"He'er, hurry back to the cabin and don't look at these unclean things!"

Although Song He'er is averse to corpses, the trouble she is facing now is not something that Zhang Xiu'e and Qin Xiaoniang alone can solve.

“Mother, we need to use ropes to pull people apart, otherwise our boat won’t be able to move.”

Qin Xiaoniang sighed, turned around and looked at the unconscious boatman, feeling somewhat troubled.

"Where are we going to get such a long rope? We don't even know when the boatman will wake up."

Without thinking, Song He'er picked up a bucket, filled it with water from the river, and poured it all over the boatman's head.

The icy cold river water poured over the head of the sleeping person, instantly waking them up.

The boatman opened his eyes and began waving his arms and shouting, "Help! There's a ghost! There's a ghost!"

Song He'er stepped forward and grabbed his flailing arms. "Uncle, wake up! There are no ghosts, it's us! It's us!"

The boatman calmed down, stood up, and explained in a terrified voice, "My esteemed guests, I've never encountered anything like this in my twenty-odd years of sailing! You ladies would better get off the boat now; I still want my life!"

Upon hearing this, Song He'er immediately became displeased. "Boatman, what are you saying? Are you saying we brought you bad luck? The female corpse at the bottom of the boat wasn't brought here by us; didn't she just drift here on her own?"

Zhang Xiue stepped forward and echoed, "Yes, the most important thing now is not to blame each other, but to quickly find a rope to pull that person away!"

The boatman was so frightened that he immediately fell to the ground, stammering, "I wouldn't dare pull..."

"Uncle, how can you, a grown man, be less capable than a young woman like me? Dead people won't eat you. Besides, there are no ghosts in this world!"

"This...this..."

"Hurry up and get the reins you used to get to the dock. If we don't get rid of her, this boat won't move. Are we going to have to stay in the middle of the river all night?"

Although the boatman was frightened, he thought it was better to get rid of her than to spend the night next to the woman's corpse.

Thinking this, he went to get the reins while wailing.

"Why am I so unlucky? This just happened as soon as I stepped out the door, oh dear..."

Zhang Xiue called out from behind, "Stop arguing and hurry up!"

Soon, the boatman brought the reins.

Zhang Xiu'e tied one end of the rope to the wooden stake at the bow of the boat, and threw the other end to the boatman.

"Go, bend over into the river, tie the body up, and we'll start pulling from this direction."

When the boatman heard that he was to personally tie up the woman's corpse, he turned ashen-faced and was on the verge of wetting himself.

Song He'er was speechless for a moment. Although the boatman was kind-hearted, he was pitifully timid. As pitiful as he was, he would never amount to anything and could only run boats on the river.

"Uncle, if you don't go soon, we're not going to help you anymore. Since none of us can leave, let's just stay here on the river!"

The boatman wasn't stupid. If these people stopped caring, he would be even more helpless. Every day he arrived at the dock later, he would earn money one day later. Who would want to waste time like this?

"Alright, alright, ladies! I'll go, okay?"

As he spoke, the boatman reluctantly put on gloves, took the rope, and walked step by step toward the side of the boat.

But as soon as the boatman squatted down and looked into the river, he turned his head and began to gag.

It's no wonder he found it disgusting; the corpse had been soaking for so long that it had become gigantic, and no one could bear to look at it.

Zhang Xiue handed her a bowl of water, saying, "Have some water to calm your nerves!"

The boatman took the bowl and drank it in big gulps, but after only a few sips, he vomited it all onto the deck.

"No, no, this is too disgusting! Too disgusting!"

Song He'er also felt that this job was a bit difficult, after all, no one could stand the smell of corruption.

The best course of action now is to come up with a better solution.

Their boat was going downstream, which is why the female corpse floated to the bottom of their boat. If the current had been reversed, the female corpse might have floated away on its own.

Just then, Song He'er stepped forward and said to the group of people, "We'll use the oars to push the water backward, using the force to change the direction of the current, so that the children's corpses will drift away in the direction we push the water."

Qin Xiaoniang and Zhang Xiue exchanged a glance. "Is this method feasible?"

The boatman stood up, picked up his oar, and began to paddle.

"Never mind that! Let's try anything, even if it's a long shot!"

"Young lady, I'll go and call Lady Tian and Lady Zhou out to help. Many hands make light work!"

Qin Xiaoniang nodded.

Song He'er went into the cabin and called out to the two of them.

Although the two women didn't know what had happened, seeing Qin Xiaoniang and Zhang Xiue standing by the boat using wooden oars to paddle, they assumed that the boat needed to be rowed by hand, so they went forward to help.

Before long, Zhang Xiu'e was panting heavily. "Boatman," she said, "are you the only one rowing this boat? Where are the other boatmen? It's so troublesome when something happens. If there were more people, it wouldn't be like this."

The boatman shook his head. "I never expected it to turn out like this. My boat isn't very big, and it usually goes smoothly on this river. Besides, where would I get the extra money to hire boatmen?"

While working hard, Qin Xiaoniang tried to dissuade her, saying, "Zhang Niangzi, stop talking and save your energy."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent and began to do their own work.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the boat started to move and began to slowly move forward.

Song He'er ran to the other side to check and found that the giant female corpse had already drifted far away.

Seeing this, she slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

Having completed this task, the boatman breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the boat was going downstream, and as long as the rudder was well controlled, it could reach the dock smoothly.

After finishing all that, everyone was exhausted and hurriedly returned to their cabins to rest.

The boatman was already terrified and his legs went weak. Now he couldn't even walk and collapsed on the deck.

Li Qiang's wife felt something was strange, so she asked, "He'er, what happened just now? I think I heard you two arguing, and I also heard the boatman shouting!"

"Oh...it's nothing, the boat just broke down and couldn't move, but it's fixed now!"

Li Qiang's wife seemed skeptical, "Really?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Madam Tian, ​​we still have to travel at dawn, so hurry up and get some sleep, don't think about anything!"

Li Qiang's wife didn't say anything and obediently went into the cabin to rest.

Before we knew it, the boat had slowly docked.

When Song He'er woke up, it was already broad daylight, and the noisy sounds of cargo being moved came from the dock.

Qin Xiaoniang and Zhang Xiue had already disembarked and were looking around at a group of merchants.