Chapter 18, Fish Monster

Translator: StarReader

 

The snow-spotted rockfish monster was sitting motionless on the rocky bed at the bottom of the lake, feeling bloated. It couldn’t help but wonder why the usual food acted up this time, giving it an odd feeling. The meal was stuck in its belly, wrapped in ooze, yet showed no signs of breaking down…

 

After what seemed like hours, Su Chen awoke from his slumber, sitting up amidst a thick layer of slime.

 

“Ugh!”

 

He gasped for breath, as if he had just awoken from an incredibly long and terrifying nightmare.

 

Su Chen didn’t remember the details of his dream, but his chest felt stifled, as though he was trapped in an extremely confined space. The area around him was pitch black; he couldn’t see a thing. A thick, overpowering stench of fish filled his nostrils, making him cough violently, as if he had been wrapped in a pile of rotten fish. His entire body felt sticky and unclean, and when he reached out to touch the walls around him, he was shocked to find that they were made up of writhing, fleshy layers—whatever it was, it had completely enveloped him.

 

Su Chen grew increasingly panicky and fearful, wondering if he had been swallowed by some massive serpent or beast. He instinctively reached for his waist and felt the handle of a blade hanging there.

 

He pulled it out and swung it at his surroundings, hoping to cut a path out.

 

With one slash, everything became a bloody mess.

 

The walls contracted violently, churning like boiling water.

 

The flesh wall opened up, revealing a flash of light. A massive wave of lake water surged in, flooding the narrow abdominal space.

 

Su Chen pushed off with his legs against the flesh wall and shot toward the light. In an instant, he burst out into a clear, blue lake water and emerged from the darkness of the flesh walls.

 

The water was crystal clear and blue, like a gemstone.

 

Su Chen, who had grown up in the water channels of Zhou Village and was exceptionally skilled at fishing underwater, felt an immense sense of familiarity and safety.

 

He held his breath and turned to glance in the direction from which he had emerged. To his horror, he saw a monstrous fish measuring over twenty feet in length with large spotted scales.

 

This grotesque creature was both ugly and terrifying. Its body covered with numerous growths resembling tumors, grayish like stone; if one didn’t look closely, it could easily be mistaken for a massive boulder. Blood poured from its mouth, while its enormous copper-colored eyes glowed with a fierce redness, staring at him menacingly.

 

[A fish monster?]

 

Su Chen screamed in terror, his limbs thrashing about uncontrollably as he nearly swallowed a mouthful of lake water. Could this be the dreaded fish monster of Vastest Lake?

 

Back in Zhou Village, the elders among the fishermen often spoke in hushed tones of a horrifying fish monster that roamed the waters of Vastest Lake. This monstrous creature was as large as a ship, with an ugly and terrifying appearance. It terrorized the lake, ramming fishing boats, tearing apart nets, and even snatching children to devour.

 

Every year during the Laba Festival, the fishermen of Zhou Village would offer sacrifices to the lake monster and the dragon god in Vastest Lake using rice, a pig’s head, and a sheep’s head. They prayed for calm waters and protection from the lake monster’s harm.

 

Before him stood that terrifying fish creature—clearly the very same lake monster the fishermen spoke of.

 

Su Chen recalled now that before losing consciousness, he had vaguely seen a massive fish appear. This monster must have taken advantage of his being poisoned by the viper and unconscious by the lakeside to swallow him whole.

 

He had just managed to escape from inside the monster’s belly, only for it to become incredibly enraged. Living in Vastest Lake for hundreds of years, this monster had never encountered such an outrageous situation where the prey escaped its belly.

 

The lake monster flicked its tiny tail and surged forward, its massive body heading straight toward Su Chen as it opened its enormous jaws to swallow him whole again.

 

Su Chen was startled into action.

 

He knew that his speed in water couldn’t match that of the fish monster. He had no choice but to face it head-on.

 

As the son of a fishing family, he had grown up by the water, his swimming skills exceptional and his experience vast. With a fluid motion like that of a fish, he executed a precise water moon kick, landing a firm strike on the most vulnerable spot—the fish monster’s nose.

 

The force of that kick was equivalent to thirty kilograms.

 

The fish monster, eager to swallow Su Chen, was caught off guard as the young man struck its sensitive and weak spot. The blow caused the delicate nasal area to cave in, blood gushing out in a steady stream. The pain was intense; it was so great that it could have brought tears to the creature’s eyes. Fleeing in panic, it quickly submerged deeper into the depths of the lake.

 

Su Chen, however, didn’t pursue the terrifying fish monster. Instead, he floated to the surface of the water and made his way toward the shore.

