Chapter 82: Sea Monster!
??Summer sunshine filled the sky.
The seawater glittered like scattered diamonds.
A white seabird with a yellow beak circled the lighthouse on the sea breeze, finally landing on the gray-black stone windowsill.
It peered curiously into the lighthouse, looking at the two-legged creatures embracing on the floor.
The two-legged creature dressed in all black knelt on one knee on the ground, constantly holding the other two-legged creature with the spiky hair in its arms, gently patting its back with its paw.
The two-legged creature with the spiky hair had its head buried in the other’s embrace, as if it trusted the other very much and was very willing to lean like this.
…These two-legged creatures, they must be mates.
Just like Big Black and Little Yellow who lived next door. When Little Yellow cried out because it hadn’t caught any fish, Big Black would also hold Little Yellow in its arms and pat it with its wings like this.
…However, regardless of whether these two-legged creatures were mates or not, did they have any food?
The two-legged creatures who used to live in the lighthouse would feed us something called “hardtack” if we opened the window!
Did these new two-legged creatures know this rule?
The seabird decided to remind the embracing two-legged creatures.
“Caw, caw caw!”
The seabird called out loudly.
The two-legged creature with the spiky hair straightened up, rubbed its eyes, and glanced over here.
Based on its many years of being fed, the seabird knew: there was hope!
This two-legged creature had food! It would feed them!
So the seabird called out even more joyfully.
Sure enough, the spiky-haired two-legged creature slowly stood up, walked over here, took out some things from who-knew-where, and placed them on the windowsill.
The seabird looked closely: wow! It was nuts! And meat! All delicious things!
The seabird had a full meal, let out two satisfied “caws,” flapped its wings, and flew away.
Chu Jiu stood by the windowsill, watching the white seabird shuttle between the azure sea waves, eventually flying further and further away.
He raised his hand again to rub his eyes, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, “I always feel like that must be a bird that old Mr. He used to feed.”
Lu Qingyan walked to his side at this time and said, “It’s possible.”
Chu Jiu turned around, somewhat not daring to look up at the other person: “I, I’m fine…”
“I was just… thinking a bit too much for a moment…”
Lu Qingyan pressed his shoulder again and said softly, “It’s alright.”
Chu Jiu looked at the tear-soaked marks on Lu Qingyan’s chest, his face couldn’t help but feel hot, and he muttered, “Causing you trouble…”
Dragging people over from who-knew-where again.
Lu Qingyan: “No trouble at all.”
Chu Jiu: “That, what I just said, some of the words were a bit strange, it’s a dialect from my hometown, don’t…”
Lu Qingyan: “I won’t.”
Lu Qingyan had long noticed that in this other world full of surveillance lines, Chu Jiu’s actions and language—as long as it was his own behavior—would not easily attract the attention of the Zerg.
It was as if the young man himself was their “blind spot.”
Therefore, Lu Qingyan was not worried that Chu Jiu would say anything that exceeded the level of civilization in this world.
At this time, the spirit beasts hanging on Chu Jiu’s backpack, having watched Chu Jiu for a while, all jumped onto Chu Jiu’s hands or flew in front of him, giving him a hug: “Roar roar roar, Chu Jiu don’t be sad.”
“Gulp glup glup, Chu Jiu don’t cry, don’t cry.”
“Dang dang dang, Chu Jiu is great, great.”
Hearing the spirit beasts’ almost childish voices, Chu Jiu lowered his head:
“I’m sorry, I made you worry.”
“Thank you for comforting me.”
Gulp-Glup touched Chu Jiu’s head with its small tentacles: “Gulp-Glup, it’s good we have Little Can, Little Can knows best how to comfort Chu Jiu.”
Chu Jiu pursed his lips and put Glup-Glup back in his backpack, while quickly saying to Lu Qingyan, “Thank you.”
Lu Qingyan: “No need.”
He paused for a moment, then added, “Besides, I didn’t comfort you.”
“I just stated the facts.”
“You have inherently done very well.”
“You perfectly fulfilled old Mr. He’s entrustment and took good care of Tata.”
