...
Lucian got up to wash up, and after going downstairs, he had everyone sit down first, then notified Seiun Sky to quietly come downstairs.
"Seiun finally came back."
To wait for Seiun Sky, Lucia and Lu Fengzhou hadn't touched their chopsticks.
With the hosts not touching their chopsticks, the sensible horse girls naturally didn't start eating first either.
"Sorry, Uncle and Auntie, I wore new clothes and didn't want to run too fast and sweat, so I was a bit late." Seiun Sky, who arrived late, was the last to take her seat.
"Seiun, your complexion looks really good today." Special Week asked.
"Ah, maybe because I went for a walk in the morning. I slept pretty early last night." Seiun Sky looked at the dishes on the table, changing the subject: "It's very sumptuous today too."
Lucia smiled lightly: "I cooked today, everyone quickly taste it."
...
On the first day of the lunar new year, Lucian's family had the habit of going to the temple to worship Buddha and burn incense, and this year was no exception.
But this time, there were several horse girls behind them.
"Dango, you have to be good at home, big sis will be back soon. (ㅇㅅㅇ❀)" Meishou Doto lay on the ground bidding farewell to Dango.
Because Dango was shy around strangers, and pets couldn't be brought into the temple, it wasn't taken along.
"Doto, time to go, the Trainer is already waiting at the door." Special Week put on her small backpack and called out.
...
The car ride wasn't very far, but there were quite a lot of people coming to worship today.
The gate at the foot of the mountain was very spacious, with the plaque at the top reading "Bitter Sea Without Bounds" in four large gold-embossed characters. If coming out from inside, one would see "Turning Back is the Shore" four characters.
Walking through the gate, the first thing seen was a koi pond. Perhaps carrying too many desires, the water in the pond was very dirty green.
"Wow, Rice-chan, quick look at those!" Haru Urara pointed at the artificial mountain in the center of the pond, which was carved with statues of gods and Buddhas in various poses.
Rice Shower widened her eyes, staring intently.
Lucia and Lu Fengzhou didn't deliberately stop; they walked across the bridge to the front of the hillock and devoutly bowed in worship.
"Lucian-kun, should we also worship?" Silence Suzuka said.
"Up to you." Faiths differ; Lucian felt it was fine whether the horse girls worshipped or not. "Your gods should be very magnanimous."
He remembered once going to the local Catholic church to mooch on powdered noodles, and under the enthusiastic believers' suggestion, he worshipped Jesus.
Lucian thought since he was mooching food, worshipping shouldn't be a big deal.
But at that time, he had a Buddha necklace around his neck; as soon as he bowed, he felt a chill in his heart, immediately straightened up and ran away.
Before Lucian finished speaking, Haru Urara and Rice Shower had already followed behind Lucia, clasping hands in salute.
Tokai Teio, Doto, and the others were no exception.
"Since everyone has worshipped, you should too, pray for blessings, make wishes and such." Lucian brought Seiun Sky and Silence Suzuka onto the bridge as well.
...
After the worship, everyone returned the same way.
Lucian asked: "What wishes did you all make?"
Tokai Teio: "Not telling the Trainer; if you say the wish out loud, it won't come true, right?"
The wish she made about having Lucian come to her house again absolutely could not be said.
"There's no such rule, so it's fine if you say it." Lucian said.
Haru Urara: "Hope more and more people support Urara and come watch Urara's races!"
Dextrous Bailey: "Hope family stays healthy."
Special Week: "Hope mama is healthy, and hope to eat the world's tastiest carrots."
Seiun Sky: "As for a wish, hope the Trainer plays a full song for me~"
The silent Tokai Teio furrowed her brows; this was clearly something she had booked with the Trainer first!
Doto: "Hope Dango can come back to Japan with me."
Lucian "..."
"Then you worshipped the wrong direction, Doto; you should worship me."
"If I worship the Trainer, can Dango come with me? (＾ㅅ＾?)"
"You worship first, I'll consider it."
Doto really bowed twice toward Lucian. "Is this okay, Trainer?"
"Mm."
"Then Dango..."
"But sorry, I've considered it, answer is rejection."
"Eh, how can you do this————(╥╯^╰╥)"
...
After bullying Doto, Lucian ignored her and turned to Rice Shower instead. "Rice-chan, what about you? What wish did you make?"
Rice Shower seemed somewhat troubled. "Just now during worship, my mind suddenly went blank, and in the end I just wished the gods a happy new year."
Lucian was stunned for a moment, then smiled lightly: "How is that not a beautiful wish?"
Rice Shower: "Onii-chan, what about you? What wish did you make?"
The horse girls' gazes turned to Lucian.
"Me." Lucian looked up at the stone carvings. "I made one wish, hope everyone has easy and happy days every day."
All the horse girls smiled knowingly.
...
The temple complex was built on the mountain; there was still some distance going up from here.
Lucia supported Lu Fengzhou as they walked over and said:
"Lucian, your dad and I are going to draw lots. You take them around here casually, remember to follow the rules here."
"Got it, you and Dad go."
After the two left, Lucian looked at the horse girls. "Let's go, I'll take you around here."
"Keep up, don't get lost, especially Doto and Spe-chan."
Special Week: "How could I get lost!?"
Doto: "Even if lost, I can come back. (`^′)"
...
Having come here many times, Lucian was basically familiar with the route. He first brought the horse girls to a relatively lively scenic spot.
"Trainer, there's a big cauldron over there!" Along the way, Haru Urara was excited about everything she saw.
"That's for praying for blessings; you write your wish on a paper strip, then throw it in. Anyone want to try?"
Haru Urara: "Me! Trainer, I want to try!"
Special Week: "Trainer, I want to too."
"Anyone else?" Lucian asked again.
The other horse girls shook their heads.
"Then I'll go buy two paper strips." Lucian nodded. "Urara and Spe-chan wait here for me; the others can go look ahead."
Lucian also bought one for himself; three red paper strips cost ninety yuan.
He remembered they weren't this expensive before. "Here, Spe-chan's, and Urara's."
Special Week and Haru Urara took them, wrote their respective wishes, then waited for Lucian's next instructions.
Lucian said: "Once written, you can throw them in; you go first."
"Then Urara first." Haru Urara threw too hard, almost overshot; luckily it still landed in the cauldron in the end.
Special Week didn't throw as far; it hit the edge of the cauldron and bounced back, smacking right onto the heads of Rice Shower and Doto who were viewing up close, one each.
"Ow—"
"So painful—(⋟﹏⋞)"
...