Chapter 1: New Year"s Eve
Location: Taiwan Time: 3:16 PM
And just like that, the incident below the ship was temporarily put aside.
Then, right when I personally felt that I"ve been in the middle of chaos after going onboard and haven"t had time to react, this year"s New Year"s Eve officially announced its arrival.
“Yang~I heard the New Year"s Eve amus.e.m.e.nt park will be open today. Do you want to go there after dinner?” Sitting on the shared bed and lifting up the clothes in his backpack, the five-colored rooster head issued a very casual question.
“Oh, you can go by yourself. I have to go to the library.” I actually wanted to go below the ship to go to an appointment. I keep feeling as if that group of village guardians was very weird, the inexplicable kind of “weird,” so it"d be better if I decide to go to the appointment.
At any rate, if something really does happen, at least there"s still Minas and the Old Man to help me…probably.
“Aih, why are you going to the library on New Year"s Eve?” The five-colored rooster head grabbed a flashy Hawaiian T-shirt that I really wanted to throw out the balcony and jumped off the bed, walking straight toward me: “Weren"t we going to stay up late and then beat up that guy called *Nian until he crawls back home?”
[T/N: There"s a myth about a monster called Nian (year) that comes every New Year"s Eve to eat people and livestock. It was supposedly the basis for the Chinese New Year, since the color red and loud noises are used to scare it away]
Speaking of which, you"re a twentieth century person?
You actually still believe in that myth about Nian coming back!? Wait a minute, could it be that it really can return?
I suddenly had an inexplicable sense of horror.
It shouldn"t be possible for that kind of thing to return, right?
“Ziray, there shouldn"t be such thing as a Nian, right?” No matter what, I decided to first ask for proof, since if there isn"t, I"d simply be laughed at at most.
The five-colored rooster head turned to look at me, with a very strange gaze: “Yang~you guys don"t have Nian here?”
“Of course not! There"s not even half a person who"s seen it before, alright!?” If there was, it would have long since caused a big commotion, and then the legend of the fight between the dinosaurs and the military would arise.
Just when it seemed like he was about to say something, the door that was said to be electronically locked was opened, and Senior, who had disappeared to who knows where in the morning, steadily walked in, “What are you two talking about?”
“We were talking about the Nian.” Seeing Senior enter, I immediately gave up questioning the five-colored rooster head: “Senior, it shouldn"t be possible to have this kind of thing, right?”
That thing is clearly only found in stories; it would be completely abnormal if it does come out!
Senior stared at me for a moment, coldly snorting: “There are.”
I heard the sound of a heart shattering.
“See, I told you so.” The five-colored rooster head very coolly broke into a grin at me, “It"s not a New Year unless we beat it until it crawls back home every year.”
…I don"t want to know that thing exists. Can someone give me a contradiction?
“Even if you want to see it, you probably wouldn"t be able to. The Nian haven"t gone to the human world in a long time.” Senior sat down on the sofa, then took a small can of who-knows-what and spilled it on a handkerchief, slowly rubbing his finger on it: “But you can still see some now in secluded places in the sealed world. If you"re interested, you can find Chifuyu and the others to take a look together.”
Senior, please believe me, I will never be interested!
Then, I noticed that the handkerchief Senior was rubbing was originally completely white for some reason, and suddenly seemed to be slowly turning black as if it was being colored with paint.
…Senior, do you have deadly poison inside your body?
Black eyes fiercely glared over.
Uh, you can ignore what I thought about, it doesn"t matter. I don"t mind. Really, I don"t mind at all, thank you.
“Senior, what did you catch just now?” Clearly noticing the color of the handkerchief too, the five-colored rooster head curiously opened his mouth and casually asked what I also wanted to ask.
“When I was pa.s.sing by, I saw some things crawling in and cleared them away in pa.s.sing.” Saying that, Senior loosened his hand, and that handkerchief in his palm directly soared into the air and was burned till not even the ash remained.
I suddenly found a benefit of studying in a school for abilities; if I"m unemployed in the future, I can still go apply to be an eco-friendly, residue-free human incinerator!
With a “kou,” I was accurately smacked by a can flying over, and my whole head became dizzy.
“Yang~do you want to go upstairs to the amus.e.m.e.nt park and play?” Disregarding that I was just hit by a can and was currently dizzy, the five-colored rooster head moved beside me, picking up the can and tossing it up and down every so often, “I heard that the club has a lot of performances. Today"s New Year Eve. We can have fun everywhere.”
