Braised Backbone Smells Amazing on the Grill
The name Mimir/Mim originally refers to a wise giant in Norse mythology, renowned for his knowledge.
The story of Mimir/Mim is recorded in two poems in the Edda.
This giant was the master of the Mímisbrunnr and taught Odin, the god of gods, magic.
Runes, are divine powers that Odin obtained by sacrificing one of his eyes, following the guidance of the giant Mimir/Mim.
Regarding the broader topic of Norse mythology, the Icelandic epic Edda and the Germanic epic Nibelungenlied Dragon Race as a window into Norse mythology.
About the Hot Spring Market in the District 18.
--This place is named after the wise giant Mimir/Mim, and its meaning is to bestow upon passengers a wellspring of wisdom and introspection.
In mythology, the Mímisbrunnr [Mímisbrunnr] is located in Jötunheimr, the World Tree, and is the second root of the tree.
Jötunheimr is home to Mountain Giant and Frost Giant, and is filled with jagged rocks, cliffs, and desolate forests.
After drinking from the Mímisbrunnr, Odin gained astonishing knowledge, but the burden of that knowledge robbed him of his smile.
The train heading towards the abyss sped wildly towards 64 degrees north latitude.
Jiang Xueming forced herself to stay awake, leaned on Bu Liuxing's arm, and stared at the passenger log.
Most of the information about the Mimir Hot Spring Market can be found on the new entry page of the log.
However, Xue Ming was not suited to reading at this critical juncture of transformation, or rather, he was not suited to any complex thinking or learning. His brain was almost back to the state of a toddler; doing a few quadratic equations would make him fall asleep.
A Xing patiently read aloud the contents of the log, as if telling Ming Ge a bedtime story, hoping to help Ming Ge stay alert and remember the things more clearly.
"The Abyssal Railway Administration's first official destination is Mimir Hot Spring —passing through a large mining area centered on the Golden Township. The winding and rugged prehistoric mines, with traces of human excavation, indicate that these mines, stretching for thousands of kilometers, are the opening page of another mythical civilization."
"Starting from the Nine Realms, and using this golden land as a fulcrum, the Beast of Bright Virtue built three railway networks at different altitudes towards Reykjavik, Iceland."
"The highest point, and the closest to the Nine Realms Station, is Mimir Hot Spring Market. The BOSS calls it the official destination, and hundreds of kilometers away in Reykjavik, a second station is built—Huge Mountain. The reason for this name is that afterwards, through the introduction of the mountain trolls, the BOSS reached a mutually beneficial construction agreement with the Mountain Giant. These enormous humanoid creatures were willing to build the station-related facilities for the BOSS, and later the Frost Giants of the two great races also joined in."
"These stories can be found in more complete and detailed versions in the Great Archives. The logbook has a description of the Mimir Hot Spring Market, and there's a very long section. Ming Ge, can you handle it?"
Bu Liuxing waved his large hand in front of Xue Ming's eyes.
Looking out at the endless darkness, Xue Ming fought off his drowsiness and forced himself to stay awake, saying slowly, "I can still listen for a while. Tell me more about this Hot Spring Market. I want to make money, so I have to adapt to local customs."
"Okay." Bu Liuxing turned to the next page and gave a detailed explanation of the historical significance of the Hot Spring Market itself, as well as its personnel composition.
"When the Mind and Virtue Monster arrived at Mimir Hot Spring, it was still a desolate ancient ruin, with only a geyser that occasionally spewed out dirty water with a sulfurous smell. Over the years, it has been transformed from a human settlement into a town, and then into a city."
"Although there was nothing when we first arrived, the runes from the ancient ruins, the roaming trolls, and the offspring born from the hybridization of trolls and wild beasts—all of this kept the BOSS brimming with curiosity. Humans and monsters from the Spirit Calamity share the geyser for survival, wary of each other yet cooperating for mutual benefit."
"After [DATA EXPUNGED], the monstrous beasts gradually disappeared from the wilderness, the springs dried up, and the harmonious coexistence of mythical creatures and humans from the Golden Age was gone. Only different Scandinavians remained, selecting precious prey for trials and battles, ultimately transforming themselves."
"Today, it has become a landmark city in District 18, with a resident population of 1.4 million and a floating population of 810,000 annually. The population is mainly composed of the Red Stone School, and the Senate is called the [Masons]. Its main sources of revenue are metallurgy, mining, catering, tourism, as well as entertainment and gambling."
