Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Beached Killer Whale
Yun Jiao really wanted to go into the sea, but she knew her family would be worried sick.
She was just too young. If she were older, she could make her own decisions.
’So why can’t I just grow up all at once?’
In the end, the sea turtle led the way, swimming through the shallows, while Yun Jiao, Yun Xiaowu, and her other brothers ran along the shore to follow it.
And then they found a stranded killer whale.
The sea turtle’s excited voice rang in her mind. ’Quick, take it back with you! A fish this big will feed you for ages! Take it back!’
’It really, really wants that killer whale to end up on a dinner plate.’
Yun Jiao was speechless.
As they approached, the killer whale wagged its tail and let out a couple of soft chirps.
The killer whale was black and white and enormous. Even though this one was just a juvenile, it still looked like a massive lump lying on the beach.
Yun Xiaowu and the others, who had never seen a killer whale before, gasped in shock at the sight of such a huge fish, their eyes wide as saucers.
"This fish is so big! Even if Father and everyone else came, I’m not sure we could even lift it!"
Yun Jiao walked up to the killer whale and poked its head. The skin was cool and smooth.
"How did you end up here?"
The killer whale’s small eyes immediately lit up. It flapped its tail with immense vigor, chirping at Yun Jiao.
At the same time, a young, tender voice echoed in her mind.
’Cute. Human. Cute~’
’This one is the cutest~’
Yun Jiao was speechless.
’This killer whale is a little too excited.’
Yun Jiao patted its head.
The big sea turtle watched Yun Jiao and the others with great anticipation, hoping they would finish off the killer whale.
In their ocean home, killer whales were notorious troublemakers, and many marine animals suffered because of them.
Running into them by accident was a stroke of spectacularly bad luck.
Even if the creatures didn’t eat you, their curiosity would compel them to play with you.
Sea turtles were one of the killer whales’ victims.
These beasts loved to use their snouts to push against a turtle’s shell and spin it around in the water!
’No wonder this big sea turtle was so eager to lead us here.’
’Unfortunately for it, its wish probably wasn’t going to come true.’
Yun Xiaowu was a fast runner; he went and fetched Father Yun and Uncle Yun.
"Dad! Look at this huge fish! How much money do you think it would sell for?"
Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe ran over, and their eyes widened at the sight.
"This... This is a killer whale."
"A killer whale is stranded. Quick, let’s see if we can get it back into the sea."
Yun Xiaowu scratched his head. "Huh? Why do we have to send it back? Isn’t it worth any money?"
"It’s not about money, you can’t eat this thing at all."
"Their meat is toxic. Plus, they’re incredibly smart and hold grudges. They travel in pods. If we really killed this one, we could forget about ever having a peaceful day at sea again."
"But they don’t really harm humans. They even drive away sharks. As long as you don’t provoke them, they can actually be a good thing to have around."
So in short, it couldn’t be sold for money. What a waste, for something so big.
It was hard to say how long it had been stranded, but the killer whale was still quite lively, constantly wriggling its body and trying to nuzzle against Yun Jiao.
Yun Linhai said, "Let’s dig a trench along its body. Hopefully, it can use that to swim out when the tide comes in. We have to hurry. It’ll be in serious danger if it dehydrates."
’Human, quick, let me touch you.’
’Human, say something else. Your voice is nice~’
Yun Jiao thought, ’It doesn’t seem worried about being in danger at all.’
"Be quiet,"
Yun Jiao patted its snout.
"CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP..."
But unexpectedly, having been given an inch, the creature took a mile and chirped even more excitedly.
’More, say more! It sounds so damn good.’
Yun Jiao asked, "Did you just swear?"
The killer whale: ’Nice sound, nice sound~’
Yun Linhai and his group quickly started digging, while the sea turtle at the side was dumbfounded.
’What’s going on? Aren’t they going to catch the fish? It’s a huge one!’
Yun Jiao told it, "You can’t eat this fish. We have to put it back in the sea."
The sea turtle was devastated. If it could cry, it would have been weeping.
The killer whale: "CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP~"
’Human, ignore that ugly turtle! Look at me, look at me, quick, look at me... ’
Amidst the killer whale’s clamor, Yun Jiao finally turned her gaze back to it, much to its delight.
Being stuck on the beach couldn’t dampen its enthusiastic desire to be pet by Yun Jiao.
’Turtle is ugly. I’m pretty. Human likes me.’
The killer whale’s vocabulary was limited, but it managed to get its point across.
It was even aggressively competing for her affection.
The sea turtle was so angry it slapped the sand with its scimitar-shaped flippers.
’I was the one who found this cute human first!’
Taking advantage of its mobility, the sea turtle crawled over to Yun Jiao right in front of the killer whale and stuffed its head into her arms.
The competition for affection was on.
The killer whale: ’I’m gonna get my mom to beat you up!’
The sea turtle: ’I’m not leaving. From now on, I’m staying with the little human.’
It was afraid that the moment it got back in the water, that gang of troublemakers would start using it as a spinning top again.
Yun Jiao was kept busy, patting one and then the other.
"Stop fighting."
Their arguing was giving her a headache.
"Whoa, that’s a huge sea turtle! Looks like they both really like Jiaojiao."
Yun Linhe watched the turtle and the fish interacting with Jiaojiao. He felt a sense of pride by association, but also couldn’t help his curiosity.
Yun Jiao patted the sea turtle’s head and looked up, tilting her own small head to answer him. "This big sea turtle gave Jiaojiao fish before."
As soon as she said that, Yun Linhe remembered what they had told him about a sea turtle delivering a yellow croaker.
"This is the one that brought it?!"
Yun Linhe’s voice rose several notches. Yun Linhai came over to see what was going on.
"What? That yellow croaker was a gift from this sea turtle?"
Yun Xiaowu ran over and nodded proudly.
"This sea turtle really likes Jiaojiao! It gave her such a big yellow croaker! Oh, right, Dad, we had great luck today. We found another three yellow croakers."
"What?! Why didn’t you say so sooner?"
"And a whole bunch of sea snails, too."
Yun Linhai went to take a look and couldn’t help but feel a little envious of his sons’ and daughter’s luck.
Even though there had been a typhoon last night, most of what had washed ashore was just worthless little fish and shrimp.
A few lucky people had found some bigger or more valuable fish, but not many.
If word got out about what Yun Jiao and the others had found, they would surely be the envy of the village.
A whole sack full of sea snails, plus three yellow croakers.
"Let’s hurry up. We need to get this killer whale back in the water so we can go sell the fish."
Luckily, they weren’t too far from the water’s edge, and with everyone having tools, the digging wasn’t too difficult.
The tide surged in from time to time. After they dug the small trench, the incoming water was able to pool more deeply.
They tried to turn the killer whale around so its head was facing the sea.
It took an immense amount of effort.
"This thing is seriously heavy!"
"It’s gotta be over a ton, right?"
"We can’t move it. We’ll have to get a few more people."
Yun Xiaowu was once again sent to call for help.
While they struggled to push the killer whale, it was still trying to talk to Yun Jiao.
This led to a situation where Yun Linhai’s group was pushing with all their might toward the sea, while the clueless killer whale was wriggling in the opposite direction.
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