I also know today"s New Year Eve and we can have fun everywhere, because in the morning my mom even warned us not to go into places that prohibit minors.
“Actually it"s still possible for us to go in.” Senior suddenly burst out a shocking sentence: “You just need to show them your student ID. They usually cooperate and let you in.”
…Does this come from the school"s terrifying influence?
I suddenly felt that our school is actually very shady like the Guild.
“The school"s students frequently run into special places because of fieldwork. As long as they don"t cause trouble, they can usually go enter and leave.” Senior told me very seriously.
Could it be that you"re telling me to enter a restricted area as a minor!?
You want me to get killed by my mom!?
“Hmph hmph, I wouldn"t want to go into that kind of place. It"s boring enough. It"s better to go watch the performances.” Having clearly spent a long time in the adult area already, the five-colored rooster head said with a completely disdainful att.i.tude, “Yang~let"s go see the performance. At any rate, you have to wait until six o"clock before you can be admitted into the New Year"s Eve dinner places.”
I glanced at my watch. It was about three thirty.
“Senior, do you want to go with us?” I looked at Senior, who seemed like he didn"t have anything to do either, and carefully asked.
“…Nn.” Unexpectedly, Senior actually nodded.
“Let"s get going then!” The five-colored rooster head grabbed my shoulder, directly opening the door and running outside.
Hey! Aren"t you going too fast!?
Completely disregarding the eyes of other people, I was directly dragged up two floors, and then the legendary performance hall appeared before us. Probably only a few seconds later, Senior also appeared behind us.
Next to the door, I saw the name of whatever was being performed inside right now.
It was more or less a circus show. It felt quite famous, because the ad above was depicted very beautifully.
“Seems like it just started.” Glancing in slightly, the five-colored rooster head told us.
There was nothing else for us to do anyway, so we naturally went in.
The performance was probably some magic tricks and the like. Maybe there were restrictions...o...b..ard, so no large beasts appeared. Though there were a lot of song and dance accompanying the magic show.
The entire interior was black, and only the stage area was brightly lit.
The attendants shuttled back and forth in the darkness, then helped to bring us to an empty table. On the table were small snacks, tea and program lists for our own use.
Then less than ten minutes later, the performance on the stage officially began.
I suddenly felt that telling Senior and them to come magic tricks was an unnecessary move! He himself is stronger than a magician…That"s right, maybe if I"m unemployed in the future, I can still become a magician; the point is that I"d never be caught in the act, how strong is that!
And so, the number one magician of the century will probably be replaced very soon.
With a “pa,” the back of my head was once again whacked by a palm.
“We"re watching a show; what are you being so wordy for!?”
With the addition of a certain person"s heartless icy statement.
To be honest, that magic show should actually be very captivating.
If I hadn"t seen the terrifying school and sports compet.i.tion before, I honestly would"ve felt that it was very captivating. But for some reason, the me watching the magician onstage from below the stage, actually felt that his movements weren"t as fast as I thought, and it vaguely seemed as if I could see where the mechanisms were located.
…There"s nothing wrong with my eyes, right?
“You"ve stayed in the school for a long time. If the things you see are still the same as before, you should reflect on yourself.” Sitting beside me, Senior gave me a sideway glance, using a matter-of-course tone to say: “All things will change.”
Meaning that I"m already starting to advance toward the Martian plan?
“I don"t want to beat you up in public.” With a “kou” sound, Senior put down the porcelain cup in his hand.
Pretend I had a slip of the tongue…
After the performance on the stage ended, a booming applause sounded below.
“You guys are still playing here?” Just when the show was about to enter its second phase, someone suddenly smacked my shoulder. Turning my head, I saw that Ming Yue had appeared next to us at some point, “Mom"s been looking for you. She said something about how she brought a lot of new clothes and told you guys to try them on. It"s for tonight"s dinner.”
“Ah? Can"t we wear normal ones?” So troublesome, we even have to wear new clothes.
“No, hurry up and gather in Mom and Dad"s room, or else beware of getting beaten.” After greeting Senior, my sister directly left without even sitting down.
Aih…Then should we still keep watching?
“Chu, Ziray, let"s go.” Obviously already not interested, Senior stood up, and the five-colored rooster head also bounced up. Since they"re going, I don"t have any reason to keep watching either.
After leaving the performance hall, there were still some people around outside. Some had just arrived, and some were about to leave, bustling with noise as they went back and forth for a while.
