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墨書 Inktalez
Not far away, the turbulent waves in the Water Area pushed the Speedboat back and forth, but standing on the boat, I couldn't see anything. Waiting in uncertainty made me anxious! Suddenly, I had the urge to jump in and take a look; after all, I was already soaked and didn't mind getting wet again.
With that thought, I turned to the others on the boat and said, "I'm going to dive down and check things out. You all be careful." Before anyone could respond, I made my way to the right side of the boat. Afraid of startling any monsters, I held onto the railing and slowly lowered myself into the water.
I floated on the surface, waiting for my body to adjust to the water temperature. After a moment, I tried submerging my head. The underwater world was dim, but not far away, two massive figures were entangled in a fierce struggle. The waves below were even stronger, pushing me back as I struggled to swim a few meters forward before dipping my head back under.
Perhaps it was because I was closer this time; everything became clearer. I could see the monster's full form: it had an enormous head like a Toad, its mouth wide open filled with sharp teeth, and long whiskers drifting in the water. It curved its body, trying to bite a gigantic fish. Yes, this was definitely a big fish—not a monster—just like an oversized version of a regular fish, even larger than Monster One. Yet it was exceptionally brave, repeatedly ramming into the monster despite lacking teeth; it only charged forward.
The monster, on the other hand, though less agile than the big fish, was evidently very intelligent. Each time the fish collided with it, it would twist its body to absorb much of the impact before turning its head to bite back at the fish. After several rounds of this exchange, more and more wounds appeared on the fish's body. At first, I thought the big fish was somewhat foolish.
However, after watching for a while longer, I noticed that where the big fish struck, a large area on the monster's back was also bleeding. The blood formed a mist under the water before dissipating. Ah! That spot seemed to be where the monster had initially collided with the propeller! It must be! The High-Speed propeller had injured the monster's back as well; this big fish had realized this and focused its attacks on that wound.
Thus unfolded a silent battle between two colossal creatures. Though there were no roars or howls and no claws involved, it was incredibly intense and kept me on edge. Several times I saw the monster's tail sweep past me, sending waves that knocked me far away.
Looking at the monster's bulging frog-like eyes made me feel utterly terrified; it seemed that diving back into the water might not have been wise after all. Quickly lifting my head above water, I clung to the railing and climbed back onto the boat.
Not long after I got back on board, the churning surface of the water gradually calmed down until it finally settled into tranquility—seemingly indicating that a conclusion had been reached in their struggle! Everyone anxiously watched the surface of the water until slowly, a massive creature floated up.
"That's one huge Azure Carp!" Xuanhua exclaimed first with keen eyes.
"What the hell! This is also a monster!" Sheng Xiong sighed.
Jinghe looked astonished and couldn't close his mouth; indeed, seeing two large creatures at once was hard for anyone to accept.
Having grown up in a city, honestly speaking, I could easily recognize Catfish but couldn't distinguish Azure Carp from Grass Carp or Crucian Carp. However, seeing a massive fish at least five meters long with a shiny black back floating sideways on the surface—occasionally thrashing as if trying to swim down—was shocking enough. The big fish was covered in wounds; many scales were missing from various places revealing bloody patches of flesh underneath. It looked like it wouldn't last much longer despite not being dead yet.
I stared at this giant fish in astonishment but also confusion—why did it save us? Just then, I heard sobbing from Old Lady on board; she seemed bewildered by everything happening.
Everyone fell silent for a moment as I glanced around; it seemed like perhaps the monster had been injured and fled? Otherwise, things wouldn't be so quiet now. Just then, there came a series of quacking sounds from above—it was Pudding! As I turned my head to look, several Speedboats appeared alongside Pudding; Squad Leader had brought people over!
I instinctively touched my waist and realized that the walkie-talkie had long since broken. The Squad Leader had clearly spotted our Speedboat and was speeding toward us. I could still see a few villagers on the Squad Leader's boat, presumably locals he had brought along to help navigate.
For some reason, I felt that unlike the soldiers who were merely surprised, the villagers didn't seem to care much about our safety. After exchanging a few pleasantries, their attention shifted primarily to the large fish. One of the leading villagers even suggested that we lend them a rope to drag the fish back.
The Li Squad Leader looked at me. My intention was to let the fish fend for itself since it had saved us, but while I hesitated, the leading villager suddenly exclaimed, "There’s a father and son missing from our island; they must have been eaten by this big fish! Leader, we need to drag it back to find out!"
I was momentarily speechless; after all, no one could be certain that the missing people were connected to this fish. Moreover, seeing such a massive creature would frighten anyone. I could only nod in agreement as the villagers excitedly urged the soldiers to bring the Speedboat closer and carefully discussed where to attach the towing hook. The Squad Leader organized the hook on our boat, which had lost power and could only be towed back.
