52.
The boat is spinning.
Long Rong had already been told by Fang Tinglan that there would be a mutiny on the deck. In order not to drag them down, she locked herself in the cargo cabin in the lower deck early. With her back against the ship's post, she had no way of knowing what was happening above, only that the ship was still moving on amidst the chaos. Every piece of wood in the bulkhead was screaming and screaming, as if it would break in two in the next second. Can't vomit, vomiting will make the filth block breathing; can't call for help, no one will hear the call for help; can't faint, can't be hit on the head... The young queen meditated on one thing after another in this upheaval. There was nothing to do but hold the ropes tied to the poles a little tighter—
She understands that this is a test, if she can't face the shapely waves, then sooner or later those invisible waves on land will swallow her up.
Things were worse on deck than in the cabin. At the moment of rushing into the life and death beach, because of the undercurrent, the hull turned uncontrollably. At that time, two sailors fell off the boat because they did not hold the rope tightly. The sea water washed every inch of the deck, making everyone's feet slippery. Hailian staggered for two steps, and managed to hold the steering wheel. He glanced back at the Beihong people who were chasing behind him amidst the ups and downs of the waves. When it was dangerous, they pulled down the sails early, turned around and retreated at a low speed, but those schooners that were sweeping wings were not so lucky. Send it into the vortex of life and death beach.
The beach of life and death is the hand of the sea god, the beach of destiny. All the sailors on the Yun Sea knew this.
Hai Lian is not an old sailor, but he has also heard how dangerous Life and Death Beach is at the countless wine tables in Sand Ghost Bay. You can't fight against the Sea God, you have to relax, like a woman lying under her lover's body." There were obscene laughs in the tavern, but no one refuted the old sailor's point of view.
Gotta relax. Hai Lian's nerves were still tense, but the steering wheel in his hand was loosened, and he glanced at the top of his head. Man cannot tame the sea, but he can manipulate the wind. The young man pursed his lips and made a decision. He picked up the whistle next to the steering wheel and blew twice vigorously. The next second, there was a gunshot from the front.
He heard it. Helian heaved a sigh of relief.
In fact, the sound of the whistle and the sound of the gun didn't mean anything, but there was always a strange tacit understanding between him and him. Even if they were separated by two ends, they both knew what they needed to do. So when the next wave threw the stern of the boat up, a vigorous figure slid over the deck quickly, it was Fang Tinglan. Hailian quickly grabbed the opponent's arm: "You take the helm."
"give it to me."
After all, the two of them switched positions, and Fang Tinglan was in charge of the helm, while Hai Lian let go of the steering wheel and sprinted two steps towards the mast. In the next moment, he had already pulled the halyard and moved With a quick tug, another sail on the secondary mast was lowered, and the ship was guided by the slanting wind, and successfully circumvented the first undercurrent. But those Beihong ships behind were not so lucky, boom! A wave wall collapsed, leaving six ships.
Taking advantage of this precious time to breathe, Hailian vigorously wiped the water stains on his face, and shouted loudly, "Stand up for me! How many oarsmen are left?"
"Ten, eleven."
"I need twenty. Now, immediately, go down, before you hear the whistle on the deck, even if you die, you must hold on to the oars in your hands!"
Having experienced life and death just now, the sailors had long believed in Hailian's order. They quickly counted out more than 20 people and rushed into the lower cabin. "Other people," Hai Lian continued, "half of them are in charge of the winch, and the rest are responsible for raising and lowering the sails."
The chief mate also turned his back completely at this time, an oil barrel hit his foot just now, and the man half-limped over: "What am I responsible for?"
"These are your buddies, you command them well."
"What about you?" Fang Tinglan asked.
"I'm going to see if I can re-tie a sail on the right auxiliary mast." Hai Lian said.
"Don't go, it's too dangerous." Fang Tinglan immediately vetoed, "Even if I lose a sail, I can still avoid it, trust me."
