The train decelerated smoothly and finally came to a complete stop about a hundred meters from the island.

Everyone looked through the windows and saw an invisible barrier that seemed to separate the tracks from the waters surrounding the island.

The train could not advance an inch, and the edge of the island was faintly shrouded in a layer of pale blue light, like some sort of natural barrier.

"It seems we'll need to go ashore on foot." Bai Cheng was the first to stand up, her Black Scythe silently vanishing into the void.

The three of them leapt lightly into the water, walking across the waves.

The dense elemental energy of heaven and earth lifted them up, making them feel almost no resistance from the water.

The island was right before them, with ancient trees reaching for the sky and aerial roots hanging down between the branches and leaves, intertwining with the algae floating on the water's surface.

Through the shadows of the trees, the ruins of ancient stone buildings could be seen flickering in and out of view.

There were domed stone houses that were half-collapsed, broken walls overgrown with moss, and tall stone pillars entwined with vines.

The architectural style was rugged and primitive, built with massive unpolished stones and carved with simple reliefs of waves and fish, revealing traces of an ancient civilization that lived in harmony with the ocean.

Following a faint path inward, a tranquil village gradually came into view.

Most of the stone houses were built according to the terrain, some partially embedded into the cliffside, with roofs covered in large sheets of dried giant seaweed.

The residents of the village all had skin in varying shades of blue, ranging from pale sky blue to deep sea indigo; gill-like fine lines were visible behind their ears, and they had webbed fingers.

When they saw Bai Cheng and the others, they were first surprised, then showed friendly and curious smiles, their eyes clear and devoid of any hostility.

An old man with white hair and beard, and skin as blue as the deep sea, walked toward them.

He leaned on a coral staff, his smile gentle and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes like etchings made by ocean waves:

"Travelers from afar, welcome to Chao Yin Island.

I am the elder of the Sea People here, Moto. Please, do come to my home to rest and have a bowl of warming algae tea."

Yu Nian sensed him secretly and found that the old man's aura was weak, only equivalent to the Elite-level in their understanding, and her tense nerves immediately relaxed.

Along the way, Elder Moto introduced them enthusiastically:

The Sea People had lived in this "Emerald Sea" for generations; they were naturally attuned to water, could hold their breath underwater for days, and made a living by hunting gentle Crystal Phosphorus Fish, gathering Coral Fruits, and cultivating a type of bioluminescent Night Algae for lighting.

Most of the stone houses in the village were built hundreds of years ago; because the elemental tides in the sea had weakened in recent years, the weathering of the stone materials had intensified, yet they lacked the means to repair them.

They worshipped the Great Mother Goddess of the Sea and held blessing ceremonies every year when the tides were strongest, but regarding their more ancient origins, only vague epics passed down by word of mouth remained.

Legend had it that their ancestors once served a "God-man who rode a Great Silver Whale"; after the God-man departed, the Sea People took root here, guarding the ancient altar at the center of the island.

As they talked, the group arrived before a low stone house on the edge of the village.

The walls had obvious cracks, the seaweed tiles on the roof were sparse and let in light, and the wooden door was rotted and eroded.

The interior was sparsely furnished, with only a stone slab bed, broken ceramic jars, and worn-out fishing gear.

Moto invited the three to sit on stools made of smooth round stones, while he himself hobbled over to the stove in the corner, took out a few pieces of hard, dark green cake-like objects from a ceramic jar, and ladled out half a bowl of murky algae soup from a wooden bucket.

Yu Nian's gaze was sharp; that cake was clearly made from dried and ground low-grade aquatic weeds, and there wasn't even a hint of fish in the bowl.

She couldn't help but ask softly, "Elder Moto, didn't you say the Sea People live off the sea? This food..."

The old man's back stiffened slightly.

He slowly turned around, a bitter yet open-minded smile appearing on his pale blue face:

"The sea... still gifts us life. It is just that recently, the god-given fishing grounds... have become a bit stingy.

It's alright, guests from afar, please taste our seaweed cakes; though they are coarse, they are full of the sea's salt and sunlight."

There seemed to be tides rising and falling in his cloudy eyes, but he said no more.

Outside the window, the sound of the tide echoed low, and the sea breeze blew through the cracks in the stones, wailing like an ancient ballad.

Bai Cheng picked up the bowl of murky algae tea, her gaze sweeping over Elder Moto's face—lined with wrinkles and the hardships of life—as well as this house with nothing but four walls, showing poverty everywhere.

She gently set down the stone bowl, the bottom clinking sharply against the stone surface.

"Elder Moto," she began, her voice calm but carrying an unavoidable certainty,

"When we came ashore, we saw that most of the buildings in the village were old and dilapidated, but there was one place that seemed quite different—the stone was brand new, and the style was completely different from the surroundings, not looking like the work of the Sea People."

She paused, looking directly into the old man's suddenly constricted pupils, and continued, "You are the tribal elder, highly respected; why is your dwelling so... simple?"

The Sea People live off the sea, and fishing and gathering are their natural talents; how could you not even produce a decent meal of fish and rice to entertain guests?"

Elder Moto's knuckles turned slightly white as he gripped his coral staff; he avoided Bai Cheng's gaze, and a deep exhaustion and a hint of undetectable fear flashed through his cloudy blue eyes.

He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to brush it off with words like "it's a bad year" or "the Sea God's gifts have temporarily decreased," but in the end, it only turned into a barely audible sigh.

He rose unsteadily and began to clear away the coarse seaweed cakes that had barely been touched and the empty bowls, his movements slow and heavy.

"Guests from afar," he said with his back to the three of them, his voice raspy, "the algae tea was crude, I have been neglectful. It's... it's getting late, the winds and waves on the Emerald Sea are strong at night, and the navigation channels are hard to discern.

If you don't mind, I still have some dried Night Algae here that can be used for light. Before those 'Lords' return, it would be better to... set off early." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Return?" Yu Nian keenly caught the word, her gaze sharpening. "Elder, who are you telling us to avoid? Is there someone else on this island besides the Sea People?"

A wisp of frost silently condensed at Leng Ningxue's fingertips, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop slightly.

Bai Cheng stood up, her invisible aura making the cramped stone house feel even more claustrophobic. "Elder, please speak plainly. Since we have drunk your tea and heard your stories, we are not entirely outsiders.

Just what kind of existence could make the Sea People, who have lived here for generations, as terrified as if facing a tiger, to the point where even the etiquette ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) of hosting guests has to be so distressed?"

Elder Moto's shoulders trembled violently; he slowly turned around, and on that pale blue face, bitterness, fear, humiliation, and a deeply buried anger—one that had been almost completely ground away—intertwined.

He closed his eyes, as if using all his strength just to keep his voice from breaking:

"It is... a group of outsiders.

Three years ago, they came on iron-clad ships, calling themselves 'Sea Patrol Envoys'.

At first, they only demanded fresh fish as tribute, but later... later it was everything."

His voice grew lower and lower, carrying a sob. "The best fishing grounds were designated as forbidden areas, reserved only for a leader among them who has a taste for sea fish;

The healthy tribesmen were driven to build palaces and mine crystal ores for them; eighty to ninety percent of the gathered Coral Fruits and Night Algae must be handed over... any slight negligence or resistance,"

His throat choked up, "results in whipping, imprisonment, or... public execution."