"God bless me, no more troubles will happen recently!" Wu Youde, the captain of the navy on Furong Island, raised his hand and rubbed his sore eyelids, muttering in a low voice.
As the saying goes, if the left eye twitches, fortune will come, and if the right eye twitches, disaster will come. But the left and right eyelids twitch in turn, making him wonder whether it is a sign of good fortune or misfortune.
Therefore, he could only take the time to pray to God a few times, hoping that the latter would see that he had limits as a human being and had not personally executed any of the young men and women on the island who refused to accept their fate, and would bless him to survive.
This month right now...
At the beginning of next month, the sea in the Qianmin County of the northern Liao Kingdom will thaw. The more than 300 young men and women imprisoned on Furong Island will be loaded with the goods and shipped to the Liao Kingdom to be sold there.
A nobleman. (Note: Qianmin County is Qinhuangdao.)
At that time, Wu Youde's hard life this year will be over again. With the "sealing money" rewarded by his superiors, he can live happily for more than half a year.
The boss was very generous in his work and conduct. Although Wu Youde only had to be a guard on the island for three months at a time, the "hush money" he received was enough to cover a whole year's military pay.
Therefore, even though he knew that most of those young men and women had bad origins. He often saw the corpses of young men and women put into straw bags and thrown into the sea together with stones, Wu Youde never thought of reporting it to his superiors.
Cutting off people's financial resources is equivalent to killing their parents. Reporting your boss's behavior to a higher-level boss is equivalent to cutting off the financial resources of hundreds of people, including yourself.
Those young men and women, living and dead, were not relatives of Wu Youde. He did not take the initiative to harm those people, which was already a good deed. How could he not think about it, and forge sworn enemies with his colleagues and superiors for the sake of these strangers?
?
He also learned from those who "couldn't think about it" in the past. Instead of succeeding in pulling down their bosses, they became water ghosts in a daze.
The surname of Jiangshan in the Song Dynasty was Zhao, but the surname of Furong Island and the surrounding area was Yang. After twenty years of serving as a soldier, Wu Youde had already seen everything clearly, so he would not seek death for something that was destined to be ineffective.
"It's so cold. It's almost April. Why is the wind still biting my bones?"
"It's too cold. I will never suffer this crime again. I would rather go back to collect my salary and eat sea crabs every day." (Note: In the era before refrigerators, sea crabs were not valuable. We lived by the sea.
Only poor people eat crabs every day.)
"Go back and raise a brazier. Close the windows tightly so that no one can see the fire."
"It doesn't matter if it's not closed tightly. In such a cold weather, how could anyone come out to catch the sea?"
…
Discussions and complaints continued around Wu Youde. But it was the brother who was on night watch with him who felt uncomfortable due to the sea breeze and wanted to hide in the house early to warm himself by the fire.
These people are also from the Navy. Most of them are like Wu Youde, a single person, who can feed himself and the whole family is not hungry.
Therefore, he was selected by his boss and took turns to serve as a guard on Furong Island to earn "wife money".
Sometimes, Wu Youde would suspect that the reason why his boss chose a bachelor like himself to serve as a guard was to make it easier to silence him.
However, as soon as this idea flashes in his mind, he will quickly kill it.
Among the navy, there are five to six hundred bachelors like him who know the secrets of the island. It is easy to kill one person, but how is it possible to kill five to six hundred people at the same time?
Unless the boss's boss wants to lead his brothers to rebel.
But there are neither high mountains nor large swamps in the area around Denglai, so rebellion will definitely be a dead end.
As for the boss's boss leading the navy to defect to the Liao Kingdom, there was no need to think about it. Over in the Liao Kingdom, the navy was not taken seriously compared to the Song Dynasty, and the army had no pay.
My boss's boss took the navy there, and I'm afraid he will soon become a pirate and a fisherman.
