The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 10 [Complete] by Natsu Hyuuga

Author:Natsu Hyuuga
Language: eng
Format: epub

By the time Maomao and her crew were done cooking, the shrine had been fully decorated. Chue had placed the pot full of grasshopper eggs smack in the middle, atop a small but well-constructed pile of bricks that served as an impromptu platform.

The modest shrine was festooned with red banners, and animal-lard lamps glowed here and there. There was a clanging of metal; Maomao looked toward the sound to discover two metal plates had been tied together to create a clapper. When the wind blew through, it rattled the cymbals and made the banners flutter.

The chair and tables, such as they were, consisted of barrels covered in felt. The “table” was piled with the food Maomao and the others had made.

By the time everything was ready, the sun was already brushing the western horizon.

“What all’s going on here?” someone asked. It wasn’t just kids anymore—the adults had started to show up as well.

Once everyone was there, Maomao poured oil into the huge pot. Then they lit a fire, using dried grass to get it started.

There was a whiff of an aroma that might have been pleasant or might have been stomach turning; it was hard to tell. The pot began to burn brilliantly, accentuated by the gathering darkness.

“What are you, ahem, doing, esteemed visitors?” the village headman asked, perplexed. Several of the other villagers were with him.

“Allow me to explain,” said Basen, stepping forward. Chue came up beside him and briefly showed him a piece of paper.

Cue cards!

Thankfully, the villagers didn’t notice.

“This village was founded long ago in order to carry out a ritual,” Basen said.

“Yes, we’ve heard of it,” the headman said. “You mean the ‘ritual’ of turning up the earth that no one understands. Only Nianzhen does it now.”

“That’s correct. And I’m well aware that you don’t understand it. The reason we have come to you this day is to bring to you the full and proper form of the ritual, which you knew only in part, but which we now give to you in whole.”

Very profound.

Basen was reciting from a script, and he sounded like it, but, backlit by the fire, he still managed to look important, maybe even sacred. Chue was well prepared; she had a whole sheaf of paper, from which she selected appropriate lines based on the villagers’ reactions.

She really knows how to handle her little brother.

Lahan’s Brother was holding the duck in his arms: having it waddling around behind Basen might spoil the reverential image they were trying to create.

Lahan’s Brother nudged Maomao. “Is that true?” he hissed. The moment was so convincingly manufactured that he had been taken in along with the audience.

“It is now. Try to play along.”

“Wait... It’s not true?” He looked scandalized. Meanwhile, Basen continued to speak with the villagers.

“Have you really? I see you’re prepared to conduct the ritual right now... but may I ask you a question first?” the headman ventured.

“What would you like to know?”

“It’s only Nianzhen who’s been entrusted with this duty, isn’t it? The rest of us were summoned here by the governor as settlers—we weren’t told of any ritual.

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