4 Dayu's flood control ③

◎First meeting with Dayu◎

The loudspeaker went offline after saying this.

The deafening horn on the ship sounded again.

There was a chaotic and disorderly sound of footsteps in the corridor. A dozen ancient men with bare upper bodies, dark and thin, and wearing clothes of unknown dynasty, ran past them like a large army.

“Wait!”

The last person caught a glimpse of six unfamiliar figures on the boat and suddenly called out in a deep voice to stop.

So the army ran back.

A huge group of people stared at them expressionlessly.

The deputy leader who called for a halt stood in the middle, with a head of matted, hard, black hair. His clever little eyes flashed with a gleam as he looked up and down at the six strangely dressed, unfamiliar-looking people.

Zhu Heng stood there like a pinnacle, facing the other party with a steady hand. He remained silent, and the other five did not dare to move.

The deputy leader suddenly revealed a gentle smile, like a spring breeze. He turned to someone beside him and ordered, "Go tell the leader quickly, we've found a few survivors. They're already soaking in the water..."

The deputy chief paused.

Tao Ran quickly reminded: "Three days."

So, the deputy leader continued with a smile: "It's been soaked for three days."

Tao Ran shuddered.

The way this person looked at them was as if he was looking at vegetables that had been pickled for three days.

As he was speaking, the deputy leader glanced at everyone one by one, finally stopping at the actress, and added: "Four men, one woman, and a pregnant woman."

Everyone was stunned and looked at each other, not understanding who the pregnant woman was referring to.

Tao Ran first looked at the peasant girl, then turned to look at the actress, feeling full of doubts.

"No need to look, he's talking about me." The actress pointed at herself calmly with a composed expression.

A few seconds ago, she received a look from the deputy leader, and it was obvious that the pregnant woman was referring to her.

Everyone was stunned, and Tao Ran couldn't help but ask, "Are you really pregnant?"

The actress looked at him like he was stupid and said, "Of course not."

This woman is really brave. She can remain calm without changing her expression, everyone thought.

Tao Ran: "Then why do people call you a pregnant woman?"

Tao Ran was a little puzzled: "Then why would he call you a pregnant woman?"

The actress elegantly twisted a lock of hair and smoothed the ends. "I don't know. Maybe he's blind."

For some reason, while she was saying this, her eyes were fixed on Zhu Heng, with a strange smile on her lips.

Zhu Heng's eyes were cold, as if he was completely unaware of this, and there was no trace of discomfort on his face.

-

The deputy leader still needed to lead people to carry sandbags to the deck to control the flood, so it was inconvenient for him to stay for long. He asked Zhu Heng and his group to go upstairs to rest first and then meet the leader later.

Just as they were about to leave, the deputy leader's eyes suddenly fell on the craftsman. His face lit up, and he turned to discuss with everyone: "We are short of people to control the flood. Can this brother lend us a hand?"

Everyone turned their gaze towards Zhu Heng.

Zhu Heng raised his eyebrows slightly: "Why are you looking at me? Go ask him himself."

Everyone had no choice but to go and see the craftsman and also the deputy chief.

This deputy leader speaks politely and looks kind, so he should... be safe, right?

Everyone thought about it and felt that it was not a big deal. Even if they took a step back, they, the audience, could still be killed by the characters in TV dramas or plays.

"Help us control the flood..." The craftsman repeated the deputy chief's words without showing any expression.

He was actually thinking, what if the flood submerged the land?

He was just a small mausoleum builder and had no ambition to save the world.

People in this world die and that’s all it has to do with him.

Seeing that he remained silent, the deputy leader asked again in a gentle voice: "Brother, how are you?"

The craftsman regained consciousness, his mind a jumble of thoughts. He looked at the deputy leader, silent for a moment, then smiled shyly and nodded in agreement, "Okay."

The deputy chief smiled at the craftsman's response, with a hint of greed in his smile.

Mmm—the smell of food.

After the craftsman and the deputy leader left, the remaining five waited for a moment. Soon, the crew member who had gone to inform the leader appeared before them and led them towards the cockpit.

As they entered, they saw a man standing at the helm turning his head to look at them.

He was wearing a short shirt and a red cloth tied on his forehead. Two thick, black eyebrows with flying hairs crossed his face. Perhaps due to overwork, he had two big dark bags under his eyes, sunken eye sockets, protruding cheekbones, and his face was full of fatigue that could not be concealed.

The chief sniffed twice, stood up and greeted the crowd with an apologetic smile: "I'm sorry you all suffered because of my ineffective flood control."

Seeing him so polite, Tao Ran was a little flattered.

Seeing his politeness, Tao Ran was somewhat flattered. The young master couldn't stop talking. He turned to the scholar and whispered in his ear, showing off his jealousy: "I guess this must be the legendary Dayu."

Tao Ran suddenly uttered an "Ai" and put his index finger between his lips, signaling the scholar to shush: "Don't talk yet, I'm chatting with someone."

What are you talking about? The scholar and the peasant girl were stunned and turned their heads to look, almost fainting from anger.

Zhu Heng then asked Dayu bluntly, "Is there any food on board? I don't need any meat, but fruit would be best."

And he picked it. Tao Ran, the fool, added eight hundred layers of filters and gave a thumbs-up, praising: "Awesome!"

The peasant girl glared at Tao Ran with murderous eyes, and the scholar also looked over with a smile. Tao Ran slowly turned his eyes back to the front, glanced up awkwardly, and felt a chill in his little head.

After a while, he came to his senses.

No, how can you two, one a scholar and the other a frail peasant girl, look so majestic?

At that moment, he vaguely felt something was wrong.

But Tao Ran's brain was made of wood, and he didn't think deeply about it. He rushed to Zhu Heng like an arrow, holding his head in his hands. He heard Dayu say apologetically, "The flood has been raging for nine years. There's no harvest. How can we have these things to eat? To be honest, my crew and I have been hungry for a long time."

