The two large ships sailed away from the icy area on the shore and arrived on the vast sea. Although they were only a few miles away from the shore, the waves and sea wind were already strong. Although the sails were only half-raised, the ships were still sailing amidst the waves and strong winds.
It was bumping up and down. The ship was fully loaded with cargo, and it was an old ship. The big ship made a terrifying sound of creaking in the wind and waves, and seemed to be falling apart at any time. Everyone, including the boatman, was a little panicked.
The boatmen were better off. They knew that the big ship was going to enter the inland along the inland river. It would not be too far from the coast and would not encounter bigger waves, so it should be able to withstand it. However, when they heard Lin Jue's order to change course,
When sailing to the depths of the Bohai Sea, all the boatmen were dumbfounded.
At that moment, a boatman came to Lin Jue's theory and said that we should go south along the coast. To go to Yingtianfu, when we enter the inland from Jishui in Qingzhou in the south and merge into the Grand Canal, we can go directly from Bianshui to Yingtianfu.
Tianfu. However, the answer they got was that we are not going to Yingtianfu. We are going to Snake Island in the Bohai Sea and then come back. The boatmen were shocked. Some people argued loudly and threatened to give up their jobs. But soon they
Realizing that they had boarded the pirate ship, the followers around Dongfang's family showed their knives and told them in an extremely ferocious manner that they could either do as they were told and their wages would be doubled, or they could jump into the sea and swim back by themselves. There was no third option.
All the boatmen quickly became the most rational choices in the world, and wisely chose to obey and do as they were told. No one was willing to jump into the sea and swim back.
…
The big ship lowered its sails and headed for the depths of the sea in the wind and waves against the north wind. Because the ship was indeed very old and carried a lot of cargo, it felt as if it might fall apart at any time. Lin Jue was also a little worried.
, personally went down to the cabin to check, and there were already signs of water seepage in the cabin. The ship had been abandoned for too long, and the ship's planks showed signs of decay. Fortunately, this was an icebreaking warship, and it was built with a double-layer keel and three-layer ship planks.
It's sturdy. If it were an ordinary ship, it would probably take in water and capsize.
In order to reduce the burden on the ship's hull and reduce the draft, Lin Jue ordered all the purchased dry goods to be thrown into the sea. Only then did the boatmen on the ship truly realize that these people were not merchants collecting dry goods at all. How could any merchant put this into the sea?
He threw his goods into the sea without even frowning. Even when he was throwing them away, the Fang Dong family had a sense of relief on his face. This was not the mood a merchant should have at this moment.
The big ship sailed northward all day long in fear. Although it was bumpy by wind and waves, the big ship still held on. When the red sun set in the west, a dark thing appeared on the sea in front of it. It was exactly
An island. After Lin Jue repeatedly confirmed with the boatmen that the island was Snake Island in the Bohai Sea, he immediately issued an order for all personnel to be on alert. The situation on the island was unknown. He did not know whether there would be remnants of the pirate cult or pirates.
What other people occupy, in short, should be dealt with carefully.
In view of the unclear situation, Lin Jue ordered the two ships not to get closer. They stayed on the sea several miles away from the island and waited for the sun to set before approaching again. This was the safest strategy. If they were attacked when they landed, it would be very serious.
Embarrassed.
The setting sun slowly sank. The moment after it hit the sea, the sky and the earth seemed like
It was pulled up by a huge curtain, and all the brilliant light disappeared in an instant, leaving only a vast darkness. The sea in the twilight seemed even more mysterious and vast, and it was not visible at all in the sky.
The stars can now be seen clearly.
Lin Jue issued the order to dock, precisely to use the last glimmer of light before dark to dock. If it is completely dark, it will be extremely dangerous for the ship to dock.
The boatmen were concentrating on steering the ship. They knew the dangers of docking in the dim light and rough winds and waves. More importantly, they had never officially landed on this Snake Island and were not very familiar with the terrain. Moreover, this Snake Island
According to local legends, it is an extremely dangerous and terrifying place.
In the early years, this Snake Island was full of venomous snakes, which was scary. In the early years, fishermen from around the Bohai Sea landed on the island to avoid the wind and waves, but in the end there was no news. The government and fishermen organized people to search for them, and the skeletons of those fishermen were found on the island. It is said that
The bones were broken inch by inch, as if someone had broken them inch by inch with a hammer. It is said that they found a bucket-sized snake king on the island. The snake king chased him on the beach and vomited a corpse at everyone. He also summoned countless people.
Colorful venomous snakes came to bite the officers, soldiers and fishermen. Everyone had to flee the island in a hurry.
Afterwards, some people analyzed the reason why the bones of the corpses were broken, and they all believed that it must be the work of the snake king. When the snake king devours people, it will tightly hug the human body. The strength is unimaginable. Those broken bones were caused by the snake.
Broken by a hoop.