"Everyone, let's go back. How could someone come here in the middle of the night?" Finding that the complaints had no effect, a team leader stepped up to Wu Youde and asked for instructions in a low voice. "A few of us have hidden a jar of old wine.
.Warm it with fire, it will just help you relieve your fatigue!"
"Well, walk forward a little further and turn back when you reach the north of the island!" Seeing that the brothers were on the right track, Wu Youde did not insist on asking everyone to continue blowing the sea breeze. He turned his head and looked towards the land and nodded lightly.
As he finished speaking, he suddenly stopped. He raised his hand, rubbed his eyes quickly a few more times, and whispered, "Don't worry, look over there, there seems to be something shining."
"Flash? Where?" The gangsters were startled by his words. They all stopped and stood on tiptoes to look in the same direction.
Because the food is simple, the eyesight of the minions is not very good. Especially at night, it is difficult for anyone to see clearly what is happening thirty steps away.
Everyone tried their best to keep their eyes wide open, looking around, and they seemed to see some shadowy spots of light, flickering between the island under their feet and the land in the distance.
However, those light spots appear and disappear from time to time, making people doubt whether they really exist.
"I'm afraid it's a will-o'-the-wisp. When the tide goes out, skeletons are often found on the bottom of the sea!" Some of the minions were timid and arrogant, speculating in a trembling voice.
Immediately, everyone, including Wu Youde, shivered in excitement. There seemed to be a pair of invisible hands on the back, stroking up and down.
Everyone has seen the skeletons on the seabed. And everyone can guess where those skeletons came from.
The waters around Furong Island are probably the most resentful place on Jingdong East Road. Therefore, every night, the sea breeze is cold and wet.
"Don't scare yourself!" After all, he was a veteran. After the Cold War, Wu Youde suddenly remembered his responsibilities and scolded him in a trembling voice, "I don't believe it. A half-year-old child who can only cry when he is alive will die.
Then you can turn into an evil ghost! Put the lantern ten steps away for me, and then come back and look at it again. Look from the light to the dark, and the more you see, the clearer it becomes!"
These two sentences quickly gave the entire team a backbone. The minions cheered up, pressed the handle of the knife at their waists with one hand, temporarily placed the lantern in the other hand ten steps away, and then quickly turned back
, and looked again at the location where there was a faint flash of light.
Facts have proved that Wu Youde's experience is very useful. When the surroundings quickly darken, the flash of light in the distance immediately becomes clear.
Not a few hours, but a whole piece.
Like a long river, it slowly flows toward the island from more than a hundred steps away. It's cold and bright.
"It seems to be the reflection on the weapon..." One of the minions muttered in a low voice, but his tone was not very sure. "Which team will come to the island for a walk in the middle of the night?"
"What did you say? Weapons?" Wu Youde grabbed the speaker's shoulders and asked loudly.
Before the person being questioned had time to respond, screams were heard all around.
"It's a weapon, a weapon! I heard the impact, I heard the impact of armor!"
"Don't talk nonsense. Apart from the Navy, is there any other team around here?" Wu Youde pushed away the brother in his hand and quickly pulled out the steel knife, "You guys will form a formation and be on guard. I'll report to Commander Yu!"
After that, he walked away.
All the minions were stunned for a moment, and then they were at a loss.
Dutou Wu Youde was their immediate superior, but he left them behind and ran away first. If they did not carry out the order, they would definitely be dealt with by military law later.
And if they carry out the order, a mere fifty of them will not be enough to fight against the tide of flashes of light.
"Form up, retreat and form a formation, and guard the gate of the village!" A gang leader reacted quickly, pulled out his knife suddenly, turned around and fled quickly. "The terrain here is too wide and is not conducive to defending, retreat and form a formation!"
"Form up, form up!" The shouts came one after another again.
In an instant, all the men were in a state of enlightenment. Carrying their weapons, they followed closely behind the gang leader and fled in a hurry. They didn't even bother to pick up the lanterns left not far away.
