Chapter 108: Crossing the water

Making a raft didn’t take us too long. In just over an hour, a raft that looked incredibly sturdy was completed.

Before starting work, Uncle Johnny, who had thrown away his flask and thrown himself into the work, seemed in a good mood. Compared to the time on the boat when he was clearly feeling a bit anxious, he even had the heart to say something irrelevant to us half-jokingly, saying that we had no common sense, calling a saw powered by burning oil an electric saw, which was a kind of ignorance.

I don’t understand why Uncle Johnny suddenly became so cheerful. In fact, I still had Singh’s words on my mind, and I was a little worried about him for no reason.

However, Mr. Johnny, who was doing the final touches on the raft, still looked focused. At least at this moment, he didn’t seem like a person who had nothing to live for.

“I think we can go into the water now.” Patting the finished raft, Uncle Johnny had a look of pride on his face. He stood up and said with a little expression of nostalgia: “A long time ago, I had some other people who always dreamed of building a raft and drifting far away together. It was really happy at that time… but unfortunately we were still children and didn’t have the ability to build such a raft. Now, I can do it alone, really, it’s very happy.”

It was just a raft, but the pride on Uncle Johnny’s face was so real, and so was the happiness. I stood next to Uncle Johnny, and I always felt that at this moment, he seemed to have let go of a very heavy burden. This should have been a good thing, so why did I feel a little sad?

I tried hard not to think about it, and said to Uncle Johnny, “Going into the water? I think this raft can only carry three people at most. Why don’t we make a few more rafts?”

My words were reasonable, but Grandpa Johnny’s face showed a strange look. It felt like a gambler who had lost everything, but in the last hand, he had a pair of aces. He couldn’t help but be excited and couldn’t wait to make one last bet. He said to me, “I think I don’t need to. Just this one. Except for Wal-Mart, I will send everyone else to you. It’s just a simple matter to send you there.”

A simple thing? Is this a joke? Not to mention the fact that I know from the magic weapon left behind by my master that it is terrifying under the water.

“Why can’t I go over?” Volma was a little dissatisfied.

But Grandpa Jonny didn’t answer Walma right away. He seemed to be having fun, and suddenly he took a straight-looking branch and tied it to the front of our raft. Then he took off his white short-sleeved shirt and wrote a few Indian characters on it with some mud, and tied it to the branch, making it look like a crude flag.

After all this, he said to Volma, “First, you are injured and not very mobile. Second, you have talent, but you are not a hardworking child. I brought you here because I don’t want to waste your spiritual power, and you may be needed in the end. Stay here honestly, okay?”

Worma’s expression was not satisfied, but in the end he did not have the courage to go against Uncle Johnny’s decision, so he could only pout and reluctantly do it on the side.

This little incident made me realize that I had underestimated Volma. All along, Volma had been a rich kid who was always looking for new experiences in my eyes. He was a talented kid who didn’t work very hard, and he was also an adventurer with us. In my eyes, he was also pursuing a different kind of life.

But the truth is that this is not the case. He was injured and even faced a life-and-death crisis. He knew how dangerous it was under the pool. If it was for novelty, then he should have stopped here. But his dissatisfaction at this moment was not fake at all. In fact, even if he didn’t come with us in the end, no one would blame him or be dissatisfied… He was still full of courage and enthusiasm and wanted to set off towards real danger, and he was unhappy because someone stopped him.

I suddenly realized that Wal-Mart was actually honing himself.

Thinking about this, I walked up to Volma, patted him on the shoulder, and said, “I think you’ll be great in the future. You can even become a great Taoist in China.”

“Really?” Wal-Mart’s face showed surprise.

“Of course it’s true. This time is just the beginning. You don’t have to be too aggressive. Just watch. Maybe at the critical moment, as Uncle Johnny said, you’ll be needed. If you don’t mind, can you tell me what Uncle Johnny wrote on the white shirt?” I comforted Walma and distracted him.

