Chapter 282: Octopus Man |
The rain grew heavier and heavier, as if trying to drown the entire island.
Strong winds swept across the island, howling furiously, ripping off the iron sheet roofs. A group of people were patching up the roofs using ladders.
In the living room of a nearby three-story house, a furnace radiated warmth.
Qin Ziwen and Yang Long sat facing each other, surrounded by a circle of people.
"Brother, I'll go out and take a look." Qin Ziwu stood up. The rain outside was torrential. To prevent the people from Red Cauldron Tower from launching a surprise attack under the cover of the rain, many had gathered at the edges of the urban village.
"Mhm, be careful."
Qin Ziwen stretched his hands out to warm them over the furnace. The firelight flickered across his face, casting shifting shadows.
Yang Long rubbed his wet hair with a towel, wiped his hands, tossed the towel into a basin beside him, and sighed, "It's a good thing there's no typhoon. If there were a typhoon, probably half the roofs would be gone."
"Their building isn't having it easy either," someone chimed in from the side. "The walls are full of holes. I just saw them trying to stuff things in to block them."
He was barefoot, water streaming down his body and onto the floor, leaving a trail of wet footprints.
Yang Long couldn't help but glance sideways. What kind of odd character was this?
"Aren't you cold?" Qin Ziwen looked up.
"Nah, this bit of rain is nothing. It feels comfortable on the skin, just like going home." Yan San grinned, then leaned close to Qin Ziwen's ear and whispered a few words.
A flicker of movement passed through Qin Ziwen's eyes. "Is that true?"
"Absolutely true." Yan San thumped his chest in assurance.
"Guild Leader Yang, I have some matters to attend to. We'll continue our talk later." Qin Ziwen stood up. Deng Guang stepped up behind him to hold an umbrella.
"Please, go ahead." Yang Long hurriedly saw him off, only withdrawing his gaze when the figure disappeared into the curtain of rain.
He was curious, but he also knew he wasn't in a position to ask about such things.
By the seaside, raindrops pounded the sea surface into a blurry mess.
Splashes churned.
Two heads emerged.
The one on the left had upturned eyes, a broad nose, dark skin, and a fierce countenance. The one on the right had deep-set eye sockets and, astonishingly, gills on his face.
They were none other than Yan Wu and the fish-man Pula.
Deng Guang, following behind Qin Ziwen, took a few extra glances at Pula. He had seen this person on the ship before.
But looking at its appearance, it didn't quite seem human.
How could a person look like that?
"You said you feel there's something wrong with this rain?" Qin Ziwen looked at Pula.
Before setting out, he had instructed Pula to guard the bottom of the ship and notify the people on board immediately if any Sea Beasts approached from the seabed.
Who would have thought that just moments ago, Yan Da had come over, saying Pula sensed something was off about this rain.
"Yes, Master. This is not ordinary rain." Pula's voice was hoarse, and he seemed hesitant to speak further.
Qin Ziwen glanced around. Besides Deng Guang, there were also Du Yu, Yan Da, and Yan Wu.
"They're all our own people. Speak."
Seeing this, Pula continued, "Master, this rain is not right. Before the rain came, while I was submerged beneath the ship, I heard sounds from the deep sea. I recall now, this should be the Sacrificial Rain of the Deep Sea Hunt."
"What is the Sacrificial Rain of the Deep Sea Hunt?"
Pula explained, "We fish-men live on the seabed. If we come ashore, we can't exert even half our strength.
Therefore, if we need to go ashore to hunt, we ask the Priest Clan elders of our tribe to perform a ritual, invoking and summoning a heavy rain.
Within this rain, although our fish-men's movements aren't as agile as in water, our strength and other aspects are not affected."
"So, you mean, the fish-men from the sea are coming to attack us? Why? Why now, of all times? Why not earlier or later?"
Pula shook his head. He wasn't clear either.
"This Sacrificial Rain, can your Priest Clan summon it at will? Is it difficult to summon?" Qin Ziwen wanted to know if this was a basic ability, a passive effect, or an ultimate move.
