Before approaching the gang of boats, Zhannia also hesitated. But her intuition didn't sense danger, so she walked to a place only two or three steps away from Akarahama. She looked outside the boat and saw no tools they were carrying. There were no fishing nets, fishing rods, and no harpoons. There were no weapons that Zhaniya felt were dangerous, except for a pair of old paddles with peeling paint.
"This boat looks like something from the last century." She said to Akira Bin, "The boats from the end of the last century also look better than this one. Where did you get it?"
"Speak politely, please. I made this with my own hands."
Jania was indeed taken aback. She immediately took a closer look at the small wooden boat, which was large enough for three people to travel. If it was handmade by one person, it would be quite delicate and beautiful.
"Did you do it here? On the beach?"
"Of course." Akurahama said happily, "Oh, Jennifer, you see, I have lived here for a long time. But it's not in this hotel, but in the home of a local resident. She happens to have a very good The lumber was lying around in the warehouse, so I asked if I could use it to build something. Building this boat would take time."
"Shouldn't you be concentrating on writing?"
"I like to do something with my hands when I'm imagining it." Akurabin said, "Are you coming or not? The sea monster won't wait for us all night."
"What kind of sea monster are you going to see? Whales? I didn't hear that whales can be seen near this place."
"No, of course not a whale. Whales are not weird at all. How can you call that cute big thing a sea monster? They haven't killed anyone yet."
"I remember a killer whale that killed someone."
"I mean take the initiative, Jania. If you were locked in a small cage and beaten all day long, and had to work for nothing, wouldn't you want to kill the guys who enslaved you? This is different from killing people for no reason. Then again, Are you going or not, Jennifer?"
Jania still has many questions. She wasn't invited here just to see the sea monster. But Akarahama was already out of the boat. He asked Zhou Wenxing to help him, and together they pushed the boat into the sea. Zhannia hesitated whether she should go up to help, but Chirabin said: "Oh, it's okay, just wait. This boat is much lighter than it looks."
Zhannia took the opportunity to ask: "What is that sea monster like?"
"What does it look like? To be honest, I don't know. Many people have seen it, but their descriptions vary widely. Some say it is a sea snake, while others say it is a huge crocodile or a giant octopus. Personally, I really like octopuses, they look smart."
When she heard him say this, Jania couldn't help but think of the sea serpent skin that Onti brought back in the evening. The snake skin was almost one and a half meters long, which looked a bit amazing. However, there are no reports of tourists being bitten and poisoned by sea snakes on Esgitev Island. What about the legend of the sea monster? Perhaps such a story is also spread among the locals, but at least it is not as famous as the Loch Ness Monster, otherwise everyone would have known about it. Akarahama spoke as if everyone was familiar with that thing, and even knew its regular routine, which was really incredible.
"How did you know there was a sea monster here?" She couldn't help but ask, "Did the locals tell you?"
"That's not true. My sponsor told me that. She's a well-sourced person who knows a little bit about everything. When I said I wanted to see something interesting, she immediately suggested I come here. Here I can see good things, she said. So here I am."
"How did your sponsor know?"
"You really like to get to the bottom of things, Jennifer. But I can't tell you that. Like I just said, she knows a little bit about everything, but she can't tell you the whole truth, just like the Internet. "
The boat was already floating in the water. Chi Labin and Zhou Wenxing climbed up one after another. If Zhannia still wants to go back to sleep, this may be her last chance. She only hesitated for a moment, then ran quickly and climbed up from the side of the boat. Akarabin gave her a hand, and then picked up the two old oars himself.
"Okay." He said, "Let's set off now. Zhou, can you help us navigate?"
Zhou Wenxing nodded. But Zhannia asked: "Why is he the navigation?"
"His nautical astronomy is very good. In weather like tonight, he can tell our direction just by looking at the sky, which is almost as accurate as a compass, and he can also calculate how far we have gone. Our small team needs to To find the sea monster, he is indispensable."
Zhannia glanced at Zhou Wenxing suspiciously. She thought to herself that this man didn't look like he had been at sea all year round. But learning astronomy doesn’t necessarily have to be at sea. Didn't Zhou Wenxing go to sea with his brother? Perhaps he learned how to navigate and read star maps then.
"He lied to me," Jania said bluntly.
"What?" Akira Bin asked with interest.
"He said if I come over tonight, I'll see my brother."
Chirabah seems to have no idea about this matter. And his reaction after hearing this seemed to indicate that he found it very funny. "Is this true?" He immediately asked Zhou Wenxing, "Did you really tell Jennifer that?"
"I think she was more interested in this," Zhou Wenxing said, "than things like sea monsters."
"It's not good of you to do this. Doesn't this make her trip in vain?"
Zhou Wenxing just smiled, as if this explained everything. Then he looked up at the sky. His reaction made Zhannia a little annoyed, but she also remembered that Zhou Wenxing was right about her brother's strengths, and she would not have a conflict with a stranger on such a small wooden boat.
