Chapter 99: Moving Forward

Is this seemingly random exorcism so important? I frowned and saw a huge black back on the surface of the churning waves. There was no doubt that it was a big guy, and it looked like a giant fish of some kind.

We all know how stubborn and hot-headed Johnny is. I couldn’t try to persuade him or stop what I was doing. I could only pick up my pace, chanting the incantation and continuing to sprinkle the paper money, trying to complete this inexplicable exorcism as quickly as possible.

No matter what the circumstances, I completed the exorcism with a sincere heart. At this time, Johnny had already been dragged into the water about a meter away, and the rushing water had reached his waist. I don’t know if it was the water or the power of the fish that made him stagger a bit.

But there was no trace of fear on Johnny’s face. Instead, he was glaring at me, cursing in Hindi. I didn’t know what he was saying! In short, he looked as if he was having a fight with the creatures in the water.

This kind of Johnny reminds me of the classic novel “The Old Man and the Sea.” I don’t know if the old man who finally caught the big fish looked like Johnny, but at the same time I couldn’t help but laugh and cry, not knowing what he was stubborn about.

Although I was thinking this, I was almost running towards Johnny, shouting, “Johnny, throw away the fishing rod. You’re no match for it.”

“No! I won’t! Have you ever seen a gunman throw away his gun or a fisherman throw away his boat? I’m going to get it up!” Johnny said stubbornly, and in the meantime he was dragged a little further into the water.

It was dangerous to continue like this, so I ran to the water’s edge and jumped in without hesitation. It was a hot summer day, but the water at the entrance was so cold that it gave me goosebumps.

The water of the gathering place of evil spirits!

This thought popped into my head, but I kept walking to Johnny’s side, helping him hold the fishing rod and fight the big fish.

It turned out that our efforts were in vain. Although we were both strong, we had no idea what the big fish was up against. At the critical moment when it was about to be dragged into the river, I took advantage of Johnny’s inattention to pull the rod out of his hands and throw it into the water. Then, regardless of Johnny’s cursing, I dragged him to the shore.

But the process was not smooth sailing. After the giant fish was freed from its restraints, it tried to take revenge on us. As I dragged Johnny back, I clearly saw it flipping through the water, turning around and rushing towards us. The black ridge was so conspicuous, but fortunately it was a step too late. I successfully dragged Johnny to the shore and held him down on the riverbank.

The sound of the water splashing against the shore, the final dash of the big fish, and I saw its head. It was a catfish, a huge catfish. Although it was only a fleeting glimpse, I saw the purple stripes on the catfish’s head so clearly, the entire eye socket was red, the open mouth, sharp teeth, and it was extremely terrifying.

“Did you see that? Uncle Johnny, this fish is more deformed than any we’ve seen along the way. You don’t have to get it out of the water to see this, right? Basically, we can be sure that this is the place, right? You know that since we entered this part of the river, we haven’t seen any big fish, not one.” I spoke to Johnny in a careful tone, and then tentatively let go of him.

As soon as I let go of him, Johnny stood up, swearing in Hindi, then pushed me away and walked angrily towards the boat. I hurriedly followed him and shouted behind him, “Uncle Johnny, don’t you think that since we got here, you’ve become completely unreasonable and difficult to approach? No matter what happens, you have to remember that we are now partners, partners who live and die together. You can’t be like this.”

Johnny, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped, his back stiff for a second, then he turned around sharply. I saw a face full of anger, and at that moment, I thought Johnny was going to hit me.

I thought to myself, he is my master’s friend, he is my elder, even if he is unreasonable and irritable at this moment, even if he starts to fight, I can’t fight back, I can only endure it and try to persuade him again.

To my surprise, Johnny didn’t hit me. Instead, he looked at me with that angry expression for several seconds, then let out a long sigh, and his expression became a little more peaceful. Finally, he said to me, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I smiled and walked over to hug Uncle Johnny, saying, “I won’t hold it against you.”

“Do you dare to argue with me? Or should I have really hit you just now?” Johnny looked furious again.

I quickly put a serious face on and said, “I was just joking! Mr. Johnny, I and we can all see that you are angry, but we have never thought of arguing with you, even if we are a little angry. We have tried to understand you, although we don’t know what happened?

