Chapter 5 Chapter 4 Shanghai Flowers

Shanghai flowers. According to legend, the three rare treasures of the South China Sea are called together with "Shark Tears" and "Luminous Pearls". It grows one leaf every ten years, and blooms once every hundred years.The gorgeousness when it opens is enough to make all Haike Hu merchants who are used to rare treasures hold their breath. What is particularly strange is that it is a flower with terrifying vitality. Although once it leaves the sea, it will wither into a black filament, but no matter how many years have passed, as long as it is put into the sea again, it will immediately bloom again. Stunningly beautiful.

Even if it's me, I've been traveling across the South China Sea for almost ten years, and I haven't seen such a strange thing again, right?Although the piles of gold, silver and precious stones looted in the warehouse were almost over the top, his own fleet had never brought him flowers from the sea. Speaking of which, the last time he saw Shanghai Flower was also twelve years ago. It was a gift from his father to his mother from Persia - when the father was a well-to-do sea merchant. Dry flowers like black ribbons, carefully woven into hair bands, wrapped around mother's golden hair.

Such a precious gift, coupled with the mystery and gentleness of his father from the east, finally persuaded his mother with beautiful blue eyes to follow his father from such a distant homeland to Middle-earth, and then, he had a home and had him. However, when Wenpo held the newborn him to his mother, the mother only took one look, then screamed and passed out—"That's not my son! Ghost! That's a ghost!" Later, he realized that the source of all misfortunes came from his eyes: the one on the left was as dark as night; while the one on the right was as blue as the sea. People with such evil eyes are called "ghosts" in the mother's country - they should be drowned or have one of their eyes gouged out as soon as they are born.

"Luisa, what are you doing!" That day, the father, who had just returned home, was stunned and went up desperately to snatch the knife that the child's mother had raised beside the crib. "Dug it out!...God said, you must dig out the evil eye!!" The mother went crazy and murmured, with a fierce light in her blue eyes, "He is not my child! He is a ghost !" "What are you talking about... What beautiful eyes-the color of the border between night and dawn." The father replied gently, but unquestionably, picked him up from the bed, and kissed the scared and crying son.

However, when he was ten years old, his father, who was a seaman, was engulfed by a hurricane on his way to the country to sell silk. "Ghost! You ominous child!—It was you, who killed your father!" When the bad news came, the mother wept bitterly with disheveled hair, pointing at him and cursing. The beautiful withered sea flowers are faintly in her hair. But he just looked at his mother indifferently, and suddenly felt that such a maternal monster really humiliated that beautiful flower.His indifference aroused his mother's anger even more, and more vicious insults and corporal punishment came one after another.Anyway, he's used to it.

He came into this world with a cursed fate and entangled resentment, a baby born without the expectation of any mother. However, the mother's anger didn't last long, because the father's ship sank at sea with people and cargo, so the cargo owner and ship owner, as well as the dead sailor's family, came to ask for debts—gradually, everything in the family was sold But, of course, still can't pay off the debt. The defendant went to the government, and the magistrate issued an order: all the family members should be sold to pay off the debt. He was twelve years old at that time, and the bidding price was fifty taels of silver.

But his mother was only worth thirty taels. "Hey, although that woman is a beautiful Orchid, she is in her thirties, too old, isn't she? Thirty taels? I don't even want to give it to me!" There was a buyer from the brothel, who looked at the mother unceremoniously, and while bargaining with the matchmaker, he raised his mother's face to judge her appearance. Finally, the transaction was made at twenty taels, and then he came up and pulled the mother. The mother's face was pale, and suddenly she gave him a vicious look, and said in a low voice, "You ominous child!..." Then, she bumped her head against the stone lion in front of the Yamen, blood flowed down her golden hair, dyed red I picked up the sea flower.

He didn't make a sound, just watched blankly. The onlookers let out a sigh of satisfaction after seeing the good show. The buyer was a little bored, and suddenly saw him who was expressionless, and his eyes lit up—"What a handsome boy!" "That's right, he's only twelve years old... how beautiful he is, don't your manly husbands over there like it?" The matchmaker saw it, and hurriedly connected, lifting the hair on his forehead, "Look That pair of eyes! Where can I find them in the world? Fifty taels is not a loss!" He suddenly understood his fate, raised his head suddenly, and stared at the people in front of him. Because of the viciousness, there was a frightening light in his blue and black eyes, which made the buyer take a step back involuntarily, a little timidly: "This child ...What the hell...I don't want it anymore."

