Sha Xinchen stood on the deck of the "Sand Gull" and looked out in the direction of the depth of the sea and the height of the sky. The dark canopy had begun to turn a deep blue, and in the vague mist, he seemed to be able to see the dividing line between the sea and the sky.

When the morning sun rises over the sea, you'll be able to see your destination. He thought to himself.

He set out from Shield City, the capital city located at the southwestern tip of Reijin Island, and his destination was a small town in the eastern part of Reijin Island.

There are three paths to choose from.

Horseback riding across Reijin Island is the most comfortable and safe way to ride a horse, passing through some of the island's most affluent cities, which he has visited many times, and each time it has been a pleasant journey. But the downside of this route is that it is too time-consuming, and even if you don't make stops along the way, it will take at least five days. The other road is by sea. Traveling along the coastline from Shield Harbor to the west, then to the north, then to the east and then to the south, it is equivalent to bypassing most of the Lingshen Island, which normally takes nearly three days. But this is the path he has been familiar with in business for many years, and he can find a familiar shipowner to carry him for free. If you don't make a stop in between, you can reach it in two and a half days at the earliest. But he didn't choose that path. Even two and a half days were still too slow for him at this time.

He chose the third path.

From Shield Harbor to the east and then to the north. This is the shortest journey, which only takes one day and one night. But it is also the most dangerous journey, because the ships willing to carry him will sail the whole way on the unpredictable line of the sea.

Sha Xinchen paid an expensive rent—a full twenty large gold rings—to find his favorite ship—the 40-oared two-masted ship "Sand Gull". The forty oarsmen were all strong and powerful, and the silent and reliable captain believed in the gods.

Firmly believes in the gods, Sha Xinchen himself is such a person. As a result, he did not encounter any trouble in business for many years and amassed a considerable fortune. He was determined that his business partners must be such people.

Before embarking on the ship, he had explained to the captain the purpose of his trip, and revealed the name of Modisha Armand. The name of Goto's most powerful merchant made the captain, who had previously explicitly rejected him, turn around and express his willingness to take the risk. The captain had promised that if the situation was as described by Sha Xinchen, the "Sand Gull" would be willing to cross the line sea for him twice a month at the same price.

That's forty gold rings a month.

The experienced Sha Xinchen felt that the price was very suitable after a day and a night of almost sleepless travel.

At dawn, the "Sand Gull" took advantage of the low tide to depart from Shield Harbor and sail all the way west. The landscape on the starboard side has always been a high cliff, with the difference that at first you can see bustling towns, then scattered houses, and later only verdant and lush vegetation.

After sailing away from the last garrison town at the eastern end of Lingshen Island yesterday evening, "Jianjiao Town", the Sand Gull entered the most dangerous waters.

On the shore on the right side of the ship, the cliffs were dyed white with seabird droppings, and then the seabirds stopped appearing, leaving only the bare and desolate cliffs. The sea breeze became stronger, the sea water churned, and Sha Xinchen knew that the line sea was slowly narrowing. No one dared to glance to the left side of the ship, although everyone knew that it would take at least an hour to reach the shores of the Eternal Forest. But the sight of the vast forest of the dead god's body revealing its shadowy silhouette was enough to make one feel uneasy. All the sailors paddled without saying a word. The captain gripped the rudder rig and stared at the channel directly ahead.

Sha Xinchen didn't dare to close his eyes for a moment. He thought he could hear the murmur coming from the other side of the sea.

Is that the voice of the Eternal Forest's summoning?

Favored by the gods, his parents left peacefully in their old age and headed for Mount Serenity in the golden light of the gods. His two brothers are healthy and healthy, his wife and children are living peacefully in Shield City, and he has no loved ones to look for in the Eternal Forest.

The sound was just a spell from the guardians of the Divine Land reinforcing the barrier blocking the Shadow Land, after all, there was a terrible battle on the Isle of War twelve days ago.

He admonished himself to trust in the guardianship of the gods. So, he spent the night facing the northwest direction where the hot spring shrine on the main island of God was located, and prayed to the gods sincerely.

"The great goddess Apollona and the glittering golden crow bird, listen to the voices of the humble and insignificant believers. Please and the gods continue to bless the five islands of the gods with glory, please guide the souls of the soldiers who fought for you in the night of the Bloody Eye to the Eternal Forest, please let the mountain of tranquility forever be peaceful and peaceful, and allow my family to be reunited there for the last time. The last request is for myself, and I ask you to bless me to cross this turbulent sea and return safely to my wife and children in two days' time. Knowing Apollona, you know that the purpose of my trip is to let your glory shine everywhere. ”

The goddess listened to his prayers.

For he saw the tall captain let go of his hands that had clenched the rudder, and left his post that had been held all night. He knew that they had crossed the most dangerous waters in legend.

In the dark sky, the eyes of Apollona's sister, Almis, faded away, and flames burned at the junction of sea and sky. At the same time, the seemingly endless cliffs on the right side of the ship's side came to an end, and Sha Xinchen couldn't help but hold his breath, and the wide arc-shaped bay and white fine sand beach were exposed behind the knife-like cliffs, which was the destination of his trip—Starport.

Sha Xinchen took out a piece of paper full of words from the leather pocket tied to his waist, which was about the type and purpose of the trees in the forest he was going to cut down. According to the text on the scrap of paper, he needed camphor leaves to extract camphor oil, and camphor wood to make furniture and chests; He needed the bark and roots of the black tree to be used in medicine, and the seeds were used to make high-grade soap; He needs the roots and fruits of soapberry to make medicinal wine, and the leaves to be pressed into medicinal oil.

