When Chang Ba heard this, he was even more excited than Chen Chuan, because completing this stage meant the latter could proceed to the most difficult phase of training.
If he had still dared to make a small attempt at the earlier training, he shrank back completely from this stage.
He had never believed that anyone could—
Chen Chuan was currently reining in the emotions that had welled up within his body and mind. Smiling, he asked, "Teacher He, can we move on to the next training now?"
Seeing Chen Chuan's smile, He Xiaoxing fell silent for a moment. In that instant, he seemed to see the shadow of another student in him. He turned his head toward the area partitioned off by the barbed-wire fence.
"Your next training will be right there."
Chen Chuan looked over. He had been somewhat curious about this place before.
"What is that place?"
Chang Ba walked over and said, "Years ago, there was an aquatic biology research facility here. They were the ones who put up this barbed wire. My grandfather even said that coming all the way out here to study aquatic life was out of their minds.
"Later, that bunch pulled out, but the fish and aquatic creatures down below ended up mutating into all sorts of bizarre things. How should I put it... hmm, exceptionally ferocious. Fortunately, they're heavily dependent on the environment here. Even though the underground currents are connected, over all these years, they've never spread outward."
Chen Chuan realized it then and said, "So the next stage of training is to dive and swim in there?"
Chang Ba eagerly chimed in with excitement, "Not just that! You also have to retrieve the markers dropped from above within the allotted time." He glanced back at He Xiaoxing. "Uncle He, that's right, isn't it?"
He Xiaoxing said to Chen Chuan in a deep voice, "I must warn you: while the procedure looks similar, the danger is in no way comparable to what you experienced before. You can think it over. Completing this stage of training is not mandatory."
Chen Chuan looked ahead and said, "Since I've already come this far, I would like to try."
Under non-essential circumstances, he was reluctant to take risks. But since he had come, he wanted to test himself against this training; perhaps he could improve himself further. Besides, with—
Chang Ba looked at him. "Little Brother Chen, if you really pull through this time, whenever you visit our town in the future, your food and lodging will be entirely on the house!"
Chen Chuan smiled and said, "Since Brother Chang has put it that way, I'll definitely have to take you up on that offer." He paused to consider. "Brother Chang, you mentioned earlier that the fish inside are ferocious. What are they like?"
When it came to unfamiliar things, he always tried to learn about them in advance and do his homework. Otherwise, it would not be training, but reckless bravado.
"You want to know about that? Simple." Chang Ba went back to the vehicle, retrieved a specially made fishnet and a lead bucket, and dashed off eagerly, saying, "Just watch me."
The two waited for about a quarter of an hour before Chang Ba emerged with the net over his shoulder, carrying the bucket in one hand. He set the bucket down heavily in front of them, yet through delicate control of force, not a single drop of water splashed out.
Inside the bucket, three large fish in black and red could be seen. The black ones had exceptionally hard-looking heads, as if encased in a cranial shell, while the smaller one was crimson all over, its mouth lined with dense, sharp teeth, clearly distinct from ordinary fish.
Chang Ba said, "These two big ones are called black carp. When we were kids, we called them 'ramming fish.' The smaller one is a red-scaled carp, known colloquially as the 'red-eyed piranha.' Black carp are ridiculously fast underwater, and their heads are rock-hard. I've seen these things shoot down with the rapids and shatter stones. Taking a hit from one underwater is no different from getting struck by a sledgehammer.
"As for the piranha, goes without saying—one bite can tear off a chunk of flesh. If there are only a few, you can still manage, but if you run into a school of them, you stay as far away as possible. But there are far more than just these kinds in the water. I'll explain in detail in a bit."
He Xiaoxing said, "Bring the fish. We're heading in first."
"Alright!"
The three returned to the vehicle, started the engine, and drove inside.
The barbed-wire fence could only deter ordinary people and was useless against them. Besides, plenty of people must have visited before, as numerous openings had long been cut into it.
After the vehicle drove inside without trouble, Chen Chuan noticed an overturned metal sign off to the side. Thanks to the local climate, quite a few legible foreign words remained on it. From the looks of it, the research institute back then likely had foreign backing.
He asked, "How many years ago was this experimental ground established?"
Chang Ba thought for a moment. "Around sixty years? It was already around during my grandfather's time and had been abandoned when my father was a kid. It's been defunct for at least a few decades."
The vehicle drove another two li inward, and a building came into view ahead, pitted with clearly visible bullet marks.
Chang Ba said, "This was the laboratory back then. Believe it or not, it's pretty solid—scarcely any damage after decades. But everything inside was moved out long ago. Over twenty years ago, a gang of bandits holed up here, but my dad rallied the townsfolk along with a group of fighters he contacted and cleared them out. Nowadays, hardly anyone outside knows about this place."
