"Outsiders, won't you consider staying on Mount Penglai Island? I can authorize you to stay in the village. Except for that Kunlun slave."
Early the next morning, Hirota Tulio and his companions were being hosted by the old village chief in a fairly spacious mud-brick house with a tiled roof.
After they arrived at the village the previous night, the militia notified the old village chief. When he arrived, he let them through without making things difficult.
The village was a small, self-contained community whose residents could hear one another's chickens and dogs but never visited one another in their lifetimes. Outsiders were rare, so naturally there were no inns or guesthouses. Fortunately, the old village chief's home also served as a venue for village discussions, and there was enough space for them to sleep on the floor.
They rose at sunrise and rested at sunset. The sky had barely begun to brighten when the old village chief had his granddaughter prepare breakfast for them.
The meal consisted of a bowl of brown rice, a grilled fish, a few slices of salted radish, and a bowl of miso soup with wild greens and tofu.
After spending half a day on the move, Hirota Tulio and the others were ravenous, and they all wolfed down their food.
"Tulio, what's the old gentleman saying?"
Antonio, the black man, no longer turned his nose up at the strange taste of miso. He grabbed rice with his hand and gulped down the soup with wild greens and tofu as he asked indistinctly.
"Uh, the old village chief is asking whether we want to stay. He also said you're very strong and would certainly be suited to farm work."
A trace of embarrassment appeared on Hirota Tulio's face as he casually made something up.
"Of