Water Spirit?

Crocodile blood trickled down the spear shaft, and he heard that "huff-haa" sound once more. Now he finally understood—it was the crocodile's cry of agony. In that instant, a thought struck him: If he shoved the spear upward with all his might, would it punch straight into the giant crocodile's brain? Slaying this colossus would eliminate the threat once and for all, wouldn't it? Yet the notion was gone as quickly as it had flared. If killing the beast were that easy, wouldn't Wu Shaoyi have tried already? Even if he succeeded, wouldn't the crocodile drag him down with it in its death throes? After all, he was standing inside its jaws. So He Lingchuan swiftly discarded the idea and dutifully worked the spear butt out of the tooth socket bit by bit. The process had the crocodile groaning in agony. Naturally, he remained cautious. He first stepped back onto the rock, held the spear horizontally across himself, and retreated as fast as his feet could carry him. It was out. He had barely backed away several zhang when the giant crocodile snapped its jaws shut with a loud clack. The crisp sound of teeth slamming together echoed through the entire cavern. Seeing it sprawl motionless in place, He Lingchuan called out, "Hey, time to take us up." "If he moves a muscle, he dies," the Crocodile God replied, refusing to budge. "I'm exhausted too. Let me rest a while." After thrashing around for hours, it was completely spent. Giant crocodiles as a species were never known for great stamina anyway. Sensing no hostile intent from the beast, He Lingchuan felt a little more at ease. Taking advantage of the lull, he rushed back to Wu Shaoyi's side, lit two more candles, and examined his wounds. Earlier, he had only given Wu Shaoyi a hemostatic pill without administering any Shituo powder. When pain vanished, wicked thoughts were prone to arise. Since he barely knew Wu Shaoyi, it was safer to let him stay in pain. Even out of the water, Wu Shaoyi coughed frequently, coughing up blood every time. The more He Lingchuan examined him, the more alarmed he became. "Your injuries are too severe. Both your lungs and kidneys are damaged, you have seven fractures, and you've lost more than half your blood." The puncture wound on Wu Shaoyi's body was over an inch in diameter, and he was bleeding internally at a steady pace. "If this continues, you'll either drown in your own blood or die of organ failure." To describe Wu Shaoyi's condition in four words: beyond all medical hope. "I know. I've already taken every medicine I have," Wu Shaoyi rasped with a miserable laugh. "In your condition, can you even swim back to shore with me?" He Lingchuan now understood why the demon crocodile had agreed to their terms so readily. The beast had likely realized that Wu Shaoyi, who had wounded it, already had one foot in the grave and wouldn't need any revenge from its own jaws. "If I grit my teeth... maybe," Wu Shaoyi murmured, his eyes half-closed. "I just... don't want to die in darkness." Whether dying in a secret submerged cavern or ending up in the belly of a crocodile, both certainly counted as dying in darkness. "Get me to the surface. I still have a way to save myself. And you... you will be richly rewarded." This was the second time he had mentioned it. After a moment's consideration, He Lingchuan fed him another medicinal pill. This was an elixir he himself had taken months ago when gravely injured after falling from the cliff, reputedly obtained by He Chunhua directly from the Great Shaman of Zhaomandu to artificially sustain a dying man's last breath. Before departing Blackwater City this time, He Chunhua had made sure to restock. Wu Shaoyi noticed an unpleasant earthy stench from the pill, as though it were rolled straight from river silt, but it melted the moment it passed his throat. Before long, a warm current rose in his abdomen, and a measure of strength seemed to return to his limbs. Meanwhile, He Lingchuan held up his candle and ventured deeper into the cavern. Earlier, he had suspected something lay at the far end, and while dressing Wu Shaoyi's wounds, he had caught a foul, fishy stench wafting from the shadows. Now that he drew near, what met his eyes startled him thoroughly. "Th-this is...?" In the candlelight, he saw the carcass of an enormous turtle! From head to tail, the monster measured over four zhang—more than thirteen meters. Its carapace was tall and thick, ridged with sharp crests, looming like a small mountain from a human perspective. He Lingchuan knew creatures like this were called leatherback turtles, but he had never seen one anywhere near this scale. Without a doubt, it had been a great demon of profound cultivation. The giant turtle's head was gone, its forelimbs severed, and an entire hind leg missing. A massive gash tore open its belly, spilling its viscera across the rock. The pool of blood had hardened into black stains on the rocky shore, where crabs, rats, and unidentified scavengers were crawling over the remains, feasting on the banquet. He Lingchuan suddenly remembered the Water Spirit Shrine in Xianling Village. This dead turtle was likely the guardian spirit of Xianling Lake. Yesterday morning, the Water Spirit's spirit tablet had abruptly snapped in two—it must have happened because the giant turtle was slain by the crocodile, which had ultimately led to Zhu-shi being slapped by the village chief. The carapace was covered in ghastly gouges and pits of varying depth. He Lingchuan glanced from the shell back to the giant crocodile resting on the rocky bank with its eyes shut, guessing these were the handiwork of its conical teeth. Yet he also noticed that sharp as the crocodile's teeth were, they had failed to pierce the shell itself. In the contest between spear and shield, the shield had held to the end. Clearly, the crocodile had secured victory only by seizing an opening to clamp onto the turtle's head and crush it in a single bite. That pointed to two conclusions. First, the crocodile demon was an outsider who had entered Xianling Lake only within the past two days, clashing with the local lake spirit and defeating it. That roughly matched the timing of Lu Yao's arrival at Xianling Village. Second, the giant turtle had clearly been no easy foe. Thus, when the crocodile fought Wu Shaoyi today, it had likely not yet recovered from yesterday morning's vicious battle and was far from its prime. No wonder it had agreed to a truce so readily. Everyone was running on fumes. Of course, He Lingchuan could not hide his bewildered agitation. Since the Water Spirit lay dead before him, confirmed to have perished yesterday morning, what on earth had been the deal with the two worst lots he drew just a few hours ago? Could it really be as He Chunhua had said—that the turtle had tampered with the divination lots to ensure He Lingchuan drew the worst lot every time? Or did the creature's spirit linger even after death? Now that the Water Spirit was dead, who could interpret those two lots for him? He Lingchuan stepped closer and suddenly noticed that against the candlelight, the edges of the carapace cast a very faint golden gleam. Gripping the shell, he tried heaving it upward a couple of times. Unsurprisingly, it didn't budge an inch. The demon crocodile spoke abruptly: "Crawl inside." "Huh?" He Lingchuan turned around, only to see the beast still resting with its eyes shut. "There is a pearl in its belly. I cannot reach it, nor can my young. If you can retrieve it, it's yours," the demon crocodile said flatly. "Consider it a gift of thanks for pulling out the spear." A crocodile's forelegs were far from nimble, hardly suited for fishing out treasure. A treasure in its belly? He Lingchuan stared at the mountainous carcass and the blackened blood on the ground. To get the prize, he had to crawl into the creature's stomach? It was too bloody, too filthy, too gruesome... He had to go. He Lingchuan bowed twice to the giant turtle, thinking to himself: *Water Spirit, now that you've passed on, please be generous. Don't hold it against me for disrespecting your remains.* There was already an existing hole in the turtle's belly. Drawing his broken saber, he enlarged the opening so he could squeeze inside. Even though it had already been torn open by the crocodile, the giant turtle's flesh and hide were far tougher than century-old vines. If not for the peerless sharpness of his broken saber, He Lingchuan doubted any ordinary blade could have cut through it.