hell in disguise

Every time before going out to sea, Jiang Yu must go to the Dragon King Temple to worship the Dragon King with his second uncle, and this time is no exception.In the early hours of the morning, before dawn, he was already holding a bag of vegetables and fruits for offering, carrying a piece of bacon, and trekking to the east of the village with his second uncle and a few guys.This Dragon King Temple probably existed in the previous dynasty. It has experienced hundreds of years of wind and frost, and has been repaired several times in the middle. The walls are mottled, and the steps are covered with slippery and soft moss. She was wearing a yellow cloak tailored by the most skillful woman in the village, but after all, it was so old that the original paint was basically peeled off, making her look dirty, and she could only vaguely see her majestic appearance back then.

However, even so, the people in the village still respect and worship carefully.After all, the sea is the most fickle. People who rely on the sea to eat do not know whether they will return every time they go to sea. Naturally, there are many rules and taboos in life, so as to give a sense of certainty to the uncertain life. .

Jiang Yu watched as his second uncle skillfully arranged the tribute, lit three sticks of incense and put them in the incense burner, and then brought the four young men who often went fishing with him to kneel down and kowtowed three times.The second uncle was muttering words, nothing more than praying to the Dragon King to grant them peace and prosperity.

But at this moment, the three sticks of incense that had been burning well were suddenly broken at the waist.

Jiang Yu was the first to see it, and his heart skipped a beat.He tugged at the second uncle's arm, and the second uncle looked at it, and a trace of panic flashed in his vicissitudes of life, so he hurriedly got up and lit three sticks of incense.

The other three looked at each other.They will be out to sea in a while, which is not a good sign.

The second uncle looked back at the four of them, pondered for a while, and said, "It's okay, it was probably caused by the wind."

No one spoke.I haven't saved enough sand bank money to be handed over to the court, so how can I not go to sea just because the incense is broken?

The second uncle's boat was handed down by his grandfather. Although it is old, it is still very reliable because of proper care.They loaded the fishing gear and a few days' rations onto the boat, and then went to the stern of the boat to offer incense to the Bodhisattva.Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer fish in the coastal waters, but more and more money has been paid on the shore, so they have to go fishing in the farther seas, and sometimes they go for a few days and return with a full reward.Although it is a bit bitter, there is no way to survive.

Outside the Dragon King Temple, the black sea turned white foam, slapping on the beach again and again.The light of dawn has gradually climbed up from under the sea surface, and the seagulls are singing in groups of three or four, wandering in the deep blue sky far away.Their old ship with full sails cut through the waves and galloped away.The shore is getting farther and farther away, and the home is getting farther and farther away.

Jiang Yu's daughter-in-law has just given birth to a baby girl, and the baby girl is not yet full moon, but he has already gone to sea.He sighed, lowered his head and gnawed at the vegetable cakes, hoping that he wouldn't have to go for too long this time.The second uncle squatted on the side of the boat, chewing a few pieces of tea leaves in his mouth. He would chew a few pieces for the first meal every time he went to sea, because he believed that it would bring good luck.

Liu Fugui stood in the rudder tower, looking into the distance.The eldest of the four young men, he was usually taciturn, but he had a knack for steering.After tying the rope to the pole, Xu Tai walked over and sat next to Jiang Yu, reached out and took out a vegetable cake from the pot, and lightly touched Jiang Yu with his elbow, "Tell me, what's wrong with me? Always unsteady, up and down."

Jiang Yu said, "Are you still thinking about what happened in the morning?"

"I also know that there should be nothing wrong, but I just feel nervous." Xu Tai scratched his hair in distress, "Damn it, this is the first time I have been so flustered since I went to sea since I was a child."

People who go to sea are most afraid of bad luck, and they are prone to imagination.Jiang Yu patted him on the shoulder, "Don't think about it, be careful that the second uncle beats you."

