077. Deceased Husband
The lone boat remained on the water. Fortunately, there were mountains on both sides of the muddy water, so all they had to do was move forward. Shang Changheng, who had never fought a naval battle, was forced to take control of the passenger ship.
Miaoyuan was poisoned by the corpse, but luckily there were many things that could detoxify among the gifts they brought on board, and most of these things... were brought by Qingling, so he made sufficient preparations to save his life.
The east is white.
Qing Ling sat by the railing. He hadn't had a good rest for half the night. He was not in high spirits to begin with, and now he felt even more depressed.
"What did you do underwater?" Qing Ling hooked the leg of Shang Changheng, who was sitting opposite him, with his foot.
Qing Ling must have seldom talked to people before, so sometimes his words were not clear enough, or maybe he was being subtle on purpose, but Shang Changheng understood. He opened a page of the book in front of him and said, "There are many ghosts down there. They must be waiting for the offerings from the old river god. Kill them all."
"Oh, then you..." Qing Ling held his forehead and frowned, "Then you didn't...just kill him?"
Shang Changheng didn't know whether he liked men or women before, and he had never thought about such things, but he knew that he would never fall in love with weak and fragile people, such as Qingling who was sitting in front of him, who looked delicate and weak, but when Shang Changheng saw him like this, he found him very pleasing to the eye.
"No." Shang Changheng said, "Aren't you being watched by the Heavenly Dao? It's always a good idea to stay out of the spotlight."
This time Shang Changheng did not use the previous methods, but simply beat the ghosts to death.
As he was talking, Zhu Lezhi came up from the bottom of the cabin. She was completely sober now, and her face was not much better than Qing Ling's. The two of them together looked almost as pale as Shang Changheng. She sat directly on another chair beside the table and sighed, "Young Master Qing, I really admire you, really."
Qing Ling had already retracted his foot without changing his expression, and asked calmly: "What's wrong?"
Zhu Lezhi was lying there with no enthusiasm, covering his face with one hand, "I've heard that some people are born to attract evil spirits. Others may be fine if they bump into wandering spirits, but some people may be entangled. Master Qing, you are really... No matter how unlucky others are, they will encounter obstacles every three steps, but you, you, you encounter three obstacles with every step!"
Qing Ling laughed, "Is Master Miao Yuan okay?"
"He is as strong as a bull, what can happen to him?" Zhu Lezhi asked back.
As soon as he finished speaking, Miaoyuan came out wrapped in a new monk's robe. He also had wounds on his face, but now the wounds had turned back red.
Miao Yuan, who Zhu Lezhi described as being as strong as a bull, also sat down on a wooden chair, his face pale and looking exhausted.
"It's not necessarily evil spirits." He sat upright with his eyes closed, obviously having heard the conversation just now, and said in a compassionate tone: "Since we came to Yuzhou, all we have encountered are man-made disasters, so we can't blame these evil spirits."
"That's true." Qing Ling leaned his head against the railing, half dead, and sighed deeply, "Miss Zhu, if that's the case, then... you can't blame me for all the bad luck along the way, right?"
Zhu Lezhi, who was in the wrong, closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair pretending to be dead.
Shang Changheng looked at the three dying people, turned another page of the book in front of him, and asked softly: "Qingling, do you want to go back to your room and get some sleep?"
Qing Ling waved his hands without opening his eyes, "Let me get some fresh air. It's even more uncomfortable to stay in the house. Aren't you the one driving the boat now? Can you just... whoosh and get to the dock?"
Shang Changheng, who was not familiar with the waterways, was silent for a moment, "No."
.
After drifting on the water for a long time, Qingling finally got used to the boat swaying with the waves. At least he no longer vomited everything he ate. However, Shang Changheng was really not familiar with the waterway. As a result, the journey that was originally scheduled for seven days was delayed until the tenth day before the boat arrived at Lukou Wharf.
The Lukou Wharf in Dingzhou is much larger than the Xi Lake. Many passenger ships bound for overseas vassal states depart from here. Therefore, the entire Dingzhou has a prosperous business and relies on water for its livelihood. When Qingling and his companions docked, it was just evening. There were a row of fishing boats floating on the muddy shore. It was the time when people from the nearby fishing villages came back from fishing. The lively fish, shrimps and crabs were brought ashore in basins to be sold.
The noise was deafening and the strong fishy smell almost made Qingling faint.
Everyone on the boat was a survivor of the disaster. They did thank Qingling on the boat, but no one wanted to become close friends. After all, most people would never encounter such strange things in their lifetime, and they would go their separate ways once they got ashore.
Qingling originally wanted to find a boat to go upstream immediately. After all, the sky had been gloomy these days and the rainy season in Dingzhou was approaching.
But it is difficult to find one at this time of year. I asked several fishermen, but they all shook their heads like rattles and said they would not go out to sea for two days, let alone go into the mountains.
Finally, the group entered the city. It was already late, but there seemed to be no curfew in Dingzhou. Acrobatics and various vendors could be seen on the streets. There was everything to eat, use, watch and play. The long street was extremely lively. It was the first time that Qingling had seen such a prosperous scene.
