Chapter 8: Grandeur (1)

"Bah!" "Bah!" "Bah!" Three thick crossbow arrows flew out of the warship and shot at the giant whale more than thirty paces away from the sea. Although the giant whale that was chasing the fish was defenseless, its huge body just happened to dive at high speed. The bolt suddenly lost its target, and in vain swept three slender white lines across the sea, and finally lost its strength, turning into three floating wooden poles, undulating with the waves.

"Turn the rudder, turn the rudder, avoid where the whale appeared just now, pull the crossbow arrow back with a rope, wind it up and shoot again!" Zheng Ziming shook his fist vigorously on the deck and roared loudly. His arms, which were originally white, were covered with scars from the sun.

The square-headed, square-headed sand boat rotated with difficulty under the helmsman's side. Although the speed was extremely slow, it still staggered most of the soldiers on the ship. Northerners don't like to play in the water, and they can rarely pounce in the ditch, and suddenly they go from the land to the deck, and they all turn into soft-footed shrimp. It is very difficult to even stand firmly, let alone shoot an arrow at the target and swing a knife.

"Attention, pay attention to the next plate. Don't use dead force under your feet, just like riding a horse, upside down, upside down. Let your body move with the deck!" Pan Mei clutched the cable with both hands, leaned her back against the mast, and shouted to the brothers around her.

In theory, his words are unassailable. However, the two trembling thighs exposed the fact that he was talking on paper. Suddenly, a wave came in, and the sand boat was violently jolted. Pan Mei, who had just "guided" others, was thrown into the air like a kite. It was only because one pair of hands were held tightly enough that he barely managed to be thrown into the rolling waves.

"Relax, relax your waist! Don't keep stretching, the tighter your waist is tightened, the less your body will become. If his toes were so hard that he could not stand firmly, he tied himself to the railing of the side of the ship with a rope. Li Shun'er wore a pair of nasal calf shorts, like a monkey, jumping around on the deck. While helping the people around him, he kept introducing his own experience.

Unlike the embarrassing situation of many people, he has shown super adaptability from the first time he went to sea. In just a few hours, you can walk on deck with open arms. Now he is running and jumping, no different from rushing in the mountains.

"General Li, pull me, pull me!"

"Dizzy, I'm dizzy!"

"Give me, give me a rope, quick, give me a rope!"

"Help, help......"

In all directions, the shouts rang out. The warriors who were carefully selected by Zheng Ziming from the Cangzhou Army turned pale and bent their waists, and kept asking Li Shun'er for assistance. Li Shun'er, who finally had a chance to perform, did not refuse to come, and when she heard the loud shouts from either side, she quickly ran to that side, or helped the brethren who had lost their balance one by one, or put a cable in the hands of the brethren who had nowhere to borrow, or helped the brethren whose lips were already blackened to the side of the boat, and tied their waists with ropes, so that they could feel free to vomit into the water.

"This, this is your sea soldier?" A slender figure hovered down from the top of the mast and landed beside Zheng Ziming like a swallow, and asked with a smile.

"Senior sister, they all lived in the mountains before, they have never been on a boat, and they have not been like the two of us, they have been guided by a famous teacher since childhood. Zheng Ziming took over the conversation with some embarrassment, and explained to the other party in a low voice.

"Then they should at least be able to control their mouths!" the woman looked around and shook her head slightly.

Her voice was not high, but the noise around her quickly subsided. The staggering warriors gritted their teeth and exerted all their strength to "fight" with the undulating deck to the end. No one wants to, and is despised by the eldest lady of their own coach.

The eldest lady Chang was born in the Chang family in Taiyuan, and she is the pearl of Chang Si for the festival. The third lady Hu Yanshi is the daughter of Hu Yancong, the defense envoy of Dingzhou, Hu Yancong owes us too much personal debt, and I really can't pay it back, so I forced my daughter over. Only the second lady Chun Meizi, who is from our Dingzhou Taojiazhuang, has bled with the handsome and wrapped up enough injuries for everyone with her own hands.

Although the three ladies have not married Zheng Ziming. But in the hearts of the brothers, they had already secretly arranged them. The level of respect is probably equivalent to the strength of his mother's family. Closeness, on the other hand, is the opposite.

"Whale, whale, that whale is squirting again! on the left, twenty-five paces in front of the left. Be careful, there's a bigger one next to him. On the cable between several masts, Tao Dachun shuttled like a seagull, quickly reporting what he had just seen to the whole ship.

The awkward atmosphere on board was quickly replaced by surprises. The warriors staggered to the ballista, pushing the winch in unison to unsteam the two-string bed crossbow as fast as possible. Reload the bolt that has just been retrieved by the sailor into the firing position.

