Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 47: The Lost Seed and the Disappearing Treasure Map

When Cheng Lang opened the door, Yun Ji just came up from downstairs with a steaming hot breakfast.

After letting the other party into the room, Cheng Lang took a curious look at the food he brought. This time, there was no bread, but instead a large plate of long-grain rice with yellow soup.

The plate of rice was topped with a golden fried cutlet of unknown meat and various vegetables that almost covered the rest of the space.

In addition, a bowl of vegetable soup and a plate of fruit were also served.

"Try it, this is the most famous fish fillet rice in the Pirate Market."

Yun Ji said proudly, "This was invented by my best friend and her mother."

"Thank you"

He took the knife and fork handed to him, as well as a pair of chopsticks that seemed to have been brought down from the boat, and asked, "Do you have anything else to do next?"

"No, what's wrong?" asked Yun Ji, who was originally planning to leave.

“I have a business deal here.”

Cheng Lang gestured for the other party to sit down, and while cutting the fish fillet with a dinner knife, he said, "I think I need your help."

"Those strong liquors from the Honest Man?" Yun Ji guessed the answer immediately.

"That's right"

Cheng Lang threw the finished knife aside, picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of golden fried fish fillet coated with breadcrumbs and put it into his mouth. While chewing, he exclaimed, "This fish fillet is really delicious."

"Yafuso has obtained the recipe, and this dish will soon appear in the kitchen of the Valkyrie," said Yun Ji.

"Thank your friend and her mother for me."

Cheng Lang said as he picked up the second fish fillet and put it into his mouth, followed by a large spoonful of chewy long-grain rice. After swallowing it all, he said, "Yun Ji, I'll leave those liquors to you to trade. You decide who to sell them to and how much to sell them for."

"Any other requests?" asked Yun Ji.

“Don’t delay too long.”

Cheng Lang said, "After selling it, purchase enough supplies as soon as possible. Our next stop is the Sea of ​​Despair."

Upon hearing this, Yun Ji's eyes immediately lit up.

"The other thing is the fireworks from the wandering circus."

Cheng Lang continued eating as he said, "If you have anything you want to ask the Wandering Circus, use that firework before you leave. If you don't have anything to ask, ask them if they know how to increase the speed of the boat."

"Are you going to use up that firework so easily?" Yun Ji asked in surprise.

“The right not to use expires”

Cheng Lang said casually, "Right now, everyone still remembers each other, and that's when the firework is most valuable. Once they've forgotten us, they won't care too much even if they use it."

"I understand!"

Yun Ji nodded immediately and then said, "I'll arrange it right away."

“Let those who are willing to buy spirits prepare their own oak barrels”

Cheng Lang said, "Think of a reasonable excuse, like saying our oak barrels are left over from a famous winery and can improve the quality of the wine."

"I'll find a reasonable excuse."

Yun Ji smiled and said that the Valkyrie had a ship bottle, and more than one ship bottle, which was something all the crew members knew.

After sending away the smart and beautiful female sailor, Cheng Lang, who had eaten and drunk his fill, went downstairs with great interest and walked alone towards the pirate market in the bright sunshine.

This so-called pirate market is actually a huge square with stalls of all sizes lined up in rows, and a wide variety of goods are also on sale.

From small items like eye masks, dentures, artificial legs and steel hand hooks to large items like sails, ropes and figureheads, even looted clothes, shoes and male and female mermaid eggs openly sold.

The abundance of goods here is only accompanied by the repeated surprise and the repeated "and this?"

Of course, there are quite a few fakes here, the most common of which are various armors.

As for the treasure map, that thing cannot be faked. Poseidon, the only person who could fake the treasure map, is probably so anemic that he needs to eat brown sugar as a meal.

It is not absolute to say that these armors are fake. After all, some armor powder is used in their forging, but the functions are mostly far from their actual uses.

In addition, Magic Mirror had not returned from his "business trip to study" yet, so even if Cheng Lang had a lot of gold coins in his pocket, he didn't dare to throw them into such a bottomless hole.

Apart from these "fakes", what attracted him most were the stalls selling looted spoils.

The items on these stalls faithfully implemented the principle of "selling whatever we can get, except for the prisoners."

As for prisoners, no one here really wants to sell them.

According to the introduction given by Magic Mirror and Yun Ji on the way to Pirate City, all captives who can be brought to Pirate City will be sent to the Management Committee of Pirate City, which will be responsible for demanding ransom and repatriating the captives.

