My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 263 Night Battle with the Water Monster

The night was cool and still when Chen Ling quietly appeared by the reservoir.

It's one o'clock in the morning, and apart from a few barks from dogs, there's no one around in the village anymore.

In the quiet night, only the croaking of frogs and chirping of insects, and the faint lights in the grass could be heard.

That's the fluorescence emitted by fireflies.

Although there is no moon tonight, the night has its own tranquil beauty.

Chen Ling didn't turn on the flashlight; his eyesight was sufficient even in the pitch-black night.

Standing on the dam, I looked around, chose a secluded spot, took off my shoes, and went down into the shallow water. I squatted down and rhythmically slapped the water a few times.

Before long, a loud splashing sound was heard in the distance, and the water surface was violently rippled, with ripples spreading out in circles.

Looking around, the giant turtles, like silent, floating fortresses, slowly swam towards Chen Ling.

The place was remote, with extremely lush reeds. Chen Ling took out a flashlight and shone it, and could even see the largest turtle, the leader, stretching out its head, its eyes emitting a glowing green light.

This scene would be extremely chilling if witnessed at night by someone unaware of the situation.

I'm afraid we really have to mistake this thing for a water monster.

"Garlic, you little rascal, if you keep going like this, you'll really become a spirit."

When they swam over, Chen Ling reached out and patted Garlic's wet head.

He had kept them in the reservoir since he sent Wang Susu back to her parents' home last year, and he would check on them every now and then and feed the garlic some spiritual water.

Otherwise, Garlic Head wouldn't have known he was coming just because he patted the water's surface.

At this moment, Garlic squinted its eyes, enjoying his caresses, and even climbed up a bit.

“No need to come up. Take me to see what’s in the water. It’s been causing trouble since last year, and it’s still not quiet this year.”

Chen Ling put away the flashlight and stood up. "Do you know where its lair is? If you do, take me there."

Garlic knew this, of course, and turned around to expose his back. Chen Ling smiled when he saw this, and stepped on it barefoot. He felt that it was hard and heavy, no different from stepping on a large millstone.

"Come on, let's go catch the water monster. We have to see what this guy really looks like today."

At Chen Ling's command, Garlic Head swam into the water and slowly moved towards the deep water area. The giant turtles behind him remained silent and followed closely, like loyal guards.

Chen Ling stood on the turtle's back, looking around. He hadn't had enough of catching fish in the first half of the night, so now he was coming to the reservoir to find this troublesome water monster and fight it out—that would be truly exciting.

And so, on this deserted night, this scene unfolded in the reservoir.

The 'Turtle King,' who has recently been worshipped by countless people, was carrying a person and leading a group of turtle generals into the depths of the reservoir.

Thank goodness no one was around. If someone had seen this, who knows what kind of amazing story would have been told.

As for Chen Ling himself, he stood barefoot on the broad shell of the giant turtle Garlic Head. The night wind blew in his face, making his hair messy and his clothes flutter, making him look majestic.

But the water was getting deeper and deeper, and the garlic was moving faster and faster, as if the wind had also gotten stronger.

"This guy, he really enjoys playing like this, it's so much fun!"

"If I had long hair right now, and I changed into ancient clothes, and um, and picked up a steel fork, I'd be no different from any lake god or river god."

Chen Ling was having a great time, and when he got excited, he sat on the turtle's back, put his hand on the water's surface, and the cave suddenly exerted its power, drawing in a large amount of lake water, much more powerfully than a water pump.

In an instant, the surrounding waters were all gurgling and splashing, with eddies, waves, and all sorts of strange phenomena appearing, as if a god were stirring the lake.

"Hehe, it's still not quite there yet. Otherwise, let's give it a good water-spraying performance."

Playing freely on the water is a completely different experience from playing freely in the mountains.

Moreover, it's like riding a giant turtle through the water.

Don't even mention the feeling.

Chen Ling became more and more addicted to the game.

I'm dreaming of one day going down the river to play in the Jinshui River, then swimming in the Yangtze River, and finally cruising in the sea.

However, he didn't notice that Garlic Head's speed was getting slower and slower. The mountain bank was just inches away, and the surrounding waters were completely silent, eerily quiet.

Gradually, the garlic stopped.

Lost in his fantasy, Chen Ling suddenly snapped out of it, only to hear a faint sound coming from not far away...