Following the stairs, we arrived at another floor, the double room where my mom and them were staying.
The room where Senior, the five-colored rooster head and I were originally supposed to stay at looked like it had been occupied by other guests. It just so happened that when we came, another male and female couple had walked out, laughing and chatting as they headed toward the stairs.
I knocked twice at the door, and my mom quickly opened the door: “Eh? Where"s Xiao Ming? Didn"t I tell her to come over with you guys?” She looked left and right, with a lot of doubt.
“Uh, she probably went to stroll around.” I noticed that there was no one else in the room: “Where"s Dad?”
“He went to the souvenir center. You guys should come in first.”
After waiting for the five-colored rooster head and Senior to go in, I saw that the double bed inside the room had a lot of brand new clothes spread out on it. There were no shortage of shirts and T-shirts, vibrant and with so many different colors. The majority seem to have a very New Year"s feel to them.
…You took such a big bag with you just to bring these clothes?
“Come come come, there"s enough for all of you; everyone has to try them on. The New Year is all about wearing new clothes. It also looks good when you go to the restaurant.” My mom picked up a blue piece of clothing with a white background, beaming as she beckoned to us.
“There"s nothing flashier!” The five-colored rooster head looked at the very normal clothes on the bed and began protesting.
“We"re going to the restaurant to eat; why would you wear something so flashy?” My mom replied with this sentence.
Basically, you should probably wear more formal clothes to a restaurant…
“I have my own clothes.” Senior looked at the bunch of clothes spread out for a moment and said this.
Sorry Senior, but opposing my Mom like this is useless. My Mom"s skills are very strong…It"s better if you just obediently try them on! I mean it.
Senior shot me a glance, and coldly snorted.
“If you kids don"t watch carefully, you won"t be able to put them on properly. Now, everyone come over to try them on. You"re not allowed to run about if you don"t finish trying them on!” My Mom issued an absolute order, then seized the five-colored rooster head, who was the closest one to her, and started comparing the clothes.
“I can wear it myself!–”
A battle between a human and a rooster broke out over there.
Then of course, our resistance ended up having no effect. After the three of us had each changed into brand-new clothes and stepped out of the room, my mom happily hummed a song as she started getting dressed.
It was four, almost five o"clock.
That said, Senior"s and my clothes didn"t change much in fact. It"s just that our normal clothes had changed colors or patterns and became new. The five-colored rooster head, though, changed a lot.
“Ziray, you look pretty good in normal clothes too, actually. Why do you always wear Hawaiian shirts?” I turned a full circle around the five-colored rooster head, and it wasn"t like I couldn"t tell that he was wearing normal clothes, but he really does look quite handsome wearing a complete set of clothes properly.
The five-colored rooster head made a face at me: “These aren"t normal clothes!”
“Yeah, yeah, if it wasn"t for the hot pot, you would have long since ripped it apart and stuffed it in the trash can, right.” I was already used to the five-colored rooster head"s declarations of the supremacy of Hawaiian shirts.
“Obviously!” The five-colored rooster head huffed as he walked toward the stairs, “If it wasn"t because I wanted to eat, I would never–
“Alright alright, let"s go to the dining hall and wait first.” Pushing the five-colored rooster head, I headed straight for the stairs.
To be honest, after staying with him for a period of time, I felt that the five-colored rooster head was pretty easy to handle, contrary to expectation. It just wasn"t as difficult as before.
The New Year"s Eve gathering that was originally expected to be held on the deck was changed to be at two public restaurants, because the wind was too cold. The entire huge dining hall became open to the public.
Every table was arranged based on the rooms. Since we"re going as a family, I heard we"re getting a big table, and the small families are getting small tables. Besides that, there were some people who didn"t want to be squeezed around in the public restaurant and headed toward restaurants with expenses to leisurely celebrate the New Year.
It wasn"t time yet, and there were already several people like our family waiting outside.
“Go drink something first.” Senior pointed to a beverage counter nearby and said: “I"ll treat you.”
Glancing for a moment, it was a beverage you had to pay for.
Because you needed to pay for it, there were slightly less people.
“You guys go first, I have to go to the kitchen.” The five-colored rooster head, who was said to be on very good terms with the kitchen lately, swiftly ran off.
“Chu, come here.”
Senior beckoned to me.
That bar counter was actually very quiet.
After choosing a seat nearby and sitting down, Senior ordered a drink from the waiter. Then his black eyes kept staring at me, to the point where I was almost cold-sweating and he was still staring.