Corsairs that sent captives not only received higher ransoms, but also saved trouble and could even accumulate "redemption points" from the committee, which could be used as city entry fees and ship parking fees.

Of course, there is no need to worry about those captives who have nowhere to be repatriated and no one to redeem them.

They can basically find a job of "self-salvation" in Pirate City, and most of them will voluntarily choose to stay after redeeming themselves.

All these incredible things completely overturned Cheng Lang's inherent ideas about pirates and pirate cities. Naturally, the more he walked around the pirate market, the more interesting it became.

Stopping by a new stall selling looted spoils, Cheng Lang picked up a large book with an exquisite cover with great interest.

The name of this book is "Siren's Guide", which sounds like a must-have reference book for sailors.

It's just
When he opened the book, he found that although the paintings in it were indeed of sirens, and they were all painted in a realistic style, the paintings were all of busty female sirens without clothes and posing coquettishly. Obviously, this was a book about Liu Bei in another world.

"Boss, how much is it?"

Cheng Lang closed the illustrated book and asked, he was a good man, how could he allow such dirty things to be circulated on the market?

"4 silver coins!"

The middle-aged female owner, with black hair and thick cheeks, winked and hinted, "The illustrated guide is a set of three volumes, upper, middle, and lower. If you buy them together, it's only 10 silver coins."

"Wow!"

Before he could finish his words, ten silver coins accidentally flew from Cheng Lang's hand into hers.

"Get it!"

The boss quickly took out two more books and handed them over, and also gave him an extra thick canvas bag.

After thanking the considerate and charming female boss, Cheng Lang continued to stroll around the garden, secretly flipping through the other two picture books.

"Mad was deceived!"

Cheng Lang cursed inwardly. The second book was about a siren posing in a coquettish manner, and the third book was simply about a sea monster posing in all kinds of coquettish and eye-catching manners.

Cheng Lang stuffed the two books back into his canvas bag with a gloomy look on his face and continued to happily stroll around the market, occasionally buying all kinds of strange but worthless gadgets, or various snacks he had never eaten before.

There was no way. He had been in this world for too short a time and had no good eyesight to tell the good from the bad.

After a whole noon and half an afternoon, Cheng Lang still didn't finish visiting the market and almost got lost in it.

When he finally got out of the market and returned to the inn, Yun Ji and the wine merchant had been waiting there for a long time.

"This is Uncle Shenge," Yun Ji enthusiastically introduced a silver-haired uncle to Cheng Lang.

"Young captain, thank you for your help and care for the siblings." The uncle Shenge politely shook hands with Cheng Lang.

"Uncle Shenge, you're welcome."

While Cheng Lang was being polite, he was also sizing up the other person. Just by hearing the name, he knew that this person must be an elf.

This is indeed the case. Although the other person's temples were shaved down to a layer of stubble, the silver hair on top of his head was exceptionally thick.

It was precisely because of this unique hairstyle that Cheng Lang was able to see the other person's mutilated ears at a glance.

"Uncle Seng runs a pub in Duban Lane."

Yun Ji said at the right moment, "He plans to buy all the liquor we brought, and he has already prepared the barrels."

"That's right"

Shenge said, "I intend to buy all the liquor you brought at the price of 8 gold coins per barrel."

"In that case, let's make the deal now."

Cheng Lang had no intention of bargaining. After all, if he had stolen something, even if he only sold it for one gold coin, let alone eight, he wouldn't lose money. Undoubtedly, his attitude made Shengge even more enthusiastic.

Without wasting time on small talk, Cheng Lang, carrying the various souvenirs he had bought at the market, and his crew members and Shenge walked towards the dock.

From a distance, he saw several carriages loaded with oak barrels waiting in line near the pier.

"What did you say?" Cheng Lang took a few steps behind and asked in a low voice after Yun Ji caught up.

"I said we are a wine ship. The wine barrels on a wine ship are very large and cannot be lifted out of the cabin." Yun Ji explained in a low voice.

"Well done. What's wrong with his... um... ears?" Cheng Lang couldn't help but feel curious.

"His daughter is also a dark elf, but she was exiled by the Elven Principality."

Yun Ji explained, "Then he left the Elven Kingdom to look for his child, and cut off his own ears to show that he no longer existed in this world as an elf."

