178: Jingwei

With a direction now, the Black Pearl began Swift Travel, cutting through the waves. A day later, an island came into view, and the light of the Spear of Destiny pointed towards it.

Han Huohuo breathed a sigh of relief and put away the Spear of Destiny.

From a distance, the island had green plants, clearly a place full of vitality.

There was no dock, so the Black Pearl had to anchor far away. As usual, Han Huohuo ran across the water to the island, while the others followed in small boats to shore.

The island was not large, but it had a small forest with sparse trees that didn't look like they were growing too well. Still, they were living wood, making it an island with vitality.

Han Huohuo looked into the woods, vaguely seeing crude shelters made of branches.

Suddenly, a sharp whistle pierced the air.

More than a dozen people, holding bows and arrows and staves, surrounded them from all directions. They had been discovered; the people here were extremely cautious.

These newcomers were pure-blooded Elves!

With beautiful features, pointed ears, and strangely colored hair, Han Huohuo couldn't even distinguish between men and women. Elves, indeed, seemed to be favored by the heavens; regardless of gender, they were exceptionally handsome.

"I mean no harm; I come from afar."

Han Huohuo raised his hands, showing his goodwill to these Elves. Han Huohuo was very clear-headed; it was best not to offend the Elves.

The Elves were half-skeptical. They had never seen outsiders and were somewhat flustered. The crowd parted, and a female Elf dressed in bark agilely stepped out.

She held a staff in her hand; she was a Druid.

In other words, an Elf mage.

Han Huohuo was startled, and the hero token in his embrace grew hot. This Elf maiden was actually a legendary Hero?

But he didn't immediately take out the hero token, because this world felt very wrong, and Han Huohuo wanted to understand the situation better.

"Who... are you? How did you get here?"

The female's voice was very pleasant.

"Respected Elf, we are human adventurers. We crossed the Falling Star Sea to reach here, and we are very happy to finally see living people here."

The Elf was clearly surprised: "You crossed the Falling Star Sea? Without my Blessing, how did you cross the Falling Star Sea?"

"Your Blessing? Are you the Grand Elder of the Elves?" Han Huohuo had expected the Elf Grand Elder to be a white-bearded Old Emperor, not a young maiden?

This greatly surprised him.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am the current Elf Grand Elder, Jingwei."

Jingwei, a mythological name, the legendary daughter of a Heavenly God.

Seeing that the Elves were still very wary, Han Huohuo turned and signaled everyone to put down their weapons, especially Hua Mulan, who, holding a great axe and being tall and strong, looked quite intimidating.

Upon Han Huohuo's command, the few people behind him put away their weapons.

The Elves opposite also breathed a sigh of relief, lowering their bows and arrows, no longer pointing them at the group, showing politeness.

These Elves looked very thin and clearly malnourished, but their noble temperament was still unique.

"Please!"

Jingwei was unexpectedly gentle, not overly wary because of these outsiders. Perhaps she had seen too many dark creatures, and finally seeing a few normal humans made her feel a sense of familiarity.

Especially Han Huohuo, who carried a strange Elf scent, which for some reason, inexplicably lowered her guard.

Elves are extremely sensitive creatures.

A Druid's perception is powerful; she could tell at a glance that Han Huohuo truly harbored no ill will towards the Elves.

Han Huohuo and his companions followed Jingwei to the Elf village in the forest.

Calling it a village was a stretch; it only had a dozen small huts made of wooden branches, with a small square in the middle.

They brought out a few wooden stools.

Everyone sat in the square.

"Excuse me, why did you risk crossing the Falling Star Sea to come here?" Jingwei looked at Han Huohuo curiously.

"I'm here to search for treasure. Is this island called Boli Reef?" Han Huohuo didn't hide anything; he subconsciously assumed the direction pointed by the Spear of Destiny should be his destination.

Elves are a discerning race; if you harbor ill will, they can easily sense it. Han Huohuo had researched this, so he was very cautious, trying to be as truthful as possible.

It seemed there weren't many Elves left in this world, so it was best not to offend them.

"No, this island is called Sunset Island, at the westernmost edge of the Elf Sea, closest to where the sun sets. Boli Reef is in the very center of the Elf Sea, and it's the most dangerous place!"

"Most dangerous?"

"That's right. Have you been to other islands along the way? Some Chaos monsters are occupying the Elf Sea. Have you seen them?"

"Oh, you mean the dark zombie king and the corrosive spiders? We saw them on a previous island, thousands of them, far too many. We were no match, so we quickly escaped."

"Since you've seen those monsters, it's easier to explain. The dark monsters on Boli Reef are even more numerous and diverse, because that's the island of Chaos's origin!"

Han Huohuo was a bit speechless.

He had originally planned to just get the fragments and leave, building a good relationship with the Elves and getting the Grand Elder's Blessing. He didn't like it here at all.

But hearing Jingwei's explanation, he realized that getting the fragments would be extremely difficult.

There were already so many monsters on the previous island; what did 'even more' mean? Could a few of them fight their way through Boli Reef?

Impossible!

Even with the Spear of Destiny, they couldn't fight through!

Han Huohuo was still hesitating whether to change his tactics when...

It was already dark, and the Elves became panicked. Someone lit a bonfire in the square, someone added wood, and someone checked weapons.

"The nights here are very dangerous. Since you've come, I hope you can help us," Jingwei suddenly requested.

Han Huohuo was startled: "Are they dark creatures? Can dark creatures cross the ocean?"

"Yes, there's a type of dark creature, a Moth, that can cross the ocean. Fortunately, our Sunset Island is very far from other islands, so very few Moths can fly here. But we absolutely cannot let these Moths gain a foothold on our island. They will transmit plague, plants will wither, and other dark creatures will be born in the decay and then occupy this island. We Elves have very few islands left under our control, and we don't want to lose this one," Jingwei explained the situation.

It sounded like the Elves' situation was dire, seemingly on the brink of survival.

Han Huohuo had many more questions to ask, but for now, he had to stop. He definitely had to help these Elves defend against the Moths of the night first.

The Black Pearl's sailors had no combat power, so Han Huohuo told them to hide in the cabin and not come out.