Chapter Eleven: Secret of March

On the night of landing on Parut Island, one of the outer islands of the East Sea Pearl.

Miss Vilyric brought along this batch of crew members, mainly the latest support personnel and backbone from Lingyin Merchant Association sent to the Original Land, not only carefully selected but also carrying a large amount of local goods from the Ancient Spirit Realm.

As for merchants, the most profitable business naturally involves exclusive products. The environment of the Ancient Spirit Realm differs greatly from that of the Original Land, and many herbs, ores, and semi-finished crafts nurtured purely by spiritual energy are rare goods that simply cannot be obtained here. It’s safe to say that they are wholly monopolized by the Lingyin Merchant Association, and even selling them at sky-high prices wouldn’t be excessive.

Staying on someone else’s territory also requires good relations with the host. While the Emerald Sea Region is surrounded by the Ghost Sea and Great Whirlpool, the entire marine area is actually quite vast—comparable in area to any of the five great powers on land—and there are indeed exchanges with the outside world.

All it takes is to offer those scarce goods from the Ancient Spirit Realm at a slight discount, around two to three percent below the market profit, but still several times higher than in another world, to sell them as a “friendship deal” to the mermen, and winning their friendship and gratitude wouldn’t be an issue at all.

Thus, despite the tensions in the morning, by nightfall, Parut Island held a grand celebration to warmly welcome Miss Vilyric and her merchant caravan, even calling each other brothers and toasting away in high spirits.

This is what you’d call a win-win… maybe?

Ahem… by the way, this was actually an idea that Ming Lan came up with, completely unrelated to the Priestess!

As the real leader of the team, Miss Vilyric felt a bit troubled, but she couldn’t just play hard to get on the first night of their acquaintance. She had to accept the invitation from the sea priestess, Miss Silisa, to join the banquet, which lasted until the moon hung high and the night grew quiet, at which point Alec arranged for the caravan members to stay in the temporary housing prepared by the Merman Tribe.

Of course, coordinating everything was Ming Lan’s task; while Miss Vilyric had brought along these merchant association members, she certainly wouldn’t concern herself with every little detail. Once they returned to the mainland and handed things over to the Lingyin Merchant Association, it would basically have nothing to do with her.

Le Qiao Qiao had gotten the mermen drunk with their self-brewed Sea Spirit Liquid, and Hong Yan was taking care of her. With rare free time, the Priestess wasn’t in a hurry to rest and instead came alone to the lakeshore on the island, taking out the silver key that Hen had entrusted to Xiao Kong under the long-lost light of March.

“This place has a nice environment…”

The cool moonlight spread down, slightly illuminating the intricate yet meaningless patterns on the surface of the Key of March. After pondering for a moment, Miss Vilyric took out another identical key she had received in the United Kingdom, raised it high, and aligned it toward the three moons shining above.

Yet, there was still no change.

Just as the intel detection had described, even with the addition of another key, the detection result was still simply: “One of the Keys of March to open the door requires gathering all keys to activate its powers.”

The pieces of the puzzle were still not complete.

Moreover, if this key indeed corresponds to the three moons in the night sky of the Original Land, the last Key of March would probably be even harder to obtain than these two.

Because in March, only that largest and unchanging full moon represents the Supreme Deity, the Moon Goddess Luna, while the other two similar moons that change with the seasons are far inferior to the former in both brilliance and size.

Since the two Keys of March currently in hand look quite similar, it is reasonable to infer that the last one likely corresponds to that main moon’s key.

“But what does opening the door really mean?”

“Miss Vilyric enjoys moon-gazing too?”

A gentle and melodious whisper suddenly reached her ears as the Priestess put away the two keys and turned her head to see the newcomer.

She responded plainly, “I wouldn’t say it’s a hobby; I just find this thing mysterious. You see, it always hangs high in the sky, and mortals can only look up at it without ever being able to touch it.”

“Indeed, the sun’s radiance is so intense, making it hard to gaze upon, yet the moon seems to deliberately emit an alluring light, drawing beings to admire and pursue it. Our curiosity about the unknown is also quite similar, isn’t it?”

“That is indeed a very personal interpretation. Miss Vilyric seems to have a rather keen curiosity about the unknown, but you should also realize that mystery… often comes with more danger, doesn’t it?”

With her ocean-blue hair flowing like water, the mysterious beauty smiled slightly, standing beside the Priestess as they both gazed up at the three pure moons in the night sky.

Her voice was ethereal, like the gentle waves drifting from the depths of the ocean, soothing yet carrying an unspeakable allure.

Just like that silver moon in the night sky.

“Speaking of March, there are indeed some legends about the moon that have been circulating among the sea priestesses. Would Miss Vilyric like to hear them?”

“Uh, you’re not talking about… the rumors regarding the Moon Goddess Luna and her chosen consort, are you?”

However, Silisa simply shook her head with a hint of amused resignation in her lake-blue eyes.

“Of course not. The people of the sea worship Goddess Veil, longing for wave-splitting conquests and power. How could they concern themselves with the love stories of an unrelated deity? What I mean to say is a secret concerning the Key of March.”

Gazing into the clear moonlight, the sea priestess’s translucent, water-like eyes seemed to subtly reflect something dark for a brief moment.

“Have you heard the phrase, ‘Do not gaze into the moon,’ Miss Vilyric?”

“Do not… gaze into the moon?”

Looking up again at the pristine three moons above, the black-haired girl couldn’t help but show curiosity.

“Honestly, this is all rather mysterious. Is this what they call mysticism? I really haven’t heard of it… but aren’t we looking right at it now? There’s no issue at all, and if the moon really couldn’t be gazed upon, I’m sure various accidents tied to it would have spread for centuries, right?”

That shadowy moment flickered and vanished in an instant, and Silisa turned her head with a smile towards Vilyric.

“The logic of mysticism certainly shouldn’t be analyzed with conventional reasoning. But these are merely rumors I vaguely heard; as for the deeper meaning of this phrase or what kind of mystery hides above in the heavens, it’s certainly not something a small sea priestess like me can know.”

Lightly brushing aside that topic, the Priestess spoke softly.

“Not to mention that, I specifically came to find Miss Vilyric because I wanted to have an open and honest discussion with you. The daytime was brief, and since I wasn’t very familiar with you, there were many matters that we didn’t have time to discuss.”

“If you and your crew wish to pass through the Ghost Sea to the outside world soon, what I’m about to say may offer you considerable help.”

Surprisingly unfazed by Silisa’s words, the black-haired girl merely smiled lightly in response.

“It seems your side wishes to cooperate with us?”

   

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