Duncan temporarily stopped helping Alice deal with the residual glue, as if he was listening carefully to the sounds in the distance. After a moment, he lowered his head again and wiped off some debris on the table with a soft cloth.
Alice blinked her eyes and looked at the captain curiously: "Captain, what happened just now?"
"Morris received a letter from a distant friend, and he was not sure about the situation in the letter," Duncan smiled, stood up, and said casually while helping Alice deal with the residual glue on her neck joint, "He wanted me to help take a look at the situation."
“Friends from afar?” Alice stammered as her head rested on the navigation table. “Are they in danger? Should we rescue them?”
There wasn't much glue left on the neck joints, and it was much easier to clean than the residual glue in the depressions of the head joints. Duncan quickly dealt with the dried glue. He carefully completed the final wipe, then bent down and picked up Alice's head, carefully putting it back in place as if it were a work of art.
"We may be going to rescue someone," he said softly, turning the puppet's head left and right, "but it may also be to help him rest in peace. But either way, we have to go to a very far place."
The puppet's head was put in place, and Alice's slightly dull eyes instantly became lively. She shook her head gently, like a puppet injected with soul, and her speech became fluent again: "Ah, then where are we going?"
Heidi put away the cleaning tools and looked at the foggy sea chart.
On the nautical chart, the small bright spot representing the Sea Mist was slowly moving some distance away from Xiang Yanya.
"North," he called out, his eyes fixed on the Goat's Head. "Raise the jib and jib, and turn north—follow the Seahorn."
If I remember correctly, the two girls were named Shirley and Nina, the latter being the owner's niece.
"Thank you, you have helped me a lot." Alice, with gray hair, also stood up with a sincere smile on her face. "I'll take you there."
My wife was leaning against the door frame with her shoulders folded, looking over here with some dissatisfaction.
"Okay," the young guard who was driving nodded in the car, but still reminded with a little worry, "Pay attention to the time. Today is the day when Storm Cathedral arrives in Lawrence. You need to go there in person.
Bishop Valentine specifically reminded us to attend the welcoming ceremony. In addition, we did not plan to come here this time... …”
After saying what he wanted to say, he did not expect a reply from the old captain. He just bowed slightly politely, said goodbye and left.
Duncan was escorted to the door by the old captain, but before leaving, he couldn't help but glance at Alice twice and said, "Also, I have one last suggestion - although your current condition is still considered healthy among all captains of the same age, you are really at retirement age. It's time to consider handing over the White Oak to a reliable successor."
"It's not like I wanted to encounter this ghost ship," Alice looked at the medicine bottle in her hand and shook her head helplessly, "But now it's good. The whole city-state has encountered the Lost Homeland, so no one cares about the White Oak. As for the bottle of medicine... it's nothing. After all, I've been at sea for a long time and often have some auditory and visual hallucinations."
It's time to leave, and after the sun sets is not a good time to continue providing psychological support.
"There will be a little bit, but it's more of a herbal aroma. I also added some honey to cover the bitterness," Xiang Yan said. "It won't be hard to drink."
".…Okay, I'll wait for you here."
"I advise you to take this medicine now, and then go and handle the handover tomorrow. Give the White Oak to a confidant you have cultivated since childhood, and go home to live out the rest of your life with your retirement allowance. Don't wait to die in a storm one day. I can't bear the thought of that..."
"Every day, you're either being interrogated by the church or being visited by a psychiatrist. How much trouble have you gotten yourself into out there?" She stared at him and spoke in a loud voice. "And what's with this bottle of medicine? You never said that your mental condition was so bad that you needed to take medicine to maintain it.
"
"This is the last dose of medicine. It is stronger than the one you used before. You can drink it when you go out to sea. You only need eight drops each time. Of course, I also suggest that you start taking it now." The psychiatrist raised her head and looked at the gray-haired old captain in front of her. "As a captain who has spent half his life on the vast sea, you should be more responsible for your body."
