Chapter 11 Chapter 10 The Weird Ship

The inside of the ditch and pond is dense and opaque, and the branches of old vines are curled up on the top of the head to form a canopy.Although the feet are still muddy, but the road here is less exposed to wind and rain.Du Shaoqian seemed to be extremely cautious when he stepped up and down. As our steps deepened, the bones mixed with rotten branches and leaves gradually became rarer.During this period, Du Shaoqian did not forget to look around, but until we walked out of the long and narrow ditch pond, except for a few crooked footprints left by the faceless soldiers, we did not find any clues.

I thought to myself: Du Shaoqian judged that the faceless soldier had fired all the bullets, but even if he missed the thing's vitals, why didn't he leave any traces?How did that thing kill people invisible?But right now we are walking in the opposite direction of the faceless soldiers fleeing for their lives. This is undoubtedly going deep into the tiger's mouth. If we encounter that terrifying thing again, won't we be doomed?Thinking of this, I began to hesitate in my steps, and my eyes kept scanning the dense bushes around me, for fear that that unknown thing would suddenly appear and attack us.

Out of the ditch pond is a low mountain ridge.Through the water vapor among the numerous branches and leaves, one can vaguely see the similar mountain ridge not far away.It turns out that Jiangxin Island has a peculiar terrain, as if two mountains stand side by side with a valley in the middle.The valley looks even more gloomy, with clusters of bushes in black and green, and a sea of ​​trees in the distance.At this time, the original heavy rain had eased, but the drizzle was still rustling and cold on his face.Du Shaoqian glanced at the valley first, and then ordered me and Pi Wu to rest for a while. I guessed that he must want to go into the valley to find out, so he said: "Mr. Du, should we observe and observe first? go in..."

Before I finished speaking, I saw Du Shaoqian raised his arm with a "thud" and said, "Don't move! Something's wrong! Listen..." Pi Wu and I hurriedly stood up, held our breath and pricked up our ears eight feet high—the experiences in the past two days are too weird, they have already turned me into a frightened bird, and if there is any trouble, they will make me His heart was beating wildly.There was the rustling of the rain in my ears. Apart from this sound, there were indeed some thin and broken sounds.The sound surrounds the surrounding area and seems to spread across every corner of Jiangxin Island. They lick the ground like the old north wind in winter, gradually converging into a stream, and finally even overwhelming the sound of rain and my heartbeat.My body began to tremble, and I quickly grabbed Du Shaoqian's shoulder and said, "Mr. Du, what is it... What should we do?"

Du Shaoqian leaned down and put his ear on the ground. He listened for a moment with a solemn expression, then jumped up, grabbed the rifle on Pi Wu's shoulder and said: "You two first find a tree to climb up to hide, without my order No one is allowed to come down." Pi Wu and I didn't dare to neglect, we quickly looked around to find two fairly sturdy oak trees and climbed them.The two squatted on the tree branch and looked at each other, neither of them dared to say a word.Using a gun as a stick, Du Shaoqian kept poking at the weeds on the ground.At this time, those small and broken sounds were already "squeaking" loudly like the tide.Gradually, a layer of pitch-black carapace with water droplets hanging from the grass appeared, and after they gradually revealed their real self, Pi Wu squatting on the branch of the tree let out a long breath, and said repeatedly: "Hey! Hey! Chief Du, it’s all right! Qiu Ming, it’s all right! I thought it was something, but it turned out to be a bunch of drought.”

Du Shaoqian, who was standing still, still did not relax his vigilance. He watched these carapaces slowly pass by his feet, turned his face and asked Pi Wu: "Han'ao? How could this thing..." As Pi Wu said, he jumped down from the tree, he casually picked up one from the ground and threw it to Du Shaoqian, saying: "This thing is a kind of river turtle, there are countless in our Yalu River, when fishing for fish and shrimp, one The ones caught from the net are not less than those uninfluential loaches. The children at home grab some of these things to play with. Because it crawls faster than ordinary turtles on land, the villagers of this lump take it named Hanao."

I heard that what Pi Wu said was sound, so I jumped down from the tree with confidence. At this time, I saw groups of dry claws crossing the low mountain ridge where we were, and did not stop, but slowly continued to crawl towards the valley.Du Shaoqian threw away the four-claw swinging claw in his hand, and asked Pi Wu: "If these things are not caught by fishermen's nets on weekdays, have you ever seen them climb onto the land in such a large scale?" When Pi Wu heard Du Shaoqian's question, he scratched his head suddenly, and said "Hey": "Mr. Du, if you didn't ask that question, I would have never thought about it. Thinking about it carefully, in the past I seemed I’ve never seen them crawl ashore by themselves.”

