Leaving the Storm Cloud Sea, the grey mist enveloping the Gondola slowly retracted into Toby’s body.
"I didn’t expect that after the wind creatures of Wind Island returned to their positions, the winds above the Cloud Sea would become even stronger... Fortunately, Lord Toby was here; otherwise, our boat would surely have been blown away." The speaker, Dangross, leaned against Angel’s hand, initially expressing this sentiment normally, though at the end, it reverted to his sycophantic essence, his eyes gleaming as he looked at Toby.
But Toby completely ignored Dangross, instead focusing his gaze on another elemental sprite on the boat.
"Mr. Pat, where are we heading next?" The speaker was Cubic, a flying piglet with fluttering little wings.
"Gentle Wave Sea," Angel looked towards the distant horizon and said.
Cubic was silent for a moment but couldn’t help but remind, "Mr. Pat, the direction you’re looking at is south; the direction of Gentle Wave Sea is to the north."
Angel: "..." You talk too much.
...
The Gondola continued to fly leisurely, now half a day since Angel left Wind Island.
Ever since Mr. Magu told him that the gentle breeze Urano of White Cloud Village was one of the elemental creatures that spent the longest time with Mr. Feng, Angel had been filled with anticipation about coming to Wind Island.
He thought he would obtain a lot of information related to Feng from the gentle breeze Urano, but in fact, the intelligence gathered was much less than he imagined.
Moreover, it was not very important.
Although the gentle breeze Urano indeed spent a long time with Feng, their interaction was not the intimate kind that Angel had imagined. Their so-called time spent together was merely because Feng chose to rest on Wind Island.
According to the account of the gentle breeze Urano, Angel reconstructed the situation at that time.
When Feng arrived at White Cloud Village and saw Wind Island, he very much admired the inherently unique environment and the beautiful, dreamy ecology. On top of that, inspiration for painting emerged, so he chose to settle on Wind Island for a while then.
Thus, on the Forbidden Peak, Feng created that palace-like Mana Hut.
During Feng’s residence on Wind Island, besides occasionally sightseeing, he mostly painted in the Mana Hut.
The walls of the palace were covered with paintings, which were the works Feng created during that period.
So, even though Feng stayed on Wind Island for quite some time, his interaction with the gentle breeze Urano was minimal, mostly dedicating his time to painting.
However, Mr. Magu did not know the inside story and assumed that Feng, having spent so much time with the gentle breeze Urano, must have had some involvement, which was why he suggested Angel come to White Cloud Village. In fact, Feng’s relationship with the gentle breeze Urano was ordinary; although slightly closer than with other elemental creatures, it wasn’t by much.
Therefore, the useful information Angel obtained from the gentle breeze Urano was not much.
More so, it was about Feng’s daily life on Wind Island and the occasional murmurs and sighs. Among them, words such as fate and destiny were often on Feng’s lips.
Though the details described by the gentle breeze Urano about Feng mostly consisted of life details, having accompanied Feng for a year, listening to his musings frequently, sometimes still gleaned some valuable intelligence.
Among this, one piece of news vaguely hinted at the reason for Feng’s arrival at the Tidal World.
This intelligence might relate to Feng’s layout, so Angel listened very carefully.
"At that time, the location of Wind Island had not yet drifted above the Cloud Sea; it was nestled in the mist, occasionally experiencing torrential rain and lightning. I still remember there was a rainstorm lasting half a month, which replenished the somewhat dried-up Wind Island Lake. Half a month later, the sky cleared up, and the windless and rainless Wind Island Lake reflected the sky’s colors, which were very beautiful."
"Because of the rare fair weather, Mr. Feng also came out from the palace on the Forbidden Peak to quietly enjoy the rain-cleared landscape of Wind Island. Later, Mr. Feng set his gaze on Wind Island Lake."
Mr. Feng, looking at Wind Island Lake, said to me: ’A still pond, after the storm, can also revive with stunning beauty. It’s much like the Tidal World; you see only calamities, yet I see gentle ripples. The calamity might not have brought desolation to the Tidal World but rejuvenation, much like the Wind Island Lake."
"Such rejuvenation is also a refreshing spring to my dried-up pool of inspiration."
Saying this, Mr. Feng softly sighed, "Although my arrival is merely a Chapter in that book of fate, I must say everything here nourishes my inspiration... I feel like painting again."
Afterward, Mr. Feng turned back to the palace, took out canvas, and began painting once more.
These were the scenes narrated by the gentle breeze Urano from that time.
Away from lengthy background narration, the most crucial sentence in the entire discourse was Feng’s self-reflection. He clearly expressed "his arrival is a Chapter written by that book of fate." Although this sentence seems a bit mystical, it clarifies why Feng came to the Tidal World.
Just as the gentle breeze Urano initially mentioned, Feng might not have actively come to the Tidal World; he arrived here under the guidance of fate. And this fate guidance, related to a book?
This book could be a literal reference, to an actual book, or it might be metaphorical, using the imagery of "book" to express a sentiment towards fate.
Which one it actually is remains unknown for now. Angel personally leans towards the second interpretation because most of the prophet wizards he has encountered like to express determinism, often using imagery like "lines," "gears," and "books" to describe it.
"Line" signifies that fate is quietly pulled along, offering no escape from destiny.
"Gear" symbolizes that fate is interconnected, regardless of which direction it turns; you can only dance alongside other gears within the constraints of the teeth, another depiction of destiny.
And "book" is favored by mystical types for it metaphorizes words set down onto Chapters, comparing human fate to book-text: seemingly alterable by any means, suggesting a future diverse with alterations, but ultimately, no matter how you modify, you can’t escape the "page" constraints. So though the future seems directionally innumerable, it’s actually confined initially by the concept of "book," another form of determinism.
It’s because Angel understands the essence of mystical thinking that he suspects the "book" Feng mentioned might be just a metaphorical reference.
What Feng genuinely intended to express is probably just this: he didn’t come of his own will but under the guidance of fate to the Tidal World.
This piece of intelligence might be one of the most useful pieces of information spoken by Feng, though it’s unfortunate that while it confirmed Feng’s possible fate-guided arrival, it didn’t elucidate why fate guided him to the Tidal World.
And this might be the key to Feng’s arrangements in the Tidal World.
Later, Angel went with the Gentle Wind Uranus to the Forbidden Peak, as he wanted to inquire about the painting titled "Path of Light."
The Gentle Wind Uranus was surprised to see the painting that Angel had selected, because it was the only one in the entire palace not painted on Wind Island.
Therefore, the Gentle Wind Uranus couldn’t recount the story behind the painting.
However, the Gentle Wind Uranus provided a useful clue: this painting was completed before Feng settled on Wind Island. Prior to settling, Feng had spent a long time with two other elemental creatures.
Those two elemental creatures were Frost Iser and Nami Midori.
In other words, if Angel wanted to learn more about Feng and the "Path of Light" painting, he would have to inquire with Frost Iser and Nami Midori.
Afterward, Angel bid farewell to the Gentle Wind Uranus.