She was the second person she had met who understood the mermaid's language other than Maggie.

Nevertheless, Joan was not quite sure whether Maggie truly understood her. She simply produced some "coo" sounds, which were even harder to comprehend. As such, they could only communicate short words and phrases.

Who was this guardian then?

Joan continued to make "ya" sounds. "Are you guarding the large pit? Where am I?"

"This isn't a pit but a bridge," the guardian said smilingly.

"I saw bridges before. They aren't like that," Joan thought to herself and walked cautiously toward the pit. She took a peek at the edge of it and found the wall of the pit was covered in mud and vines. There was no road leading to the bottom.

"Not everyone can pa.s.s this bridge, only the ones with keys," the woman explained. "You don't have the key, so you can't see the bridge."

"I see," Joan thought. By why did the bridge builder do something like that? Why did he not let everyone pa.s.s? Even if they did not have the key, people could still walk around and pa.s.s it.

The guardian summoned a bitter smile and said, "Yes, they could, but this is what I have to do. I'm here waiting for the person who has the key and grant him the access to the bridge."

Joan studied her for a while and then spoke.

"You aren't chained."

"What?"

"Since you aren't chained, why don't you leave the island?" Joan said as she pointed at the mist. "I saw there was a continent not far away. It shouldn't take long to swim there. As you aren't chained, I can get you out of this island."

The woman was stunned for a second before she shook her head with a smile. "Never mind me. You're injured. Were you under an attack?"

Joan did not understand why the woman suddenly changed the topic, but she answered immediately, "the monsters in the sea scratched me."

"Come here and lie down. I have some medicine and can take care of your wounds," the woman said while waving her hand.

For some reason, Joan believed that the woman was a nice person, although she had just met her.

After she lay down, the guardian produced a jar of medicational cream and spread it over her hand. She then spread the cream over Joan's wounds. Instantly, a cooling sensation crept over Joan and refreshed her like a breeze that dispelled the hot air in summer.

"Ya..."

"It feels good, eh?" The guardian tore her dress and wrapped Joan's wounds after she applied the cream. She asked, "By the way, where are you going next?"

"Going home," Joan muttered. "I want to return to my friends."

"Then you can't go toward the black shadow. Although there's a continent there, it's not somewhere you should go."

"Do you know where Neverwinter is?" Joan asked hopefully.

"Hmm... perhaps it's on the opposite side of the black shadow, but it's still quite dangerous to get there by land. You'd better swim there."

"Really?"

"Yes. But you'd better take a good rest. I can feel that you're shutting down."

It was not until then that Joan suddenly felt that sleep broke over her. She finally succ.u.mbed to the fatigue that she had been resisting for half a year.

Joan indeed felt very relaxed beside the guardian.

"Just take a rest for now."

Joan slowly closed her eyes.

The woman stroked Joan's hair and said quietly, "I'm not chained, but people can be restricted by something other than chains. Sometimes, words can be more powerful than chains."

"I... don't quite understand."

"That's fine, because I don't understand it either."

The woman's voice gradually became distant and soft, and Joan started to lose her consciousness.

"Perhaps I can ask somebody to answer your question... I'm not smart, but someone is smarter than me, for example, Miss Anna and His Majesty..."

"Really? Then, I thank you."

"We'll meet again... right?"

"Yes, if we've got a chance..."

Joan completely fell asleep.

When she woke up, it was already dark.

"Oh no, how long have I slept?"  Joan sat bolt upright but she could not find the guardian. Joan looked around in panic but could not see anyone around her.

Apart from that, the tablets were all gone as well. She could only see the huge, empty pit in front of her, the meadow, and the mountain with a flat top as if everything she had seen before was but an illusion.

"Was that a dream?"

"No, it isn't." Joan immediately realized that her wounds had been taken care of, only that she did not feel the cooling sensation anymore.

Joan unwrapped her wounds but did not find any residue of the cream on her scales. Her wounds had healed up.

While Joan was sitting there, puzzled and confused, she heard a strange roar in the distance.

She then noticed that the mist around the island had dissipated, and now she could see the black shadow clearly.

It was a mountain, but it was a little too high, as though it was leading to Heaven.

The mountain was also extremely large. From a distance, the mountain was even wider than the Fjord Islands put all together. There was not a single tree on the mountain but inky, impenetrable darkness. A haze of Red Mist enveloped the top of the mountain and spurted out crimson liquid from time to time!

Then Joan saw where the roar came from.

At the foot of the mountain were swarms of monsters coming toward the continent. They piled up on the beach and ejected venom. The black soil underneath collapsed, and huge rocks fell into the sea. The whole ocean was boiling! Although these monsters were tiny compared to the gigantic black mountain, they were, little by little, eroding it!

Yet they encountered resistance.

In the area that the monsters could not reach, thousands of Sea Ghosts collided with another kind of monsters. It took Joan a long time to realize that the other kind of monsters were what everyone described as demons!

The Sea Ghosts that scared the sailors so much appeared to be incredibly weak in this battle. There flew in all directions, failing to break into the demons' defensive line. Despite their constant failure, they continuously crossed over the s.h.i.+p-like monsters and rushed toward the bank.

Joan covered her mouth in surprise.

"Although there's a continent there, it's not somewhere you should go."

"You should go to the opposite side of the black shadow."

Joan suddenly thought of the woman's words.

She looked around. Across the black mountain lay just the vast ocean. There was no sign of lands. Joan hesitated for a short moment and began to run in that direction.

She sensed a great danger as she saw the two parties fight. Her instinct told her that she must leave. Another reason was that she believed that the guardian would not lie to her.

Joan thus plunged into the water and left the earth-shaking roar behind.