“In my opinion, when old Mr. He left, he should have been very fortunate to have met you.”
Lu Qingyan’s tone was very gentle, and his words were very firm.
Chu Jiu nodded lightly.
Lu Qingyan raised his hand and smoothed down the spiky hair sticking up on the young man’s head: “Old Mr. He said all these books are left to you, I’ll go tidy them up first.”
With that, Lu Qingyan walked to the bookshelf and took down the books on the highest shelf that Chu Jiu probably couldn’t reach, one by one.
Chu Jiu watched Lu Qingyan’s methodical movements, and his whole being gradually emerged from the sadness and self-blame of just now.
Yes, old Mr. He’s entrustment.
He had just been controlled by his emotions and hadn’t even opened old Mr. He’s letter yet.
Now that he had calmed down again, he should first see what the old gentleman had to say at the end.
Chu Jiu opened the letter.
[To the pioneer from Bean Village with the very ugly handwriting:
Tata must have grown up again by now. She is a very cute little book spirit who loves to read.
Have you ever been curious why I named her “Lighthouse”?
It’s not because we lived together in a lighthouse.
It’s because the Turritopsis dohrnii has a unique characteristic—when it is near death, it shrinks into a small ball, so small that it is almost invisible, and then grows again, starting all over.
No matter how much suppression and trampling, this tenacious vitality cannot be completely extinguished.
Only such vitality… can bring everything back to the correct state.
In you, I see the same tenacity and resilience.
May you one day allow Tata to emit the brightest light.
Bless you.
P.S.: Although I like you very much, little one, you are absolutely not allowed to write on Tata’s nest! Leave this task to your future mate!
P.P.S.: That’s how my mate and I became connected back then.
Now I can go to see her without any worries, I am very relieved.
Goodbye, pioneer Chu Jiu, blessings to you once again.]
Chu Jiu put away the letter.
Over there, Lu Qingyan was still organizing the books.
Chu Jiu’s gaze unconsciously fell on the other man.
Just now, when Lu Qingyan went to organize these books, Chu Jiu had been thinking about whether to ask him to read old Mr. He’s letter together—
After all, if it were Little Can, it would definitely be lying next to him, reading it together.
But Lu Qingyan seemed to consciously avoid it.
Now Chu Jiu could only secretly rejoice that he hadn’t called him over.
Otherwise, that last sentence in the letter, what, what became connected…
It would, it would cause misunderstandings.
Chu Jiu’s face began to feel a little hot again.
He shook his head, trying to shake these inappropriate thoughts out of his mind.
At this time, Lu Qingyan had already moved all the high books down, so Chu Jiu could easily put them all into his backpack.
He turned his head to look over here.
Although Lu Qingyan didn’t ask, Chu Jiu still looked into his eyes and slowly said, word by word, “Old Mr. He said he hopes that one day, we can make Tata emit the brightest light.”
He knew very well what kind of “light” old Mr. He was referring to.
He thought Lu Qingyan knew it too.
Lu Qingyan walked to the opposite side of him and said solemnly, “We can.”
Just three very simple words.
But Chu Jiu knew that Lu Qingyan completely understood.
Thinking of this, a strange warmth arose in Chu Jiu’s heart, even a peculiar impulse.
He looked at Lu Qingyan and said in a clear voice, “Lu Qingyan!”
Lu Qingyan: “Hmm?”
Chu Jiu: “I… I know your work must be very secret and urgent, and you can’t reveal it to anyone.”
Lu Qingyan: “……?”
Chu Jiu: “But I still want to ask, just one thing—what you are doing, and what old Mr. He hoped for, is it the same thing?”
Lu Qingyan was silent for two seconds, then nodded again, “Yes.”
In a certain sense, it was the same thing.
Chu Jiu smiled.
This was the most radiant smile he had shown today.
It was already dusk, waves lapped against the window, seabirds chirped, and the sun was about to sink below the horizon.
Dark golden sunlight shone through the ancient window, falling on the slightly smiling young man.
Lu Qingyan felt again that his heart had a sense of disobedience.
