The boatman had a shocked expression on his face, tried to swallow the bun in his throat, and lowered his voice at me: "I'll tell you, that Gaoyou Lake ......"

But he was coldly stabbed in the arm by an old boatman with a white beard beside him: "Eat you, what nonsense!" ”

The old boatman's secretive appearance made me more and more suspicious, so I bowed my hand to him and said: "This old man, it's not that I'm curious about things, but I happen to be going north by boat in a few days, and I heard that the Grand Canal is not very peaceful, so I'll investigate one or two first." ”

After that, he took out a piece of broken silver from his purse and handed it to the little crab: "Go find the shopkeeper's cooked beef and cut two catties of cooked beef, and give the big brothers a tooth sacrifice." ”

Cannibalism has a short mouth, which is an unbreakable truth since ancient times. Two catties of beef were eaten, and the expressions of the boatmen at the table full of boatmen looked at me with a little kindness.

"This boy, it's not that we deliberately hide it from you, it's really ......" The old boatman still hesitated a little when he spoke, "We, the men who are struggling for our lives on the canal, are afraid of being blamed by the old man on the river, aren't we?" ”

I bowed my head and made a deep expression of understanding: "Uncle just need to tell me, what is that 'god' on Gaoyou Lake like?" ”

The old boatman had just eaten a lot of beef, and although he was embarrassed this time, he finally said, "I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but I have a fellow who has seen ......."

As soon as he said this, the entire tea shed was instantly quiet, and a group of boatmen unconsciously gathered over, obviously very curious about this legendary "Gaoyou Lake Monster".

"My fellow countryman is called Li Twelve, and he was struggling on a salt boat at that time, and the owner of the salt boat was a new businessman, and he didn't know how powerful this Gaoyou Lake god was. When he arrived in Huai'an, the helmsman on the ship persuaded him to go to Taixuguan to ask for a safe face, but the merchant didn't take it seriously.

All the boatmen felt that they had no bottom in their hearts, and they walked to the surface of Gaoyou Lake with trepidation. The day is still calm, and some fishing boats are seen fishing on the lake. Unexpectedly, it was ...... night."

This old shipwright has a talent for storytelling, and when he said this, he deliberately paused to sell it, and all the boatmen swallowed their saliva in unison, "How?" ”

"Their boat was heading to the vicinity of the Ghost Gate Ferry, and in the middle of the night, dark clouds covered the moon, and the originally calm lake suddenly became stormy and shook the salt boat violently. The boatmen struggled to hold the ship steady. I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but I saw a ......faint gallop in the night in the distance, and he paused again, and while the boatmen were not relieved, he suddenly said heavily:

"Ghost ship!"

The rendering effect was so strong that everyone was shocked and exclaimed in unison.

The old boatman glanced around, obviously satisfied with the special effects he had created, "It is said that this ghost ship has no bottom, no eaves, no rudder and no sails, it is just a rotten keel, but it can sail on the stormy lake." When the ghost ship gradually approached, the boatmen on the salt boat saw that the people on the ghost boat were all red-haired and long-tongued, and their facial features were bloody, like ghosts! ”

The boatmen around me were so frightened that their faces changed color, and the little crab grabbed my sleeve and said that he would not let go of anything, only the girl I secretly blackened the black forehead:

Could this legendary ghost ship be Captain Jack's Black Pearl?

"My fellow was stupefied as he watched the ghosts leap onto their ship with their teeth and claws, killing a dozen of them in an instant. Fortunately, there was an old helmsman by Li Twelve's side, after all, he was older and had passed through the wind and waves, so he pulled him and jumped into the lake without saying a word. ”

Someone next to him said, "Fortunately! ”

"Good for a fart!" The old storyteller glanced at him, "You think you'll get away by jumping into the water?" Well, my fellow countryman Li Twelve, thought so at the time. As soon as he entered the water, he swam to the shore of the lake with all his milk strength, and suddenly! ”

The crowd shuddered in unison.

I felt that my body sank down, and something firmly hooked my feet and neck, dragging him to the bottom of the water!

At first, he thought that he was tripped by the aquatic plants in the lake, and he couldn't break free after struggling hard, so he had to reach out to untie it in fright...... Then he felt a stout, cold, slippery, snake-like thing wrapped around his leg! ”

The boatmen let out a sigh of tsk, "The water snake is the most poisonous, and your fellow is afraid that it will be more than lucky!" ”

"Are you stupid? If Li Twelve had died at that time, who would have told me about this experience? Besides......" The old boatman took a sip of tea, and his tone became more and more low and terrifying, "If it is really an ordinary water snake, can it still be called the god of Gaoyou Lake?" ”

Everyone let out an "oh" and couldn't help but hold their breath: the big coffee is about to appear!

