Unrequited [Entertainment]

Summer of the seventh year of Yongle.

A treasure ship was floating alone on the sea, with a dilapidated hull and a dilapidated sail. Several crew members who had been out of water for a long time, with pale lips, were lying on the deck, looking at the endless lifeless sea.

It has been more than three days since I lost contact with the fleet. I watched the sun rise and the moon set every day, the sun was shining directly on the sea during the day, and it was extremely cold at night.When we went out to sea, there were thirty people in a boat, but now there are only ten people left.

"My lord." The guard wiped the sweat off the man's forehead with a handkerchief, and looked at the man's pale face, "It's been three days."

"En." The man responded, "Where's Bai Lu."

"The little prince just recovered from his diarrhea. He rested in the cabin and drank some porridge." The guard said, "But...the journey back to Beijing is far away, I'm afraid..."

The man closed his eyes and shook his head.

When Bai Fan came, he was wearing a brocade robe with gold thread, but now the thread has burst, the dark red has turned gray and white, and he is in a panic.His cheeks were sunken, but he cleaned his face, but he couldn't hide his tired look.

Clean water and food are scarce, and ten people can barely survive a day.And his younger brother, when the treasure boat was left behind due to wind and rain, Bai Lu would vomit and diarrhea due to accidental eating of dirt, diarrhea and dehydration, almost dying.

Bai Fan was worried, but there was nothing he could do, the only way to return home was to continue to break through this sea area.

"...My lord, my lord." Someone suddenly ran over.

"What's the matter?" Bai Fan turned around, the man leaned forward and said, "The people on the other end heard a strange sound in the wind, it seems that someone is singing."

Bai Fan frowned and said, "There are no boats or people in a radius of ten miles, so how can there be singing!"

The guard just now took out the bamboo tube from his waist, and there was a piece of yellowed paper inside.He took out a yellow thin paper and spread it out, and there was a clear nautical chart on it: "Sir Sanbao's first trip to the sea, there was already a fleet of ships near the Star Islands. He heard strange singing, and sent people to search for it, but a fleet disappeared. , right here...we are afraid that we are about to pass by."

Bai Fan's thin lips parted slightly, and he couldn't believe it: "If there is singing on the sea, there must be someone."

"It may not be a person." The guard said.

Bai Fan was stunned for a while, and some long-term memories appeared in his mind.As he turned his head to think about it, the guard said: "It is rumored that there are half-man, half-fish mermaids in the East Sea. Their singing can bewitch people's hearts, and after they are bewitched, they will peel off their skin and flesh, and throw them into the sea of ​​bones."

"Yes, you can hear it in the wind!" The crew member who came to report said, "My lord, shall we turn the bow of the ship and stay away from this place?"

"No need, mermaids don't harm people." Bai Fan said in a deep voice, "I... I have seen it before."

"Ah?" The guard was a little surprised, "This..."

"Go and have a look at the stern." Bai Fan interrupted him and walked straight over.

There is indeed a faint, intermittent sound in the wind.

Bai Fan closed his eyes, feeling really familiar.

When he was ten years old, Bai Fan went to sea with the fleet for the first time. They captured a juvenile merman in the Star Islands.Bai Fan remembered that the merman was thin and ugly, his face was covered with light brown feathers except for the eyes, it looked like the upper part was a bird, and the lower part was a little monster with a fish tail.

The little monster's eyes were extremely clear, and there was a hint of timid stubbornness. Bai Fan found it novel, and quietly crawled to the cabin where the little monster was locked after nightfall.

"You...can you talk?" Bai Fan saw that in the dark corner, the chain bound the wrist of the little monster, and the wrist was rubbed so badly that the blood clotted a layer.

"..." The little monster looked at him vigilantly, then shrank back again, Bai Fan was afraid of scaring him: "You never know how to talk?"

"You can't." The little monster suddenly said, "...don't come here...!"

"I won't come here." Xiao Baifan said softly, "Why did they arrest you?"

"..." The little monster moved, "You love to catch my people the most, and you come to ask me why... Humph."

Bai Fan felt that the little monster was inexplicably cute and would "hum".

He leaned forward and said in a low voice: "They say your music is beautiful... I'm afraid you will be paid tribute to the palace."

"Entering the palace...?" The little monster froze for a moment.

"Don't be afraid, it's not a bad thing! After entering the palace, we can see each other and play together." Bai Fan said, "It's fun in the palace."

The little monster was stunned for a while, then cautiously said: "Aren't you afraid of me?"

"What are you afraid of?" Bai Fan said.

"I...my face." The little monster moved, "My face is ugly, I know... my parents said that I can lose feathers when I grow up."

"Where are your parents?" Bai Fan asked.

"I was also taken away, and never came back." The little monster said, "The 'palace' you mentioned, my parents are probably inside..."

Bai Fan recalled from afar, but at the beginning of the year in the palace, a few sharks were brought back, and they were invited to the palace to watch them.Bai Fan thought for a while, shouted "Wait for me", and quietly went back into the boat.

