Huanggang.
One of the ports in eastern Great Wei.
It wasn't particularly large, so no massive ships docked there, but hundreds of fishing boats came and went every day.
Living off the land or the sea, as the saying goes—this proverb was perfectly embodied here.
Precisely because nearly everyone relied on the ocean for their livelihood, the people revered and respected the sea. Over time, a faith centered around the ocean was born.
The people of Huanggang worshipped a whale!
It was said that a fishing boat once encountered a storm at sea. Just as it was about to sink, a giant whale arrived to lift the boat and carry it out of the storm.
From that day on, the people believed the whale was the guardian deity of Huanggang.
They built a temple to offer sacrifices to it, calling it the Whale God!
Until one day, the Whale God appeared in a fisherman's dream.
It said that an evil god had recently entered the ocean. The whale was not its match and needed the fishermen to offer blood sacrifices.
The fisherman told the others after he woke up, but they didn't believe him at all. After all, blood sacrifices required spending money.
Their own lives were hard enough as it was; who had spare money for sacrifices?
As it turned out, of the one hundred and ten fishing boats that went out that day, only thirty-odd returned.
According to the survivors, those boats were dragged into the sea by octopus tentacles.
As they fled, they saw a whale fighting the octopus, though it was clearly at a disadvantage.
From that day on, the fishermen began to offer sacrifices to the Whale God.
After a month of continuous sacrifices, the Whale God appeared in their dreams again to tell them it had defeated the evil god.
However, it was severely injured and still required sacrifices.
The fishermen were finally able to go out to sea again.
But before setting sail, they still had to offer a sacrifice to the Whale God.
Over time, the people of Huanggang grew accustomed to it, and it eventually became a tradition.
A few years ago, Huanggang began to aggressively develop its tourism industry, even creating a lot of Whale God merchandise that sold quite well.
Now, the sacrifice to the Whale God has become an event, attracting many tourists every day to take photos and check in.
...
“Hello, are you Mr. Wang Yang?”
“That's me.”
“Congratulations, your application has been approved. Here are your crew license and fishing permit.”
“Thank you.”
Yin Yang took the documents with a smile.
Two days ago, he had bought a fishing boat in Huanggang.
It wasn't large, but it was sufficient for offshore fishing.
Another advantage of a small boat was that he could operate it single-handedly with ease.
He then used a bit of the power of his wallet to simplify the tedious procedures, obtaining both permits in just two days.
Yin Yang left and hopped on his shared electric scooter. Feeling the sea breeze and watching the street scenery blur past, he returned to his boat in less than twenty minutes.
It was an old boat, but fortunately, the previous owner had maintained it well, and it had recently been given a fresh coat of paint.
Yin Yang returned to the cabin; he would be living here for the foreseeable future.
“Meow~”
Seeing Yin Yang return, Canned Food walked over and rubbed against his leg.
Since arriving at the seaside, the cat had truly set itself free, going out every day to act cute and score fish.
While the fishermen didn't usually feed it, the sheer number of tourists was another story.
As a result, whenever Canned Food went out to be adorable, there were always one or two fishermen squatting nearby selling small fish for two dollars each, specifically for people to feed the cat.
Yin Yang rubbed the cat's head.
“Why didn't you go out to act cute today?”
“Meow~”
“I know, I know. You're not acting cute; you're enjoying the offerings of humanity, right?”
“Meow~”
Yin Yang tucked the two permits away and gave a long stretch.
“The old captain said that before heading out to sea, you have to sacrifice to the Whale God.”
“What do you think? Should we perform a sacrifice too?”
“In any case, we only need to hold the ritual. It doesn't really matter who the recipient is.”
“Meow~”
“Whales are huge; you can't eat them.”
“Meow~”
“Not all fish are for cats to eat.”
“Meow~”
“That makes sense. We'll just sacrifice to ourselves. They won't know who I'm sacrificing to anyway.”
Enlightened, Yin Yang stepped off the boat and drew a circle on the pier. He laid out the sacrifices, put on his wooden Nuo opera mask, and began to dance.
He had carved the mask himself. It wasn't painted, and it carried the distinct scent of wood.
His dance moves quickly drew a crowd of onlookers.
After all, who wouldn't want to watch the spectacle of a 'madman' dancing in a mask?
Yin Yang ignored them and continued to dance to his own rhythm.
Dance and song originated from sacrificial rituals as a way for humans to communicate with the divine.
Thus, as Yin Yang danced, there was a natural, unique charm to his movements that made the onlookers watch more and more intently.
As Yin Yang reached the end of the dance, the sacrifices suddenly ignited with a boom, turning into ash that was swept away by the sea breeze.
The crowd was startled. They had seen many sacrificial rituals, but they had rarely seen one that looked so much like a magic trick.
Yin Yang took off the mask, struck a pose as if embracing the sea, and laughed.
“Set sail!!!”
...
“Xiao Zhao, be careful. If someone finds out, they'll arrest us.”
Inside a room, Lu Zhao knelt devoutly on a prayer mat. Before her stood a shrine with the words 'Lord of Rebirth and Communion' written on it.
“Mom, it's fine.”
“If it weren't for the True God, I wouldn't have made it back alive.”
Lu Zhao rose slowly, her face filled with devotion.
Hearing this, her mother looked at her daughter with a pained expression.
“It's over. It's all in the past now.”
“Mhm.”
Lu Zhao brushed a stray hair from her forehead and smiled.
“Don't worry, Mom. With the True God's guidance, I'm no longer lost.”
“Shh!”
Her mother put a finger to her lips.
“Keep your voice down. This is Huanggang; walls have ears.”
“If those busybodies hear you, you'll never hear the end of it.”
Lu Zhao hummed in agreement and walked out of the house, letting the sea breeze blow over her.
“Sis!”
A male voice, noticeably cracking from puberty, rang out.
Lu Zhao turned to see a teenage boy of sixteen or seventeen running toward her. It was her younger brother, Lu Ming.
“Slow down, slow down. You're a big kid now, but you still act like a toddler.”
Lu Ming was shirtless with his pant legs rolled up. He held out a fish basket to Lu Zhao like a prize.
“Sis, I went beachcombing today. Look what I caught!”
Lu Zhao looked into the basket and saw a golden crab lying quietly inside.
“A Golden Crab?!”
Lu Zhao's voice was tinged with surprise. Having grown up by the sea, she naturally knew how precious such a thing was.
“Hahaha, it really is a Golden Crab, and it's not even missing a leg! Sis, do you think selling this will cover Dad's medical bills?”
Hearing this, Lu Zhao patted her brother's head affectionately.
“It will. It definitely will.”
Lu Ming shyly dodged Lu Zhao's hand.
“Sis, I'm an adult. Dad said a man's head shouldn't be rubbed by just anyone.”
Lu Zhao gave a smiling response and turned to look at the sea.
“Sis, you said before that you met a True God? Is he even more powerful than the Whale God?”
“Yes.”
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