The fishy river water rushed into Liu Xujiao's mouth and nose, and he desperately forced the water out of his body, holding his breath and swimming towards the water.
But the sinking hull was like a giant magnet, pulling at his body and pulling him to the bottom.
Fortunately, the green worm sword has not been swept away by the water, and it is firmly behind him, Liu Xujiao pulled out the sword, held the sword and slashed the clothes from the neckline to the ankle.
How sharp the green worm sword was, wherever the sword blade went, the fabric was broken layer by layer, peeling off from his body, Liu Xujiao's feet were slightly harder, kicking off the heavy boots, he was now wearing only a pair of middle pants, and suddenly felt a lot more relaxed around his body, waved his powerful arms and legs, and swam towards the light above his head.
But after a few steps, his ankle was suddenly grabbed by someone, and all his efforts were in vain, and he rolled down into the water below.
It wasn't until his feet touched the mud at the bottom of the river that Liu Xuzhu stopped falling, he barely managed to stabilize his body, and then he realized that it was the old boatman who was dragging him, his wrinkled face was full of horror, looming in the water and grass next to him.
Liu Xuzhu pointed to it, then reached out and grabbed him, signaling that he would take him up.
The old boatman nodded, and then turned his head to look behind him, as if he was afraid that some monster would emerge from the aquatic plants behind him.
Liu Xuzhu used the green worm sword to cut off the aquatic plants around the old man, and then kicked hard in the mud with both legs, paddling upstream with one hand, but he repeated this a few times, but the old boatman was still motionless, as if he was carrying a thousand catties of iron and stone.
Suddenly, the old boatman's hand shook violently, and he desperately grabbed Liu Xuji's fingers, scratching his skin.
Liu Xujiao also became anxious, although he knew how to hold his breath, but the time under the water had been too long, he could no longer support it, his chest was numb and itchy, and he was about to burst.
He lowered his head to see what was going on, but suddenly his hand loosened, and the old boatman was pulled up by him, but his eyes were closed, and his face was pale, and he could not see whether he was alive or dead.
Liu Xuzhu couldn't care so much, he swam desperately towards the river, and when he was about to approach the light above his head, a black shadow floated over from the side, covering the light, and throwing his whole person into a cold darkness.
"Woo woo woo woo ......"
A low song came into the ears through the water waves, the song was melodious and sad, as if pouring out his tragic life experience, and like a horn for revenge.
It seemed to have a strange magic, entangled Liu Xuzhu in a circle, and the song penetrated into the veins through the ear drums, burning the blood all over his body as if it were about to burst into flames.
Liu Xujiao's body swirled in the water, sinking little by little, he grabbed the old boatman's hand with the last bit of consciousness, and held the green worm sword with the other hand, and the rest of his mind was completely filled with darkness.
A little red light flashed from the sword spike, so small in the darkness that it was almost impossible to see, but the singing stopped abruptly because of this light, and at the same time, the black shadow hovering above disappeared.
Liu Xuzhu spat out a string of bubbles and escaped from the lost, paddling the water with the last of his strength, and finally, poking his head out of the river before his chest was swollen.
He gasped for air, as if he had lived for so many years, and for the first time found the air so delicious.
Liu Xuzhu dragged the old boatman ashore, he didn't care about his almost collapsed body, his hands were interlocked, and he desperately pressed the old boatman's chest.
With a "poof", blood spurted violently from the old man's seven orifices, and blood splashed Liu Xujiao's face all over his body, which also made him stop the movements of his hands in an instant, and sat beside the old man, unable to move.
After a long time, he looked at the stiff body beside him, wiped the blood from the corners of his eyes and lips with his hands, and then stood up and bowed to the corpse, "Old man, I'm really sorry, it's still a step slow, you won't see your grandchildren anymore, but I will take you home and return to your relatives." ” With that, he looked around, hoping to find something that could hold the corpse, but when he glanced around, he saw something familiar floating up and down in the river.
"It's a wine jar."
Liu Xujiao stood up, hesitating whether to pick it up, after all, he still felt strange about the capsizing of the boat, and it was rare to set off such a big storm for no reason, I don't know if it was really as the old boatman said, it was caused by the boat on the bone altar.
He stood on the shore and hesitated for a long time, but at last he could not bear to abandon it in the river, so a fierce man plunged into the water, swam a few times and grabbed the wine jar in his hand.
The moment his hand touched the jar, he felt a thrill in his heart, because the jar had been soaked in the river for so long, and it was still hot, as if it contained something alive.
Liu Xuzhu quickly dispelled this absurd thought, he returned to the river, took off the old boatman's robe and put it on his body, found a soaked straw mat, wrapped the corpse in it, and then carried the grass to the place where the smoke rose.
After walking for about two hours, the smoke gradually approached, Liu Xujiao had been carrying a corpse for so long, he was already exhausted, and when he saw the faint roof in front of him, he was overjoyed, and quickened his pace and walked forward.
The sunset set, the wind rose, the layer of water vapor on the river was blown away, Liu Xuzhu saw a looming bridge in front of him, the bridge seemed to be made of white marble, like a crescent moon from a distance, thin, pure, and lovable.
Liu Xuzhu came a little closer, only to find that the bridge did not span the river, it plunged into the river at one end, and the other end reached into the woods by the river, and there was no end in sight.
"The bridge is not built on the river, but what is the purpose of it?"
Liu Xujiao was puzzled, he stepped forward and gently read out the three big characters engraved in the middle of the bridge: "Come to the far bridge." ” "Come far away, have friends from afar, it's fun."
He said to himself, "Is this bridge meant to welcome guests?"
Anyway, I'll be a traveler and see if I can find a place where I can fill my stomach and spend the night. ” Thinking of this, Liu Xuzhu turned over the bridge with the old boatman's body and walked slowly along the bridge deck.
The night in the woods was much darker than in the other places, and he held on to the railing of the bridge, and little by little he tried to go forward, and after walking more than half the way, he found a temple in the bushes on the left-hand side, and the temple was very small, but there was incense burning in it, and it was evident that there were people worshipping here not long ago.