Fang Shuwen asked again,
"Are there only these three islands?"
"There's a fourth island."
Cheng Bali thought for a moment before saying,
"But that place is far too dangerous. The environment there is completely different from the reef-and-whirlpool region we're in now.
"It's shrouded in mist year-round. It also has whirlpools and reefs, but it's completely impassable.
"Every so often, the mist there dissipates for a short while.
"But it doesn't last long—sometimes just for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, or to finish a cup of tea.
"People have taken advantage of the clear moments to look, and they've seen an island in the center of that area.
"But no one has ever been able to reach it.
"I heard the Three Fiends of the Dark Sea went there once, but no one knows what's on it.
"They never spoke of it…"
Fang Shuwen's heart skipped a beat. The island Cheng Bali was describing had to be the location of the secret treasure Shui Tianxin had told him about.
