The warships of the Xiangjiang Navy are still very fast, at least much faster than they can walk.
General Qin and Long Qi were guarding Xiao Kaishan in the cabin, Cai Qing was lazily resting, and Gu Cheng was standing on the bow of the ship, looking at the Xiangjiang waterway.
At this time, the outside world is approaching dusk, the setting sun is like blood, and the entire Xiang River is a blood-red color.
But at this time, Gu Cheng found that the speed of the boat suddenly slowed down.
Gu Cheng called over an old sailor in charge of the helm and asked, "This master has worked in the Xiangjiang Navy for many years?"
The old sailor looked to be in his fifties. Hearing this, he quickly said: "Little Zhao Jia, he doesn't dare to call himself master as an adult.
The younger one’s father is the shipbuilder of the Xiangjiang Navy, so the younger one has been hanging out on boats since he was born, and it’s been forty-three years now.”
Gu Cheng thought he looked in his fifties, but it turned out that he was actually only in his forties. He must have worked hard all the time, so he looked older.
"Master Zhao, why did our speed suddenly slow down?"
Zhao Jia said quickly: "Because there is Nantong Canal in front of us. Generally speaking, unless there is an emergency, we rarely pass through Nantong Canal at night. Even if we go at night, we must slow down the boat speed to avoid any accidents."
"Oh? Are there some water thieves and bandits on this Nantong Canal?"
Zhao Jia smiled bitterly and said: "It would be fine if they were water thieves, but the key is some invisible evil things.
Have you ever heard of driving piles?"
Gu Cheng shook his head and said, "What does that mean?"
Zhao Jia said: "Driving live piles is also called human sacrifice. Generally, when building bridges and opening canals, living people are thrown down to sacrifice to ghosts and gods.
The Xiang River seems calm, but who knows how many innocent souls and ghosts are buried in it?
Therefore, it was necessary to drive piles and throw living people as sacrifices to the ghosts and gods at the bottom of the river, so that bridges and canals could be safely built.
Otherwise, even if the bridge is built, it will collapse soon, and more people will die."
Gu Cheng frowned and said, "That's ridiculous! Evil spirits still want to sacrifice? If they dare to cause trouble, just suppress them. How can we use living people to sacrifice these evil things?"
Zhao Jia smiled bitterly and said: "Although I say that, the Xiangshui River is too big. Even if the Taoist priests from the Zhengyi Sect come, they will not be able to suppress the ghosts in the entire Xiangshui River.
Anyway, it is a tradition left by the elders. We have always followed it, and there have been no problems. The only thing that went wrong was on the Nantong Canal.
It is said that the person in charge of digging the Nantong Canal also sacrificed alive to the ghosts and gods according to the tradition of driving piles. However, people died on the first day of construction, which was very evil.
Later, he sacrificed himself alive again, this time using the highest-quality boys and girls among the living piles, but it also didn't work.
The last thing I heard was that the king who built the Nantong Canal at that time invited an expert. The other party said that the ghosts and gods of the Xiangshui River were in the Xiangshui River, and the ghosts and gods of the Chuyuan River were in the Chuyuan River. The Nantong Canal was dug along with the two waters, but
The fusion and conflict between the ghosts and gods in these two places has caused so much grievance that it cannot be solved by driving living stakes and offering sacrifices."
Gu Cheng wondered: "Oh, what method was used to solve it in the end?"
Zhao Jia shook his head and said: "I don't know, the specific method has not been handed down, but it is said that after the Nantong Canal was successfully dug, the water on the entire river surface was blood red. There was obviously no war in the country that controlled the southwest that year.
But the population has dropped sharply.”
Gu Cheng raised his eyebrows. He was sure that the guy who came up with the idea was definitely not a serious person.
Although there are some unreliable people among serious Taoist practitioners, these people still want to gain reputation and will never do such a thing.
Zhao Jia sighed: "After the Nantong Canal was opened, strange things happened constantly, and there was no peace, especially at night.
Some people once saw long-sinked ships wandering on the Nantong Canal, and some people sailed through the Nantong Canal, only to find that there was an extra person on board.
We, the Xiangjiang navy, rarely go through the Nantong Canal at night, but every time we go, the generals will be extremely cautious and ask some Taoist priests to make many talismans and paste them on the boat."
Gu Cheng nodded slightly. He also didn't expect that such a seemingly peaceful Nantong Canal could have so many evil and dangerous things.
In fact, sometimes it is not just places like hell that are dangerous, but often the calmer places are more likely to contain unexpected dangers.
At this moment, Gu Cheng suddenly looked under the boat and asked in surprise: "Are there many jellyfish in the Nantong Canal?"
Zhao Jia wondered: "The Nantong Canal connects the Xiangshui River and the Chuyuan River. How can there be such a thing as jellyfish?"
As he said that, Zhao Jia looked down and saw a large black thing emerging around the ship. However, the river was turbid and the night was hazy, so it was hard to see clearly, but its shape seemed to be a huge jellyfish.
Same.
"Strange? What on earth is this?"
Zhao Jia looked confused and leaned forward a little further.
But at this moment, Gu Cheng suddenly pulled Zhao Jia back, and at the same time, his right hand pointed like a sword, and a sword beam was swung down!
