I became Hokage in Tokyo

Chapters 268 and 269: Half-Demon Fishing Light

The firewood in the campfire crackled softly, and the flames licked at the pot hanging from the rafters, the miso soup inside bubbling and emitting an enticing aroma.

Hirota Tulio, whose clothes were half-dry, sat on the tatami mats with the black man, warming themselves around the campfire.

On the other side, a pretty black-haired girl with bandages wrapped around her body and face was stirring miso soup in a pot with a ladle.

"Arigato, Miss Fisherman's Fire."

Hirota Tulio was flattered and accepted the bowl and chopsticks handed to him by the girl, and couldn't help but steal a glance at Miss Yuhuo, who had rescued them from the sea.

Yu Huo looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. His hair was jet black with a hint of purple. He was dressed in coarse linen clothes. What was most striking was that Yu Huo's left cheek, forehead, arms, and ankles were wrapped in layers of bandages.

What kind of injury did you suffer? It looks quite serious.

Hirota Tulio pondered as he put the miso soup into his mouth.

"Oh, I see!"

Although it was just wild vegetables, radishes, and sea fish, along with a little miso soup, Hirota Turio ate with great relish. Even though there were no side dishes, he still wolfed down two large bowls of brown rice mixed with mostly unknown beans and tubers, all while eating the soup.

Although he is Brazilian, Hirota Turio has a Japanese stomach and a particular fondness for miso soup.

On the other hand, Antonio, the black man, smelled the miso soup, took a sip, and looked uncomfortable. He barely managed to drink half of it, while Hirota Tulio unceremoniously took the rest and drank it all in one gulp.

After devouring all the food prepared by the fishing fire, he smacked his lips, still seemingly wanting more.

After eating the hot meal, Hirota Tulio felt his limbs and body come alive again, and he was finally fully revived.

"Miss Yuhuo, thank you very much for your hospitality."

Hirota Tulio clasped his hands together and expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the fishing lights.

"It's nothing."

Yu Huo responded calmly, appearing to be a man of few words and taciturn.

"Miss Fisherman, thank you for saving us from the sea."

Hirota Turiyo racked his brains to recall.

After the lifeboat capsized, he fell into the sea and drowned. Before losing consciousness, he vaguely saw a slender figure with scales, similar to a mermaid, pulling him up.

He glanced at the fishing lights a few more times, stealing a few more glances.

Did I see it wrong?

"Miss Fishing Light, where are my companions from the other boats?"

Just then, the door to the thatched hut where Hirota Turio was located was opened, and a young couple and a blonde woman walked in.

"Hirota, Antonio, you're finally awake!"

"It's alright, it's alright."

Hirota Turi, his face beaming with excitement, huddled together with his few surviving companions. Only after calming down did they realize that the number of people was incorrect.

"Isn't Dr. Kabuto here?"

Hirota Tulio quickly looked around the thatched hut, and seeing his companions looking blank, he turned to the fishing light and eagerly asked:

"Miss Fisherman, there are six people on our lifeboat. Didn't you see there's another man?"

"Six people? I only saw five of you in the sea."

Yu Huo shook his head.

Could it be that……

"Antonio, did you see how the lifeboat capsized?"

The incident happened suddenly, and at the time, Hirota Tulio was focused on the small boats coming from the passenger ship and had no time to pay attention to anything else.

"I was paddling and didn't notice."

"It looked like a huge wave hit and capsized the lifeboat. No, it didn't seem like a wave..."

The young man in the couple hesitated before speaking.

Dr. Kabuto is probably in grave danger now. Hirota Turi was filled with regret, wishing he could slap himself a few times. If he had known this would happen, he shouldn't have suggested going to the island for a trip.

Wait, things might not be as bad as they seem. It's possible that Dr. Kabuto was rescued by the sailors on the passenger ship.

Their lifeboat sank not far from the passenger ship, and the crew could not possibly stand by and watch them die.

However, it must have been quite some time since Hirota Turi and his group capsized, so why hasn't rescue arrived yet? Why are they still stuck in thatched huts on the island?

"Never mind, let's call the police first, no, I mean the Japan Coast Guard."

Hirota Tulio pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, but unfortunately it had been soaked in seawater for a long time and could not be turned on.

He asked his companions, and they said their phones either fell into the sea with their luggage or malfunctioned like his.