I probably haven"t done anything to offend him, right?
Then I was continued to be stared at until the drinks reached the table.
“Chu, you…have something weird on you.” Holding a stirrer and stirring the cup, Senior issued words that made me break out with plenty of cold sweat.
There"s something weird on me?
Other than Minas, the Old Man and senior Gasai"s talisman, what other weird things are there on me that I don"t know about…?
Ah, could it be Yuli"s scale…
Oh no!
Realizing that my own mind spilled the beans, I guess it was too late to pretend I didn"t think that.
“When did you get the village guardian"s scale?” Clearly waiting for my mind to dig its own grave, Senior unhurriedly curved into a strange cold smile and asked.
“Uh…it was after we came back from the ship cabin…” It was all already too late. I could only bite the bullet and talk about the half-snake person"s invitation.
Senior"s face didn"t have any drastic changes at all, which made him look even more terrifying.
Could it be that the invitation really wasn"t anything good…I started to worry about my own safety a little.
“I can"t go there?” In order to confirm, I still asked.
“No, you can go. There"s no harm in doing that. I just can"t figure out why he"s looking for you. You don"t really have anything that could help him with this matter.” Senior said with a very matter-of-course tone, then stabbed my heart deeply.
“Let"s go eat hot pot…” I could almost smell the aroma of the hot pot"s satay sauce* drifting over from inside, and just unconsciously said this.
[T/N: type of Chinese barbecue sauce]
Senior looked at me with the kind of expression as if he was looking at an idiot.
Don"t object to hot pot!
Could it be that they (Senior and Ziray) felt too bored and actually wanted to eat hot pot…
“When you go, remember to bring Gasai"s talisman and the Old Man. If they really intend to harm you, they won"t be able to succeed for a while.” Senior drank a bit of his drink and said.
Meaning that it"s still possible for them to succeed, huh!?
I suddenly didn"t feel like going again.
Just when the two of us fell quiet and were each drinking our own drinks, that five-colored rooster head, who ran off to the kitchen and ran out with another big box, very automatically ran back, directly sitting down in an empty seat: “You guys will have to thank this uncle. I went to get a bunch of the chef old man"s good stuff. You won"t be able to get them anywhere else; it"s what they eat by themselves inside.”
He grinned, opening that box as if he was presenting a treasure.
I saw that it was completely stuffed with seafood and some meat inside. They look very fresh, and of pretty good quality.
“If the chef gave you so much, what are they going to eat?” I deeply felt that chef was a weird person. The five-colored rooster head is obviously an enemy of kitchens, and yet he admires him so much, the h.e.l.l.
“Tsk, they have plenty of their own ingredients inside. This isn"t all they have. I was originally going to get a bit more, but the box couldn"t fit them.” The five-colored rooster head said in a very pitiful tone.
Just taking these should already be worth the price of the tickets!
What kind of person can go to the kitchen, get free food and drinks and even take a bunch of them when they go onboard; you"re probably the only one who does that!
“It"s almost time.” Senior stood up and said.
“Eh?” I was just about to say that it didn"t seem to be time yet, and saw my dad and mom appear at the top of the stairs first.
After we left the drinks area, my mom and dad just happened to arrive outside the restaurant. My sister came only a few minutes later.
So when the time was up, the restaurant opened. Many attendants led different guests in to their seats, and we were arranged to be at a big round table.
On New Year"s Eve, the huge restaurant on the ship prepared a big hot pot set-meal for every guest. The entire table was full of fresh ingredients, and what we used was a safety stove that wouldn"t catch fire.
The attendants that were everywhere took turns. If there wasn"t enough, they would help refill the food and could go to the self-serving ingredient area on their own.
“Good thing we didn"t actually hold the hot pot gathering on the deck, or else we definitely would"ve froze to death.” My sister was likewise wearing a brand-new set of clothes, flipping through the menu on the table as she laughed.
If we held it outside, I suppose it would be very entertaining.
A place where the hot and cold alternated…
“Less nonsense! This uncle is about to start working!”
In fact, I"ve never experienced celebrating the New Year in a place with so many people.
In the past, I heard that many cla.s.smates return to their grandparents" home, and then spend New Year"s Eve with their whole family, eating hot pot and whatnot.
Because of the problem with me, this kind of opportunity was almost next to zero. There were a few times when my dad"s brothers brought along their cousins, but after I almost got unlucky a few times, they didn"t really like coming over.
Senior sat beside me, opening his bamboo chopsticks.