Volma was indeed very simple-minded, and immediately paid attention to the words written by Uncle Johnny. After looking at them for a while, he turned around and said to me in a strange and weird way, “It says Johnny’s Dream. Do you know what it means?”

“I… I think it means dream.” In fact, I also increasingly don’t understand Uncle Johnny, so I can only explain it like this.

At the insistence of Uncle Johnny, we made such a raft. He arranged for us to advance in groups, first going to the large rock in the middle of the pool, and I was arranged to go last.

“It’s not that simple. You can’t just jump in the water. But trust me, there’s a way to deal with those things under the water. Chengyi, you’re going to be the last one to go. I think when you enter the pool, it will cause a ‘terrific’ reaction. At that time, I won’t be able to stop it.” When Master Johnny said this, his tone was very relaxed, but I didn’t know if he was pretending.

But I also deliberately responded with a relaxed tone: “How great is it?”

“The guys under the water are rioting. What do you think?” Uncle Johnny winked at me and then called on Ruyue and Huigen to go into the water.

They got into the water in a strange way. Only Ru Yue and Hui Gen stood on the raft, while Uncle Johnny pushed the raft into the water. It looked like he had no intention of getting on the raft.

Although I trusted Uncle Johnny and believed that it would be very easy for him to send us there, the truth was that the moment they jumped into the water, I was extremely nervous. Which of those ferocious creatures under the water was not a man-eating existence? And that inexplicable singing, the hordes of ghosts…

But the raft was quietly advancing in the water, gently wrapped in the mist, and the only sound remaining between heaven and earth seemed to be the sound of the waves as the raft pushed through the water.

While swimming, Uncle Johnny pushed the raft. Hui Gen and Ru Yue stood on the raft, slightly nervous. In fact, this scene was like a scene in a psychedelic movie, which gradually relaxed the mood of the people in this atmosphere, and they no longer stared at them.

So, I noticed a subtle detail: the red flower on the huge rock was trembling slightly, as if it were driven by a violent emotion and couldn’t help but tremble.

Can a flower have emotions? I let out a sigh… Time passed by minute by minute. After a long while, Uncle Johnny finally pushed the raft towards the big rock. I felt inexplicably nervous, but Uncle Johnny began to hum an Indian tune. It was low, melodious, and sad… My mood also rose and fell. I distinctly remembered that this tune was the one Uncle Johnny hummed last night when he was emotional, crying and singing.

The idiot Wal-Mart only discovered the truth at this time, and was surprised to babble there, holding Brother Chengxin and not knowing what to say.

I didn’t care about this matter, but just stood quietly, watching Uncle Johnny send Hui Gen and Ru Yue up to the big rock.

“Don’t go near the red flower,” said Uncle Johnny.

Then he jumped onto the raft. This time, he didn’t go into the water to push the raft, but used the rudimentary oar we had prepared to row it back.

The next group was Lu Shan and Tao Bai…

In this way, as if everyone was entering a film full of fog, Uncle Johnny ran back and forth, sending us over, allowing us to enter that quiet and dreamlike scene.

The tiny, fragile red flower trembled again and again, as if it could not help but cry.

We set off early in the morning and by 11 o’clock, finally, Uncle Johnny had sent most of the people there. Only me and Volma were left on the hill. Strangely, as Uncle Johnny said, it was just a small thing, a trivial thing, because everything was so quiet.

The raft returned to the low mountain again. Uncle Johnny came ashore with his whole body drenched. His jeans were completely soaked, and his bare upper body looked like that of a strong middle-aged man. But at that moment, when he walked towards me, I felt an indescribable aura surrounding him, like the glorious end of a hero.

“Chengyi, it’s your turn. Let’s go and meet that great storm together,” said Uncle Johnny, with an unusually peaceful smile on his face.

That smile was like that of a gambler who had won with a good hand. So, peace of mind!

But what did Uncle Johnny win?

Although I was puzzled, I still smiled and said to Uncle Johnny, “Okay!” Then, I quietly walked onto the raft.

A terrific storm?