No.25 Flowing Water Banquet and Dance to the Gods
As night falls, the world turns from light to darkness.
But for the people of Fire, the happiest time of the day has just begun.
Before he got closer, Xiaoye saw that the number of torches placed along the river had increased by at least twice - no, it was not just torches that increased.
On the east bank of the water flow, countless long tables are placed along the river. They are of different styles and are colorful. Each dining table fully reflects the different preferences of different families.
Countless red hairs and fire-riding Pokémon were wandering around the long table with no end, busy serving dishes. Along the way, Xiaoye heard loud voices yelling: "Heshu! Each family had a dish to be delivered. Look at what you brought it up. Can wild vegetable roots be eaten??"
Seeing a stranger standing there in a daze, the young man walking with a smile and pulled her, and the two of them merged into the lively crowd together.
Each returned patrol member received a warm welcome from the left-behind people. Several children even waited specifically at the entrance of the valley to distribute snacks to those passing by in turn. At the same time, they did not forget to seriously remind the other party, "Don't eat too much snacks, and a good meal is the good kid."
When the last person went out also sat next to the long mat, someone beat the uppe drum. The fast-paced drum sounded like laughter from the horizon, announcing the official start of the dinner.
Hundreds of nife lamps flow along the river, and the lights and the aroma of food are mixed together, creating a carefree atmosphere of fireworks. At the request of the people around, Xiaoye released all the Pokémons and ate around the table. It is said that in formal banquets, it is a tradition that must be followed.
Of course, the more important reason is that under this chaotic situation of "the whole village is full of people", no one will count how many Pokémon she released.
Most of the Pokémons in Mount Asu are fire-type, and the people of the flames conquered all the fire-type Pokémons. The water system is completely different from that of the mountain people. Within a few minutes, Gyarado was surrounded by adults and children who were looking at the freshness. When the first bold person found out that "if you touch it, you won't be bitten", the big water dragon suddenly had hands full.
Gyarados with two five-year-old children on their heads did not dare to move, so they had to angrily spray the ice fog on people's faces - they did not scare anyone away, but instead made themselves more popular.
"Actually... chew... As usual, a group dinner will be held for seven days before Zoroastrian Festival... chew... just..."
Before Yongzhen could finish his words, he was slapped by his mother in the back of his head.
"You are so rude. Swallow the food before talking!"
Yang Yu shook his head laughed and cried, and took a friend's words, "It's just that the situation this year is a bit special, and the guests were not invited, so the patriarch announced a few days ago that he would not hold a dinner for the time being."
Xiaoye felt something about this. Although the scene in front of him was joyful, it was also chaotic. Cold and hot dishes were flying all over the sky, and it really didn't look like he had prepared it.
"Then why did you suddenly change your mind today?" Xiaoye asked humbly, and pulled out the flame-breathing dragon whose face was about to be buried in the tree fruit tray.
"Because our soldiers are fighting." After teaching his son a lesson, Yongzhen's mother, who immediately changed into a loving smile, replied.
She stroked her brown hair behind her ears and said with a smile, "Then, making everyone happy is the greatest mission of those of us who are 'not participating in the war', isn't it?"
Xiaoye blinked thoughtfully and looked around carefully again.
People hang their hands with their Pokémon companions, and don’t care how hot it is to squeeze together with the fire Pokémon in midsummer. They drink a glass of Chinese wine with all their hearts, laugh in unison because of a cold joke from the next seat, and sing indecisively as the people beside them hummed; as if they have never experienced the sudden night attack of the wind thief, and have never lost the most important treasure.
——Oh, one thing needs to be corrected. The yellow thing in their glass is not the spirits, but the sweet and sour juice.
After eating and having enough food, the banquet was not in a hurry to end. People began to wander around the long table and chatted with people around them. On the contrary, the Pokémon, who had a far more than human appetite, firmly adhered to their original position and still only focused on hard work.
Yongzhen's coughing symptoms were still very serious, but he didn't care about it at all. He put a mask on himself and pulled Yang Yu to chat with his fellow friends of the same age.
