The fisherman's name is Zhao Da. He is almost 40 years old and is still a single man. His family has been fishing for generations and relies on the river for their livelihood.
On the day when there was a flood in the Jinyan River, he happened to go to the county town to collect accounts from restaurants and fish shops that often served fish.
When he was about to leave, Zhao Da was pulled by the owner of the fish restaurant and asked about the story of the stone cow in the river.
During that time, the story of the stone cows dug out of the Jinyan River was widely spread throughout the county. If anyone knew the details and went to Goulan Washe to listen to music, there would be someone to help with the accounts.
In order to listen to Zhao Dahaosheng's talk, the owner of the fish restaurant even treated him to a drink.
Zhao Da also started chatting after drinking. He mixed together what he saw and heard with some legends and stories he heard, and told them in a more ferocious manner, which attracted the fish restaurant owner to marvel again and again and call him "this meal".
The wine invitation is worth it.
We had a great time chatting, but ended up wasting time.
By the time the wine was gone, the cowhide blowing was done, and it was getting dark.
Not to mention that the county town had closed its gates, even if it had not yet closed, Zhao Da did not dare to walk home alone at night, so he made do with sleeping in a fish restaurant.
It wasn't until Zhao Da left the county town the next day that he learned that the Jinyan River had flooded. His fishing boat had been washed away somewhere, and his home was also flooded.
The only good thing is that others are fine.
And several of his friends disappeared in the flood.
After Shi Niu was released into the Jinyan River by the county magistrate and the flood subsided, Zhao Da even bought incense wax paper money and paid homage to several of his friends by the river.
What Zhao Da didn't expect was that on the seventh night of the flood, he dreamed of several missing friends.
I saw that their hair was disheveled. Although they still looked like they were alive, they were soaked and dripping constantly, which frightened Zhao Da.
Several friends told him not to be afraid and told him why they were there, but they came to him for help.
Zhao Daxin said that these friends were already dead, so why didn't they come to him to help find a scapegoat? When asked, it turned out to be true.
How dare Zhao Da do such a thing? He wanted to refuse in a hurry. But several of his friends begged him to help, otherwise his soul would be trapped in the river, suffering day and night, unable to escape.
In the end, several friends even turned their faces, showing their swollen and rotten appearance after death. They bared their teeth and threatened Zhao Da, saying that if he didn't help, he would stay away from the Jinyan River in the future, otherwise they would definitely kill Zhao Da.
Drag it to the bottom of the river.
They must die together, so as to show their true friendship.
After threatening them, they offered inducements, saying that if Zhao Da was willing to help them, he would make a small fortune for them. They also said that the scapegoat they were looking for was not a good person, but a few bandits who robbed people, so Zhao Da was not considered a harm, but a small fortune.
People from harm.
Under the coercion and inducement of several ghost friends, Zhao Da compromised.
But after hearing that these people were bandits, Zhao Da became afraid again. How could he defeat the bandits?
When the ghost friends heard his worries, they all laughed and said that he didn't need to do anything. He only needed to punt to the broken bridge tomorrow and ferry the bandits across the river.
Zhao Da felt relieved when he heard that there was no need to do anything, but he raised a new problem: there was no boat.
His boat was washed away during the flood.
A few ghost friends told him not to worry. He could see the boat somewhere by the river the next morning. There were a few catfish on the boat and asked him to cook them for the bandits. They also specifically told him not to eat them himself.
Because that's the 'life money' they gave to the scapegoat.
After saying these words, the ghost friend disappeared, and Zhao Da woke up.
Zhao Da originally thought this was a dream, but when he got up, he found a circle of mud surrounding him.
If you look closely, you will see that the mud at the bottom of the river is still very fresh. Not only is the cold river water flowing, but there are even small fish and shrimps jumping in it.
Zhao Da suddenly broke into a cold sweat and realized that what just happened was not a simple dream.
Early the next morning, he went to the riverside location mentioned by several ghost friends, and indeed he saw a boat.
There were some aquatic plants and silt on the deck of the boat, which looked like they had just been fished out from the bottom of the river. Several catfish were placed on the deck, still alive. When they saw Zhao Da coming, they kept jumping.
Zhao Da bravely got on the boat, and according to the instructions of several ghost friends in his dream, he packed up the catfish, cooked them in a pot, and then pushed the boat to the side of the collapsed bridge.
Sure enough, before long, he saw five people appearing by the river.
When they found that the bridge was gone, the five men first questioned him, then took out their knives and forced him to hold a boat for five people to cross the river, otherwise they would kill him.
Zhao Da was still a little hesitant at first, but when he saw the postures of the five people, he stopped hesitating.
