Chapter 151 – Crisis in the River
Translated by Jon
Life on the boat was incredibly dull, yet Shao Xuan had to stay vigilant to ward off the creatures that shot out from under the water, and to pay attention to the wind and make sure that they didn’t veer off course and sail in circles.
There were less than 30 “safe days” from the moment the rainy season ended to the day when the two moons would eclipse.
Shao Xuan didn’t know how wide this river was, and could only try to move forwards as fast as possible. If 15 days had passed and there was no land to be seen on the opposite bank, then he would have to go back to where he came from, or else the river level would sharply fall, ultimately catching Shao Xuan and Chacha in a bottomless abyss. At that time, even if they wanted to fly, it would be too late.
Due to a lack of suppression from other creatures, the piranhas were especially active in the river. From time to time, they could be seen vigorously going at each other, sometimes even jumping outside the water. As they got further away from shore, the size of these creatures increased.
Huaa~~!
A four meter long fish suddenly popped out. It leapt across the canoe from one side of the canoe over to the other, while simultaneously opening its mouth.
In the past, when these fish popped out, Shao Xuan would simply dodge them. However, right now, these fish were clearly targeting him.
At this moment, with one hand controlling the sails to avoid the fish, he used the tip of his feet to kick up a wooden stick. Grabbing it in his free hand, he started to attack.
What he used was not a spear, but a blunt piece of wood. Although he used his full strength, he didn’t dare to draw blood. If he had spilt blood all over, the fish from across all four directions would be attracted and swarm over, overwhelming Shao Xuan.
Bang!
A couple of scales separated from it’s body, and the fish landed back into the water amongst its kind. Before long, due to blood seeping out of where it got hit, the fish was swarmed by the others, who at the first scent of blood, flew up into a frenzy.
After deterring the fish, Shao Xuan put away the sail, while at the same time Chacha landed, grabbed a rope, then took off once again. The other end of the rope was tied onto the mast as the canoe was quickly pulled away from the bloody waters.
The wind wasn’t suitable for using the sail right now. Therefore, Shao Xuan had put it away, letting Chacha pull them along. When Chacha grew tired, he would return to rest on the canoe, and Shao Xuan would put the sail back up to borrow the wind to continue to push them forward.
At times, besides the piranhas, there were be sightings of other species. Only, those species were calmer, only remaining active under the surface of the water instead of jumping out. But if one ventured under, there’s no saying what would happen.
While Shao Xuan was controlling the sail, he saw a fish that was longer than the canoe slowly swimming past him. Because it was so close to the surface of the water, the patterns on the fish could be clearly seen, along with its fin as it poked out of the water.
There were also plenty of these type of fish, but as long as they weren’t sieging the ship, then they didn’t really matter. Previously, one of these fish would be curious about the canoe, using it’s head to poke at the hull of the ship. Almost capsizing the ship, Shao Xuan had Chacha hurriedly pull the ship away. Reluctant to part with the ship, it chased after, and in the end, Shao Xuan was forced to stop the boat, and let it poke and prod some more. After a while, it lost interest and swam away.
These various fish also had various habits.
During the day, Shao Xuan and Chacha would travel with haste, and even during the night, they couldn’t sleep calmly. While Chacha was resting inside the canoe, Shao Xuan dozed off every now and then, but he had to wake up to frequently shift the direction the boat was travelling.
Although each day had these difficulties, they were considered to be minor matters, nothing big.
Shao Xuan looked to the skies, roughly calculating the distance he had travelled so far.
It had already been eight days, and just like before, there was no sight of the other bank. Furthermore, Shao Xuan couldn’t even find any traces of birds, or even an island, as what filled his eyes was endless water.
Taking out the dried jerky stashed inside the animal hide, he ate a bit and drank some of the water he brought along for the trip. Before he had finished his own water, Shao Xuan wouldn’t go and drink directly from the river.
As for Chacha, his food was caught by himself. Sometimes, he would swoop down and grab a fish. He would always make sure to stay a distance away from the boat while he caught his prey. That way, even if blood spilt all over, it would not attract any trouble.
While he was eating, Shao Xuan suddenly discovered a small island along the horizon. He hurriedly changed his direction towards it.
However, as he gradually headed closer, Shao Xuan noticed that it wasn’t actually a small island, but rather a huge fish. Only, this fish had already died, and was thus floating on the surface.
Moreover, he had also discovered that this fish had numerous holes in it, as if something had bit through.
To think that this 20 meter long fish had been bitten so much that only the general skeleton was left, along with the ripped outer skin. Shao Xuan could also deduce from the hole that something was inside, still feasting.
Inside were smaller, quite inconspicuous fish, with their slender body acting by itself. And these fish, that were smaller than a palm, had teeth as sharp as blades, and an exterior that was thick, like armor. If it had eaten to the bone, then after a while, even the bones will disappear.
And so, Shao Xuan rapidly changed course and left this place as he continued along the original route, while pointing to Chacha to look at what happened.
“The next time you go to fish, be a bit more careful. If you discover these kinds of fish, then throw it away as quickly as you can” Shao Xuan instructed.
