The land of the sea, Jiro Island.

As the fiery sun sinks below the sea level, fishing boats that go out to sea during the day begin to dock at the port of Jiro Island.

It is said to be a port, but in fact there are only about 20 small fishing boats and seven or eight medium-sized fishing boats, which are all the fishing boats of the local villagers.

"I'm back!"

A muscular, bronzed-skinned man, wearing a hat and a robe, jumped out of the fishing boat and beckoned to the shore.

At this time there was a mother and daughter standing on the shore, the woman was dressed in gray coarse cloth, and the girl in her hand had short purple hair, and she looked to be just over three years old.

The man expertly tied the boat and walked over to the mother and daughter.

"Daddy!"

The little girl broke free from her mother's hand and jumped into the man's arms, who immediately picked up the girl and lifted her up happily.

"Haha, Yuhuo, did you listen to your mother at home today?"

"Hmm." The little girl named Yuhuo nodded, and her smile was bright.

The woman next to her came over and looked at the man affectionately and said, "Husband, it's hard work." ”

"Well, let's go home first." The man let the girl ride on his shoulder, and the family of three walked in the direction of the village.

...

This family of three lives in a fishing village on Jiro Island in the country of the sea, with a man named Yuzen, a woman named Tomomi, and a child named Yuhuo.

The fishing village, as the name suggests, means that all the income of the whole village is obtained from fishing, so Yushan gave his daughter the name Yuhuo.

One is to hope that every time I go out to sea, I can catch fish smoothly, and the other is to hope that my daughter can light the way home like a lighthouse in the sea.

When the three of them got home, the food was already on the table and they could eat directly.

In the middle of the table, there are two or three vegetable leaves floating on the white fish soup, and each person has a small salted fish and a bowl of rice.

Although life is hard, the family of three talks and laughs at the dinner table and looks happy.

After dinner, Yushan called the fishing fire to his side.

"I'll go out with my mother for a while, and I'll be back in a while, will you stay at home first?"

"Hmm." Yuhuo was obedient and nodded obediently.

Seeing that their daughter agreed, Yushan and Jimi left the house.

...

Arriving at the port, Yuzen and Tomomi got into their small fishing boat, opened the fish hatch in the middle, and the two saw the fish inside with the help of the light of the torches.

There are only three fish smaller than the palm of a hand in the huge fish tank, and they are not high-grade fish, which is the harvest of Yushan for a whole day.

"There are fewer and fewer fish in the offshore waters, and the fishing boats that went with me today are about the same harvest."

Yushan sat on the edge of the boat, staring at the three fish in the fish compartment with a worried brow.

Tomomi didn't know what to say when she looked at the dwindling harvest every day, she knew that if this continued, the family would collapse sooner or later.

Most of Jiro Island is salt land, which is not suitable for farming, so the income of each family in the fishing village depends on the family men going out to sea to fish.

In this case, even if the woman in the family knows that her husband has barely harvested anything in the past month, there is nothing she can do to help the family.

"There may be a light rainstorm tomorrow, and I can't go out to sea to fish, damn it!"

Yuzen's fist slammed into the edge of the boat, making a banging sound.

Originally, a small rainstorm could go out to sea to fish, but Yushan's fishing boats were too small, and even a small rainstorm could overturn Yushan's fishing boats.

Jimi also knew that her husband was very troubled now, so she sat down next to Yushan and comforted, "If I can move to the mother island, maybe there is still a way to live." ”

Regarding Zhimei's proposal, Yushan immediately shook his head and denied: "Impossible, the country of the sea originally did not have much territory, and now that the population of the mother island is already large, it is impossible for the lord to let the residents of other islands move to live on the mother island." ”

There are four islands in the land of the sea, and the mother island is the most abundant in materials, area and population, followed by Dalang Island, and the weakest is Jiro Island.

As for the last one of them, Onikai Island, it is basically a reef beach, and not a single village can be built on the ground.

"There are many people who want to get out of Jiro Island for so many years, but only Matthew has succeeded."

At the mention of Matthew, there is a hint of adoration in Yushan's eyes, because Matthew is the pride of the entire fishing village.

Despite his humble background, Matthew worked his way up to a shipping company called Cardo, and now has his own large merchant ships and has frequent trade with the island nations around the Land of Water.

From other villages along the coast, I heard that the current Matthew is no longer the fisherman Matthew of the past, but Captain Matthew.

Thinking of this, Yushan felt a little regretful in his heart.

If he had gone to work with Matthew at the Cardo Shipping Company, his family would not have struggled to make ends meet because he couldn't catch fish.

"Husband, don't think about it so much, since you can't go out to sea to fish tomorrow, then go to the Dragon King Temple with me to pray for blessings, and the rest of the village will also go tomorrow."

"Hmm."

...

Following.

It was rare to see a ray of sun on the sea, and a slightly strong sea breeze swept the fishing boats docked by the harbor.

The rain poured down on the dozens of fishing boats docked in the harbor, and not a single fisherman tried to go out to sea to catch fish today.

At this time, the villagers of the fishing village did not take shelter from the wind and rain in their respective homes, but gathered in the Dragon King Temple in the fishing village.

The Ryuo Temple is a temple dedicated to the Ryuwang, and the fishing villages along the coast generally worship the Ryuwang.

In the hearts of fishermen, the dragon king is the god of the sea, and the **** of the sea and the shrimp, turtles, fish and crabs are all dominated by the dragon king.

Although the Dragon King Temple in the fishing village is not magnificent, it is also the largest building in the entire fishing village, which can accommodate all the villagers.

More than 100 villagers in the fishing village knelt in the temple of the dragon king, kowtowing to the clay statue of the dragon king over and over again under the auspices of the village chief.

Unfortunately, the tribute plate in front of the statue of the dragon king is empty, and the village is now so poor that it can't even pay the tribute.

"Lord Ryuwang, I beg you to grant us a bountiful harvest of fish cabins!"

After speaking, the village chief led all the villagers to kowtow to the dragon king statue once.

"Lord Ryujo, I pray that you will grant us a calm sea!"

All the villagers kowtow again.

Click!

A thunderclap rang out outside the temple, and the flash of thunder frightened all the villagers.

The villagers looked back at the gloomy sky outside the temple, as if they were even more unsettled than before.

At this time, the broken wooden door of the Dragon King Temple was kicked open, making a huge noise, and the burly figure of a man stood at the entrance of the temple.

Click!

There was another earth-shattering thunderclap, and the thunder rushed frantically into the Dragon King Temple from the door, shining on the slightly frightened faces of the villagers.

The air froze for a second, and the people at the door did not ask for any instructions, and walked directly into the Dragon King Temple in front of Kong Mu.

The villagers on both sides of the door were about to come forward to catch the impudent man, but when they got up and saw the man's face, they immediately stopped.

"Matthew..."

"Matthew!"

"It's Matthew back!"