He found an old slave who presided over the big and small affairs of the White Palace and asked, "Let me ask you, how many sharks entered the palace at the beginning of the year, are they still in the palace now?"

"Go back to the little prince." The old slave said, "Those mermaids were hard to tame, they were tortured in the sky prison, and they still kept silent and did not sing for the Holy One. The Holy One was furious, so he gave them to death."

"Dead?!" Bai Fan exclaimed in surprise.

"I caught another one." The old slave pointed vaguely, "This one is young, no matter how strong-tempered it is, it can be tamed. I brought it to the palace and slowly tempered it. When it grows up, the mermaid is beautiful and has a singing voice. Peerless..."

"What's the difference between this and the first dog!" Bai Fan was slightly sullen.

"They're all animals, there's really no difference." The old slave said, "It's getting late, the little prince should go to bed earlier."

Bai Fan nodded, and after the old slave left, he flicked his sleeves angrily and returned to the cabin.

He thought about it for a long time, and felt that the little monster must not be trained like a dog. His eyes are beautiful and radiant. If he was tamed in the past, he would not exist.

At night, he rolled over and got out of bed, the guard guarding the inner cabin had already fallen asleep, Bai Fan took a knife and cut the iron keys around his waist, so he didn't disturb him at all.He tiptoed into the cabin again.Perhaps the little monster heard the sound, the chain struggled for a while, and he went to the corner again. In the darkness, he faintly saw his eyes gathering light, like a star that you can see when you look up.

"It's me." Bai Fan said softly.

"..." The little monster relaxed a little, but didn't speak.

Seeing the key in Bai Fan's hand, he was slightly taken aback: "...Are you going to let me go?"

"You can't keep it." Bai Fan found one and stuffed it into the keyhole.

"Why? The people upstairs will blame you, hiss...".

The shackles were untied and rubbed against his skin, causing the little monster to gasp in pain.

Bai Fan pressed his hand, fearing that he would be hurt again, and every time he heard the movement on the deck above, his heart jumped with fear.

"No one dares to blame me, I'm the little prince. I'm most afraid of seeing beautiful things being ruined!...Listen, my name is Bai and my name is Fan." Bai Fan touched his wrist, looked into his hairy eyes, "What's your name?"

"I have no name." The little monster said, "My parents didn't give me a name when they were taken away..."

"Then how can I find you?" Bai Fan said, "Otherwise, I'll give you a name... Wenshui flows long, how about a single name?"

"Wen..." the little monster murmured.

"Surname...Why don't you have my surname." Bai Fan thought for a while, "Hey, it's not right, it sounds like my younger brother. I have a younger brother... Let's take my mother's name. My mother's name is Lin, you Let's call it Lin Wen."

"Lin... Wen..." The little monster suddenly smiled, "Thank you."

Bai Fan raised his chin slightly, and said in a low voice: "Run farther, don't get caught again. I'm afraid..."

"Will we see you again in the future?" The little monster asked first, "You are very kind to me. When I grow up, I will sing to you."

Bai Fan wanted to say that he was afraid that we would never see each other again, but he didn't say what he wanted to say, he just sighed: "Okay, we will definitely see you again."

……

"My lord, my lord!"

Bai Fan came back to his senses and rubbed the center of his brows, only to realize that he was deep in memory and had reached the stern of the boat before he knew it.

"How……"

"My lord, keep silent, and look at the reef!"

The guard pointed, and Bai Fan looked around, and there were reefs in the mist that was gradually dissipated by the light in front of him.In the distance, it seems that the island can still be seen faintly.

Bai Fan squinted his eyes and watched, a fish tail suddenly raised above the reef, and then fell down quickly.

He was startled.

"My lord is not dazzled, we all saw it." The guard said, "There is someone on the rock! It seems to be a shark!"

"Leave the boat there." Bai Fan said in a deep voice.

"My lord, don't do it!" the guard said, "The shark is dangerous..."

"I said let's go." Bai Fan squinted at him, "Don't understand?"

"..." The guard cupped his hands, "Yes."

The boat turned around and sailed slowly through the waves. Bai Fan stood at the bow and looked at the reef in the distance. There is a faint golden light in the sun.

Not only that, he also saw the back of the merman, and he knew it was a man at a glance. His long hair reached his waist, it was light brown under the light, his back was bare and beautiful, his skeleton was slender, and his limbs were slender.He stretched out his arms lazily, lying on the reef to bask in the sun, even his shoulders and arms seemed to be covered with dazzling gold powder.

Bai Fan stared blankly.

Bai Fan has seen many beauties and famous prostitutes in his house all year round, and it's not like the boy has never played with them.But he noticed that at this moment he was so attracted by this scene that he couldn't move his eyes away.

All of a sudden, the merman seemed to have finally noticed something, and suddenly jumped into the water. After a long while, one arm clung to the reef, and his eyes were exposed from behind the reef.

