Chapter 572: Festival

On Aquinas Street, a two-story ceremonial boat tied with wood, cardboard, and colored ribbons was equipped with four pairs of wheels and pulled forward by four horses with shiny, oily hair.

This was a replica of the boat the "Sea Viceroy" sat on, mainly reducing the material requirements and shrinking the volume scale so that horses could pull it to tour the whole city.

At this time, eight men and women stood on both the upper and lower levels of this flower boat, dressed brightly, singing and dancing, spreading joy to the people on both sides of the street.

Crowding the ceremonial boat were the best folk orchestras in Sangtagang. They either hung single-sided drums and beat them rhythmically, or blew clarinets, oboes, flutes, and played a wide variety of string instruments.

The people on the roadside were all very happy, sometimes singing along, sometimes following the ceremonial boat, hoping to find an opportunity to be sprinkled with a little bit of water droplets from the sixteen men and women in the gaps.

Lu Mian looked down at this scene from the fifth floor of the Solo Hotel, feeling that the Sea-Praying Ceremony in Sangtagang was no longer a pure sacrifice; deducting the core part, it had already become a folk festival celebrated by the whole city.

Many residents of Sangtagang were devout believers of the "Mother Goddess of Earth" and didn't believe that the sea had spirits and could protect them, but this didn't prevent them from singing, dancing, drinking, and celebrating on such a day.

After the flower boat finished touring Aquinas Street, Lu Mian turned his head and said to Lu Jianuo:

"You take good care of Ludwig today. No matter what celebration you participate in, you must bring him."

"Yes, boss." Lu Jianuo was infected by the cheerful and lively atmosphere of the Sea-Praying Ceremony, and his emotions were quite high.

Lu Mian didn't say anything more, took the golden straw hat, walked out of the suite, and walked down the stairs.

When he reached the hall, he saw the owner of the Solo Hotel, Ota Guillaume, handing out cash to the front desk lady and two waiters, two liso each.

"Is there also a festival reward?" Lu Mian asked old Ota in Intis.

Old Ota laughed and said:

"This is compensation for them. They have to stay in the hotel today, watch over this place, can't go to watch the Sea-Praying Ceremony's later segments, and can't participate in various celebrations.

"And I, I'm going to the pier, waiting to see my little cabbage dance!"

"I will go too," Lu Mian responded with a smile, feeling the festive atmosphere very truly once again.

If the Sea-Praying Ceremony didn't contain mystical factors, he would also really want to immerse himself in such an atmosphere, just like the Lent he participated in for several years before Corde Village.

After leaving the hotel, Lu Mian strolled toward the port, finding that the citizens of Sangtagang had put on their most colorful and festive clothes. Looking at it, the streets seemed to be drowned in a sea of colors.

This made his white shirt, black vest, and dark trousers look out of place with the environment, looking like an outsider man at a glance.

Lu Mian put that golden straw hat on his head, adding a bit of color to himself.

Ding-a-ling, bicycles carrying wooden boxes drove past, and peddlers sold popsicles of different flavors to citizens waiting to watch the Sea Dance and boat racing competitions.

Lu Mian watched these two segments with a leisurely posture of enjoying the festival, and only left the port after the ceremonial boat carrying the "Sea Viceroy" and "Handmaiden of the Sea" sailed toward Milo Village.

He didn't participate in other celebrations organized by the citizens themselves, found a public restroom in the nearest department store, and entered a stall.

Then, he activated the black mark on his right shoulder and appeared directly in a remote corner of Milo Village.

He immediately turned into a shadow creature, sneaked into that building of the Oro family that was both ancient and modern, and came to Juan Oro's bedroom.

That president of the Fishery Society had already been waiting here for a while.

Seeing the figure of the great adventurer Louis Berry grow out from the darkness, Juan Oro pointed to the two Milo Village villagers who had fainted on the floor and said in Intis:

"These are two of the four deputy assistant priests participating in the Vigil segment and the sea sacrifice ceremony. You pick one and turn into his appearance."

This was one of the cooperation conditions Lu Mian and Juan Oro had talked about: he wanted to participate in the core part of the Sea-Praying Ceremony throughout.

Initially, Juan Oro didn't agree because he had no way to deceive other Sea Kin and get a stranger onto the ship. He only promised that he could let Lu Mian sneak into the mansion of the "Sea Viceroy" before the Vigil Ceremony and observe the corresponding segments in secret.

After discovering that "Ultraman" was suspected to be a core member of the Fishery Society, Lu Mian took advantage of the opportunity that Juan Oro needed cooperation and help, showed the ability of the "Lie" earring, and thus had the plan to disguise as a deputy assistant priest and board the ship.

Lu Mian carefully scrutinized one of the deputy assistant priests for a few seconds, put on the silver-white earring, imitated his appearance, and modified his own shape.

Not long after, except for the clothing, there was no difference between him and that deputy assistant priest.

"My turn," Juan Oro said in a low voice in Intis.