“Jiao~~”
Chacha looked at the remnants of the large fist and shook his wings, not expecting something like that to happen.
He had turned back to look at the fish after the canoe had travelled a bit further, and to his surprise, he had discovered that it was in the process of sinking, the small fishes had already finished eating.
Perhaps these fierce looking giant fish weren’t the biggest threats, but rather the inconspicuous ones that led to greater problems.
Shao Xuan had thought that after resting awhile, Chacha would once again take to the skies, but to his surprise, he had discovered Chacha just standing on the boat. Like a quail, he stayed still, crouching low, pulling back his neck and looking up towards the sky, as if there was something that he was scared of up there.
“What happened?” Shao Xuan asked as he gently tapped Chacha’s head. He hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary, but he felt that something wasn’t right.
Chacha let out a soft noise, it’s neck withdrawing even more, it’s eyes still focused on up above, refusing to fly.
As the wind guiding the sail had stopped, the boat gradually made a full stop.
Shao Xuan looked towards the sky. Quickly, he discovered the clouds were scattering, exposing a bigger and bigger piece of uninterrupted sky.
Normally, this occurrence would be described as a peaceful, sunny and cloudless day. However, now, this occurrence gave them an extreme sense of fear.
Not only Chacha, Shao Xuan also started to shiver, refusing to move.
However, in these circumstances, he had to act.
The amount of piranhas around him seemed to have thinned out a lot, and sometimes, the other fish couldn’t be seen either. The waves were quiet, but this peacefulness was truly too strange.
Then, in front of Shao Xuan’s eyes, there was a sight to behold– a curtain of fog ascended from the surface of the river.
The fog, seeming to be ordinary, rose up like smoke. However, keeping in mind the manner in which it had appeared, this fog was absolutely not normal!
Shao Xuan took out the wooden paddles and started to vigorously paddle.
“What are you doing still nesting in there, hurry up and help! Otherwise, we’ll both die!” Shao Xuan shouted.
Chacha looked at the sky. Grabbing the two paddles on either side, he snapped out of his daze. Using the techniques learned at the tribe, he started to paddle.
Under Shao Xuan and Chacha’s efforts, the canoe started to rapidly move.
Right now, Shao Xuan didn’t care about anything other than wholeheartedly paddling. He was so focused that he didn’t care that the splashes they made would attract the fish’s attention.
The sound of waves could be heard from their paddling. The ship raced forwards as Shao Xuan’s movements started to blur. Using all his strength at the get go, he noticed his arms burning with exhaustion. Taking out a stone needle, he shot it towards the sky.
When the needle had travelled about 100 meters, a “bang” could be heard as the needle turned to dust.
Seeing this situation, Chacha became so scared that he almost dropped the paddles.
Shao Xuan too had felt his scalp becoming numb
In this sunny and cloudless place, with no clouds for thousands of miles in any direction, to think that in such a tranquil place, there would be such a strange noise that would cause one’s hair to stand on ends.
“It’s descending! Hurry! Row!” Shao Xuan continued to furiously paddle.
This time, Chacha didn’t even care if he snapped or dropped a paddle into the water as his movements became more urgent.
And he couldn’t be bothered to go retrieve it. Chacha grabbed up the reserve paddles, wishing he could grow hands to help him in paddling.
The canoe quickly cut through the water, resembling a high horsepower motor boat, dashing forward.
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
The pressure put on top of them gradually increased as all of Chacha’s plumage started to stand on end.
While furiously paddling, a feather from Chacha broke off and fell. However, it launched up towards the sky due to his movements. Although there was no wind, and the feather didn’t fly that high, only about 20 meters, the feather still followed the same fate as that of the stone needle and instantly shattered.
Both of them didn’t even raise their heads to look, not daring to waste any time away from paddling.
The pressure pushing down on them was still there, it was still descending on top of them. If Shao Xuan wasn’t able to paddle away from it, then he too would share the same fate as the needle and the feather.
Shao Xuan’s whole body was soaked in sweat, some going into his eyes. Although he suffered from those bursts of pain, he couldn’t spare the time to wipe it away in order to not slow his movements, and simply blinked a few times.
Not having anytime to think, Shao Xuan didn’t even know what this arriving pressure was. Apart from going faster, the only thing he could focus on was moving straight ahead and fleeing for their lives.
Only after hearing a “bang” from behind them did Shao Xuan wake from his frenzy, unaware of how long they had paddled.
The pressure had disappeared. Turning his head back, he could see a curtain of water vapor growing more and more concentrated, turning into a thick fog behind him.
The boat was still moving. Shao Xuan, clutching the paddles, was lying down exhausted. Raising his leg, he said, “Alright, it passed.”
Chacha was soaked in water from paddling so hard. Getting kicked by Shao Xuan had frightened him so much that he almost took flight. Had the paddles not been in Shao Xuan’s hands, they too would have been lost in the water.
The tranquil water once again turned fierce, the wind blowing all over.
Shao Xuan adjusted the sails once more, borrowing the wind, and continued forward. As for Chacha, he first rested, unable to fly for the time being.