The large fish was clearly dying; even when prodded with feet, it showed no reaction, its mouth opening and closing weakly. I doubted it would last until we reached shore. Just as everyone was pulling on the fish, the Old Lady suddenly jumped up, crying out that she wanted to get into the water. It seemed she was reluctant for anyone to touch it.
Murong Qian, who had followed us and was a local, understood their language. I urged him to jump onto the boat to communicate with the Old Lady. It turned out that this fish was indeed named Catfish, and its relationship with her was akin to that of a pet and its owner. Many years ago, her first pet was a cat that had drowned in the water. Later, after a heavy rain, she found a large Azure Carp on the shore and kindly released it back into the water. To her surprise, every time she walked by the water afterward, she would see this big fish. Eventually, she began bringing leftover food for it and named it Catfish. Her husband had died early on; she remarried later, but her son wasn’t her biological child. As she aged, her son and daughter-in-law grew distant from her, leaving her emotionally attached to the big fish.
While we were in the water, what Old Lady Taiyi was shouting about was indeed this large Azure Carp. This big Azure Carp had not failed Old Lady Taiyi's expectations; it had saved us. However, compared to that monstrous creature, its strength was vastly inferior. Although it hadn't died on the spot, it was clearly on its last legs.
Poor Catfish didn’t die at the monster's jaws but rather at the hands of the villagers. When we returned to shore with such a large fish, the villagers went nearly mad with excitement. They firmly believed that this fish had caused the deaths of two men last night. After cutting open its belly and finding no remains of anyone inside, some ignorant villager claimed that eating such a big fish would be a great tonic for longevity. In the end, they butchered Catfish into pieces and took them home.
I lacked the ability to stop these villagers and could only silently watch as Old Lady Taiyi sat by the shore crying alone.
To avoid alarming the local residents, I didn’t inform them about an even larger monster lurking in the reservoir. Instead, I quietly launched all available Speedboats into the water and searched for a long time but found no sign of that monster; perhaps it too had succumbed to its injuries. In the afternoon, I received orders to return to my unit. I pulled the village chief aside and solemnly warned him about the monster in the water. I repeatedly advised him not to go near it anytime soon and requested that relevant government agencies come help with further investigations to prevent future incidents. Who would have thought that such an economically minded village chief would make promises in front of me but fail to follow through? Over a month later, I saw a news article: "Giant Fish Spotted in Reservoir!" The accompanying photo clearly showed Catfish's lifeless body—though somewhat blurry—I couldn't tell which villager had taken it secretly. The subsequent news reported that ever since word got out about this giant fish, many people began driving in groups to fish at the reservoir again; even an abandoned island farm stay was revitalized and became busier than ever! However, there were no further reports of missing persons—this is another story for another time.
On my way away from the reservoir at five o'clock under clear skies with sunset hanging over the mountains, I sat in the driver's seat looking at the surface of the reservoir where sunlight sparkled like countless golden scales. A gentle wind passed by causing slight ripples on the surface; everything appeared exceptionally tranquil. Yet how many people knew that a gigantic monster once lived here? Even I felt as if what happened earlier in this reservoir was like a dream!
Village chief, this place is nearly one hundred meters deep! Deep waters are so mysterious for people; I couldn't help but recall being dragged underwater by that monster—how many unknown secrets lie within those seemingly endless dark depths?
I pulled my gaze back from the window and focused on Pudding, who was still firmly seated in the driver's seat of Stage. I couldn't help but wonder who among humans and animals truly cannot coexist harmoniously. In fact, Old Lady had a much deeper bond with her cat than I did with Pudding. If my relationship with Pudding was merely that of friends, then Old Lady and her cat were almost like a parent and child.
As for the monster lurking underwater, I wasn't a biologist, so I had no idea whether it was a fish or some other creature that had swum in from the river. I later researched quite a bit and came across many legends of water monsters. I also looked into various species of freshwater fish, and based on my impression of what I saw in the water, it resembled a type of Catfish. There is a species in Africa known as the Tank Catfish, which is enormous and aggressive, with a history of attacks; whether that was what I encountered, I couldn't say for sure.
Later, I read in the news about someone who caught a massive Catfish weighing nine kilograms in 2005 from the Tonle Sap River in Cambodia. This catch is recorded as the largest freshwater fish in the world. Upon further investigation, I found that while the Mekong Giant Catfish can also grow to gigantic sizes, the largest recorded was just under four meters. Due to overfishing, dam construction, and habitat destruction, this species is now critically endangered.
I often thought to myself that if we set aside the uncertainty of whether that creature was indeed a fish, then the cat would hold the record for the largest freshwater fish. It was a pity for such an intelligent animal.
(End of "Underwater." Stay tuned for "Flood Demon," "Love Like the Wind," and "The Work of Chasing the Wind." More exciting content tomorrow!)
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