"Squeak, good wine~!"
The hair on the monkey's chin is wet with wine. It's not fairy wine, it's just muddy wine brewed by farmers in the riverside villages.
From the monkey's perspective, the most important thing about drinking is your mood, which can include sweet, sour, bitter, plain water, etc., allowing you to taste the world and savor the taste in your heart.
Monkeys have a different mentality and do not care about high or low class. For example, drinking tea with Lao Huixian at Zhuquan Temple, boiling a pot of water and adding a handful of coarse tea, chatting and laughing, and having a big bowl to quench your thirst with booze is the most enjoyable, and a nest of strange things is not too bad. I like to drink slowly from a small cup.
The water vapor on the riverside is heavy, and the monkey hairs all over the body are covered with the fishy smell of the river water.
My ears twitched slightly, and I heard footsteps coming from the mountain road behind me. The voice sounded like it was a woman. Her kung fu was sparse and ordinary, so she must be a martial arts ranger.
In the early morning, dew hangs all over the grass and leaves, and it is easy to get your shoes and trousers wet while walking.
Wearing light and powerful clothes, carrying a bamboo hat and a water bag on his waist, holding an ordinary iron sword, he was an extremely ordinary ranger, a nameless person.
The female ranger seemed surprised that there was a ferry on the river.
Hesitating slightly, he walked towards the small pier.
"Boatman, when did there be a ferry terminal here?"
"Squeak, I've just built it. Heroine, you want to cross the river? Make sure the boat is fast and stable."
A certain monkey was fishing in a coir raincoat without looking back, and his face could not be seen.
The female ranger frowned.
I don’t understand why the boatman speaks with a squeak, and his accent sounds non-local, like a foreigner.
Crossing the river...?
I remember that I have never been to the other side of the river since I was young.
Monsters are rampant in the water, and the undercurrents are surging and it is difficult for a boat to cross. It is said that even the immortal cultivators are helpless. How can this dwarf, who seems to be three feet tall, ferry across? Just that ordinary wooden boat? Could it be some liar and water thief?
But what if it’s really a ferry?
Looking at the river from a distance, it is as calm as a mirror, with white mist curling up. What does it look like on the other side?
Thinking about the sadness, I suddenly want to take a gamble.
"How much does the boat cost?"
"Zhizhi, just leave one thing, as much or as little as you like."
Hearing this, the female ranger nodded. The boatman had a profound idea.
"I want to cross the river, when will I start?"
"Squeak~ Let's go now. Please get on the boat and sit down."
The monkey is very happy that the first business has come to his door. As long as there is the first one, there will be a second and a third one. Bai Zeng said that if you do everything well, you will always make discoveries.
The female ranger walked onto the small wooden boat and sat down on the bow. She looked at the river with dull eyes, feeling sad...
Put the fishing rod away on the shore, grab the wine jar and take another sip.
"Zhizhi~Good wine!"
He picked up the oar modified with a golden hoop and a wooden board, and stepped onto the boat with bow-legged steps.
Give it a gentle push.
The wooden boat cut through the mirror and left the shore.
The monkey stood on the stern of the boat and paddled rhythmically, with an oar on each side. The wood made a squeaking sound when the wood rubbed against it. The oar entered the water and stirred up a small vortex to push it back. Then it came out of the water and slid forward against the calm water, bringing up a string of water droplets on the surface. Draw a ripple, then enter the water, and you can move forward over and over again.
Rowing is very interesting. When you pull your arms back, the paddle moves forward; when you row forward, the paddle moves backward. Use your arms, waist, and legs to coordinate your efforts.
If you look down from the sky.
On the calm water surface, there is a faint white mist, and the cold river water is looming.
A small canoe made inverted V-shaped ripples, moving towards the other side.
The picture is very artistic.
Perhaps the water vapor was blinding her eyes. The female ranger looked at the vast mist and thought deeply. She burst into tears unknowingly. The teardrops slid down the wooden board and smashed into pieces...
"Squeak, the river is very wide and the road is still far away. Just say what you have in mind. There is no one else around."
The monkey just finished speaking.
"Wuwuwu...why...why...wuwu..."
The female ranger couldn't hold back her tears.
