In the spring in Kazushima, falling pale pink petals can be seen everywhere.

But Lu Ban had never seen such dense and chaotic cherry blossom rain.

The petals of the flowers that had been dormant for a year and only bloomed for a few days in such sunshine and temperature slowly fell at a speed of five centimeters per second, reminding Lu Ban of the rain cherry blossoms in "April Story" that were enough to block the view.

What’s even more remarkable is that all these petals fell from one tree.

Before getting close to the port, you can see the giant tree that can no longer be described as towering.

With the entire island as its foundation, the towering trees grew on a mountain. No, Lu Ban thought at this time, it might be that this giant tree came first, and then these things came into being.

Cherry blossoms are in full bloom on the huge tree canopy that is large enough to cover the entire island. The petals fall like snow, and even the surface of the water near the coast is covered with a layer of petals. The closer to the island, the denser the petals are.

Lu Ban saw that there were people standing on the dock holding umbrellas, trying to block the falling petals as if to avoid the rain. These people did not seem surprised or astonished by the cherry blossom rain. They treated it as normal wind and rain, and seemed to have been used to it for a long time.

"The sacred cherry blossoms of Wajima bloom all year round and never wither. In spring, the flowers bloom more strongly, so this kind of cherry blossom rain is formed."

Xia Dao saw Lu Ban staring at the cherry blossoms and thought he was a country boy coming to the city, so he explained.

Through the falling petals, Lu Ban could see that the mountain, which occupied one-third of the area of ​​Wajima Island, was full of various trees. A long road meandered upward from the foot of the mountain. The road was red and consisted of countless torii gates. There were some shrines along the road until the top of the mountain, where the trunks of the trees broke through the ground, stood a solemn shrine.

This is Wajima Taisha, the center of the world's politics, economy, and supernatural power.

In front of the tree trunk, Lu Ban saw an attic with flying eaves outlining a slender structure. Unlike those heavy buildings, this attic was like an isolated island suspended high in the sky, creating a strong sense of alienation from the surroundings.

"That is the Son of God Pavilion. The Son of God usually stays in that attic, bringing down cleansing fire on areas that have been infested by filth."

Xia Dao explained again.

Suddenly, Lu Ban heard a bell ringing.

It is like the singing of a nightingale, or like wind chimes in the evening, clear and melodious, like the low voice of a young girl.

Immediately afterwards, a ball of pale flame suddenly ignited in the God's Son Pavilion.

Lu Ban had never imagined that the Pure Fire would appear before his eyes in this form. The blazing God's Son Pavilion was like a bright lamp in the dark night. In an instant, the cherry blossoms falling like rain, the towering trees, and even the sunlight faded.

Everything around became dark.

Everything lost its color because of the burning of the pure fire. The next moment, when the sound of the bells reached its climax like the harmony of church hymns, an arrow flew out of the bow.

The arrow shot out from the Son of God Pavilion and flew towards the direction behind Lu Ban. The arrow was like a daytime meteor, brighter than the sun in the sky. And, as it flew away, everyone felt a trace of sadness in their hearts.

Once the arrow of pure fire of the Son of God is shot out, it means that another place has been invaded by filth, and mankind will lose another piece of land forever.

When the light disappeared above the sea level, everything finally returned to normal.

That faint melancholy was just like a haze that passed through people's hearts for a moment, and everyone returned to their normal work and life.

This is Hedao, the center of the world. Even if other places are attacked and conquered by filth, they are still thousands of miles away from here. Instead of worrying about the end of the world in a hundred or thousand years, it is better to worry about tomorrow's harvest and accounts.

There are many fishing boats near the coast. Near the dock, the boats are connected to form a shaky continent. They are connected end to end, forming a continuous fishing boat family.

There are some old people, children and women sitting on these boats. The men in their families go out to sea to fish and come back at sunset. There are beds and tables on these boats. Every evening, in the golden sparkling light of the setting sun, curls of smoke rise up, forming a picture full of life.

"The boat people, these people don't have their own houses on the island, so they can only live on boats. Whenever there is a storm, a damp and foul smell will fill their boats. In fact, they will at most go to the streets of the docks and will not enter the areas where citizens live."

Xia Dao added that his attitude towards these fishermen was very clear.

"Of course, they sometimes catch some pretty good fresh seafood. If you want to try it, you can eat it in any restaurant on Port Street."

The ship continued to circle He Island. Naturally, it was not going to dock in the area full of fishing boats, but at the port on the other side of He Island. There, huge and pure white stones constituted the main body of the port. Countless large and small merchant ships and passenger ships came and went, and it was as prosperous as a downtown city.

It may sound a little rude, but this was the first time Lu Ban saw so many people on Hedao Island.

Lu Ban heard the sound of copper bells knocking from the main mast of the ship he was on, alerting other ships in front and behind, while the sailor standing on the lookout tower was waving a flag vigorously.

"It seems that being loud enough won't help at sea."

Lu Ban joked.

The meaning of the flag signal was roughly asking other ships to make way, as this was a team escorting the witch. Seeing the flag signal, most of the ships wisely made way, except for one that still stood in front, with no intention of moving at all.

Hanging on the boat was a black family crest flag with three layers of tomahawk patterns. A man stood on the side of the boat, looking at the boat that Lu Ban was on.

"This is the flag of the Sanada family. The eldest daughter of the family, the sister of the current head of the family, is the current head priestess. Therefore, the Sanada family rose to become the largest family on Wajima Island. They are also the one who fears the shrine maiden the most."

Xia Dao covered his mouth with the folding fan in his hand and whispered to Lu Ban.

"There's a problem with the ship, please be patient."

Lu Ban saw the people on the boat with the flag saying this using flag language.

Although the tone was very respectful, the meaning was still the same - "wait."

This is probably the situation with the islanders. On the surface, they appear respectful and friendly, but in reality they may be arrogant and rude. They just need to do their best to appear respectful and friendly.

"Should we wait?"

Lu Ban asked, after all, he was an outsider and didn't understand the etiquette of the island.

"We can wait, but I think Lord Sanada wants to give Lady Miko a warning. If we wait, we might have to wait until dark. We might as well find another place to dock."

Xia Dao said this, and was about to wave his hand to ask the captain to turn the rudder.

"That's all right."

Lu Ban said.

"I'll help them."