 

The massive, ugly fish monster, momentarily dazed, failed to give chase. Instead, the creature grew agitated, thrashing violently through the lake. Its gaping maw unleashed a sudden, intense sucking force, creating a whirlpool over a hundred meters in diameter. This vortex behaved like a strong undercurrent, threatening to pull everything into the depths of the lake.

 

In an instant, the fish monster stirred up waves ten meters high on the lake’s surface, crashing against the shore as it vented its fury. It behaved like a provoked water spirit, wreaking havoc in this serene, mile-wide expanse of the lake. Its rage knew no bounds, furious at having lost its intended prey.

 

“Did the fish monster turn into a water demon?”

 

On the shore, Su Chen, still shaken from the encounter, turned to glance back at the massive whirlpool and towering waves in the lake. A shiver ran down his spine as he felt a deep dread. This was the true, terrifying might of the Vastest Lake fish monster. Even a Grandmaster wouldn’t fight it here.

 

Earlier, the fish monster had been too eager to devour him and hadn’t displayed such water demonic arts. If it had unleashed the whirlpool earlier, Su Chen might not have stood a chance to escape.

 

Fortunately, he had reached shore. He no longer feared this fish monster, which could only stir up turmoil in the lake.

 

Su Chen was completely drenched, his clothes soaked through by the lake water. His body was covered in a sticky, fishy substance that was pugnant and disgusting. He washed off all the slimy residue along the shallow shore, recalling the numerous events that had transpired.

 

After being poisoned and rendered unconscious by the lake, he had been swallowed whole by the fish monster and carried to the bottom. Inside its belly, he experienced a bizarre dream where he transformed into a blue light sphere. He absorbed blue energy before settling onto a stone, eventually growing roots that kept him firmly in place. His cries for help went unanswered, leaving him thoroughly distressed.

 

This left Su Chen both amused and uneasy, still shaken by the surreal experience. Fortunately, it seemed to be nothing more than a strange dream, and he had regained consciousness at last. If he had been transformed into a small spirit and remained trapped on Spirit Mountain, that would have been truly miserable.

 

Su Chen examined his wrist and noticed two fine marks left by the golden-banded viper’s fangs. The swelling had subsided, and the wounds were now red and healing, indicating that most of the venom had been neutralized.

 

The wounds made by Su Chen with his herb-picking knife were fully healed. In the shallow water of the lake, Su Chen noticed that the half-eaten wild ginseng he had left was still there, which filled him with joy as he picked it up. He then found his herbs basket that he had left behind on the lakeside.

 

He wrung out his soaking wet clothes and looked up at the sky, realizing it was already evening, with a reddish glow from the setting sun painting the sky in shades of crimson.

 

Su Chen couldn’t recall how long he had been unconscious. He thought about hurrying back to the Medicine King Estate; otherwise, he would be scolded by Li Kui.

 

He slung his herb basket and travel bag over his shoulders and began climbing the mountain range for a while. As night fell, the mountain path became treacherous—wet and slippery, not to mention the danger of encountering wolves or venomous snakes hiding in the grass.

 

Realizing he wouldn’t be able to leave the mountains tonight, Su Chen found a cave under a steep cliffside. He gathered some dry wood, retrieved flint from his herbs basket, lit a small fire, and used it to ignite piles of dead leaves beneath the dry wood. A roaring fire soon blazed up, dispelling the cold and damp air inside the cave. He settled in for the night, ready to rest.

 

A flickering flame illuminated his youthful cheeks. Su Chen thought back to when he had been bitten by the golden-banded viper, the wound having healed but leaving him with lingering concerns about his condition. He had studied pharmacology under Li Kui and was well aware of the formidable toxicity of the golden-banded viper king. He knew all too well what it meant to be bitten by one.

 

Even if the victim managed to survive the initial poisoning without dying, the venom’s residual effects would continue to erode muscles and nerves, resulting in varying degrees of disability. There were documented cases of this within the Medicine King Group.

 

Several years ago, a senior brother from the Alchemy Hall had been bitten by a golden-banded viper while gathering herbs in the mountains. He was rushed back to the estate for emergency treatment, bedridden for an entire half year, nearly becoming a cripple. Although he eventually recovered, he was left with a limp, unable to practice martial arts and forced to work as an apprentice in a pharmacy, his life taking a rather pitiful turn.

 

Su Chen had no idea how much residual venom remained in his system or if there would be any long-term complications.

 

He rummaged through his medicine basket, pulled out a biscuit to eat, and drank a few mouthfuls of water. Then he lay down on a clean rock at the foot of the cliff, spreading out his blanket.

 

However, after these events, his mind was in turmoil, tossing and turning as he struggled to fall asleep.

 

Suddenly, he noticed something strange about himself.