"Check the ropes!" "Check the ropes!" "Check the ropes!" The three crossbow commanders shouted loudly according to Zheng Ziming's pre-formulated shooting specifications.

"Yes!" the loader said in a loud promise, leaning down to carefully examine the thick rope tied to the tail of the ballista. Immediately, he quickly straightened his body and raised his arms high towards the crossbow.

"Aim!" "Aim!" "Aim!" The three crossbow commanders once again opened their throats and gradually implemented the shooting norms according to the requirements.

The shooter gives his right thumb up and aims at the tip of the ballista. The adjusting handle on the left-handed ballista strives to connect the thumb of the right hand, the spear edge, and the back of a whale in a straight line with the gaze.

The hull shook violently, and they staggered and fell. Then he quickly got up again, crossed his legs on the stake holding the ballista, raised his thumb again with his right hand, and continued to shake the adjusting handle quickly with his left hand.

A bulky ballista that squeaks and slowly changes direction and inclination. The deck under his feet swayed, and the crossbow guns around him swayed up and down, left and right, and finally, the spear blade was once again aimed at the target area with difficulty, and the shooter let go of the crank and quickly raised his left arm above his head.

"The ballista is ready, please the helmsman stabilize the ship!" The crossbow commander turned decisively, raised a red pennant above his head, and shook it back and forth towards the helm room and the mast position.

The square-headed and square-headed sand boat slammed down, and with the concerted efforts of the helmsmen and sailors hired for a large amount of money, it was difficult to suppress the waves. The red pennant held high in the air quickly waved down, and the excited shout immediately sounded high, instantly piercing the sky. "Put!" "Put!" "Put!"

The ballista trembled slightly, but no crossbow bolts came out of the string. The three shooters began to adjust their crossbow guns back and forth, trying their best to straighten and straighten the invisible line between the gun's edge and the target. As soon as the hull of the next boat undulated, they jerked their right hand forward.

"Click-" The firing handle on the fixed deck rotated horizontally for half a circle, and the trigger under the ballista was touched, and the sound was inaudible. Immediately, the crisp sound of the strings sounded one after another, "呯!" "呯" "呯"

Three ballistas flew out like dragons, sticking to the surface of the water and rushing towards their targets. The whale, which was ventilating, shuddered, and three dazzling reds appeared on its back, tail, and head.

"Shot!" "Shot!" "Shot!" "Shot!" The landlubbers on the deck, forgetting their fears in an instant, raised their arms and cheered loudly.

Hit a whale! The big guy finally shot another whale, the mission to the sea is complete, and he can go ashore again tonight to rest. On the shore there were sturdy houses, dry beds, golden rice and pork pieces running with oil. Although pork is far less delicious than mutton, it is undoubtedly a first-class delicacy in the eyes of people who have eaten all kinds of fish for four or five days in a row. (Note 1)

"Be careful, stand firm, stand firm, hold on to the cable, hold on to everything around you!" Zheng Ziming himself, but instead of cheering and celebrating with everyone, he quickly picked up a copper horn from his side and put it to his mouth to greet loudly.

As soon as the words fell, the sand boat under his feet shook suddenly. Immediately after, it rushed towards the depths of the sea like a fly. On the wooden pillar on the side of the ballista, three thick cables were instantly pulled straight. The other end of the cable is firmly attached to the body of the giant whale by a crossbow gun, constantly changing altitude and direction as the whale swims wildly.

"Boom!boom!" The barrels and debris on the deck rolled back and forth as if by spell. The warriors whose faces were not yet full of joy either held the mast with both hands, or clung to the side of the ship, or pulled on to the cables, stakes, guardrails, and everything else that could be borrowed, clenched their teeth, and tightened the muscles of their whole bodies to prevent themselves from being thrown into the sea and becoming a delicacy in the mouth of another whale.

"Pap ——!" "Pap ——!" The whale that was shot by the crossbow arrow rolled and writhed on the water, constantly hitting waves of red blood. The surrounding sea water was dyed red in the blink of an eye, and it was illuminated by the scorching sun, like a rolling red lotus karmic fire.

On the red water, the heavy sand boat was pulled by a giant whale like a broken box. One time I went forward, one moment I hit horizontally, and the other I drew a circle and quickly pounced on the beach and reef.

"Wow!" Pan Mei couldn't care about the image anymore, holding the mast in one hand and pulling the cable in the other, squatting on the deck and spitting. Snot, tears, and a dull yellow liquid were spilled all over the body

"Phew!" A wooden barrel full of coral jumped up and smashed against the guardrail on the right side of the ship, shattering in an instant, and falling all over the deck. The two warriors who tied their bodies to the guardrail were caught off guard, hit by the splash of coral and sawdust, screaming and falling over, covered in blood, and unknown whether they were alive or dead. A red wave leaped over the side of the ship and slapped onto the deck, mixing whale blood and human blood and flowing in all directions.