The moment Gu Cheng drew his sword, the black jellyfish had already surfaced.
But that's not a jellyfish. Instead, it's a large strand of hair soaked in the river water and spreading out, giving people the impression of a jellyfish.
And under that hair was a swollen corpse with soaked hair, staring pale and rushing towards them!
"Water ghost! Water ghost!"
Zhao Jia shouted in horror, and the water ghost was exploded by Gu Cheng's sword energy.
"Old General! There's a situation!"
Gu Cheng shouted sharply, and everyone came out to check the situation.
I saw that the entire ship was surrounded by those water ghosts, and the ferocious corpses were just floating on the sea, making the water here look like hell.
Zhao Jia was so frightened that he fell to the ground.
Although he has rich experience in sailing, he has never seen such a terrifying scene. Is it possible that all the water ghosts under the Nantong Canal have escaped? What on earth is on their ship that can attract so many people?
Water ghost?
Qin Ming said with a gloomy expression: "We are in trouble."
Cai Qing also gritted his teeth and said: "Can't these damn guys wait some time before taking action? They simply don't let anyone have a moment of leisure!"
At this time, strange phenomena appeared in the surrounding water. The water that had been flowing down the river suddenly changed, as if everything had stagnated.
A ship rose from the water, causing huge waves. It turned out to be a large ship made entirely of bones!
The pale hull is surrounded by beams one after another, like ribs, and a huge skull is inlaid on the bow, with a bone-spurred horn on the skull.
Standing on the bow of the boat was a middle-aged man with a pale face. He was wearing a very strange robe, half black and half white.
"'Water Demon' Meng Tao!"
Cai Qing looked a little ugly and said: "This man is also one of the rebels in the southwest, but compared with Xiao Kaishan, he did not directly raise the flag of rebellion, although his actions are no different from rebellion.
It is said that Meng Tao was a water thief in his early years. He was drowned in the river due to internal fighting among the gangs. However, it is unknown what he encountered at the bottom of the river. A year later, he who was originally dead reappeared and controlled a terrifying magical power.
He uses witchcraft to torture those who harmed him until death is worse than killing them.
Over the years, Meng Tao built his battleship "Styx" from the bones of people who died in the Xiang River, and led his group of half-human and half-demon evil water bandits to roam the Xiang River, even the military capital of the Xiang River
To avoid.
The most important thing is this guy's strength. He is neither a warrior nor a Qi practitioner, but his terrifying magical powers are invincible among the masters, and he is infinitely close to the fourth-level realm!"
At this moment, Gu Cheng and others all looked serious.
Infinitely close to the fourth level, that was the state of the peak Qin and Ming Dynasties in the past.
The problem is that now that Qin Ming's vitality and blood have declined and he is old and decrepit, can he still be able to stop Meng Tao now?
And at this time, two more people came out from behind Meng Tao. One was wearing strange blue bone armor, with barbs on his elbow joints, and his face was extremely ferocious. He was so ugly that he didn't look like a living person. He also held a handle in his hand.
The huge trident is as tall as two people.
The other one is a woman, wearing fish scale armor that looks like a tight-fitting leather jacket. It shines with a colorful and attractive sheen, highlighting her uneven body. Her appearance is also charming and alluring, but it gives people an extremely dangerous feeling.
.
When these two beautiful and ugly people stood up, they immediately gave people a strong impact.
“It’s ‘Exploring Yaksha’ Xue Ba and ‘Poison Shark Man’ Mei Sanniang!
These two are both Meng Tao's generals, practicing all kinds of magic and magical powers. They can even be said to be half of Meng Tao's direct disciples, and their strength is comparable to that of a master!"
In fact, meeting Meng Tao on land is not scary. Even if the opponent is half-step to the fourth level, they are still capable of fighting.
But now they are on the water, and the opponent still controls the evil warship Styx, whose power is even more powerful. How can they fight?
Qin Ming took a step forward and said in a deep voice: "Meng Tao, you have dominated the Xiangjiang River for so many years, but you have never touched the Xiangjiang River navy once, and you have never openly raised the flag of rebellion. This proves that you still have some ability."
Self-aware.
But do you know what Xiao Kaishan means to the imperial court?
The imperial court did not hesitate to send us to personally escort Xiao Kaishan, which is enough to prove that the imperial court attaches great importance to this matter.
If you dare to kidnap Xiao Kaishan at this time, it is no different from openly rebelling against the imperial court!
The Xiangjiang Navy is not your opponent, but what about the Chuyuanjiang Navy? Or even the Donghai Navy?
Meng Tao, you, a water monster, don’t know if you will still have that kind of strength when you reach the sea!”
Meng Tao laughed loudly, his voice low and hoarse: "Old General Qin, when you were in charge of the Sky Fire Army in the past, you were fierce and fierce. You said you would never compromise. No rebels or bandits would have any room for compromise under your command.
, either surrender, or be killed until you surrender.
How come you can use your power to overwhelm others now? I'm afraid your confidence is not that strong, right?
The life of the rebel Xiao Kaishan is life, and so is your life. Is it worth sacrificing your lives for a rebel?"