Chapter 100 The Ferryman

“Yes, a boat has actually come, but do you dare to take it?” Xiao Chengqian said to me suddenly after deliberately appearing relaxed and whistling.

“Is there any other choice? Do you really want to swim?” I stood up, straightened my clothes, put on my backpack, and threw away the cigarette butt, ruining the environment, right? No, I just think that a cigarette butt can also add a little more vitality to this place. Desperate people, just like these people on the boat, would be greatly comforted if they could see a cigarette butt.

I just want to put myself in their shoes.

“No, even if it’s a boat heading for hell, I’ll accept it. Just think of it as a free trip to hell.” Xiao Chengqian looked at the boat floating in the lake with a look of recklessness.

“If you had understood this bachelor spirit earlier, you wouldn’t be a member of your organization, but a member of our old Li family.” Chengxin smiled and embraced Xiao Chengqian.

Xiao Chengqian said with a “bah” sound, “As long as my grandfather is alive, I am a member of that organization. It’s a blood relationship.”

“Why are you so serious? The Li clan has not said they want to recruit you. We’ve already reached full capacity.” Cheng Xin looked at Xiao Chengqian with a look of “you’re so stupid.”

Xiao Chengqian was so angry that his veins were throbbing. It took him a long time to say, “I’m not afraid of arguing with people. Who can beat a fox spirit? No matter if it’s a male or female fox.”

Chengxin was speechless. This was his Achilles heel. Fortunately, Tao Bai was still serious and shy, hiding behind Lushan and whispering, “It’s not a male or female fox, it’s a male and female fox.”

“Hahaha…” Cheng Zhen laughed out loud. Her personality is sometimes more straightforward than that of a boy.

I laughed too. Could it be that in this scene full of the strange smell of death, arguing was also a kind of warmth and relaxation? If such a group of people who are important to me really went to hell, so what?

While we were joking and playing, I kept looking at the boat drifting over. It was moving very fast, and in just a short while, it had come from the depths of the fog far away, and the boat’s shadow could already be seen clearly.

It was bigger than I had imagined, not the size of a fishing boat, but more like a small boat that used to cruise the West Lake in ancient times. It was just that it lacked the ornate decorations, and everything looked very simple.

The people who rowed this boat were usually at the stern. I could only vaguely see a figure, and it was not very clear. Even from such a distance, I could clearly feel that the person rowing the boat was not a ghost, not using so-called spiritual power to move objects, but a living person.

As the boat got closer, we stopped laughing and all our eyes were on the boat, especially Hui Gen’er, who had a hint of sadness in his eyes.

I didn’t understand where Hui Gen’er’s sudden sadness came from. I just habitually put my hand on Hui Gen’er’s head: “Hui Gen’er, what’s wrong? It seems like you’re sad?”

“Brother, I don’t know. Do you remember before you came here? I once told you that I had a feeling of uneasiness in my heart, and what I didn’t say was that I had a feeling of uneasiness that was hard to put into words. I saw this ship and the people on it, and I felt even more like that.” Hui Gen said in a mumble, and he himself couldn’t explain the reason.

I didn’t ask Hui Gen why, but instead habitually placed my hand on his bald head and patted it twice. Although I was no longer as young as I used to be, and Hui Gen was already so tall, this was my unique way of conveying strength to Hui Gen.

Feeling my comfort, Hui Gen’er’s eyes calmed down a little. At this time, the ship was less than 50 meters away from us. Within this range, there were various shipwrecks floating. However, this ship sailed in this way, as if there was an invisible force pushing the shipwrecks away in advance. In short, it did not hit any of them.

At this distance, I could also see the person rowing the boat clearly. He was an old man with an old and skinny face. The word “ragged” is not enough to describe the shabbiness of his clothes, but where his clothes could still be seen, it could be seen that they were washed white and he took good care of them.

The old man looked worriedly old and thin from the face, and his white beard was almost hanging down to his chest, but from the body, he was not so withered that he could at least hold up his clothes, so he didn’t look so weird.

But the point is that his hair is very strange, as if it had been cut with some rough object. It sticks to the scalp in tufts here and there, but it doesn’t feel like a louse. Although the length is different, there is always a stubble.

