Chương 143: Sunnyside Town - Illness.
The sun blazed high in the sky as the calls of seagull like birds cried out, the gentle sound of waves running up the shore entered his ears as he approached the town, the silence of the wilderness had been his companion for a month now so hearing different sounds was pleasant on the ears.
'The seaside huh?' Shu He looked on out past the town, a vast blue expanse laid there, the cascading waves going as far as the eye could see.
This was Sunnyside Town, a fairly isolated town on the western side of the Metal region; The mountain range between the Metal and Water regions goes through a steep incline towards the west and sinks down into the great ocean, which then leads into the Water region, this town rested on the edge of that though it was still part of the Metal region.
It's a self-sufficient town that doesn't see much contact with the capital or Orefine, the townspeople are known for their skills in fishing and seafood is the primary source of sustenance here.
For Shu He, the view felt refreshing; Having spent the last month surrounded by trees with the occasional ruined settlement the wide-open space, bright sun and noisy atmosphere revitalised him.
That wasn't to say his journey through the wilderness wasn't entirely uneventful, he had found some useful materials and plants that he could use and came across some less than friendly beasts but none of them were a real threat, they either ended up running away or in his stomach.
He had to ration his food after all.
The truth is he could have arrived more than a week earlier, but he had a bad feeling, so he took a roundabout path, after learning that he was being tracked he was being even more careful than before, trying to leave as few tracks as possible and using a taking a pill that altered his scent.
He walked into the large town, there were only a couple guards resting on stone chairs, when he passed they glanced at him and smiled, nodding, which he returned with a tip of his hat, it seems they were very welcoming.
'Maybe they are happy to see travellers all the way out here?' He thought as he turned, taking a detour towards the large patch of ocean.
Soon, the dirt beneath his feet turned to stones and pebbles, then after another minute it turned to sand that crunched beath his shoes, his footsteps being left in his wake.
His golden eyes watched the waves travel up the sand, bubbles popping up as it receded showing the locations of the small crustaceans living beneath, he felt a strong sense of reminiscence.
It was a memory from when he was younger, when he was 5 years old; his mother finally found time to take him to the seaside, his frail body enjoyed the feeling of sand sinking between his toes, but he wasn't allowed to go in the water; He could only stand and watch as the waves rolled up to his ankles.
But it was still a happy memory for him.
It was the only time he went there after all.
Until now.
He breathed in, wanting to smell the thick, salty ocean air that assaulted his senses back then… and it wasn't there.
His brow furrowed in confusion.
It wasn't that it wasn't completely gone, but that it was only a vague, weak smell, the intensity was different.
The ocean was also surprisingly clear, he could see fish happily swimming about at the bottom of the sea floor even though it was more than 10 meters deep.
'I shouldn't be surprised, there's no trash being dumped into the water here' He shrugged, this was a better view in the end.
He looked out on to the horizon, his gaze fixated on the line between sky and earth… but it was off.
He had seen it once before, travelling up the mountain to the sect, and once more then he was leaving, but there was no curve on the horizon, but he was seeing it even better now that he was gazing over an ocean, something completely flat.
It was a straight line, in fact he feels the only reason why he can't see further would be the build up of fog in the distance creating a white sheet between ocean and sky, that and his sight itself.
'What's wrong with this world? Is it really flat?' He had his doubts.
If it was flat, how did gravity exist in its current form? What about the atmosphere?
He looked up to the sky, the sun that went over the horizon and the moon the followed later.
'What about space? It looks normal in the night sky, but is that really true?'
He stood, pondering for tens of minutes as he bathed in the seaside atmosphere before he shook his head.
"Doesn't matter for now…" He murmured.
He needed to find a place to stay, he would rest for the night before beginning his investigation the next day.
'I've got to keep my eye out for now…'
He had a feeling that his stay wouldn't be peaceful.
…
The next day he exited the small inn he had managed to find, he had found out that because the town doesn't get many visitors it didn't have a big inn despite the size of the town, so he had to settle with the one that existed.
