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墨書 Inktalez
I paused for a moment, quickly regaining my composure. Instead of answering directly, I replied lightly, "Which reservoir hasn't seen death? Accidents happen everywhere."
Liu Accountant adjusted his glasses nervously and said, "What if a few people die every year? Wouldn't that count as an accident?"
I interrupted him, "Every year, there are thrill-seekers who come to swim in the reservoir. Drowning is always a possibility."
He cautiously glanced at the water's surface. Perhaps due to the abundant algae growth and lack of sunlight, the water appeared dark green and murky, while the distant depths looked deep and black, as if they had no bottom.
Liu Accountant swallowed hard and slowly said, "A few years ago, no one drowned in the reservoir. Then there was a flood, and the following year, people started drowning one after another. At first, everyone thought it was just bad luck, but then the Village Committee put up signs prohibiting swimming. Strangely enough, no matter how many people from the village were assigned to manage it, some still inexplicably drowned here. Sigh, the village was developing well; many visitors came to enjoy themselves, and the island's farm stay business was thriving. Now it's all changed! Only a few households remain to keep watch—mostly old and frail folks."
Everyone in the boat listened silently. Suddenly, Xuanhua blurted out, "Could it be that the dead are looking for substitutes?"
At this remark, everyone turned to look at him. I shot him a glare. "This isn't a storytelling outing; we're on a mission! Cut out the nonsense!" Xuanhua sheepishly scratched his head and smiled awkwardly before lowering his gaze.
Liu Accountant hurriedly chimed in, "Right, right! It's those who drowned in previous floods looking for substitutes—one batch after another—it never ends!"
He scanned us with concern. "Comrades from the People's Liberation Army, you should be careful too. I heard last month that a wealthy man brought a yacht here for a party. He didn't care about our farm stay at all. Anyway, we villagers prepared plenty of food to bring onto the yacht while they blasted music out on the reservoir. Tsk tsk, there were several beautiful women! What a pity." Liu Accountant's eyes sparkled at the mention of the beauties.
"What a pity about what?" Sheng Xiong couldn't help but ask curiously.
"What a pity that one of those beauties went swimming and got dragged away by something unknown! Several people on board witnessed it; everyone insisted something pulled her down into deep water. After that, she never resurfaced. Reporting it to the police was useless. The village even mobilized many people to assist in the search; aside from catching a few big fish, nothing else was found!"
A gust of wind blew by as Liu Accountant shivered slightly. "Do you think there are water ghosts?!" He leaned over to look at the water again, gripping the edge of the speedboat tightly and shaking his head. "No way; I definitely won't go into that reservoir."
"It's a shame Liu Accountant isn't telling stories," I remarked lightly. "You weren't even there; you can't count what you haven't seen." I turned my gaze forward—how long had we been traveling? We should be nearing our destination.
By now, the speedboat had likely drifted far from shore. The light rain created a misty atmosphere that mingled with the scent of wet earth and grass in the air, adding an ethereal quality to our surroundings. Visibility over the water was low; we could only see two or three meters ahead. Everyone stood on the boat surrounded by swirling mist as if we were in another realm. For a moment, no one spoke; aside from the chubby guy focused on steering, we all stared at the vast expanse of water. Even Pudding at the highest point remained silent as he gazed at the surface below. On this June morning, the coolness of moisture enveloped us. I looked up and noticed only a few raindrops falling; finding my raincoat cumbersome, I quickly removed it and tossed it onto the speedboat, revealing only my life jacket underneath.
Liu Accountant's eyes lit up when he saw the life jacket. "Hey, Leader, is there one for me too? Can I have one?"
It seemed he was quite the coward, I chuckled to myself. Looking around, it appeared there were no extra jackets left. After a moment's thought, I simply took off my life jacket and tossed it to him. "Put this on!"
"Thank you, thank you! The People's Liberation Army is the best!" Liu Accountant exclaimed as he gratefully donned the life jacket.
"Company Commander, what about you?" Sheng Xiong couldn't help but ask from the side.
"Me?" I chuckled lightly. "I'll just be in charge of directing things. You all do the work! Hahaha!" I made a joke to lighten the mood; Liu Accountant's earlier story had left an odd feeling in the air.
Just then, the boat suddenly lurched violently! It felt like we had hit something. "What happened?" I shouted.
"It seems we've collided with something," Jinghe said, staring at the water's surface. Everyone looked over, but nothing was visible beneath the eerie green water. The speedboat continued moving forward, and Liu Accountant was so frightened he fell back inside the boat. "What are you afraid of?" I shot him a glare. "Accelerate!"
Jinghe, who was driving the speedboat, replied, "Company Commander, should we accelerate? It looks like there's land ahead!"
"Then we must be close! Slow down and steer us in." I commanded with a sigh of relief.