The thick thing of the water snake wrapped around Li Twelve's feet and pulled him vigorously to the bottom of the lake. Li Twelve was completely out of proportion at that time, and let the thing pull him to sink. He said that he had opened his eyes in the water and saw two red ghostly lights floating in the faint distance not far away, which seemed to be ...... A pair of eyes of a youkai! ”

Speaking of this, the faces of the boatmen had changed in unison, and they asked in a bold trembling voice: "Brother, the monster of Gaoyou Lake...... Ahem, Lake God, what the hell is it? ”

Hearing this question, the old boatman immediately showed a very superior expression, and twisted a few strands of sparse gray beard on his chin, "I heard that this lake god is the octopus king who has cultivated for thousands of years, and his body is as big as an elephant, with nine hundred and eighty-one tentacles, and his power is infinite. In his life, he loves to eat people's hearts, lungs and five internal organs, and after eating, he can still leave a pair of bones and skins of people, and make them into a living dead boatman on a ghost ship for him to drive! ”

Being described by the old boatman, even I, a girl who has never believed in ghosts and gods, felt a little churning in my stomach.

"So, how did that fellow of yours escape from the octopus king?"

"He also deserves to die. When he was grabbed by the tentacles of the octopus king, he sank all the way to the bottom of the lake, and in a hurry, he caught a sharp object. He didn't know what he caught, but when a person was dying, he always had some brute force, so he grabbed the sharp object and stabbed it hard at the tentacles wrapped around his legs!

He stabbed many times in a row, and Xu stabbed the octopus king painfully, and the tentacle suddenly let go, and Li Twelve swam towards the lake with all his might, and fortunately finally picked up a life and came back. It's just that his leg is injured and disabled, and he is now limping when he walks. ”

The horror story finally came to an end, and everyone sighed, I thought about it, and then asked: "Uncle, why is there a pit flag on the ship, and the octopus king will not come to interfere?" ”

The old boatman glanced at me with a pretended high-spirited look: "What is a pit viper?" That's the dragon son! The so-called dragon gives birth to nine sons are different, and the pit is the one who specializes in water among the dragon's sons, who can disrespect it for three points? ”

"I've heard that only the pit flags in the two Taoist temples in Yangzhou and Huai'an work, why is that?"

The old boatman was obviously a little impatient by my fatal serial questioning, drank the tea root in front of him, and stood up, "It is said that there are stone statues of Zhenhe buried under those two Taoist temples, so it is more spiritual!" Brethren, it's not too early to get on board! ”

Seeing that this "insider" got up to leave, I also got up and went out with him, looked for a quiet place, quietly pulled the old boatman's arm, and two taels of silver slid into his hand.

"Uncle, don't hide it, the younger generation is going to take a boat north in the next few days to visit relatives in Beijing, and I am really scared when you talk about it from your old man." I made a frightened look, "Listen to what you mean, your old boat has the flag to keep it safe, see if you can make it convenient, let the younger generation take your old boat to the north, and cross Gaoyou Lake safely...... This little bit of heart, you keep the wine. ”

The old boatman looked at me, looked down at the silver in his hand, and when he looked up again, he was already smiling and wrinkled, "It's a trivial matter, why should the prince be so polite." Although my Lao Zhao is not the owner of the ship, he has been on the ship for 20 years, and he still has two points of thin noodles! Our grain ship anchored and headed north three days later, and the little brother still came to the dock to find my Lao Zhao at this hour! ”

"Sister, do you want to go to Gaoyou Lake Monster alone?"

Xiaoshu's eyes widened, looking at me as I packed my bags, with a "you're crazy" expression.

"The more mysterious the legend, the more suspicious I feel." I paused with my hand folding my clothes, "In reality, there are no demons and monsters, water monsters and ghost ships or something that should only appear in movies." ”

"What is a movie?" Xiaoshu asked casually, and he was already surprised by the strange words that popped out of my mouth.

I waved my hand indifferently, indicating that this was not the point, "The so-called Gaoyou Lake Monster, ghost ghost ship or something, I always think that someone is playing tricks." "Speaking of this, my mind suddenly flashed through the past of the female ghost in the wilderness inn.

The me who was so scared that I hung on Qin Lang like a koala bear, and the Qin Lang who joked with me with human meat buns, have all become dusty memories.

I shook my head and pulled myself out of the inexplicable sadness, "The so-called hearing is false, seeing is believing, there is no right to speak without investigation, I will go north along the river this time, and if I can't keep it, I will solve the truth of the Gaoyou Lake monster, and when the time comes, I will ......" I nodded at Ah Nuan very seriously, "At least you don't have to be angry about buying salt." ”

Since I heard me tell the story of the Gaoyou Lake Monster and the ghost boat, Ah Nuan's face turned pale with fright, and this time when she heard me say that she was risking alone to buy salt for her, she pulled my sleeve with a shocked face, and shook her head very solemnly.

"Ahh I took her cold hand and patted it, "Your sister and I are witty and brave, outstanding in martial arts, blessed with great fortune, and a disciple of the Tang Sect who is good at poisoning, so it will be fine." ”

Ah Nuan glanced at me with disdain, as if to say that it wasn't you who were hit against the wall and bitten people in the Three Princes' Manor?

The girl blushed a little after boasting about myself this time, and thought about it carefully, "Your worries are justified, tomorrow I need to go and ask the fat man for something." ”

"Ask for what? Birthright? ”