Grande's breakfast was not delayed because there were two more people, but was moved a little earlier than usual, firstly because Danny was in a hurry, secondly because Benjamin's appetite was still light, and finally because Alice didn't do her share.
"Is there really a pastry that doesn't use eggs?" Alice asked the woman on the desk - Mo. Anyway, that's what Jin called.
"Really, I'll teach you." Mo replied, "But first you have to make a pastry that you usually give to the gecko." Remember, when Jin was still in Grande, Louise would prepare enough cakes every day The food is all simple quilt cakes, pies and other things put in the basket, Jin can take it at any time. "Let me see if it really tastes as good as he described." A shapeshifter's likes and dislikes depend entirely on the taste.
So Alice started happily.
As a result, from the beginning of breakfast to the end of breakfast, Zach kept looking at the woman in the kitchen with raised eyebrows. Max tried to share his understanding of 'ghosts' several times, either because he was deliberately trying to please or because he really wanted to discuss. But they were all interrupted by Zach.
For the last time, Zach looked at Max impatiently and said, "Ben, get this guy out."
Then Benjamin carried Max and walked away, asking in the same impatient tone, "What on earth are you doing here?"
"Hey! I haven't seen you for a day. I miss you! I just came to see you! But, hey! I want to see 'ghost'! I only heard about it from the elders before..." He was already carried to the backyard and pressed. Next to the hammock, Benjamin ordered, "Hey, if you miss me, then give me the cradle."
Before Danny left, he also did something. He carefully looked at the ink that was half covering his face and asked, "Are you attached to this box?"
"This box is attached to me." Mo replied.
Danny was in a hurry and didn't ask any more questions. gone.
Old Hank and Louise had nothing to say, and each went about his or her own business after breakfast.
Zach was the only one left in the restaurant, looking at the woman with raised eyebrows. Our vampire is waiting, waiting for a chance to be formally introduced.
The opportunity came when Alice put the grey-green stuff in the oven.
Zach hadn't moved yet, but the woman had. First he glanced at Zach, and finally put down the hand that had been half-hiding his face. He lifted the exotic clothes and floated down the desk, "Shou Gong said, you have an office specifically for discussing things."
Zach stood up and nodded, "Mo..." Zach was stuck, frowning and thinking for a long time, "Mo Qing... I don't know if this is an okay name." Zach looked a little strange. Because of the formal introduction. Etiquette is very important, so the title cannot be wrong.
However, even with Zach's four centuries of experience, he was not sure what etiquette was correct for the alien soul-like creature in front of him, whom Max called a 'ghost'.
'Ghost' smiled and said, "Do you know the etiquette of addressing people when I was alive?" Her laughter was very pleasant. Like a silver bell, "Thank you. I already feel welcome. But just call me Mo, and I will follow your habit of calling you Zach."
Well, the moment Zach waited for a formal introduction was of no use, no introduction was needed at all. Zach glanced at Kim, who kept James' appearance and stared at the oven with Alice, and shook his head. He nodded immediately. Stepping forward, prepared to guide the 'lady' to the office.
Speaking of guidance, Zach's hand reached towards the vermilion box behind Mo.
Ink's broad cuffs brushed the box before the vampire's hand, the box disappeared, and the woman smiled at Zack. He put his hands in his sleeves and folded them in front of him, bending slightly, which should be a courtesy, and then walked directly in front of Zach.
Zach curled his lips, uh, that’s embarrassing! After seeing Mo's appearance, Zach thought that this woman could not move freely, just like the earth-bound spirit could not leave the place where it was bound. Who would have thought that this woman could pick up this box by herself!
"Go upstairs." Zach guided the way as he walked behind the woman. At the same time, he looked down at the skirt trailing on the floor of Grande with a strange look. The floor that usually looked very clean had already covered the exotic splendor. After taking it, I looked very gray after playing with it.
Zach didn't know whether he should pay attention to whether this guy who was definitely a soul-like alien race by Max had such a physical 'entity'; or whether he should pay attention to Grande's sanitary environment!
Zach pouted again, "I wonder if you have any more convenient clothing."
The hem of her skirt was pulled open as she walked up the stairs, and a hand like white jade was placed on the handrail. Mo paused for a moment, then turned to smile at Zach. As she walked up the stairs again, the vermilion 'smoke' enveloped her. When he turned halfway up the floor and turned around, the smoke dispersed and he saw the exact same clothes as Louise.