"Miss Yuhuo, could you lend me your phone for a moment? There should be a signal here, right?"

"Signal? Cell phone? What's that?"

Yu Huo frowned and asked in confusion.

"How is this possible?"

Hirota Tulio was taken aback, and he and the Japanese couple who had returned from abroad looked at each other in disbelief.

After asking again, seeing the genuine expression on Yu Huo's face, Hirota Tulio looked at the simple and rustic furniture and decorations in the thatched hut and couldn't help but feel pity.

"Miss Yuhuo, could it be that you live alone on a deserted island?" Hirota Tulio asked cautiously.

"Although I live alone, the village is on the other side."

Yu Huo raised his bandaged hand, but then seemed to remember something and put it down, pointing eastward with his other hand.

Hirota Tulio breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, this isn't a deserted island; there's a village, so they can contact the outside world for help.

"You must be outsiders who have intruded onto this island from the outside world."

"We are very sorry for landing on the island without permission. We were unaware that anyone lived on the island. We will leave as soon as possible."

The long-haired woman in the couple tentatively asked:

"Miss, what's the name of this island?"

"Penglai".

"Penglai? Haha, is your island trying to ride on the fame of the First Emperor and Xu Fu? I know, you're planning to use it as a tourist attraction, aren't you?" The young man clapped his hands and laughed.

"No, this is the immortal island of Penglai that the First Emperor was looking for two thousand years ago."

Yu Huo replied in a very serious tone.

"Hehe, you're really joking! Are you going to tell me that there's an elixir of immortality on this so-called Penglai Island?"

The young man rolled his eyes and couldn't help but complain.

"Of course, there are indeed legends about the elixir of immortality on the island."

Yu Huo said matter-of-factly.

"However, the specific details are not something that one and a half women like me could know."

The young man twitched his lips, feeling it was utterly absurd; was this girl getting too caught up in the drama?

"Hirota, this girl is probably..."

The young man drew a circle on his forehead with his finger, implying that Yuhuo had a problem with his brain, and whispered in Hirota Tulio's ear.

"Let's go to the village as soon as possible and ask someone who can make a decision for us."

"What are you talking about? Is there anything special about Penglai?"

Hirota Turi was completely confused.

What exactly do they mean by their cryptic words?

Could it be that my Japanese is not good enough, which is why I can't understand what Ms. Yuhuo and the couple are saying?

Even Hirota Turio, a Japanese-Brazilian, was like this, so it was even more incomprehensible to the black Antonio and the foreign white woman.

Unexpectedly, Yu Huo's eyes flashed, and he said calmly:

"If you want to leave, go find the priestess on the sacred peak. Only she can send outsiders out."

"Ha, ahaha, we understand. Hirota, let's go."

The young man smiled awkwardly, got up, and pulled Hirota Tulio as if to leave. The group had already walked out of the thatched hut.

The blonde woman who remained last glanced at the bandages on Yu Huo's body several times, then took out a box of ointment from the bag slung over her shoulder.

"This! It heals wounds and infections, and it's good for the skin!"

The foreign white woman gestured the famous action, and her Japanese was awkward and unnatural, typical of foreigners. She took out the ointment and insisted on shoving it into Yu Huo's hand.

I accidentally touched Yu Huozha's arm, which was wrapped in bandages.

Yu Huo's expression changed, and he pulled his arm back as if he had been electrocuted, knocking the ointment to the ground.

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"You should leave quickly! Don't stay on the island for too long."

With a cold expression, Yu Huo gave the order to leave and then closed the door of the thatched hut.

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

The people outside looked at each other in bewilderment.

"It's my fault, I accidentally touched Miss Yuhuo's wound."

The foreign white woman stammered in English, "Miss Fisherman's bandage has what looks like fish scale-like bumps underneath..."

"Is it a skin condition like ichthyosis?"

The bandages wrapped around Yu Huo's body were indeed eye-catching, the young man speculated.

"Oh no! She lives alone and secluded herself. Could it be an infectious disease?"

The long-haired woman suddenly screamed, as if she had seen something dirty, and retreated in fright.

"Shut up! They just saved us, how can you think such nonsense?"

Hirota Tulio put on a stern face and reprimanded him without any politeness.

The young couple immediately laughed awkwardly.

The foreign white woman looked at the dilapidated thatched hut, her eyes reddening, and she choked up, saying:

"She's still a minor, living alone in a place like this, and she has such a serious illness. It's really so pitiful."