"Hey! Don't go, how about forty taels?" One person died, and the prostitute was a little anxious, and hurriedly wanted to let go of the rest, turned his face hard, and yelled at the sun, "Look, how handsome!" My child! Only forty taels!" "You are not allowed to bully motherless children!" Suddenly, a childish voice rang out from the crowd of onlookers. Everyone turned their heads in surprise, and then saw a girl with pink make-up surrounded by servants.That child was a little younger than him, but he was obviously very shy. Seeing everyone looking at her, he immediately hid behind Mammy, but still holding hands by the corner of Mammy's clothes, he said timidly, "Mammy Yu...we put Can that brother buy it?"

"Miss, you have to ask the master about this! It's not easy for us to make decisions, and we don't have that much money." Mammy advised. "Daddy loves Xue'er the most, he will definitely obey! If you don't buy it now, that fierce uncle will take my brother away!" The little girl was in a hurry, and she pulled Mammy's clothes so hard that she almost tore them. , "Xue'er is rich! Here——" Standing on tiptoe, she untied the golden longevity lock from her neck and put it in Mammy's hand. "Miss, look, what can we do with him now?"

The straw label on the back of his neck was finally torn off, and the chains on his feet were also released. However, he was free, but he heard the old lady among the servants complaining to the girl, and at the same time looked at him with disgust. , as if looking at a mangy dog. He immediately adopted an attitude of resistance, and looked hostilely at the rich lady in the gold silk embroidered shirt who was walking towards him. "You, are you willing to go home with me?" Unexpectedly, the child who bought him asked tentatively with a timid expression, and couldn't help but look at him, but his eyes were evasive—it was a A timid and shy girl. He thought, and then replied unceremoniously: "I don't want to." "Then, then..." The little girl bit her finger in embarrassment, thought about it embarrassingly, and finally said with great reluctance, "If brother is not happy to stay with Xue'er, then can you go by yourself? You Do you have a place to live?" He raised his head in surprise, and looked at this child who was only eight or nine years old - she looked at him with loving and pity - just like looking at the most beloved puppet that had to be let go. However, he, who was used to seeing his mother's disgusted look since he was a child, had the first violent shock in his heart. "Aren't you afraid?" He deliberately looked at her closely with strange eyes, he asked. "What beautiful eyes!" She exclaimed happily as if noticing it for the first time, then stared at him again and again, and finally couldn't help asking timidly, "I...can I touch it? " After getting permission, the little girl cautiously stretched out her snow-white fingers and gently touched his eyelids. He closed his eyes, feeling the warmth on that finger. "Miss, don't touch him! It's so dirty! - Master will scold you again when you go back!" Suddenly, the hand was pulled away, and the old mother's stern words came, "Oh, if Madam is still alive, someone will take care of him You! If you are with these beggars, you will be said to have no tutor!" He was shocked, suddenly opened his eyes, and glanced at the nanny—with a sharp and fierce light. After the other party involuntarily kept silent, he stood up, came to the side of the mother's body, took off the blood-stained sea flower on her head, and handed it to the little girl without a word. Then, staggering to the far side of the road. "Brother... are you back?" Suddenly, the little girl mustered up the courage to ask from behind, and he finally turned around, stood still, and smiled for the first time in more than ten years—"Looking at the dried flowers, when did you come back?" When the flowers bloom, I'll be back!" "Oh! If I can see my brother again, it will be like a dream..." She blushed, smiled timidly and clapped her hands. That was the last time he saw the sea flower—from then on, he lived a pirate career, but he never saw it again, together with its owner. He became the King of the Sea who criss-crossed the South China Sea and made all the fleets and passengers fearful, occupying the boundless sea area. However, he never saw the sea flower again... He once set foot on land, in order to find that Little girl with sea flowers. However, time flies, all the past events are gradually obliterated by wind and dust, and there is no trace to be found. All the information that can be found is that she is Wen Yinxue, the daughter of Wen Yuanwai of the Daming Mansion, who lost her mother since childhood - and the Wen family moved to another place five years ago, and there has been no news for nearly ten years. If she was alive, she would be eighteen years old, right?It's time to get married long ago—now, maybe she's the mother of several children... He thought, smiling wryly, staring at the