Anecdote of the Yellow River

Chapter 16 Iron-headed Dragon King (2)
"At that time, my face changed, and an ominous premonition surrounded 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, his face He didn’t have the joy he had before, he glanced at me, he steered the rudder with a heavy face, and he was driving the small boat with the awning to fight against the oncoming waves.”

"At this moment, we can't go to the village or shop, and we have no choice but to find a shore to stop. We can only silently pray for the blessing of our ancestors in our hearts. If even the corpse boat is buried in the Yellow River, then we can't help it. It's really dishonoring the reputation of the Yellow River Corpse Collector, even if we are under the Nine Springs, we will have no face to face our ancestors!"

"A wave rushed over, like a running rhinoceros, and slammed into the left side of the awning boat fiercely. There was a loud bang, water splashed everywhere, and the awning boat was knocked out by the bad waves. Muddy river water poured into the cabin through the gap."

"The house leak happened to rain all night. At this moment, a torrent of rain fell down. The rain didn't fall one by one at all, it was more like pouring from the sky. The water and the sky fell quickly. So a misty water curtain was pulled up, and the surrounding area was as dark as night, making it difficult for us to distinguish the north, south, east, and west."

"The land that has been dry for more than a month has been hit by a strong torrential rain. The rain fell crazily, as if to vent all the water in the past month. We looked sadly at the black sky like splashed ink outside. The torrential rains not only made it more difficult for us to salvage the bodies, but now we are not even sure whether we can live in peace."

"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 gloomy look, I asked him if he regretted going out this time. Your father said no regrets, He also said how to see a rainbow without experiencing 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 called out, 'Dad, what is that?'"

"I turned my head quickly, and saw a vague black shadow appearing on the water not far from the stern of our ship. Due to the dim sky, I couldn't see clearly what the black shadow was for a while. Then The thing is half submerged and half floating. Judging from the vague shadow, it is 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 that some An 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 the older generation, if there is any strange phenomenon on the ancient Yellow River road, it must be haunted by monsters .Although I don't know if that black shadow is some monster or not, but as the saying goes, "If the good ones don't come, the ones who come are not good."

"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 were already in our throats. Both of us Staring wide-eyed, staring at the black shadow under the water with fear and anxiety."

Having said this, Grandpa stopped, with a hint of fear faintly appearing on his face.He poured himself another cup of Laobaigan, raised his neck and took a big 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, and spewed out thick smoke, and continued in a trembling voice, "That black shadow As we got closer and closer, I was horrified to find that the black shadow was more than ten feet long!"

"Ten feet?!" I was so surprised that my jaw almost fell on the table.I silently converted in my heart: one zhang is equal to three meters one chi (about 3.3 meters), and ten zhang means that the body length of the underwater thing has reached an astonishing thirty meters long!God, what a colossus that is!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?Could it really be the legendary monster?

Grandpa continued: "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 It was a large silver-gray fish. The huge head of the fish was covered with thick and hard scales, some of which were protruding into awl-like shapes, hanging with black mud and dark green water plants, making it look particularly hideous. The wind was blowing, It was so smoked that your father and I almost passed out in the cabin."

"This huge strange fish is like a fast-moving submarine. Just when we were shocked, the whole body of the strange fish surfaced at the same time. Due to the impact of the current all the year round, its scales were polished It was smooth and shiny, with a faint silver light. What's 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 sharp thorns. Stab it, and it clangs loudly."

"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 ancient Yellow River road—the iron-headed dragon king!" Grandpa let out a long sigh, and the forehead overflowed. cold sweat.

"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 a 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 3000 million years ago and have continued to this day. They can be called "living fossils" in the water.Chinese sturgeons usually live in the Yangtze River Basin in my country. It is extremely rare for Chinese sturgeons to appear in the Yellow River ancient road.

The record of the appearance of 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 created the famous Zhenguan Reign in history, which pushed the Chinese 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 lot 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.

Tang Taizong was about to call people to rescue him, when he heard several loud bangs, several huge water jets shot up into the sky, sending several soldiers flying into the sky.Immediately afterwards, a large vortex with a diameter of more than ten meters appeared on the water surface, and a huge black shadow slowly emerged from the water surface.Soldiers floating on the water uttered terrified shouts and struggled desperately to escape from the waters.But their strength is so weak, their struggle is so powerless, one soldier after another was sucked into the vortex, and disappeared in an instant.A large amount of blood continuously floated up from the bottom of the water, dyeing this large area of ​​water red.There was a strong smell of blood in the air, as if the sunset in the sky was dyed red.

In the astonished eyes of everyone, a silver-gray Chinese sturgeon with a length of tens of meters surfaced from the water.The Chinese sturgeon itself has a very gentle temperament, but this huge Chinese sturgeon is extremely fierce. It opened its mouth wide, and its sharp fish teeth were like guillotines, setting off bloody storms one after another on the water.

