Chapter 56: Seaside Prayer Event: Anglerfish Curry Soup and Black Bread...
The fire in the fireplace crackled, and Ye Wan's friends arrived one after another, including Emma, Lily, Kiara... She happily walked around with hot apple cider and served them food.
"Hey, Big Iron, I've been wanting to ask you, can you smell the aroma of hot wine?"
"Of course, of course." The honey-colored flames from the fireplace climbed up to the shiny titanium alloy shell of the big iron block: "I am equipped with the most advanced odor recognition system. Not only can I smell the aroma of ordinary food, but I can also instantly identify the freshness of various coffee beans." The big iron block elegantly picked up the wine glass.
"Big Iron is now the coffee expert in many stores." Kiara added proudly.
Ye Wan was very happy: "That's great. I have a bunch of overnight apples mixed with fresh apples. Can you help me sort them out?"
When Lily hurriedly rode her broom through the window and hit Emma, almost everyone in the tavern was there.
Lily apologized profusely to everyone she'd hurt, then quickly grabbed a cod pie from the table and stuffed it into her mouth. "This weather is terrible! Coach didn't let us go until the following evening. I heard the tournament won't resume until spring. I'm afraid we'll have to go back to the Floating Island for a while during the New Year and come back afterward. The prices in the capital are a bit too high."
She quickly finished a pie and then looked up in confusion: "Oh, now I remember, we're here to listen to the Mermaid Mermaid concert."
Lorelai stood on the wooden box in front of the fireplace. She looked a little nervous, and Ye Wan was even more nervous than her.
With everyone's expectant eyes, Lorelai stood on the wooden box and slowly opened her mouth into the microphone.
Everyone's expectant expressions turned into surprise.
They seemed to be on a pirate ship. The captain was Ye Wan, the first mate was Youan, and a guinea pig named Pancake was wearing a black triangular pirate hat with a cross skull embroidered on the brim. His paws were covered with white gloves. He was guarding the stairs and preventing everyone from getting off the ship.
On the vast ocean, the strong wind rolled up the dark clouds, and the singing was like a salty sea breeze carrying heavy rain, which came crashing down on Lily's head. She felt the terrible black sea water emerging from the bottom, and she hurriedly tried to grab the handrail of the boat. Under the attack of this wave of high pitch, the whole boat would soon fall apart.
She exchanged a horrified look with Kiara.
storm!
The storm is coming!
When Lorelai finally stopped singing, everyone hesitated for a few seconds, looking at each other, and then thunderous applause broke out:
"Oh, maybe some more practice will help."
“It’s a lot better than before.”
"That's right, that's right."
As everyone was saying this, Emma quietly tugged at Ye Wan's clothes and said, "This song must not be performed during the Winter Solstice Diva Competition. You'll be arrested by the guards for disturbing the peace."
Ye Wan sighed: "But, after the Winter Solstice, she will return to the sea."
Mermaids cannot stay on the shore for a long time, especially in this dry winter, which is not very friendly to the mermaid's scales. Lorelai's face already has some dry lines. She has to soak in the lake in the Golden Goose Park for a while every day before she can continue to stay in the dry tavern with a warm fireplace.
The sailors did give some practical suggestions. On the day before the Winter Solstice, the fishermen near the harbor would hold a sea lantern drifting prayer activity on the beach. They would basically write down their wishes in a glass bottle, stuff a small lantern in it, seal the glass bottle tightly, and then throw the bottle into the sea.
The lights can guide the direction for ships that are lost in the fog, and it also symbolizes the long history of fishermen. Poseidon, the god of the sea, will listen to and fulfill the wishes of the fishermen, so that the next year will surely be a year of peace and good harvest.
The sailors spoke very tactfully, but Ye Wan could tell that their meaning was that if all else failed, they could only rely on metaphysics to save the situation.
The Kingdom of Oceana is a place that is truly tolerant of religious beliefs. Apart from the various magnificent churches and monasteries in the city center, there is also a huge Buddhist temple in the north of the city, which houses a golden Buddha statue, so that people from Shangdu in the East can come to worship and pay homage to the Buddha.
There is a shrine built by the Japanese hidden in the mountains and forests outside the city. Ye Wan passed by it by train. Through the layers of emerald green mountains and forests, he could see the vermilion torii gate, which was a little mottled due to being worn by time.
Whether the sea lantern drifting wishing activity can really make wishes come true is debatable, but it does sound very interesting.
"I'm going to stock up on some seafood because I'm out of seaweed at home." Ye Wan said to You An.
"You want to go to the harbor to eat charcoal-grilled squid, right?" He saw through it at a glance.
"It was just by the way, that's all." Ye Wan denied angrily.
Perhaps because of the sea breeze, the harbor felt as cold as if it was frozen through. The dusk was swallowing up the last ray of sunlight of the day. In the distance, one could see fine white mist on the dark black sea.
