The midday sun burned brighter, yet its rays could not pierce the thick underwater haze of silt and sand.
Shattered stone pillars jutted haphazardly from the mud. Water plants once rooted in the rocky fissures had been torn from their beds, drifting far away along the gentle currents.
After the fierce battle fought by Liang Qu and his companions, the entire riverbed had descended into chaos, as though a submarine earthquake had erupted.
"Hah!"
Liang Qu broke the surface, gasping for air. He tilted his head back, his tongue parched as if about to split, his chest heaving violently.
Beads of water dripped from the ends of his sodden hair, mingling with cold sweat before trickling down his chin and splashing into the water.
The surging waves lifted and lowered Liang Qu, surrounded on all sides by dazzling ripples of light.
He took deep breaths in quick succession. His bellowing lungs drew in vast gulps of air, and his racing heart worked frantically to pump oxygen through his body. The flushed redness drained swiftly from his face, and his numb mind revived.
The crab monster's onslaught had been relentless and airtight. The oxygen burned through in just a few minutes of combat had nearly equaled that of a normal quarter of an hour underwater.
He looked down at his waist. The gash was nearly a palm wide, raking from three or four inches beside his navel all the way around to the small of his back.
An entire patch of skin had been torn away, oozing pale yellowish fluid around the edges. In the center, bright red muscle tissue lay exposed, blood welling out in steady pulses. Cold sweat broke out across his skin as lingering dread seized his heart.
Splash.
The Fat Catfish surfaced, dragging along the clothes Liang Qu had left aboard the boat. Gritting his teeth, Liang Qu took the garments and ripped them into strips of cloth to bind around his waist. Shielded from the stinging wash of the current, the agonizing pain finally eased a bit.
His frantically hammering heart gradually slowed.
Waves lapped against Liang Qu's chest. He pulled out the broken half of his spear, its splintered wooden shaft bristling with jagged spikes.
If only he had an iron gig, he wouldn't have been hurt.
Liang Qu snapped off the protruding splinters with his palm to even out the break. Re-gripping the shortened spear, he drew a deep breath and dived back down.
The crab monster had suffered grievous wounds, but it was not dead yet. He could not give it a chance to recover.
Round two, start!
Underwater, the plume of dust that had once billowed four to five meters high had settled to around two meters, yet the crab monster was nowhere in sight.
With the Fat Catfish and the Sow Dragon searching, however, its trail was soon uncovered. The moment Liang Qu caught sight of the crab monster, his eyes turned red with fury!
The monster was crouched over the lotus root bed, clamping large sections of lotus root in its claws and munching furiously, devouring nearly an entire stalk in every bite.
Nourished by the immense bounty of lotus root, its regenerative powers were in full swing. Granulation tissue had begun sprouting from its severed legs, and fresh antennae were even budding from its empty eye sockets.
A crab's regenerative ability was formidable. Liang Qu dared not let it keep gorging itself; otherwise, all their prior efforts would go to waste.
Not to mention, those were all his lotus roots!
Liang Qu charged forward once more. The instant his feet hit the bed, the crab monster's newly sprouted antennae twitched, turning toward him.
Its vision had not yet returned, however. It could not see Liang Qu's movements at all, able to determine his direction only from the vibrations transmitted through its legs.
Once a crab's eyeballs and eyestalks were completely destroyed, it could not grow new eyes, only an extra pair of antennae from the sockets—at least, that was true for ordinary crabs.
Liang Qu could not be certain whether the same rule applied to the monster before him. He had to kill it before any eyes could regrow!
Back when the crab had shifted targets upon being struck, Liang Qu had realized that this beast was not very bright.
A fatal weakness.
His thoughts turning quickly, Liang Qu tapped his shortened spear against a rock. Almost the instant the vibrations rippled out, the crab monster flew into a rage, its remaining legs shivering and churning as it charged in his direction.
Liang Qu stood ready.
Thrashing its legs, the crab barreled toward him like a juggernaut. The displaced current slammed into Liang Qu's face as if he were standing before an erupting volcano. He leaped into the water, willing a disturbance to churn on the crab's opposite flank.
Without hesitation, the massive pincer snapped toward the swirling water. The razor-sharp claw cleaved through the current, biting only empty water.
Overextending its giant claw, the monster left its front completely exposed, revealing its pale underside.
Now!
Liang Qu planted his feet back onto the bed and tightened his grip on the shortened spear. His gaze locked onto the tip, aiming straight for that white apron.
Wrists, elbows, waist, and legs—every muscle he could bring to bear tightened, coiled, and snapped forward in explosive release.
He kicked off the riverbed, sending plumes of dust scattering. Long practice of stance training gave him a foundation as solid as a boulder as he lunged forward, thrusting with all his might.
The chipped spearhead shot out of Liang Qu's line of sight. Gritting his teeth, he ignored the blood seeping through the cloth at his waist, which drifted into long crimson ribbons in the water only to be torn apart by his charge.
The moment Liang Qu's feet touched down again, the crab monster sensed the threat and swung its pincer around, but it was already too late.
The meter-long spear shaft drove up at an angle, plunging entirely into the crab monster's apron. It sheared effortlessly through its softest, most lethal vulnerability.
"It's a female crab too," Liang Qu thought, observing the rounded flap of its abdomen.
Crustaceans had three central nervous clusters, and the most vulnerable lay beneath the abdominal apron. Beneath that flap were its reproductive organs and central nerve center, and aside from the joint membranes, it was the softest spot on its body.
When preparing a crab for cooking, one only had to press just above the apron and drive a chopstick inside; the crab would die instantly and painlessly.
Thud!
Supported by the water, the giant pincers held high above slowly sank, grazing past Liang Qu's head before collapsing to either side.
The colossal beast crashed into the silt, kicking up a massive curtain of sand that rose like a stone wall from the riverbed.
Nearby, the Sow Dragon and the Fat Catfish widened their eyes, awed by something they couldn't quite fathom.
They could not comprehend how such an enormous spirit creature had been killed by Liang Qu.
Just moments ago, he had been scurrying for his life under its onslaught.
Reverence swelled in the two beasts' hearts. He was truly the celestial god who had awakened their spirit wisdom.
A wave of exhaustion swept through Liang Qu's body. He slowly pushed himself up and swam free before the rising silt could engulf him. Breaking the surface, he tumbled into the sampan and collapsed, panting raggedly.
With the final blow struck, dizziness washed over him. Numbness seemed to bind every limb, leaving him hollowed out with fatigue.
Blood welled steadily from the gash at his waist.
Drowsiness pulled at him, but he dared not lose consciousness, terrified that if he drifted off, he would bleed out and never wake up.
He lay there for a long while until the spinning in his head finally receded and a sliver of strength returned to his weary limbs.
Liang Qu gripped the gunwale, his trembling forearms hauling him up until he could lean gently against the partition, drawing ragged breaths.
A breeze stirred the waters. Waves slapped steadily against the hull, gleaming with sparkling light. A low-flying falcon swooped down, snatching a small fish that had leaped above the water.
The brisk wind chased away the clinging dampness, and his wet hair began swaying with the gusts.
"Hahaha! Hahahahaha!"
Liang Qu broke into sudden, uproarious laughter, his joy echoing across the waves of Zeye Marsh. At this moment, he felt truly extraordinary!
He had actually killed such a massive spirit creature!
A genuine spirit creature!
A monster that sent countless fishermen fleeing in terror had been slain by him—Liang Qu!
Scabby-Head Zhang, the three Wang brothers... all of them suddenly felt like children playing house, entirely beneath his notice.
His horizon suddenly broadened, and it felt as though no obstacle could ever bar his path again.
Chapter 28