Zhao Hai's mind was now somewhat confused about the people of the Ark Continent. These people act like westerners on Earth, however, they perform oriental traditions such as worshipping the ancestors.
Worshipping the ancestors is an integral part in Eastern Culture. This was because in the East, they believed that after death, their family member's souls will remain and guard the family. Because of this, those who are still alive give their respects to the ancestors, asking them to continue protecting the family.
To be honest, people already knew that it was impossible for their ancestors to protect their families. If one turned into a soul, they would have no means of protecting their loved ones. These thoughts aren't only present within Great Clans, even the Imperial Clans think of this. Therefore, recently this thought of protection slowly faded away.
However, worshipping the ancestors still survived to this day. This was done in order to commemorate one's ancestor, telling them of all the achievements that you've done. It wasn't done in order to request for protection anymore.
For a Great Clan like the Calci Family, this wasn't the only thing that made this event significant. Worshipping the ancestors also brings a type of cohesion among the family. This will help the Family prosper in the future.
The entire ceremony was prepared in a strict manner, there shouldn't be any mistakes, everything needs to be perfect. Zhao Hai went along with Smith during the event.
The way the Ark Continent worshipped their ancestors was a little different from China. Chinese tradition generally forbade women from attending the ceremony. But in Ark Continent, there wasn't such a rule. The event took up half a day before everything was over.
In the evening, Randolph led Peter and the others to attend the Imperial Banquet. To be honest, Nobles during God's Grace Day were usually bored. Aside from attending their family banquets, they would also drink and chat with their family members. The atmosphere was not very good as well, which made Zhao Hai dislike the scene.
After attending the family banquet that the Calci Family has held, Zhao Hai immediately led Laura and the others back to Iron Mountain Fort. Compared to the Calci Family, Iron Mountain Fort was Zhao Hai's genuine family. Therefore, he must attend the fort's evening banquet.
At this time, the banquet in Iron Mountain Fort still hasn't started. Green and the others were waiting for Zhao Hai. They were currently inside the fort's main square. The square was filled with bonfires. Suspended on the side of them were Argalis and Raging Bulls. There were also Blue-Eyed Rabbits everywhere.
Additionally, there was also an entire Blade-Scale Whale on the side along with the other seafood. Once could say that Green really took out all the good things that they had.
Beside each bonfire were big wooden barrels. One could smell the sweet smell of Milk Wine from the barrels. No matter Beastman nor Human, all of them wore new clothes while gathering around the bonfires. Nobody touched the food as well as the liquor, all of them were waiting for Zhao Hai.
When Zhao Hai came out of the Space and saw this situation, his heart couldn't help but turn warm. Laura and the others were also touched. When Zhao Hai scanned the square, he saw some people missing. So he immediately teleported to Jade Water City and retrieved Mu'en's family and brought them back to the fort. At this point, as long as the place was mapped on the monitor, Zhao Hai can immediately go there, making teleportation much much easier.
When Zhao Hai got Mu'en, Green immediately had the people place the animals on the bonfire. He also had the Blade Scale Whale processed.
Dealing with the Blade Scale Whale took a lot of thought. The scales of the whale were taken off, these scales can be used later to store water. They were sharp and sturdy as well.
Green already made a few cuts on the body of the fish, he placed seasonings all over them after having its internal organs removed. Burning stones were placed inside the body of the whale. Because of the size of the fish, one could enter its mouth in order to take the stones and reheat them on the bonfires outside. In this way, the whale would be evenly cooked. Before long, the whale was roasted and was ready for eating.
As for the argali and raging bulls, they didn't need to think much about them. These animals were a staple food for the Beastmen. Because of this, cooking them became quite easy.
Shortly after, the entire square of Iron Mountain Fort was filled with the aromatic fragrance of roasted meat. When the meats were ready to be eaten, Merine also had the food they cooked themselves taken out and shared them with everyone.
This was also the proposition of Zhao Hai. He knew that the situation of the Buda Clan was different from the others. Other families have servants to handle these types of things while the Buda Clan didn't. To not turn this evening into a barbecue party, Zhao Hai requested Merine to have people help make 1 or 2 additional dishes that they were adept in cooking. When everyone eats on the eve of God's Grace Day, these dishes would be taken out and shared to everyone. They didn't need to worry about the ingredients of their dishes, Zhao Hai already had everything covered.
