Chapter 278 – [Boating At Sea]
Chapter 278 [boating on the sea]
The sky is clear and white clouds are blooming, below are the wind and waves, and the water peaks are smashed on the gravel shore one after another.
This is Juhai, the largest body of water in the Western Regions.
Because the area is large enough, there are even high tides and low tides here, and the residents living on the east and west sides of the sea feel the opposite of the high tide and low tide periods – because the water in the sea has a fixed number, so when the tide rises in the west, the tide falls in the east, and the tide rises in the east At that time, the tide was low in the west.
There are not only rocky areas on the shore, but also tidal flats and reed marshes.
All kinds of waterfowl and migratory birds are all over the shore, and when they fly, they cover the sky and the sun. They inhabit, multiply, or just settle here. There are many kinds of them, and Fang Chang can see more than a hundred kinds just by casually scanning a waterfowl habitat.
In addition, there are a large number of amphibious and small mammals, drilling here and there, together with the fish jumping out of the water, avoiding the capture of raptors. And in the process, prey on each other, or look for some grass roots, grass seeds, duckweed and algae.
“Hey, it’s really wide enough, it’s worthy of being called Juhai.”
Standing on the shore, Fang Chang said to Sang Ziping who was next to him. The latter also took two steps forward and stood side by side with him. Looking at the vast water surface, he didn’t reply. Instead, after feeling the vastness of the world, he walked out for a long time. Take a breath.
Fang Chang continued: “I have been to the east seaside once before. From this angle, there is not much difference.”
Juhai has a vast area, you can’t see the opposite side from here, and there is still wind because the water absorbs heat and the air sinks, blowing from Juhai to the outside, bringing a humid atmosphere. Listening to the sound of the waves, it feels not too different from the sea in the east, barely worthy of the name.
Next, Fang Chang and Sang Ziping changed direction, left the main road, and walked along the edge of Juhai.
There is no road where they are walking, because the salinity of Juhai varies from place to place, and there are few fresh water areas, which is not conducive for pedestrians to replenish. Therefore, the direction of the road winding away is more along the river. Similarly, the human settlements on the coast are also scattered, only distributed in fresh water areas.
The thousand-mile sea is formed by the confluence of surrounding rivers.
There are many majestic mountains around the Western Regions, stretching for thousands of miles. Those thick snow and ice are constantly melting, creating the rivers that cross the desert, and the oases dotted around the Western Regions. No. Pearl.
Didn’t run at full speed. After two days and nights, and nearly a day later, they saw people.
There is a wide river that flows into Juhai. On both sides of the confluence are soft mud flats, and outside are houses and farmland.
Rice is grown here.
Relying on the cobweb-like canals, the farmland is well irrigated. This is one of the sources of rice eaten in the Western Regions. Such a scene is a bit like being in the south of the Yangtze River. In the middle of the sea, there are even boats with fishing nets and rods hanging on them. The fishermen are singing songs, and it seems that they have harvested a lot.
Now it’s time
The other direction is the long river under the setting sun, which has a strange beauty when combined.
“Go ahead and check the situation.” Sang Ziping said.
Together, the two walked slowly towards the settlement not far away, where cooking smoke was rising, and the returned fishermen were fastening the cables to the wooden stakes on the shore, and then carrying the fish in the cabin. Go home and let the housewives cook.
Without trying to hide it, Fang Chang and Sang Ziping walked to the shore, and the people quickly noticed these two strangers. “Where do the guests come from?” Someone asked aloud.
Fang Chang said with a smile: “We came from afar and are going to go to the depths of Juhai. I wonder if this boat is for sale?” Then he took out some money from his rucksack and indicated that he would use it to buy a boat.
The few fishing boats are relatively simple, they are made of wooden boards, and there is a transparent shed as the cabin.
Without sails and oars, they used long boat wormwood. Because the Western Regions do not produce bamboo, it would be too troublesome to transport it from Shu, so the boat wormwood of these ships was made of flat wood.
Hearing Fang Chang’s question, the owner of the pointed ship shook his head and said:
“The guest is joking. We rely on it to catch fish on weekdays, so that we can add some soup to our family. How can we sell it to others so easily?”
Fang Chang had no choice but to double the coins he took out.
“Then the guest can take it.” After the price was enough, the owner of the boat suddenly became very cheerful. He even told Fang Chang and the two of the boat’s characteristics and things to pay attention to when punting, and put the boat in the boat. Several jugs of fresh water and two bags of dry food were given to them.
The captain’s companions next to him were very envious when they saw that he had obtained this benefit.
Sang Ziping volunteered, picked up the boat, and touched it lightly on the shore, and the boat, like a wild beast, sailed lightly towards the center of Juhai facing the setting sun.
Fang Chang was dressed in white and sat cross-legged on the bow of the boat, while Sangzi was standing at the stern supporting Changhao.
The fishermen on the shore just watched and watched the two people who had just bought a boat drift away on the water, and then went home without mentioning it.
When the people on the shore could not be seen, Sang Ziping took the long Artemisia out of the water and hung it up, and then got into the cabin.
“Let’s go around in Juhai first, you may come across clues.”
“Well, we are very close to our goal.”
Fang Chang laughed, he also got into the cabin from the bow, and was taking out the torch, lighting the oil lamp on the small table inside, and then covered the gauze cover to prevent it from being blown out by the wind.
Sang Ziping also came over, sat down opposite the small table, and watched as Fang Chang took off the green cloth package behind his back, and took out several porcelain plates, two wine glasses, two pairs of wooden chopsticks, and some salt-baked peanuts and fennel Beans, and donkey meat wrapped in a large piece of straw paper.
Put the peanuts and beans on the plate, and Fang Chang took out the small jade knife from the leather sheath, quickly sliced the donkey meat, and neatly stacked it on the plate.
Then he took down the gourd at his waist, poured it on himself and Sang Zi on the opposite side, and raised the cup as a gesture.
A thin mist formed on the surface of the water, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse in the sky, and the lights in the slowly moving fishing boat were like beans.
The two practitioners were in the boat, and they didn’t need sails or bracing. The boat was still moving in the direction they chose.
Fortunately, few fishermen came out at night, and no one saw them, otherwise they would have been frightened by this strange appearance.
The water in most parts of Juhai is not too deep, there are also islands protruding, and there are mixed aquatic plants and corals that cannot be named, which is very weird. Where the river flows into, there are often reed marshes, woods, farmland and villages.
After seven or eight days on the boat, I finally discovered something different about the surrounding area.
Fang Chang put away the fishing rod, regardless of the bait on it, put it in the cabin, stood up and looked into the distance. Then, he turned his head to Sang Ziping who was fishing at the stern of the boat and said with a smile:
“Found them.”
(end of this chapter)