Chapter 191: Chapter 181: Thunder Catfish
Zhao Lin cautiously approached, bent down, and dipped his hand into the water. It was bone-chillingly cold, a frigidness that seeped into him.
He looked around. There were several large rocks by the pool’s edge, and some messy footprints on the ground, likely tracks left by animals coming here to drink.
He walked over to a large rock and placed the several strange beasts he’d caught on the ground.
The Dire Boar, having recovered its senses, began to struggle relentlessly.
To make it behave, Zhao Lin punched it in the forehead, and the Dire Boar passed out again.
’Which one goes first?’
Zhao Lin’s gaze shifted between the Armor-Keeping Beast and the Iron Spike Lizard for a moment. He chose an Armor-Keeping Beast that looked more lively, untied its ropes, and threw it into the water.
SPLASH!
Although the Armor-Keeping Beast was a land animal with a thick, heavy suit of armor, it could actually swim.
While falling through the air, the Armor-Keeping Beast took a deep breath, its belly rapidly inflating. By the time it hit the water, it had already turned into a large ball, floating on the surface.
After landing in the water, the Armor-Keeping Beast’s four claws flailed, and in no time, it had paddled to the edge of the pool. It stretched out its claws and began to climb onto the bank.
Zhao Lin walked over and kicked it back in.
SPLASH...
The Armor-Keeping Beast fell back into the pool.
It helplessly changed direction, splashing its way to the other side of the pool.
Just as it heaved half its body out, a large foot came flying at its face.
...
After this happened a few more times, the Armor-Keeping Beast was completely bewildered. It had no idea what Zhao Lin wanted, so it just wandered around in the pool, no longer trying to get out.
Zhao Lin waited for a while, but the monster fish didn’t appear. He frowned.
’What’s going on? Is it dead or just sleeping?’
He thought for a moment and decided to make a bigger commotion. He picked up a watermelon-sized rock from the ground and hurled it directly into the pool.
KERPLUNK! Water sprayed everywhere.
The rock sank to the bottom.
After a moment of silence, dozens of bubble trails suddenly rose from under the water, quickly gathering into a patch of white foam.
Then, more and more bubbles surfaced, and the pool water began to churn restlessly, as if it were boiling.
Zhao Lin was overjoyed. He immediately retreated behind a rock to observe in secret.
Just then, the surface of the water suddenly bulged up like a small hill, and a dark shape emerged.
An incredibly stout, black fish nearly twenty feet long leaped from the water.
The monster fish had a huge, wide, flat head, resembling a toad. Its open mouth was filled with sharp, serrated teeth, and around its lips grew a dozen long, catfish-like barbels, each as thick as a finger.
Seeing this behemoth, Zhao Lin’s breath caught in his throat.
The Armor-Keeping Beast also sensed the danger and began to paddle desperately toward the shore, its four legs kicking furiously.
The black fish’s eyes swiveled. With a flick of its tail and a CRACKLE, it released a bolt of white lightning from its side, striking the Armor-Keeping Beast dead-on.
The Armor-Keeping Beast’s body instantly went rigid, and it flipped over, belly-up.
A burnt smell drifted through the air.
The black fish swam across the surface, opened its mouth, and swallowed the Armor-Keeping Beast. It then circled the pool once before slowly sinking back beneath the waves.
A moment later, wisps of red—blood—rose from under the water and began to spread.
Zhao Lin stepped out from behind the large rock, his expression grim.
’To think that after more than a hundred years, this monster fish isn’t just still alive, but has grown so much larger.’
’The notes described the monster fish as being the size of a calf, but looking at it now, it’s bigger than a full-grown water buffalo, and much longer.’
’Seeing how easily it electrocuted the Armor-Keeping Beast, the few strange beasts I have on hand will never be enough to drain its electrical charge.’
But alongside his shock, Zhao Lin also felt a sense of satisfaction. ’This is the Essence Soul I’ve been looking for!’
"I still underestimated it. It seems I’ll have to catch more beasts."
