Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 159

Saying it out loud would only increase Chu Hua's doubts and worries.

Xiangzi kept his mouth open, swallowing back the words that were about to come out.

"Are you sure?" Xiangzi changed his mind and asked.

"...Please, Xiao Xiang."

Chu Hua's voice became very soft, so soft that only Xiangzi could hear it.

She suddenly became very pitiful, like an injured dog, panting in Xiangzi's ear.

"I don't dare to confirm it myself..."

"..."

"Please help me... please..."

Xiangzi slightly opened his eyes, grasped Chuhua's slightly trembling hand, and placed his other hand on the back of her hand.

"Ok."

she said softly.

==========

bang-

The wooden planks crashed between the ferry and the dock, and the people on the ferry stepped over the trembling planks one by one to reach the island.

Chu Hua said goodbye to Xiangzi and then disembarked with the film crew.

The others stayed with Xiangzi for a while before helping her off the boat.

Xiangzi, as if his soul had left his body, floated lightly across the wooden planks. When he stepped onto the concrete dock, his soul instantly returned to his body.

"I'm alive again." She clutched her lower abdomen, still shaken. "I still feel a little nauseous."

"Xiangzi." Hailing sniffed and frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"The fishy smell is really strong here," Hailing said.

A Lost Tale: The Spirit of Youth: Chapter 194 The Fishing Boat That Never Sets Sail

The first thing Hailing said after landing was that the place smelled very fishy.

"Yeah, this smells awful," Miaomeng said, pinching her nose. "Is this smell normal?"

Xiangzi took a breath and inhaled deeply the air, which smelled strongly of fish.

The smell was unpleasant, but for Xiangzi it was still more comfortable than the stuffy, sticky air on the ferry.

At least I'm not seasick anymore.

The brain gradually regained its ability to think.

She remembered what Chu Hua had told her on the boat, and so she said:

"Chu Hua said it's normal for their port to have a fishy smell, since fishing boats come and go frequently."

"Yes, it's quite normal." Hailing added, "It's that fresh smell after a fishing trip. Look at all these fishing boats here, people here make a living by fishing, right?"

How did Hai Zi know the difference between the smell of fresh fish and the smell of stale fish?

"While fresh smells bad, strictly speaking, it's not exactly a 'stinky smell.' But if it's not fresh... well, to put it bluntly, it will have a rotten smell."

"Another piece of useless life hacks has been added." Miaomeng nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite. "How would Haizi know these things? Did Xiangzi know them?"

Xiangzi shook his head.

"Where's Mutsuko?"

Mu also shook his head.

After all, they were young ladies who had never even seen an automatic beverage machine last year, so it's unrealistic to expect them to know these things.

"You'll know once you spend two days at the harbor. The smell of a fishing boat that has just returned is completely different from that of a fishing boat that has been parked in the harbor for a long time without being cleaned. The latter will have a very strong stench of decay, which is the smell of things that have not been cleaned properly rotting."

Hailing glanced at Miaomeng and said matter-of-factly.

"Even if you just look at the seafood vendors at the market, you should be able to tell the difference."

"Oh dear, I'm the kind of person who either freeloads or just eats out." Miao Meng touched her face sheepishly. "How could a pure, innocent, and pampered young lady like me go to the market by myself?"

Xiangzi and Mu looked away in shame.

On the contrary, Meow Dream, who was being watched by Hai Ling, had a shameless look on her face.

Mu turned his head away and his gaze naturally fell on the fishing boats moored nearby.

She looked up at the seemingly disgruntled seagulls in the sky, then looked down at the fishing boats not far away.

"The smell of fishing boats that have just returned..." Mu looked around the small dock. "Are all these fishing boats that have just returned?"

“I guess so, after all, it’s a village that makes a living by fishing…” Xiangzi looked around as Mu said, “…No, something seems off.”

Only the four of them remained on the simple little dock, with dozens of seagulls flying around overhead, cawing. They seemed quite used to lingering there, but they were somewhat disappointed that they hadn't found what they wanted.

Apart from the ferry boats, the rest of the harbor was filled with fishing boats.

It's not surprising that there's such a strong fishy smell on the dock if the fleet of fishing boats had just returned from outside.

But what's wrong with that?

Xiangzi glanced at the somewhat desolate dock.

"What's with that expression? Did you discover something?" Miaomeng asked.

Xiangzi shook his head:

"Wait a moment, I'll go take a look."

What does shaking your head mean? Does it mean you've discovered it or not?

Miao Meng was full of questions as she watched Xiangzi walk towards the nearest fishing boat.

Xiangzi walked up to the fishing boat and stopped.

Actually, she had made a discovery, but she was hesitant to confirm it at first.

Mu always manages to discover crucial things.

While everyone was discussing the fishy smell, she noticed the fishing boats around her.

Fishing boats...

Xiangzi narrowed his eyes slightly and scanned the fishing boat in front of him from head to tail.

