Chapter 88 Chapter 88 Dilemma
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"Meng Ran, Meng Ran?"
The people in the cabin were completely petrified, and no matter how Liang Zhao called out, they didn't respond.
The telescope was shaking and sliding out of control into the water. Gu Mengran stared blankly ahead, as if his soul had been sucked away by an invisible force, leaving only an empty shell.
Before it got wet, Liang Zhao reached out and retrieved the telescope back into the cabin. Then he held Gu Mengran's violently trembling hand, with a serious expression and a gentle tone: "Don't be afraid, don't worry, sit tight, we'll go back first."
Liang Zhao had dreamed of the day when Gu Mengran fell into the water, so he had naturally seen the Yongyue.
Although he only saw it from a distance in his dream and had no idea what exactly happened on the ship, Gu Mengran's reaction must have shown that something had frightened and frightened him.
It was an identical dream. In addition to the successive natural disasters and Gu Mengran, the cruise ship in the dream also appeared in reality. Liang Zhao suddenly felt unable to distinguish between reality and dreams.
There was no time to dwell on these things. His intuition told him that this cruise ship was very dangerous. Liang Zhao only took three seconds to think before he stepped on the accelerator and controlled the diesel boat to turn around.
“Boom, boom, boom—”
The engine was right in front of him, and Liang Zhao didn't pay much attention to the first roar, because the sound of a diesel engine is already very noisy. But the bow of the boat broke through the water and turned around on the spot, and a sound like thunder suddenly came from behind, as if a three-dimensional surround effect was turned on, surrounding them layer by layer.
There were people, no, there were boats approaching, and more than one.
Liang Zhao's first reaction was to speed up, and after turning the accelerator and jumping forward for a distance, he suddenly realized, where to run? Take the people to the Wind Wing? Or run out along the lake outlet?
No matter which option is chosen, the Wind Wing is at risk of being exposed.
It is too late to hide the boat and the people in it now. The distance is not far, and vague outlines can be seen through the hazy mist. If they disappear at this point, I am afraid we will have to dig three feet into the ground to find them.
After only a moment of hesitation, the boats behind him were getting closer and closer. Liang Zhao looked back and saw four motor rafts, each with two or three people on board.
The figures on the boat were vaguely visible, and loud shouts echoed over the humming sound:
"Who is it? Stop right there!"
"People in front, slow down and stop the boat immediately!"
The monk can run away, but the temple cannot. After much hesitation, Liang Zhao chose to slow down and stop the boat. At this time, Gu Mengran, who had lost his soul, came to his senses. He gently placed his palm into the cabin, and the three bags of bitter melons disappeared immediately.
The roar dissipated, and the water surface disturbed by the ship gradually calmed down. The diesel boat stopped steadily, and four rubber rafts immediately surrounded it, occupying one side each in the east, south, west and north. The boats were next to each other, sandwiching the diesel boat tightly in the middle.
Four boats, ten people, and ten pairs of eyes were staring at them, as if they were visiting animals in a zoo, looking at them with raised eyebrows and unscrupulous eyes.
After a group of people surrounded him, Gu Mengran remained sitting in the boat motionless, but his face was extremely pale, his body was shaking uncontrollably, and his hands hanging by his sides were clenched into fists.
"It's okay." Liang Zhao let go of the rudder and held Gu Mengran's hand in front of everyone as if nothing had happened. When Gu Mengran's emotions gradually stabilized, he looked up at the others and asked in confusion, "Who are you? What's the matter?"
"We? Hahaha..."
In the raft right in front, a burly middle-aged man stood up, bent over and laughed as if he had heard a joke. But just a few seconds later, the man's face changed instantly and he kicked the diesel boat hard.
"I'm giving you face, right? Who are we? I'm your father! Didn't you hear me telling you to stop the boat? Are your ears just for show? Run, keep running!"
The diesel boat was kicked one after another, making clanging sounds and shaking with the man's movements.
Liang Zhao's face was very ugly when his boat was treated so roughly and rudely. He endured it for a while and gently stroked the back of Gu Mengran's hand with his thumb to suppress the anger in his heart.
Being patient really worked. The man kicked a few times and then felt bored. He pulled his feet back and stood on the bow, looking down at the two men. "What are you doing? Why are you hanging around here?"
Without giving the man a chance to open his mouth, in less than two seconds, the other man yelled, "I'm asking you a question. What's wrong? Are your ears not working well and your mouth is dumb too?"
Liang Zhao didn't admit defeat, nor did he try to please the man. He looked at the middle-aged man who had the final say and said in bewilderment, "That's strange. What's wrong with us hanging around at the entrance of our village? I haven't even asked you yet. What are you doing at the entrance of our village?"
"Your village? Are you also from Shijin Village?" The middle-aged man was not angry because of Liang Zhao's attitude. After hearing his words, he raised his eyebrows and looked at Liang Zhao with a hint of doubt in his eyes.
I didn't get angry. I knew the name of the village. This person is a bit strange...