"did you find it?"

"How is that possible?" Yun Ji sighed.

Hearing this, Cheng Lang asked no more questions and stepped onto the gangway back to the Valkyrie. He put down the things in his hands first, and then called on Shenge's men to throw the oak barrels they brought from the open deck through the open ventilation grille directly into the dim cargo hold, and they were steadily caught by the sailors in cloaks inside.

At the same time, under the cover of Yun Ji, Cheng Lang came from the stern deck to the cargo hold, took out the ship bottle and started filling the oak barrels that were delivered with wine.

Whenever he filled an oak barrel, the vine goblin next to him would move it away and knock on the wooden stopper, and then the vine goblin next to him would throw it back to the gun deck through another ventilation grille, where it would be caught by Shenba who was waiting there, and then thrown steadily to a burly sailor under Uncle Shenge on the open deck.

In this busy assembly line-like process, when Cheng Lang emptied the boat bottles, it had just filled up 225 oak barrels.

Almost at the same time when the last oak barrel filled with liquor was sent off the ship, Yun Ji also received a full 1800 gold coins from Shenge.

"Uncle Shenge, after we leave the Pirate City, please take care of the inn where my parents stayed." Yun Ji said as she handed the box of gold coins to Yafuso beside her.

"Good kids, go fight the wind and waves, I will help you take care of the hostel." Shenge said reluctantly.

"We will also help you find information about Yun Hai," Yun Ji promised.

"Come back alive, all of you must come back alive."

Xinge patted the brother and sister on the shoulders and called his men to leave the dock with barrels of liquor.

"Is Yunhai still alive?" Shenba waited until Shenge walked away before asking in a low voice.

"do not know"

Yun Ji shook her head. "The more this happens, the more we must find that seed."

"With the help of Captain, we will definitely find it!" Shenba said confidently.

"Don't waste time," Yun Ji took the box of jewelry that Yafuso brought back and handed it to Shen Ba, "Go find your friends and sell all the jewelry found on the Honest Man. You have to sell them for at least 500 gold coins, and then go to Xin Likou's house and wait for me.

Also, that money is used to purchase supplies for the voyage. If you lose it, we will have to sell the inn left by our parents to pay it back to the captain."

"Ah?" Shenba panicked for a moment. "Go to Xin Likou's house?"

"Haven't you always liked her?"

Yun Ji said, "We don't know when we'll be back in Pirate City next time. This is your last chance to confess your love."

As Yun Ji spoke, she drove away with Yafuso in a rented carriage. They were responsible for purchasing supplies for the next voyage.

At the same time, Cheng Lang, the hands-off boss, was hiding in the captain's bedroom, counting his belongings. Together with the gold coins he had just earned from selling the liquor, the ship now had a gold coin reserve of 4,000.

This amount of money seems to be a lot, but in fact, it was basically saved by the Vine Goblins for him.

After all, even small-time sailors like the Honest Man, who were hatched from mermaid eggs, needed to be paid on time and given combat bonuses, and they also needed to eat, drink, defecate and urinate three times a day.

But the vine goblins don't need that, they just need the fruit wine.

However, with their consumption, the reserves in the bottle left by Prince Boerland could be opened and drunk for at least a few months without any problem.

As a result, all the money saved naturally went into the captain's pocket.

No wonder Fujiman is the best sailor
Cheng Lang sighed secretly and shook his head at the same time. These 4000 gold coins sounded like a lot, but if converted into Poseidon's blood, it was only worth two cups.

A cup of Poseidon's blood or a complete piece of armor is worth two thousand gold coins, which is considered the "uniform price in the starry sea."

Of course, if a real transaction were to take place, 4000 gold coins would certainly be enough to buy a cup of Poseidon's blood or a complete piece of armor, but it would definitely not be enough to buy any two.

At the same time, Poseidon's blood is extremely cheap at certain times, such as in life-and-death situations, in wandering circuses, and like Yafuso and Gerta, who could easily take out a cup or two of Poseidon's blood as a boat ticket.

In any case, the four thousand gold coins he now had were far more eye-catching than the four cups of Poseidon he had left.

In comparison, the four pieces of armor he had in his hands were even more insignificant. He wouldn't be able to use these things in the short term, and he didn't know what to use them for.