The fishing boat's exterior is mottled, with many oxidized rust spots covering the iron sheet. It is common for fishing boats that spend a lot of time by the water to show such signs of aging. As long as the rust has not penetrated the interior, many people will not pay attention to such surface rust spots. There are also people who only clean it once every few years or who are too lazy to clean it at all.

but.

Xiangzi shifted his gaze from the fishing boat, following the iron chain connected to it, all the way back to a pillar beside him used to bind the chain.

She approached the pillars that moored the boats in the harbor, squatted down, and ran her fingers along the chains.

The fingers were covered in dark red rust.

These are rust stains that form after a long period of disuse; the tangled iron chains are even stuck together by the rust.

Rust on the hull surface does not affect its use, but rust on the chains will definitely reduce the lifespan of chains of this thickness. A little rust on the surface is acceptable.

But it's so rusted that the chains are stuck together, and the lock is also rusted to the point of being untouched. Even considering that the iron will rust faster due to the coastal environment, it must have been sitting there for two or three months without being moved.

It's no longer possible to explain this as simply being too lazy to maintain it. The only possibility is that the ship hasn't been at sea for at least two or three months and has been staying in this port.

Not right.

Is the ship out of service because of a malfunction?

We need to go look around elsewhere.

Not far away, Miaomeng watched as Xiangzi stood up, walked around the dock, stopped for a while in front of each post where chains were attached, and finally circled back.

“There’s a problem,” Xiangzi said.

She had just inspected all the ships, which confirmed her suspicions.

"What's going on?" Hailing asked.

“All the fishing boats moored near the dock haven’t been to sea for a while.” Xiangzi pinched his chin and lowered his head. “All the fishing boats moored in the harbor have rusted chains tied to the posts, which means… all the boats haven’t been to sea for a while.”

"Could it be the fishing moratorium?" Hailing asked.

"Even during the fishing moratorium, it's impossible to completely neglect the maintenance of these facilities, and besides..."

"Ah." Miaomeng looked enlightened and continued, picking up where Xiangzi left off, "If it's really true, as Haizi said, that only fishing boats that have just returned to port have a fresh fishy smell, then fishing boats that have been staying in port for a long time shouldn't bring that smell. So the problem is obvious..."

Xiangzi raised his head and exchanged glances with the other three.

Everyone thought of the same thing.

The worst premonitions are slowly unfolding and becoming reality.

"Since they didn't go out to sea, what's the source of the fishy smell?"

A Lost Tale: The Spirit of Youth: Chapter 195 Before I knew it, we had arrived.

The film crew entered the fishing village before Xiangzi.

Walking on the familiar roads of the fishing village, Chu Hua felt that this place was not like her hometown at all.

In her memory, her hometown wouldn't be so quiet.

"What a quiet street, Chu Huahua. Has your hometown always been like this?" Mana looked around but didn't see anyone on the street, so she asked, "Or have they all gone out to sea to fish?"

“They’re all here, just inside the house.” Chu Hua turned her head.

When she turned her head to look at Mana, her eyes met those of a villager who was looking out through a crack in a window.

She knew that man; he was a local old fisherman who often went out to sea with his father. He would casually touch her hair and they would go to the only tavern in the village together, arm in arm.

Now he hides in his room and doesn't come out, leaving a crack in the door, peering at these outsiders with a repulsive gaze.

“…It wasn’t like this before,” Chu Hua said in a low voice. “Although the village wasn’t wealthy, people weren’t so xenophobic or eccentric.”

"How did it turn out like this..." Mana looked at Hatsuka in confusion. "The ferry driver was the same. He looked fierce and had a bad temper."

"It's probably because of the sewage discharge. It's understandable that they have resentment towards outsiders," Chu Hua sighed.

"But Chu Huahua, you're not an outsider, are you?"

“I wasn’t there for everyone during the toughest times.” Chu Hua looked sadly at the closed doors. “To them, I’m already an outsider.”

Those carefree days of running around on the dirt roads of the village are gone forever.

For Chu Hua, this place is no longer the same as the poor but fun-filled village she used to live in.

To the villagers, the little country girl Chu Hua who would play dirty on the dirt road and the fashionable young woman Chu Hua who is dressed in bright clothes are not the same person.

She was afraid of becoming like this even before she set foot on land.

In the end, it still happened...

"Never mind them for now, our destination isn't here."

Chu Hua shook her head, turned around and greeted the crew members following behind.

"Listen up, everyone! We're going to be walking on a stretch of road without a paved path. Please take good care of your equipment, don't break it, and don't overexert yourselves. If you get tired, you can stop and rest anytime!"

Chu Hua was the only local among the group, so she naturally took on the role of tour guide.

"okay!"

"It's just that there's no road, no big deal. I thought we had to climb a cliff."

The crew members responded immediately.

The atmosphere in the village was so oppressive that they felt suffocated if they didn't say something.

Chu Hua watched them with such enthusiasm and then glanced at the various pieces of equipment on the backs of the masters.

"Are you sure it's okay? Won't these things be very heavy?"