The fifth year since Kūkai appeared.
The original human settlement area consisted of 120 districts, but after several changes, it was consolidated into 100 districts. The doomsday theories and shadows of the sky and the sea that were popular in the past have now become a familiar daily routine for people.
The sky and the sea move like clouds, migrating around the ground in a regular pattern. As a result, humans, accustomed to this, gradually changed some of their living habits according to this pattern.
Today, human living areas are completely covered by the sky dome. When the sky sea creatures move above the human living areas, the sky dome will open to block the invasion of dangerous sky sea creatures. At the same time, a series of professions for capturing sky sea creatures have also appeared.
—After repeated research by experts, some harmless sea creatures have finally been served on people’s tables, enriching people’s diet.
There is no shortage of people who are bold and love to try new things, so this kind of seafood from the sky and sea was once popular throughout the region.
Every year, the sea creatures move above a certain area. As soon as it starts to rain, a large number of people will go to the sea with the tools they have prepared long ago, catching and picking up the sea creatures that have been swept down by the rain.
Fish, shrimp, crab, shellfish, even kelp, seaweed and some strange creatures that cannot even be found in the same species, may be swept to the ground by the sudden heavy rain in the sky and sea. After every rain, these fresh seafood from the sky and sea will quickly flood the fresh food market and then become a dish on the tables of ordinary citizens.
Of course, there are still some chaos.
Those sky and sea creatures with great lethality have been classified into danger levels, and every year when the sky and sea season comes, the whole area will be informed, and if you see one marked as dangerous, you must immediately call the security team to come and destroy it - just like calling the fire department when your house is on fire.
Every year, there are some people who are courting death by boldly trying poisonous air and sea creatures that have not yet passed safety inspections, and then they are sent to the hospital with all kinds of strange shapes - just like being sent to the hospital for eating poisonous mushrooms.
…
Human beings’ ability to adapt can be said to be the strongest on earth.
This year, the sky and sea are about to cross the no-man's land and enter the human settlement area completely. The sky domes begin to rise in the 100th area at the edge.
On the side of the road in the abandoned no-man's land Area 102, wild grass that had grown for two or three years without anyone taking care of it was almost taller than a person. A modified RV drove onto the deserted and bumpy road, ran over the wild grass that had grown to the middle of the road, and stopped at a cleared campsite nearby.
Qin Minghuang jumped out of the car and stretched. Ji Lun got out behind her and moved the things in the car downstairs.
It was an old hand-cranked phonograph, which they found in a half-collapsed abandoned house while driving around in an uninhabited area. Seeing that she was interested, Ji Lun brought this beautiful phonograph back, intending to repair it to see if it could still make sounds.
They spend most of the year living on the ground, basically wandering around in uninhabited areas, just as Qin Minghuang had imagined a few years ago, driving an RV, passing by deserted cities, undeveloped forests and Gobi deserts in uninhabited areas, and they also went to see the sea on the ground.
The only two passengers were Qin Minghuang and Ji Lun, but Qin Minghuang surprisingly liked the feeling of wandering freely.
They would not stay in one place for too long, because Qin Minghuang would get bored, so this camp was just a place for them to stay temporarily. An old dead tree with faded color fell to the ground, and Ji Lun made a cradle swing for her to lie comfortably between the gray-white trunk and branches.
Seeing Ji Lun washing his hands and going to cook, Qin Minghuang stood up from the swing he had just sat on and said, "I'll do it today. I haven't done anything recently, and my hands are almost numb."
Having said that, her movements in picking up the blade fish were still sharp.
Seeing that she was interested, Ji Lun stood up, took off his apron, tied it on her, and sat beside her with his sleeves rolled up to continue repairing the phonograph.
Barbecue is inevitably smoky and hot, but they are doing it in the wild, so the smoky smell has a unique and natural fragrance.
Most of today's food is ground animals that have been hunted, and a small part is sea creatures. In recent years, Qin Minghuang can be said to be the most extravagant person. She is almost vomiting from eating those precious sea fish that are sold at sky-high prices in the human market.
While she was processing the prey, there was a rustling sound in the grass. Qin Minghuang looked up and saw a leopard, probably trying to catch their food.
Because all traces of human beings disappeared in this abandoned place, the wild animals in the uninhabited area migrated inward without hesitation.