"I didn't say I don't believe you, but not every time the wind direction is as we want it to be," Hailian said, and he had already started to tie the rope around his waist. After trying the tightness, he raised his eyebrows and smiled at the man. The scar on the tail also aroused, "I know there is a word in Dongzhou called 'together in the same boat', Fang Tinglan, you also believe me."
"..." Fang Tinglan opened and closed his lips, and in the end he just took a deep look at his little pirate, "Okay."
The wind was squeezed by the clouds, and began to change gradually. The dark gray clouds above the head were like saturated sponges, splashing raindrops generously. It can be seen that the distance is getting shorter and shorter, and it is only one nautical mile as far as the eye can see. Hai Lian stood in front of the right auxiliary mast. The broken mast was only about four inches in diameter, and it looked extremely slender in the wind and rain. The half of the sail was still drooping—this time it might be more dangerous than the naval battle four years ago. , and the responsibilities on his shoulders are also more arduous. He shook his head, exhaled lightly, and began to climb up.
What did my thirteen-year-old self see when he stood on top of the Lady in the Clouds
It is a stretch of buildings, blue walls, red tiles, every door will be hung with fresh flowers, lilies of the valley, roses, daisies... White birds fly out from behind the golden palace on the mountain in a row; The sea level is far away, the cargo ships are flowing, the other side is invisible, and the strange tune blown by the horn of the sea rhinoceros is full of sailors' longing for returning home. He has already seen the blackness and filth hidden under the bright colors of Jiumeng City, and he also knows that the deep blue sea is soaked with scarlet overflowing from the wounds of countless people, but he loves bright and deep blue, and also embraces dirty and dirty scarlet.
So he had to go back to that place.
The last trace of confusion in his heart dissipated, and Hai Lian opened his eyes on the top of the auxiliary mast.
The rough canvas rubbed against the rope, and when one knot was not enough, another was tied. At the moment when the wind filled the sail again, he heard cheers from the deck that could overcome the roar of the waves.
53.
The rain gradually subsided, but the wind was still strong. The rudder wheel was spinning, the oars and sculls were swiping together, and the huge roar was buzzing in everyone's eardrums. The rising and falling sails accurately sent every gust of wind to the feet of the broken ship. One undercurrent after another tried to bring the boats into the dance floor where the gods were carnival, but the wind grabbed its hand and led it out. Four hours have passed since entering the beach of life and death, and the huge reef that marks the end point has already exposed a faint corner on the sea level. Everyone has reached the end of their strength, but the sea god does not want to let this group of exhausted ants leave like this .
"—Mad dog wave! Mad dog wave is coming!" The sailors at the bow screamed in horror.
"Withdraw the sails! Remove all the sails!" the first mate roared.
There was no more time for the sailors to hesitate. The only thing they could do was to obey. The winch spun rapidly, and the huge sail on the mainmast fell down. . He was still on the top of the mast at this moment, relying on the rope around his waist to fix his body. The young man tried his best to look forward in the dense rain, and a clear white thin line was approaching, but within a short while, the thin line quickly disappeared. It became a towering wave wall.
"Forget it!" Fang Tinglan said anxiously, "A pair of sails won't affect it!"
How could there be no effect, even if it is only due to a slight deviation in the wind direction, as long as the angle with the wave is not in the middle, this rotten ship will be torn to pieces in an instant. Since he believed in the rudder in Fang Tinglan's hand, he had to help him eliminate any other interfering factors. Hai Lian gritted his teeth, pulled out the dagger, and broke the knot he had just tied not long ago, and the corner of the tight knot flew up. The wave of mad dogs is just around the corner, and there is still one way to go.
"Everyone! Hold on to the railing!"
Fang Tinglan's pupils shrank in shock: "Hailian!!"
The moment the torrential white foam hit the bow of the boat, what was reflected in his eyes was the figure of that person jumping sideways.
