Lin Mu turned fully toward the patriarch.
"You have Merkin and Fishkin mixed blood descendants in your clan. I saw them walking among your people. They are already living the unity your ancestors dreamed of."
The patriarch blinked in surprise. "But none of them ever went to the ancestral island."
"And that," Lin Mu said firmly, "might be the mistake."
Several elders exchanged shocked glances.
Lin Mu continued. "Your ancestors did not intend for only pure blooded Shanhu to approach the island. They intended unity. That means mixed blood descendants might be the key to weakening or lifting the curse."
The patriarch leaned back as if struck. "We… never thought of this."
Daoist Chu chimed in. "Merkin and Fishkin cultivators have grown strong in these seas. Their bloodlines might interact with the cursed array differently."
An elder spoke up quietly. "We never brought them because we feared the island. It became a place associated with death. The curse terrified us."
