Chapter 191: Life and Death on the Edge
“Huh, tonight really had no results at all.”
On the pitch-black street, a man with a bag of long, black objects sighed as he walked, beside him was the rushing Klein River. This young man lived near the Klein River and had just returned home after fishing all day.
Saint Nali has many rivers, most of which have natural fishing advantages. However, during the period a few years ago when Saint Nali was surrounded by factories, many of the fishable waters became very dirty, leading to the complete disappearance of many fish that should have been in the river.
However, since the environmental protection legislation was implemented, the entire environment of Saint Nali seems to have been purified, and fish have reappeared in the rivers, allowing those dedicated fishermen of Saint Nali to stop exerting great effort to go fishing in the outskirts.
Strangely enough, the previous implementation of the environmental protection law had gone smoothly because the law offered preferential policies and large environmental subsidies for the companies that voluntarily relocated. This was done to reduce emissions.
Those companies happily agreed, having heard that they purchased a very clean energy source from a channel in the Southern Continent, allowing them to not only avoid relocating factories but also earn government subsidies.
However, for reasons unknown, the winds have changed this month, and those entrepreneurs have begun to express dissatisfaction again.
Let’s put aside those behind-the-scenes stories and refocus on this young man preparing to return home, carrying his gear.
At this moment, his bucket was completely empty, without any fish or other aquatic life, seemingly announcing his fruitless day of fishing.
Yes, he came back empty-handed.
This gentleman was rather depressed, standing on the dark street, sighed, and looked around. Suddenly, he noticed a small tree bearing fruit in front of a shop that had already closed. His eyes lit up, and he slowly walked to the little tree, carefully reached out, and plucked a small fruit to hold in his hand.
The fruit was still completely unripe, and it was clear it wasn’t ready to eat.
But this gentleman didn’t mind; he simply picked two or three fruits and placed them into the bag that was originally empty, feeling satisfied as he patted his belly and continued toward home.
“Hoo hoo~”
“Who!?”
Suddenly, a cold wind blew behind him, startling him to turn around and shout, but the only response was the still rushing Klein River, with no other sounds.
He breathed a slight sigh of relief, slowly walked up to the Klein River, and gazed endlessly at the rushing waters.
In fact, the water quality of Klein River is very good, but generally, no one is willing to fish here. Its current is too fast, making it impossible to catch fish.
He looked around, finding nothing, and just as he sighed and prepared to leave, his peripheral vision caught a hint of movement in the water beneath the surface—a shadow with a tail passing quickly. The shadow seemed rather thick and appeared to have two heads.
“Water ghost?”
He gasped, stepping closer rather than retreating, until his hands rested on the railing by the riverbank as he leaned forward to see the shadow moving further away.
“Could it be some kind of big fish? What a pity it’s going so fast; otherwise, I could have tried to catch it.”
Just as he finished his lament, a sharp shriek suddenly came from behind him. As the sound reached his ears, he felt a chill at his neck, and his vision began to spin rapidly.
“I—”
He dumbly watched as his head detached from his body that was trying to peep over the railing, his vision swirling downward toward the water.
In the last moment of his sight, he suddenly saw a shark with three human heads opening its foul maw towards him.
So the real water ghost was behind.
He thought this as his vision plunged into darkness. His body on the shore lost control and fell into the water, soon swallowed by countless shadows, completely devoured without a trace left.
Indeed, the two fleeing shadows he saw earlier were Jasmine escaping with Fisher. Underwater, the Whale Folk’s swimming speed was fully unleashed, though at this moment, Jasmine wasn’t at full speed yet.
While advancing, the blue water flowing in her eyes kept circulating, as she simultaneously healed Fisher’s wounds.
Unfortunately, Fisher’s injuries were far too severe. Having already lost too much blood, carrying him through the entirety of Saint Nali, he would likely be dead by the time they reached the shore.
However, treating Fisher’s wounds greatly impeded Jasmine’s speed in the water, making it even more difficult to shake off the pursuing monsters.
“Fisher, you must hold on.”
