txolops Chapter 27 Innuendo
Chapter 27 Innuendo
"My great-grandfather was a soldier who participated in the war against Vietnam that led to the founding of the nation."
At that time, he followed Emperor Gaozu deep into the southern border, where he spent several days wandering in the hot and humid mountains and forests. The heat and humidity were unbearable, and he had long since run out of water.
Fortunately, by the grace of heaven, when they were parched, they discovered a mountain stream with clear, cold water and jagged rocks.
Several of them, along with their comrades, happily jumped barefoot into the water and drank to cleanse themselves.
Suddenly, a strange insect leaped out of the water. It was covered in black armor, carried a crossbow in its mouth, and perched on a rock in the stream. It shot an arrow at a man's bare calf. The man who was hit was furious and drew his knife to kill the insect.
However, the man's calves were already swollen and purple, and he felt dizzy and collapsed into the water.
My great-grandfather rescued the man and dragged him to the stream. He saw that the wound on the man's calf was changing shape from mushroom to honeycomb. Before the poisonous blood could be released, the man had already died from the poison.
The crossbow in the insect's mouth shot very quickly; before the great-grandfather could react, his companion in the water was hit.
My great-grandfather was furious when he saw his comrade killed. He picked up a bow and arrow from the riverbank and was about to shoot the insect when the arrow collided with the crossbow bolt fired by the insect. The crossbow bolt was deflected and the insect was pinned to a rock by the stream. The crossbow bolt of the insect then stuck into my great-grandfather's shadow.
Strangely, the crossbow bolts stuck in the shadows can also poison people.
After being poisoned, my great-grandfather, sensing his impending death, lay on a rock by the stream, watching the poisonous lump on his chest grow larger as he awaited his demise.
Song Quyou listened with rapt attention, but the ship owner in the inner hall fell silent.
After a moment of silence, the boat owner asked, "Does the Taoist priest know what this insect is? My great-grandfather returned to his hometown, and many years later, when he talked about this insect, he would still show a look of fear on his face."
Song Quyou put down his cup and said, "I just happened to see the question the boat owner asked in an ancient book. This insect is called Yu, which can also be called Han Sha She Ying. It is mostly found on the waterside of the southern border."
As the boat owner said, this insect has poisoned arrows in its mouth; even a shadow hit by one can poison a person. However, the insect's poison can be cured. In the waters where it lives, there is often a toad with a "figure eight" pattern on its chest, also known as the "figure eight red toad." If you catch this toad and place it on the wound, it will suck out the poison itself.
"Just as the Taoist priest said, my great-grandfather was able to survive thanks to that toad. However, it was a pity that the eight-character red toad turned into a pool of poisonous water and died after it sucked out the poison for my grandfather."
Perhaps it was because the ship owner was a woman that she became so sentimental.
"If you were this Eight-Character Toad, would you be willing to save these poisoned people and then die yourself?"
"They probably wouldn't want to."
"Yes, I don't want to..."
……
After bidding farewell to the ship owner and leaving the top deck of the ship, Song Quyou went straight back to his cabin and did not linger on the deck.
Late at night, the sound of water rippled.
Song Quyou tore at the rice cake in his hand, eating it in small bites, and quietly gazed out the window. He looked at the remaining snow on the riverbank and the mist on the river, which shimmered silver in the moonlight.
With a splash, a dark figure fell into the water just beside Song Quyou's window, the splash wetting the window.
Song Quyou's hand, which was breaking apart a rice cake, suddenly stopped. He hurriedly stepped forward to see what had fallen into the water.
Unfortunately, the object must have sunk to the bottom and didn't float up; only ripples remained on the river's surface, slowly spreading outwards.
Song Quyou didn't think much of it, assuming it was something the person upstairs had discarded.
But then, a series of rapid splashes followed, one after another, as the water droplets continuously pounded against the window in front of Song Quyou.
Water droplets splashed everywhere, blurring the exposed roof tiles.
Song Quyou stood motionless by the window, but he had shaped the half-eaten rice cake in his hand into a pill.
Because he could see clearly what those dark figures were: a group of brocade-clad boat passengers with ashen faces and unseeing eyes.
The sound of water splashing outside the window continued. Song Quyou picked up the long sword beside him, stood up abruptly, and kicked the cabin door against the wall with a dull thud.
The sound of splashing water continued. Song Quyou quickly crossed the corridor and arrived at the deck.
The deck was deserted, with not a single passenger in sight. Only a few strange men covered in scales and hunched over were leaning over the railing, peering down.
Hearing footsteps, the strange man turned around, revealing a round-mouthed, round-eyed face with no nose or eyelids, a mudfish-like beard hanging from his mouth, and a bluish-green fish face—extremely bizarre.
Song Quyou's gaze swept over the fish-faced monsters. A strong, fishy smell permeated the deck, like the stench of hundreds of dead fish piled up and left to bake in the sun, making one want to vomit.
One of the strange-looking men grinned, revealing fine, sharp teeth, and pointed at Song Quyou, saying, "You forgot one?"
The other strange men then surrounded them, waving their gray-blue webbed hands, and retorted, "No one missed, exactly thirty-six."
Song Quyou drew his longsword, and the cold glint it revealed made the strange man involuntarily retreat.
"Were those people thrown into the water your doing?"
The strange men looked at each other's slippery faces, then waved their webbed hands, covered in slime, at Song Quyou and said, "We're only responsible for moving things; these dead people have nothing to do with us."
Suddenly, a cold light pierced the air and struck Song Quyou's heart.
Song Quyou sensed something, turned around and dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the insidious poisoned arrow.
The cold light pierced the deck; it was a poisoned iron needle gleaming with a blue light, its tip still trembling slightly.
Song Quyou's gaze sharpened as he looked in the direction the poisoned needle had come from. The archer stood in the shadows of the second deck of the ship, half her face illuminated by the moonlight, revealing a graceful and gentle appearance.
Dressed in a dark blue gown, she fluttered in the moonlight and river breeze, looking like a fairy or a painting.
Song Quyou stood with his sword in hand, his gaze fixed intently on the woman. Under the moonlight, she calmly placed a dark blue iron needle on the exquisite crossbow and aimed it at Song Quyou's chest.
"Taoist priest, I arranged for you to stay in a corner of the cabin so you wouldn't meddle in other people's business. It seems you've chosen to seek your death today?"
Suddenly, a loud bang echoed across the water, and two shrimp generals with shrimp heads and exquisite armor, carrying knives and a heavy box, leaped onto the deck. After setting it down, they shouted towards the top floor, "Money and goods settled!"
From the top deck of the ship, the familiar voice of the ship's owner could be heard: "Tell your king that this is the last job."
Upon hearing the echo, the shrimp did not reply, but instead called to the fish monster to leap into the river together, disappearing without a trace.
"Please come upstairs for a chat, Taoist priest."
As soon as he finished speaking, Qian Tong led several servants to the deck and rushed toward the box.
The box was beautifully made, but it was covered with screws and tangled with emerald green seaweed.
Song Quyou sheathed his sword, climbed the stairs, and arrived at the top floor of the ship.
The door to the top-floor room was not closed, and the decorations in the outer hall remained unchanged, except that the fresh fruit and wine on the long sandalwood table had been replaced by a high stack of documents.
"Master, the items on the long table can resolve your doubts."