"District 18 is a resource-rich region relatively close to surface civilizations. It is located at the Mohorovičić discontinuity the Earth's crust and mantle—rich in electrolytes and rare earth elements, and its powerful geomagnetic environment has nurtured many wondrous creatures and brilliant civilizations. We can still see the fossil remains of many calamity beasts, as well as related sculptures and paintings, in the Mimir Hot Spring Market. But if you want to see the whole picture, you'll probably have to go to the deeper wilderness."
"This city has many delicious foods, fine wines, and poaching byproducts. Even though many monstrous creatures are on the station's protected animal list—the people who love redstone are all carnivores, and this poaching continues despite repeated crackdowns. To this day, you can still find rare and exorbitantly priced dishes in the dark corners of the Mimir Hot Spring Market."
"These monstrous beasts come in all shapes and sizes. They were once the enemies of the station's pioneering teams. Their origins are mysterious and bizarre, and many of them are related to trolls and giants. But you don't need to worry. Homo sapiens are still the top predators in nature—before you arrived at the Hot Spring Market, ninety percent of the large animals in the local ecosystem had already been eaten to extinction."
"Regarding geysers, before [DATA EXPUNGED], they were like a small gift from the Mohorovičić discontinuity. People drank the spring water and gained transcendent knowledge; their spiritual essence sublimated and mutated in a very short time, and we thus possessed tens of thousands of extraordinary individuals, surviving the most difficult Pioneering Era."
"It may be the divine power brought by the abundant eclogite in the Mohorovičić discontinuity. Ling Weng once asserted that if the Mimir Hot Spring were to send down its nectar again, it would be the most vicious curse and the most beautiful blessing."
"In short, this city is currently in the hands of the Red Stone People. They are passionate and brave, with a strong martial spirit. Many generations later, they remain a group of happy and simple hunters. They organize two large hunting festivals called the [Dionysus Festival] in January and July of the year. They like to capture various monsters and protected animals from the station to cook, and they can use all kinds of magical spices and wines to stimulate their five senses and complete the transformation of their three elements."
"If you have excellent cooking skills and are a cheerful and outgoing person, the BOSS highly recommends that you visit this place. You don't need to remember anyone's name or be on guard—on the second branch of the World Tree, there's wine and flowers everywhere."
Bu Liuxing closed the logbook.
There was still so much to read, but Ming Ge had already fallen asleep.
The descriptions in the book alone were enough to fill A Xing with a strong sense of anticipation.
He pondered it carefully. Could there really be such a place where one could completely let down their guard, where one didn't need to remember anyone's name, where one could make friends, drink together, admire flowers together, hunt and shed blood together, and cook and eat together?
Xue Ming, half asleep and half awake, raised his hand and patted A Xing's face, trying to wake A Xing up.
"That sounds so nice."
"They seem like a bunch of complete idiots."
"No wonder the Spirit Elder said that if the Mímisbrunnr were to gush forth again, it would be both a curse and a blessing—at least for the Red Stone People, everyone is currently at a similar level of intelligence, so they don't have to spend their days scheming against each other and living with gloomy faces."
"Hehe!" Meteor immediately perked up. "Isn't this exactly what you said, Ming Ge! We're still a long way from becoming gloomy adults!"
Xue Ming corrected, "This was told to me by Brother Ye Bei. I..."
He suddenly froze.
--I had so many things on my mind.
Is it possible that Brother Ye Bei has already ventured into the underworld? Otherwise, how do you explain that stick?
Mr. Chen is also considered one of the [anonymous] members.
Xue Ming's mind was struggling to function, making it difficult to consider these complex matters. He only felt a pair of invisible, warm hands trying to lead him into a deep, dark sleep.
"A Xing, you go."
"VIP carriage, take a look. Be careful, ask around on the way and call out if anything happens."
After saying this, Xue Ming lost consciousness.
"Ask the flight attendant for help."
Meteor took off his spirit robe and covered Xue Ming with it. Upon hearing Ming Ge's instructions, he immediately ran excitedly to the back of the car.
You can see quite a few Red Stone People even on the train.
He started from carriage number three, taking two packs of cigarettes and six boxes of egg tarts with him. When he reached the back of the train, he used these gifts to exchange for eighteen return gifts, all of them food, mainly spicy and sweet snacks. However, judging from the shapes of these dried meat, pastries, and vegetables, it was difficult to tell what ingredients they were made of.