However, the next three days were smooth sailing.Not only did we not encounter any bad luck, we even caught more fish than usual.What happened in the Dragon King Temple on the first morning was quickly forgotten. The five people happily grilled a few fat fish on the clay stove, and ate them hot with the fire and brown rice wine brought from home. a meal.Seeing that these fish are sold, about sand bank money is enough, the second uncle also laughed so hard that he almost lost his eyesight, and told everyone to return to the voyage after eating.

After everyone had a full meal, most of them felt their round bellies crooked.Jiang Yu stood up and poured the charcoal fire from the clay stove into the sea outside the boat.However, at this moment, he saw a large black object floating in the constantly shaking dark blue waves not far away.

Jiang Yu squinted his eyes and looked carefully. It was a columnar shadow with some cloth-like things hanging on it, dancing endlessly with the waves.There are also many seaweed-like things entangled at one end, dancing back and forth like hair.

Wait...hair?

The boat got closer, and Jiang Yu couldn't help supporting the side of the boat, leaning out the upper half of his body.

Seeing that he didn't come back for a long time, Xu Tai stuck out his head from the cabin and shouted, "Hey! What are you doing!"

Jiang Yu turned back to him with some hesitation and said, "There seems to be someone floating in the sea?"

Xu Tai's complexion suddenly changed, he rushed out, stood beside him and looked hard, the more he looked, the paler his face became.

At this time, the second uncle also came over, and asked impatiently, "What are you looking at! Let's set sail soon."

I don't know if it's an illusion, but that thing seems to be getting closer and closer.Xu Tai stretched out his finger and said, "There is a dead person..."

The second uncle saw it at this time.And Jiang Yu had never seen such an ugly expression on the second uncle's face.

Anyone who begs for food at sea knows a rule: If a corpse is encountered on the way, you must not ignore it. You must salvage it and send it back to the shore for a proper burial.Otherwise the ship and everyone on board will be cursed.

Liu Fugui and Chen Changfeng also ran over, and the four of them stared at the second uncle with eight bewildered eyes.The second uncle smashed the side of the boat with his fist, and cursed, "Damn it, it's time to come, but I can't hide it. Get it!"

Liu Fugui turned the boat and headed towards the strange corpse that suddenly appeared on the sea.The fishing net originally used for fishing was cast down, and the four of them tried their best to drag the corpse onto the boat.

As soon as the four people loosened their strength, they collapsed on the ground tired.But the second uncle looked at the corpse in the net with a look of horror on his face.

I don't know how long this corpse has been soaked in sea water. It has swelled to twice the size of a normal person, exuding a disgusting putrid smell.The facial features are swollen and twisted together, making it difficult to recognize, the fingers are thicker than sausages, and the skin is as white as soaked pork, but judging from the flat chest, this should be a man.

His clothes were torn, but his hair was long and tangled all over his body.There are many wounds on his exposed limbs and torso, probably eaten by fish, especially a fist-like huge rotten hole in his abdomen. It is unknown whether he was bitten after death or was injured while alive What a cruel death.

The four young men had never seen a floating corpse before at sea, and their faces turned pale with nausea at this moment, and Xu Tai even ran to the side of the boat and vomited for a long time.Although the second uncle is well-informed, he has encountered similar things before.But such a severely decomposed corpse has never been seen before.He suppressed the discomfort in his heart, recited a few words of Buddha with his hands together, and apologized for Xu Tai, saying that he was young and ignorant, and promised to take him to land for burial.May he rest in peace.After talking like this for a long time, the four people put the body in the bottom bin and covered it with a fast old sail.

After covering it, all three of them left quickly.Only Jiang Yu looked back at the corpse before climbing up the ladder.

It lay quietly under the canvas, a huge lump, motionless.For some reason, it gave Jiang Yu a gloomy and sinister feeling.As if it was just pretending, as soon as he left the warehouse, it would suddenly come alive.