At the stern of the boat, the monkey's solitary and ugly face was very confused. She didn't understand why the human being suddenly cried. She was obviously bored while crossing the river and asked her to talk. Why did she shed tears?
It was very quiet on the quiet and cool river, and the cries and sobs could be heard far, far away.
He picked up the wine jar and touched the female ranger's shoulder.
"Squeak, take a sip."
The female ranger facing the river grabbed the wine jar and drank fiercely. Her tears mixed with the wine. The monkey thought that what she drank must be bitter and get drunk easily. It would be better if she didn't fall into the river and drown. It would be hard to do after someone died on the boat. Bought and sold.
Until now, the female ranger has never seen the monkey's face.
When he was on the shore, he wore a straw hat and a raincoat with his back to fishing. When he got on the boat, he kept looking at the other shore, completely unaware that the boatman was a gray-haired wild monkey.
The monkey remembered what Bai Yujun once said.
"Zhi, people in the world can't help themselves."
"When people are in rivers and lakes, they can't help themselves... When people are in rivers and lakes, they can't help themselves..."
The female ranger repeated the eight words again and again, expressing her helplessness and desolation, and her deep feelings.
"Thank you boatman."
"Zhizhi, you're welcome."
Hearing two squeaks that sounded like some kind of animal noise, the female ranger turned around. Her eyes were blurred by tears and she couldn't see clearly. She only thought that the boatman was short and a bit ugly. Who would take the risk of being the ferryman if he had the ability?
Wiping away my tears, my vision became much clearer, and I looked again...
He suddenly tensed up and stepped back! But behind us is the bow of the ship and there is nowhere to retreat!
"Monster...monster..."
"Squeak, sit tight and don't fall into the water. This river is full of water monsters, and they love to eat people."
"..."
It was still very quiet, only the friction and squeaking of the rowing boat could be heard.
The monkey bent down to pick up the fallen wine jar, raised his head and drank a few sips, smacking his lips. The burning feeling was very comfortable, and the gray fur that was wetted by the mist and became tangled looked like a hedgehog. He secretly muttered that he must not We, the monkey demon, are treated as hedgehog demons.
After a moment of silence, perhaps the female ranger thought about her sadness and became free and easy again. She turned her back to the monkey and looked at the river.
When I think about it, my mood naturally calms down.
"Why...why did you ferry?"
"Zhi, if you want to ferry, just ferry and make money to repair the dilapidated house."
"Repair a dilapidated house?"
The female ranger feels that monsters are indeed monsters, and their thoughts are completely different from humans.
To be able to ferry on this river that cultivators talk about with disgrace, one must have strong skills, and may even be in the realm of demons and immortals. It is really weird to ferry people to make money in order to repair dilapidated houses.
Once again I had nothing to say, I just felt that stepping on the ferry might be a life-changing choice.
The ferocious water monster of the past has disappeared.
No strange fish were seen either.
It feels unreal to walk calmly on the river.
Sitting on the bow of the boat, I wondered why the monkey demon didn't turn into a human form and show its handsome face since it was so powerful, but it still looked like a wild gray monkey.
Three feet tall, with a wrinkled and solitary face, deep and lively eyes, a full face of hair, a thunderous mouth, a sharp mouth and retracted cheeks, fangs growing outwards, a hunched back and bandy legs, and a brightly-colored tuft of gray hair. It is a little monkey. He grabbed the oar with his claws and rowed skillfully, steering the canoe towards the other side.
The monkey looks at the bow of the boat and the female ranger on the other side...
Look at both sides of the Taiwan Strait...
Look at the boat moving forward and the river flowing backward...
The heart is enlightened.
After a long time, we finally crossed the river, which was several miles wide, and reached the other side.
The female ranger breathed a sigh of relief.
Getting up and jumping onto the pier still felt unreal, a feeling of being suddenly separated from another world, which is difficult to describe. I turned around in my pocket and found that I had no money and nothing but a sword, and I looked embarrassed.
"What do you want?"
The monkey scratched his head and thought carefully.
"Zhi, you have already paid for the boat, there is no need to pay anymore."
"Have you given it?"
The female ranger didn't understand. She obviously didn't take out anything. When had she ever given her money for the boat?
A certain monkey was busy turning the bow of the boat to go back. The sun came out and the fog on the river became much brighter. If he returned to the shore earlier, he would have to go to the village to buy a few jars of turbid wine.