The words that came out of the mouths of the older brothers and sisters were increasingly strange, mostly translations of foreign words. When they finally caught a fellow Chinese, the gift they received in return was yak meat with chili peppers. Meteor took a bite, and tears welled up in his eyes from the spiciness.
These enthusiastic and outgoing people really love strong flavors. In the past, it was Meteor who would drag people to ask about their zodiac signs, but this time there's no need for him to ask—the people on the train returning home for the New Year all told A Xing their home addresses, asking A Xing to bring his friends to have New Year's Eve dinner together. Even people in the same carriage would make the same invitation.
A Xing couldn't figure it out at that time.
--Are these older brothers and sisters all family? Is the New Year's Eve dinner all served at one big table?
However, A Xing didn't have time to think too much about it.
Because most of what these Red Stone People say is junk information in Ming Ge's eyes.
--Like the neighbor's kid arguing with so-and-so again, or how so-and-so's child did on their exams recently, and got so angry because of their bad grades that they beat up the teacher, things like that.
If it were just one or two people like that, it would be fine; Meteor could still cheerfully exchange a few words with them.
Of the more than 300 people on the bus, more than 200 were like this—no matter how much fun Bu Liuxing was, his Madness Index would still skyrocket.
In the penultimate carriage, Meteor also saw two rows of incredibly beautiful young women doing a live stream on Douyin (TikTok) outside the VIP carriage, giving viewers a virtual tour of the underground world.
I don't know if the boss cares about this, but A Xing was thinking that if he and Ming Ge were to do live streams to make money, who would do the backflips and other funny stuff during the segments?
Finally A Xing figured he already had two girlfriends, so he didn't bother asking the live-streaming teams for the girls' phone numbers. But when he got to the VIP carriage door, he found six small slips of paper with contact information in his pocket.
Looking back--
Several older women were giving him flirty looks.
This scene startled him so much that he pounded on the VIP carriage door, fearing that Miss Wool Sheep would say he smelled of another woman's perfume.
That concludes the commotion and observations on the bus.
--The story begins with the door of this VIP carriage.
No one responded to Bu Liuxing, as if the VIP in the carriage wasn't actually on the train.
The main gate is made of thick white marble and inlaid with many obsidian stones.
These obsidian stones are arranged in the shape of three neat squares of English letters.
[J. O. E.]
The correct translation should be [Joe].
Or perhaps they are unknown people, ordinary people, or commoners.
"Hey buddy! Is this your first time riding this bus?" someone called out from behind, reminding A Xing.
A Xing didn't know who was shouting, after all, there were too many and too varied fill lights and mobile phone light sources from these live streaming teams, and the second to last carriage was too crowded.
Across the connecting passage, A Xing replied, "Yes! I'm looking for the VIPs! It's my first time riding this bus."
From afar, another young woman called out enthusiastically, "Little brother! You've come to the wrong place! That VIP carriage is empty! Or rather—it used to be there a long, long time ago, but it's gone now!"
A Xing shouted, "What does that mean?"
A woman with a clear and elegant voice replied in English, "That VIP carriage was originally [JOE's] seat—150 years ago, a terrible Spirit Calamity occurred in Mimir Hot Spring Market. Legend has it that a very powerful monster appeared deep underground in the geyser."
Then a younger sister joined in, hurriedly describing, "That calamity beast wants to reopen the spring, drink its water, and transform into a mythical four-legged Wyvern."
Then a cameraman shouted, "[JOE] defeated it and never came back, not even to retrieve the stick or the stone. The BOSS has been keeping this carriage, hoping this VIP will return."
The meteor was stunned--
He looked at the heavy stone gate, its black and white surfaces clearly defined.
If the decoration of the VIP carriage door is related to the characteristics of the VIP himself.
Teacher Victor is a vibrant golden-red.
So this [JOE] is a black and white devoid of emotion, a person with a cold and indifferent nature just like Ming Ge.
In the Mimir Hot Spring Market, there are so many Red Stone People. Judging from this story, these Red Stone People would never miss such an opportunity for a brave warrior to fight a dragon.
Unless they can't win.
But [JOE] went to challenge the dragon.
He went alone, won the battle, but didn't come back, leaving only this unresponsive carriage.
A Xing became even more curious.