And in the next second, the young man actually stretched out his arms and proactively hugged him.
Lu Qingyan’s body briefly stiffened for about point zero one seconds.
Of course, Chu Jiu was completely unaware of this.
He naturally let go, looked up at the mysterious man with deep-set eyes and brows, and said:
“I’m going to say a very cliché thing.”
“We are partners.”
“We will work together to make Tata shine brightly, brighter than this lighthouse.”
Looking at the young man’s eyes, which were clear black and white and reflected his own figure, Lu Qingyan raised his hand and brushed his forehead, replying, “Okay.”
*
Having cheered up again, Chu Jiu and Lu Qingyan quickly organized the books left by old Mr. He.
However, just from the titles, it wasn’t clear if any of them contained “information about physicians.”
Chu Jiu put the last book into his backpack and said to Lu Qingyan, “When we get back to Bean Village, let Tata read these books and see if he can remember anything.”
Responding to him was a soft “meow?”
Turning his head, he saw that Lu Qingyan had already left.
Only a small black cat remained, standing obediently on the bookshelf, tilting its head and looking at him.
The little guy’s eyes were full of worry.
Chu Jiu picked up the small black cat and held it in his arms, kissing its forehead:
“Thank you, Little Can.”
“Thank you for letting him accompany me.”
The small black cat rubbed its cheek against his: “Meow?”
Chu Jiu: “Yeah, I’m fine now.”
I won’t let you worry anymore.
“Tomorrow we’ll go find the fishermen who have encountered sea monsters and visit the ability users who have fought them to see if there’s any useful information.”
*
Arsa Star.
Lu Qingyan put the goggles aside, looking at the virtual image constructed by mental power in his palm.
The small black cat with ice-blue eyes was clumsily hugging a crying golden hamster.
Lu Qingyan picked up his other hand and rubbed his temples.
He felt a blocked, uncomfortable feeling in his heart.
He knew very well that Chu Jiu was not a native of WT0906.
He also knew very well that Chu Jiu had not learned how to use mental power or how to use his mental entity in Arsa, as he had.
Chu Jiu must have come from another world that Arsa had never encountered.
But he didn’t expect…
The Chu Jiu in that world, like those orphaned children in WT0906, had a bitter past.
He possessed all of Little Can’s memories, and he remembered every time Chu Jiu had muttered to Little Can.
Chu Jiu was not a talkative person, but he did like to talk to Little Can incessantly.
In these words, many shadows of “that world” could be heard.
There, there were schools similar to those in Arsa, classmates, dormitories, as well as instant communication devices and flying transport vehicles.
Chu Jiu had said many interesting things. He had said that the spicy hot pot in the cafeteria was delicious, that the flowers in the lotus pond were beautiful, and how vibrant it was to see wild ducks swimming in the water.
But he had never mentioned his background, his regrets, his unwillingness to accept things.
The young man who never easily showed his weaknesses, the young man who wanted others to have umbrellas because he had been caught in the rain… rest assured.
This time, there definitely won’t be any more regrets for you.
The next day, Chu Jiu began his “inquiries and visits.”
To his surprise, City Lord Clara specifically assigned two guards to him.
With these two guards, his visits went exceptionally smoothly.
Those fishermen who were drunk in the taverns and hiccuping, no matter how much they looked down on Chu Jiu as a young man who “clearly couldn’t fight, couldn’t drink, and wasn’t one of them,” were still very respectful to the guards.
They told Chu Jiu how vicious and evil those sea monsters were, especially in August.
For example, on stormy nights, they would find an ancient large wooden barrel drifting on the sea—you know, these kinds of large wooden barrels only existed before the arrival of the magical creatures, they must have floated up from shipwrecks hundreds of years ago, and who knows what treasures were inside!
They went to great lengths to retrieve this barrel, but before they had time to open it, they were sprayed in the face with black water by those sea monsters that appeared out of nowhere!
Those sea monsters even snatched the large wooden barrel containing the treasure!
Another example was how their boats often hit traps set by sea monsters.