In the age of peace in the world, such a monster appeared unexpectedly, which made Tang Taizong extremely furious. He quickly issued a kill order and ordered the soldiers to shoot and kill this strange fish immediately.

Hundreds of archers lined up on the side of the ship, drawing their bows to the full, and shooting sharp arrows at the strange fish one after another.Originally thought that the strange fish would turn into a water hedgehog in an instant.What I didn't expect was that the scales of the strange fish were extremely hard, and those sharp arrows couldn't penetrate the scales of the strange fish. The arrows all over the sky fell on the strange fish, and the starting point of the splash was ignited, making a tinkling sound. With the sound, many arrows snapped on the spot.

The people's resistance aroused the anger of the strange fish. The strange fish poked its huge head out of the water, like a fired shell, and slammed into a military ship more than ten meters away fiercely again.There was a loud bang, and the hard fish head pierced through the warship easily.Hundreds of soldiers fell into the water, blood stained the surface of the water, and screams were heard endlessly.

Facing such a monster, even Tang Taizong, who swept away thousands of troops and pacified Shenzhou, did not dare to fight again. He hurriedly set sail and fled the waters at an accelerated rate.

Since then, the Chinese sturgeon has been called the "Iron-headed Dragon King". The legend of the Iron-headed Dragon King is not only spread in the ancient Yellow River Road, but also recorded in history books.However, for hundreds of thousands of years, although there have been legends of the Iron-headed Dragon King on the Yellow River Ancient Road, very few people have actually seen the Iron-headed Dragon King, and the Iron-headed Dragon King has gradually become one of the most mysterious creatures on the Yellow River Ancient Road. .

Of course, not to mention the ten-foot-long iron-headed dragon king, even ordinary Chinese sturgeons are hard to see in the Yellow River Basin.No one can verify how the legendary Iron-headed Dragon King appeared in the Yellow River Ancient Road. People only know that the Iron-headed Dragon King in the Yellow River Ancient Road is the refined Chinese sturgeon.

"I have been walking on the Yellow River for dozens of years. This is also the first time I saw the Iron-headed Dragon King. At that time, my knees gave way and I almost knelt down to the Iron-headed Dragon King. Our black-topped boat has limited horsepower. It is impossible to get rid of the Iron-headed Dragon King because of the obstruction of the evil waves. Your father also panicked at that time, and even took out a long-barreled shotgun from under the deck. How can the Iron-headed Dragon King be dealt with by a mere shotgun? It was too late when I tried to stop your father, he rushed to the stern and pulled the trigger on the iron head dragon. I told your father to stop shooting, because instead of hurting the iron head dragon, it would enrage him. But But your father said he couldn’t just sit still and wait for death, so he put all his eggs in one basket and didn’t listen to my advice at all.”

"The iron sand hitting the Iron Head Dragon King is like tickling it. The power of a shotgun can't penetrate the thick layer of scales on the Iron Head Dragon King at all. Facing the iron sand flying all over the sky, Iron Head The Dragon King was finally enraged. With a flick of his giant tail, his big, hard head hit the stern fiercely. How could a small boat with a black awning withstand such a violent collision? The stern instantly became fragments, and your father followed suit. He fell into the water. Before he could poke his head out of the water, the iron-headed dragon king opened his mouth wide, and the surrounding water poured into his mouth. At that time, I watched your father being killed by the iron-headed dragon king. Inhale into the stomach, but can't do anything."

"Maybe it's because I deserved to die. The Iron-headed Dragon King didn't continue to attack me, but slowly sank to the bottom of the river, and soon disappeared."

"It's strange to say that after the iron-headed dragon king disappeared, the heavy rain in the sky suddenly stopped. The wind tore the dark clouds into pieces, and the bright sunlight penetrated through the gaps and fell on the water. No matter how turbulent it is, the Yellow River will no longer roar, and everything will become peaceful and beautiful again."

"The stern of the Wupeng boat was severely damaged, and a large amount of river water poured into the cabin. In desperation, I had to give up the boat, put on a lifebuoy and jump into the Yellow River, drifting along the water. I don't know how long I was drifting, but a passing fishing boat took me I was rescued. I narrowly escaped death and returned to Hezi Village, but your father will never come back." Having said this, Grandpa put down the old cigarette stick, his old face was covered with tears.

I held Grandpa's hand tightly and didn't speak.

After a moment of silence, Grandpa said with a sad expression: "Maybe I am really a disaster star. I blame Grandpa for being bad. I bought some kind of tortoise coffin and went home. This time I caused you to get into such a big trouble. Grandpa's heart is really... ...It's hard..."

"Grandpa, don't say that! Some things are destined to happen to us, and we can't hide even if we want to. This is our fate. Now that it has happened, let's face it bravely!" said Then, I picked up the wine cup.

Grandpa wiped away his tears, with a determined look on his face, "Well said, face it bravely! Son, the Tuoba family is proud of you!"

(End of this chapter)