Yellow River Craftsman

Chapter 21 The Legend: The Iron-Headed Dragon King ([-])
Grandpa put down the wine cup heavily, sniffed, and continued:

"When the incense candles were burned out, we put the chicken heads in bowls filled with glutinous rice and sank into the Yellow River together. We drove up the river in a corpse boat. During that time, the weather was relatively dry and there was no heavy rain. The speed of the mine is naturally relatively slow. According to our past experience, we can speculate that the body of the mine boss should still be in the river section in Shanxi.

The weather was pretty good when we set off the boat. The sun pierced through the clouds like a sharp arrow and landed on the water, reflecting bits of gold. Can you imagine what a beautiful picture it was?The black-covered boat was passing through the golden waves. Your father stood at the bow of the boat with high spirits, facing the wind with his hands on his hips, and said to me, "Dad, you see, God is blessing us. The weather is so good. How could it be unfavorable? '

For those who walk on the ancient Yellow River trail, the sun is of course the best weather for sailing.Looking at such a good weather, the haze in my heart is also dissipating little by little. I think maybe I am too worried, so I quickly put the thought of being unfavorable in the teacher behind.

However, it is in response to the old proverb that "the sky is unpredictable, and people have misfortunes and blessings".Not long after we sailed out of the SMX river, the weather changed very quickly.The originally sunny sky suddenly rolled with dark clouds, and the bleak gray color shrouded the Yellow River ancient road. The river wind was blowing, and the originally calm river surface became violent.Wave after wave of black water rushed towards our awning boat. The awning boat was like a helpless fallen leaf, ups and downs in the rolling waves, and it might capsize at any time.

At that time, my complexion changed, and an ominous premonition wrapped me tightly. I have been walking on the ancient Yellow River Road for so many years, and I have never encountered such weird weather.Your father retreated into the cabin, and his face no longer had the joy he had before. He glanced at me and steered the helm with a heavy face, driving the black-topped boat to fight against the oncoming waves.

At this moment, we are not in the front of the village or behind the store, and there is no way to find a shore stop.We can only silently pray for the blessings of our ancestors in our hearts. If even the corpse-hunting boat is buried in the Yellow River, then we will really disgrace the reputation of the Yellow River corpse-hunters. !
A wave rushed over, like a running rhinoceros, and slammed into the left side of the black-covered boat fiercely.There was a loud bang, water splashed everywhere, and the black awning was hit by the violent waves to make a big gap, and muddy river water kept pouring into the cabin from the gap.

What's even more unfortunate is that the house leak happened to rain overnight, and at this moment, a torrential downpour fell.The rain didn't fall one by one at all, it was more like pouring from the sky. A misty water curtain was quickly drawn between the water and the sky, and the surroundings were as dark as night, making it difficult for us to distinguish the southeast northwest.

The land that has been dry for more than a month has ushered in a strong torrential rain, and the rain is falling crazily, as if it wants to vent all the water in the past month.We looked sadly at the black sky like splashed ink outside. This sudden heavy rain not only increased the difficulty for us to salvage the corpses, but now we are not even sure whether we can live without incident.

On the Yellow River Ancient Road, no matter what dangers and difficulties we encounter, we must never give up the courage and confidence to live.Seeing your father's sullen look, I asked him if he regretted going out this time.Your father said that he would not regret it, and he also said that he would not see a rainbow if he did not experience wind and rain.When he said this, his face was full of confidence in overcoming difficulties, and I couldn't help but feel relieved.

Who knows that just after your father said this, he suddenly stood up, pointed behind him and shouted, 'Dad, what is that? '

I turned my head quickly, and saw a fuzzy black shadow appearing on the water not far from the stern of our ship. Due to the thick white water mist floating on the water and the dark sky, I couldn't see it for a while. It is not clear what that black shadow is.That thing was half submerged and half floating, judging from the blurred shadow, it was definitely not a ship, but a bit like a submarine.But I quickly overturned this idea. How could there be a submarine sailing under this ancient Yellow River road?Could it be some kind of unknown underwater creature?

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel chills in my heart, and urged your father to speed up the boat and leave this water area quickly.According to people of the older generation, any strange phenomena appearing on the ancient Yellow River Road must be haunted by monsters.Although I don't know if that black shadow is some kind of monster or not, but as the saying goes, 'the kind do not come, the unkind come', we'd better avoid it as much as possible, and don't provoke it.

Naturally, it was very difficult for our small boat to go upstream in the stormy sea. The black shadow approached us quickly, and soon came to a place only more than ten meters away from the stern of our boat.Our hearts had already reached our throats, and we both stared wide-eyed, staring at the black shadow under the water with fear and anxiety. "

Having said this, Grandpa stopped, a faint look of fear appeared on his face.He poured himself a third cup of Laobaigan, leaned back and took a long sip, trying to calm his ups and downs.