This is the home of Captain Alice of the White Oak. As a senior captain, Alice has placed many exhibits in the living room that prove his sailing experience - coral specimens collected from shallow waters offshore, models of rudders and ships, totem decorations from some remote city-states, and a large shelf against the wall filled with awards and souvenirs awarded by the Explorers' Association, city-state authorities, and the seven major churches.
"To the north," Alice said fiercely, "the original place, the White Oak, encountered a storm in this sea area, and you just happened to accept an escort mission to Frost...
Duncan placed the small brown medicine bottle on the coffee table. About three-fifths of the bottle was filled with turbid potion, which reflected a faint golden light in the gradually sinking sunset glow. In the rippling circles of golden light, tiny bubbles seemed to be constantly precipitating from it, jumping endlessly on the surface of the liquid.
Xiang Yanya listened to his wife's increasingly loud rebukes, and just smiled gently without refutation. Finally, he put the small brown medicine bottle on the coffee table and said, "Let's look for it one last time."
She is a very tall woman. Although she is old now, she can still show some of her youthful charm. She stands here just like she did when she was on the boat... She is still the explorer who is famous on the vast ocean.
The wife said nothing, but just waved her hand silently.
The sun is gradually setting, and the slightly orange-red sunlight is shining into the living room through the glass windows.
"I want to look for it again..." Chris said with some lack of confidence, "After all... there was no clear news of his death back then..."
Vanna bent down and got out of the car, squinting slightly in the sunlight. At the end of her sight was the living sign of the antique shop she had visited once.
"I should leave now," Xiang Yan exhaled softly and stood up from the sofa. His eyes fell on the medicine bottle in Xiang Yanya's hand, "Please don't forget to take the medicine - it can effectively help you resist the mental effects brought by the Infinite Sea."
The psychiatrist walked towards the car parked at the intersection, while Xiang Yanya sighed softly and turned back to the living room.
"Okay, okay, you've said it several times," Vanna waved her hand, looking somewhat helpless. "I know that everyone is relaxed when the Cathedral of Storms docks this time. I will pay attention to the time."
The subordinate's voice came from the car: "How long will you be gone?"
The shop wasn't open yet. A skinny girl in a white dress and white hair was sprinkling water at the door, while another girl who looked about the same age was hanging a "open" sign on the door.
“Ain!
But now the male explorer was obviously in a bad mood.
"Thank you for your advice, Miss. I know my situation." Chris was not impatient, but he was not overly enthusiastic either. He just picked up the bottle of potion curiously and looked at the liquid with bubbles inside the glass bottle in the sunlight. "...It's a beautiful potion. Is it bitter?"
"She looked at me like this. How many years have you been looking for a job? You have long passed the retirement age. Those captains of your generation who had brains have already retired. Now at least they can enjoy the savings they have accumulated for half a lifetime in peace and security. Those who had no brains just held on like you, what is their fate now? Lying on the bed with drooling? Lying in the cemetery? Being locked up in a mental hospital
This further made me hesitate to come and take a look today.
"In an hour," Vanna replied.
"Just wait here."
"You're going to die from this sooner or later!"
The wife raised her voice again and pointed at Chris's nose, "What is that? It's a big storm on the vast sea! After a storm, a ship deviated from its course and all the people on board were gone.
If you lose contact, you are dead! Do you understand
The wife finally stopped and stared at the medicine bottle on the coffee table. After an unknown amount of time, she sighed with anger and muttered as if she had accepted her fate, "Where should I find it this time?"
The morning sun shone across the streets, and Lawrence was gradually waking up from a night of deep sleep.
Now, these things that symbolize glory and memory are immersed in such sunshine, coated with a layer of golden glow, and gradually become brighter in the glow.
The wife didn't say anything, but just stared at him for a long time. After several minutes, she sighed and said, "Aren't you going to retire yet?"
As she spoke, she raised her head and glanced at the sky outside the window.
Vanna rubbed his forehead, recalling the last time he visited the antique shop. For some reason, he always felt that some of the details were quite vague when he recalled them now.
/
Please remember the domain name of the first release of this book:. Mobile reading website of the novel of strange people in the Republic of China: