Fall In Love with the Technology Tree

Mi Zhu lowered his pale face, the shadow of his hat almost covered his eyelids: "Ghost ship. Fog in April, black birds wailing, is the day the ghost ship crosses the border."

Zhu Weng looked at the cloudless sky and put his hand on his forehead where his hair was starting to fall: "It's going to fog up. April 15th, Ayu, come home." Like a salt man who knows how to make perfect, he seems to be a witch who looks to the other side.

Zhuge Liang thought it was just a seaside superstition, but on the morning of April 15th, the sea turned out to be foggy. As time went on, the mist became heavier and heavier, and you could feel the water vapor condensing in your nose even during your breath.

The entire Quxian County was in an inexplicable panic. From fishermen to salt farmers, from aristocratic families to hawkers, every family closes their doors. Not only are there no people on the reefs on the coast, but there are no children laughing and playing in the streets and alleys of the county town. Even if there are poor people who are forced to go out to find food, they are still in a hurry with white cloth wrapped around their heads, and they dare not stop to say a word.

In the mist like milk, the county town by the sea seems to be dead. At this time, Ah Sheng and his party, who were still walking on the street, seemed out of place.

Mi Zhu's younger brother, Mi Fang, personally led a team of family soldiers and escorted them. Although the two brothers did not tremble like ignorant commoners, they still looked solemn.

The fog was cold and dewy, so Ah Sheng rarely put on a fur cloak. The purplish-black fur around her neck was slick and watery, in stark contrast to the visibly worn fabric on her body.

This is also helpless. If you still wear a cotton cloak, it will be damp, heavy and cold in the fog soon. "Since that's the case, you don't have to deliberately make trouble with your body in order to show the so-called frugality." Ah Sheng said while sweeping away the water droplets on Zhuge Liang's leather hat.

Zhuge Liang ran away for a few steps, then ran back. "Cao Zi, I have seen many households enshrining two millet **** and a bright red mahogany hairpin in front of their doors."

The red paint on the wooden hairpin was faintly discernible even through the fog.

"Patriarch Mi, what's going on?" Ah Sheng asked sideways.

Mi Zhu trembled invisibly. "Cao Zi, this is a long story..."

"Speak slowly then."

The foggy day is overcast and the sun is not seen, as if the day has not yet come, and it will usher in the night again.

"When I was a child, Quxian was still a prosperous seaport. It went north to You, Ji, and south to Yangzhou. The caravans were endless throughout the four seasons. Even Sanhan and Daoyi came here to sell goods. Yes." Mi Zhu's voice sounded in the still air, accompanied by the heavy footsteps of the guards, clear and mysterious, "There are those who do business by sea, and there are those who rob roads by sea, and this is understandable. Quxian had the most large ships at that time. The Gao family often does some business without capital at sea, and everyone knows it. But Gao Wang is among the ten permanent servants, and his family is rampant, and it is not something that our poor family can afford."

Zhuge Liang was indignant when he heard this: "Isn't anyone reporting this to the court?"

A Sheng held the child's head: "If there is no trouble, that is, the advantage of the Gao family is still within everyone's tolerance. While taking the risk of the weak, the business is prosperous. The new establishment is roughly like this. It is not easy to live in the people, even the rich and the poor.”

Zhuge Liang lowered his head with an "oh", and then he urged, "Is that ghost ship robbed by the Gao family?"

"That's not true." Mi Zhu smiled, then turned to restrain his smile, and his eyebrows were filled with worry, "The ghost ship is the ship that wiped out the Gao family."

"About 20 years ago, red pirate ships appeared at sea, about six or seven feet long, their bows were like fish hooks, and their speed was as fast as lightning. Any merchant ships that encountered them , there is no one who is not defeated. Once they are defeated, they will be forced back to the shore, and they will collect 10% of the ship's cargo as a trophy."

"What?" Zhuge Liang interjected, "So the 'Ghost Ship' is a group of pirates."

For so many days, Mi Zhu has become accustomed to Zhuge Liang's temper. He was a kindhearted man, so he was not annoyed at this time, but corrected him calmly: "At that time, there was no name for ghost boats, they were called 'red pirates', and they were only considered as powerful pirates. My father was with them. The old man once told me that the original leader of the 'Red Bandits' was named Yu Dayan, a one-eyed old man who could command eight red boats to cross the reef in heavy fog, which is very powerful."

"The original leader was Yu Dayan." Zhuge Liang repeated Mi Zhu's words, biting the word "initially" very seriously.

He retracted his hand embarrassingly and continued: "Then he became the leader of Chen. Maybe it changed a few times in the middle, but when the Yellow Turban thieves caused chaos in the world, it was also when the Gao family was destroyed. The leader of the 'Red Bandits' was surnamed Chen. ."

At this time, they had reached the fishing village where no one was seen. Perhaps because of the proximity to the sea, the fog became thicker. However, every household closes the door and puts a red hairpin at the door, which is exactly the same as in the county seat.

"My father said that probably because they had met, he and everyone in the group thought they were alive. But in retrospect, the red pirates were only seen in the fog in April and November. It's a strange thing in itself that the sky or the storm will appear." Mi Fang said suddenly.

Zhuge Liang shuddered, then a look of disgust appeared on his face. "Why does Mi Zifang speak so strangely?"

Mi Fang was wronged: "It's not weird, the Gao family slept to death overnight without a trace of scars, not even the dog and chicken, and even the two birds raised by Mrs. Gao None of them were spared. The Gao family's ships, forty large and small, also sank to the bottom of the sea overnight. However, none of the soldiers who guarded the city and the people in the city even noticed. Could this be done by manpower?"

"Why can't it be done by manpower?" Zhuge Liang refused to accept, "Isn't it because the Gao family and the 'red bandits' cannot tolerate two tigers and fight with each other, has the Gao family lost? thing?"

"The 'red bandits' come and go without a trace, and their strength is irresistible. At that time, the various families in Quxian agreed to go to sea to avoid April and November. It was looted by red bandits once. That's why there is a saying of 'red boat crossing the border'."

Zhuge Liang held his chin: "It's really strange, they don't seem to be here for money - since you have all found a way to deal with it. How did the Gao family get revenge against the 'red bandits' what about?"

"I'm afraid it has something to do with Zhu Weng and that Ayu." A Sheng said suddenly.

Mi Zhu and Mi Fang were horrified, their eyes widened and looked at Ah Sheng in disbelief, but they saw her raising her hand forward, in the mist in the direction of her finger, a swaying mass The orange lights are beating constantly, as if the only way to survive in this white fog cage.

Mi Zhu took a deep breath and strode forward: "Zhu Weng, please wait for us."

No response from the other side.

He hurried forward ten or more steps, and shouted twice: "Zhu Weng, please stay! Please stay!"

Finally, Zhu Weng's hoarse voice came from the direction of the lights: "Patriarch Mi, you shouldn't have come. The sea is dangerous."

Mi Zhu's figure has disappeared behind the fog, and the voice of him and Zhu Weng's conversation loomed through the thick fog, as if they were negotiating something.

"Cao Zi." Zhuge Liang had already pulled Ah Sheng's sleeve at some point, "I just figured it out. The people of Qu County are afraid of the 'red pirates' method of killing the Gao family. , only changed the name of 'Red Bandit' to 'Ghost Ship'. And when the ghost ship passed the border, the door was tightly closed, and sacrifices were placed outside the door. Since there are red peach wood hairpins used by women in the sacrifices, it means that in those days The matter of the Gao family is related to a woman. Judging from Zhu Weng's unusual behavior, this woman is Ayu."

"We're just guessing." Ah Sheng said, "We also need to hear what Mi Family Master and Zhu Weng have to say."

When the master and the apprentice were talking, Mi Zhu had already completed Zhu Weng's ideological work, and the two walked in this direction. When he got to the place where the face could be identified, Zhu Weng bowed to Ah Sheng under the guidance of Mi Zhu.

"Master Zhonghua, I will borrow some boats from the neighbors to take you across the sea."

"During the sea?" Ah Sheng raised his eyebrows slightly, with a half smile, "A Yu went home, didn't he come back to the shore?"

The corners of Zhu Weng's mouth twitched slightly, this subtle expression betrayed his inner resistance, but he finally answered obediently: "The Cao family is the new owner of Xuzhou, you will know about this sooner or later. Yes. My daughter, Ayu, sees me every year on a small island outside Yuzhou Mountain."

Ten years ago, Emperor Ling was still alive. The Gao family of the **** family covers the sky in Quxian. Except for the weird red boat that occasionally appeared at sea, there was nothing that gave the Gao family a headache.

However, fate quietly played the prelude to destruction at this time.

The man was rescued by the fisherman's daughter, Ayu. After more than a month of careful care, all the internal injuries he suffered during the storm were fully healed.

The man left and disappeared into the sea behind Yuzhou Mountain, no one knew where he went. Only a blue-black whistle was left to his saviour.

The man said his surname was Chen and he was a sailor on a beautiful red boat.

Shortly after the man left, the girl went into the city to sell fish, unfortunately, the fourth son of the Gao family took a fancy to her. What happened next was cliché and real in the world. This dude wanted to occupy Ayu and become his ninety-seventh or ninety-eighth maid, so he forced the girl into the house. The girl was tortured and pleaded with nowhere to go, and finally jumped from the window of Gao's house by the sea.

Before falling into the sea, she blew the whistle that the man left behind. A slightly low whistle cut through the night sky, and then a miracle happened.

The sea was filled with heavy fog, and a large black bird flew from the sea, blocking the brilliance of the moon. The red pointed ships that should not have appeared in this season, like ghosts full of blood, appeared one by one on the sea.

The next story has been alienated in more than ten years of word of mouth, forming several completely different versions. Some say that the crew of the red ship are all skeletons, and some say that they are snoring Among the monsters of the fog, some say that the blood of the Gao family accumulated five inches, and some say that the Gao family jumped into the sea and drowned... There are different opinions. But the only thing that is certain is that after that night, there will be no Gao family.

Where justice fails, evil can only be eliminated by deeper evil.

The next day was still a soft, sunny day. A red peach wood hairpin floats on the tide, reminding people in Qu County that the red sea boat will return again.