Chapter 53: Main text Chapter Fifty-three: Rapids

Main text Chapter Fifty-three: Rapids

Rapids

Da Jin Ya was seasick, had already vomited all over, clung to the ship's rope and couldn't move; the ship seemed blocked by something in the river, although the water was turbulent, the ship just wouldn't move forward.

Under a series of violent impacts, the boat could capsize at any moment. I wanted to go to the bow to see what was in the river, but Pangzi and I had drunk a bit too much by the riverside earlier; now the alcohol surged up, and I didn't even feel afraid—it felt like my feet were stepping on cotton, and with the boat tilting, I took steps for a long time but didn't move an inch.

At this moment the ship was struck by the current in the great river, the hull swung sideways, Pangzi was flung to the opposite side of the deck, his body braced against the gunwale; this jolt sobered half of his drunkenness. Just as he turned his head to look toward the river, the hull shuddered again, flinging him back. Fortunately it was a steel ship; if it were a wooden boat, just two such impacts would have torn it apart.

I clung tightly to the rope and Da Jin Ya, and in the midst of the chaos I asked Pangzi, 'What is it in the river? Did you see it clearly?'

Pangzi cursed, saying, 'Damn it, I couldn't see it clearly—dark and huge, about the size of a truck, like a giant turtle.'

No matter what ghostly thing is in the river, if it keeps smashing us a few more times the boat will surely capsize. I shouted at Pangzi, 'Grab a weapon, fuck it!'

Pangzi shouted, 'You're not sober yet—what weapon do you have to use?'

I was indeed a bit dazed from drink, still reaching for a submachine gun; Pangzi's remark made me realize that this time, inland, I hadn't brought any weapons.

Rain poured from the sky, soaking us through; I instinctively felt the folding entrenching shovel hanging at my waist and shouted at Pangzi, 'Grab the entrenching shovel—whether it's a turtle or a fish, chop the son of a bitch!'

Unlike me, Pangzi wasn't still drunk; his mind was relatively clear. Knowing he needed to take protective measures, he grabbed the rope and wound it twice around my waist, dispelling eighty percent of my drunkenness. Taking advantage of the moment when the hull steadied slightly, he took two steps to the port side that had been struck and poked his head out to look into the river.

By now it was dark, with heavy rain still falling; the river was pitch black. Using the lightning flashing through the dark clouds, I could faintly see in the murky water something like a small hill, half above the surface, mostly submerged. Visibility was poor, so I couldn't tell what it was—just that it seemed like an aquatic creature, whether a fish or a turtle, I couldn't distinguish.

The huge thing in the river was racing against the current, hurtling toward our ship. I clung tightly to the rope on board, watched the creature approach, and swung the entrenching shovel to strike, but the shovel was too short to reach.

When the hull was struck again, I was flung from the ship; the entrenching shovel slipped from my hand and flew into the river. Thanks to Pangzi grabbing the rope, I didn't fall in together with the shovel.

Now I was completely sober, breaking out in a cold sweat, my mind much clearer. The boat rocked, I couldn't keep my footing and bumped into the captain, who had been curled up. I took the chance to tell him, 'The hull is sideways now—quickly find a way to steer past it, or your son won't survive either.'

The captain was extremely superstitious, insisting that the 'thing' in the river was the true form of the river god. He had planned to close his eyes and await death, but when I mentioned his son, he remembered his son was still in the cabin. Since they were both going to die anyway, for his son's sake he resolved to risk his life, struggling to his feet and intending to rush back to the cabin to take the helm.

The captain staggered to his feet, then suddenly pointed at the river and shouted, 'No, it's coming again!'

Following his pointing direction, I looked up just as the ship's searchlight swept over, revealing clearly a dark bluish thing that appeared and disappeared in the river; sometimes the exposed part was as big as a liberation truck, circling the ship, trying to ram and overturn it in one strike.

There was no time to look closely; I shoved the captain into the steering room. As the door opened, I happened to see among the machine parts stored in the cargo hold a bundle of thin steel tubes.

I didn't know where I got the strength, but I called Pangzi and together we pulled out several steel tubes, using them as spears, and hurled them one after another at the thing in the river.

In the darkness we couldn't tell accuracy or effect, but after throwing a dozen or so steel tubes we could no longer find any trace of the monster; it seemed to have been driven away.

