Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 17 Zhao Dagui's Sacrifice to Jiang

After breakfast, everyone untied the ropes and started rowing.

But no one knew what was going on. The raft swayed from side to side and could not get into the waterline or into the main current.

"Go and check to see if it's stuck somewhere." The foreman shouted and jumped down from the row first.

The second oar, the side oar, and the tail oar all jumped down and checked around the raft, trying to find out what went wrong.

But everyone looked left and right several times, but just couldn't find what went wrong.

Li Yongfu was so anxious that he kept jumping up and down in the flower shed, and the old crow at the head of the boat also looked puzzled.

"This is fucking weird. Everything is normal, but why won't this raft move?"

"Everyone, is there anything you can do?"

Shui Laowu was really helpless this time. He had never encountered such a weird thing in all his years of rafting.

The trees looked at each other, but no one could tell the direction.

They just checked several rafts and found nothing was stuck. Why couldn't they move?

"Captain of the First Row, Captain Two, if that doesn't work, how about we try offering sacrifices to the river?" Zhao Da Kui spoke cautiously and tested.

"This place is a bit weird, who knows what it means."

"Sacrifice to the river?" The head waiter and the second waiter said at the same time, and they looked at each other.

It's not a good idea for the raft to stay here all the time. No matter what, we have to find a way to leave here.

Offering sacrifices to the river is also a solution.

"How do we offer sacrifice to the river? Just burn incense and offer sacrifices?" Shui Laowu looked at Zhao Da Kui and asked.

The Kanto region is vast and sparsely populated, so you may encounter strange things when traveling through mountains and rivers.

The woodcutters in particular all believed in this, and whenever they cut down trees in the mountains or went into the water, they would have relevant ceremonies to pay tribute to the mountain gods.

But this kind of offering sacrifices to the river halfway is rarely done. The water crows have been released for many years, but four people have never offered sacrifices here across the river.

"No, it's not just that." Zhao Da Kui shook his head.

"Oh, I can't explain it in a few words. Headmaster, Second Steward, if you trust me, leave this matter to me."

The head clerk and the second clerk had no good ideas, so since Zhao Dagui had an idea, they could only give it a try. So, the two nodded in agreement.

"Lenghu'er, you and Dazhuzi should go with Da Kui. Whatever you need and how much you want to spend will be decided by Da Kui.

Come back as soon as possible, we still have to travel." Shui Laowu told Qu Shaoyang to go with him to prepare things.

In this way, Qu Shaoyang, along with Da Zhuzi and a few others, walked for more than twenty miles with Zhao Dagui and found a larger market town.

I got pig heads and tails, fruit offerings, incense, candles, paper codes and other things from others.

There are few entertainment programs these days, and if there is something lively, people nearby will gather around.

The news of the Paibang River Sacrifice spread quickly to the nearby villages and towns. Many people came to watch the fun, and the villagers gathered in three layers.

Three piles of incense were lit by the river, and pig heads and fruits were laid out as offerings. Zhao Da Kui put on a divine skirt and a flowery hat, picked up King Wen's drum in his left hand and King Wu's whip in his right hand.

Zhao Da Kui kept twisting his whole body, the sound of drums rang out, and the bells on his waist also rang.

"Call the old mountain king, and he will give me a jar of wine for every bite of pig.

King Wu's whip is King Wen's drum, and he can only run alone without any help from his soldiers.

The drums were beaten and the table was set, with three pairs of incense sticks and candles placed in the center.

The big jar brews Liuling wine, and the small jar brews Wengtouxiang.

Young and old gentlemen don't touch it, today I only pay tribute to the old mountain king.

Old Mountain King, Great Mountain King, today you come and taste the wine. I have no name or surname, I just hope that the raft will be smooth and we can put it in the Liaonan River together..."

Zhao Da Kui sang and danced for a long time, and finally the ceremony ended.

Then he cut some meat from the pig's head and threw it into the river along with the pig's tail and the offerings.

"Get in the row." After receiving Zhao Da Kui's hint, Shui Laowu immediately waved his hand, signaling everyone to row.

You know what, after all this operation, the raft really started to move.

This made Li Yongfu very happy. He slapped his thigh and shouted that Zhao Da Kui was a talented person.

Not only Li Yongfu, but all the people on the raft looked at Zhao Da Kui with admiration.

"Brother Da Kui, I didn't expect you to be so low-key and yet have such a skill. You are really amazing."

Qu Shaoyang was convinced this time. It seemed that some things were worth believing.

"What did I say at breakfast this morning? Someone died in this place, so it must be a weird place.

You didn't believe it then, but you believe it now, right?" Zhao Dagui said with a very proud smile.

"No, where did you learn these skills?" Qu Shaoyang asked curiously.

The singing and dancing that Zhao Da Kui performed just now was really amazing. I couldn't help but admire it.

"Well, I have an aunt who has had many problems since she was a child. When I was a child, whenever my aunt got sick, our family would invite people to dance for her.

Later, she recovered and got married. Her husband's family was engaged in this business, so she and my second uncle lived together." Zhao Dagui explained with a smile.

Everyone then understood that this was a family tradition.

The raft went smoothly into the main stream and everyone was very happy. Even the old crow at the head of the oar, who usually had a sullen face, had a smile on his face.

This time, no one complained that Zhao Da Kui could speak colloquially, and no one cared what he said.

"We are about to reach Baimalang. Hold on to the oars firmly, control your speed, and keep your eyes on the clear and muddy water."

Not long after the raft passed the lower gourd trap, a water crow shouted loudly in front.

In the river ahead, there is a huge rock protruding from the surface of the river. Under the impact of the rushing river water, white waves one or two meters high are formed.

From a distance, it looks like white horses galloping, so it is named Baimalang.

The Baimalang outpost was a place where people were killed and their platoons were destroyed, and many woodcutters lost their lives here.

The woodcutters often say, "White Horse Wave, White Horse Wave, nine out of ten people who cross it die. Only one person who makes it through will either be disabled or injured."

This shows how dangerous this outpost is.

The water was fast and the waves were high at the Baimalang Sentry Outlet. As soon as the raft entered the outlet, it became uncontrollable, swaying from side to side and was about to crash into the big rock in the middle of the river.

The guys controlled the oars with their hands, and Cat's Teeth held on tightly to move the oar to the left. The raft stuck to the edge of the boulder and barely made it past.

By the time the raft passed the Baimalang, everyone was sweating profusely, and the river breeze made them feel cool.

"We won't go forward today. Let's find a river bank and rest for a while."

The old crow rowing the boat in the lead was also very tired. He felt sore in both arms that he could hardly lift them.

The raft was delayed for most of the day by the four people, so naturally they didn't go far today.
As the sun was setting and everyone was exhausted after having just passed the Baimalang Wave, the boatman simply ordered them to stop rowing and go ashore to rest.

We found a bay with calm water ahead and moored the raft by the river.

Qu Shaoyang led people to set up a stove and cook.

In the morning, only a little bit of meat was cut off from the pig's head for river sacrifice and thrown into the river. The rest of the big pig's head couldn't be wasted.

So they set up a big pot, lit the fire, cleaned the pig's head, and threw it into the pot to stew.

(End of this chapter)