Chapter 221 Ghost Ghost Ghost

"Ghost, ghost, ghost, what ghost?" The boatmen holding fish heard the sound and stood up muttering.

"There really is a ghost! I just saw it! I saw it for real!" The boatman was so scared that his face turned pale and his arms were shaking.

He pointed in the direction he had just come from and stammered to the boatmen, looking extremely panicked.

When everyone saw him like this, they began to doubt.

There have been many taboos and rules for sailing since ancient times. For example, "a person with the surname Chen is not called Chen, and a spoon is called a duck." If there is someone with the surname Chen on the boat, no matter if he is a boatman or a passenger, he should be called "Lao Yan." Chen and "chen" are homophones of "chen", and "yan" is homophones of "yan." "Yan" means the boat is soaked in water but it will not sink.

When the boatmen are eating, they have to say "duck" when using a spoon to scoop up soup. A duck will not sink in water, and the shape of the spoon also looks like a duck, so it is a good omen.

And chopsticks cannot be called chopsticks, they should be called "pole", because chopsticks sounds the same as "kuai zhi", and if water gathers and the boat stops and does not move forward, it is likely to capsize.

The mouth of the bowl should never be facing downwards when eating. If the bowl is upside down, it means capsizing, so it is also taboo.

In addition, all boats are in awe of the river god, so there are eight taboos. When sailing, you cannot say the eight words "dragon, tiger, ghost, dream, flip, roll, sink, and fall."

As the saying goes, "the bow is afraid of ghosts, and the stern is afraid of thieves." The boatman actually insisted on shouting that there was a ghost without any hesitation, which made everyone feel scared.

Everyone put down their bowls and chopsticks, held up lanterns and followed the boatman. When they looked at what was happening in the light of the lanterns, they were really shocked.

Then I saw that there was indeed a head floating in the river.

The head had turned white from being soaked in the river water, the mouth was wide open, the eyes were white, and it drifted with the current, from the bow to the stern, but it was following behind the big ship.

This scene was truly horrifying. Although the boatmen had seen corpses floating in the river, they had rarely seen such hideous faces.

These are bad years, and it's easy to get into trouble when traveling around the world. It's not surprising to see so many corpses floating in the river. Either they were robbed and thrown into the river by thieves, or they fell into the water and no one rescued them.

Anyway, no matter who the dead person is, it is not a good omen for the boatmen.

When encountering such things, the boatmen would place a stick of incense on the bow of the boat and then sprinkle some paper money into the river.

If there are two dead bodies, two incense sticks will be set up; if there are more, three will be set up, which means to offer sacrifices to eliminate the resentment of the drowned ghosts so as to prevent the boat from being contaminated by unclean things on the river.

For those who often sail, encountering such a thing is the last thing they want to see. There is a saying that goes: It is better to see the King of Hell traveling a thousand miles than to see a little ghost standing on the bow of the boat. The little ghost refers to the drowned ghost.

Of course, there is another kind of people in this world, namely corpse lifters. As for what they are like, that is another story.

Regardless of all this, the boatmen gathered at the side of the boat and saw the head in the river swimming with the boat. The old boatman in the lead couldn't help but frown.

The old boatman was wearing a short coat tied up top and bottom. He had lean limbs, strong wrists, and wrinkles on his face, showing that he was a man who had experienced a lot.

When the old boatman saw the head in the river, he immediately felt something was wrong. He held the pole in his hand and said in a deep voice to the people beside him: "Go, bring some paper money. Bring some rice."

"Okay, Uncle Yuan." After hearing the old boatman's order, someone hurried into the cabin to get something, and the rest of them could only watch, not knowing what to do.

"Don't just stand there. Go light the torches and put them all around the boat. Remember, leave no dark spots." The old boatman ordered, and everyone dispersed in a hurry.

Some people lit torches, some people took things, and when torches were lit all around the ship, the flames lit up the surroundings.

The river water rose and fell with the wind and waves, and waves of splashing sounds could be heard.

On such a quiet night, such sounds can make people feel a little more peaceful.

But the old boatman couldn't calm down. He stared at the head in the river, watching it following the stern of the boat, getting closer and closer.

It was as if something underwater was pushing the head, making it move towards the boat little by little.