All of the above are false lies. What he needed wasn't in the woods, the treasure he longed for was hidden in the unowned lake in the woods.

Sha Xinchen is a jewelry merchant in the shield city of Spirit God Island. Over the years, he has become a model of success for others by relying on his keen judgment of market trends and his good relationship with Modisa Armand, one of the most powerful businessmen in the five islands. Ebony and obsidian have long been in high demand throughout the Goto Islands, but the profit margins are smaller. Two years ago, when amber was at its most popular, he used gold wire inlays to add color to amber and got a large order from Armand, making a huge profit. A year ago, rubies and corals were in vogue, but he carefully selected the quality goods, only to be rejected by Armand. He was told that it was best to take advantage of the trend to stock rubies and sell them quickly, and soon the price of these blood-colored gemstones would fall, and amethyst diamonds would become popular, and people would be willing to buy them even if they were expensive.

Armand's prophecy came true!

Ten days ago, after the battle of the bloody eye night on the Isle of War spread on the five islands, people wanted to have a gem of the same color as the god's eye as a talisman.

Three nights ago, a strange woman knocked on his door.

She claimed to live on the same street as Sha Xinchen, and that her husband was doing business around Lingshen Island and had goods that he was interested in.

Sha Xinchen could remember seeing the woman a few times near her home, but she had no impression of her husband. But after seeing the goods brought by the woman, he was pleasantly surprised! It was a handful of sand in a leather pocket, yellow and brown mixed with tiny, shiny amethyst.

The woman said that the jewel sand came from an unnamed lake in a small town called Star Port at the eastern end of Lingshen Island. Her husband has an estate near the lake and is about to take ownership of it. Now they need a partner with specialized means of extraction and sales channels. The condition of cooperation is to ensure the concealment of the supply, and the price is a bag of amethyst rough 60 gold rings.

Sha Xinchen's brain spun rapidly. He had a bag of amethyst rough of the same mass and weight in his hand for fifty gold rings. But the source of the goods is located on the distant Poseidon Island. Hire a boat to go and pay fifty gold rings for a round trip. Poseidon Island imposes heavy taxes of up to 50 percent on the export of gemstones. Combined with the competition for supply and the uncertainty of the journey, the cost price of a bag of rough stones is about 130 gold rings. Armand's purchase price was one hundred and fifty gold rings. If the woman's information is reliable, after changing the source, each bag of rough will receive a profit of up to 90 gold rings. Even if the transportation costs are removed, it will be much higher than the original profit of 20 gold rings per bag.

Therefore, he immediately agreed to the woman's conditions and proposed that he need to go to the source of the goods to investigate. He said that if the cooperation is successful, the concealment of the source of goods will become a common requirement for both parties.

The woman's husband was thoughtful and had prepared Sha Xinchen's identity as a timber merchant as a cover.

Sha Xinchen found the captain of the "Sand Gull" in Shield Harbor - Feiluo Blue Sea. Captain Philo runs a merchant fleet of six ships. Skilled, honest and reliable, he is not only the best candidate for a dangerous voyage to the sea, but also provides pertinent advice for Sha Xinchen's investigation of amethyst ore, because his hometown is in Xinggang Town.

At this moment, the sun was rising and the sky was bright, and Sha Xinchen, who was standing on the highest deck of the ship, could already hear the noise coming from the direction of the harbor ahead.

The Sand Gull is ready to dock.

He looked down one last time to make sure he memorized what was on the paper, shredded the paper, and watched the breeze blow the pieces away from his palm.

Sha Xinchen silently recited the names of the gods who blessed the island of Lingshen, the spirit god Dadious, and the gesa goddess Carmenet, thanking them for giving him the treasure-rich waters of the lake. He vowed to select the finest amethyst and make a beautiful tribute to the temple of the two gods. Then, full of confidence and hope, he disembarked along the inclined plank ladder under the leadership of Captain Blue Sea.

The cautious captain wore a hemp cloak with a hood.

They found the connector, a boy in a dark green linen short-sleeved shirt at the end of the white stone steps of the harbor. After Sha Xinchen revealed the leather bag containing the jewel sand, the boy turned and walked towards the road to the town without saying a word.

Sha Xinchen and Captain Blue Sea followed closely behind him.

Sha Xinchen thought that the boy should be a local, because although he didn't show that he knew the captain, the captain seemed to be worried about him since he saw him.

"Are you sure that the lake you're talking about is a nameless lake in the middle of the mountains?"

As the three of them crossed the town's main road, the captain approached Sha Xinchen and whispered a question to him.

Sha Xinchen gave him an affirmative reply.

The captain asked, "Don't you know any of the other party's first or last names?" ”

Sha Xinchen told the captain that he had inquired about the woman's surname, Lian Ling, who claimed to be the merchant's wife.

The Blue Ocean Captain was visibly taken aback. Then slowed down. After a short period of thought, he told Sha Xinchen about the legend of Moth Wing Lake.

"The road under our feet leads to Mothwing Lake, and my house is near here, so I can't be mistaken."

The captain lowered his voice and said to Sha Xinchen, "The clothes that the kid is wearing indicate that he is from the Wanyi Temple in Xinggang Town. The head of the temple is called Yulin Lianling. Moth Wing Lake is not a nameless lake, and Yulin Lian Ling is not a merchant in Shield City. The information you provided is incorrect. ”

The eyes under the hood of the Blue Sea Captain were firmly fixed on Sha Xinchen's face, and after a brief gaze, he spoke again: "It seems that you are also kept in the dark. However, I will reconsider whether or not to accede to your request for a confidential voyage depending on the situation in the future. ”