Chapter 81: Qinling Tree: Taimen

Old Itch said that, but we were hunched in water up to our necks—how could we escape fast? I splashed a few times, turned back, and saw that triangular water trail already charging toward me like lightning, churning the surface muddy as it passed. I quickly strapped the flashlight to my wrist and dove in, ready to swim for my life. But the gear on my back was too heavy; someone with my stamina couldn't handle it. I only swam one meter before I was exhausted, so I had to stop again. In that pause, when I looked back, the triangular water trail was already bearing down on me. There was no point in running anymore.

If this had been the old me, I'd have panicked and just stood there waiting to die. But after everything I'd been through—especially nearly being crushed like a pancake by that mechanism in the underwater tomb—I had a different view on life and death.

Compared to being trapped in the underwater tomb with no way out, having to rely on luck to survive, this situation was downright child's play.

The monster charged over like lightning, reaching me in an instant. In that split second, my mind was crystal clear. I told myself that at a moment like this, even a slight hesitation would cost me my life. Rather than be afraid, I might as well gamble everything. I pulled the dagger from my belt, swung my backpack to my front as a shield, and called out for Lao Yang to help—only to find that the bastard had already scurried more than ten meters away and couldn't hear me no matter how I shouted.

I cursed his ancestors ten generations in my head. No time to think further. I crouched down, ready to take the monster's hit head-on. That triangular water trail came fast. Three feet in front of me, suddenly a twisted ripple appeared on the water, and the trail vanished.

Quick as it was, before I could even wonder what was happening, a burst of water exploded in front of my eyes, and a tremendous force slammed into my chest. It was so fast that I had no idea what was going on. I choked a mouthful of foul water, and the acidity stung my eyes shut.

The force pushed me under the water, driving me forward. I was shoved more than ten meters in an instant. I hadn't had time to take a breath when I hit the water, and my air was running out. I was almost at my limit. If it kept ramming me like that, I'd suffocate for sure. So I clenched my teeth, swung my dagger, and stabbed randomly. I felt a jolt in my hand—I didn't know where I'd hit it—but the thing yelped in pain, twisted violently underwater, and flipped me over completely. My head smacked against the wall, and I was dazed.

But at least that stab did some good. I felt the pressure on my chest ease; the force vanished. Knowing it had let go, I struggled to surface, greedily gasping a breath. At the same time, I felt my backpack—damn, half of it had been torn off, and most of the stuff inside was gone. That thing had some serious bite strength.

At this point the light was very dim. I could only see Lao Yang's flashlight wobbling behind me, but those faint beams barely illuminated anything. Instead, they reflected off the water surface, messing with my vision.

I panted a few times, my mind clearing a bit. Then I noticed my dagger was gone—either I'd dropped it in the water when I hit the wall or I'd never pulled it out at all. I sighed deeply. Now I was unarmed and without my backpack for protection. If it took another bite at me, it'd probably be my insides that came out.

I pressed myself against the rock wall. The space was narrow, so pressing to one side made it harder for the thing to get a bite on my body. The monster didn't attack again. For a moment, there was no movement on the water surface. I couldn't tell if it was lurking underwater or had already swum off.

During the struggle, I'd had the vague impression of a big fish. But how could there be a fish in a sealed mine shaft? And such a big one? That didn't make sense at all. Even if there were, what did it eat? Rocks? There had to be something off about this. Damn it, I really wasn't cut out for this line of work—too much affinity with monsters. If I could get out of these mountains alive, I'd just go back to being an ordinary nobody.

While I was lost in thought, Lao Yang caught up from behind. Seeing me, he shouted, "Are you okay? Still got all your limbs?"

I was furious and yelled, "Damn you, you're always acting tough, but when something happens, you run faster than a rabbit. Don't worry—I'll outlive you any day."

He felt embarrassed and tried to explain, "I was trying to make some noise, draw its attention. I didn't think it would fall for—" Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly tilted sideways and was yanked into the water. Water splashed everywhere, and a big fish tail slapped out, spraying green water all over my face.

I thought, oh no—I didn't know where it had bitten Lao Yang. If it got his body, that would be really bad. He'd be dead or crippled.

I felt all over myself. No other weapons. I pulled a military can opener from my pocket. The blade was good steel, but too short. Even a hundred stabs might not kill a person. But I couldn't be picky now. I yelled and dove into the water, swimming toward Lao Yang.