The moment the waves overturned, a huge force oppressed everyone to kneel and surrender to the Sea God. The hull shook violently like a dying epileptic, and the waves hit everyone like a hammer. Fang Tinglan couldn't hold his breath, and took a sip of the seawater. The disgusting salty taste filled his throat, making him unable to call out his lover's name in the water. The man held on tightly to the steering wheel in the violent turbulence. Obviously, the time for the huge waves to pass by was only a moment, but the torment was endless like a flood and purgatory. Finally, Kuanglan moved away from him, the ups and downs gradually became gentle, and the sea showed its gentle side to the survivors again.
And Fang Tinglan also raised his head to look at the mast the moment the invisible hand left the cervical spine.
—It was empty above.
The man was startled, his first reaction was to close his eyes. "It's impossible..." He took a deep breath, as if speaking to himself, "Impossible."
"Of course not."
A piece of wet cloth was thrown at him, and Fang Tinglan's already wet face suddenly had a ridiculous water mark. He slowly opened his eyes and looked to the side, the Lord of the Sea was leaning against the side of the boat, and blinked slowly at him, "Why, do you think I'm dead?"
The beach between life and death, the rain began to fall, and everyone couldn't believe that they escaped in such a boat. Everyone looked at each other blankly for a while, and then someone let out a strange cry from his chest. Crying, laughing, embracing... All the usual quarrels seem insignificant in the rest of their lives after the catastrophe. The sailors gratefully hugged those attendants—they just caught several people who almost fell overboard in the drift , the attendants did not speak Dongzhou dialect, but they also expressed reconciliation to them with the gestures and etiquette of the southern border.
During the celebration time, the most important thing on the minds of the guards was the safety of Her Majesty the Queen. Several people patted the shoulders of the remaining sailors, and they rushed to the lower cabin together. One of them walked up to the stairs, subconsciously glanced towards the bow of the ship, and couldn't help being taken aback: "That's..."
Fang Tinglan was the only one who didn't speak in the noise. He stared at Hailian and let go of the rudder.
"Don't look at me, look ahead." Hailian's forehead was still bleeding, and his expression was tired and relaxed, "As long as the captain steps on the deck, he has to be with the helmsman. Haven't you Dongzhou Navy learned it? "
Fang Tinglan shook his head, and took out something from the waterproof tube at his waist: "I don't need to look ahead."
The neatly arrayed Yingcang Navy was right in front of them, with red masts and black keels, like a sculpture on the prow of a Tenglong protruding its minions towards the small boat. Just when the sailors thought they were going to die after all, a blue signal smoke suddenly rose from the rudder of the ship, and after a while, the same blue smoke rose from every ship of the Yingcang Army opposite.
It's a welcome semaphore.
"That's why you said earlier that as long as you cross the beach of life and death, you will have your own way later?" Although life and death were saved, but he hurt his waist when he fell, Hai Lian still maintained a crooked posture, looking up at Fang Tinglan .
"Yes, Yingcang's army can't enter Beihong's sea area," Fang Tinglan knelt down halfway, reaching out to grab something to help him stop the bleeding, but unfortunately, he touched the sea water in his arms, "but after crossing the beach of life and death, It is close to the East Tianli Line, if Bei Hong wants to continue to pursue, he has to weigh his weight... What are you laughing at?"
Hai Lian smiled even more proudly, "I found that the girls in the mud area are right about you." He reached out and grabbed the man's collar, "You are really prudish."
Long Rong was helped out of the cabin by the attendants, and the first thing the woman did after breathing the fresh air was rushing to the side of the boat to vomit;
The first mate pulled several of his old buddies, wept with snot and tears, and claimed that he would wash his hands after landing;
After the sailors sang the boat songs, they hummed the folk songs on the shore again;
On the side of the ship that no one noticed, both of them had been doused by the sea for a round, and they were in the same distress from head to toe, their hair was wet, their lips were also wet, and blood seeped into the corners of their mouths along their cheeks. Sunlight penetrated through the broken clouds and fell on this fishy and sweet kiss.