Chapter 44: Great Demon Beast (Part 2)

The black shadow broke through the water surface with unparalleled force, shooting straight up into the sky.

At this moment, lightning tore across the heavens, and within the thunderous light, the black shadow writhed like a mad dragon.

Liang Qu stood stunned on the sampan, his mind a blank, his heart seized by immense fear.

The black shadow was both far away and incredibly close.

Was that a flood dragon?

He recalled the terrifying tales everyone at the wharf repeated: legends spoke of a flood dragon deep within the wilds of the Jiang-Huai marshes, sleeping for sixty years, only to stir up wind and waves upon awakening.

No, that wasn't right.

A flood dragon...

Shouldn't it be at least long and slender?

That fleeting glimpse amidst the lightning convinced Liang Qu the creature was spherical.

As his thoughts raced, the dense dark clouds suddenly shattered; moonlight poured down, and Liang Qu finally saw the black shadow's target: a giant bird engulfed in blazing flames!

With every beat of its feathered wings, the dark clouds spun like a vortex; the intense light nearly pierced through the clouds, as if fire burned above them.

The sky abruptly brightened; Liang Qu closed his eyes, then opened them again to see the two collide like meteors, then rebound, each falling toward the lake surface.

The giant bird crashed into the water, letting out a cry.

In an instant, the lake water boiled; scalding steam surged upward into the sky, gushing and bursting forth as if an underwater volcano had erupted.

The water mist exploded outward, then rapidly cooled and liquefied in the surrounding environment, forming a visible white fog belt under the moonlight; rolling white mist churned across the water surface, spreading and expanding.

A massive temperature differential formed over the water; heat and cold alternated, expansion and contraction ensued, air flowed rapidly, generating a hurricane.

Liang Qu's soaked hair whipped wildly in the gale, making it impossible for him to stand firm.

The spherical black shadow plunged into the lake surface like a god hurling a massive boulder.

As the boulder sank completely, the entire water surface behaved like a gigantic lung, contracting and expanding, contracting and expanding; each expansion emitted a thunderous roar, stirring up endless waves.

The river surface cracked open; tens of millions of tons of scalding tidal water rushed outward in all directions, surging violently.

A scene akin to a natural disaster.

Towering waves rose; only seconds later did Liang Qu hear the sound of the tide, followed by the howling wind, and after that, the massive waves came roaring!

The sun-obscuring wave was right upon them; in an instant, it capsized the boat and threw everyone down. Cold sweat drenched Liang Qu, his eyes nearly bursting from their sockets; strength surged inexplicably within his body, and he leaped fiercely, landing heavily on the bow.

The sampan instantly tilted high, its pointed bow blocking the waning moon.

Boom!

Millions of tons of lake water surged violently, spreading out and striking the boat's hull with unstoppable force.

Roaring, roaring!

His ears were filled only with the furious roar of churning, colliding water.

Everything on the boat slid downward; under the immense pressure, Liang Qu's knees felt as though they might snap.

His long hair, flying wildly backward, instantly whipped forward, dancing chaotically in the wind; Liang Qu could see nothing clearly around him. He stomped hard on the deck, gripped the gunwales with both hands, and used his body to block the falling fish baskets, pressing them down with all his weight.

His muscles and bones trembled; he couldn't tell whether the water surface was shaking or if his own body had been stretched to its limit.

Crack, crack.

Liang Qu's bare hands shattered the wooden gunwale of the sampan; clutching a handful of splinters, he pressed downward and grabbed the gunwale again.

Fast, too fast.

Liang Qu's muscles were nearly tearing apart; everything around him blurred into a swirl of light and shadow. He could only react by instinct. He felt himself rising, lifted high along with the boat; one slight mistake would send them crashing down, smashing him to pieces.

Breathe, breathe, breathe again!

Liang Qu gasped with all his might, supplying oxygen to his strained muscles; he struggled to control the water flow as his stamina drained rapidly.

Whenever a wave grew too large and the boat was about to capsize, a mass of water would always push the stern back.

For a time, the two maintained a strange balance, as if engaged in a grueling contest of strength.

Boom!

Finally, the massive waves far enough from the battle's center dispersed first, breaking into tiny streams flowing in all directions.

The sharply tilted sampan gradually steadied and sank lower, floating once more on the water's surface.

Plop, plop.

Tiny white fish bounced about inside the sampan.

"Cough, cough!"

Liang Qu collapsed in the boat's cabin, vomiting; he didn't know how much water he had swallowed while breathing earlier, but now his stomach felt terribly bloated.

"Urk!"

