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墨書 Inktalez
My feet quickly turned red from the cold, and I could feel a bit of warmth spreading through my body. However, I knew this wouldn't do; my body temperature was already starting to drop. If I didn't find a way to replenish my energy or raise my external temperature, I would soon succumb to hypothermia.
"I need to find something to eat," I said, shivering.
Jack wore a long face. "Where are we supposed to get food? I'm not going back to the Light Barrier; I'd rather starve."
It seemed Jack was terrified of the Light Barrier down to his bones.
"There must be something in the water. If we can find bait, we could try fishing."
"The water is too cold, and there are bloodsucking worms in it. How could there possibly be fish? Maybe fish bones at best."
"If there were worms here, I wouldn't be able to come up. This Underground River has a significant temperature change from upstream to here, and it's not suitable for all creatures. I suspect that the organisms here, especially the Aquatic Creatures, have a clear temperature boundary. The water temperature here is likely unsuitable for bloodsucking worms but more favorable for larger species."
Jack thought for a moment. "Maybe you're right. But it's worth a shot; we have no other options anyway."
We had some climbing rope on hand, and Jack fashioned a hook out of a crossbow bolt. I watched him skillfully tie the hook without offering to help, sitting on the side while rubbing my stiff legs.
The truth was, we had a significant problem: we had no bait. My suggestion to fish relied on having bait; I believed there must be fish in the water—even if it was just the giant octopus I encountered at Lop Nur jumping out of the water, I wouldn't be surprised. But without bait, there was nothing we could do. Although the Aquatic Creatures here were likely lacking food, they wouldn't go after a metal hook.
Once Jack finished tying the hook, he started rummaging through his pockets and suddenly exclaimed, "I have something in my jacket pocket that can work as fish bait."
I realized he had hidden food in his pocket and nearly jumped up to kick him. We were on the verge of starving, and he was hoarding food? Was he trying to get us killed? I reached into his jacket pocket and felt something sticky. Pulling it out, I nearly lost my temper—it was some mushy substance from the Light Barrier that had already been crushed.
This stuff nearly got us killed! He packed a whole bag of it without telling me. Did he want me dead?
Seeing my displeasure, Jack hurriedly explained, "I haven't been thinking clearly; I forgot about it until you mentioned fishing. We've eaten quite a bit of this stuff before; it should be safe—if it didn't kill us then, it won't now."
Is this really about whether it's poisonous or not? This stuff almost ruined us! He was so scared he'd rather starve than go back to the Light Barrier; how could I not be terrified of it too?
I tossed that sticky mess in front of Jack and shook out my pockets until not even a crumb remained.
Jack rummaged through that sticky substance for a while and finally picked out a piece that wasn't crushed and could still hold its shape to put on the hook. He lifted the hook and prepared to throw it into the water.
"Wait!" I shouted. I noticed that the bait still emitted light after leaving the Flashlight's glow. Normally, glowing bait is highly effective for fishing—especially at night. So now my concern wasn't whether we could catch fish but whether Jack would get dragged into the water by one. If there were fish here, they certainly wouldn't be small.
I took one end of the climbing rope and tied it to a stone pillar, turning to Jack. "Alright, good luck to us."
Jack looked at me in surprise. "Do you think we're fishing for whales?"
I shrugged. "I hope it's a big one. I believe in you."
Jack frowned, his chubby face shifting through various expressions as he clearly struggled to understand my actions.
The rope in Jack's hands began to rise, and the hook flew out, spinning a few times before plunging into the depths of the underground lake. The length of the rope was limited; the hook didn’t go beyond the reach of the One-Eyed Beast Flashlight. I watched as it sank into the water, the faint glow on the hook standing out starkly against the darkness, slowly disappearing as it descended.
As the hook sank to the bottom, the climbing rope gradually followed suit, inching into the water. But before the entire rope could be submerged, it suddenly snapped tight with a loud 'twang.'
"Don't tell me, Jack," I thought, surprised that we had hooked something so quickly—and it was a big one.
"Pull the rope!" I jumped up barefoot, my AK-47 bullets instantly chambered.
Jack jumped up too, but in anger. "Can I even pull it? If I could pull it, would I still be putting up with you?"
I realized he was right; he was practically incapacitated now. One arm was already useless, and who knew how his back injury was doing? He couldn’t pull on the rope; he could barely even bend over.
I quickly gestured for him to calm down and took off my AK-47 from around my neck. "Can you fire this gun?"
Jack nodded, still fuming. I tossed him the gun. "If you see it, shoot. Don’t wait for it to drag me down."
With that, I bent down and grabbed hold of the rope. Instantly, violent shaking coursed through it; the force was immense. If the other end of the rope wasn’t secured to the stone pillar, I would either have to let go or be pulled into the underground lake myself. My goal in pulling on the rope was merely to lure whatever was down there out from beneath Pavement; there was no way I could drag it onto shore. It had to be a big one.
Jack knelt on one leg at the water's edge, aiming his Muzzle downward and shouting loudly, "The beam is too wide; I can't find a target!"
Damn it, no matter how wide the beam is, you won't find it if it hasn't surfaced yet.
I bit down on the One-Eyed Beast Flashlight in my mouth. Based on my sense of touch, I tried to determine the movement direction of this big creature below and adjusted the flashlight accordingly. However, with the flashlight set to high beam, it did seem a bit too bright. One hand held onto the rope while the other adjusted the flashlight's beam.
Soon enough, a large area of the lake surface became illuminated. At the same time, one spot in particular began to churn violently, sending up fine bubbles. My eyes and the light from the One-Eyed Beast Flashlight both focused on that spot.
At that moment, the rope in my hand suddenly loosened, and a massive black object leaped out of the lake.
Amidst a flurry of gunfire, the black object was splattered with blood like rain, dense and accurate. Most of the bullets pierced through it, and when they exited on the other side, they sprayed out large amounts of blood—white, red, and black.
When this black object fell into the water, it merely flipped over once, exerting a slight pull on the rope, and then it became still.
"We got it! Yes!" Jack shouted excitedly.
I cursed under my breath, quickly untying the knot that bound me to the stone pillar, grabbing the rope and jumping onto the bank.
I hadn’t anticipated how large this creature was. The drop to the shore was two meters, and there was no way I could drag it up by myself. I also didn’t dare to cut off some flesh and leave it in the water; I feared its blood would attract something larger and more terrifying. The lessons from Lop Nur constantly reminded me.
(To Be Continued…)
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