Xiaoye quickly saved the little Pichu on the dining table, which was almost swallowed as yellow snacks. After smoothing the little guy's hair, he also walked along the river.
Not long after, the girl's steps slowed down and stopped. She frowned slightly, and her eyes swept over the sloppy bandages of people passing by - and this was not the first injured person she had seen.
Yang Yu once said that if any patrolman encounters a wind thief or is attacked during the search work, others will get the news immediately, and Yang Yu has not received any notices related to this throughout the day.
So...why are these people injured?
She thought and walked towards the end of the long table.
"Mr. Yasumoto."
Hearing the girl's call, the middle-aged man turned around.
Jingmu's dress was much more casual than when he was in the auditorium, and he only wore a thin short jacket. There were many scars of all sizes on his arms, and the injured didn't seem to care about it, and they didn't even put a few band-aids on them.
Although they are just shallow scratches, they also look a bit too dense.
"What's wrong?" the middle-aged man answered seriously as always. Unlike the laughing tribe members around him, he still had a stern face even at this time, just like writing a line of words on the top of his head, "I have endured all the tribesmen with great hearts to throw away the sorrows they don't want."
"I'm sorry for disturbing you." Xiaoye looked up at the tall person talking to him, "I just cared a little - it seems that many people, including you, were injured? Did you encounter a wind thief?"
"How could those thieves easily hurt us?" Jingmu raised his eyebrows, "It was just that he had a few rounds of competitions after the work was over."
"...I understand." Xiaoye nodded, as if he didn't plan to continue asking.
Xiaoye, who was very disturbing about the drinking party, was about to say "goodbye", but when she saw Jingmu staring at her steadily, her brows became tighter and tighter, as if she saw a green caterpillar crawling on her face.
“…?”
"You don't have to worry." Jingmu suddenly said, "Most wind thieves are not good at fighting head-on. If you really encounter danger, just run away immediately. They will not deliberately chase and beat an alien without grudges."
"No, I'm not worried about this..." Xiaoye waved his hand with a lot of laughter and cry, but unexpectedly this sentence poked the strange anger of the person opposite.
"What? How can you not worry!!"
The middle-aged man's expression immediately turned black.
Xiaoye, who was originally worried about the injured, was caught for nearly twenty minutes. From how to strengthen self-protection to how to escape in critical moments, Xiaoye was so confused that he couldn't know where he was.
The red-haired man, sitting next to the middle-aged man, smiled for a long time, and finally spoke kindly to end the unilateral abuse.
"Yingmu, just stop 'chat', our guests have lost their fighting ability."
Until he returned to the Pokémon with a bulging belly, Xiaoye still felt dazed and forgot that he should have doubted Jingmu's reason for being injured, which was unreliable no matter how he heard it.
"Xiaoye...what is wrong with you? What happened just now?" Yang Yu leaned closer worriedly and looked at Xiaoye's expression.
"No, I just chatted with Mr. Jingmu."
"Uh." The red-haired boy's expression changed, and his face was filled with deep sympathy, "Why are you so unhappy?"
Xiaoye: "…"
After chatting for a while, the red-haired men finally got up and started to clean up the mess in groups of three or three. Xiaoye was about to come forward to help, but Yang Yu reached out and grabbed her.
"We don't have to be responsible for the miscellaneous work in the 'out of the team'." The young man smiled and said, "Xiaoye, do you want to see our training later?"
"Is training a Pokémon battle?"
"No." Yang Yu shook his head and pointed to the waist drum piled not far away.
"It is the "Dance of Gods."
The lively dinner gradually dissipated, and several streams of people scattered. One of them pushed each other and rushed to the altar where the Pillar of the Covenant was located.
——Dance of the Gods, the final and most important part of the festival of Zoroastrianism; the dance of the people of flames danced on the festival of Zoroastrianism. It is said that in ancient times, when the fire-sending ceremony of the Five Mountains ended and the dance of the Gods began, the flame birds would appear from the volcano and dance with their followers, swearing that they would protect each other this year and never betray each other.
