Volume 2Chapter 13: Sea Monkey

This hideous face was almost four or five times larger than my head, and the body was still hiding behind the iron door. I couldn’t see its facial features clearly, and I didn’t know if it was a ghost or some kind of animal. I just felt that this face was eerie and indescribably strange.

I just stared at it, my whole body numb from the scalp to the heels, so scared that I could hardly breathe. My legs were starting to give out again, and they were as limp as noodles. I took a few steps back, and then I thought of the woman lying on the ground. Although she was no good, it was not the way to leave her to die.

I turned her over and found that the two withered hands were gone again, but I couldn’t care less now. If the water rose again, her head would drown if it was submerged in the water. I put my hands under her armpits and slowly moved back. There must be a staircase to the deck at the other end of the cabin. As long as I dragged the woman onto the deck, I could either jump into the sea or ask for help.

I moved my trembling legs while silently repeating to myself, “Calm down, calm down, the more you encounter this kind of situation, the more you have to stay calm.” I moved backwards a little bit, never daring to take my eyes off the woman’s face.

The monster looked at me quietly, not moving at all. For a moment, I could only hear the sound of the water. If it had made some kind of movement, such as turning its head or opening its mouth, I might have felt a little more relaxed, but it just stared at me with its two eyes, making me more and more nervous. I thought to myself, this is too abnormal, but since you’re not moving now, just keep it up, don’t wait until I’m almost at the stairs and then pounce on me.

I thought, I’d just not look at it, lowered my head and quickened my pace, and dragged it to the stairs in a few steps. I looked, and was dumbfounded, the stairs had rotted away to nothing but a frame, I didn’t know if I could climb it alone, let alone with a half-dead woman here. I saw a few iron frames still standing on the stairs, so I grabbed the woman’s hand and tried to climb up. But as soon as I put my foot on it, it broke, and it was rotten like mud.

This was a tricky situation. I looked back and saw that the monster was still there, patiently waiting for me. Now I was in the dark, and there was a light source (a hole in the deck) between me and it. So I could only see a vague outline. I was relieved. I first leaned the woman against the wall, then gritted my teeth and made a strong leap, trying to climb up first.

Although my hands were long and slender, I had no strength at all. I failed twice, not only did I not climb up, but I also hit my mouth, which hurt so much that tears came down. I was very annoyed, and I couldn’t think of a way to get out of there for a long time. I turned my head habitually to see if the monster was still there. It was a good thing that I didn’t turn my head. As soon as I turned my head, I suddenly saw a huge thing standing behind me. I almost bumped into it face to face, and I was so scared that I couldn’t help but scream.

If you suddenly turn around and see someone standing silently behind you, that’s scary enough. Now, seeing such a hideous face, the fear was really indescribable. As I yelled, I couldn’t help but back away, suddenly pressing against the cabin wall.

At this point I could see the creature clearly, and something flashed through my mind. When I was a child, a classmate from a coastal village told me that a fisherman in their village had once caught a strange creature that looked like a person, but was covered in scales. When they brought it back to the village, no one knew what it was. Later, they called an old man in the village who was quite old. When he saw it, he was so scared that he almost fainted. He yelled, “Quickly release it! This is a sea monkey! If other sea monkeys find it later, there will be a big problem!”

But the fisherman, hearing that the creature was so precious, got a mischievous idea and wanted to raise it and sell it in the city. He pretended to the villagers that he had released it, but in fact he hid it in his own home. The next day, the fisherman’s entire family disappeared. The villagers thought something was wrong and searched for two whole days. Finally, they found the fisherman’s wife’s body at the bottom of a cliff by the sea. Her stomach had been cut open and her insides eaten.

The old man saw it and said that it was the revenge of other sea monkeys. He called a feng shui master and set up an altar on the beach, put many pig and sheep heads on it, and did a lot of rituals for several days before giving up.

My classmate also drew the picture of the sea monkey for me. He was very good at drawing these things and drew them extremely realistically. At the time, it had a great impact on my young mind. I didn’t sleep well for a few days. I have a deep impression of this thing. Now I see it and immediately think of it. I just didn’t expect the so-called sea monkey to be so big.

The memory flashed by, and the monster didn’t make any movements, just staring at the woman on the bulkhead with great interest, and saliva actually dripped from his mouth. Fortunately, the woman didn’t wake up, otherwise I was really afraid that I would be scared into incontinence.

I calmed down a little and pressed the back wall. It was also a kind of very brittle and decayed wooden board. At this time, I already had a plan. As long as I leaned back hard, I would definitely be able to push a hole in the wall. That way, if the sea monkey pounced on me, I would have a place to retreat. However, the back of the wall was already the stern of the ship, and there should be a lot of mechanical equipment inside. I wondered if I could find something to use as a weapon.

I was thinking about this when I suddenly heard a few creaks from the deck. It seemed that someone else had boarded the ship. I was wondering what was going on when I saw Zhang Tuo jump down from the gap in the deck. As soon as the idiot landed, he raised his pistol and looked warily at the iron door. Then he turned around and suddenly screamed, “Oh my God!”

The monster heard the cry and turned to see him. It suddenly let out a mournful cry and lunged at him. The bald man reacted very quickly, immediately ducking down to the ground and avoiding the first blow. He then clicked the gun lock and fired a shot, which made the monster grunt and jump to the side of the ship in pain. The bald man then fired a few more shots, almost all of which hit the side of my head, scaring me and making me shrink my neck.

The sea monkey was very smart. It seemed that the gun was very powerful, so it didn’t dare to jump on it again. It pretended to jump on it, then suddenly jumped back and forth several times like lightning, jumped over Zhang Baldy, and directly ran back into the iron door.

Zhang Baldy followed it with his gun, sweeping a row of bullet holes in the cabin wall, and immediately the water rushed in. The water level rose even faster. He was very determined to kill it, so he shot the two hinges of the iron door with two shots, then kicked the door open with one kick. I ran over to see what was going on, and saw a hole in the bottom of the boat that was constantly filling with water. The monster was trying to get in. I knew that this hole must be the same hole that caused the ship to sink. However, it was now blocked by a large amount of sea rust and was only as wide as a bowl. The monster was extremely strong. As soon as Zhang Baldy raised his gun, it smashed its head through a hole that was large enough for it to pass through, and then dove down.

Zhang Baldy was still not satisfied, and fired a few more shots into the water. At this time, the entire body of the ship was already groaning with the sound of breaking. I looked, and the water was already up to my knees. This place could no longer be stayed in for long, and we had to leave immediately. Zhang Baldy ran back and shook the woman, calling out a few times: “Ning, Ning!” Seeing that she did not respond, he picked up the woman, stepped on my back with one foot, and deftly turned over and got on. His kick almost made me vomit blood. I suddenly felt my back break, and the bald man squatted on top of me, reaching out to pull me up.