While a certain captain was busy taking inventory of his assets, Yun Ji was busy purchasing inexpensive and high-quality supplies for the voyage with the help of Yafuso, Shenba and her many friends in Pirate City.

That evening, truckloads of various supplies were delivered to the dock, and boxes and barrels were thrown into the dark cargo hold of the artillery, but not even a sound of impact was heard.

After everything was done, Yun Ji once again found the captain who was hiding in the captain's bedroom to study the sirens.

"This is the gold coins left over from purchasing supplies, a total of..."

"You can keep it."

Cheng Lang, who was still sighing in his heart that mermaids were indeed beauties, waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "From now on, the procurement of supplies will be left to you and Yafuso."

Hearing this, Yun Ji was stunned for a moment, then nodded, hung the purse around her waist, and changed the subject, "Captain, do we have a ship bottle on our ship?"

"That's right," Cheng Lang nodded. This was no secret on the ship.

"If you are willing to believe me, why not bring the boat bottle and come with me?" said Yun Ji.

"Where are we going?" Cheng Lang asked curiously.

"Outside the city there is a waterfall called Ganquan"

Yun Ji said, "The water quality there is very good. Maybe we should change the water in the boat bottle. The water quality in the boat bottle is not very good now."

After taking a quick look at him, Cheng Lang nodded happily, "Okay, when are we going over?"

"How about we go over now?" asked Yun Ji.

"no problem"

Cheng Lang finally decided to give the other party some trust. He stood up and walked into the lower cabin. He unloaded the large ship bottle from the boiler and took it with him. He got on the carriage driven by Yun Ji, left the dock town, and rushed in the completely opposite direction of the pirate cemetery in the gradually rising night.

"Aren't you worried that I might kill you and take your boat bottle?"

Yun Ji asked as the carriage left the town, "Ship bottles are treasures that any captain dreams of. Using them to make wine can make more money than being a pirate."

"You are already a sailor of the Valkyrie"

Cheng Lang said nicely, "Since I am the captain, there is no need for me to doubt my sailors."

"Really?"

"of course it's true"

Cheng Lang's tone became more and more matter-of-fact, but in fact he couldn't help but panic. This girl's elusive fighting ability was really terrifying.

Upon hearing this, Yun Ji just smiled and did not continue the topic. Instead, she shook the reins, making the carriage run faster.

Just as a crescent moon hung in the night sky, the undead in the Pirate Cemetery emerged from the soil. While moving their achy skeletons, they began to deal with the pirates who came to practice and the captains who planned to take advantage of the chaos to break into the Pirate Cemetery.

At the same time, Yun Ji also drove the carriage into a forest outside the city, and finally came to a waterfall deep in the forest.

This waterfall is not very high, but the flow is quite large. Moreover, the waterfall rushes out from the rock wall, so the water temperature is too cold, making the surrounding area filled with a thin mist.

"I'm not kidding, this is Ganquan Waterfall. Every night, the water quality of this waterfall becomes very good.

If Pirate City didn't have so little arable land, the spring water from this waterfall would definitely be perfect for making wine."

As Yun Ji spoke, she had already taken off her cloak, once again revealing the sea snake combat suit she had asked for from a wandering circus.

Although he knew that the other party brought him here for more than just water, Cheng Lang still walked to the pool at the foot of the waterfall, took out the two boat bottles, large and small, in his arms, poured out all the fresh water in the large boat bottle, soaked them in the pool, filled them with some ice-cold mountain spring water, rinsed the bottles carefully, and poured them out again.

At the same time, Yun Ji had already lit a boat lantern and walked towards the place where the waterfall and the pool collided, stepping on stones.

Seeing this, Cheng Lang simply followed him over and, at the other party's signal, soaked the two boat bottles in his hands in the cold water.

In just a blink of an eye, two whirlpools appeared next to each other at the collision point of the waterfall and the pool, and almost all of the waterfall rushing down rushed into these two whirlpools.

It took a full half hour to fill the two boat bottles, large and small. However, Yun Ji turned off the boat lights and jumped directly into the cold pool.

Seeing this, Cheng Lang hesitated for a moment, put away the boat bottle filled with water and jumped in.

Naturally, he couldn't see anything in this freezing cold and pitch-black pool, but soon, Yun Ji grabbed his wrist and swam him in one direction.

In less than two minutes, he surfaced again under the guidance of Yun Ji and left the water.

"pat"

Amidst the flying sparks, a ship's lamp was lit, illuminating the hidden space.

