I didn’t expect that their boat was still so far away and could actually hit it. The red light in the sky must have been shot down by them!
The pilot saw that the sails had been fully raised, and the wind began to pull the sails, but the wind was not strong enough. He had to immediately judge the wind speed and the direction of the ship: "Shipowner, we are ready to sail. I am just waiting for your order."
Liang Daoqing stared at the young woman and saw that she was trembling with fear and kept looking towards the island in fear.
"sail!"
The pilot had already raised a torch to give instructions to the helmsman and sailmaker.
Under his order, Liang Daoqing's merchant ship slowly turned around, sailed away from Yangyu Island, and ventured towards the sea.
At first, the pilot did not dare to let the ship go too fast, and ordered them to only raise the sail halfway to prevent the ship from being too fast and unable to avoid the rocks. Once they reached a safe sea area, he ordered them to fully raise the sail and move forward at full speed. , leaving the chasing boat far behind.
Liang Daoqing saw that it was safe and ordered the pilot to set the ship in the direction of Bo Ni.
When sailing during the day, you rely on the compass, and when sailing at night, you can also refer to the stars in the sky. This is not a problem for the pilot.
After the boat was stabilized, Liang Daoqing suddenly ordered two sailors to hold the woman from behind. The woman opened her bright eyes and looked at Liang Daoqing in horror.
Liang Daoqing was still in shock. He opened his nostrils and breathed hard: "Tell her not to be afraid. I won't hurt her. I just want to find out who she is."
Ah Bing translated it truthfully.
The woman couldn't move, so the sailor searched around her waist, found a dagger, and handed it to Liang Daoqing.
Liang Daoqing looked at the dagger. It was an ordinary dagger from people in Champa. The blade was slightly curved and very sharp.
Liang Daoqing sighed: "Are there no other weapons?"
"Go back to the captain, it's gone."
Liang Daoqing slowly stepped forward, untied the jewelry from her neck, and ordered the sailor to bring over a copper lantern inlaid with glass pieces so that the light could shine on her bare neck.
There was a red line that sunk deep into her neck and circled around it.
Liang Daoqing gasped: "Sixteen years old, right? When did you turn sixteen?"
※※※
The woman was locked in the cargo hold at the bottom of the ship. Liang Daoqing did not allow anyone to approach her, and she remained silent from night to day.
Yunkong couldn't understand what the captain was doing, so he ran to ask him. Liang Daoqing stayed in the cabin surrounded by books.
"Taoist Master, you are a sensible person. Let me show you some ancient books."
Liang Daoqing obviously didn't sleep well all night. There were several books spread out on the table, "First, there is this "Sou Shen Ji", and this "Natural History"."
He handed the book to Yun Kong and pointed at the passage he wanted him to read.
"Sou Shen Ji" and "Nu Wu Zhi" are both works of the Jin Dynasty, with a history of at least 800 years. Yun Kong read them in Yinshan Temple when he was a child. The books are full of strange and weird things, and he especially likes to read them.
"Sou Shen Ji" says that during the Qin Dynasty, there was a kind of "lost man" in the south, and his head would fly out. It also said that Zhu Huan, a famous general in the Eastern Wu Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period, had a maid at home. After going to bed at night, his head would fly out. With ears as wings, I don’t come back until dawn.
At that time, generals who were conquering the south often caught these people. Someone once covered the severed necks of such people with copper plates. Their heads could not be reattached, and they would eventually die.
Liang Daoqing handed him the "Natural History", which also said that there were flying-headed people in Wu State, and there was a kind of sacrifice called "Chongluo".
Liang Daoqing said: "When I was young and sailed here with my father, I was very surprised that the Champa Kingdom also had the same legend. In fact, all our crew members knew that the Feitou people were not only here, but also from Kuizhou (now Guizhou), Dayue, Champa and Chenla all the way south have similar sayings.”
Yunkong looked at it and thought: In the Qin and Three Kingdoms eras, Wu State was already on the southern edge, but now it is only where Lin'an Prefecture, the capital of the Song Dynasty, is located, and Guangnan (today's Guangdong and Guangxi), which is further south than Wu State, During the Three Kingdoms period, it was a barbaric land that the Han people did not want to go to.
“What kind of sacrifice is the ‘Insect Fall’ mentioned in the book?”