"Huh? Is there something going on?"

Chen Ling shuddered and immediately stared wide-eyed in that direction.

At night, in the wilderness, in such an environment, his body would unconsciously become wary and alert.

Just like an ordinary person walking at night, they will notice even the slightest movement.

However, his senses are several times more acute than those of an ordinary person.

He immediately looked in the direction from which the faint sound came from.

What he saw startled him.

Not far away, beneath the surface of the water, a huge dark shadow slowly approached. The sudden sense of oppression abruptly entered your field of vision when you were completely unprepared, and it was incredibly enormous.

Chen Ling's heart skipped a beat in fright.

He quickly took a few deep breaths to catch his breath.

After calming myself down, I looked over again and realized it wasn't an illusion; a huge, unidentified creature was indeed approaching.

The water it creates flows like the sound of a wild animal stepping on fallen leaves in the forest, a soft rustling sound that doesn't produce any particularly loud rushing noise.

"So, this is your hideout. Today I'll see what you're really like, you old monster."

Chen Ling gritted his teeth, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. He didn't care whether he had disturbed it by trespassing into its territory, nor did he notice that all the old turtles, including Garlic Head, had become ferocious and aggressive.

After the initial shock, he regained his fearlessness.

He stood on the turtle's back and quickly took off his clothes.

Then, with a "plop".

He actually jumped naked into the water and swam towards the huge creature.

With his own inner world, he fears nothing. As long as someone touches or comes into contact with his body, he can instantly absorb them into his inner world.

Once you enter the cave, aren't you completely at his mercy?

What was originally a distance of more than ten meters was a distance that could be covered in the blink of an eye for this enormous creature.

But Chen Ling jumped into the water.

Instead, it startled the creature, causing it to freeze underwater for two seconds.

It was startled, not frightened.

Instead, in its eyes, Chen Ling was like a harmless prey, yet now he was howling and charging straight at it.

It's as ridiculous as someone carrying a kitchen knife and foolishly charging towards a tiger in the mountains.

Its simple brain couldn't even process what was happening, and it was stunned.

"Holy crap, what is this thing? It's enormous!"

The unidentified creature was a bit confused, but Chen Ling was not. As he swam towards the strange creature, he finally saw its full appearance.

It is conservatively estimated to be at least six or seven meters long and as thick as a bucket. Its appearance is hard to describe at the moment, but it can be said to resemble a fish, though it looks very strange.

It wasn't as terrifying as the legendary lake monster; it was just a giant, monstrous fish. It was enormous, incredibly huge.

No wonder they eat duck one bite at a time.

I've only ever seen these things dig holes on the shore before, and I've never seen any claws or anything like that.
With his mind racing, Chen Ling had some doubts, but he didn't have time to think about it any further. He quickly reached out and used his Cave Heaven technique. In his eagerness, he even started collecting the surrounding water before he even came into contact with the unknown creature.

"Crash-"

In the blink of an eye, within four or five seconds, Chen Ling swam to the strange fish and was finally about to touch it.

The instant he touched its body, Chen Ling felt as if he were touching a cold suit of armor—hard, ancient, and weathered…

But at that critical moment, in that split second, the strange fish actually reacted and came to its senses.

There's a reason why it's grown so big.

Its innate alertness is unmatched by ordinary aquatic creatures.

Suddenly, it twisted and leaped out of the water, landing with a "plop" as it plunged back in. It was unclear how far it leaped, but countless water droplets splashed up, creating huge ripples that spread outwards, making a tremendous commotion.

But when Chen Ling saw it again, it was already five or six meters away.

"Garlic, serve."

"Don't let it get away."

Chen Ling shouted loudly, reminding Garlic Head.

In fact, the garlic cloves had been lying in ambush nearby, and before Chen Ling could give the order, they had already begun a fierce attack.

Garlic and the giant turtle formed a circle around the strange fish, then pounced and began tearing at it.

Blood spurted from all over the strange fish's body instantly.

But Chen Ling could see that the turtle had not caused serious injuries to him in a short period of time.

He took out a machete and a steel fork from the cave, aimed at the strange fish in the distance, and the steel fork flew out and stabbed at it.

After stabbing him with the pitchfork, they threw the machete at him as well.

He was very strong, and the strange fish was a big target, so even from a distance, he could still hit it steadily.