The vehicle stopped in front of the building. Once they stepped out of the vehicle, He Xiaoxing instructed, "Xiao Chang, take the fish and roast them." He then said to Chen Chuan, "Eat these fish before you go down."
Chang Ba gave a ready assent and deftly retrieved an assortment of knives from the car, gutting, cleaning, and scaling the fish on the spot. Setting up a grill rack, he placed the three fish over the fire.
Once they were grilled, he sprinkled on seasonings and handed one each to He Xiaoxing and Chen Chuan. "Taste my cooking! Heh, this is a rare delicacy. Ordinary folks don't get to enjoy this kind of treat—only us fighters can eat it."
Chen Chuan took a bite and felt a slight numbing tingle on his tongue, much like eating a certain chili pepper. Blended with the crispy charred skin and tender meat underneath, it tasted remarkably delicious. The fish had few small bones, and after grilling, they turned crisp enough to chew and swallow along with the meat. Before long, he had finished it completely.
After eating, he felt a warm glow spread throughout his body, not inferior in the slightest to consuming nutritional paste. He remarked, "This stuff is pretty good."
Although at this moment he saw—
He Xiaoxing said, "The fish here are exceptionally nutritious, but they carry a trace of toxin. That poses no problem for fighters like us, and there is no need to rush to expel it. If you are besieged by fish of this kind and feel overwhelmed, expelling the toxin through your skin to the outside will cause them to stop attacking you.
"However, be aware that certain other fish may target you because of it instead, so you must choose carefully."
Chang Ba said, "Who knows what that research facility was originally for? We used to joke that they couldn't have actually been breeding food fish, right? Ordinary people can't enjoy this delicacy because of the toxins, but that works out to our benefit anyway. After I started training, my father often brought me here to treat myself."
Chen Chuan said, "Brother Chang, tell me about the fish species down there."
"Hold on a sec, then."
Chang Ba went to fetch a pen and a notebook, then began sketching while describing the various fish and their traits. Chen Chuan truly hadn't realized he had such good drawing skills; every species was depicted with vivid clarity, making them easy to visualize.
"Let's be clear first: what I'm telling you doesn't cover everything, only the ones I've eaten." As he spoke, he smacked his lips, as if savoring the memory.
By now, Chen Chuan had a rough idea. He planned to make a test dive first to get a feel for the situation. After resting for a while, he put on his wetsuit and walked over to the edge of one of the shafts.
He Xiaoxing said at this point, "You need to be careful when searching for the markers this time. There is a chance that the tethering cords will be bitten through by these fish, or they might be swept away by the torrents below. So when searching, you must determine whether the path above leads to the surface. If you sense something wrong, pull back as early as possible."
Chen Chuan nodded solemnly. Compared to the previous training, the difficulty had jumped several notches, leaving no room for the slightest mistake.
He drew a breath and leaped inside. The moment he sank into the water, he felt the temperature was much warmer than outside. As he pressed forward, he found that the shafts here twisted and turned in endless mazes. Never mind finding the items dropped from above—simply taking a few turns could make someone lose their bearings entirely.
Fortunately, after the past several days of hard work, one of his major gains was that while maintaining internal breathing and keeping his mutated tissue active, he could rely on instinct to recognize the surroundings he passed through.
He attempted to follow the passage forward, but just as he rounded a bend, an undercurrent surged out without warning. The rush of water was extraordinarily swift, sweeping him off course before he could react.
His heart chilled. If he was dragged into the depths of the shafts in one fell swoop, he might not be able to find his way out, even with—
In this critical moment, driven by his willpower, the mutated tissue within his body exerted strength layer upon layer. His five fingers plunged into the shaft wall, locking on firmly to keep himself from being swept away.
He pressed his body as close as possible to the shaft wall, which had been polished smooth by the currents, and using the coordination of his fingers and body, he edged back toward his original position inch by inch.
Meanwhile, He Xiaoxing stood stationary beside a certain shaft, seemingly staring down at a specific spot below. Beneath his clothing, faint patterns could be seen emerging, only to gradually recede after a while.
Through the coordinated crawling of his hands and feet, Chen Chuan had gradually pulled himself out of the zone of rushing currents underwater.
He knew in his heart that the situation here was exceedingly complex. It was better to move slowly and figure out the conditions around him; escaping this time did not guarantee he could do so the next.
Just then, he suddenly sensed that the oxygen he could capture was dwindling, and in that brief span of moments, countless things seemed to be boring vigorously into his body.
Stone algae?
It had to be that stuff, yet it felt far more potent and aggressive than what he had encountered before.
Yet he was no longer the person he had been days ago either. He immediately mobilized his mutated tissue to repel them from his body, while kicking and paddling with all his limbs to swim outward as fast as possible. After about a dozen seconds, he broke free of this stretch of water, and the external invasion gradually subsided.
Yet before he could relax, he sensed something ahead rushing toward him at extreme speed!
Chapter 169