I was surprised and said: "This is strange! They are crawling into the valley in groups, what are they going to do?" Du Shaoqian looked at the sunken black and green valley, a gloomy look flooded his cheeks.He said: "According to the direction of the pile of bones in the ditch and the faceless soldiers, they should have all been withdrawn from the valley. Now, even these drought turtles have been involved, so it seems that the things in the valley are not only It's just attractive." He said and looked up at the sky, "It will be dark in another hour or so, we should hurry up and try to reach the bottom of the valley before dusk."

The road into the valley is also full of mud and mud as before. We walked along the gentle slope and tiptoed through the sea of ​​trees. Our tight legs made the flesh on our faces bounce, and the tangled leaves and branches obstructed our eyes. It was downright uncomfortable.On the contrary, those drought claws seem to be much more relaxed, they can easily move between the roots of the trees, and they are almost unimpeded.It's just that when they were about to reach the bottom of the valley, the group of drought turtles collectively slowed down their crawling speed, and their front paws became hesitant.I hurriedly told Du Shaoqian about this discovery, unexpectedly he didn't take it seriously after hearing it, and still urged us to speed up our pace.

The valley is shaped like a funnel between the two mountains, and the naturally occurring trees at the bottom of the valley are much sparser.Du Shaoqian turned his face and looked back and forth, then suddenly stared not far from the west end and was stunned.Pi Wu and I glanced in the direction he pointed, and vaguely saw that the place was indeed quite different from other places, as if there was an inexplicable bulge.Since the top is covered by dense vine leaves, it is impossible to see what is strange in the bulge. Pi Wu and I followed Du Shaoqian's footsteps and slowly approached it. When we got close, Du Shaoqian picked up his rifle and picked up the tangled vines, and a towering wooden pole suddenly appeared under the branches and leaves.Du Shaoqian then bowed over the tree vines, and Pi Wu and I also got in crookedly, and after sweeping around, the three of us were surprised at the same time: it turned out that the trees and vines were hiding behind the tree. There is actually a huge wooden boat hidden in the bulge!