With the help of the firelight, the boatmen were able to see clearly what the head looked like.

His long hair was flying, his mouth was wide open, his eyes were white, and his face showed signs of being soaked in river water. He looked like a steamed bun soaked in water, with a batter-like feel.

This weird situation really made several people feel uneasy, as if countless reptiles were crawling in their internal organs. The feeling of friction made everyone present feel creepy.

The old boatman handed the pole to the boatman next to him, and took the rice and paper money in his hand.

He first grabbed a handful of rice and threw it into the river, singing as he did so: "Go, go, don't come back. I'll give you rice, I'll give you money. Drowned ghost, hanged ghost, drowned ghost. Eat and drink your fill, take the money and don't come looking for me again."

The strange voice sang, this is the ballad that boatmen would sing when they encountered a dead body, and it has been passed down from mouth to mouth to this day. The rice fell into the water and splashed tiny water, and a lot of it fell on the head.

After sprinkling three handfuls of rice, the old captain picked up the paper money and threw it into the river.

He sang as he scattered the rain, and his loud voice lingered outside the boat.

The people on the boat were quiet. Some people who traveled by boat frequently had encountered this before and knew it was unlucky, so they stayed in the cabin and did not go out. Some people who had never seen such a thing were timid and would not come to the deck to watch the excitement.

Those who need to sleep should sleep, and those who need to work should work.

The paper money floated along the river. After the old boatman had thrown all the paper money, he looked into the river again.

In the shadows, the head was vaguely visible.

When the old boatman saw this, his heart seemed to sink to the bottom of the river along with the paper money.

He pursed his lips tightly, knowing that his ship had gotten into trouble. He frowned and told the boatmen on both sides seriously, "Just watch here and don't act on your own. If you see anything unusual, come find me. I'll go talk to the boatman. He may have run into trouble today. We have to offer tribute to the River God to avoid disaster."

The boatmen all nodded when they heard the voice, and after the old boatman left, they gathered together to discuss the matter in a low voice.

Someone looked at the head slowly floating in the river and couldn't help swallowing.

He felt that this person was still alive and seemed like he would move at any moment.

I couldn't help but tell this to the others, and they all turned pale with fear.

"I heard that there is a kind of ghost in the Yangtze River that specializes in using human corpses to deceive people. Once someone approaches, it will drag him into the water and the person will drown. What do you think?"

"Don't say that, it's scary."

"Yes, yes! Let's wait for Uncle Yuan to come. He has the most experience and has seen a lot of things."

The boatmen were talking, and perhaps because there were so many people, they were getting braver and not as timid as before. After all, although the head floating in the river was following closely, there was no other movement for a long time, and everyone gradually became a little lazy. Some even suggested trying to fish the head out, maybe it was just a dead person.

"But Uncle Yuan said so." Some people hesitated, but the others were instigated and became curious.

After looking at it for a long time, I began to relax and felt that there was nothing to be afraid of with this head.

People are afraid of the unknown. Once they know the truth about horrible things, they will naturally become much braver.

So a few people began to make a fuss in a low voice, saying that it was no big deal to fish it out. At worst, they would not get it on the boat, but just put it in front of them to see whether it was a boy or a girl.

Just like this, you and I said that whoever dared to rescue him would be the man, and everyone wanted to acknowledge him as their brother.

Just like that, a young man couldn't stand such provocation, picked up the pole and said courageously: "I just want to see if this corpse is a real ghost or a fake one. You must remember that you must call me brother later."

"Natural, natural."

Everyone was laughing, no longer showing the panic they had just shown.

They watched the young man pick up the pole and throw it toward the head.

Once, twice, but none of them could reach the head.

When the young man hit the head with the pole, everyone burst into cheers.

The old boatman came over after hearing the noise and asked sternly, "What are you guys doing?!"

The young man was full of vigor and pointed at the head in the river and said with a nonchalant smile: "Uncle Yuan, look, it's just a dead body, it's nothing serious."

"You! Be careful!"

As the old boatman exclaimed, he heard a splash.

The young man seemed to be pulled out of the stern of the boat by a great force and fell into the river, struggling in fear.

"Uncle Yuanyuan! Save me!"

(End of this chapter)