his mouth.

"Is this the only box Walesa left behind?" Cheng Lang asked, "I'm not doubting your credibility, but I just find it hard to accept."

"There's only this box." Octopus pushed the box to Cheng Lang, "Take these things and leave quickly." "Thank you."

Cheng Lang picked up the box and began to express his gratitude, but before he could finish his thanks, the two of them felt empty again!
Almost subconsciously, Cheng Lang swung the whip towards Yun Ji beside him.

However, before the whip could wrap around the opponent's waist, and before Yun Ji could finish inhaling, the ground under their feet became solid again.

Caught off guard, they both fell down in a particularly awkward manner, and there was a thud - their heads hit each other.

Covering their heads and looking around with grimace, they found themselves back next to the broken boat on top of the mound.

Under the mound, there were still a large number of undead skeletons wandering in the cemetery, but unfortunately, at this moment, an undead who was wiping his skull with leaves noticed them, so that he almost dropped the white skull in his arms.

"Run!"

As Yun Ji spoke, she rushed forward and pulled out her dagger to pick up the skull before it returned to the undead's hand. Then, as if playing tennis, she used the dagger in her hand to hit the skull away.

Cheng Lang's reaction was just a beat slow. He swung the whip, wrapped it around the headless skeleton, and swung it in the opposite direction of the skull.

"Snapped!"

The skull that was knocked away by Yun Ji crashed into the chest cavity of another undead, while the headless skeleton that was thrown out by Cheng Lang hung on the top of an anchor.

Suddenly, the surrounding undead split into three groups, either rushing towards the two locations where the noise came from, or rushing towards Yun Ji and Cheng Lang.

It was not until this moment that Cheng Lang truly realized Yun Ji's fighting ability.

As she dodged and moved, the undead skeletons that swarmed over her had their skulls ripped off by the two slender daggers before they could even touch her body.

After the skeletons whose heads were blown off collided with each other, they had no time to attack Yun Ji again. Instead, they were busy groping for their skulls. Some of them were even so cruel as to pull out the skulls from other undead and put them on their own necks.

Seeing the weak points of these undead souls clearly, Cheng Lang also waved his whip and plucked away the white skulls again and again. In the chaos, he followed Yun Ji to the edge of the cemetery, and then they each used their own means to climb over the low wall.

"Since you bought me a drink, I'll delay the disappearance of Walesa's treasure maps for a day."

Behind the two of them, on the watchtower of the broken ship's mast on top of the mound, an inconspicuous black octopus muttered something in a low voice, then climbed up the shabby and moldy mast and quietly slipped into the dark cabin.

"Won't they rush out?" Cheng Lang asked as he followed Yun Ji over the low wall.

"No," said Yun Ji, and she ran towards the carriage in the distance using the shadows.

"Then why are you in such a hurry?" Cheng Lang asked as he ran. He found that in terms of speed, he could not catch up with Yun Ji at all, just like the Valkyrie could not catch up with the Honest Man.

"Once you get the treasure, all the treasure maps left by Count Walesa will disappear."

Yun Ji whispered, "So we have to leave quickly to get rid of suspicion, even if no one knows his treasure is hidden here."

Before he finished speaking, Yun Ji had already jumped onto the carriage and started to turn around, and Cheng Lang immediately climbed into the cargo bed with a tarpaulin.

"cloak"

Cheng Lang said as he handed a cloak to Yun Ji, who immediately gave the reins a strong shake to get the carriage moving. She then took the cloak, put it on, and put on the hood. At the same time, Cheng Lang also put on his cloak and the hood.

The two of them took a carriage back to the dock town, but Yun Ji was not in a hurry to go back. Instead, she took Cheng Lang to casually buy some daily necessities and daily necessities.

"Captain, when do you plan to leave Pirate City?" asked Yun Ji while buying a bag of fruit.

“Not in a hurry”

Cheng Lang replied that he had not yet decided where to go next, and that this pirate city was much better than he had imagined, so he had to at least take a good look around here.

Hearing this, Yun Ji didn't ask any more questions. She continued to drive her horse through the streets and alleys and bought a lot of things before returning to her family's inn.

After helping the brother and sister unload the various things they had bought, Yun Ji pulled Shen Ba, who was about to ask them questions, back to their respective rooms on the first floor, making it clear that she was not interested in what was in the treasure left by Count Walesa.

Returning to his room alone, Cheng Lang drew the curtains and took off his hypocritical mask before taking out the wooden box he had brought back.

The box was so small that, by analogy, it was about the same size as the old-fashioned lunch boxes in the world he was familiar with.

There was no lock on the wooden box, only a seal covering all the gaps between the lid and the box. There was nothing written on the seal.

After a moment's hesitation, he carefully tore off the seal and then opened the wooden box.

What he didn't expect was that the box was already pitifully small, but the things inside were even smaller, just a parchment treasure map and a golden key.

Want to play the box game with me?

Cheng Lang muttered something while cursing. He was already beginning to feel bad about the two cups of Poseidon's blood he had just given away.

He picked up the key and took a look at it. Cheng Lang couldn't help but shook his head. Apart from the special material, there didn't seem to be anything special about it. Or perhaps, he couldn't see anything special about it at all.