"Girl, you cried in the river when you were on the boat, leaving your sorrow on my boat. The boat money has been paid, and you have not looked back to look at the road, which means that you have made up your mind. Now that you are on the other side, everything in the past is the past. Let's say goodbye. Pass."
After saying that, he rowed the boat with the flag "Du" on it and returned.
Small pier on the shore.
The female ranger was stunned on the spot, her tears turning into laughter.
"Thank you for your guidance, senior. Goodbye."
Turning around and stepping into the new world on the other side, it was like a dream. I was miserable in my heart. I had planned to live the rest of my life. Who wanted to meet Nodu by chance? The short and ugly demon monkey completely subverted the understanding of demons. There was not much dialogue or detailed questioning. A few short sentences are enough.
The sun penetrates the fog and shines on me, very warm, very warm...
The canoe creaked.
The first business was completed at the small ferry, and the monkey's eyes showed even more vicissitudes of life.
In the distance, there were waves of strange screams coming from the river, as if they were singing a song.
"Zhizhi~jijijiji~zhi~"
Humming a weird tune, a certain monkey rowed leisurely back to the pier on the shore. He wrapped a hemp rope around a wooden stake and knotted it. He picked up an iron rod and a wine jar and headed to the village. Two large carps were hung from his waist with a straw rope through the gills. Go to exchange for drinks, river carp are a rare thing on the shore.
Walking over the hillside and across the field ridges, the frightened yellow dogs whined and cats jumped, and the smoke from the village cooking fires had just dispersed.
The monkey walked along the base of the stone wall to a certain house.
Exchange carp for wine...
…
Business in Nodu is not easy.
No one knows, but being able to come to the ferry is considered some kind of fate.
Some are transactions, and some are transactions.
Ordinary people don't know that there is a ferry here, and even if they know, it's hard to take it. After all, the ferryman is a monster monkey, with a sharp mouth, shrunken cheeks and exposed fangs. Any ordinary person who didn't grow up hearing the legend of monsters eating people will be frightened when they see it. Half-dead, only those with a good reputation would be able to ferry here.
The only ones who can come are demons and immortal cultivators, mortal monks, and low-level immortals.
Not alive for three days in a row.
Monkeys are patient. Bai once said that waiting can be regarded as a kind of practice. Snakes are good at waiting. Look at Bai now... forget it, pretend he never said that.
The fourth day.
A mortal monk discovered the small ferry.
The male cultivator looks handsome and dignified. He wears elegant robes and brocade boots. He has sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes. He has a smooth chin and has long black hair. He is holding a magic weapon and a sword. He has a typical image of a monk. I don’t know which fairyland force he belongs to. Anyway, he is definitely not the Heavenly Court. .
The monkey's choice of dock location was particularly ruthless and precise.
No matter whether you want to find a ferry upstream or downstream, you have to walk a long way. This river is not much safer than the legendary Liusha River. In emergencies, even the boatman is a demon, such as this disciple of a certain sect.
"Zhi, brother, do you want to cross the river?"
If you want to live, you will yell.
Hearing this, the corner of the young male cultivator's mouth twitched, and he was actually called "brother" by the monster. However, he had to rush back to the other side as soon as possible due to urgent matters, so he could only endure it.
"Senior... how much does it cost to cross the river?"
"Zhi, just give me something, whatever you want."
"Please ferry me across the river."
"Come aboard."
The male cultivator boarded the ship with his whole body tensed up.
There is even a magic talisman in the palm of his hand. If an accident occurs, he will immediately launch a counterattack. After boarding the boat, he will sit on the bow without any intention of speaking.
The boat squeaked and rowed leisurely to the other shore, a breeze blew, and the waves splashed against the boat...
Until he stepped onto the pier, the male cultivator finally relaxed and sighed that the world is so vast and full of wonders. The monster monkey was actually able to ferry across safely. He had some skills and solved his urgent need.
He took out the jade bottle and poured a pill. After thinking about it, he poured another pill to form a good relationship.
Put it in the fish basket in front of the monkey.
"Thank you, senior, and say goodbye."
"Squeak, walk slowly~"
I didn’t get any insights today, but I’m not depressed at all.
Business is getting better and better...