There was a struggle going on there. I couldn't see anything underwater, so I had to feel my way. After groping a couple of times, a fish tail swung at me, smacking me hard in the face. The sting was way worse than my mother's slaps—I was utterly dazed, spinning underwater several times, almost breaking my neck.

That slap got me pissed. Gritting my teeth, I charged forward. In the chaos, I grabbed hold of something. It felt slippery and slimy—all scales. I thought, "This is it!" Not knowing which part of the fish it was, I stabbed it with the can opener.

Although the can opener was short, the cross-cut blade was very sharp. After taking the hit, the monster went into a wild frenzy. I couldn't hold on anymore and was flung out of the water, crashing against the surface. But remembering last time, I kept a death grip on the can opener. The barb on the blade was caught inside its body. As it lunged forward with force, it tore a huge gash along its side. When I surfaced again, the green water was covered in red blood. The two colors mixed together, utterly disgusting. I raised my hand out of the water and saw that the can opener had curled up; the rolled edge had turned back and cut into my water-bloated, pale fingers. I'd been so focused I hadn't even noticed.

But I couldn't worry about that now. I steadied myself and took a step forward. Suddenly, a huge fish head burst out of the water. I only saw a mouthful of dense fangs lunging at my head. In a panic, I leaned back, and the fish landed on top of me, pressing me underwater.

I struggled wildly underwater, trying to grab something. Then someone grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the water with a jerk. I looked up—it was Lao Yang, covered in blood, gasping heavily.

"How is it?" I asked quickly. "Where did it bite you?"

He pulled half a backpack out of the water and gave a wry smile. I sighed in relief. It seemed the space here was too narrow; the fish could only attack us at chest height. That was the only silver lining.

The water was murky. As we were still on guard, the big fish floated up belly-first, its two fins still twitching, but it looked like it was done for. I waited a while until it seemed stiff, then mustered the courage to flip it over.

The fish was at least two and a half meters long, with a very long head and a mouth as big as a washbasin, full of tiny, barbed teeth. The strangest thing was a very peculiar pattern on its forehead, but I couldn't make it out clearly now because a dagger was stuck there up to the hilt—I didn't know if it was Lao Yang's or mine.

By then I recognized it as a taimen, the fiercest freshwater fish. For that species, this one was actually on the small side. But how could a fish that only lives in cold waters have gotten into this place? And how did it get in? While I was wondering, Lao Yang shouted, "Look! There are steps over there."

I turned to look but only saw water. The steps he mentioned must have been underwater. But at this point in the mine shaft, the tunnel did seem to be sloping upward. I shined my flashlight—a little further in, there appeared to be dry ground.

We were both cold and itchy all over, in desperate need of rest. We discussed it and decided to get to a dry spot and treat our wounds first.

Lao Yang was shivering badly. Without saying much, he grabbed the fish by its gill plate and dragged it further in. Puzzled, I asked him what he wanted the fish for. He said, "That copper rod in my bag was swallowed by it. That's no small thing. I can leave everything else, but I have to get that out."

I shook my head, helpless. I had no choice but to help push the fish forward. Soon we came to a steep set of steps. Only in mine shafts do you see steps this nearly vertical. My guess seemed right. I climbed up first. Above was a stone chamber supported by timbers, with several other tunnels leading off into darkness. This area was fairly spacious, probably used for temporary storage of mined ore and waste rock. The support timbers were rotted and sparse, but after so many years, the mountain rock had found its own equilibrium—at least it looked sturdy enough.

We stripped off all our clothes, piled up some rotten wood in a corner, and started a fire to dry them. Lao Yang was anxious about his treasure, so he went over naked to cut open the fish's belly. As he cut, he said, "It's a shame to just throw away such a big fish. Let's cut some meat to take out and see how it tastes."

I rummaged through Lao Yang's half-backpack for some medicine, disinfected my fingers, and bandaged them with adhesive bandages. I said, "You go ahead and eat. This water is too dirty. Who knows where the fish came from or what it ate to grow so big. Doesn't seem safe to me."

By then, Lao Yang had already cut out the big fish's stomach. He sliced open the stomach sac with one cut. A foul stench hit us, nearly knocking me out. My head turned involuntarily, and I saw a mushy mess spill out from its stomach. One round object rolled a few times and came to a stop in front of me.

I looked at it and went, "Oh."

It was a human head.