"As expected of the Americans, they're so naive and innocent. We're barely able to take care of ourselves, yet they're still acting like saints."

The young man muttered to himself, then said impatiently, "After we get out of here, we'll find a way to donate some money to that girl so she can get medical treatment."

"Let's leave it at that for now. Let's go to the village on the island."

The group left the thatched hut where Yu Huo lived and walked along the island's beach.

The clear, transparent waves lapped against the pure white, fine silver sand, and the sea breeze blew in our faces, bringing fresh and pleasant air. In the distance, the sea and sky met at the horizon.

On the other side lies a vast expanse of lush primeval forest, with several towering, verdant peaks appearing and disappearing amidst the clouds and mist, standing alone and secluded from the world—a truly idyllic scene.

"It's so beautiful, so gorgeous!"

"An island of this caliber should have been developed into a resort by now, how come I've never heard of it?"

"What a pity, my digital camera fell into the sea."

The dreamlike scenery amazed them. Although they had all traveled all over the world, the island's scenery was still an eye-opener for them.

If it weren't for the capsizing accident and Dr. Kabuto's disappearance, they might have already let loose and been playing on the beach.

"I see, Penglai Island is a legendary island like the Mysterious Island or the Fountain of Youth?"

Hirota Tulio was still bothered by what Yu Huo had said earlier, and while walking on the beach, he asked the young couple about the stories and legends of Penglai Island.

The story of Penglai Island is quite popular in Japan, and the young couple embellished it, telling the other three everything they knew.

"That's about it. That girl said this is Penglai Island, how could that be?"

As they talked, they had already approached their destination.

Along the coastline, a village of thatched and wooden houses, stretching in all directions, comes into view.

Overjoyed, the group quickened their pace. On the tree-lined path leading into the village, a boy and a girl were playing and laughing by the roadside.

As soon as they saw the group approaching, the two children stopped what they were doing, staring at them with wide eyes and curiosity.

"Hello, children."

Hirota Tulio gave what he thought was a friendly smile and went up to say hello.

"You're outsiders, aren't you!"

The boy looked at Hirota Tulio with innocent eyes and said in a clear voice.

Outsider?

Hirota Tulio frowned, looking at the two children's old-fashioned cloth clothes. His heart skipped a beat, and he had a bad feeling.

"We are foreigners. Can you tell my brother what the name of this island is?"

"Spray it... call it Penglai!" the boy replied excitedly after biting his finger for a while.

Is it really Penglai?

Hirota Tulio and the others exchanged bewildered glances.

"Little child, you can't lie! That sister named Yuhuo didn't say that."

The young man, quick-witted, bluffed.

"Oh, you came from Sister Yuhuo's place?"

Another little girl said in a childish voice.

"Yes, we have a very good relationship with Sister Yuhuo."

"The village chief and my mother both said we can't play with half-demons!"

Suddenly, the little boy grabbed the little girl's hand and ran off towards the village.

"Is Japan really such a poor country? It's all wooden houses and thatched huts, there aren't even many mud houses."

Upon entering the village, Hirota Turio felt that his beautiful illusions about his spiritual homeland had been completely shattered.

According to the elders, Japan is a developed country with a booming economy, Tokyo is the world's largest metropolis, and even the most remote rural areas are more developed than towns in Brazil.

However, once you enter the village, all you see is the pure, natural, and pristine state of an ancient rural village, with no trace of electrical appliances, cement, or other modern amenities.

Even the primitive tribes in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest are no different.

Along the way, they also saw several villagers, all dressed in coarse cloth short shirts and with ancient hairstyles. No matter how you looked at them, they didn't seem like people living in modern society.

Upon seeing them, the villagers would react strangely, avoiding them at all costs, and no matter how much they called out to them, they couldn't stop them.

"I've volunteered in Africa, but I've never seen a village like this, completely devoid of any signs of modern civilization. It's a bit... scary."

The foreign white woman said somewhat uneasily.

"Haha, they must all be staff members of the scenic area in disguise. The atmosphere was amazing, and their acting was so cool."

The young man forced a smile, even though he was a very oblivious person, he vaguely felt that something was wrong, and even a little creeped out.

This village is strange!

Could they have stumbled into a village with forbidden customs from some horror novel?

(End of this chapter)