"The Priest Clan can summon it, but they don't do it frequently." Pula thought for a moment and gave a vague answer.
"Then they must have a purpose for summoning the rain at this specific time." Qin Ziwen understood.
Hurried footsteps sounded from behind as Qin Ziwu ran over. "Big brother, it's bad! Back at the residential complex, many fish-men have appeared on the surrounding reefs."
Upon hearing this, Qin Ziwen's face darkened. Were these fish-men trying to sneak attack his home base?
"Let's go. Tell the people staying on the ship to be careful." Qin Ziwen thought for a moment, then told Pula to come back with him.
The hunched, strangely featured Pula, having come ashore from the sea, followed Qin Ziwen into the urban village.
Countless people along the way stopped in their tracks, staring intently.
Only after Qin Ziwen led Pula through the Anchor Point and returned to the residential complex did Yang Long voice his confusion. "Erhu, what was that? Cosplay?"
The fat man called Erhu said, "Brother Long, that didn't seem like cosplay. I saw the gills on his face actually moving."
Yang Long was dumbfounded. He felt he was seeing less and less clearly.
He secretly pinched himself.
His face was full of worry.
After Qin Ziwen brought Pula back to the residential complex, he saw Jia Liangcai and Zhao Pu rushing over. "Guild Leader, many fish-men have come onto the reefs outside. We can't understand what they're saying."
Qin Ziwen glanced at Pula. "It's fine. I brought a translator. Alright, tell everyone to get ready and not let their guard down."
"Yes." Jia Liangcai nodded and hurried back to relay the orders.
Arriving at the south gate, Qin Ziwen looked out through the gate. On the dark reefs outside, densely packed, at a glance, there were at least seventy or eighty fish-men standing on the uneven rocks.
Most of them looked somewhat similar to Pula. Perhaps it was face blindness, but from Qin Ziwen's perspective, these fish-men and Pula were basically cast from the same mold. They all looked pretty much the same: two eyes, one nose, two gills on the face. The only differences were being a bit taller, shorter, fatter, or thinner.
However, on a few reefs closer to the sea's edge, three fish-men looked rather special. They were huge, very burly, and their skin tone was much darker.
They lay half-reclined on the rocks, layers of robust fat piled on them like tires stacked on their bodies.
They had wide, flat noses, small eyes, and large mouths, so fat they seemed like catfish that had gained sentience.
Compared to the quiet Artisan Clan fish-men around them, these three fat fish-men were exceptionally noisy. They used appendages that looked more like fins than hands to continuously slap their own bellies, making "ao, ao" sounds from their mouths.
Is this... a sea cucumber gaining sentience? Qin Ziwen's eye twitched slightly. However, these fish-men were only making noise, not actually launching an attack. It seemed they wanted something.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to swim ashore.
At that moment, an Artisan Clan fish-man standing at the very front, closest to the residential complex's south gate, jabbered on for a long time. No one in the residential complex could respond.
As time passed, the surrounding fish-men gradually grew restless.
"Ao, ao, ao!" The three fat fish-men shook their heads and wriggled in place, their necks almost twisting into knots. One of them suddenly made itself dizzy, "plopping" back into the sea with a splash.
Right at that moment, Qin Ziwen stepped out.
He was followed by a crowd of people. These fish-men seemed to have guessed he was the leader of this group.
The gazes of everyone present, including the fish-men, all converged on him.
"Pula, translate for me. What was it saying just now?"
Pula, who had been hiding behind Qin Ziwen, slowly stepped out from the shadows.
He lowered his head to sweep a glance over these fellow tribesmen, who exuded a savage aura and wore clothing woven from shells, fish scales, and coral. A trace of disdain flashed in his eyes.
"My master asks you, why have you come ashore?"
When the surrounding fish-men saw Pula step out from behind Qin Ziwen, they fell into a state of shock. It seemed they hadn't expected a fellow tribesman to emerge from within.