As if some switch had been flipped, his stomach spasmed and contracted; Liang Qu, who previously couldn't vomit, now sprayed water like a faucet. Like a morning after a heavy binge, he retched for nearly a full minute before finally emptying all the water from his stomach.

His stomach churned as if the river and sea were turning inside him; a splitting headache pounded in his skull; every muscle and bone in his body cried out in agony, trembling uncontrollably with the slightest exertion.

Nothing he did could relieve the sore bloating; it felt as if a python had coiled around him, compressing his blood vessels until they were completely blocked.

It was unbearably awful, but at least he had survived.

Another large wave struck; the sampan shook violently, and Liang Qu's chin slammed against the deck, yet he felt no pain.

Liang Qu summoned a sliver of strength, pushed himself up, flipped over, and lay flat on his back in the boat, gasping for air like a dying old man starved of oxygen.

He gulped down air as much as possible to recover; it took nearly a quarter of an hour before his dull brain regained some ability to think.

Was that... was that the great demon beast from deep within the Jiang-Huai marshes?

Liang Qu had always heard tales of great demon beasts in the world but had never seen one; he never expected to witness a battle between two such monsters with his own eyes today, a clash so fierce it scattered the dark clouds in the sky and stopped the heavy rain.

It was too terrifying.

Though they appeared close, the actual distance between them was vast.

Even so, the instant he turned and saw the black shadow, icy fear still seized his heart like a giant hand, making his body tremble uncontrollably.

This was merely the aftermath of the battle... No! It wasn't even the aftermath; it was just the massive waves stirred up when the great demon beast fell into the water, yet it had nearly cost him his boat and his life.

He couldn't imagine what an apocalyptic scene it would be to face them directly at close range.

No wonder fishermen at the wharves near the Jiang-Huai marshes passed down warnings generation after generation: never venture into deep waters. These must be bloody lessons accumulated over generations, warnings etched into their very genes.

I wonder if Yang Shi could handle that spherical great demon beast?

At this moment, Liang Qu finally understood why underwater resources were so difficult to obtain.

The aquatic environment was already unsuitable for human survival; facing such a great demon beast, perhaps even a martial artist of the Elephant Realm would struggle to prevail.

As for that flame-like giant bird, it would likely find escape even harder.

Though both seemed to fall into the water together, keywords like "flames" and "bird" were naturally countered by the Jiang-Huai marshes, whereas that spherical great demon beast was clearly an aquatic monster.

Judging by its size, Liang Qu strongly suspected it was a toad.

The entire sequence must have been: the toad demon beast detected the giant bird's presence, leaped out of the water to hunt, collided with the bird, and drove it into the water; fighting on home turf, it was like catching a turtle in a jar.

Lying prone in the cabin, Liang Qu faintly heard a piercing bird cry; having recovered some strength, he climbed up to look, but could see only a vast expanse of thick fog in the distance and a fleeting flash of firelight; nothing more was visible.

Leave quickly; not every spectacle is worth watching.

Liang Qu was already terrified; suppressing his muscle soreness, he grabbed the oars, ready to flee.

Wait, where is A-Fei? How is A-Fei?

Splash!

Sensing Liang Qu's call, the fat catfish suddenly surfaced, its body trembling; the surrounding water rippled, yet it appeared unharmed.

The gale, storm, and massive waves had been filtered by dozens of meters of water depth, leaving only gentle ripples; A-Fei was simply frightened.

"Quick, take me back to the wharf, hurry back."

The fat catfish was only too willing; Liang Qu rowed alongside, and after a quarter of an hour, they finally saw the riverbank, safe and sound.

That massive wave had swept Liang Qu far away; since he had been facing away from it at the time, it had actually shortened his return journey.

Liang Qu instructed the fat catfish and Bu-neng-dong to guard the lotus roots together, then returned to the wharf alone.

The wharf was pitch black; all lights had been extinguished, and the fish pens were eerily silent.

The boats, originally arranged in orderly chaos, had been crushed together into a tangled mass by the waves and strong wind.

Liang Qu could only find a wooden post at the outermost edge of the wharf to tie his hemp rope. Checking the cabin, he found only one fish basket and a sinking stone remaining; their large size and his body had prevented them from falling out. The scoop net, stone knife, and everything else were gone.

Inside the waterproof compartment, the stove lay scattered in pieces; the newly bought cotton-padded jacket was thoroughly soaked; even the cover plate of the waterproof compartment was missing, leaving the entire compartment filled with dirty water.

Fishing out the heavy, waterlogged cotton jacket, Liang Qu felt like crying without tears.

Once cotton padding soaks up water, it inevitably clumps into balls; how could it possibly remain comfortable?

Fortunately, the fish basket remained, and the Red-Blood Perch was not lost; it wasn't a total loss!