Merine didn't want to bother the others about this matter. But she didn't expect them to be excited when she told them about it. Merine didn't even need to cook anything. The people returned to their homes and prepared their best recipes to have everyone taste it.
One couldn't blame these people for their excitement. The initial 100 slaves that they bought in the beginning were no longer slaves. They already settled down and had their own homes in their own land. Everyone's days were flourishing, and it was also the first time that they would experience God's Grace Day since they weren't able to do so before. So it was natural that they would be overly excited. They wanted to return the favor to the Buda Clan in some manner, and this time's task of cooking food was a great opportunity, so they immediately agreed.
Beastmen were experts on all kinds of meat dishes while the human slaves were experts in vegetables. This made Zhao Hai speechless for a while. However, this was good, it was God's Grace Day, and everyone was going to be happy in eating their food.
Seeing that everything was already prepared, Green slowly walked to the middle of the square and watched the crowd before talking loudly, "Everyone, please calm down!"
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Green's words were very effective. The square immediately quieted down, even the children were looking at Green, they didn't make any noise nor did they move around randomly.
Iron Mountain Fort has always been under Green's management. For those slaves, Green was like their leader, it was natural that they would listen to his order. To them, Zhao Hai was a god-like existence, he awed them everytime they see him.
Seeing that the square has become peaceful, Green said, "Everybody, one year ago, we arrived here at Iron Mountain Fort. At that time, the fort was an old worn out castle. It didn't have anything, we were desperately clinging for our lives. One passed by in a blink of an eye, in the past year, we have created a lot using our two hands. We have managed to change our lives, we turned heaven and earth upside down. But everything was given to us by one person, do you know who that person is?"
In almost the same time, everybody said, "The Young Master!" Zhao Hai had his people call him Young Master. Because of this, the people yelled out 'Young Master'. They didn't call Zhao Hai by his name nor did they call him Patriarch. For them, 'Young Master' was Zhao Hai's special title.
Green nodded and said, "Right, today is God's Grace Day. I know that this is the first time for many of you. I ask the Young Master to give us a few words." Then he slowly drew back.
Zhao Hai didn't expect that Green would make him say a few words. But this place is his domain, he didn't back down. He smiled and stood up before walking to the middle of the square. Before he started to speak, the crowd gave him an applause.
Zhao Hai looked at everyone and said, "One year ago, you all have different identities, now you are all the people of the Buda Clan. I promised a year ago that you will be able to eat meat every single day, and I managed to fulfill it. However, I didn't do this alone, you've all used your own hands and worked hard every single day in order to achieve this. In behalf of the Buda Clan, this Zhao Hai will express his gratitude." Then he bowed towards the crowd.
This move from Zhao Hai scared them. No matter if they were a Beastman or a Human, all of them started to kneel. Several elderly beastmen even said loudly, "Young Master, you should get up quickly. You don't owe us anything. Without you, we would never reach this day. You are our great benefactor, as well as the benefactor for our succeeding generations."
At this time, Zhao Hai returned to standing straight. When he looked at the people kneeling down, he smiled and said, "Everyone get up! This is a special day, you don't need to kneel. Quickly get up."
Then the crowd stood up. Zhao Hai looked into their eyes and said, "This year, the Buda Clan has been reborn, I've been reborn as well, and so are all of you. This day marks a significant moment in our lives. We shall celebrate a new holiday today, which would be the Festival Of Rebirth. Everyone, raise you glasses of wine. Let's drink together, let's say goodbye to yesterday and say hello to a good tomorrow! Drink!"
The crowd followed his instructions and raised their glasses before drinking together with Zhao Hai. The wine tasted especially good. Just like Zhao Hai said, this glass of wine was a farewell to the yesterday as well as a welcome to the new tomorrow. When the liquid warmed their stomachs, the people's eyes couldn't help but moisten.
They were different from Laura and the others. When Laura and the others were growing up, they didn't need to worry about food and clothing. As for meat, they didn't even need to think about them. Everyday, they get to eat good food, for them, meat was no big deal.
However, to these slaves, having clothes to put on as well as having meat to eat was akin to living in Heaven. They didn't expect that they would actually experience such a thing.
Some of these slaves were sons and daughters of slaves. They knew that their fathers and mothers, even their grandfathers and grandmothers might not have eaten meat their entire lives, maybe they were even unable to drink liquor. This was a dream for all of them, they didn't think that this dream would actually come true.