"My lord!" The guards next to him were also taken aback, and stood in front of Bai Fan out of desperation.

"It's okay." Bai Fan said, "Keep driving! Don't...don't scare him."

However, as soon as the hull approached, a big wave suddenly hit in front of the boat.

"My lord, be careful!!" A few guards surrounded Bai Fan, covering him with their sleeves for fear of getting wet.Bai Fan pushed them away with a tut, and said angrily, "When is it, get out of my way!"

The merman no longer crouched on the reef and disappeared.Bai Fan brushed away the crowd and lay down on the fence, looked left and right, a golden light flashed at the place close to the sea surface, and saw a fish tail swimming underwater.With his bare back sticking out against the sea, Bai Fan saw him sticking out half of his head, revealing his face.

Bai Fan was slightly taken aback.

The merman frowned, bit his mouth, and his almond eyes were full of vigilance, but Bai Fan felt familiar.His upper body is no different from that of a human being, except that his ears droop like fish fins, and the light white and blue glittering, radiant and dazzling.

It's him……

It must be him!

He has lost his hair and feathers in the past ten years, but he has turned out to be this stunning.Bai Fan was extremely happy in his heart, but other strange things suddenly occurred to him. If he hadn't had that thought difference when he was a child, now that the mermaid was imprisoned/taught in the palace, wouldn't he not be able to see the smart and vigilant beautiful almond eyes? up.But if he was still in the palace at that time, such a beautiful person would have been able to stay by his side for a lifetime...

Bai Fan was overjoyed, and shouted, "Don't be afraid! We won't hurt you!"

The shark took another look and dived into the water.After a while, he swam back to the reef again.Bai Fan ordered people to sail over there, and said to the rock, "You still remember me!"

The merman showed an inexplicable expression, as if he was very hostile to people, looked back and forth at the people on the boat, seemed to remember something for a while, then slowly swam over, raised his head and said, "The one in the middle comes down."

Bai Fan knew he was calling him, but the guard next to him said: "What are you! How dare you call the prince down!..."

"Back off." Bai Fan said impatiently.

"...Your Majesty." The guard wanted to say something more, "The mermaid's singing confuses the mind..."

"I told you to go down." Bai Fan rolled up his sleeves and said to the merman, "Take me up to the rock!"

The merman raised the waves with his hands, startling the people on the boat and screaming.But Bai Fan showed no fear, stepped on the wooden fence and jumped, landed on the wave but did not sink at all, the wave carried him up to the rock, Bai Fan landed on the rock with his hair disheveled, slightly embarrassed, but he could see The whole picture of the little shark behind the rock.

The merman sized him up, and when Bai Fan approached, he saw that his eyelashes were all light brown, and when he blinked, they were more agile and seductive.

"You, are you Lin Wen?" Bai Fan asked.

The shark was obviously taken aback: "Why do you know my name!"

"I'm Bai Fan." Bai Fan said, "Remember me! I took your name!"

Lin Wen let out an "ah", dived into the water and circled around, and when he reappeared, he suddenly appeared behind Bai Fan.Bai Fan turned around and squatted down, just as Lin Wen poked his head out of the water, their noses almost touched each other.Bai Fan felt a layer of water on his face, and his heart beat like a drum.

Bai Fan felt that his figure was nimble and he had no taboos in the sea, fearing that he would slip away again, he couldn't help but grabbed his wrist.

When I grasped it, I felt that this skin is really fat, and any beauties I have touched before have lost their color.He grabbed it blankly for a while, before Lin Wen said: "Don't grab me..."

Bai Fan let go, and Lin Wen leaned on the shore and looked at him: "A lot of big ships came to the east before, why did you go from here?"

"Left behind." Bai Fan wiped his face.

"..." Lin Wen understood, "It will take two days to go to the capital by water from now on."

"Yes." Bai Fan sighed, "There was a boatload of people when we came, but now there are only ten people left."

The two haven't seen each other for more than ten years, but they seem to be talking as usual.Lin Wen thought for a while, and raised his fish tail: "Go to the island to rest and rectify before going on the road."

"...This." Bai Fan was a little surprised, "Almost all sharks are around this island. What should we do if we have such a big treasure ship docking at the shore?"

"There's no one left." Lin Wen lazily said, "I'm the only one within a radius of ten miles. Go up, I've got the final say."

The author has something to say:

I don’t often write about ancient profanity, without textual research, just write indiscriminately, don’t be serious hahaha.

It will be divided into two parts, and there will be a modern side story after finishing writing (haven't decided what to write yet...)

If you come back at night, the second watch will be changed earlier, and if not, it will be changed tomorrow.

Thanks to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated the nutrient solution~

Thanks to the little angel who threw [Grenade]: 1 brass straw hat of Mr. Account Writer;

Thanks to the little angels who voted [Line mines]: 2 brass straw hats of Jungu and Mr. Account Writer;

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:

12 bottles of Beisi; 5 bottles of Liangliangyin;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!