Welcome to the Poetry Festival

The moment he fell into the sea, Lu Ban was most grateful that he had brought waterproof compressed rations.

That way, if we were stranded on a desert island, we wouldn't run out of ammunition and food.

He saw in the clear sea that the enormous whale wasn't coming towards him; it might have simply rolled over, just as a human walking on the road wouldn't notice the life or death of an ant under their feet.

The whale darted away in a flash, swimming at a speed no less than that of the sailfish that Lu Ban had seen on television.

Fortunately, it did not choose to crash into the distant three-masted sailing ship, but instead moved to the other side.

Only then did Lu Ban see the whale in its entirety.

In fact, it is inappropriate to call it a "whale".

That enormous, spindle-shaped body, hundreds of meters long, was only part of the monster's body.

Deeper still, in the Deep Sea where even sunlight cannot penetrate, on the seabed once covered with coral, lies a gigantic monster beyond description. The whale's head is merely one of its tentacles, and there are at least a hundred such tentacles.

Lu Ban even had the illusion that the island was residing on the body of that monster, and that the monster was much larger than the island.

In that dark, deep seabed, some indescribable being is peering up at Song Island. Human creations are but a drop in the ocean before them.

Lu Ban floated in the sea and saw that the huge tentacles seemed to want to reach upwards and try to bind the three-masted sailing ship.

Just then, a flame burst forth from the mist.

The flames were cold and dark blue, giving off a chilling and desolate feeling.

Like a shooting star, it plunged directly into the water, and instead of being extinguished by the seawater, the flames grew even more intense, illuminating the dark ocean.

Lu Ban saw that, like a signal flare, the flame sank into the seabed, and all around, countless strangely shaped fish circled the cluster of flames and fell onto the monster's towering body.

The next moment, the seawater began to surge and churn as if boiling.

The enormous monster, like paper soaked in water, suddenly twisted and tore apart.

Countless black shadows resembled ink spreading in the sea, but quickly became fuel for flames. The flames spread deep into the ocean, and following those ink-like shadows, scorching waves erupted from the seabed. Even Lu Ban felt a warm current wash over his face.

Three gashes appeared on each side of his neck, and he was greedily absorbing oxygen from the water. However, Lu Ban felt that the water tasted strange, as if it contained some impurities that did not belong to nature.

Lu Ban looked down into the seabed, where flames still burned fiercely between the complex underwater trenches, incinerating the monster, or rather, its remains. Only then did he realize that it was not a physical monster, but rather an illusion created by the aggregation of certain microorganisms.

Upon surfacing, Lu Ban saw a small sloop watching the fire from the opposite bank in the distance.

He shouted.

There was a brief flash on the port side of the sailboat, then it slightly turned and moved closer to the Lu Ban.

About ten minutes later, Lu Ban finally returned to the ship.

"You are very lucky to have witnessed the Divine Child child cleansing away evil."

Besides the busy crew, there were three passengers on board.

Their clothing was quite Japanese in style, with a left-fastening silk kimono on the upper body and long trousers and boots on the lower body. According to Lu Ban's descriptions learned from watching movies, it was close to the style of the Taisho period.

However, they did not look like traditional Asians; they looked more like mixed-race people. One of the young women even had short, dark gray hair, which was particularly eye-catching.

Am I lucky?

Lu Ban didn't quite understand. He was just rowing the boat and enjoying the scenery when he was suddenly overturned and fell into the sea. The poor boatman probably only had a few pieces left. Was this considered lucky?

"Those are Corrupted Ones, the resentment of the dead from the sea, which will form the shape of a huge monster. Only pure fire can destroy it."

The first man who spoke to Lu Ban said that he was wearing a painter's hat. Looking at Lu Ban, he took off the hat and bowed.

"My name is Tachibana Masamune, and I consider myself a painter. May I ask your honorable name?"

"Lu Ban, um, I am a director."

Lu Ban spoke the truth.

"Is it for directing plays? That's really impressive."

Beside Tachibana Masamune, a young man holding a folding fan clapped his hands and bowed. Although his hair was black, it had a few strands of crimson highlights, making him quite trendy.

"My name is Ginpei, just a poet."

The man who called himself Ginpei leaned closer and whispered to Lu Ban.

"That young lady's name is Momiji. She's not easy to approach; she's very cold."

"Oh."

Lu Ban responded with a nod, not particularly interested.

His target was the missing artist, so the people appearing before him now were definitely not his target, and they seemed to have just arrived, so they were not very suspicious.

"However, even I have never seen the Divine Child subdue the Corrupted Ones except for the annual New Year's festival at the Wa Island Grand Shrine. Seeing it now is truly shocking. It can be said that the purifying fire surges and the Namba beach is full of filth. We meet for only a moment, and I can only sigh that my life is about to end."

Looking at the pure fire that illuminated the seabed, Ginpei was inspired to compose a poem.

The pronunciation of "Divine Child" in the language of Harmony Island is the same as that of "miko," suggesting it is a title exclusively for the Saiō of Wa Island Grand Shrine.

How long will these purifying fires last before they go out?

Lu Ban asked curiously, because the shape and condition of the flame reminded him of the Glazed Fire in his bag. According to the description, the Glazed Fire could also only be used by the Head Miko of the Wa Island Grand Shrine, namely the Saiō. Understanding the power of the purifying fire would be quite helpful to him later.

However, when Lu Ban asked the question, both Ginpei and Tachibana Masamune looked at him with rather strange eyes. Even the woman, Momiji, who was gazing at the sea view in the distance, turned her head and glanced at Lu Ban, this outsider.

"The fire of purity will never go out, Brother Lu Ban. After these flames burn away the Corrupted Ones, they will use the seabed as fuel to burn eternally. This was true in the past, it is true now, and it will be true in the future."

Tachibana Masamune began to explain.

"If it keeps burning like this, one day the entire ocean will be engulfed in flames, won't it?"

Lu Ban said something casually.

"Exactly."

Ginpei nodded slightly.

"?"

Lu Ban was slightly puzzled. Why did these people not seem worried at all about the impending apocalypse?

"Life and death are like puppets on a stage. When the string breaks, they fall apart. Since you are studying art, what does life and death matter? Death is not the end, but another form of life. Young Master Lu Ban, since you are on Song Island, you should enjoy yourself to the fullest. It's such a waste to be attached to those mundane things."

Ginpei snapped open the fan painted with flowers, birds, and the moon, seemingly unconcerned about his safety, and pointed ahead.

In the gradually thinning fog, there stands an island, which must be the Song Island where the Poetry Festival is held.

However, Lu Ban vaguely saw a huge figure lurking in the mist on the island, walking high in the sky.

Thank you to "salty to the bone marrow fish" for the 2040 coin reward, and thank you to "short and powerless dyh", "book friend 20190706221040595", and "Nanshan Nan04" for the 100 coin rewards!