Chapter 38: Angry Sea, Hidden Sands: The Sea Monkey (Revised)

This ferocious giant face was almost four or five times the size of my head, and its body was still hidden behind the iron door. I had no idea how big the thing actually was. The light coming through the hole in the deck wasn't very bright, so I couldn't make out its features clearly, nor tell if it was a ghost or some kind of animal. I only felt that this face was eerily sinister, indescribably strange.

I just stood there staring at it, numb from my scalp to my heels, so scared I could barely breathe. Damn it, my legs started giving out again, turning as weak as noodles. I stumbled back a few steps, then realized the woman was still lying on the floor. Although she wasn't a good person, ignoring her wouldn't be right either.

I turned her over and noticed the two withered hands were gone again, but I couldn't worry about that now. If the water rose higher, her head would be submerged and she'd drown. I slid my hands under her armpits and slowly dragged her backward. At the other end of the cabin, there must be stairs leading up to the deck. If I could drag this woman onto the deck, I could either jump into the sea or call for help—more options.

As I moved my trembling legs, I silently chanted to myself, "Stay calm, stay calm. The more you encounter this kind of situation, the calmer you need to be." I inched backward, never daring to take my eyes off that face.

The monster stared at me gloomily, not moving a muscle. For a moment, all I could hear was the sound of splashing water. If it had made some kind of move—like turning its head or opening its mouth—I might have felt a bit more at ease. But its eyes were fixed straight on me, making me more and more terrified. I thought to myself, this is really abnormal. But since you're not moving now, just keep still. Just don't wait until I'm almost at the stairs to pounce.

As I thought this, I decided to simply stop looking at it. I lowered my head and sped up, dragging the woman to the stairs in a few steps. When I looked up, I was stunned. The stairs had rotted away to just a frame. I wasn't even sure I could climb it alone, let alone with this half-dead woman. I saw a few iron crossbeams still there on the stairs. Grabbing one of the woman's hands, I tried to climb, but as soon as I stepped on it, it broke—rotted almost to mud.

This was tricky. I looked back and thankfully, the monster was very patient, still staying there. Now I was in a dark spot, and between me and it was a light source (the hole in the deck). So I could only vaguely make out its silhouette. That calmed me down a bit. I first leaned the woman against the wall, then gritted my teeth and jumped up with all my strength, trying to climb up by myself first.

Unfortunately, my two legs, though long, had no strength at all. I failed twice. Not only did I not climb up, I also banged my mouth, hurting so much that tears came to my eyes. I was very frustrated and racked my brain for a solution, but couldn't think of one. I habitually turned my head to see if the monster was still there. And that's when I saw—a huge thing was standing behind me without a sound. I almost came face to face with it, scaring me so much I couldn't help but roar uncontrollably.

If suddenly turning around to see someone standing silently behind you is terrifying enough, imagine seeing such a ferocious face. Fear like that is truly indescribable. As I screamed, I instinctively stumbled backward until my back hit the cabin wall.

By then, I had gotten a clear look at this thing. A thought flashed through my mind like lightning. When I was a kid, a classmate from the coast once told me that a fisherman in their village caught a strange creature. It looked like a person but was covered in scales. When they brought it back to the village, nobody knew what it was. Later, they called over an old man in the village. The old man took one look and nearly fainted, shouting, "Let it go, quick! It's a sea monkey. If the other sea monkeys come looking for it, something terrible will happen!"

But the fisherman, hearing that this thing was so rare, got greedy. He wanted to keep it and sell it in the city. So he pretended to set it free in front of the villagers, but actually hid it at home. The next day, the fisherman and his whole family vanished. The villagers sensed something was wrong and searched for two full days. Finally, under a cliff by the sea, they found the fisherman's wife's body. Her belly had been cut open, and her organs were all eaten. The old man said it was the other sea monkeys coming for revenge. He called a Feng Shui master, who set up an altar by the sea, placed many pig and sheep heads on it, and performed rites for several days before it was over.

My classmate had drawn what the sea monkey looked like for me. He was good at drawing and made it extremely lifelike. That left a deep impression on my young mind; I couldn't sleep well for several days. I remembered that image very well, and now seeing it, I immediately recalled it. I just never expected that the so-called sea monkey would be this big.

The memory flickered by. The monster didn't make any move, just stared with great interest at the woman leaning against the cabin wall, even drooling. It was a good thing she was unconscious, or she'd probably have been scared out of her wits.

I calmed down a bit. I pressed against the cabin wall behind me—it was also that brittle, rotted wood. By then, I had a plan. If I leaned back hard, I could definitely break a hole in the wall. Then if the sea monkey lunged at me, I'd have a place to retreat. However, inside that wall was the stern of the ship, probably full of machinery. I didn't know if I could find something usable as a weapon.

I was lost in thought when I suddenly heard a few creaks from the deck, as if someone else had boarded the ship. Just as I was wondering, I saw Baldy Zhang jump down from the crack in the deck. The moment he landed, he raised his pistol, first warily looked at the iron door, then turned around and immediately yelled in fright, "Holy crap!" The monster heard the shout, turned its head, saw him, and let out a wretched cry before crouching and lunging. Baldy Zhang's reactions were quite impressive; he quickly ducked, dodging the first attack. He clicked the bolt and fired a shot. The monster let out a muffled grunt, its shoulder torn open, and in pain, it leaped onto the cabin wall. Baldy Zhang fired a few more wild shots, all of them flying right past my head, making me duck my neck.

The sea monkey was very clever. Seeing the gun was powerful, it didn't dare lunge again. It pretended to pounce once, then suddenly made a few lightning-fast leaps, bypassing Baldy Zhang, and scurried back through the iron door.

Baldy Zhang swept the gun after it, leaving a row of bullet holes in the cabin wall. Immediately, water gushed in. The water level rose even faster now. He was murderous, shooting the two hinges of the iron door to pieces, then stepping forward and kicking the door open. I followed him and ran over to look. There was a hole in the bottom of the ship, continuously letting water in. The monster was struggling to squeeze into it. I could tell at a glance that this must have been the breach from the original accident, the one that sank the ship. But now it was mostly clogged with marine rust, only as big as a bowl's mouth. The monster had immense strength. Just as Baldy Zhang raised his gun, it smashed its head through an opening big enough to pass, then dove straight down with a splash.

Baldy Zhang wasn't willing to let it go; he fired a few more shots into the water. By then, the entire ship was groaning as if about to break apart. I saw that the water had already reached my knees. This place could no longer be lingered in; we had to leave immediately. Naiming ran back, shook the woman, and called out a few times, "Ning! Ning!" When she didn't respond, he carried the woman on his back, stepped on my back as leverage, and agilely climbed up. That kick almost made me spit blood; my back felt like it was broken. Then Baldy Zhang crouched down at the opening, reached out his hand, and pulled me up.