Tao Ran looked at Dayu, who was so thin that he looked unrecognizable, and sighed heavily.

Dayu opened his sunken eyes and looked at Tao Ran with a kind smile.

Tao Ran felt embarrassed by his gaze and rubbed his nose. A young master like him, raised on a life of luxury, standing among these men working on flood control, looked like a fat lamb waiting to be slaughtered, his skin tender and flesh mouthwatering...

Tao Ran was frightened by his own thoughts. When he was distracted, he suddenly felt a spicy sensation in his throat and felt like vomiting.

Dayu's gaze shifted from Tao Xiaoyanggao, passed over the peasant girl and the "pregnant" actress, turned his neck, and glanced at the other three.

The boat rocked even more violently.

Tao Ran felt a tightness in his chest, and a burning smell filled his mouth. Something was about to rush out. His face turned pale, and he turned around quickly, vomiting all over the floor.

Oh no, Tao Ran was a little embarrassed and vomited on the boat.

Dayu, however, didn't care. He glanced at the filth on the ground, smiled, and asked, "Did you eat anything bad before boarding the boat? It's okay, just spit it out. Those are dead fish that have been soaking in the flood for who knows how long. Eating them won't kill you, but it will make your stomach uncomfortable."

"Just spit it out." He repeated it again.

As he spoke, he swallowed his saliva and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Tao Ran had just wiped his mouth when he turned around and saw this scene, and his heart skipped a beat.

Why does Dayu smile in such a strange way?

When a normal person smiles, their eyes usually rise up along with the curve of their mouth, but Dayu just curled up his mouth, his eyes remained motionless and lifeless.

It's also strange that the neck turns, the body and head don't turn, only the piece of meat in the middle moves.

What does it look like?

A assembled robot.

"...Oh my god." Tao Ran turned around to look for the scholar and the peasant girl for confirmation, but the next second Dayu reached out and pinched Tao Ran's fair and tender little face. He then looked at Zhu Heng and said with longing in his eyes, "Wait a little longer. Once the water is cured, tributes will be presented from all over the country. If you want meat, have meat. If you want apples, have apples."

Dayu still had official business to attend to, so he asked someone to prepare a guest room for them so that they could rest first.

On the way, Tao Ran's right eyelid kept twitching. He followed behind Zhu Heng, looked back, estimated the safe distance, and when he was far enough away from the cockpit, he carefully tugged at Zhu Heng's sleeve.

"I think there's something wrong." He rarely looked serious.

Zhu Heng glanced at him and pulled his hand back: "You think too much."

"Really!" Tao Ran said anxiously, seeing that he didn't believe her, "You don't know how slippery and sticky it was when he pinched my face.

Zhu Heng had no expression on his face. He took a step back and moved away from Tao Ran, making way for the peasant girl and the scholar.

Tao Ran looked at the scholar and the peasant girl again, hoping to find some recognition from them: "Did you see that Dayu? His neck cracked like that. Isn't it scary?"

He grabbed his own neck and pretended to twist it.

The peasant girl and the scholar ignored him and went into the house with their heads down.

Tao Ran stood at the door alone, wondering if he was really overthinking it.

Suddenly, someone tapped him on the back of his head. He heard Zhu Heng say, "What are you daydreaming about? Go in."

Immediately afterwards, Tao Ran felt a weight on his neck, as Zhu Heng's hand reached across and hooked it. He was tall, and almost half of his body was resting on Tao Ran's shoulder. He even tripped when entering the house.

Tao Ran heard Zhu Heng's voice in his ear, very softly: "Don't talk, someone is watching us."

Tao Ran was stunned and subconsciously turned around to look behind him.

The gloomy corridor was empty. A gust of wind blew, bringing the clean scent of Zhu Heng to his nose.

Zhu Heng turned his face and said, "Not behind."

His hand dropped down and rested on his shoulder, and with a flick of his wrist, he escorted Tao Ran into the house.

"They're everywhere."

After entering the house, Zhu Heng raised his foot and closed the door.

Tao Ran didn't dare to breathe. He looked around in fear, feeling unsafe everywhere. He whispered to Zhu Heng, "What makes you say that?"

Zhu Heng glanced at him when he heard this, and a light flashed in his eyes.

Being looked at by him with such a cold and indescribable look, Tao Ran suddenly felt that he might have asked a stupid question.

But he couldn't figure out where the problem was no matter how hard he tried.

Zhu Heng turned away and stopped looking at Tao Ran.

Just because of him...his vision can turn.

At this moment, Zhu Heng's gaze suddenly solidified into reality.

It was like an invisible tentacle, extending from the guest room along the crack in the door, starting from where he was standing.

His eyes flicked to the crew member watching them around the corner at the end of the corridor.

Passing over Dayu who was standing still in the cockpit.

It passed over the people on the deck who were carrying sandbags to control the flood.

It passed by the craftsman who was pulled into the crowd to make up the numbers, passed by his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, passed by his slightly straightened waist, passed by the hesitant gaze that was looking around at the silent crew members.

The sight continued to extend, passing through rooms, roads, and countless visible and invisible corners.

Outside the boat was a surging muddy flood, carrying mud and sand, with layers of stacked white foam spread on the dim water surface, making a rumbling and deafening sound.

The air was filled with the fishy smell of aquatic plants and the foul smell of decay that made people afraid to delve into it.

The whole world was twisting and spinning, as if a pair of giant hands grabbed the two ends of the cruise ship in the flood and easily twisted it into a ball, while the hundreds of people on the ship stood there like a still painting.

The direction they were facing was the guest room where only the five of them were.

A wave crashed down, and the sound was like thunder.