As dusk settled over the reeds of the Moonlight Wetland, the Youth Guardian Camp, aboard the "Floating Reed Boats" (woven from hollow reeds, as light as a feather yet capable of carrying five people) provided by the Moon Dwellers, sailed into the depths of the wetlands. A Mu's New Sprout Sword, its scabbard Ice-Fire Entwining Pattern, had been blessed with a "Wetland Moisture-Proof Talisman" by the Snow Spirit Qilin —it glows a pale silver light upon contact with moisture, both isolating it from the wetlands' dampness and aiding in sensing the Evil Energy fluctuations within the Moon Spring. In A Ya's bag, besides the usual purifying plant seeds, there were now " Moon Dew Grass " seeds cultivated by Liya specifically for the moonlit environment—the leaves of this grass absorb moonlight and convert it into Purification Power, its roots can penetrate deep into the Moon Spring's bottom mud to absorb Evil Energy particles, and it can also secrete mucus to encapsulate pollutants in the water. On A Shi's patrol log, new entries for " Moon Spring Transmittance" and " Moon-Sleep Flower Blooming Rate" had been added. Two rows of boards, each with a grayish-brown Moon-Sleep Flower petal tucked into the corner—an "anomaly mark" sent by the Moon Dwellers after Loran had communicated with them beforehand.
"Follow the light of the Nightglow Algae, and you'll find the floating island houses of the Moon Dwellers!" Loran stood at the bow of the reed boat, her fingertips lightly touching the water's surface—the water shimmered with a very faint silver light, the glow of the Nightglow Algae unique to the wetlands. But the further they went into the center of the wetlands, the dimmer the Nightglow Algae became. In several areas near the Moon Spring, the algae even turned gray. Even the " Moon-Sleep Flower," which should have bloomed with the moonlight, had many buds tightly closed, with very faint black threads clinging to the edges of their petals, as if they were shrouded in a layer of gray mist.
The golden silhouette of the Icefield Wolf crouched by the ship's railing, its nose occasionally bringing it close to the water's surface. Whenever it approached the greyish tributary of Moon Spring, it would bark softly as a warning. The wetland was exceptionally tranquil at night: a full moon hung in the sky, its light spilling onto the water and intertwining with the remaining Nightglow Algae to form a silvery veil. The reeds in the distance swayed in the wind, making a soft rustling sound. But this tranquility lacked the croaking of the " Moon-Sleep Frog " (a type of frog with a silvery-white body and a lyre-like croak), as the Moon Dwellers had described. Even the air carried a faint, astringent smell.
Upon arriving at the area of Moon Dwellers ' floating islands, several Moon Dwellers dressed in moon-white linen stood at the edge of the floating islands, holding withered Moon-Sleep Flower, their faces filled with sorrow. Seeing the floating reed boat, a Moon Dweller girl with her hair in two buns and wearing a necklace of Nightglow Algae quickly approached, her voice as soft as moonlight. "Lord Loran, you've finally arrived! For the past two weeks, the water of the Central Moon Spring has grown increasingly murky, the Nightglow Algae have almost stopped glowing, the Moon-Sleep Flower refuse to bloom, and even the Moon-Sleep Frog have hidden themselves in the deep reed beds—the chieftain says that Evil Energy has corrupted the Moon Spring, sucking away the life force from the moonlight."
A Mu followed the girl to a tributary of the Moon Spring at the edge of the floating island, his fingertips lightly touching the water—a chill even colder than the dampness of the wetlands emanated from his fingertips. This was the " Moon-Turbidity Evil Trace," formed by the fusion of Evil Energy and the Moon Spring Moon Spring, spreading along the tributary towards the central spring. "Fel Evil Energy has dissolved into the Moon Spring!" A Mu looked up at Loran, his tone certain. "I learned this before in the Mist Archipelago. Evil Energy spreads with the water flow. Here, the Evil Energy is intertwined with the moonlit spring water. We need to use ' Moon-Speech Technique that resonates with the Moon Spring, to 'filter' the Evil Energy out of the water."
The Moon Dwelling Girl nodded, pointing to the " Full Moon Spring " in the center of the wetland. "That's the heart of our wetland. The Moon-Sleep Flower and Moon-Sleep Frog depend on it for survival, and that's where the Evil Energy started to spread. We tried to soothe the Moon Spring with ' Moon-Speech Technique,' but the Evil Energy is too stubborn. We could only barely stop it from drifting into the reeds; we couldn't purify the central spring."
Loran gazed towards the Full Moon Spring —the water there, which should have reflected the full moon like a mirror, was now shrouded in a faint gray mist, making even the moonlight appear somewhat dim. " A Mu, try Ice-Fire Harmonization with Moon-Speech Technique!" His fingertips, glowing with a pale silver light, lightly touched the surface of the Moon Spring. "First, use the power of fire to gently heat the water around the spring, balancing the cold of the wetlands and preventing the condensation of Evil Energy; then use the power of ice mist to condense the moonlight, transforming it into purifying light particles that merge into the spring water; simultaneously, use Moon-Speech Technique to resonate with the Moon Spring, guiding the purified water to nourish life—remember, the power of ice and fire must be gentle, like moonlight, so as not to disturb the Moon-Sleep Frog hiding in the reeds."
A Mu took a deep breath, placed the New Sprout Sword upright on a wooden stake at the edge of the floating island, and following the incantation taught by Snow Spirit Qilin, first condensed a wisp of extremely faint flame power at his fingertips—the flame did not directly contact the spring water, but instead condensed into a transparent, warm film above the surface of the spring. The cold air of the spring water, upon encountering the warm film, turned into fine water vapor; then, he looked up at the full moon, combined the power of the ice mist with the moonlight, condensed it into tiny, silvery-white light particles, and gently sprinkled them into the spring water. At the same time, he imitated the tone of the moon-dwelling girl and softly recited the incantation of "Moon Language"—soon, he could vaguely "sense" the "response" of the Moon Spring, the spring water conveying its weariness disturbed by Evil Energy.