Since then, Snake Island has been a restricted area, and fishermen have not dared to go to the island. Not long ago, pirates even squatted on Snake Island and robbed ships, which made fishermen dare not approach the area casually.
sea area.
Now, this Fang Dongjia actually wants to land on the island, and the boatmen are scared to death. But there is no way, with the knife on their necks, they have to do it. We can only hope that these people can really
Control the situation so that if something happens on the island, they can deal with it in time.
The big ship almost circled the island, but could not find a suitable landing place. There was a shoal area, and the water did not freeze during the wind and waves, but the big ship could not get close to the shore because there was a risk of running aground. Finally, Lin Jue
We chose a place on a cliff, which was sheltered from the wind and the water was deep enough to allow the ship to dock directly against the cliff below the cliff.
Bai Bing carried the rope and landed directly from the rock wall. As everyone looked up, Bai Bing climbed to the top of the cliff lightly and dropped the rope. After setting up several rope ladders, everyone left the ship and landed on the island. Dozens of people
The boatman refused to leave the ship and asked to stay on the ship. How could Lin Jue let them stay on the ship? These people were unreliable. What if they secretly sailed away and the ship capsized in the ditch? It didn't matter if they couldn't climb up, they could use ropes.
They were tied up and pulled up one by one like cargo. Finally, once the rope ladder was closed, they could no longer get on the boat.
It was completely dark. It was bitingly cold on the top of the cliff, and the sea breeze made people huddle up. The surrounding terrain was rugged, with deep and shallow ditches, and no one knew whether there were poisonous snakes or enemies. Therefore, Lin Jue decided not to do too much.
They moved eastward from the top of the cliff into a forest, found a clearing and pitched a tent, and decided to deal with it temporarily for one night.
Everyone's hearts were hanging in the air. Fortunately, Lin Jue knew that he was coming to this snake island when he set out, so he made some preparations and brought a few large bags of realgar powder. This thing can prevent snakes and insects. At the camping site
After a few circles were sprinkled around, just in case, everyone felt a little more at ease. Lin Jue was actually not worried about snakes and insects. What he was most worried about was that there were enemies on the island. It was simple. This Snake Island was serious.
If there were venomous snakes all over the place, how could Hai Dongqing and the others gain a foothold in the first place? Possibly there were venomous snakes, but it wasn't that exaggerated. Besides, it was the middle of winter and the snakes were supposed to be hibernating, so how could they come out to bite people.
Because they did not dare to light a fire, everyone stayed up all night in the cold and worry. As soon as it got light, everyone got up. After eating some dry food and water, Lin Jue, Gao Muqing, Sun Dayong and others discussed how to search the island.
The location where the big ship is docked is due east of Snake Island. It is subject to sea wind and waves all year round, so it forms a scene of ravines and cliffs. The two big ships are just in the small space between the two cliffs, so they have the effect of shelter from the wind.
Sun Dayong suggested that the troops should be divided into three groups, one going north, one going south, and one going directly into the center of the island, so that the situation of the island could be found out in a short time.
Lin Jue accepted his suggestion. Although it would be easier to deal with emergencies when working together, Lin Jue still wanted to find out the situation on the island as soon as possible. It would be best to get the armor, weapons and supplies and ship them out of here as soon as possible.
.
Sun Dayong's manpower was divided into two teams, one in the south and one in the north. Lin Jue led Bai Bing, Gao Muqing and a guard to form a team of four, and went directly to the center of the island. After leaving the coast, the terrain gradually became higher.
The trees are extremely dense, and there are jagged stones and pitted holes everywhere. If you are not careful, you will fall down. That is not terrible. The key is that you don’t know whether there are countless poisonous snakes in the ravines and caves.
Waiting for you, it’s okay to fall down and die, but it would be too miserable to be eaten by thousands of snakes and die.
The trees on this island are also weird, almost all twisted and thorny, and extremely ugly. Perhaps they have been exposed to the harshest natural environment and the most brutal competition for survival all year round, so even the plants have become arrogant.
Fortunately, no traces of venomous snakes were found. There were many bird's nests on some trees. As soon as people approached, a large number of puffins flew into the sky, chirping very lively. Lin Jue somewhat understood why there were so many venomous snakes on this island.
That's precisely because there are many birds inhabiting it. These birds are the food of snakes. If there are more birds, there will naturally be more snakes. In fact, the real name here should be Bird Island.
After carefully searching all the way, Lin Jue and others finally arrived at the foot of the towering cliff on the west side of the island. Here, Lin Jue finally found traces of human habitation. Many dilapidated clothes and shoes were discarded in the surrounding woodland.
There are also rusty ironware and some daily utensils. All this fully proves that someone once lived here, or is still living here.
There seem to be many natural caves under the cliff in the distance, and there are arrow tower-like buildings on the slope. There are also wooden fences built on the edge of the slope. Various signs indicate that the cliff is near the place where Hai Dongqing and others once occupied. Only
However, after squatting in the forest and observing for a long time, I didn't see any human figures.