Tao Dachun jumped over with a cable to help the injured. Li Shun tied a rope around his waist and staggered to Pan Mei to deliver a water hyacinth. However, before Pan Mei could pour the water into her mouth, she was shaken again, and even someone with a gourd fell out of the distance.

"Stand firm, stand firm, try to find a corner to stand firm!" Zheng Ziming held Chang Wanying, who was pale, with one hand, and held a copper horn with the other hand, shouting incessantly.

There are no shortcuts to getting from land to sea. Nor do they have any previous writings to draw on. He can only work with everyone to explore, summarize, and exchange sweat and blood for experience.

become, it is like Kunpeng spreading its wings. If you lose, you will be swallowed up in the long river of history forever.

"Xiaobao, Xiaobao, you quickly order the big ship to dock. Quickly ordered the big ship to go ashore. The coast is not far away, and the coast is behind us!" Chang Wanying, who was as proud as a peacock before, tightened her arms around the waist of the landlord Zheng Ziming, and kept urging in her mouth.

The light body kung fu that I learned from the master is not useful at all at this moment. The reserved and Sven, who were raised by the elders of the family since childhood, were also completely dragged into the abyss under the sea by the endless red around them at this moment. At this moment, the only thing that can make her feel at ease is the burly body between her arms.

This body, she had secretly hugged before, but it had never been so tight and unscrupulous as it was now.

"Well, until the whale's strength is exhausted, the boat will have to be dragged along. Otherwise, the more anxious we are to get to the shore, the easier it is to be dragged over by it!" Feeling the tremor of the body in his arms, Zheng Ziming tightened the hand on the other party's shoulder, and comforted him softly.

Unconsciously, he was already half a body taller than Chang Wanying. The black hair that could have touched the tip of his nose could barely reach his chin at the moment. The relationship between the two sides has also changed dramatically unconsciously. He no longer needs to rely on her parents to survive, and she no longer needs to force herself to face the bloody wind of the world for him.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here!" he added in a whisper, lowering his head again. "I'm here, by your side. ”

This sentence actually doesn't make any sense. However, the trembling in his arms quickly subsided. The arms around the waist became tighter and tighter. At the same time, there was a feeling of dampness and heat in his chest, and the wetness surged all over his body, clear and real.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here! right next to you! We won't be separated forever!" Zheng Ziming added in a hoarse voice, like a big tree, standing more steady.

"Hmm!" Chang Wanying let out a low response from her mouth, no longer saying anything, just feeling the peace of mind at the moment.

Do you regret it? knew that there would be two other women, maybe she shouldn't have let each other go back then.

However, if you don't leave, the other party will always look up to the other. He will never find his own piece of sky, he will never be able to grasp his own destiny, and he will never be like this, coming and going on land and sea, at ease!

Half of the sea has been completely stained red by whale blood, and the ship continues to shake, but it gradually has a pattern, like a phoenix dancing in the flames.

Pan Mei was supported by Li Shun and got up from the deck. He picked up the red sea water from his feet with his hands and began to wash away the filth from his body.

The two wounded warriors tied each other to the guardrail again. The blood on his face had not dried, but a smile had already appeared on the corner of his mouth.

More brethren also rose from the deck. More warriors, stopped vomiting, rolled, pulled the rope with both hands, and pressed the deck with their toes.

The giant whale, which had exhausted its strength, struggled to beat the last wave with its tail, and then closed its eyes helplessly.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh—" A cheer rang out on the surface of the sea, startling a flock of white seagulls.

The wooden sail on the sand boat rotated slowly, and the tail rudder of the sand boat fell into the water, pushing the hull to adjust the direction with the wooden sail.

Finally, the bow pointed diagonally to the shore in the distance. The entire sand boat accelerated instantly, drawing a white wake mark on the red sea, cleaving the waves and embarking on the way home.

The carcass of a whale the size of a hill, dragged by the ropes of the boat, glided towards the shore. Everywhere he passed, he left a brilliant red.

The setting sun quickly set over the mountain peaks on the shore.

The sea and the sky have become the same color.

At this moment, the remnant sun is like blood.

Note 1: Before the Song Dynasty, pork was not much in the eyes of the Chinese. Until spices such as peppercorns were widely used in the diet on a large scale. Another theory is that Su Dongpo improved the cooking method of pork and personally promoted pork, which made pork popular in the world.