He mustered all his strength, gritted his teeth, and tried to push open the stone door—
He thought, "The train's capacity is such a valuable resource. The boss is willing to spend a lot of money to reserve a precious spot for the heavy stone gate. He must be a very important person!"
Unfortunately, in the end, A Xing was unable to open the door and had to leave disappointed.
As Christmas draws to a close.
Xue Ming and Liuxing got off the train and, following the instructions on the station's public address system, went to meet a tour guide whose name wasn't mentioned—he lived on Sweet Potato Street in Mimir Hot Spring Market, not far from the station.
Xue Ming transformed back into luggage and had A Xing carry it. As they passed the underground passage of Platform 6, the two of them thought—this Mimir Hot Spring Market is really grand; it has three more platforms than the Nine Realms.
As they exited the station, the two brothers, holding their passes, asked a peddler for directions—only then did they understand what "abundant martial virtue" in the logbook truly meant.
Upon seeing a stranger, the newspaper vendor enthusiastically presented him with two rhinoceros revolvers, both high-quality items with ivory handles, a welcoming gift from the city.
There's practically no gun control in this area—gunshots can be heard anytime, anywhere.
Xue Ming was so frightened that he almost turned into a koala on A Xing's back, staring wide-eyed at the streets and alleys.
There are far too many barbecue stalls in the side streets and alleys. There's no talk of urban management officers. Occasionally, you can even see armed employees lighting cigarettes with the muzzle flash of their pistols, as if they're not free enough if they don't do it. It's common to see one or two unlucky swallows that have been shot and landed on the shacks at the top of the caves. The vendors pick up the bodies, remove the shrapnel and bones, and don't even bother to clean the feathers. Then, a new dish with the original flavor of mercury fulminate and gunpowder is added to the barbecue grill.
The entire Sweet Potato Street was ablaze with a vibrant red color under the glow of more than forty large braziers in the square in front of the station.
Although there are still brightly lit buildings in the distance, the train station street welcoming new guests looks more like a gathering place for mercenary groups from an old Western fantasy novel.
Some were shouting that they wanted to recruit people to go hunting outside.
Some people loudly advertise for marriage, stating that their requirements are that the person's age is acceptable and their gender is not limited.
Damn it, someone even wants to compete in American traditional martial arts Iaijutsu, a thousand shards per round, the winner has to give the loser medicine to save their life, as long as they can be saved, no hitting the head is allowed.
The most mysterious thing is that this kind of dueling ritual is a popular sport in the area, and cowboys will immediately go to accept the challenge.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
About fifty meters apart
The two cowboys, timing each other with stopwatches, drew their guns and fired at each other.
As the gun fired six rounds in quick succession, the strong wind carrying a foul stench blew against Xue Ming's face. At that moment, the man hurriedly hid the rhinoceros revolver that the peddler had given him, fearing that the enthusiastic Red Stone People would stop them and force them to compete in Western Iaijutsu.
The two young men, filled with trepidation, followed the address to the tenement building on Digua Street and found room 307.
The scene only made Xue Ming more and more uneasy.
Because room 307 is on the first floor, not the third floor.
The entire tenement building looked like it had been bombed; the bottom two floors had been turned into basements. According to the aunties hanging clothes downstairs, years ago, a gang of robbers came to hijack a train and were forced into this tenement building. This bizarre, semi-open-plan layout was created by blasting it with an RPG. In the end, it didn't completely collapse. After all, it was an old building next to the train station, in a prime location. The Masons n't afford the demolition compensation, so the local residents made do and continued to live there.
The delicious aroma of barbecue wafted from the tenement building.
The two followed the smell and found the tour guide.
Their tour guide was a Chinese man, extremely young. He was dressed in a slaughterhouse uniform, with disheveled hair and a slovenly beard. He looked to be about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, but his eyes were dull and lifeless. He carried a fragrant pork spine, the remains of an animal whose origin was completely unrecognizable, as a welcoming gift for the guests.
The spine was drying on the barbecue grill—next to it, besides bottles and jars of spices and oil brushes, was a very, very old firearm. Xue Ming had seen it in a documentary; it was an artifact from Remington Arms Company.
The tour guide snapped his fingers, and the powder from his fingertips and the sparks of charcoal flew out together. Xue Ming immediately jolted awake from his drowsy state, as if his spiritual essence had been awakened by the pungent smell at that moment.
The tour guide knocked on the door of room 307 behind him to identify himself, and then greeted the two new guests.
Hey! [JOE, handsome young man]!