The ship gently docked. The old man looked at us, and we looked at him. His gaze lingered on Hui Gen for a few seconds, and we couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but Hui Gen inexplicably shed tears.

“Huigen, why are you crying?” Xiao Chengqian was puzzled.

“I don’t know either.” Hui Gen wiped his face and answered Xiao Chengqian in a random way.

“From the north road down to this lake, naturally you want to go to the new city, get on the boat.” The old man suddenly spoke, his words simple and direct.

I asked, “Are you taking us to the new city?”

“Who else can take you there but me? I’m just responsible for ferrying people across the lake. I can’t know whether you’ll live or die once you get there.” The old man said in a strange way.

But it was also a very practical sentence. I thought to myself, staring at him.

I found that his face was too old, covered with wrinkles, and half of his face was hidden in his beard. His eyes also seemed a bit cloudy, and I couldn’t tell what his expression was trying to convey. In the face-to-face encounter, I found that I was hesitant. I didn’t know if I should get on the boat with his attitude of talking about life and death in such a detached way.

“Those who are destined to go will go, and those who are not destined to go will not see the boat. People can see the beginning, but they cannot predict the end. But isn’t it time to take the road you should take? I am just the one who will give you a ride, but I will not interfere. Go or not, make a decision quickly. If you don’t go, I will row the boat back in two breaths of time.” The old man seemed to have no patience, but his words were calm, composed, and spoken very slowly.

“Brother, get on the boat.” This time, it was Huigen who made the decision.

I have unconditional trust in Hui Gen, so I no longer hesitated and was about to step onto the boat, but the old man held me back with one hand.

The arm was strong and warm, definitely not the feeling of a ghost, I looked at the old man in puzzlement, not sure what he was doing.

“Do you have a knife? A sharp knife,” he said, looking at me. Although his eyes were cloudy, I could feel that he was not malicious.

“Yes.” I almost answered subconsciously. I had a fruit knife hanging on my key, which was sharp enough. Among the people in the group, there were also…

“Good, shave me bald. That’ll be the fare for the ferry.” The old man said decisively. As he spoke, he glanced at Lu Shan, who had opened a pot and taken a drink. His eyes lit up, and he said, “And that pot of wine.”

The wine was given to us by the monsoon. It was a good wine made in Hucun. Lushan felt that it was gloomy here, and he felt cold from the bones. He took the wine with him, at least to keep out the cold. Pouring it for the old man was not a problem.

I laughed. Only humans would want to drink alcohol. Ghosts don’t need it anymore.

Thinking this way, I took the fruit knife off the key and was about to shave the old man’s head, but I didn’t want Hui Gen to take it away and say to me, “Brother, let’s do it. In the temple, we often have to help each other shave our heads. I’m familiar with it.”

I nodded, but I always felt that something was wrong with Hui Gen, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I still handed the knife to Hui Gen.

Hui Gen’er shaved the old man’s head very carefully, very carefully, and even a little carefully. As the long and short hairs fell, we saw the old man’s scalp, which was covered with new and old wounds.

The old man probably noticed that we had seen it and said disapprovingly, “It’s inconvenient here. Shaving with a stone that has been polished for a long time is the effect, but it’s never clean. This time, leave me this small knife, and I won’t have to worry about it.”

“Hmm,” I agreed very quickly, but the old man’s persistence made me think of something, and Huigen was already in tears.

“Master, are you from the XX Temple on XX Mountain in Shaanxi? It is a hidden temple that does not accept offerings from the outside world, nor does it accept the incense of the world.” Hui Gen’er’s voice trembled a little.

I was also excited. The place that Huigen said was the root of Huigen and the root of Huidai. They all came from that temple.

But in the face of Hui Gen’er’s words, the old man didn’t even react, and he even snored slightly, as if he was already asleep.

Huigen wiped away a tear and stopped asking questions. He carefully shaved the old man’s head, and in about half an hour, the old man’s hair was cleanly shaved.

He patted his head in satisfaction, then touched it a few times, then stood up, jumped onto the boat, and said to us, “I haven’t enjoyed such a comfortable shave in many years, and I actually fell asleep. You go on board, remember to leave the wine.”