Lin Mu raised a hand modestly. "You completed the ritual yourselves. We only brought you here."
Elyon chuckled. "Besides, we are getting paid for this. It is our job."
The youngsters stiffened for a mont. Their smiles twitched. The looming matter of paynt struck their hearts like a cold gust. It was not their responsibility, yet they still felt nervous. Even more so because they knew how massive the debt would be.
Guin coughed lightly and tried to keep smiling. "The patriarch and elders will handle the reward properly."
Lin Mu noticed their unease but did not comnt. Instead he said, "We should return. There are things I discovered that your patriarch must hear. But you should not be burdened with that knowledge yet. It can wait."
The youngsters exchanged glances. Curiosity burned brightly in their eyes, but they nodded respectfully. They knew better than to pry into things that Lin Mu considered delicate. His experience was far greater than them after all.
They followed Lin Mu back to the ship. With a single touch, he retrieved the vessel from his ring and set it on the sea. Shanhu Guin took her position at the helm but quickly stepped aside when Lin Mu offered to control it again.
The journey through the Ninth Sea was noticeably easier this ti.
The storms still roared, but they were no longer monstrous walls of doom. The cursed energy continued to crackle in the air, but it was no longer as suffocating. Spatial distortions appeared less frequently and mostly far below, deep in the dark waters of the sea.
Daoist Chu observed the calm carefully. "The spatial fabric will remain damaged as long as the curse persists. But now that the ritual is complete, the distortions should be less violent."
Lin Mu nodded. "The curse harms space because of its density. That will ease slowly."
They continued sailing for several hours until they finally crossed the boundary into the Eight Sea. As soon as they did, the thick mist receded behind them like a living creature retreating into its lair.
Little Shrubby grew impatient and let out a small growl. Lin Mu chuckled and patted his furry head.
"All right, you can run again."
The youngsters quickly strapped themselves into the harness while Lin Mu stored the ship away. With a mighty leap, the giant Liger launched into the sky and raced across the waters.
WHOOSH
The journey back to the Seventh Sea took far less ti. By the next day, the turquoise waves of the Shanhu Clan's territory ca into view. As their island appeared on the horizon, the youngsters' shoulders loosened with visible relief. "We did it," Shanhu Qing said softly. "We actually made it ho."
"They will be so happy," Shanhu Jie murmured.
They were not wrong.
Before they even landed, people working at the docks spotted them. One man dropped a crate into the water out of sheer shock. Another shouted sothing incoherent as he sprinted toward the inner settlent. News traveled like wildfire.
By the ti Lin Mu's group descended toward the docks, the elders and the patriarch were already rushing down the floating stairs. Even clansn who had been asleep ran from their hos.
When Little Shrubby landed gracefully, the five youngsters dismounted quickly, bowed deeply, and said in unison, "We have completed the ancestral ritual." The reaction was instant.
The patriarch's eyes glistened. His beard trembled. Shanhu Haiyang took a staggering breath and covered his face for a mont, unable to speak. The elders placed trembling hands over their hearts, their expressions filled with profound relief.
Then the clansn cried.
Not quiet tears. Not gentle weeping. But a tide of raw emotion breaking free after eight centuries of regret, helplessness, and longing.
Families embraced one another. n and won fell to their knees in gratitude. Even so rkin among them covered their faces with shaking hands.
Lin Mu stood quietly, his gaze soft. He could sense their overwhelming emotions as clearly as a warm breeze. His lips curled into a gentle smile.
Cattaleya wiped a stray tear from her cheek, pretending it was just dust. Elyon looked away with a small grin. ng Bai was smiling so wide that both his dimples were showing. He seed more emotional than he expected, perhaps
rembering his own village back ho.
Daoist Chu stood with his hands behind his back, watching peacefully.
Lin Mu stepped forward and bowed slightly to the patriarch.
"It is good to see your clan whole again."
Shanhu Haiyang swallowed hard and stepped toward Lin Mu. He clasped his hands tightly and lowered his head.
"Honored guests," he said, voice thick with emotion, "our Shanhu Clan owes you
a debt that cannot be repaid with simple wealth."
Lin Mu shook his head lightly. "We only fulfilled our task. Your youngsters did the true work."
But the patriarch's expression only grew more solemn.
"No. Without you, they would never have reached the Ninth Sea. Without you, the ritual would have been impossible. You carried the weight of our clan's future." His voice wavered. "Eight hundred years we failed. And today we succeeded only because of you."
The clansn agreed loudly with tears and cheers.
Lin Mu smiled once more, but deep inside, a troubling thought lingered.
The ritual was not the end of this mystery.
It was only the beginning.
Because beneath the island, a secret still slept. A secret that could either save
this world soday... Or destroy it entirely.
A while later, the grand hall of the Shanhu Clan was alive with bustling voices and heavy footsteps as everyone assembled.
Carved coral pillars lined the chamber, glowing softly with embedded pearls that reflected the light across the polished stone floor. Suspended shells ford gentle wind chis that tinkled in the background, lending a faint lodic undertone to the tense atmosphere.
Lin Mu's group stood together near the center.
The patriarch, Shanhu Haiyang, sat upon the raised platform with his elders at
his sides. Several elders who had not yet t Lin Mu's group had arrived as well, all clad in ornate coral armor or layered ceremonial robes all waiting for the report.
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