Release that Witch

”Woo—woo—”

The ”Snow Wind” produced a low, deep whistle.

That was the sailing signal.

The first four ships at the front set their sails and left the fleet.

The ships of the four Chambers of Commerce, including Crescent Moon Bay, Sunset Island, Shallow Water Town and Twin Dragon Island, followed the ”Snow Wind” into the Shadow Waters.

Their vision blurred and sunlight became dismal. They had entered an entirely different world after sailing 1,000 meters.

The deck was now shrouded in thick mist. Camilla noticed that the ship had stopped wobbling.

”What happened?”

”Don’t worry. The engine is off,” Margaret answered. ”The trick to safely pass through this area is to be low. Maybe it doesn’t apply to small boats, but for a large ship like this, we just need to glide over the slope. Look around.”

Camila looked in the direction Margaret pointed at and saw all the ships from the Chambers of Commerce had lowered their sails to half-mast, some of which were facing each other, which was definitely not a scene normally seen during a regular voyage.

Also, a brazer had been set up at both the bow and stern of each ship to mark the ship’s location. Even so, Camila could only see two ships looming against the fog, the third one completely out of sight in the depths of the mist. The faint firelights flickered ominously, and the fourth ship seemed to have totally disappeared in the mist.

”Are we going downhill?” Camila asked suspiciously. After living in the Sleeping Island for a while, she had learned something about the ocean. When the seawater rose in submerged caves and cracks, whirlpools would emerge on the surface of the water. The smaller ones were one-finger wide, whereas the larger ones could be a few meters. However, at any rate, the water would be directed to the center of the whirlpools and spinned faster as it drew close to the vortex.

Camilla had thought it was the vast vista of the ocean that made the movement of water currents indiscernible. However, now the fleet had reached the depth of the Shadow Waters, so she should see something happen.

Much to her dismay, some algae was drifting off on the surface of the water!

This indicated that the water currents did not alter their directions at all, at least not here!

”It looks incredible, but that’s the fact,” Margaret said, nodding. ”If there was a huge whirlpool here when tides receded, we wouldn’t have come here, because that would be the largest and deepest whirlpool in the ocean. There would be no chance of survival. Since the ocean remains surprisingly tranquil, Thunder wants to look into this matter.” Margaret broke off and looked at Joan who was now gazing at the sea. ”Normally, it was impossible for human beings to dive to the bottom of the sea, but your ability gives us a ray of hope.”

Camilla looked around, her eyes darting from the surrounding wet stone pillars and reefs, feeling a jolt of panic rise from her stomach. She could see the stones around her clearly. However, for the rocks farther away, she could only catch a glimpse of their silhouettes in various shades. They somehow reminded her of many grisly, outstretched clawed hands that usually appeared in a nightmare.

”Ya! Fish! Red fish!” Joan squeaked suddenly.

Camila turned around and saw a bright red ”river” emerge abruptly on the right side of the ”Snow Wind”. Although Thunder had told her about it earlier, the sudden appearance of the river still shocked her.

”The Ghost Shadow Red River.”

A special river comprised of fishes.

”Oh, stop clicking your tongue. red scaly fish isn’t tasty,” Margaret said as she patted Joan on the head. ”As long as we marshal along the Ghost Shadow Red River, we’ll reach the triangular tower ruin. Princess Tilly should have told you already. There’s a weird telescope-like instrument in the tower, through which you’ll be able to see a vast land you’ve never laid your eyes on. That’s the purpose of this trip.”

”That’s what she told me.”

”Unfortunately, we’re not going to the ancient ruin this time, otherwise you’ll be able to see that magnificent ruin,” Margaret said in a sorrowful tone.

”No... I’m fine with that,” Camila replied briskly. She would rather not visit this area ever again.

”Your reaction is exactly the opposite of Her Highness’,” Margaret said, giggling.

After another two hours, the ”Snow Wind” staggered to a halt before a large reef island, followed by the three-masted ships of the four Chambers of Commerce. After all the ships anchored, all the captains gathered around on the deck of the ”Snow Wind”.

”Wow, everyone’s here. Very impressive,” the first mate of the ”Snow Wind” remarked scathingly while twitching his lips. ”I thought you would run into a rock and ask us for help in tears.”

”You’re not the only good sailor and captain here,” the members of the four Chambers of Commerce shot back. ”The steel ship is great, but I’m not sure about the crews on it.”

”Enough!” Thunder interjected. ”I’m glad everybody has made it. Did you come across any problems on the way here?”

”No,” the superintendents of the Chambers of Commerce replied. ”Nothing happened, not even a Sea Ghost. It was extraordinarily quiet this time.”

”I’m surprised too. Normally there’ll be a few poor lads dragged down into the water by Sea Ghosts.”

”Is it because we chose a different route and avoided the ancient ruin? Does that mean those monsters prefer the ruin to be their lair?”

”It looks like so.”

Thunder thought for a while and waved everybody into silence. He then said, ”In that case, let’s get going. The water will rise up again in the evening, so we’d better reach the bottom of the sea by then. If there’s nothing down there, we must leave before tides come, otherwise we’ll get stuck here on the islands.” With these words, he looked at the two witches and said, ”Joan, Ms. Camilla, we’ll place the matter in your hands.”

”Ya,” Joan said, nodding with a serious look.

”As long as you can ask those guys to shut up,” Camilla grumbled as she swept over the explorer with a cold glance. ”Just a disclaimer. I need to be highly concentrated when I channel Joan. If anyone interrupt my work, I’ll have to start all over again!”

After Thunder promised her there would be no interruption, Camilla put her hand on Joan’s shoulder and closed her eyes. She felt a surge of dizziness, and then she saw what Joan was seeing.

”Off you go,” Camilla said within herself. ”If we’re disconnected or you are in danger, come back as soon as possible, OK? Don’t force yourself. Your friends are waiting for you.”

Hearing the word ”friends”, Joan shuddered imperceptibly, and her eyes became determined. ”Got it, ya!” she said resolutely.

Joan then jumped backwards into the sea.

Camilla instantly felt a cooling sensation.

All her fatigue was gone.

But she knew this was just an illusion. That was what Joan felt, and she was simply channeling Joan’s feeling.

”How does that go?” Thunder asked.

”Everything is going well. Joan’s now 50 meters down the water,” Camilla replied. ”The stone pillars aren’t getting any thicker, and nor are the reefs... I haven’t seen any seabeds or mountains yet.”

This was her task. Although Joan could see everything underwater, she could not put them into words. The only way to know what she saw was through channeling.”

”She’s now more than 100 meters down there. The surroundings are significantly darker, but she can still see everything clearly. There are still stone pillars and reefs. We haven’t reached the bottom yet,” Camilla muttered. ”Damn, that’s so deep. Perhaps those islands and rocks aren’t real islands but are...”

”Are what?” somebody questioned.

Camilla swallowed hard and answered, ”Are just larger stone pillars.”