By mid-June, Tairush has a Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers, scorching sunshine, and little rain for several days in a row.
Lu Liangsheng asked along the way and found out that this was a large province with a city called Antioch, close to the coast.
After entering the city, I saw a prosperous scene, which was very different from the Egypt I had been to. The buildings made of rock bricks and wooden strips were staggered in height, forming a large circle around a huge dome-shaped building in the middle.
Through the open window of the attic, a woman wearing a hood was pouring dirty water onto the street. The splashing mud scared a sow and four or five piglets nearby so much that they ran away in panic.
In the crisscrossing streets and alleys, most pedestrians are wearing round-necked robes, barefoot or wearing a pair of upturned-toe shoes, talking and laughing with people; amid the sounds of hawking, women leaning against fences and hotel doors sway their shoulders, put on makeup, and smile coquettishly, staring straight at the passers-by. Occasionally, someone comes up to talk in a low voice, and then takes the other person's arm and walks to a dim place.
"Are there prostitutes here too?"
Although they could not understand the words, Wang Feng and the other three could see what was going on. They stared with wide eyes, carefully watching the swaying waist as the figure walked into the dark alley or the hotel.
"Barbarians are barbarians. They are so direct in broad daylight. They should at least play some music, chess, calligraphy and painting to add some elegance. Tsk tsk..."
The four of them tiptoed, stretched their necks to look for a few times, and then followed Lu Liangsheng regretfully through the dirty street in front, found a tavern, dusted off their sleeves, brushed off the dust and walked in. The waiters in the shop were not only men like in Zhongyuan, there were also women walking around.
In the tavern, voices, laughter and scolding gathered together. A woman carrying plates walked past a table, and someone stretched out a hand to hold her waist. She sat on the customer. As she struggled, a few copper coins were stuffed into the deep ravine on her chest. She suddenly smiled and twisted her body even more violently while sitting on the customer.
"Degenerate!" "Vile!"
"I'm so jealous... Ugh, so vulgar!"
"I still think my Great Sui is the best."
The four of them stared at this scene, whispering something to each other. On the other side, Lu Liangsheng sipped the wine, frowned slightly, put it down and never picked it up again. He glanced around, ignored the noise in his ears, and paid attention to the word "Siren".
After all, information is most easily circulated in places like this.
"… Send me another can of beer. I have to go to Egypt tomorrow to sell some goods. If I drink too much today, I won't have enough on the way."
"I heard from the sailors on the ship docked at the pier that a governor was killed there by a group of Orientals."
"Persian, or Arab?"
"Who cares if they are Persian or Arab? They won't kill us, hahahaha."
"Speaking of ships, do you know about the Sirens? I never thought there were really sirens in the sea."
"Everyone in the city was talking about it the past two days. I heard some of it. Did you see it?"
"It was the ship I was looking for information on. It met the ship that caught the Siren. The sailors on it said that they saw a half-man, half-fish hanging on the mast from a distance. He also shouted to them, and the other party said that they would send Constantine to present to the emperor."
“Is it as beautiful as the legend says?”
"I have no idea."
Amid the noisy conversation in the tavern, the maid carrying the wooden tray put down the clay pot full of wine and turned around. The five people at the table near the door had left at some point. A few copper coins were stacked on the table. After looking around, the maid unnoticeably took off her belt and whistled as she went to the next table.
The noise spread outside the tavern. Lu Liangsheng, who was walking among the people on the street, walked at a very fast pace. A breeze from his sleeves wrapped around the old donkey and the four scholars behind him, and they disappeared into the city in the blink of an eye.
The sunlight was fading and turning dim, and the glow gradually turned into an orange-red over the sea. Amid the surging waves, flocks of seagulls seemed to have smelled fish, and were flying and screaming around a large ship. When they got close, they were swept away by a long pole.
"This is dedicated to His Majesty, how dare you birds get close to it!?"
"Uka, come and change, you come and chase the birds!"
The man eating the long pole lowered his head and shouted to a companion who was sorting the rope. The latter dropped the rope, raised his elbow to wipe the sweat from his forehead, came over, took the long pole from the other person, and raised his eyes to see a figure hanging under a crossbeam of the mast.
"Not dead?"
"She has just been watered, so she won't die. Let her go later and whip her before presenting her to Your Majesty. That way she will behave herself."
The man handed over his work, stretched lazily, took a last look at the Siren hanging above, walked to the cabin, poured a glass of beer, leaned against the side of the ship, and talked with other crew members about what kind of reward they would get when they met the emperor after docking.
The young man who took over the job of driving away the seagulls, squinted his eyes, leaned against the pillar and held a long pole, looking at the sirens with their heads down, and suddenly smiled. He had never seen a sirens, and had never thought that the mermaids in the rumors would chase their boat, and see the fishing nets being spread out, and even dive into them. It was stupid.
"After Athens, we still have one day to reach Constantinople. You can take a closer look at the sea. You won't have the chance again in the future."
The young man jokingly talked to the Siren, and soon the sailor who had left earlier came back with the captain and several crew members, and slowly lowered the mermaid hanging above to the deck.
"Ji..."
The mermaid's hands were tied and a rope was tied to her tail that connected her to the mast. She could not move even if the rope was lowered. She looked in horror at the burly sailor who was coming over with a whip. The sailor spat on the deck, got the captain's approval, swung his arms away, lifted the whip into the air, and then lashed it down fiercely.
Crackling—
The whip passed over the scaly body and scratched the delicate white upper body, leaving a bloody mark in an instant. The mermaid widened her eyes, and before she could finish her scream, the whip was lashed down again and landed on the shoulder. A few strands of seaweed-like hair suddenly broke and scattered in the air. The bloody mark slowly oozed blood.
“Chichi… ah… ah…”
The mermaid opened her mouth wide, as if she was crying, and shook her head vigorously, begging them not to hit her. Seeing her begging and wailing, several people laughed. One of them untied his belt and squatted down, while stretching out his fingers to hook her mouth and pull it wider, so that he could see the fine small teeth all over the inside. Then he withdrew his hand regretfully and tied the belt again, which made his companions laugh even louder and punched her lightly.
Someone laughed and shouted:
"Sanders, be careful that the sirens might bite your thing off. We'll take care of the woman in your family for you!"
On the deck, there was another round of laughter, which made the man snatch the whip and vent his anger on the mermaid in front of him. He kicked her hard and whipped her again with the whip. The delicate skin on her upper body was immediately covered in blood and flesh, and blood splattered on the faces of several people.
"Chi...Chi...Woo..."
The mermaid's screams became weaker, and several people who were overly conscious rushed forward, dragged Sanders back from the whip, snatched the whip and threw it on the ground, and quickly asked the dazed young man to go to the cabin to get some external medicine for the wound.
"How can you expect His Majesty to reward you for beating me so hard?!"
While the people were scolding each other, someone took the opportunity to kick the man named Sanders. The latter got up from the ground and started to wrestle with the person who had spoken.
The ship was in chaos, but still passed Athens and got closer to Constantine in the north.