Qin Minghuang remembered that when she came here last year she only saw wild sheep, wild rabbits, wild buffaloes and so on, but this year she even saw tigers and leopards.
In the dilapidated city streets, among the lush green belts, there may be a ferocious carnivore hiding. The scene is both weird and interesting.
The no-man's land, which is dangerous and not easy for ordinary people to enter, is a paradise for Qin Minghuang. Every year when she visits her brother Qin Feimo, she never forgets to take some good things from him, such as guns and ammunition. When walking in the no-man's land, it is not her who is in danger, but the animals that look delicious.
Fortunately, Qin Minghuang has a broad taste and is not a fan of exotic things. He only preys on ordinary chickens, ducks, rabbits, cows, sheep and the like.
Qin Minghuang was flipping the meat on the grill while sitting on his back. He saw a leopard in the bushes looking at him. He cut a piece of meat and threw it over to the little brother to treat him to a meal.
Faced with the meat falling from the sky, the leopard hesitated to grab it, then turned around and ran away.
This cowardly look reminded Qin Minghuang of the puppy Xiangxiang he raised in the past. The dog looked quite similar, but unfortunately... Unfortunately, Xiangxiang was now raised in his brother Qin Feimo's house. No one knew how he raised her, but she had completely turned into a lazy and gluttonous dog. The fat Qin Feimo couldn't stand it and ordered her to lose weight.
Growing up is really sad.
The sky darkened, the wind was strong in the wilderness, the weeds were swaying, and the lights from the RV were hanging on the branches and swaying. After eating, Qin Minghuang curled up in the soft cradle swing, holding the last can of drink in the car refrigerator and sipping it, his eyes looking at the dividing line in the sky that was half sea and half sky.
She swung her feet on the swing. Ji Lun sat on a tree stump beside her feet, stretched out one leg to help her gently rock the swing, and slowly reassembled the phonograph with his two hands.
"It looks like it's been repaired."
He tried for a while, and melodious music came out from the flower-shaped morning glory. It was carried far away in the wilderness by the wind and sounded a little distorted.
Qin Minghuang clapped his hands: "Great job! It sounds like something out of a horror movie."
Ji Lun waited for a while, turned it off, and decisively moved it into the tent to use as a table.
They slept in the tent at night. Qin Minghuang lay on the warm and soft "water bed", squinting her eyes and talking to Ji Lun in a casual manner.
"It's almost time to go to the sky again this year."
"Well, it might rain tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." Ji Lun habitually wrapped her up with his feet and slept with his nose against her forehead.
"I don't know how they are doing this year." Qin Minghuang was talking about the little jellyfish in the empty sea.
They were not yet adults, and were not suitable for living on land for a long time. The sea was their home. Ji Lun’s race was used to giving birth but not raising them. In comparison, Ji Lun was already a good father, and he took care of them for a long time before separating.
Every year, they chase the footsteps of Kong Hai on the ground, and when they return to Kong Hai to live, they will first look for the scattered little jellyfish, and they will play together for a while before separating.
When Kong Hai moves to the upper part of Area 6, she will go to visit Qin Feimo and stay with him for a while so as not to be completely disconnected from human society.
Kūkai was like a train that came once a year. She hitchhiked there, and when Kūkai left, she hitchhiked again. She traveled all year round, staying in the sky and on the ground in turn. She saw her relatives and friends once a year, and the rest of the time she was as free as the wind.
"It's very windy outside." Qin Minghuang chatted in a daze while half asleep and half awake.
"Yes, it's very windy."
"Will our tent be blown away?"
"No, dear, go to sleep. You are tired." She had been driving for a long time today and was already tired.
In the middle of the night, Qin Minghuang's bad words came true. The tent was really blown away. The giant octopus stretched out its legs to pull the tent back and worked diligently to reinforce the tent all night. Qin Minghuang found nothing. When she woke up the next morning, she found that such a big dead tree was blown away, but their tent was still standing. She couldn't help but brag about herself.
Yes, this tent was set up by Qin Minghuang, not Ji Lun.
This year, it was the last heavy rain when Konghai left the no-man's land. Ji Lun carried Qin Minghuang back to Konghai along the rain. The nest he made, that is, the transparent bubble, can filter the air in the sea water.