"Dingzhou has always been prosperous. There are even singing girls on painted boats on the river where Ningshui River branches into the city." Zhu Lezhi hopped forward with his hands behind his back. "Tongzhou also has a night market like this, but the street in Dingzhou is a little longer and has more food. It's just right that we can find an inn to stay in after we finish shopping."
Someone happened to be walking by carrying a lot of lanterns made of unknown materials, and was shouting, "Fish lanterns—young masters and young ladies, look at the fish lanterns—"
The lanterns were very beautiful, and one of the fish lanterns even hooked on Qingling's clothes. Fortunately, Qingling raised his hand. He took a look at the exquisitely hollowed-out fish lantern with a look of curiosity.
"Oh, young master, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The peddler was a skinny old man. He quickly bent down and smiled apologetically.
"It's okay." Qingling shook his head to indicate that it was okay.
The vendor then asked, "Young Master, do you want to buy a fish lantern? We in Lucheng and the nearby villages all rely on the muddy water for our livelihood, so every family likes to light a fish lantern to pray to the river god for good luck and to be able to catch fish and travel safely. Young Master, are you from another place? If you are going by water recently, you might as well buy one!"
Qingling thought to himself that this boss was quite good at doing business. It seemed that buying this fish lantern would make one immune to all evil, and he even prayed to the river god... Qingling thought about the river god he met when he was young, and always felt that praying to him would only bring disaster.
Seeing that Qingling still remained silent, the vendor smiled and said, "Young Master, this lamp is very cheap. It only costs five copper coins! We have a saying in Lucheng, 'If the lamp is not extinguished, people will return home.' As long as this lamp is not extinguished, people who have traveled far away at sea can return home safely. You see, this lamp pole can be taken down and the lamp can be placed in the house."
Those who travel far away can return home safely.
Qing Ling was in a trance for a moment and wanted to buy one for no reason.
Upon seeing this, the vendor immediately handed over a fish lantern in his hand, smiling: "Young Master, look at this one."
It was indeed exquisitely made. It was a small fish with three tail fins, and it was painted. The scales on the paper were lifelike. Qingling took the fish lantern and took out a copper coin and put it in the vendor's hand. The vendor said, "Okay, okay, young master, you must be buying it for your sweetheart. I wish you--"
Qing Ling saw him glance at Zhu Lezhi on the side, and gently interrupted: "It's not the sweetheart, it's... my wife."
The vendor was also smart. With one look, he immediately understood what Qing Ling meant and said, "Okay, I wish the young master and the lady a long and happy marriage!"
Qing Ling looked at Shang Changheng who had been walking side by side with him, his eyebrows curved and he smiled.
Shang Changheng reached out and gently touched Qingling's cheek. He was standing there, but no one could see him, and no one knew... he was Qingling's husband.
The resentment and resentment almost overwhelmed him, and then he realized what it meant to have insatiable desires. The further he went on this road, the more entanglements and greed he would have. Shang Changheng wanted to be able to stand in this world with Qingling, and he wanted the people who saw them to say... wish them both a "happy marriage".
Seeing Shang Changheng's strange expression, Qing Ling asked softly, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Shang Changheng lowered his eyes and swallowed the bitterness of reluctance, "Let's go."
Qing Ling gripped the lamp pole tightly and responded, "Okay."
Zhu Lezhi distanced himself from them and looked at the two figures standing together, but there was no shadow behind Shang Changheng, and they were not walking on the same road. Unfortunately, the world played tricks on them, and they were already bound together, and he didn't know whether it was a good fate or a bad one.
"Oh my God." Zhu Lezhi sighed with some regret. It would be fine if they were heartless, but how come they... became a pair of lovers?
Miao Yuan stood beside her, also looking at the two figures, chanting the Buddha's name, and then said: "Fate plays tricks on us, they..."
"Yeah." Zhu Lezhi sneered, "Heaven and earth are not kind, they don't care who has feelings or not. As for us, forget it. I see there's a fried candy cake seller over there. I'm about to vomit from all the cold food I've eaten along the way."
.
Walking out of the long street, Qingling was holding a lot of snacks in his hands, mostly fish, shrimp, crabs and shellfish commonly seen in Lucheng. They found an inn to stay in, and Qingling even asked them to bring up hot water for bathing.
After bathing, Qing Ling's long hair that reached down to his waist was still dripping with water. His bones were softened by the hot water, and he walked straight to the couch in the inner room.
"Your hair is still wet." Shang Changheng ran after him with a towel in his hand, "Wipe it dry before going to sleep."
Qingling hesitated for a moment, but still turned a corner and sat in front of the bronze mirror. There was a beautiful little fish lamp on the table.
Shang Changheng stood behind him and dried his long hair bit by bit. His movements were very clumsy and he would hurt Qingling from time to time.
It was hard for this great general who had been in the military all his life. He must have never done such a thing. Qingling laughed and said, "Fortunately, I don't need to draw my eyebrows, otherwise I don't know what I would look like if you drew them."
"You have to endure whatever happens." Relying on the fact that Qingling couldn't see, Shang Changheng's eyebrows were gloomy, but his voice was still gentle and soft, "Isn't it, my wife?"
"If not my wife, then what is it?" Qingling asked with a smile.
Shang Changheng was silent for a long time. Finally, when he had almost dried his hair, he said softly, "My late husband."
Qingling was suddenly stunned.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