Zhao Lin shook his head and muttered to himself.
Carrying the wild boar, the other Armor-Keeping Beast, and the Iron Spike Lizard, he found a small cave nearby, tossed them inside, and then sealed the entrance with a large rock.
Next, he hunted beasts throughout the mountains.
He didn’t care what kind of animal it was; as long as it was big enough, he caught it.
In truth, he could have asked an elder for help to kill the monster fish. For a strange beast of this level, an elder would certainly not have hesitated to lend a hand.
However, after killing the fish, he would need to absorb its Essence Soul. Because of this, Zhao Lin decided to work alone.
Relying on his keen sense of smell and extraordinary speed, he caught one after another: Dire Boars, wild deer, mountain goats, badgers, wolves... He then hid them in the cave.
He worked until the afternoon. By the time he stopped, the cave was crammed with dozens of beasts, filled almost to capacity.
He ate something and took a short rest, then began moving the beasts from the cave to the pool in batches, hiding them behind several large rocks.
"This should be enough to wear out this Thunder Catfish."
Seeing that the monster fish’s face resembled a catfish, Zhao Lin had casually given it the name "Thunder Catfish."
As he spoke, he grabbed a wild deer and forcefully threw it into the water.
The deer made a huge splash, and this time the Thunder Catfish surfaced quickly. It repeated its old trick, its body twisting as it shot out a white arc of electricity.
The deer went stiff without so much as a struggle.
Perhaps it was already full. The Thunder Catfish only bit through the deer’s neck, then flipped its body, sending up a spray of water as it prepared to sink back to the bottom.
THWACK!
Zhao Lin flung an Iron Spike Lizard into the water.
The Thunder Catfish heard the sound and turned, once again unleashing a bolt of electricity.
The Iron Spike Lizard, with its armored hide, didn’t seem to fear the electricity. Even after being shocked, it didn’t die immediately and continued to thrash about.
The Thunder Catfish let out a cry like a wailing infant and released an even thicker, larger bolt of lightning, which finally electrocuted the Iron Spike Lizard to death.
’This thing is good, pretty resistant to electricity.’
Elated, Zhao Lin grabbed another Iron Spike Lizard and threw it in.
The Thunder Catfish grew furious. Its body shook violently as it unleashed several continuous arcs of electricity, electrocuting the Iron Spike Lizard until it was a gruesome sight.
And so it went. Zhao Lin continuously threw all sorts of beasts into the pool, and the Thunder Catfish electrocuted them one by one.
Before long, more than twenty carcasses were floating on the water’s surface, and the air was filled with a foul, scorched stench.
After this ordeal, the Thunder Catfish finally began to show signs of exhaustion. The arcs of electricity it released grew thinner and thinner, and its movements became sluggish and strained.
’It’s running out of charge, but now’s not the time to strike. The power of its lightning is too immense. If I get hit by accident, I won’t be able to withstand it, no matter how skilled I am.’
With this in mind, he threw in another Dire Boar.
The Dire Boar lived up to its fearless reputation. After landing in the water, it didn’t try to escape. Instead, it charged straight at the Thunder Catfish, baring its tusks to gore it.
By now, the Thunder Catfish could no longer discharge electricity. It lifted its tail and slammed it down hard, smacking the Dire Boar back into the water.
A moment later, the Dire Boar resurfaced.
This time, however, it had learned fear. It turned and fled toward the shore.
But the Thunder Catfish wasn’t about to let it go. It lunged forward, opened its great maw, and clamped down on one of the Dire Boar’s legs, dragging it forcefully underwater.
Although the Dire Boar was powerful, it was helpless in the water, unable to use its strength. It was about to be dragged completely under.
The opportunity was fleeting. Zhao Lin no longer hesitated. He broke into a sprint and leaped, soaring over the water’s surface like a shooting star.
He thrust out with the iron rod in his hand with all his might, plunging it violently through one of the Thunder Catfish’s gills and out the other side.