Feeling very strange, I blurted out without hesitation: "How can there be such a thing in this deserted Jiangxin Island?" And Pi Wu was even more excited, he touched the hull and stammered: "This, this, how could this happen? Chief Du Ke, this is really unbelievable! This is a sand ship used for transportation, like this The big ship on the Yalu River has been extinct for many years! Besides, if you take a closer look, all the wood in this sand ship is made of pumice wood, even the few gardenia stalks!" When Pi Wu said this, I suddenly remembered that when Lao Cui and Lao Cui were driving to Anton that day, he also mentioned this kind of explosive horse.He said that coffins made of this kind of wood would not rot if buried in the ground for many years. He also said that North Koreans often went to Chinese territory to smuggle and smuggle.And now we have found a ship built with it, obviously this ship must have a lot of background.So I asked Du Shaoqian: "Director Du, what do you think?" Du Shaoqian ignored me, he pondered for a moment, and asked Pi Wu: "Could it be, have you never seen a sand boat made of this kind of wood before?" Pi Wu shook his head again and again, his face full of disbelief: "Mr. Du, I told you some things, you don't want to listen to them. These words are not intended to show off by Pi Wu, but you really don't know much about Mu Gang. Let's not talk about this The rare Baomazi wood, such a huge sand boat, I have only seen two dilapidated ones in these years. According to the veteran masters of the wood gang, the sand boats in the early years were mostly made of pine and fir. People are divided into three classes, six classes, and wood is the same. If you use high-quality pine and fir to build a sand ship, it must be done by the richest man in the commercial port. If you are a little short of time, don’t say you can’t build it. There are not many first-class melon boats, swallow boats, handle boats, and barges." Pi Wu said while stroking the hull, and his admiration was beyond words, "Speaking of which, how about using pine boats? Even if the sand boat built by Shanshan is made of first-class wood, it must be choked with tung oil and lime, otherwise it will sink in the water. However, this sand boat is so integrated that it is simply a magical workmanship. I am afraid that it was only built by the emperor Laoer The craftsmen in the office have such skills. Besides, not to mention the present, even a few decades ago, it was even more difficult to find so many baomazimu. That's why I think this sand ship is too expensive. baffling!" Du Shaoqian nodded and said: "In this way, this pumice wood seems to be thousands of times more valuable than pine and fir? What is the reason?" Pi Wu said with a smile: "Ordinary people, when they want to build something, of course they want to find some solid wood materials, which are durable. But not only does this pumice wood not rot after being buried in the ground for a hundred years, even its leaves are soaked and drunk. The taste is two points better than the first-class tea, and the utensils made of this kind of wood can be used to serve soup and rice in the scorching summer. I dare not say that it will be as fresh as ever within three to five days. What's more, when it is burned with fire, it crackles like firecrackers. People don't know why, so they just call it Baomazi wood. Most of them grow in the deep mountains and old forests in Liaodong where few people go. Du Ke If you think about it carefully, what would happen if you came across something like this? Of course, it’s easy to cut when you encounter it, so it’s really rare to see a big talent.” Du Shaoqian asked Pi Wu again: "In your opinion, when was this sandship built?" Pi Wu smacked his lips: "I think it's almost a hundred years to say the least, but it must have been on this Jiangxin Island for more than fifty years!" Du Shaoqian asked, "Tell me your reason." Pi Wu blurted out: "Chief Du, this is too simple! There is an iron bridge on our Yalu River. It was built in the early years of the Republic of China. There is no way for such a big sand ship to pass. But if you want to pass Jiangxin Island, then You have to go through the iron bridge, and the ship is right in front of us, obviously it got there before the iron bridge was built. As for why the ship is on the island, I don’t know Besides, if such a big sand ship is towed from the river to the island, it may not be possible with the strength of a hundred people. What's more ridiculous is why it is necessary to use Baomazi wood to build a transport tool? Is there anything unusually weird about the delivery?" While we were talking, groups of drought claws had climbed over the dense vines and crawled slowly to our feet.But seeing that their movements were as slow as before, but the slowness was only for a moment, they couldn't stop moving closer to the sand ship, and even a few of the first drought claws climbed onto the deck and were going into the cabin. Du Shaoqian looked at more and more carapaces everywhere, and said: "It seems that my previous deduction is not wrong. The craters continue to go deep into the bottom of the valley, and they come here for this sand ship. If so, let's go into the cabin to see what we say. See what's inside." After speaking, Du Shaoqian stood up and was about to rush onto the deck. Pi Wu on the side quickly grabbed Du Shaoqian's body, his face was distressed, and his tone was full of worry: "Chief Du, slow down! Anyway, we are here now, and it doesn't make any difference if we go in earlier or later. , why don’t you see what’s going on with this pile of dry turtles before making any plans.” It turned out that I was afraid, and when I heard what Pi Wu said, I wanted to immediately agree with and persuade Du Shaoqian, but before I could open my mouth, I heard several clanking and harsh sounds suddenly coming from inside the cabin.The sound was very strange, like metal rubbing against each other. At the same time, I saw that the tortoises that had covered the deck all stood still, and they actually retracted their heads in unison. Inside the carapace, it seems to have received a unified order. While I was in amazement, I suddenly heard Pi Wu yell in panic: "Mr. Du, there's something wrong with these rafts..." After finishing his speech, Pi bumped into my shoulder, turned around and went out of the tree vines with a crackling sound. I was in a daze for a moment, but I saw a gust of wind blowing out from the dark hatch. Then in a dot-like manner, it pierced towards the densely packed drought au on the deck.Only then did I see clearly that what made up this cloudy wind were actually half a palm-long black objects, their eyes flashed brightly, and where they flew up and down, there were patches of drought feet immediately. It was turned upside down, and the sound of "chi