Qin Minghuang has become accustomed to this octopus bubble submarine. With his hands behind his head, he leaned on a large backpack and looked up at the creatures swimming in the empty sea.
The big red octopus looks particularly bright and ferocious in the sea water. Most predators will avoid it when they see it from a distance. Only some harmless small fish and small creatures stay nearby.
Sometimes he would turn blue or transparent, and if there was danger in the sea, he would hide her and the bubble in his body. But this was rare, and most of the time he was very comfortable in the empty sea.
As he pushes the bubble forward, he emits a smell that can spread far away. This is a signal to the little jellyfishes. When they sense this signal, they will know that their parents have returned this year and will rush over to reunite with them.
In seven days, all the little jellyfish had gathered. When the little jellyfish that was farthest away came over, it did not forget to bring delicious food as a gift.
Perhaps, we should not call them little jellyfish anymore. They are changing into their father's appearance. Their heads are still the same jellyfish-like umbrella with flowers, but their filamentous legs have become octopus-like legs. Their bodies are also much bigger. They are translucent blue most of the time, but they will turn pink like before when they are around bubbles to show their happiness.
As they swim forward, they look like a school of jellyfish from a distance. The small jellyfish play around the bubbles, often attracting large patches of star-like light.
This harmonious big family that had never been seen before attracted some of Ji Lun's fellow tribesmen. The strange giant octopuses showed curiosity about this strange family, swam with them for a while, and then were attracted by something else and left without saying goodbye.
The relationship between these ethnic groups is really amazing.
Qin Minghuang had seen countless dreamy and beautiful sights on the ground, and countless beautiful scenes in the sky and sea, but Ji Lun always found a way to take her to discover new things.
This year, after parting with the reluctant little jellyfish, Ji Lun pushed her bubble and found a big fish. There are not many big fish in the empty sea, and it is difficult to find their traces. This year was also a coincidence.
Ji Lun pushed her, fixed the bubble on the big fish, and took her to the surface of the sea with the big fish.
She could see the bright and strong sunlight up close on the surface of the sea, and even thousands of meters in the sky - it was truly an indescribable sight.
There was a vast and brilliant expanse between heaven and earth, the surface of the empty sea was covered with gold, and the splashing water turned into gold.
…
Konghai moved to Area 6. On a rainy night, Ji Lun brought Qin Minghuang and fell to the ground along with the rain, bringing with them a lot of Konghai specialties.
This piece of land was bought by Qin Feimo specifically for them to land.
At twelve o'clock in the middle of the night, Qin Minghuang took a shower, changed clothes, and sat in the house to eat. Qin Feimo walked downstairs neatly dressed.
Qin Minghuang took one look at him and said, "Brother, there's no need to change out of your pajamas in the middle of the night and put on a suit to receive guests."
Qin Feimo, who was very concerned about his image, ignored her and asked, "You didn't bring them here this year?"
Qin Minghuang knew he was referring to the little jellyfish, "No."
Qin Feimo: "That's right. In two years, we should consider letting them receive an education. I will find a strict tutor to teach them. We Qin family members cannot not even go to school."
Qin Minghuang: “…” Why do they need to go to school and receive education when they are not even human beings? It’s too miserable.
This guy is good in everything except his way of thinking which sometimes leaves people speechless.
Qin Minghuang laughed and said, "Next time, definitely, next time."
After a harmonious chat, Qin Feimo talked to Ji Lun about serious matters, "I'll leave it to you this year as well."
Ji Lun: “Okay.”
As an "Ortugard" known to all the leaders of District 6, the reason why Ji Lun can stay here peacefully every year is because he is a specially hired person responsible for sensing whether there are any hidden Ortugards in this district. Currently, there is no particularly effective way to distinguish Ortugards from the crowd, and we can only rely on the induction of our own kind.
Two years ago, another person named Ortugard appeared in District 5, causing great confusion.
It is better to loosen up than to block. The concept of District 6 is peaceful coexistence, and Ji Lun has become the link in the middle.
The easy work will be put off until later. On the first day back in human society, they will definitely spend the whole day in the snack street. Ji Lun accompanied Qin Minghuang, and the two of them, like all ordinary people on the street, enjoyed all kinds of food and this ordinary daily life.
Although the sky was overcast and the sea was shrouded, it was still a bright day.
(Fifth short story ends)