Pillar of Yita

As night deepened, the faint sound of insects chirping came from the valley outside.

Bakins, bored, carved at the stone in his hand, lifted his head, and saw the merchant at the entrance of the crevice, leaning against a rock, arms crossed, staring blankly at the valley outside.

The night in Istania was quiet, cold, and enveloped in a layer of mystery. That was the night over the Sand Sea, with the silver moon hanging in the night sky, the crescent moon like a hook, and the moonlight reflecting dimly on a withered, forked tree on the ridge.

As desolate as this place.

On the ridgeline, the sky was vast like the sea with stars—the sailor looked up and saw the Boatman Constellation, Sea Beast Constellation, Mermaid Constellation, and even the Siren Constellation. In this high and wide place, it seemed that one could see more clearly the crystal-like sky dome.

It was a spread-out, pitch-black curtain, scattered with countless tiny crystals, and all the secrets between gods and mortals seemed to be displayed upon it. Mortals have been gazing at the starry sky for at least hundreds or thousands of years.

Only in the early years, when people sailed on the Cloud Sea, did they rely on these stars to guide their way—so those who made their living at sea gave them such exotic and wondrous names.

”The south wind is rising, right?”

Bunigu heard Bakins’ voice and turned around in surprise. The scars on the sailor made the merchant shrink back a little uneasily.

But Bakins didn’t mind walking over to him, looking at the endless Silver Sand Sea in the south of Idus, and said, ”’Futalin’ will blow until after autumn, and after that time, the Silver Shuttlefish on the Sky Sea will return to spawn—then you might see Floating Island Whales and Rock Sharks at sea.”

Bunigu looked at him in slight surprise.

”You seem to be someone who makes a living at sea too,” he relaxed and muttered while looking at the cold, deserted valley outside, ”Yes, yes, with the trade wind coming, it’s the best time to go to Hanruina,” he sighed, ”If I weren’t stuck here, I might already be on a ship.”

”I was a sailor,” Bakins answered, ”at least I used to be.”

”Then your Captain must be quite young and promising.” Bunigu complimented Fang Hong.

Bakins shook his head, ”He isn’t, but he will be a good Captain in the future. I have faith in the young lady’s judgment.”

”The young lady?”

Bakins sat down and chatted a little with him about his old Captain and his Captain’s daughter. Bunigu suddenly understood and couldn’t help praising, ”I must say, she truly is a great beauty, I’ve been to so many places but never seen such a remarkable person.”

”In this regard, you are not wrong at all.”

Bakins accepted the compliment unreservedly. When it came to their young lady’s charm and beauty, it was not up for dispute.

On the Seven Seas Traveler, the old sailors would sometimes joke about Lord Captain, saying Mr. Mawei was a stubborn old man, not the most empathetic.

But when it came to discussing their young lady, not a bad word was tolerated.

Bakins scratched his chin, suddenly curious about how the old mates would make things difficult for Fang Hong if they knew the young lady had taken a fancy to him. He thought with great interest—this newly appointed ’Lord Captain’ was bound to suffer quite a bit.

But he wouldn’t stop it, perhaps even the Big Cat would be interested in witnessing such an entertaining scene; the young lad was indeed quite lucky to have caught the young lady’s eye.

”People who make a living on the Sky Sea are mostly fierce and evil bandits,” Bunigu sighed, ”but there are also reasonable people like you, your young lady, and that young man, everyone is quite decent.”

”If it weren’t for you, I would be in deep trouble this time, though I may not recover the goods, at least I’ve saved my life,” he said, ”If Mr. Ade can help me retrieve that ring... ring, I wouldn’t be worried at all.”

Bakins gave him a teasing smile and glanced at him, ”But you didn’t tell the truth, did you, Mr. Bunigu?”

Bunigu widened his eyes in surprise, his mouth agape, as if exposed all of a sudden, fumbling, ”You... you, I, I...”

”I see you as a proper merchant, as soon as I mentioned Futalin, you knew what I was talking about, only a seasoned merchant would have such a keen reaction,” Bakins replied, ”if that wasn’t the case, things might not have gone well for you earlier—after all, if I can see this, naturally, it can’t be hidden from others either.”

He sat down in front of Bunigu, ”Can you tell me more about the ring?”

Bunigu lowered his head and hesitated for a long time.

After a while, he finally sighed deeply and said in a low voice, ”I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to deceive you guys...”

He stammered, ”But, but I can’t really say what this is all about, if I told the truth, you probably wouldn’t believe it either.”

”Oh, what’s the matter, really?”

Bunigu then lifted his head, looking at Bakins, and said, ”The ring isn’t actually mine, it’s my sister’s husband’s. Speaking of this, I don’t know how to explain... My sister’s husband, he’s an archaeologist... but, he, not doing legitimate work, actually joined the Blood Shark Sky Pirates...”

”A scholar joining a Sky Pirate group?”