Chapter 90: Chapter 89: Thousand Gold
The bullets forced the dark shadow that had leaped from the water back down into the river.
Fu Juemin quickly worked the bolt, reloading his rifle. Right now, even with [Yao Ling], he couldn’t accurately pinpoint the water monkey’s location, only detecting the sound of frantic splashing.
It was as if a massive fish was circling the boat. A huge whirlpool formed on the once-calm, black surface of the water, causing the entire vessel to slowly begin to turn.
Fu Juemin fired shot after shot, making clusters of spray erupt from the water’s surface.
"A different gun!"
After a short burst of fire, Fu Juemin suddenly stopped. His eyes fell on a light machine gun held by one of the Nursing Home members beside him.
The man instantly understood and hurried to hand him the machine gun.
With the machine gun in hand, Fu Juemin strafed the river’s surface indiscriminately. Belt after belt of ammunition stitched across the water with a WHOOSHING sound.
Aided by [Yao Ling]’s detection and his own predictions, Fu Juemin felt he must have hit something.
"GROOAAK—"
A strange, frog-like croak was heard, and a patch of water abruptly exploded. The water monkey, hidden beneath the surface, finally revealed itself again.
This time, its speed was almost unbelievable. A foul, fishy stench washed over the boat like an invisible, noxious miasma.
In the light of the torches, the slender dark figure, something long slung over its back, leaped high into the air. Though no one could make out its features, everyone on the boat was thunderstruck, frozen in a stupor.
Fu Juemin felt the impact most severely.
In that instant, he felt as if a tide of venomous resentment and hatred, built up over centuries, was crashing down upon him.
His vigorous Qi Blood, typical of the Middle Stage of the Blood Refining Realm, felt like a bonfire doused with ice water under this wave of resentment. A bone-chilling cold spread through him.
He was rooted to the spot, pupils constricting, as he watched the dark figure close in on him.
Just then, a hand shot out, grabbing his shoulder and yanking him backward.
Immediately after, a figure stepped in front of him.
"Uncle Tong!"
Before Fu Juemin could finish speaking, the roaring vibration of an engine starting up filled his ears.
In an instant, the overwhelming resentment receded like the tide. With a soft PLOP, the eerie dark figure, which had been about to land on the bow, chose to turn back.
After it hit the water, a long wake spread out, indicating it was already speeding away without a backward glance.
The tense atmosphere on the boat instantly broke. Beneath the roar of the small cargo boat’s engine as it sped away, the deck was filled with the sound of people gasping for air.
Fu Juemin recovered from his shock. Extending his senses with [Yao Ling], he found that the water monkey had indeed retreated, but it hadn’t left completely. Instead, it was trailing them from a great distance, seemingly wary.
’Don’t tell me... it’s afraid of the diesel engine’s noise?’
Fu Juemin mulled it over for a moment, arriving at an absurd conclusion that he himself found hard to believe.
But on second thought, it seemed plausible.
’Given the water monkey’s consistently cunning and cautious nature, it’s perfectly reasonable for it to mistake the diesel engine for some "mysterious entity" that’s best not to provoke.’
To test his theory, he stood watch at the stern for another hour. Only after confirming that the water monkey truly didn’t dare to come closer did he finally relax.
"Leave four people on deck. Two per group, take shifts standing watch.
The rest of you, go get some rest! We’ll deal with everything else tomorrow."
Fu Juemin gave the order with a wave of his hand.
When it came to external military matters, Fu Guosheng always deferred to him.
Startled awake by the water monkey in the middle of the night and in a commotion for hours, the group was exhausted. They took his orders and dispersed.
Fu Juemin returned to his cabin as well. When he pushed the door open, he was surprised to find Xu Xinyi was still there.
She was huddled in the corner of the bed, clutching a blanket, looking both curious and frightened, as if she had no idea what had just happened outside.
The moment Fu Juemin entered, Xu Xinyi dove into his arms as quickly as a kitty.
She looked up at him with pleading eyes.
"Brother Lingjun, do... do I have to go back?"
Fu Juemin shook his head. His nerves had been on edge all night, and he had spent an hour listening with [Yao Ling]. He had a pent-up fire inside him with nowhere to release it.
"Go back for what?"
Fu Juemin turned up the wick on the kerosene lamp by the bed. Facing Xu Xinyi, he calmly began to undo his buttons, one by one.
"Tonight..."
"Even if God himself came down, he couldn’t stop me, Fu Juemin, from being a groom tonight!"
....
「The next day.」
A round table was set on the upper deck, which had been specially fitted with a waterproof canopy and offered a wide, open view. Fu Juemin and his family were having lunch.
A gentle river breeze blew, carrying a faint, fishy scent from the water. Despite that, the weather was fine, with plenty of sunshine.
Seven or eight dishes were laid out on the table. Aside from winter vegetables that stored well, there was fresh river seafood caught that very morning. Prepared by the skillful hands of their cook, the dishes were a feast for the senses.
However, after last night’s incident with the water monkey, the few people sitting around the table felt a faint wave of nausea as they looked at the plates of fish and shrimp.
"Eat."
Fu Guosheng was the first to pick up his bowl, and the others followed suit with their chopsticks.
The atmosphere at the table was a little dull until his stepmother, Lin Wanrong, suddenly piped up, "Where’s Xinyi?"
"Sister Xinyi must be missing her mom..."
The precocious Fu Shuxin immediately piped up, "I got up to pee last night, and I heard Sister Xinyi crying the whole time!"
"Pfft—"
Lin Wanrong couldn’t hold it in and let out a chuckle. Patting Fu Shuxin’s head, she said, "Shuxin, Shuyao, you two remember this. From now on, you have to call Xinyi your sister-in-law."
The two little girls said, "Oh," in a way that showed they didn’t fully understand. Fu Guosheng picked up his chopsticks and coughed loudly twice, his expression a mixture of awkwardness and embarrassment.
But Fu Juemin replied with a perfectly calm expression, "Xinyi is tired. Let her rest until the afternoon. We can call her to eat then."
’He and Xu Xinyi had been at it until dawn. He’d probably tried eight out of ten possible positions. The whole boat was only so big, and the rooms were just separated by wooden planks. It would have been a miracle if his father and stepmother next door hadn’t heard a thing.’
Fu Juemin put an end to the topic himself. He picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks, placed it in his bowl, and then changed the subject. He looked at Fu Guosheng and said, "Dad, about that water monkey last night... I’m afraid it was coming for us specifically."
Hearing Fu Juemin mention this, Fu Guosheng slowly put his chopsticks down.
His stepmother, Lin Wanrong, tactfully took Fu Shuxin and Fu Shuyao and led them away. Once they were alone, Fu Guosheng asked, "What do you have in mind?"
"That water monkey was probably hibernating at the bottom of the river. The Fire Cloud Army’s artillery must have woken it up. It was starving, so it started grabbing people everywhere.
Now, the sound of the diesel engine has spooked it, so it doesn’t dare approach recklessly. But sooner or later, it’ll work up the courage to test the waters again.
So I was thinking..."
A sharp glint flashed in Fu Juemin’s eyes. He spoke slowly, "Rather than live in fear, wondering when it’s going to come after us again, we should find a time and a place... and deal with it once and for all!"
Fu Guosheng frowned. "That logic is sound, yes.
But everyone saw how ferocious that water monkey was last night.
If you want to go after it, I’m afraid you’ll find few people brave enough to follow..."
"We don’t need many people."
Fu Juemin shook his head. "Dad, you’re forgetting something. We still have that pile of dynamite and kerosene that Second Uncle left in the hold..."
