Chapter 263: The Three Yan Brothers |
Taofu cupped his fists and replied, "Your subordinate will go paint the names right away!"
Qin Ziwen climbed onto the deck along with him.
It was also his first time seeing a ghost ship, and he was very curious.
On the deck, a ghostly shipwright shifted aside to give Qin Ziwen room.
A rope coiled around the yardarm moved gently, like a little snake, winding behind Qin Ziwen.
The rope lightly tapped his shoulder.
Qin Ziwen turned around, and the rope, as if startled, hurriedly retracted, standing upright and swaying gently, as if waving hello.
"Hello." Qin Ziwen remembered that after repairing a ship there was a small chance of awakening the ship's ghosts, turning them into special crew.
So far on this ship he had only seen the ghostly shipwrights from the shipyard. Could these moving cables be the special crew?
Stepping on the slightly damp deck, although the planks had hardened somewhat and were no longer as brittle as when the ship first set sail, they still retained a moist feel, like boards wet from rain.
In the gaps, he could still see water plants and shells stubbornly stuck.
The overall tone was gloomy, carrying an oppressive, cold aura.
Aside from the cables, the other strange change on the ship was the rudder located toward the stern.
On the millstone-sized wooden rudder the grain was pronounced, uneven and rough.
If one looked closely, the uneven surface actually formed a crude human face.
When Qin Ziwen approached the rudder, the face carved into the rudder, which had been keeping its eyes tightly shut, opened them. Two wooden rolling eyeballs, as if alive, turned as Qin Ziwen moved, staring fixedly at him.
"Can you steer a ship?" Qin Ziwen asked, intrigued, addressing the face rudder.
The face rudder did not seem able to speak, only staring at Qin Ziwen. After a moment, the unpiloted rudder began to turn on its own.
"Interesting." Qin Ziwen walked around a bit more, then went into the cabin to take a look.
He found that although the three lower levels below were somewhat dilapidated, they were at least not damp.
On Lower Deck, there were four openings around, and behind each opening a ballista was mounted.
"These things are repaired too?"
Qin Ziwen was surprised.
The style of these ballistae was unusual.
They bore a five-or-six-tenths resemblance to vehicle-mounted crossbows, but differed in many details.
For example, the winch drum was positioned at the rear of the ballista, operable by two people simultaneously.
The bolts were shorter, only about one point six meters long, but their heads were conical, better suited to flying through water.
The bolt heads were designed specifically for penetrating armor.
Outside the ship, the finished ghost gold plating was brought over, ghostly shipwrights floated beside the hull, and hammered nails while affixing the metal membrane to the exterior.
While everyone was busy, Qin Ziwen went to the Tavern.
He had dropped in occasionally these past few days, but hardly ever encountered any customers.
Even when there were patrons, they were usually hurried travelers who grabbed some food, paid, and left.
He took out a physical copy of Robinson Crusoe and sat behind the counter to pass the time.
After reading for a while, he couldn't help but marvel that the island Robinson encountered was quite large, far bigger than their current island.
A sound came from outside the door.
Immediately after, the curtain was pushed aside.
Three burly men wearing bamboo hats and straw raincoats walked into the Tavern. Once inside, they looked around and slapped the table with their palms.
"Owner, bring half a jin of beef."
Qin Ziwen put down the book, "No beef, but there is dragon meat. Want some?"
"Hahahahaha." The bearded man on the left burst into loud laughter at this.
"Interesting, interesting."
"Dragon meat? Do you take us for fools? My two brothers and I have traveled mountains and rivers, roaming the jianghu for years, and we've never heard of dragon meat.
Today I want to see if your shabby shop can actually produce dragon meat. If you can't, I won't let you off." The short-browed, yellow-bearded man on the right showed a mean expression and rolled up his sleeves.
The man in the middle, with hollow cheeks and narrow eyes, coughed, "Forget it, I suppose the owner is joking with us. Owner, bring the meat first, don't mind my brother."
Qin Ziwen observed the three and found they carried a strong jianghu aura, somewhat similar to the first time he met Du Yu.
He couldn't help but release three Insight scans, directed at the three men.
[Common·Human: ☆☆☆☆]
To his surprise, all three showed as four stars, the kind of innate talent physique.
When Du Yu had first arrived in Home without an Enhancement Card, he had also only been four-star strength.
In terms of raw power, these three could be called innately gifted.
A plan formed in Qin Ziwen's mind. He turned to the kitchen, found Du Yu,
then called for Younger Brother. The three of them together lifted the Tarbosaurus skull and carried it back into the Tavern through the rear door.
Just as they returned to the kitchen, the curtain was pushed aside. The short-browed, yellow-bearded man poked his head in, and seeing the three in the kitchen he looked puzzled. "I just thought you ran off."
His words suddenly stopped, and he stared dumbfounded at the gigantic head of the Tarbosaurus in the kitchen.
"What is this!?"
"A dragon." Qin Ziwen smiled, "I told you I sell dragon meat. You didn't believe me, so I brought the dragon we slaughtered a few days ago for you to see. Don't say I'm lying. This isn't a shady shop; I never sell fake goods."
The short-browed, yellow-bearded man could not speak for a long time. He considered himself and his two brothers well-traveled and worldly, yet they had never seen anything like this.
If it was a dragon he was unsure, but he did not dare deny it.
Its head was larger than a table. Even a tiger coming down from the mountain or a shoreline boar-dragon wouldn't compare; it would probably swallow a tiger whole with a single bite.
"Did you kill this?" The short-browed, yellow-bearded man still found it hard to believe.
At this moment, the other two who had heard the commotion in the main room came to the kitchen.
Upon seeing the Tarbosaurus head, the two fell silent.
"Impressive, impressive!" The left man cupped his fists with both hands and said in a deep voice.
"Wait." The hollow-cheeked man suddenly fixed his gaze on Du Yu, his tone filled with astonishment, "You are... could you be Du Yu, the tiger fighter from Tongzhou?"
"Who are you?" Du Yu asked.
Someone could call out his name—could they be from the same hometown?
The hollow-cheeked man said, "My name is Yan Da from Taicang. These two are my brothers by the same mother, Yan San and Yan Wu."
"I have long heard of Brother Du's fame. I once saw Master Qiu's tiger-fighting painting made for Brother Du at Guo Family Village, but I never had the honor of meeting you. I heard two years ago Brother Du was exiled and that Lu Sheng fell ill on the journey. I did not expect..." Yan Da sounded both moved and delighted.
"Lu Sheng fell ill, huh."
Hearing rumors of his own death from others, Du Yu felt the absurdity and amusement in his heart, then shook his head and smiled, feeling somewhat relieved.
Being able to sever the ties and not implicate the constable who escorted him was a good thing.
After all, he had no way back. Let that other world's "Du Yu" be carried away by the wind.