This cave is not very big, but on one of the exceptionally flat rock walls, there is a painting of a towering tree.

And under this big tree, there are two tombstones next to each other.

"That's the tombstone of Shenba and my parents."

Yun Ji placed the boat lantern on a stone table as she spoke. "My mother discovered this cave by accident when I was very young. At that time, the Elven Principality was still hunting my father, and we often came here to hide."

At this point, Yun Ji raised her finger and pointed at the large tree painted on the rock wall. "That is the Verdant Sacred Tree, the symbol of the Elven Principality and the pillar of all elves."

Without waiting for Cheng Lang to speak, Yun Ji continued without reservation, "Shenba and I are looking for a seed that can also grow into a lush sacred tree."

"What's its use?" Cheng Lang asked.

"An elf recognized by the sacred tree is like a captain recognized by the heart of the ship."

Yun Ji made an analogy, "Even if it's a dark elf, as long as they are recognized by the Holy Tree, the Elf Principality will no longer have the right to exile them.

My father has always wanted to find that seed so that all the dark elves would no longer be exiled. It was for this reason that he was hunted by the Elven Kingdom. "

"Any clues?" Cheng Lang asked.

"In the Sea of ​​Despair"

Yun Ji said, "But no one knows exactly where it is in the Sea of ​​Despair."

"This is."

“This is what Saint Barbara said.”

Yun Ji said, "She went to Iron Oak Island hundreds of years ago to build a ship and then go to the Sea of ​​Despair to find the seed and cultivate a second Verdant Sacred Tree. But she only said that the seed was in the Sea of ​​Despair, but she didn't say where it was."

"So we can only search one island at a time?" Cheng Lang asked with a frown. The difficulty was almost equivalent to looking for a needle in a haystack.

"You have three elves under your command, and perhaps you are related to the elves in some way."

Yun Ji smiled and explained, "Although they are dark elves, they are still elves after all. We can sense them as long as we get close to the Verdant Sacred Tree or its seeds."

"At what distance can it be sensed?"

Cheng Lang asked. He didn't mind helping his subordinates find seeds along the way, but he always wanted to know how difficult this task was.

"do not know"

Yun Ji shook her head at this question. "We have enough patience. You don't have to go to the Sea of ​​Despair specifically to find this seed."

"So you brought me here just to talk about this?" Cheng Lang asked finally.

"I told you I brought you here to get water."

As Yun Ji spoke, she took out two bouquets of flowers from the bag at her waist and placed them in front of the grave. "I came to see my parents by the way. After all, I don't know when I will be able to come back next time. And for me, this is the only absolutely safe place to talk about this matter."

“Thank you for your trust.”

"Thank you for your trust, Captain." Yun Ji said in a slightly teasing tone, "I hope I didn't scare you just now."

As she spoke, she blew out the boat light, grabbed Cheng Lang's wrist again and walked into the cold water.

"I suspect you deliberately want me to take a cold shower"

Cheng Lang teased deliberately, how could he not see it. Fetching water was just an excuse, the other party was testing him to see if he trusted her, and then decide whether to trust him.

"You guessed right, respected Captain." Yun Ji said as she dragged him back into the cold pool.

Just as the two of them were swimming in the wild under the beautiful moonlight, the crowned octopus on the mast of the broken ship in the Pirate Cemetery also drank the cup of Poseidon's blood that Cheng Lang had given him at this time last night.

"belch--"

Following a burp buried by the sounds of the undead fighting, the octopus' mouth erupted. In every corner of the world, those who held Count Walesa's treasure map were horrified and stunned to find that their treasured treasure map had just begun to spontaneously combust, and eventually turned into a ball of ashes and pungent smoke.

This only means one thing, someone has found the treasure.

Who found this treasure?
What's in Count Walesa's treasure?
Suddenly, everyone who had previously held the same treasure map became curious. The one who was particularly furious was Prince Marian, who was now transforming into a demolition worker and throwing things around in the luxurious palace on Xiangsha Island.

"Find it! Find it for me!"

Prince Marian, his eyes red, roared with resentment, "I want to know who stole my treasure. Find him back! Find those vine goblins back too!"

"Yes!"

Outside the bedroom door of the palace, the soldiers led by the major general reluctantly accepted this task that was truly like looking for a needle in a haystack.

(End of this chapter)