Those traps were invisible to the naked eye. But when a boat hit them, it would be smashed to pieces!
At such times, the sea monsters would treat the poor fishermen like toys, using their tentacles to roll and toss them in the air, amusing themselves by playing with them…
There were also stories of sea monsters turning their food into stone, and sea monsters conjuring ghost shadows on rainy nights to scare them…
And so on.
Chu Jiu listened and listened, finally asking one question: “Have any of you personally seen a sea monster kill a fisherman with its tentacles, or drag a fisherman into the sea to drown them?”
The fishermen looked at each other and said, “I haven’t personally seen it, but I’ve heard that it happens,” “It must happen, right? But the boats I’ve been on have been lucky and haven’t encountered anything like that.”
These kinds of visits lasted about two weeks.
Chu Jiu had a bold guess in his heart.
He calculated the time. Although it wasn’t yet August, the month when sea monsters were rumored to come out and harass people, he decided to go out to sea.
*
Sea Moon City.
The City Lord’s mansion.
Clara was playing chess with a “distinguished guest” who had come from afar, the king’s younger brother, Prince Halsin.
Just then, a servant hurried in and reported Chu Jiu’s movements to her.
“Hmm?” Clara said with slight surprise, “He didn’t accept the boat I prepared for him?”
The servant replied, “No. Lord Chu Jiu said he was used to his own small raft, and he didn’t need so many people.”
Clara’s brow furrowed slightly, “…Does he know that the sea will have huge waves in August, and a small raft is easily capsized?”
The servant: “…Lord Chu Jiu said he wouldn’t wait until August to go out to sea. He plans to… go out in a couple of days, when the weather is good.”
Clara first raised an eyebrow, then stood up after a moment of thought:
“What an interesting child.”
“Then he probably already has a plan.”
She thought for a moment and instructed the servant, “Then tell the guards to disguise themselves as fishing boats and follow him, just in case.”
The servant went down.
Prince Halsin, who was opposite her, watched Clara arrange all this with interest and said, “This ‘Chu Jiu’ is the person that Teacher He and the others strongly recommended? It’s rare to see you care so much about someone and even secretly order people to protect him from the side.”
Clara looked at the chess pieces on the board: “At the beginning, it was indeed only because of Teacher He and the others’ recommendation.”
“But now it’s not just because of that.”
When she sent people to cultivate in Black Wheat Village, she naturally also sent trusted aides to report on the movements in Bean Village, especially every move of Chu Jiu.
Then, the trusted aides brought back astonishing news time and time again.
A water-powered mill, fields cultivated with three-horned “oxen,” a “canteen” that could feed the children their fill, and often magical plant journeys…
Clara was now certain that Teacher He and the others had not misjudged him.
Because of this, she did indeed care about this young man very much.
Even though she knew Chu Jiu should have found a way to deal with the sea monsters, she still had to send people to protect him.
Because she could not bear the consequences of “losing such a person.”
After listening to what Clara said, Prince Halsin’s eyes flashed with a hint of wonder: “Is he really such a good person?”
Clara: “Yes.”
Prince Halsin turned the chess piece in his hand, thoughtfully staring at the chessboard in front of him.
*
The sea area surrounding Sea Moon City.
Two “large fishing boats” were “fishing” in the sea not far from Chu Jiu.
In the lookout room, Weber, a member of the Sea Moon City Patrol Team, was trying hard to observe every move of the pioneer on the small raft with an old-fashioned monocular telescope.
While looking around, he chatted idly with the squad leader beside him.
“Captain, you always say the City Lord is very wise and decisive, but this time, she won’t have been fooled by this pioneer of unknown origin, right?” Weber opened one eye and closed the other, occasionally turning the telescope barrel in his hand.
“It’s clearly July, and the sea is calm, but he insists that today is enough to see the sea monster. Who would believe that…” Although the squad leader ignored him, Weber kept talking.
“Stop talking nonsense, keep a close eye over there, and don’t let anything really pop up,” the squad leader said.
Weber muttered somewhat unconvinced, “What could pop up? Sea monsters don’t come out at this time…”
Although he spoke disdainfully, his hand did indeed grip the telescope barrel tighter.