Persian wine in his glass in a daze. There are two eyes, one blue and one black, reflected in the wine. The blue one can only see the past, while the black one can only see the future. Ominous eyes... Ha, go to hell—if my mother was here, what would she say when she saw his current status? Thinking of his mother, he suddenly felt suppressed anger.That stinky bitch!If she is still alive now, I will never let her go - even if it is my own mother, as long as she offends him, she will never let her go! In the past ten years, he also felt that the more he lived, the less he looked like a human being—in control of those pirates from all over the world, he had become as cruel and ruthless as a wild beast. "Wang, he has been begging me with red hair, he wants to ask me to ask the king for the woman who was kidnapped yesterday..." Suddenly, someone next to him interrupted his reverie ignorantly. It was Hurricane, the deputy of the fleet. He had never liked this man, perhaps because of his name—it always reminded him of his dead father.However, he understood the role of the hurricane in the pirate organization. He didn't answer, but just snorted: "That horny guy with red hair..." "Anyway, the female king has already used it, so it doesn't matter if I give it to other brothers?" Hurricane is not afraid of the boss like other brothers, but just said bluntly, "Besides, how can there be no women around the king?" When he mentioned the woman who had just been kidnapped, he felt a fire rising from his body—according to the usual practice, every time a deal was made, he would be the first to enjoy the most beautiful woman and the most precious money.Yesterday's vote was extraordinarily rich. After celebrating the achievements of his returning brothers, he came to the room where the woman was locked, drunk. She was sobbing in the dark, her body trembling and warm, like a flower blooming in the dark night... He imagined that woman as that distant girl, restraining her resistance in the dark night, possessing her crazily, It felt like this woman was blooming under him like a flower. At dawn, when he got up, he saw her hugging the quilt and crying in a corner, timidly. After many times, he has seen those women have the same expression, but he doesn't know why this time her appearance aroused his rare pity.He walked over, lifted her long hair rudely, and kissed her. However, looking at his approaching eyes, she let out a terrified scream—everyone would be shocked when they saw these strange eyes, and it seemed that this woman was no exception... He immediately lost most of his interest. "...Go back and tell Chifa that I won't give you this woman." After a long time, he answered Hurricane's words in a hoarse voice, "If there is really a shortage of women, let him choose one of the eight women in my tent." Hurricane looked at the boss in surprise, and was about to say something when he heard a commotion outside, and one of his subordinates ran in. "What's wrong?" he asked with a frown. "Wang... Wang! That woman, that woman... she committed suicide by jumping into the sea!" The subordinate replied out of breath. "What!" He stood up a little angrily, and slapped his hand, "Bastard! Why don't you look better!" "That little girl, she, she has been crying all the time... Who would have thought that she would have the guts to commit suicide!" The subordinate felt aggrieved. He walked out quickly, and from a distance, he saw a person floating in the sea below the deck. It seems that she has always been cowardly and weak, and when she was robbed and trampled, she could only cry and have no ability to resist—unexpectedly, this delicate and timid person actually had the courage to commit suicide .It seems that for these women from good families, losing their virginity is always the most painful thing, right? Sighing, he came to the bow and was about to inspect the railing carefully. "Oh! Look in that woman's hair! What's that! What's that!" Someone suddenly pointed at the sea and yelled - he followed the sound and looked over, his whole body suddenly shook. Everyone was surprised to hear a fuzzy whimper or scream that didn't sound like a human voice—then, in front of all his subordinates, the so-called Sea King covered his face with his hands and staggered down on the bow of the ship! A beautiful woman. The blue water embraced her pale face and body, and her long black hair wrapped around her like seaweed, sinking and floating in the water, like a sleeping water fairy. And in the blue sea water, in the seaweed-like hair, there is actually a breath-taking flower blooming. It seems to be a sad and beautiful dream, faintly opening in the hair of the dead. "Brother... when are you coming back?" "Wait - I'll be back when that flower blooms." "Oh! If I can see my brother again, it will be like a dream..." ... Dreams come true, and in an instant the waves are surging and disappearing from the world of mortals. The flowers floating on the sea are like my whole life.