Thinking of sleeping on the same boat with this thing tonight, Jiang Yu shuddered, climbed up quickly, and closed the lid of the bottom compartment tightly.

Night fell quickly.Except for Chen Changfeng who was watching the night outside, the other four were lying on their own bunks in the cabin.The four of them didn't sleep, the second uncle was chewing tea to mend the fishing net, Liu Fugui was in a daze with his hands behind his head, Xu Tai was sharpening a harpoon, and Jiang Yu was carving things into clam shells.A strange silence enveloped the entire ship, it seemed that even the sea outside became much quieter, and the wind stopped.

Xu Tai suddenly stopped the movement of sharpening the harpoon, his whole body stopped for a while as if he had been immobilized, and asked after a while, "Did you hear any sound?"

Jiang Yu also listened carefully, shook his head and said, "No? What's the sound?"

"Shh..." Xu Tai made individual gestures, and then put his ear against the wooden wall of the cabin.Suddenly he was frightened and sat up straight, "There is... there is a voice!"

Jiang Yu and Liu Fugui also learned to put their ears on the cabin.In addition to the familiar uproar of the waves rubbing against the bottom of the boat, there seemed to be a thin, rustling sound of friction.Slight and fast, like a few pieces of small fingernails, scratching quickly on the heart, giving people a shiver of coldness to the bone.

"Is it... the sound of someone tapping a nail on a wooden board?" Xu Tai's voice was a little trembling, and he pointed to the ground.

Jiang Yu knew what he meant.Under their feet, separated by thick wooden boards, was the bottom warehouse...the corpse was there.

"Shut up! If you talk nonsense again, I'll pull out your tongue!" The second uncle scolded in a low voice, "Maybe there are seaweeds caught in the water slurry, it's nothing strange, go to sleep!!!"

The other three didn't dare to speak anymore, so they had to lift the quilt and get in.Although I felt scared, but listening to the familiar rhythmic sound of the waves, I gradually fell asleep.

Five people took turns to watch the night, and Jiang Yu was the second shift.He fell asleep in a daze, and felt that someone was singing a song in his ear.

"Who's home in Artemisia, there is no sage or foolishness in gathering souls. How can the uncle urge you, and people's lives must not be hesitated~~~"

That faint singing voice seems to be a man deliberately pinching his throat to imitate a singing girl, the ending sound is faint and cold, endless...

With a shudder, Jiang Yu suddenly became fully awake.He thought it was Chen Changfeng who came to ask him to change shifts, intentionally frightened him, and opened his eyes to curse, but he found that there was no one standing around him.

He lifted the quilt and sat up, looked around, and found that there was no one on each bed, the quilt was still lifted, and there were traces of someone lying on the bed.

Could it be that he went out to relieve himself?Then there's no need for the three of you to relieve yourself together, right?

Inexplicably, he thought that in the dark cabin, a black figure sat up from the bed, walked slowly to the next bed, shook it vigorously, and said, "Let's go, let's relieve ourselves together." Then two Heiying walked to the third bed together, pushed it, and said, "Let's go, let's relieve ourselves together."

It should be a funny scene, but for some reason, Jiang Yu just feels cold.

He puts on a coat and looks out as he fastens it.

The black sky covered the black sea, and the stars could not be seen. It seemed that the ship was just floating in the middle of nothingness.There was not even a wind, and the surroundings were terribly quiet.

"Second Uncle? Xu Tai?" He called twice, but no one responded.

He walked around the ship's side, but he didn't see half a person.The strangest thing was that even Chen Changfeng, who was standing guard, was not in the rudder tower.

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he shouted louder, "Second Uncle!!! Xu Tai!!! Liu Fugui!!! Chen Changfeng!!!"

His voice was quickly annihilated in the empty sea, appearing very depressed.

He searched frantically several times.This boat is not big, just a few steps away.But he saw no one.

He was the only one left in the whole boat...

But where can others go?This vast sea, where else could they go except here? !