Jasmine slightly turned her head, seeing Fisher still struggling to breathe in the water, finally felt relieved enough to accelerate. Fortunately, Klein River only had this one channel; if Jasmine had chosen one of the other interconnecting rivers, she would likely have lost her way.
“Thud!”
The river channel suddenly narrowed ahead. Jasmine, turning her head to check on Fisher’s state, failed to notice and crashed into the canyon wall. She used her arms to shield the impact, so the unconscious Fisher was not harmed.
“Roar!”
But in the next second, chilling, terrifying roars echoed from behind. Jasmine was startled, but thinking of Fisher still resting against her back, she gritted her teeth and tightly held onto Fisher’s body, not letting him slip away from her.
Since Fisher trusts her so much, she must ensure his safety!
Fisher’s presence gave her courage. Enduring the fear that made her eyes sting, in the waterway, she twisted her body, and with a powerful slap of her tail, struck the approaching head-shark, as if using an iron rod to smash a watermelon, directly shattering all three heads on the shark.
However, the shark did not die; it thrashed in the water, screaming as if it had lost its vision.
Without lingering, Jasmine utilized the force from that strike, twisted her body in the water, adjusted her direction, and headed toward Snakehead Street not far ahead.
Snakehead Street was brightly lit, with torches stuck to the street buildings. For the thugs and gang members around here, the real nightlife was just beginning.
The adjacent waterway entered a cliff phase, and Jasmine, along with the pursuing monsters, slid down the waterfall together. Next to the waterfall, many chains linked to the entrance of Snakehead Street swayed slightly with the flowing water at the end of the channel.
Originally, these were mechanisms used to control the water gate of Snakehead Street. Before the pipeline systems in Saint Nali were constructed, they solved the winter water supply issue for Saint Nali.
In mid-air, Jasmine worried Fisher might fall, so one hand supported his back while she tightly grabbed the chain, swinging towards the street.
The sound of chains and the roars of monsters instantly attracted the attention of many gang members. Countless Human-Worms howled as they descended from the air, rushing towards Jasmine and the group on her back.
“Mon-monster!”
“Quick, inform Barkun and the others!”
The crowd was frightened and scattered. The Human-Worms roared towards Jasmine. Holding onto Fisher tightly, her eyes filled with swirling black water, ready to act, but suddenly a male voice came from behind,
“Don’t move!”
“Bang!”
Jasmine didn’t move, but the head of a Human-Worm in front of her suddenly exploded, bursting forth with a foul liquid.
“Ah!”
Jasmine was startled as she turned to look, seeing an old man dressed as a bartender stepping out from the side of the street, wielding a powerful double-barrel shotgun aimed at the multitude of howling beasts ahead.
Behind him was a bar sign flickering with neon lights, reading “Jack’s Tavern.”
The old man had a face full of grotesque scars, a half-smoked cigarette clenched in his mouth, first assessing the unconscious Fisher behind Jasmine before turning his unfriendly gaze toward the jumping Human-Worms, he sighed and just lamented,
“Damn it, we’ll close in three minutes.”
“Roar!”
Although his words expressed this, Old Jack’s movements were quick as he raised his shotgun, skipping past the still Jasmine, shooting one down, and then skillfully reloading to handle the others.
“Chirp chirp chirp!”
“Hand Fisher over to those rats!”
Just after Old Jack passed Jasmine, she then saw one big, fat rat climbing out of the pipes.
The dark little animals paused in front of Jasmine, and the leading small rat politely bowed to her, indicating for her to hand Fisher over to it, but before it could finish its polite gesture, it was slapped on the back of its head by the other rats behind.
“Chirp chirp chirp!”
It protested and quickly changed its stance; to Jasmine’s astonishment, that group of rats lined up in an orderly fashion to form a sort of makeshift stretcher.
Countless rats linked paws to form two layers, the top layer pointed to its head, encouraging her to quickly place Fisher onto it.
“Oh, oh. Okay.”