My heart was also beating nervously, I swallowed Lao Baigan in the wine cup in one gulp, and urged my grandpa nervously and curiously: "Grandpa, hurry up, what is that black shadow?"

Grandpa took out the old cigarette rod from behind, tapped it lightly on the corner of the table, then lit the dry tobacco, took a big puff, exhaled thick smoke, and continued in a trembling voice: "The black shadow As we got closer and closer, I was horrified to find that the black shadow was more than ten feet long!"

"Ten zhang?!" I was so surprised that my jaw almost fell on the table, and I silently converted in my heart: "One zhang is equal to 3.3 meters, that is to say, the length of the underwater thing has reached an astonishing 30 meters. God, what kind of giant is that? In my limited knowledge, I only know that whales in the depths of the ocean can reach such a body length. How can there be such a terrifying giant under the Yellow River? Is it really Can't the legendary monsters succeed?"

"Just when we were terrified, the black shadow rushed out of the water, revealing a head as big as a locomotive! We were surprised to find that the black shadow turned out to be a huge silver-gray big Fish. The huge head of the fish is covered with thick and hard scales. Some of the scales protrude into awl-like shapes, with black mud and dark green water plants hanging on them, making it look particularly hideous. Your father nearly passed out in the cabin.

This huge strange fish is like a fast-moving submarine. When we were shocked, the whole body of the strange fish surfaced at the same time.Due to the impact of the water flow all year round, its scales were polished smooth and shiny, with a faint silver light shining.What's even more frightening is that there are thick and sharp thorns growing on the back of the strange fish, like sharp knives one after another. The raindrops fell on the thorns, making a tinkling sound.

At this moment, I don't know whether we are lucky or unlucky, but we have encountered a mysterious creature that is rarely seen in a hundred years in the Yellow River Ancient Road—the Iron-headed Dragon King! "When Grandpa said this, he let out a long breath, and cold sweat was already overflowing from his forehead.

"Ah!" I exclaimed in a low voice: "I always thought that the legendary iron-headed dragon king was a mysterious creature similar to a dragon. It turns out that the iron-headed dragon king is a huge strange fish!"

Grandpa said: "In fact, it can't be called a strange fish. You must have heard of the academic name of the iron-headed dragon king fish. It is the famous Chinese sturgeon! Because the scales on its head are thick and hard, so it has' Ironhead' title."

"What?!" I opened my mouth wide in astonishment: "The iron-headed dragon king is actually the Chinese sturgeon?"

When it comes to the Chinese sturgeon, many people should be familiar with it. Even if they have not seen or tasted this delicious fish, they have definitely heard of its name.The Chinese sturgeon is a large anadromous fish that enters rivers from the sea in July and August every year. It is an ancient and rare fish unique to my country and one of the most primitive species of existing fish in the world.As far back as 1000 BC in the Zhou Dynasty, the Chinese sturgeon was called king tuna.The Chinese sturgeon belongs to the bony fish Acipenseriformes, with a spindle-shaped body, a pointed head and a long snout.Sturgeons first appeared in the Early Triassic 2 million years ago and have continued to this day. They can be called "living fossils" in the water.They usually live in the Yangtze River Basin in my country, and it is extremely rare for Chinese sturgeon to appear in the ancient Yellow River road.

The earliest record of the Chinese sturgeon on the Yellow River Ancient Road began in the Tang Dynasty.

At that time, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was the emperor and ruled the world. He created the famous Zhenguan Reign in history and pushed China's feudal society to its heyday.

One year, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty left Chang'an on a dragon boat and went down the river to tour the ancient Yellow River road.Naturally, the emperor traveled in a very grand style. Apart from a dragon boat tens of feet high, several military ships followed closely behind, sailing through the ancient Yellow River road.

In the evening of this day, Tang Taizong was leaning on a railing to watch the sunset of the Yellow River, when he suddenly heard a noisy sound from behind.After a while, some officials on board the ship hurriedly came to report that a military ship in the rear had been hit by an unknown object, and the situation was in critical condition.Tang Taizong was very puzzled. The accompanying warships were all hard ships that could accommodate hundreds of soldiers. What could easily destroy the warships?
Tang Taizong came to the stern of the dragon boat accompanied by guards. He was surprised to see that a military ship on the left rear had capsized, a large amount of river water poured into the cabin, and many soldiers screamed and fell into the Yellow River.After a while, the mighty and majestic warship disappeared from Tang Taizong's sight, and sank to the bottom of the Yellow River.Only a few dozen soldiers were left struggling on the surface of the water, some were paddling desperately, some were floating with broken wooden boards, and the water surface was a mess.

(End of this chapter)