It was on the outer side of town with a seaside view, so it was surprisingly nice, and it wasn't too pricy either so Shu He didn't complain, getting a nights sleep with the sound of rolling waves in his ears was pleasant.
Anyway, like in Redaloy his first plan was to sweep the area with his 'sense' as a blanket precaution, so he got up early to do so, he walked down the streets that were busy with fishmongers, fisherman and other workers running about to get ready, there were children gathering together and heading in the same direction, Shu He learned by eavesdropping that there was a school here that taught them basic maths and writing which he was happy to learn.
'A basic education goes a long way in this world'.
If you can read and write you can get work quite easily in shops, as a scribe or such and maths means you can work as a merchant or assistant, they were obviously preparing their children to leave this out of the way town in the future.
After he swept the housing district he went to the market area, the stalls had just finished being set up and the stall owners were calling out for customers to come buy their merchandise, there was plenty of fresh or dried fish, some fruits, vegetables and grains, clothes, small toys, and other various nick knacks.
As tempted as Shu He was to get a bunch of fresh fish to cook up, he didn't want to become distracted, he had some last night as well, so he managed to stave off his desires.
With the market clear he headed out to the docks, there weren't many ships left tied to the wood as many had set out for a day of fishing, the weather was nice and calm so the conditions were ideal after all, the remaining ships were either being worked on, cleaned, and repaired or in a state of disrepair so they couldn't be used at all.
"You there, young lad, interested in our ships?".
A large, chunky man called out to Shu He, he was tying a ship to the pier, his deep bronze tanned skin glistening with sweat.
"I haven't seen many ships, that's all, I was wondering how it felt to ride one" Shu He replied, turning his way.
He wasn't lying, he hadn't ever been on a ship before after all.
"Come from inland have ye'? We would be happy to take you out if you can do some work for us, hehe!" The man laughed.
"Haha, I appreciate the offer, maybe sometime in the future" Shu He laughed in reply.
He hadn't got the time to go on a joyride right now unfortunately.
"Say, do you ferry people over the sea?" He asked in turn.
"Hmm, not often, the only ship capable of going through to the Water region is the lady over there".
The man pointed into the distance, there was a large ship that was ten times larger than your average fishing vessel with a great serpent modelled at the mast.
"You don't use her normally?".
'If a vessel is that big, wouldn't it make great for long fishing trips?' He thought.
"Nah, not recently anyway, we haven't been able to take her out because the usual crew members became ill after the last expedition".
'Ill?' Shu He's ears perked up.
"What's wrong with them?"
"Hm? Why do you ask?" The man stared at him suspiciously.
"I don't mean to be nosy; I just have a bit of interest in medicine you see" Shu He replied with a small smile.
"A bit, eh? Well, what the hell, tellin' you won't hurt" The man shrugged.
"From what we've been told, the crew members managed to kill a mighty sea creature on their last trip, but it looked hideous, so no-one wanted to eat it, so the captain took charge and began chowing down on it daily to preserve their rations, and eventually they began falling ill after they returned."
"How ill? What are the symptoms?".
"Eh, uh… They're being sick, look pale and complain their stomach hurts".
'Hmm' Shu He tapped his forehead as he thought.
'Too many things have those symptoms, but based on what they said, was that creature poisonous?'
"Do you have the remains of what they ate?".
"Yeah, those idiots paraded its skeleton around when the came back, it's in the same place they are".
"And where is that?"
"A storage warehouse next to the mayor's house, we're keeping them together in case what they have is infectious" The man explained then looked expectantly at Shu He "So, do you know what can cure them?".
'It's where I was going anyway so, why not?'
"I have a few ideas, but I'll need to see them to make sure".
"That's great!" The man yelled but then scratched his head "I'll need to talk to the mayor first though, he wouldn't want a stranger barging in on his property…".
"No need" Shu He said as he pulled out the writ.
"He'll be fine with it".
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