Both blows landed on the strange fish, and immediately a large amount of crimson blood flowed out.

In pain, it instantly became frantic, violently shaking its body underwater with tremendous force. Feeling unable to shake off the turtle that was biting it so tightly, it kept leaping out of the water and then crashing back into it.

After repeating this process several times, and successfully shaking off the group of turtles, it immediately fled into the distance.

Strange fish, old turtle.

They were all enormous aquatic creatures, extremely fast in the water, and Chen Ling couldn't catch up. After giving them a couple of blows from a distance, he could only watch the strange fish escape, floating helplessly in the water.

Garlic is intelligent. It was disappointed that it couldn't defeat its opponent in front of its owner, but it was still unwilling to give up and wanted to chase after it.

"Forget it, stop chasing. Garlic, come back."

Chen Ling called it back and comforted it.

"So what if you ran away? It's not your fault..."

This strange fish was far too big; he hadn't expected to find something so large when he arrived.

It doesn't even seem like a creature that could exist in freshwater.

Although the turtles are not small in size, they are extremely ferocious.

However, there wasn't much that could be done against this strange fish; the only options were to surround and drive it away. In reality, if a fight broke out, neither side could gain the upper hand.

The strange fish's hard scales were no weaker than a turtle's shell.

"I know you're hiding here now. We'll fight again next time."

Chen Ling leaped naked out of the water and stood once again on Garlic Head's broad back. Looking at the figure that could no longer be seen in the distance and the blood-red water nearby, he said in a low voice.

Actually, he was also very unwilling.

I encountered such a mysterious fish, and I was almost ready to take it into my cave, but it slipped away right before my eyes.

It's true, the more I think about it, the more regrettable it seems.

However, at least we finally saw the true form of this water monster. Although we didn't figure out what kind of creature it was, it was good to see its true form.

After all, many fears stem from the unknown.

Random imagining things will only increase your fear.

Afterwards, Chen Ling returned to the shore, entered the space, summoned a stream of water to wash his body, and changed his clothes again before coming out.

"Garlic, you guys stay here and keep watch, but try not to come out during the day in the future."

Chen Ling gave the instructions, fed Garlic a little more than half a bucket of spiritual water, and then left.

He came out after Wang Susu fell asleep. His son had stopped making noise at night for the past two weeks, otherwise he wouldn't have had the chance to sneak out.

……

Nothing happened that night. When Chen Ling woke up in the morning, he still felt dazed when he thought about what had happened the night before, as if he had just had a strange dream.

Good heavens, such a big fish, it's unbelievable.

There are many waterways near Chenwangzhuang, and the reservoir is fed by two major rivers.

Moreover, the reservoir is extremely deep, with the deepest part said to be a large pit connected to groundwater, which is why it has never dried up for hundreds of years, and there were large fish there in the past.

Fish like the water tiger, the big firehead, and the big catfish, some of which are over a meter long, have been caught. These fish are extremely ferocious; they can swallow a small child's arm with their open mouths.

But no matter what, these fish are still within the normal range.

A strange fish that can be six or seven meters long...

Thinking about it, it still feels a bit unreal.

Sigh, I don't know where it came from.

Its sudden appearance last time attracted the attention of the garlic and other animals was probably because of the recent continuous rains, which caused the reservoir water to rise and thus it appeared in the shallow water area.

Otherwise, with such a large size, it really wouldn't work in shallow water.

Thinking about this, Chen Ling still had some things he couldn't understand.

Could it be that the strange fish wasn't in the big hole that scared the little weasels out of their wits last year?

Think about it carefully, and it's actually quite possible.

He hadn't noticed before that this strange fish had amphibious characteristics.

Of course, it's also possible that he lacks knowledge and experience, and therefore missed some things.

"Next time, I'll definitely store it in my cave next time and study it carefully to see what it is."

Chen Ling secretly made a plan, but the strange fish was frightened and probably wouldn't come out rashly anytime soon.

……

Today, the reporters were unable to leave because they did not see the Turtle King they were so eager to see emerge from the reservoir. This meant they could not successfully complete their filming mission, so they had no choice but to stay for a few more days.

The villagers, who said they would worship the Turtle King for seven or nine days in a row to show their piety, were all bewildered and lost when they went to the reservoir, as if they had lost their souls.

When Zhao Dahai, Shanmao, and the others arrived, they found nothing.

(End of this chapter)