Fortunately, the noisy voices of people made up for the coldness. The long pier extended to the distant sea. Countless steaming food stalls were crowded on both sides of the pier, exuding tempting aroma.
Ye Wan stamped her feet in cold, and the words in her mouth instantly condensed into white mist. She immediately found a stall selling hot wine. The beer seemed to have added some seasoning similar to brown sugar, and the whole barrel was filled with the rich aroma of caramel.
There was a very imposing stall with a huge dried anglerfish hanging on it. The fish head was bubbling in the dark brown soup, and the stall owner cut thick root vegetables into it, such as carrots, potatoes, cabbage, etc.
Lorelai hesitated in front of the stall for a moment. Seeing that she liked it and being hungry himself, Ye Wan bought a few bowls of anglerfish soup. The tall stall owner in a leather apron waved a long-handled wooden spoon and said, "Okay, four bowls of anglerfish curry soup."
Several people sat at the wooden table with a greasy sheen. Youan hesitated for a moment, but finally sat down.
"Don't make that expression. Anglerfish are a rare deep-sea fish, very hard to catch, and they make delicious soup curry."
The anglerfish in the soup exudes a unique and mellow aroma. The curry is mixed with coconut milk and turmeric. The fish meat is very delicate. A large amount of anglerfish liver is added to the soup, which is as dense as goose liver, mixed with the spicy aroma of curry and chili, and melts in your mouth.
With a look of disgust on his face, Youan drank the whole bowl silently. He even used the free black bread to scrape off all the curry paste hanging from the edge of the bowl.
Lorelai ate even more cleanly than Youan. "Damn it! Only humans know how to cook. We have to work hard to catch live fish in the sea. Those fish are hard to catch and they're not as delicious as this. I think I'm going to miss life in the capital."
The faint sound of conch shells was heard in the distance, and the stall owner quickly put out the fire: "The drifting prayer activity is about to begin, hurry up." He reminded the diners in line.
The beach was crowded with people, and two fishermen carried a frame and distributed a glass bottle, a piece of paper, a pen and a glowing stone to each person.
Lorelai rubbed the glowing stone back and forth in her hands with great interest. "Oh, there's glowing seaweed growing on this stone. We often pick glowing seaweed to use as glowing decorations."
Several children took her hand and asked curiously, "Are you a mermaid?"
Lorelai bent down, the blue scales on her face more obvious in the completely dark twilight: "Well, I am a mermaid."
Several children surrounded her and refused to leave. "Did you come ashore to find the prince? Did you exchange your voice with the Siren of the Deep? Do your legs really feel like they're being cut by knives when you walk on the beach?"
Lorelai couldn't stand it anymore and wiped the cold sweat off her forehead.
"Oh my! It's been ages since I've seen a mermaid in Mermaid Bay." Many fishermen gathered around, looking at Lorelai with smiles, "You're so beautiful, just like in the legend."
Apparently, the fishermen regarded Lorelei as the incarnation of the sea god. They surrounded her, put their hurricane lanterns and hair ornaments on her, stuffed a large bag of dried salted fish into her hands, and made wishes to her.
Lorelai looked happy and a little overwhelmed.
"Please bless us with safe voyages next year as well," the fishermen said devoutly.
Ye Wan looked at it from a distance and said, "Oh, Lorelai is surrounded by the fishermen. She looks so happy."
"No, I think she looks like she's about to pass out," Youan said impartially.
He just took a pen and carefully wrote his wish on the white paper distributed.
But Youan didn't seem like someone who would believe in such things. Ye Wan thought he would scoff at the idea of making a wish in a bottle and say with his cool and handsome face, "Childish."
Ye Wan looked at him curiously. He was bending over, and his expression was very pious while writing. Ye Wan only saw the three words "forever and..." before he glared at him fiercely. Then Youan turned his back vigilantly.
Ye Wan explained: "...I accidentally glanced at it, I didn't peek on purpose."
She didn't ask any further. After all, for some people, wishes are indeed private.
When Youan finished using the pen, Ye Wan took it over. She looked at the muffin on her shoulder and said, "Muffin, what wish do you want to make?"
Muffin stretched out its paws and danced in a circle, with a look of piety and longing on its face.
"Growing nuts in every corner of the world? That's a bit difficult."
She thought for a moment, then lowered her head and wrote on the note: "Build the happiest tavern in Osenna."
"That's a good wish," said Youan.
At this moment, the sea had completely sunk. Residents and tourists came to the beach and put the glowing drifting bottles in their hands into the sea. The bottle was like a light ship, and countless warm yellow lights drifted slowly towards the dark deep sea with the waves.
It is like a river of light connecting everyone's wishes. The whole scene is dreamy and solemn.
Lorelai was shocked by such a beautiful scene. She felt that she understood the human race's awe and dependence on the ocean. She reached her hand into the sea and felt the flow of the water.
Music is a melody full of inclusiveness and soothing power, a melody like the warm, turquoise sea.
She felt something in her throat loosen.
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