Jinghe slowed down, and the speedboat gradually approached. After traveling just a few more meters, an island—or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a submerged hill—came into view. The water level had indeed risen significantly; what we saw was roughly the size of two or three basketball courts. Closest to us were four or five brick houses surrounded by a yard—this must be the villagers' farm stay.
There were quite a few trees on the hill, not short by any means, and further away under those trees were several more houses, though no people could be seen.
The water hadn't yet reached the houses but was almost flooding into the yard. It was eerily quiet; it seemed no one was around?
I instructed Jinghe to slowly bring the boat closer. Fortunately, since it was high tide, we could dock directly at the yard entrance. I jumped out into the yard first, followed by Xuanhua and Sheng Xiong, while Liu Accountant clumsily climbed down.
"Is anyone here?!" I called out as I entered the yard. "Is anyone here? We are the People's Liberation Army; we're here to take you out!" Xuanhua and Sheng Xiong joined in calling out as well.
On either side of the yard were two houses each, with three more lined up in between them—all doors shut tight. Just as I was about to shout again, someone responded from within, "Yes! Yes! People's Liberation Army, we're here!"
As the voice faded, a middle-aged woman supported an Old Lady, followed by two children, as they walked out from the middle room.
"Liu Accountant, you finally made it! We haven't dared to sleep all night, fearing we might drown in our sleep without even knowing!" The middle-aged woman exclaimed upon seeing Liu Accountant, as if she had encountered a long-lost relative. "Ah, yes, the village chief was worried about you. He reported to the People's Liberation Army, and here they are to take you away! Hurry up and pack your things; we need to move back to the village!"
"Ah!" The middle-aged woman nodded, helping the Old Lady turn around. After taking a couple of steps, she turned back to Liu Accountant and asked, "Liu Accountant, where are my husband and the others?"
"Who? Zhao Gui? How would I know?!"
"Ah, after the power went out last night, didn't he and his father row back to get help?"
"No, the village chief couldn't reach you all; that's why he contacted the People's Liberation Army!"
"Ah, then where is my husband?!" The middle-aged woman stood there in shock, looking completely dazed.
"Maybe he went somewhere else for business," Liu Accountant offered a rather unconvincing excuse. "You all should hurry and move; who knows if it will rain again!" Liu Accountant genuinely wanted to leave this place as soon as possible!
I couldn't join in on the conversation with the locals over there, so I opened the walkie-talkie. "Squad Leader! Squad Leader! Hurry and send the troops up; we need to help relocate the villagers and their belongings." There was no response.
"Squad Leader?!" The walkie-talkie crackled with static. Great, it seemed like there was interference again; I couldn't get through.
This was troublesome. Did I really have to send Jinghe back? I hesitated and called out, "Fatty!"
"Yes!"
"Fatty, you need to head back. The walkie-talkie isn't working; go shout for people to come up quickly!" I instructed Fatty.
Before I could finish giving Jinghe any precautions, Pudding on the Speedboat suddenly flapped its wings and took off. It circled in the air for a moment, quacking twice before flying back in the direction it had come from.
“Company Commander, it won't go looking for Squad Leader, will it?” Sheng Xiong asked, gazing blankly in the direction Pudding had flown.
“Hey, that’s incredible!” I chuckled. Just then, I heard a commotion behind me and turned to see two children crying while clinging to the legs of a middle-aged woman.
“We shouldn't waste any more time; let's quickly evacuate the elderly and the children!” Speedboat couldn't hold that many people, so I thought it best to prioritize getting the elderly and kids out first.
To my surprise, the middle-aged woman insisted on staying. She had many belongings to move back and was worried about leaving them behind. After hesitating for a moment, I turned to Xuanhua. “You go with Liu Accountant inside to look for others and inform everyone to prepare for relocation. I'll help with the moving here.”
I then faced the middle-aged woman. “Sister, we have a Comrade who needs to take the Speedboat back. How about this: you have the two children go back with the auntie. If you're worried, you can stay here and watch over things!”
After some thought, the middle-aged woman reluctantly agreed. The two children, one around seven or eight years old and the other four or five, were eventually coaxed onto the boat. I instructed Sheng Xiong to hold them tightly while I turned to assist Old Lady. However, she refused to board as well, sitting at the entrance and mumbling something incomprehensible. There was nothing I could do; there would be more boats coming soon, so I decided to let her wait.
Watching Jinghe and the others turn back, I followed the middle-aged woman into the house to start moving things out. It was astonishing how much stuff filled several rooms; she pointed out what needed to be taken. After some effort, she managed to gather important items for me to move into the yard.
After a while of bustling about, it was getting brighter outside, though there was still no sun—just a heavy atmosphere. Suddenly, I heard a series of quacking sounds! Pudding was back!
(To be continued; tomorrow will be even more exciting!)
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