Jasmine had never seen these little creatures before, as Fisher didn’t know her when he met Old Jack, but she sensed the goodwill from Old Jack and these rat friends.
Hurrying, she placed Fisher on the “rat stretcher,” watching as they squeaked and scrambled, taking Fisher back into the tavern.
Jasmine did not enter; behind her, Old Jack felt a little unsupported. She must help this human here.
She took a deep breath, looked at the nearby extinguished street light, inhaled deeply, and surprisingly ran over, directly hugging the street lamp’s pole, pulling it out from the ground together with the stones beneath.
“Fizz.”
“I’m here to help you!”
The top of the lamp leaked a bit of oil yet to be used up, as Jasmine effortlessly wielded the street lamp towards the swarm of Human-Worms.
“Wait a second, what you’re holding is—”
“Ahhh! Die!”
Old Jack was the first to hear Jasmine’s cry. Turning around, he nearly lost his soul.
What he saw was Jasmine, eyes shut, charging towards him with a street lamp three times her height, her fish tail slightly raised as she leapt high, preparing to strike the ground.
“Boom!”
“Damn!”
Old Jack clutched his shotgun, rolling aside without any action, and while rolling, his old, ill back suddenly flared up, causing his aged face to wrinkle up instantly. Holding his back, he could only breathe heavily without speaking.
“Damn! My back, you subhuman.”
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to; I couldn’t bear to look… Ah! They’re coming!”
Inadvertently apologizing, Jasmine still kept her eyes shut, flailing the street lamp towards the direction of the Human-Worms, cracking the ground beneath, let alone those flesh-and-blood beings getting directly hit.
Many of the Human-Worms shaded by the lamp were smashed to pieces, releasing a stench that made Jasmine hold her breath, focusing on the battle.
Actually, according to her training, Jasmine shouldn’t be this scared. However, the appearance of the Human-Worms was indeed too grotesque, resembling human-like toads with their skin shed and their faces displaying combined human features, filling the valley of terror to the max.
Ordinary warriors would feel their spine chill, let alone this lovely Whale Folk maiden.
“Pfft!”
As one by one Human-Worms were flattened, beneath the adjacent waterfall, a thick, green, foul acidic liquid suddenly erupted, raining down on the nearby street, directly piercing through the street lamp Jasmine held.
Out of the corner of her eye, Jasmine saw another clump of sticky liquid heading toward Old Jack on the ground. Her pupils shrank slightly as she reached out, pulling Old Jack back, but her arm got splashed with the corrosive acid.
A burning sensation made her frown in pain. With her eyes slightly reddening, she gently extended her hand, smoothing all the red wounds, as the blue water flowed through her eyes, Old Jack observed her miraculous healing method and couldn’t help but ask,
“You’re… a subhuman from the ocean?”
“Eh? Grandpa, you know about subhumans from the sea?”
“Why would I know? I’m not interested in subhumans.”
Old Jack could only smirk with his mouth quivering slightly from the pain in his back, slowly rising with his shotgun. However, his aged voice continued to echo,
“I read my son’s manuscript on subhumans. He speculated there were subhumans under the sea and always wanted to see what intelligent life down there looked like.”
“I see. If you have time later, I’d like to invite you and Fisher to come see the underwater world. Oh! But you can’t breathe underwater, that is…”
Old Jack’s body stiffened slightly, but when he turned back this time, there was a hint of a smile.
“There will be opportunities.”
“Roar!”
A massive giant shark with countless heads suddenly sprang up from beneath Snakehead Street. That massive amount of acidic liquid had been spit out by it. Several three-headed sharks now consumed one another, ultimately forming a huge, twisted biological monster.
That immense bloody maw opened wide, targeting the still stationary Child of the Sea, Jasmine.
Jasmine had no time for anything else. Instinctively, she pushed Old Jack aside but remained within the range of that giant mouth.
“Ugh!”
Fearfully, she curled up, covering her head while crouching in place, feeling that foul, heated, deep abyssal mouth approaching her.
In the flash of electricity, life and death teetered on a knife-edge.
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(End of Chapter)