"I've never seen them before. You saw them last night too. You saw flying heads all over the sky from a distance. You were afraid to avoid them. Why would you want to get close to them?"
"So, besides their heads flying, is there anything scary about them?"
Liang Daoqing turned his head and thought for a moment: "It doesn't seem to be the case. It's just that they will lick the child's feces, and then the child will die."
Yun Kong said seriously: "I want to meet that girl, I hope you will allow me."
"what are you planning to do?"
"I want to talk to her and hear her side of the story for myself."
The ship owner Liang Daoqing looked hesitant.
"This is a rare opportunity. Don't Liang Weng want to hear what the Flying Head Man has to say with his own ears?"
Yunkong said, "Of course, I also hope to borrow Ah Bing."
※※※
The woman was brought to the sunny deck, where Yun Kong and the ship's chairman sat on the ground. Sitting next to them was A Bing, a man from Champa. Rice and fresh fish were placed in front of them. The fish was caught using the trawl net at the back of the merchant ship.
They invited the woman to sit down and eat with them to put her at ease.
The woman looked around uneasily. The merchant ship had stopped in the middle of the sea. Almost all the crew members had stopped working and surrounded them curiously.
Under the bright sunlight, the deep red marks on the woman's neck are particularly eye-catching, attracting more attention than her big clear eyes and beautiful appearance.
"What's your name?" Yun Kong asked softly.
After Ah Bing translated, the woman replied: "Willow leaves."
Yun Kong got straight to the point: "Liu Ye, they say you are a flying-headed person. Will your head fly out?"
Liuye lowered his head and whispered: "Not yet..."
"Why sixteen? Will you fly out after you turn sixteen?"
Liu Ye nodded, trembling slightly: "I'm scared, I don't know what will happen then."
Liang Daoqing couldn't help but frown slightly after hearing this. He began to feel a little pity for her.
"If the boss finds out, he'll chop my head off."
"That's why you want to run away?" Liu Ye nodded.
"What about your child?"
"My mother will protect him."
"Can your mother's head fly too?"
Liu Ye shook her head vigorously: "No, she can't. I am the only one in the whole family who can."
Yun Kong and the captain couldn't help but look at each other.
They discussed last night, what kind of monster is the flying-headed man?
A race?
Or is it a spell?
Judging from Willow Ye's answer, I'm afraid it's not that simple.
"So, are there any of your ancestors who can fly their heads?"
Liuye lowered his head lower: "We have one or two in each generation. Once someone has a flying head in their family, they will hide in the mountains when they grow up."
"Then when will your head fly out?"
"Today is my birthday..."
Liang Daoqing felt numb all over, expecting and fearing at the same time: "When your head flies out, how do you need us to help you?"
Liu Ye's face was full of disbelief: "You want to help me?"
"This Taoist priest wants to help you." Liang Daoqing pointed to the sky, "We have heard that flying heads will fly out to eat children's feces, or eat women's menstrual blood, or fly into the sea to eat fish. You need us to help you prepare These things?”
Liu Ye gritted her teeth: "My mother said that on the night of my sixteenth birthday, when my head flew out for the first time, she would kill a chicken for me..."
Liang Daoqing raised his eyes to search for the cook: "We have chickens on the ship."
Yun Kongjie said: "Your mother said she wanted to kill a chicken. Is there any special reason?"
"I don't know either," Liu Ye shrank, "Our family has been doing this from generation to generation..."
Yunkong nodded and thought for a long time before waving his hand to invite the woman to eat: "When you are full, get ready for tonight."
The woman nodded gratefully, but still did not dare to completely trust the Taoist priest in front of her. She was worried that these strangers would do something to her while her head was away, and they might throw her body into the sea, so she would Never alive to see her children again.
She grabbed the rice with her hands and put it into her mouth, thinking: Tang people's rice is so delicious.
At this time, Yunkong suddenly asked her: "Do you know who the first generation of Feitou in your ancestors was?"
Liu Ye was stunned. She had never thought about this kind of problem, and she had never heard her mother talk about it.
Suddenly, Liu Ye suddenly remembered something. The floral cloth around her lower body was folded and fastened at the waist. She took out a thumb-sized piece of jade from the fold, which her mother showed to Yun Kong that day.