Jonny looked at me with a slightly moved expression, then he lowered his head and said as he walked away, “I just, I just wanted to get that fish up there so badly, to see what had happened to make sure if this was really…? Chengyi, there are always one or two things in a person’s life that will leave an impression on you for the rest of your life. I just came here and remembered too many things, so much so that they affected my emotions and clouded my thinking. Li once said that it is terrible to lose your composure, but I am not Li. I don’t have his state of mind. Some things still make me unable to be indifferent, otherwise I wouldn’t have stayed in that slum for so many years, trying to get close to something and forget my own sadness.

“Uncle Johnny, what happened? What made you so sad?” When Johnny said these words, I could feel Johnny’s sadness and couldn’t help but ask a follow-up question.

At this point, we had already returned to the boat. Johnny started the engine and, with the roar of the engine, he said to me, “You will eventually know, but right now I don’t have the mood to tell you.”

The boat soon sped across the water again. Looking at the inlet, which was gradually disappearing from view, a strong sense of unease welled up in my heart, and once again a sense of crisis filled me. This is a feeling that is bound to come after entering a dangerous place every time, but it only reminds me of the danger, and it doesn’t tell me what will happen. I just hope that no matter what happens, no matter how badly we are injured, we can all come out alive.

Finally, we returned to the Penglai, leaving behind our fishing rods and wet clothes. Everyone was puzzled by our appearance. We had only gone to explore, so why were we so disheveled?

Johnny was still very quiet, and he resumed his impatient and slightly irritable feeling, and went to change his clothes.

I was left to face the puzzled looks of everyone else, and could only smile and say, “We met a big fish, and instead of catching it, it almost dragged us both down! It’s definitely not a good place for fishing, but rather a good place for fish to catch people.”

I tried to ease the tension with a light-hearted approach, but it had no effect at all. Cheng-Yuan asked me carefully, “Cheng-Yi, is that it? Is that where our voyage ends?”

I nodded and looked at Singh standing in the corner of the deck with a look of apology, and said, “I’m sorry, that devil’s place is indeed our final destination.”

As soon as I finished speaking, I saw Singh looking at the sky and exhaling. I couldn’t tell if it was a sigh of relief or a sigh of heaviness.

Chengxin was a little nervous at first, but after seeing me nod, he leaned back in his deck chair again, peeling a mango and saying, “The Devil’s Land, Singh has already told us. It seems that our luck has not been very good.”

At this time, a few cargo ships appeared in the distance on the river. They should be cargo ships that had taken a detour from there to return to the mainstream. Singh glanced at them and suddenly said, “I really envy them, the way back.”

But Johnny had already changed into clean clothes and walked out, looking at Singh and calmly saying, “Don’t say such depressing things. We will return, but for now, we must get the boat there…” Johnny pointed to the other side with his hand… Isn’t that the Devil’s Land?

After hearing this, everyone was silent for a second, and then they dispersed.

Singh quickly ran to the wheelhouse, while the others began to pack their belongings, such as magic weapons and fish spears. Along the way, we learned that we had purchased a lot of fish spears somewhere, sophisticated and large fish spears.

The Penglai used high speed for the first time, and its engine roared with such power for the first time, pushing aside wave after wave of water, but taking us towards the most dangerous place.

I stood at the front of the deck, my hair blowing in the wind… Johnny stood next to me, hesitant but determined, and said to me, “Chengyi, it’s not peaceful in there, there are ghosts, so when you get in there, just go for it.”

When he said this, a hint of pain appeared in Johnny’s eyes.

In fact, I was very surprised. As a Taoist priest, isn’t it normal to see ghosts and spirits? No matter if I’m going to suppress them, drive them away, or liberate them, I can’t just let them wander around in the world, right?

What’s more… the story of Singh convinced me that there was a ghost in there! Plus, that mysterious being is also staying there. That ghost might hinder us. It makes sense that I have to do something.

But why did Johnny emphasize it so much?

The Penglai was fast, and after a short while, it had already rounded the riverbank, and the mysterious water inlet finally appeared in my eyes again.