Xiaoye had only seen the end of the dance rehearsal before, and today he really saw the full picture of this dance that has been passed down for thousands of years.
The red-haired people beat the uppin drum at their waists, and the sound was like thunder, like flames burning, and like human chanting; while the flames took dance steps in the altar with rhythm, and the torches surrounding the altar cast long shadows on the dancers, and finally all gathered towards the central pillar of the covenant.
The mountain people were full of pride in this dance and often talked about it at the dinner table. Therefore, even the strangers who had just arrived here for a day clearly knew that the uppet drum is an instrument with high difficulty in playing. Even among the people of flames, there were only a few people who could handle it easily. The twenty-four people who danced the dance to welcome the gods on the Zoropause Festival were selected and tested by good dancers. They were sincere, warm and innocent, so they could play wonderful music with the uppet drum.
——Xiaoye’s friend, Yang Yu is one of them.
The girl stood under the stage and looked up at the people dancing on the altar.
Yang Yu's smile was always gentle and restrained, but when he danced an ancient dance with his fellow tribe, Xiaoye saw that his expression was no longer depressed. The bright color of the torch was reflected in his red pupils, almost shining with stars and colorful sand of light.
"It's a pity that Haruna is not here, otherwise this dance will definitely be more perfect."
A clear voice came from behind. Xiaoye turned around and looked at the boy... No, the fake boy, real young man, baby-faced, very short patriarch.
"Mr. Ye, good evening."
"Good evening." The patriarch finally took off the hot-looking Maruhari, wearing only a white single dress, and two scimitars hung around his waist without leaving a step. The bright red round stone was still embedded on the handle of the knife, shining brightly.
He waved with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work today, how are the results?"
"Yang Yu and I have searched the defined range. No trace of the wind thief was found in the vision or the power of the waveguide." Xiaoye replied.
Before she could say the second half of the sentence "I saw a strange walkie-talkie", she saw that the smile gradually became stiff. "Uh, wait a moment, 'had all searched' means..."
Xiaoye thought about it and thought he understood the question of his career. He suddenly replied, "The detection range of the waveguide I used is a spherical shape with a radius of ten meters, so the one that is certain that there is no abnormality is based on the horizon as the basis of ten meters up and down. Do I need to expand the range a little?"
“…”
Ye recalled the search area assigned by each team at the combat meeting, and raised one hand in slow motion and covered his forehead.
"It's overdoing it, that's a three-day mission..."
“Because detection is much faster than seeing with your eyes?”
"It's much more exhausting than looking with your eyes, isn't it?" The young patriarch blinked worriedly, "Is it okay?"
"Of course, it's better to say that I've been used to detecting all day long." Xiaoye replied bluntly.
She knew that the People of Fire could not feel at ease to let a strange ten-year-old tourist perform important tasks as soon as she came up. If you want to better help everyone, you must first show your strength - just like what she did today.
"...Okay, I understand." Ye seemed to read Xiaoye's thoughts, sighed and stopped talking about this topic, but instead stuffed the dessert in his hand to Xiaoye, "For you, I promised rice cake! Just treat it as a gift for the hard work today!"
"Oh, thank you..." When did you agree?
The two watched the ancient dance of the gods quietly for a while. Amid the rumbling drums, the patriarch turned his head and looked at the young "overzealous" guest.
"Xiaoye, can you please come with me to the place where Feng Thief is imprisoned?"
"Maybe I need your help."
============================
Small theater:
Gyarados with two five-year-old children on their heads: My neck is stiff, when will they go down? (Unsperous)
Child: Huh… Huh…
============================
PS:
The update is over, and we will return to the (slow) pace of every Saturday.
The cover of the lottery fan book is released in the latest chapters of the article with the same name by Jin/Jiang Heshu/Ke. Friends who are interested in illustrations or postcard patterns can add a reader group and go to the group file to view it!
The publication time of the content of this fan text on the Internet is expected to be March next year.
Please give me some advice in the future!
Chapter completed!