The rain from above gradually lessened; for a moment the wind stilled and the waters calmed. Those on board had escaped death, faces turned ashen. Da Jin Ya wrapped himself in the rope on the deck, tossed by the ship's pitching and rolling, suffering terribly, but fortunately he didn't have an asthma attack, baring his big gold tooth as he repeatedly called for the Buddha's blessing.

Some things shouldn't be taken literally; we should try to look on the bright side. Although our clothes were soaked through, luckily, because it had been raining continuously, we had already put money, documents and the like into a waterproof travel bag.

Although the situation had just been urgent and sudden, Da Jin Ya kept a firm grip on the travel bag, never letting it fall into the river. That's one advantage of being in business: you'd rather lose your life than your money; even if the sky fell, you'd cling to your wallet.

I told Da Jin Ya, 'Once we get there, let's hurry to find an inn and take a hot shower, or we'll surely get sick.'

The captain's son had split his head open in the cargo hold, bleeding profusely; he needed to be rushed to hospital. Not far ahead was Gutian County; we were preparing to dock there. I looked up and, in the dark, gloomy distance, saw scattered lights—there lay the small Gutian county town we were headed for.

However, just as the situation on the ship had stabilized, suddenly the hull was struck again by a tremendous force—this impact was greater than the previous ones and came just as unexpectedly; we were caught off guard and all fell to the ground.

The hull listed; Pangzi reached out and grabbed the rope, while I and Da Jin Ya each clung to his belt and thigh. Pangzi shouted, 'Don't… don't fucking pull my pants…'

Before he could finish, the hull tilted the other way. I wanted to fetch the steel tubes from the cabin, but the ship was rocking so violently I couldn't even get up, let alone see what was around—just keeping my head from being smashed was already a miracle.

The hull rolled in the turbulent, muddy current; water filled the deck and cargo hold, everyone's clothes were soaked through, and we all looked like drowned chickens.

In order to get his son to the hospital for rescue, the captain no longer cared whether it was the river god or the Dragon King's ancestor; he gunned the engine toward the dock of Gutian County.

The Yellow River twists nine times and eighteen bends; after passing Dragon Gate, one bend follows another. Near Gutian the river bend is relatively calm; when the boat turned into that bend, the thing in the river that had been pursuing us stopped dead.

The lights ahead grew brighter and brighter; the captain moored the boat beside the dock. Only when we set foot on land did our fright slightly subside. Pangzi took out money, paying the agreed price plus a little extra to the captain. The captain was acquainted with the dockworkers, he called a few to help, and hastily sent his son to the hospital in the county seat.

Gutian's history can be traced back to the Shang dynasty; its preserved walls are a product of the Ming era. Although the locality has a long history, it is not well known, the county town is small, and few outsiders come here.

Pangzi, Da Jin Ya and I, like three soaked chickens, asked around for directions and found a nearby guesthouse. It turned out to be fortunate: the guesthouse supplies only one hour of hot water showers each day, and we still had half an hour left.

After a hasty hot shower, the three of us finally felt revived. We asked the guesthouse attendant what food was available; he said only noodles, so we ordered several bowls, loaded with chili, and ate until we were sweating profusely.

While we were halfway through our meal, the old man in charge of cooking noodles in the guesthouse dining hall came over to chat, asking if we were from Beijing.

Hearing his accent, I could tell he wasn't from the northwest; I chatted with him a bit. The old man's surname is Liu; his native place is Beijing's Tong County, and he has lived in Gutian for several decades.

Old Liu asked how we ended up in such a sorry state, looking as if we'd just been fished out of a pot.

I recounted our ordeal on the Yellow River in full: What exactly is in this river? How could it be so fierce? I couldn't even tell whether it was a fish or a turtle, or some other creature; I'd never heard of anything this big in the Yellow River. Thanks to the sturdiness of this small boat, otherwise, if it had been wooden, we'd probably have ended up in the water, swallowing the Yellow River's broth.

Old Liu said, 'I've seen this myself before; boatmen say it's the river god. This year the water is high, so when the river rises there are more of these monsters. I've lived by the Yellow River for half my life; back then, before liberation, I was under fifteen, and I personally saw this thing. Someone once caught a live specimen. If you really want to see it, I'll tell you a place where you might have a chance to look.'

(See the side story for the next update time.)