He wanted to turn into the other deputy assistant priest and board the ship himself to prevent accidents.

The reason he did this was that he didn't trust Louis Berry to participate in the sea sacrifice, and he had to guard against saboteurs lurking in the dark using unknown methods to cause destruction. Regardless of which method, the final landing point would be the sea sacrifice segment. He quietly boarded the ship to be able to handle changes in time and give those guys a "surprise."

—Juan Oro was afraid that Louis Berry was actually an accomplice of those saboteurs from last year, and the behaviors he did before were just to deceive himself and others, in order to "openly and honestly" board the ship, waiting for the critical moment to destroy the ceremony.

Lu Mian threw the "Lie" earring to Juan Oro and changed into the deputy assistant priest clothing prepared by the other party without caring at all—that was a dark blue robe embroidered with many marine elements.

As soon as Juan Oro put on the silver-white earring, he felt a wonderful control over every detail of his body.

He tried to adjust the wrinkles on his face and immediately saw himself in the mirror looking ten or twenty years younger.

Although he grasped powerful and diverse supernatural abilities, this president of the Fishery Society still couldn't help but secretly sigh:

"It's truly magical."

After Juan Oro also completed the disguise, Lu Mian pointed to the two fainted deputy assistant priests:

"Who is responsible for guarding them, not letting them appear before the Sea-Praying Ceremony?"

"My wife," Juan Oro had long been prepared.

That was the former "Handmaiden of the Sea," the old grandmother of the Oro family now, who possessed not-weak strength, but hadn't participated in segments like the ring-making ceremony, didn't belong to those who might leak secrets, and belonged to an object that could be trusted.

Lu Mian turned to ask:

"As the president of the Fishery Society, won't you be suspected if you don't wait for the news of the Sea-Praying Ceremony's success with other committee members?"

"No, I don't go every year. I can wait for news at home, and my wife will disguise as me," Juan Oro pointed to the "Lie" on his left ear and took it off.

Lu Mian confirmed the details repeatedly before saying:

"Have you investigated clearly who among those people has had the experience of almost dying and then living again, or whose personality has had obvious changes?"

Those people referred to the core members of the Fishery Society who grasped the specific appearance of the "Sea Queen's Ring" and the complete details of the Sea-Praying Ceremony.

And according to Franca's hint, every member of the "Curly-Haired Baboon Research Society" was a soul from another world. They occupied human corpses that had just died and "resurrected." From this point, one could screen out who among the suspected targets was suspected to be "Ultraman."

Juan Oro shook his head slowly:

"No, at least none in my impression. Hey, time is too rushed, no way to investigate each one in depth."

This old man, who was wearing the appearance of a middle-aged man, continued:

"Remember, you are called Brian now, and I am Jorge. It doesn't matter if you don't understand what others are saying later; I will prompt you. When you need to answer questions, I will also help you."

"Good." Lu Mian was still in the appearance of not knowing much Highland language.

Actually, he had already grasped more words and grammar after high-intensity learning of this language with the "Understand Language" charm. Although he still couldn't hear the complete words of others, he could very well capture the corresponding key words and tense, active/passive voice, etc., and guess the rough meaning very closely. And when expressing, short sentences with simple structures were not a problem.

…………

Wearing the dark blue robe of a deputy assistant priest, Lu Mian entered the "Sea Viceroy" mansion under the guidance of Juan Oro, this old man whose steps were no longer staggering, passed through the hall carved with many marine creature sculptures, and came to the room where the "Sea Viceroy" kept vigil.

The current "Sea Viceroy" came from the Giallo family and was named Simon. He was a member of a thin-blooded branch and didn't even have the qualifications to live in the ancestral house.

At this time, he was sitting cross-legged on the cold floor, suppressing his excited mood, half-closing his eyes, and feeling the erosion of the damp air around him.

Although Lu Mian didn't open his spirit vision, he could still discover that in the shadows, void, and sculptures of this place, there were different Sea Kin busy.

Juan Oro took him and left this room, came to the most remote place of this building, pushed open the wooden door of the servant's room, and said to Miguel, the fake "Sea Viceroy" lying on the bed:

"After the Sea-Praying Ceremony succeeds, you can leave, but you must leave Sangtagang, bringing the wealth you have saved this year."

Miguel sat up excitedly:

"Good, good!"

They used Highland language to communicate, but Lu Mian still roughly understood the meaning.

After doing this, Juan Oro translated the conversation just now for Lu Mian and said to him:

"You can verify whether I lied from Miguel's expression."

So what if you didn't lie? Things said might not be done... Lu Mian muttered silently, returned to the hall, and sat cross-legged opposite the other two deputy assistant priests.

Time passed second by second. In the middle of the night, the "Sea Queen's Ring" was made. One of the deputy assistant priests went in to take it out, and in the dim, dark environment of the moonlight, brought it toward the basement.

Next was the segment of paying tribute to the ancestors.

Lu Mian watched this scene quietly, and suddenly his heart moved.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 573 =====