Liang Zhao nodded thoughtfully and continued, "Of course, we are the only village nearby."
"Really?" The man's attitude was obviously much friendlier, and he asked half-doubtfully, "Then why did you run just now?"
Seeing that things were turning around, Liang Zhao softened his attitude and said with a low laugh, "Brother, on the way home, a group of strangers blocked the entrance to your alley. If it were you, would you run away?"
"That makes sense. Then what happened next? Why didn't you run away again?"
"The monk may run away, but the temple cannot. The whole family is still in the village."
"Hahaha!" The man was amused by him and laughed while holding his stomach.
But people are so fickle. He was still laughing one second, and the next second, the man raised his chin, turned his head and said to the small boy who was curled up in the raft, "What are you standing there for? Why don't you say hello to the people in your village?"
After saying that, the timid boy raised his head to look at Liang Zhao, then turned his eyes to look at Gu Mengran, and stammered, "Hello, you guys."
"What's so good about that? You guys from the same village are just greeting each other like this? You can't even call each other's names?" The middle-aged man's face was terribly gloomy. As he spoke, he raised his foot, as if he wanted to kick the boy.
"Second mate!"
A cry of surprise stopped the man, and the foot paused in mid-air before slowly falling back to its original position. The boy seemed to be extremely frightened, and he hugged his head reflexively, curled up into a ball, and trembled.
"Zhou Qi, you are still so timid." The man leaned over and patted Zhou Qi's shoulders twice. "Tell me the truth, do you know them?"
"No, I don't know him... I don't know him."
"Oh?" The man let go of his hand, turned his head and looked at Liang Zhao again, and smiled meaningfully, "Strange, we Zhou Qi, who are also from Shijin Village, don't recognize you. May I ask which Shijin Village are you from?"
Liang Zhao remained calm and said, "We joined later, so it's normal that he doesn't know us. You can ask him if he knows Brother Duan, Xiaodong, and Sister Fang."
Hearing these names, Zhou Qi looked up as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw and said, "I know them, I recognize them—"
"Did I ask you?" the man glared at her.
I thought I was lucky and picked up two lonely people to try out, but who would have thought that they were actually from Shijin Village. Fang Jianming was very itchy, but he didn't dare to delay the captain's plan. He could only suppress his displeasure and waved to the raft next to him, "Leave the boat, take the people up to confirm."
He didn't even pretend. After he finished speaking, he smiled at Liang Zhao with his big yellow teeth bared. "It's just a misunderstanding. Since you are brothers from Shijin Village, you are all friends. Our captain is a guest in your village. Maybe we will be a family in the future."
"Leave the diesel boat behind and take our raft."
"Hurry up, move faster."
…
Going ashore to the village was better than boarding the cruise ship. Liang Zhao gave up resisting completely, helped Gu Mengran get on someone else's raft, and arrived at the shore accompanied by a shrill buzzing sound.
The cruise ship was very close to the shore. When going ashore, Liang Zhao looked back inadvertently.
The rain kept falling, but the open-air deck on the second floor was crowded with people. Dozens of people were leaning on the railings and looking around curiously. There were both men and women, all young people, without exception.
In order to confirm their identities, three men accompanied them into the village.
The man said that the captain was a guest in the village. Liang Zhao didn't care about the situation in the village, but the captain certainly couldn't be alone. He only cared about how he could take Gu Mengran away if the villagers let the secret slip.
The water had risen to the entrance of the village, leaving Liang Zhao no time to think of a solution. The three men seemed to have been here countless times before, and they led them through the alleys with ease and arrived at the largest stone house in the village, which was Sister Fang's home.
The door was wide open, and a circle of villagers stood in front of the door in three layers. They had no fear, terror, or sense of crisis at all, and they all stretched their necks to look inside the door, seemingly just gathering to join in the fun.
Having worked in the village for several months and having traveled around quite a bit over the past year, the villagers basically knew Liang Zhao and Gu Mengran. Seeing them coming out from the corner, several familiar ladies greeted them.
However, they were still alert. Seeing the two men's serious expressions and the strangers in front of them, they just said hello and didn't say much.
There is no need to worry after passing this level, because Sister Fang is a smart person.
I struggled through the crowd and squeezed into the main room, which was still full of people.
There was no table in the room, only two chairs. Twenty or thirty men were standing in several rows against the right wall. They were all standing in a casual manner, without any proper manner, just like the idle vagrants on the street before the disaster.
The only two chairs were occupied by Sister Fang, a gentle and elegant middle-aged stranger.
The man had a gentle appearance and decent manners. His clothing and temperament were out of tune with his surroundings. The broken wooden stool he sat on gave him a sense of elegance. If it wasn't so obvious in front of people, it would be hard to associate him with that group of street urchins.
When five people entered the room together, there was naturally quite a bit of noise.
Everyone in the room looked at them at the same time. Gu Mengran did not react at all, and the calm man in the middle just glanced casually. Liang Zhao could clearly feel that the hand in his palm was shaking violently.
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