The surroundings rumbled and became boisterous, and the room broadcasted an enthusiastic music that likewise gave off that kind of mood. On a platform a bit further away, the host brought a special program for New Year"s Eve, and several women appeared on the platform.
“Yang Yang, Ziray and Yang Yang"s senior, you guys have to eat a lot.” My dad used serving chopsticks to sweep a whole plate of vegetables and whatnot into the big dual-sided hot pot. On one side was the normal flavor and the other was spicy, giving off a thick smoky aroma.
“I want this too!” Not holding back at all, the five-colored rooster head started to throw a large amount of ingredients into the pot. The entire room was full of hot white smoke, and the small family of three at the next table was stirring the crayfish in their pot.
Then I noticed that Senior still hasn"t moved his chopsticks.
It can"t be that he hasn"t even eaten hot pot before…Wait a minute, that"s not right, when we were barbecuing at Yido"s place before, didn"t everyone cook?
Holding the chopsticks, Senior"s gaze didn"t seem to be here. Looking over in his direction, I saw the face of someone I was somewhat acquainted with sitting with many people at a table far away. It was that strange person whom I don"t know but who seems to be very familiar with me.
“Senior, do you know him?” The other person also noticed us and even raised his hand to greet us.
“Not at all.” With a cold snort, Senior frowned as he turned back and picked up a pastry. on the table, “Don"t get close to him.”
“Oh…okay.” Rubbing my nose, I had a feeling that Senior might not get along very well with him.
“Yang~eat this!” Having already become hot pot kings with my dad, the five-colored rooster head held a big pair of chopsticks as he scooped up a bunch of hot pot ingredients and dumped them into my bowl, before acting in the same manner as he threw some into Senior"s bowl. Our bowls were simultaneously piled up with a small mountain of various weird things, “This one"s good.”
Don"t put crayfish heads into my bowl even if you think it"s good!
I threw the crayfish heads back into the five-colored rooster head"s plate.
Many of the hot pot ingredients provided onboard were so long and weird. I"m a standard normal-ingredient lover. Just give me taro, meat and vegetables and I"ll be fine.
“Ziray, I can fill my own plate.” Senior frowned and picked up an entire mustard greens from his bowl, which even still had its roots on it.
Are mustard greens used like this in cooking hot pot?
“Ah—-you guys pick them up too slowly, you won"t be able to eat.” The culprit that caused the rapid loss of food still had his mouth full, then directly swallowed it down very strangely.
“It"s fine, if there"s not enough, we can go get more.” My dad said with a laugh. He"s probably happy because of how long it"s been since it was this lively.
“Xiao Ming should eat some more too.” My mom patted my sister beside her, and smilingly said.
“Nn.”
Completely separated from the hustle and bustle of the outside world, my sister very self-willedly did as she pleased as she elegantly ate her food.
The legendary folk performance group appeared on the performance stage. Among the big heap of hot pots, all I saw were the amazing dancers spinning round and round, then pulling up a few onlooking children to play before many parents holding cameras vigorously took photos.
“Aih aih, if Yang Yang was just a bit younger, he could"ve had his photo snapped like this. How adorable it would have been.” My mom used a very pitiful tone as she watched the stage, and issued a perplexing thought.
I"m so sorry that I"ve already grown big.
Probably less than half an hour after starting the stoves, the whole table was swept clean then rapidly filled with new ingredients.
“Speaking of which, what are we going to do when we finish eating later? Go back to our room and watch the New Year programs?” Ming Yue poked the vegetable root in her bowl and casually asked.
“It seems like they"re going to be setting off fireworks on the deck from twelve to one. Let"s go up and watch them together.” My mom took the program list and said.
“Eh, I"ll pa.s.s.” Remembering that I had an appointment with the snake-person, I immediately raised my hand.
“Me too.” The five-colored rooster head was grinning, “Just now the chef told me to go eat a second course with them.”
I suddenly felt that the chef on this ship definitely wasn"t afraid of death, not knowing how terrifying it is when the whole ship is out of food.
“Then alright, I"ll go see them with your dad.”
The couple that was said to be on their second honeymoon very lovingly exchanged glances.
“I guess I"d better go somewhere far away to watch the fireworks.” My sister winked at me, and whispered.
“Pfft—-”
“Yang Yang, what are you laughing at?” Mom"s gaze drifted over.
“N, nothing.”
And so, under this atmosphere, just when the program on the performance stage reached its climax, the whole ship hull shook violently.
Someone screamed.