"I don't have much reference. People in the Republic dress very differently from you. Most of the things I saw on the way here were the formal attire of male envoys and the military uniforms of escorts."
Zach could only accept this explanation and followed behind, turning and continuing upward, "The door on the east side is the office."
"Where's the west side?" This seemed to be a curious 'ghost'. She bent slightly at the top of the stairs, as if she wanted to see what was on the short side of the L-shaped turn.
"Housing. Beyond that is the guest room and bathroom." Zach answered in detail. He walked past Mo first, opened the door, and gestured to invite in.
"Shou Gong told me that Grande's structure seems to have changed a bit." Mo withdrew his gaze, smiled at Zach, and walked into the office.
Zach waited for the other party to sit down at the desk, then closed the door, and walked to the bookcase first. As usual, he poured the wine, sat down behind the desk unsteadily, and looked at the woman opposite, "I can already feel the imbalance. ." Zach said in a good tone, "Jin should have told you a lot of things, but I don't know anything about you yet."
"You know how to call me Mo Qing." Mo smiled, "So it's not like I don't understand you at all. Besides." Mo's eyes began to look around the office, befitting a person who came here for the first time, "Shou Gong told me Me, you once asked his name, and you seemed to be able to understand his answer. According to the Republic, we are destined."
The conversation between two people who met for the first time has already begun.
"I just lived long enough to know some things when the Federation was first established." Zach took a sip of his wine. Now, he couldn't tell whether such a 'ghost' appearing in Grande was a good thing or a bad thing. Zach showed a look of reminiscence. "When the Federation was first established, there were a large number of missions from countries outside the Federation. The aliens who believed in witchcraft and the Holy Lord faced an invasion from foreign aliens."
Zach has never mentioned these, probably because they are not worth mentioning. Compared with the war between the aliens and the Holy Lord of Witchcraft during the Colonial War, those are simply a piece of cake...
Zach shook his head. Looking at the republican-faced woman in front of him, the concrete expression of his thoughts was disrupted.
"Some of Jin's behaviors (such as picky eating, such as instantly taking refuge in Grande...) reminded me of some rumors about these alien races at the time, so I tried to ask."
"That's it." Mo had already looked at everything in this office and looked back at Zach with a smile, "Then do you know what gugong really means?"
Zach shook his head.
Mo stretched out his arm. Louise was wearing short sleeves today, but Mo still rolled up his sleeves. Bai Xue's arm was displayed in front of Zach's eyes.
"What do I want to see?" Zach frowned.
"There used to be something called Shou Gong Sand here." Mo only found a spot on this arm. "Use a small lizard-like beast called a gecko, keep it in cinnabar for seven days, crush it and grind it, and dot it on the underage girl. The color is vermilion, which represents the girl's virginity."
Zach curled his lips, who wants to listen to such things so early in the morning! Zach took another sip of 'wine'. Dispel unhappiness.
Mo retracted his arm, "I thought it was pitiful when I was a child. I secretly used my mother's rouge to paint the earth dragon (gecko) on the eaves and replaced it. Then it stayed by my side and married into the emperor with me... " Mo tilted his head, as if sensing that Master Grande didn't want to hear the story, he automatically passed it by. "When the Federation was established, the federation's envoy came to visit. Among the people traveling with him was an Indian who had some special powers called..."
"Papa Midnight," Zach finished. The establishment of the Federation was the result of the truce and peace between the Indians and the colonists. At that time, in order to declare the founding of the country, the envoys sent to the country included representatives of the colonists and Indians. As for who the Indian representative can be, there is no need to be surprised.
"Yes." Mo smiled, "Envoys always come and go. Now that I know that there are people with such special power in the Federation, I don't worry that my son is unprepared to go to the Federation, so here is the guardian. federal."
"Then I didn't go back." Zach glanced at Mo.
Mo nodded and shook his head again, as if he was sad, "I originally thought I would never see him again." There was a sincere smile on her face again, "Just when I was about to give up, he came back. "
According to what this Mo said, the separation between her and Jin lasted for nearly four centuries! Zach thoughtfully gave the other party time to express his feelings, and then said, "I'm also glad that Jin is back, but..." Zach took another sip of wine, "I'm not sure whether I should be happy that you came with me. After all. "Zac put down his glass, "I don't know what you are yet."