Putting it aside for the time being, Cheng Lang picked up the parchment treasure map, untied the hemp rope on it and unfolded it.

"Another freaking brain teaser from another world, damn it!"

"Bang!"

Cheng Lang stood up suddenly, and the chair behind him slammed to the ground. But looking at Cheng Lang again, his face was full of horror and astonishment!

"How... How is it possible? How is it possible?"

Cheng Lang stared blankly at the contents written on the treasure map. There were only five words on it.
Five traditional Chinese characters!
"The Great Ming Qin Jinyan? The Great Ming Qin Jinyan? The Great Ming Qin Jinyan!"

Just as he read out these five traditional Chinese characters that were extremely familiar yet unfamiliar to him in horror, the five words on the parchment disappeared.

Immediately afterwards, rows of tiny regular script appeared on the parchment from top to bottom and from left to right!
Suppressing the excitement, shock and astonishment in his heart, Cheng Lang read the contents of the parchment word by word.

"I am Qin Jinyan, a member of the Imperial Guards of the Ming Dynasty. I have spent half my life loyally following the emperor, and the other half as a pirate.

He fell into the sea in a desperate situation, and when he woke up, he survived in another world and received an enlightenment.

After that, he searched the starry sea for the way home for many years, but he was already very old. Although he had a beautiful woman who was always by his side and loyal to him, as well as countless treasures and dozens of warships, regrettably, in his old age, he only found a piece of reverse scale.

Fortunately, the Valkyrie has shown mercy and given me a chance to find a way out of all the difficulties in my old age.

After thinking about it day and night, he voluntarily gave away all his wealth and disbanded the fleet, just to buy a moment's respite for the local sailors and people to resist the sea monster.

I also hide the gift of the Valkyrie on the Savage Island in the Sea of ​​Despair, hoping for a destined lover. I also hide my tomb on the Misty Island in the Sea of ​​Despair, quietly waiting for future generations to pay their respects and hope to hear the voice of my hometown.

Cheng Lang shivered involuntarily and watched the Chinese characters on the letter disappear one by one. Finally, even the letter turned into dust and fell from his fingers, as if it had never existed.

After taking a deep breath, Cheng Lang picked up the golden key again, put on a hypocritical mask in a panic and ran downstairs. Under the puzzled gazes of the people who heard the noise, he left the hostel and hurriedly ran towards the pier.

"What's wrong with the captain?" asked the sleepy Yafuso standing at the stairs.

"do not know"

Yun Ji shook her head and after thinking for a moment, she said, "Pirate City is safe enough. Let's be patient and wait."

"Will the captain get lost?"

Shenba asked worriedly, "Do you want me to follow him?"

"Alright"

After a brief hesitation, Yun Ji nodded, "Go after him, but remember to control your mouth and curiosity."

"Don't worry!" Shenba said, and ran out of the hostel, deliberately keeping a distance from Cheng Lang.

At this time, Cheng Lang didn't notice Shenba behind him. He hurried all the way to the dock and found the berth where the Valkyrie was docked. He didn't even have time to say hello to the little monkey who was still helping them watch the boat before running into the dark stern deck.

After he ran into the captain's room and lit the ship's lights, he immediately pulled the heavy curtains, then went into the stair compartment, closed the door and found the wooden box that he had not been able to open since he got it on the Savage Island.

Cheng Lang took out the key he had just obtained, but before he could find the keyhole, the key turned into a golden stream of light and attached to the box. At the same time, he heard the sound of the lock opening.

Carefully opening the box, Cheng Lang finally saw what was inside.

There were only three things in it. The first was an eight-sided metal bowl the size of an ashtray.

Inside the metal bowl, there was a liquid similar to mercury, and a dumpling-sized sailboat was floating on it.

He got closer to look at the small sailboat in the metal bowl and his eyes widened involuntarily. This was the Valkyrie that had been shrunk countless times!
The second thing I saw was a pair of sea-blue divination blocks the size of dumplings.

I picked up the pair of divination blocks and examined them. They were no different in shape from the ones I used to throw before going out to sea in my own world. However, the material was neither bamboo nor wood. It felt cool to the touch yet exceptionally warm.

Under the pair of divination blocks, there was a piece of paper. When I opened it, I saw two lines of small regular script written on it:

Throw the Holy Grail three times in a row to escape from the sea. Throw the Holy Grail nine times in a row to find the location of the reverse scale.

With a clear mind and a direction to travel, you throw the dice and cut off one finger, and the journey home is useless.

Just like the previous letter, this note turned to dust the moment Cheng Lang finished reading it.

Taking another deep breath, he picked up the third object, this time a bell-shaped waist badge the size of a cigarette box made of bone and ivory.

Under the badge was a sea chart, a sea chart pointing to the Misty Island in the Sea of ​​Despair.

Fortunately, this nautical chart did not disappear like the note or the earlier letter.

Looking at the waist badge again, the three words "Jinyiwei" are engraved from right to left on the top, while the three words "Qin Jinyan" are engraved from top to bottom in the middle.

On the other side, there is an image of a three-masted sailing ship that seems to be hidden in the fog. On the deck of this sailing ship, you can vaguely see figures holding knives standing there.

"This world is starting to become interesting," Cheng Lang muttered to himself as he looked at the three things in the box.

(End of this chapter)