croak" was heard, and it was a mess. How could I dare to be negligent in such a situation, so I threw up my arms and followed Pi Wu to rush out of the dense vines, and ran desperately into the bushes.Pi Wu stumbled and ran for dozens of meters, as if he suddenly thought of something, he suddenly turned around and said to Du Shaoqian who was behind me: "Chief Du, no... I understand! We can't follow the same path... That faceless soldier..." I listened to Pi Wu's intermittent words, and I didn't know what he was going to say, so I urged anxiously: "When the hell is it! I can't control so much, don't stop, run!" Seeing that Du Shaoqian didn't say a word, Pi Wu simply abandoned the original way into the valley and blatantly opened up another way.It's just that there is still muddy soup under the feet, and the carapaces of the dry turtles are slippery all over the place, not to mention the disabled Pi Wu, even the thin and sharp Du Shaoqian seems to be staggering again and again.At first, I was concerned about the ostriches on the ground and tried to avoid stepping on them, but when I heard the "clank" sound from the black object getting closer, I no longer had the heart to care about the lives of these creatures.On the contrary, those attacking black things have no scruples, they will attack whenever they encounter the arachnids, and the aerocetus where they fly past are already in danger. But at this time, Pi Wu's blundering and scrambling seemed to be getting twice the result with half the effort. It only took a moment to catch up after clearing away the black things in the drought.Seeing that they were close at hand, Pi Wu put his clothes on his back and covered his head with a "wow"; Du Shaoqian and I quickly imitated his method and followed suit.It's just that although the head was saved, the exposed hands suffered a great crime. The beaks of those black things were all as sharp as iron pestles. Only then did I really understand: why the hands of that faceless soldier turned into ten bare bones! The excruciating pain gradually made my arms weak, and Pi Wu and Du Shaoqian did the same thing, but we all knew in our hearts that if we put down the clothes covering our face, our head would be pecked into a mushy piece.Thinking of the horror of that faceless soldier, I couldn't help but shed two tears, my legs became weak and I crooked into the bushes with a "gudong". Seeing me fall, Du Shaoqian hurriedly took the rifle on his shoulder in his hand, and swung it at the top of my head. His exposed head was immediately bitten by the black things, and blood dripped down his cheeks. And down.I was grateful for what he did, and couldn't help feeling hot in my heart. I jumped up and flicked the black object in front of him recklessly.Seeing this, Du Shaoqian gave me a bleak smile, and then stretched out his hand to cover the drooping clothes on top of my head. At this moment, Pi Wu, who had rushed five or six meters away, suddenly turned around and shouted: "Chief Du, we are saved! Don't dawdle, follow me to the forest!" He shrank his shoulders and went Pointing to his left front, he bowed down and rushed over. I looked at Pi Wuda's overjoyed figure, and thought to myself, how could there be any way to resist these black things?I am afraid that if he runs for his life again, he will be exhausted in the end and end up in the same fate as the faceless soldier.But even though he was thinking like this in his heart, his feet still instinctively ran towards the direction Pi Wu pointed.Seeing that the trees are getting sparser as they flee, a bad premonition popped out of their heads: Oops!In front of it is a bare and bare mountain rock, only some half-meter-high dwarf shrubs grow there crookedly, if you run to this unshaded and unobstructed boundary, isn't it just waiting to die? ! Just when I was hesitating, Pi Wu, who was at the head, had already come under the rock. He seemed to have encountered some life-saving straw, and threw his whole body towards the dwarf shrubs more than half a meter high, and then shrank into a ball. He couldn't move, but he panted and called in our direction: "Chief Du, Qiu Ming, hurry up! Come here!" I looked at Pi Wu's distressed look, and thought to myself, what the hell is this a way to escape?But just a flash of this thought, an incredible thing happened suddenly: I saw the black object chasing Pi Wu past me and Du Shaoqian, which was already rushing towards Pi Wu, but suddenly stopped two meters away from him up!They seemed to be afraid of Pi Wu suddenly, and they refused to get any closer no matter what, they just flapped their wings and circled endlessly. Although I was extremely surprised, I ran towards the small bush in three steps at a time. After shrinking into a ball and hiding my body like Pi Wu, I found that my chest had been torn apart, as if A scorching sun jumps up and down.The three of them hunched over like this for a long time, even though the black object above their heads roared continuously, they dared not say a word. The sky gradually dimmed amidst our panting.Dusk draws near.Rain no longer drips in half-drops. At this time, I peeked at the black objects above my head, and found that they were much less than before, and the remaining ones were slowly withdrawing and flying towards the bottom of the valley.I let out a long breath and tried to move my stiff and cold body.In a trance, a strange fragrance suddenly penetrated into the nostrils.At first I thought it smelled good, but after a while, they made my eyes tingle, and I shed two tears hotly.Since my attention was all focused on the horrible black thing above my head just now, I didn't realize it for a while. At this moment, my body relaxed, and I went to look at the dwarf shrubs on both sides, their leaves and willow leaves. It was about the same length, and the pungent smell seemed to emanate from them.I covered my face with my collar, and still didn't dare to get up carelessly. I called Pi Wu twice in a low voice, and asked, "What is this thing? Why does it smell so bad? Will those terrible things fly back?" Hearing my series of questions, Pi Wu first grinned and groaned twice, and then sighed tremblingly: "It's dangerous! It's dangerous! Thanks to An Chunxiang, if we didn't get under them, I'm afraid we would all die sooner or later." I have to be chipped to the skeleton. God bless me! God shows me!" "An Chunxiang?" I questioned, "You mean these shrubs with a strange smell are called An Chunxiang? And those things didn't continue to attack us because of An Chunxiang? But, how do you know that they are afraid of this thing? Son?" Hearing my question, Du Shaoqian, who had been curled up all the time, suddenly raised his head and stared at Pi Wu in a daze. His bloody cheeks were full of complex expressions, as if...something unstoppably touched him. It hurt his sensitive nerves!