Soul alien? Zach doesn’t think so! In front of Mo, our vampire can't feel his racial superiority at all! The vampire blood that corrodes the soul is flowing calmly and without any ripples in Zach's body at this time, and he can't feel the temptation of the 'prey' in front of him at all!
"The wizard is right, I am a ghost." Mo looked at Zach's serious expression and tilted his head slightly, "But I don't quite understand what he meant by the soul-like alien race." Mo sighed. , "The current situation in the Republic is very bad. It's so bad that I can't even understand the return of Gokugong. I don't expect you, a federal citizen, to understand, so..."
Mo gave an apologetic look, "Please understand, I can't understand your federation's so-called alien classification. Even..." Mo frowned, even if he frowned, this was still a beautiful woman full of exotic customs, "Your Saint The people who believe in foreign races, call themselves angels, and the person from Papa Midnight are constantly causing chaos in the Republic." She shook her head, "I have dealt with them many times, and I still can't understand them..." She looked confused. I was a little surprised, "How could there be such a life form?"
Zach raised his eyebrows, but he understood the other party's convoluted explanation, which was about mutual incomprehension under different belief systems. Just like Zach always rejects Benjamin's use of the witchcraft spice from the bottom of his heart.
"I'm taking the liberty to ask." Zach frowned, "What does the Republic believe in?" The situation in the Republic may be able to give him a little insight into the purpose of Mo's coming to Barton and Grande.
"Faith?" Mo asked back, "You mean the Holy Lord mentioned by those angels is a god, and Papa Midnight thinks he is the god of witchcraft, that kind of belief?"
Zach's original intention is very simple. Belief systems, at least the two belief systems that Zach is familiar with, have a guy at the top. Do you still remember the analogy between the Holy Lord's belief in aliens and the witchcraft belief in aliens a long time ago? Even if the gap between beliefs breaks down again, the one who knows the fixed point, according to Zach's understanding, the rest is just analogy and rationalization.
That's why Zach nodded at this time.
"Too many." Mo replied, "If it counts as a painting, I am also a so-called god." Mo tilted his head, "I bless those who worship me..." She thought about the words, "The women in the Sifang Palace courtyard I am the god they believe in."
Mo raised his chin again, "But I'm not the only god. Those women also have gods who pray for children. After they have daughters, they still have gods who pray for sons. For the glory of their descendants, there are also gods of ancestors who protect their bloodline. In order to have glory and reincarnation in the next life..." Mo pursed his lips, "The people outside the Sifang Palace have more gods to believe in. The door gods who look after the house and guard the courtyard, overcome the battle of loyalty, and sleep peacefully every day. The couch god, the kitchen god worshiped by housewives, and even the evil god of revenge and jealousy, the god of disaster who disturbed the prosperous age... "
Zach raised his head, frowned and emptied the glass of wine, while shaking his hands to stop the woman in front of him from continuing. Our vampires cannot imagine such a world.
Mo didn't say anything anymore and looked at our vampire with a smile, "Look, I said you can't understand."
Zach put down the empty glass, still frowning, "Tell me directly why you are here."
"Because I have no place to go." Mo answered naturally, "Republic." She lowered her head and shook slightly, and the black silk on her forehead swayed softly, "They are the people of the Republic. They want to destroy all so-called beliefs, 'cow ghosts and snake gods' '." Mo said something that Zach couldn't understand, so please ignore it, "In the Republic, inhuman things like us are being slaughtered and perished by human power."
"What do you mean?" Zach frowned, and he heard something important.
"Did you hear that?" Mo smiled and nodded, "So I don't understand what you 'people' who came from the Federation are fighting for. The Republic is not an undeveloped new territory where they can stay. The people there, no There will be faith, and that place will become the death place for those of them who rely on faith to maintain their existence, the 'foreign races' in your words."
Alice happily came in with a stack of gray-green cubes, "It's done! Jin is very satisfied, look at the taste!"
Mo turned away his eyes, pinched a piece with a smile, and put it into his mouth, "Well, I was originally worried that I wouldn't be able to adapt to your kitchen utensils and couldn't control the heat, but I didn't expect it to be good. Alice remembered it, this is simple. This thing is called mung bean cake. Tomorrow I will teach you about lotus root powder and osmanthus cake. Countless women have lived a prosperous life by relying on this."
Zach needed some quiet time. (.)