The five people got on the boat, smelled the aroma, and immediately grabbed the fish from the pot and started eating it without Zhao Da fooling them.
When the boat reached the middle of the river, one of the five people suddenly noticed something in the water and hurriedly called his companions to take a look.
Just when the five people gathered at the edge of the boat and looked into the river, five pairs of purple and black arms suddenly came out of the river and pulled them into the water.
The five people were splashing in the river. Zhao Da was frightened and hurriedly pushed the boat to run away, but found that the boat seemed to be caught by something under the water and could not move at all.
Zhao Da thought he was going to die too. His feet were so frightened that he slumped on the boat and kept cursing.
As a result, after the five people were completely dragged into the bottom of the river and there was no movement, several baggage were thrown into the boat from the river.
Zhao Da took a look and saw that it was exactly what the five people were carrying on their backs earlier.
At this time, the boat could move. He hurriedly rowed the boat to the shore. After landing, he opened the bag and looked at it. There were some clothes and broken silver inside.
Seeing that there was no one around, Zhao Da took these bundles and ran off the boat.
He thought the matter would end like this, but that night, several of his ghost friends came to say goodbye to him, but they brought new water ghosts and asked him for help.
Zhao Da didn't dare to refuse, and after doing it once, he was no longer so afraid, not to mention that he could make a fortune, which made him even look forward to it.
So Zhao Da made a deal with the water ghosts in the Jinyan River. He would bring people to the water ghosts, and the water ghosts would have to die for the ghosts, and he would get the money.
Zhao Da soon discovered that he was not the only one making deals with water ghosts.
There are also some surviving fishermen and boatmen who are doing the same thing.
At the beginning, they had to avoid each other and felt awkward when they met.
But within a few days, everyone got used to it, and even parked the boat together by the river, queuing up to wait for the ‘business’ to come to them.
The scapegoats they pulled for the water ghosts also changed from bandits, thugs, etc. to everyone, including the old, weak, women, and children.
After talking about this experience, the boat also reached the shore.
Zhao Daputong knelt on the board of the boat and begged for mercy with tears in his eyes: "Please let me go, I was really forced..."
Zhu Xiucai hummed: "Don't pretend to be pitiful. You may have been forced to do so at first, but after seeing the money, your heart changed. And when your ghost friend came to your door, you could have gone to Vigil."
Someone reported the crime and asked the night watchman to handle the matter. But you didn't do that, which shows that you were tempted by the benefits from the beginning. So, don't say that you were forced."
Zhao Dalian kowtowed and begged for mercy, but unfortunately no one sympathized with him.
Liao Lishi even spat at him and cursed: "If you pull someone to be a scapegoat, they are all bandits and bandits. I respect you as a man and you are doing harm to the people. But you pull behind me
Those who are scapegoats are all innocent passers-by, even children. Are you pitiful? Aren't these people you pulled to be scapegoats pitiful? Why didn't you think of sparing their lives?
"
After the ship docked, Qin Shaoyou arranged for two strong men to rush to Longtai County where this place belongs to report the matter to the night watchman and the county government.
At this moment, he turned around and ignored Zhao Da's begging for mercy. He just said: "There is something I don't quite understand. If you conspire with ghosts, aren't you afraid that in the end, you will be dragged into the water by water ghosts and become a scapegoat?
"
Zhao Da said in a trembling voice: "The water ghosts promised not to harm us. Besides, if they drag us into the water, there will be no one to help them send scapegoats."
"Then you are not afraid that the person you dragged as a scapegoat will take revenge on you?"
"Don't be afraid. The water ghosts have said that as long as they are around, the scapegoats will not dare to touch us. Even if they all find the scapegoats, they will notify us in time. And we have also discussed that the scapegoats also want to find scapegoats, so we still leave.
Don’t leave us…”
Good guys, are you putting a bug here?
Qin Shaoyou shook his head and sneered.
"Aren't you afraid that you will be arrested or discovered by the night watchman?"
Zhao Da San San.
Of course they were afraid, but in the end they were blinded by lard and blinded by temporary benefits.
And as long as nothing happens, I will take a chance and think that everything will be fine.
Qin Shaoyou snorted and asked again: "There is another question. You just said that the catfish cooked on the boat is the 'life money' offered by the water ghost. People who eat catfish will be dragged by the water ghost.
Go into the water...but we didn’t eat these catfish, so why did the water ghosts still appear?”
You can't just think that I'm handsome, live and have a good body, and you want to drag me into the water and become a slut, right?
[It’s a new month, please vote for me~ Recommended votes~ Thank you for your support]
[Happy 100th birthday~ A hundred years of youth, a prosperous age to celebrate today!]