Volume 9 – Chapter 37: Drowning Man
“Wait, turn here.”
Soon after the Passat drove into the village road, Dazhe directed Big Head to another direction — not the road to his ex-wife’s home village.
Big Head was stunned, “Brother Zhe, what are you going to do at this time? Aren’t you worried about your sister-in-law…your ex-wife?”
Dazhe shook his head and said calmly, “Do you think Xiao Yucheng is really like God, and dare to come in broad daylight? Don’t worry, the elder of Tingting’s family is going to die soon. Relatives are all gathering there. Nothing will happen during the day. ”
“Alright, then.”
It did not take long before Big Head’s Passat drove to a reservoir surrounded by mountains and stopped. Big Head did not get out of the car. Dazhe asked him to wait in the car.
Dazhe took the things he bought from the small shop in the village that they passed by and moved down the path to the reservoir’s side, which was built a long time ago.
How deep is the water? Probably no one would want to try. But every year, people from nearby villages would trespass this place to swim and then drown.
The government had placed a cordon around the reservoir… but it still could not stop the bold.
Dazhe finally stepped over the warning wire and came to the inwardly concave sand beside the reservoir. He squatted down by the water and silently took out the things that he bought from the plastic bag.
A few small pastries.
Dazhe picked these up, then took out a bundle of incense from the bag, pulled out a few sticks, closed his eyes, and bowed a few times before inserting them.
“It’s not something really good, but eat it too. It’s better than the cold fish below.” [1]
Dazhe sat down at the side, smoking a cigarette. Then, his ears buzzed.
…
“Brother Zhe, I have no other choice. I have no other way! If I don’t raise enough money, Sang Kun will hack me to death! He will hack me to death!”
“How many times have I told you? Don’t go to Sang Kun’s stall to gamble! Are you crazy? Don’t you know what his place is? A place where people are swallowed wholly, bones and all!”
“How do I know!? The croupier told me that he could get money from the stall, but it would be evenly divided between us! Brother Zhe, my wife is about to give birth, and my dad is hospitalized again. So, I decided to take a gamble… Unexpectedly, they conspired together to cheat me!”
“Stop talking. I don’t want to listen to these things! I’m here to ask you. Do you abduct someone’s child just like this? Where is your conscience? You said that your wife is about to give birth, and you are about to be a dad. Your child is a child, but someone else’s child is not a child? And you guys who helped him to abduct someone without telling me? If it wasn’t that I questioned Ah Long and he unwittingly spilled out, you plan to keep it from me as if nothing happened? Do you still treat me as if I don’t exist?”
“Brother Zhe, we… we can’t help it! Xiao Hu owes too much. Even if we all contribute money, it’s not enough…”
“Yeah! We won’t do it if it wasn’t for the desperate situation and being forced into this way by Sang Kun. You don’t know. Sang Kun took someone to Xiao Hu’s house and fought a few days ago. He said that if he doesn’t pay it back, then he will have no son! Xiao Hu’s wife was so scared that she almost miscarried…”
“Where is she now?”
“In the hospital, the fetus is safe in the meantime… but she doesn’t want to see me now.”
“You deserve it!”
“Brother Zhe…how about this matter?”
“Don’t even think about it! You send this child back! I’ll figure out a solution with Sang Kun… Tonight, I will talk to him.”
“Brother Zhe… why don’t you stay out? You said you don’t want to be involved with these matters and reformed. Sister-in-law is so good. You will get dirtied in this muddy water. Besides, this kid’s father, Lin Chenggong, is a businessman. The one who opened the garment factory and has plenty of money. Half a million is nothing to him! We will be fine if we do things carefully!”
“No! I said no! You guys sent the child back right now and look for Sang Kun. Do you hear that?!”
“Got, got it…”
…
A sudden stab of pain made Dazhe quivered. His cigarette butt had inevitably burned to his finger. The burning pain made him shrink instinctively.
Dazhe sighed. The sky had since become gloomy as if it was about to rain.
Just as he was about to leave, the reservoir’s calm water surface suddenly vibrated, and ripples of water scattered from different places, entangled, offset, entangled, offset.
The water began to agitate, faster, and more intense.
There was sharp children’s laughter that sounded all around, one after another, front and back, left and right, in all directions, far and near.
Dazhe abruptly looked back as if something was walking behind him, and saw a small figure flashing past… to his left… and then to the right… to the back again!
Dazhe could not see clearly. All he could see was only a small figure that flashed by.
Gululu, Gululu… the sound of the water in the reservoir was getting louder and louder. Dazhe felt chills crept upon him. His heart was pounding, and he looked at the water again.
He saw a stream slowly rising from the blue-black reservoir water… Elongated, deformed, and clear. A small water person was floating above the water.
Round eyes, round mouth, creeping silently…
Dazhe took a step back subconsciously… instinctively backed off!
The terrifying little man in front of him suddenly appeared to wave both hands! He saw that the blue-black water around seemed to come to life, turned into thousands of arms, layer by layer overwhelming the sky.
These arms grabbed Dazhe’s arms, feet, body, neck… His whole person was submerged in this water arm!
In an instant, he was unable to breathe in the arms made of water, and a large amount of cold liquid irrigated into the pores of his whole body through… his nose, mouth, eyes.
Little by little, he was dragged into the water by these terrifying arms.
…
Whoo…ha!
Dazhe grabbed his neck with both hands, breathed in the fresh air, and fell to his knees on the wet sand.
The incense lit by the side was about to burn to the bottom, but the reservoir in front of it was still calm.
He was still sitting where he was, and he had not moved for more than half a minute… Dazhe finally took a deep breath as if he was used to this terrifying experience, and stood up silently… left silently.
When Dazhe crossed the cordon and climbed onto the road, Big Head had undone his pants and was urinating underneath the tree. Big Head heard the movement and turned his head, “I say, Brother Zhe. I already woke up from my nap. What took you so long…Your complexion doesn’t look so good?”
“Big Head.” Dazhe suddenly looked at Big Head with a serious look.
“What?”
Dazhe was quiet for a while, then shook his head and said, “Don’t go to this reservoir to play in the water.”
Big Head was taken aback, “Am I sick? Why don’t I go to the swimming pool if I want to play in the water? There are women there!”
“Drive, while it’s not dark yet.”
…
“Time to eat!”
With a smile on her face, Grandma Xiaochun walked out, holding a bowl of taro steamed pork.
Two tables were set up in the living room, and newspapers were also placed on the coffee table. One table was recently improvised. There were a total of three tables that were already full.
The older folks, the middle-aged folks, and the younger folks all forced a smile.
—
Author’s notes
PS1: Many people complained – Why is the plot hole still here? This plot hole is too big. The “little butterfly” has not appeared yet… and so on. Then, I will clarify the story storyline again.
PS2: First, Boss Luo becomes the boss around March and April, then after the summer vacation, and then The Golden Week. The online game event after The Golden Week is less than a month. The current hometown storyline is probably between November and December. So… Little Butterfly has been hiding underground while evolving for three or four months.
PS3: Actually, what I want to say is that although I have written this book for almost eleven months, it has only been eight months passed for Boss Luo… If you hate me so much, come and hunt me.
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[1] Due to cultural differences, I believe there is a need to explain what happens here. Basically, Dazhe is paying respect to the kidnapped kid who drowned in the water. It is a Taoism belief to pay respect to the deceased.