As he watched, Weber exclaimed, “Heavens above!”
The squad leader immediately became alert, “What?! Is there any anomaly?!”
Weber: “That pioneer…”
Squad Leader: “?”
Weber: “That pioneer… set up a pot on the raft and started cooking!”
Squad Leader: “?!?!?”
Weber began to report in real time: “Oh dear, that cat beside him, so small, but so powerful! It actually fished out a huge fish from the sea!”
“Wait, is that a crab? Such a big crab?”
“Oh dear, he’s steaming the crab in the pot!”
“Steaming crab on top and grilling fish below, this guy has good ideas, this pioneer knows how to eat.”
“Hey, Captain, his fish is grilled!”
“Heavens, how can that fish look so delicious just by looking at it? Look at that skin, grilled until it’s crispy. Look at the fish meat inside… oh dear!”
Weber couldn’t continue his report. Because the squad leader had snatched the telescope and was looking himself.
Weber wiped his mouth, and not surprisingly, saw the squad leader also swallowing his saliva.
Just as Weber was trying to find an excuse to take back the telescope, the squad leader returned it to him.
“Stop staring at the grilled fish,” the squad leader instructed, “His cat is glaring at us.”
Weber: “?!”
What did that mean?
It was at least ten meters away, could a cat still glare at them?
Weber didn’t believe it, raised the telescope again and aimed it at the steaming, crispy-on-the-outside-tender-on-the-inside grilled fish—
Whoa!
Weber’s hand shook, and he almost dropped the telescope on the deck.
It wasn’t an illusion! That little black cat was really glaring fiercely over here!
What kind of cat was that?
While Weber tsk-tsking in amazement, he adjusted the direction of the telescope, carefully avoiding the fragrant food, and instead aimed it at the seawater beside the pioneer.
*
Time passed minute by minute.
The sea surface remained calm, with only occasional schools of flying fish skimming across.
Weber yawned, thinking that this mission was really easy—
This thought had just emerged when his expression changed:
Beside the pioneer’s raft, a group of sea monsters waving tentacles appeared!
They really appeared! In such a calm and sunny July!
Not only did the sea monsters appear, but one even reached a tentacle onto the wooden raft!
Not good! Something was going to happen!
The lookout room quickly sent out flag signals, and the “fishing boats” began to quickly converge towards the raft.
The shuttling “fishermen” no longer pretended, and one after another took out bows and arrows and javelins, aiming at the sea monsters.
The squad leader’s ice-type ability also began to gather power—
Just at this moment, the small pioneer took out a flag and signaled “all is well.”
The guards: ?!
What was he doing?! Still trying to be brave at this juncture?!
*
On the bamboo raft.
Chu Jiu calmly sized up the “sea monsters” in front of him.
That’s right, ten tentacles, cone-shaped heads, they were one “giant squid” after another.
The “giant squid” at the front, as if in demonstration, slammed a tentacle heavily onto the bamboo raft.
Chu Jiu noticed that although this guy’s movements looked very “heavy,” the bamboo raft didn’t crack at all.
He also noticed that the two guard ships disguised as “fishing boats” were rapidly gathering towards him.
It was a good thing he had learned flag signals from Douglas in advance.
After Chu Jiu signaled with the flags to stop the guard ships from approaching, he said to the “giant squid”:
“Hello, I am Chu Jiu, a pioneer from Bean Village, a friend of spirits and monsters.”
“From the Snow Beastmen, I was fortunate enough to receive a token that allows me to see you all.”
As Chu Jiu spoke, he showed the deep blue teardrop pendant on his chest to the “squid” in front of him.
Whether it was the title of “friend of spirits and monsters” that worked, or the token that exerted its effect, after a moment, a small, round head poked out from the back of the “giant squid.”
The voice of this “squid knight” was not loud, but it sounded somewhat muffled:
“Pioneer?”
“Why aren’t you running away? We are brutal monsters!”
“Be careful, we’ll spray you with black ink and turn you into a painted face!”
