Chapter 230 Taoist Priest
In several nearby villages, discussions about "women going out to sea causing storms" never stopped. Wherever the kid went, he could hear the murmurings of people who thought they had subdued their discussions, and see pairs of inquiring or sympathetic eyes.
The relatives of other victims called his sister "the disaster star", thinking that it was his sister who killed the men in their family. They often came to the house and beat up any little kid they caught.
The little devil hid here and there for a long time.
Later, a storm again took the lives of a boatload of fishermen.
But this time, there was no woman on board the boat, but this still did not prevent others from secretly speculating.
"There are no women on this ship, so how could there be a storm? Could it be that the last time I brought a woman on board angered the Dragon King, so much so that he is still angry now?"
"It can't be that someone is a woman dressed as a man, right?"
"That's too ridiculous. Isn't this endangering someone's life?"
…
You and I had our say, and by the time the rumor reached the little ghost's ears again, someone had already said with certainty that there was a woman disguised as a man hiding on the ship that was wrecked, and she killed all the people on the ship.
But soon, another ship had an accident.
This time, everyone knew all the people involved in the incident, because they were well-known gangsters in the nearby villages, and there was no possibility that they were women disguised as men.
So this time, the attention was once again returned to the little ghost, and they began to say that the reason why storms came so many times was because his sister had angered the gods of the sea, and someone was needed to perform a ritual.
The ritualists brought the villagers to the little ghost's home. They "asked" for the sister's clothes and her favorite wooden hairpin when she was alive, and they came to the coast knocking and banging their way. The ritualist in the lead wore colorful clothes and chanted strange lyrics. After a long time, they burned all of the sister's things into flying ashes blown by the sea breeze.
But after that, shipwrecks continued to occur.
And the frequency began to increase, just like a wild beast that had tasted meat and was completely addicted to food. As a result, there were more and more homeless children in the village. They gathered in groups of two or three, their bodies were dirty, their hair was dry and curly, and they all looked pale and thin.
Some of them lost their mothers at a young age and now have no father, so they are called "death stars".
In some cases, the mother remarried and did not take him with her.
Others were kicked out of their homes by their relatives, who took away the little property they had.
Compared to them, the little ghost had no relatives, so he was able to leave behind a small hut to live in. The group of little guys supported each other in this way. They didn't dare to go into the sea to catch fish, so they went to the beach after low tide every day to pick up some fresh fish and shellfish. After bringing them back, they cooked them with firewood and shared them.
They did not believe what the villagers said, that the little ghost's sister brought disaster. One of them had a child who had attended a private school for several years and knew quite a few words. The child said that it was all nonsense and not to be believed.
If a woman getting on board can really make the Dragon King so angry, then in future battles at sea, he can simply make no preparations and just throw a few women onto the enemy ship.
The other children, who had never been to school, listened to his well-reasoned words and showed expressions of approval. They praised him for his good eloquence and asked him to say more.
The young scholar's cheeks turned rosy due to the praise and he smiled shyly.
There are more homeless children. From the initial one, there are now six children living in the small thatched hut. Just when the little ghost was worried that if more people came, the small thatched house would not be able to accommodate them all, a compassionate Taoist priest came here. After hearing about what happened at sea, the Taoist priest said with certainty that the things here must have been caused by a monster called Hai Gong, and then called on the villagers to go out to sea with him on a boat to kill Hai Gong.
As the situation became more and more serious, the villagers finally organized a group of more than a dozen people, including four or five runners from the local government office, and boarded the boat with swords.
When they went there, everyone felt that such a large scale battle was enough, and with the Taoist priest in charge, success would be easy.
However, the Taoist priest had misjudged the strength of Lord Hai. Lord Hai had devoured too many lives, and now these people alone were simply unable to deal with it. At the critical moment, the Taoist priest sacrificed half of his own power, and only then was he able to barely escape with the people on the boat from Lord Hai, who had never even shown up.
After that, the existence of the sea lord became a tacit understanding among all fishermen. The Taoist priest knew that his cultivation was shallow, so he prepared to leave without saying goodbye. However, he did not expect that on the night of his departure, he would be stopped by six children in mourning clothes and linen.
They were the little ghost, the little scholar and the other six people. The children surrounded the Taoist priest like a group of puppies, with stubborn expressions and childish voices: "Big brother, are you leaving? What about Lord Hai?"
"I'm sorry, I'm not well-educated and I'm no match for it." The Taoist priest said sadly.
"Is there really no other way?" The children's faces were covered with tears and pleading. They hugged the Taoist priest's legs tightly, fearing that he would suddenly disappear in front of them.
They really wish there was another way.
Otherwise, who can avenge their dead relatives?
Upon hearing this, the Taoist priest met those pairs of hopeful eyes in the dark night, hesitated for a moment, and then shook his head firmly.
At least, there is no way for the noble and upright people to do it.
But just because of the momentary hesitation before shaking his head, the observant young scholar caught the flaw. He asked again and finally made the Taoist priest spit out the method of "beating the living stake". He originally just wanted to scare the group of children, but unexpectedly, he saw the little ghost's determined eyes the next moment: "Isn't it just be beating the living stake? As long as it can avenge my sister, I am willing to do it!"
Immediately afterwards, there were five childish but vying voices saying “I do too”.
The Taoist priest deliberately frightened these stupid kids: "Being a living stake means being buried alive and being hit by rocks. You live by the sea, and you must have had your skin broken by rocks, right? Being a living stake is a hundred times more painful than that."
I thought this wording was enough to scare off a group of children, but who would have thought that they would still all say "I do" in unison.
"Have you kids listened to too many stories about the Monkey King? Do you also want to be a hero?" the Taoist priest asked helplessly.
"Who is the Monkey King? I'm here for my sister... She was killed by Lord Hai." The little ghost said word by word, "My sister is the last family I have."
"And my father——"
"My father and grandfather..."
…
As the children revealed their wounds one after another, the Taoist priest finally fell silent. The reason why he chose to leave overnight was because he felt that he could not defeat Hai Gong, and he was ashamed to see the county magistrate and villagers who had thanked him so warmly at the beginning, and also because of his cowardice and uselessness.
He instinctively chose to escape.
Until this moment, six children who were not even as tall as his waist had taught him what it meant to be brave and fearless.
His dark eyes lit up in the darkness, as if he had finally made up his mind to fight against the Duke of Hai. He asked again, "But being a living stake means that you will never be able to escape from it. Once the building you are in is demolished, all that awaits you is a death sentence."
"Then the soul will be scattered."
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