It was here––in a German border town almost as remote as the world’s end?
Zhang Zian stared at the elfin detection message on the screen, too surprised to speak.
It had been a few days since his arrival in the small town where he was observing the operation of an aquarium. Driving from the house to the aquarium each day, he realized that this was, in fact, a tiny city on its own. The life of the residents was rich and good, but in terms of size and population, it would be a big village in China…
There were only three main streets in the city and the houses were sparsely located. The restaurant which he visited on the first day was the best one here. Foreign tourists never visited the city when they visited Germany; it was so rare to come across another Asian on the street.
An elfin could appear in a secluded little town like this? Not to mention a high-ranked elfin!
Since the elfin had indeed shown up here, Zhang Zian didn’t think any further and opened up the e-map in the game, trying to look for the elfin’s location.
To be honest, the last time he had captured Pi in Binhai City Library, the level of difficulty had made him nervous. Had it not been for the hints given by Galaxy in advance or stumbling upon Meng Li, the math professor at the university, then they would have returned empty-handed––even if ten Zhang Zian’s had set out to look for the nameless book they probably wouldn’t have found it.
The little German town was tiny, but had everything of every function. There was also a town library. If the elfin appeared inside the library, then he would reconsider whether he should make himself suffer such a pursuit…
However, to his surprise, the icon indicating the elfin’s location was not within the town, but near the beach. It was not far from him, actually––just right in front.
Galaxy happened to have hidden somewhere in front, so Zhang Zian decided they might as well play hide-and-seek while looking for that elfin.
He turned his head and saw Fina taking its time digging in the sand behind him. Each time it saw an object that appeared to be a clam, it took it out of the sand to check it out.
“Fina, walk faster. Aren’t you cold? You’ll feel warmer once you move faster,” he suggested.
Snowy Lionet spat at him in anger and sadness. “Pooh pooh pooh! Shut up! You fool her Majesty all day long. Don’t you feel guilty about it?”
Fina had short hair and was indeed cold in the wind. It lifted its head hesitantly. “But… what if I miss out on the pearls because I walked too fast?”
“This is such a long beach. If you are too slow, then maybe the pearls ahead of you will be taken by other people!” Zhang Zian found a random excuse. “How about this: you take your time to search behind me, while I check it out in front. If I find idlers loitering in the area, then I’ll send them to build the pyramids on your behalf. What do you think?”
Fina nodded joyfully. “Sounds like a plan. But they must pay for the ticket to Egypt themselves. I’m not paying.”
Zhang Zian hinted to Old Time Tea with his eyes. “Grandpa Tea, keep an eye on it for me. I’ll go ahead of you.”
Old Time Tea was also a slow walker; it wanted to take its time to enjoy the ocean’s waves. After hearing Zhang Zian’s words, it gestured that he could go ahead, while it would stay behind and keep an eye on everything.
Nothing was likely to go wrong on this beach with no people. Zhang Zian summoned Famous and ran forward with it. If someone else saw them, they would surely think that this was a regular person walking his dog on the beach.
It was hard to run on the beach, as one’s entire body weight and the impact of landing fell on one single foot. Half the foot sank in the sand at each step and it was hard to pull it out.
A short distance was fine, but after running for a long time, Zhang Zian’s breath came heavier and heavier.
It was much easier for Famous to run, as it had four legs and weighed lighter than Zhang Zian.
“What’s the matter? What’s the rush?” it asked while running with its tongue out.
“There is an elfin in front of us. Let’s go there and see,” Zhang Zian explained briefly.
“Elfin?” Famous glanced around the beach nearby. “What kind of elfin could possibly show up here? A clam elfin?”
“I wish. It’s the River Snail Maiden in Chinese legend. God saw that I’m still single at this age, then gave me a beautiful and kind River Snail Maiden with big boobs and long legs. She cooks for me in the day and warms the bed for me at night. I don’t even need to buy piles of cosmetics and designer bags to make her happy. Isn’t this nice?” he answered while breathing heavily.
Richard was napping in his hoodie, but was suddenly woken up. It interrupted him, “Quack! You young people should work hard. Stop day dreaming! Let me wake you up from it!”
It swung one of its wings and flapped it on his head.
Zhang Zian was speechless. “…If I was not in the middle of an elfin hunting, I would turn you into buffalo chicken wings!”
Famous tried to comfort him, “You should have some dreams. What if it comes true?”
Richard continued to blast, “Even if it comes true, it will never be a River Snail Maiden. Probably a toad fairy!”
Zhang Zian didn’t have the strength to argue with Richard, as he was out of breath from running. It took advantage of his silence.
After a turn, the flat coastline suddenly changed shape and formed a protruding cape at the front, stabbing the sea like a dagger.
The cape was full of rocks, with an abandoned lighthouse at the end. Maybe it had been warning the ships of the reefs many years ago.
Zhang Zian looked at his phone and realized that they were getting close to elfin’s location, as indicated by the icon.
He climbed onto a huge rock carefully, using both his arms and legs.
The rock had been washed day and night by the ocean. The surface was wet and slippery, with many small, unknown shellfish attached to it.
The binoculars he was carrying became useful. He looked towards the other end of the cape through the binoculars, where he saw the same endless flat beach, empty of any hiding place. Maybe both Galaxy and the unknown elfin were at the left side of the cape.
“Famous, wait for Old Time Tea and Fina here. I’m worried that they may not find us after following our tracks. I’ll search around the lighthouse. After they arrive, you can come look for me with them,” Zhang Zian instructed.
Famous nodded, then sat down on a dry rock.
Zhang Zian marched forward among the rocks, bypassing one puddle of water after another.
A frightened crab waved its strong claw to demonstrate its strength, then hurried off beneath one rock to another.
A golden starfish was attached to a rock in laziness, like blooming sunflowers.
A spiky sea urchin was as frightening as a cactus.
There seemed to be such a variety of creatures in the puddle of water. Even in a small puddle, about the size of a bowl, there were one or two small fish swimming. In a bigger puddle, about the size of a bathtub, there was even a micro ecosystem. A half-meter long octopus moved its tentacles and swallowed a small fish, which had just eaten a little shrimp.
All of the fish, shrimp, sea urchins, starfish, and octopuses, had been washed up the shore by the tide? Could there be this many?