So let’s talk about sea monsters. Sea monster. It's really weird for someone to say this word seriously. However, Akarahama is a weirdo to begin with. Jania had a gut feeling that arguing with him about the authenticity of the sea monster was a waste of effort. So she stopped inquiring and took a look at her surroundings.
Akurahama's small wooden boat looked quite unstable, but it was surprisingly strong when used. Akarahama is tall but skinny, a little rickety, and turns out to be quite strong. When he rowed hard, the small wooden boat slid forward like a skate on the ice. The ink-black waves undulated beneath them, sometimes not looking like water, but like an endless thick black curtain, covering the huge thing hidden below. The tide was the giant thing rolling and pushing, throwing the small wooden boat up and down. It is just playing, and the terrifying power revealed is enough to make people tremble.
Jania sat as far inside as she could, holding on to a fixed transverse plank. When the splashing waves wet her cheeks from the side, and the chill made her hands and feet cold, she realized that her adventure tonight was indeed very reckless. Not only as an underage girl, not only because she was on a boat with two strange men, but because the sea is inherently dangerous. She had no experience of going out to sea in this kind of small boat before. She had only taken an electric kayak when the weather was nice, and followed a route that may have been traveled by tourists tens of thousands of times. But now she suddenly realized that they had no protection at all, no lifebuoys or life jackets, let alone radios and the like.
What would happen if this small wooden boat was capsized by a wave? In these dark, turbulent waters, even someone ten times stronger than her would be just as vulnerable as she is. This is not about wearing a bathing suit and playing on the beach during the day. Had she fallen beneath the black curtain that covered the world, she might have been sapped of strength by the cold and the tide in a matter of minutes.
Jania tried not to show the worry in her heart on her face. She didn't see the other two passengers on the boat showing concern. Akira Bin was always in high spirits and kept chatting away. He didn't seem to care whether anyone was listening, and Zhou Wenxing didn't talk to him, but showed his listening attitude in a polite manner like a psychological counselor.
“I’ve rowed many times before,” he said. “It’s in a big lake, and it’s usually pretty calm. (Zhania suddenly felt even more uneasy about going out to sea at night.) But there was a sea monster at the bottom of the lake. There are so many, you can never count them. Do you want to know what they look like? They all look like big snakes, with many scales, and most of them have a ring of thorns around their necks. Some people think they are dragons. But their tempers How wonderful! You read them a scripture or something, and they will shake their heads and tails, and they will be very happy to hear it."
Zhannia didn't know if Akurabin was joking. She imagined a large group of sea snakes as thick as arms entangled under a pool, with a man dressed in ancient Indian clothes playing religious music next to them. They were swaying and rising in the water like thick ropes. She wasn't very afraid of snakes, nor insects or spiders, but the scene was really unlucky.
Chirabin praised the good-tempered sea snake for a few words, and suddenly asked Zhou Wenxing in a confused manner: "Does your brother listen to certain scriptures? Or does he ask others to recite certain scriptures?"
Zhou Wenxing thought for a while and said, "Almost not."
"Then what does he do? I mean, if others want to express something to him, there must be something ceremonial, right? A statue? Or a symbol?"
"Very rarely. If he likes someone, he will be around that person at the right moment, or let that person know how to find him."
"But what about Altadia? I mean, isn't that his direct territory? How should the people there make demands on him?"
"They would talk to the dead animals."
"Will that work?"
"My brother does when he's in a good mood."
"Does that mean he won't do everything for them? What if they are not satisfied?"
Zhou Wenxing smiled slightly: "They will whip the statue."
Akarahama laughed loudly, as if he thought this was very funny. "You have really unique folk customs there," he said. "The people living there are very resilient and resilient. But then again, does that method really work?"
"Yes. If you have indeed promised to serve them and have not violated the requirements, there will be a certain connection between the statue you worship and yourself."
"That must be annoying," Akurabin said.
All the words they were talking about were incomprehensible to Jania halfway through, and it was almost confusing. She heard that Zhou Wenxing's brother seemed to be some kind of religious leader - what kind of statue should be enshrined - she didn't know where Altadia was, but it didn't sound like the administrative district of Lihai City.
The conversation continued in fits and starts throughout the journey. Zhaniya's fear of Ye Hai gradually subsided. Her hands and feet were still damp and cold, but she had adapted to the endless darkness. The moon appears closer and brighter than usual over the sea. With the light falling in the sky, Zhannia could see almost every detail inside the ship. But this is not only due to the moon, the windproof lantern Akurahama brought is also very reliable. She imagined a pair of eyes looking at them from the distance of the sea, like a tiny point of light sliding on the rolling black curves.
Akurahama's lamp is a glass lamp with a black metal frame. It is old and ordinary in style. One of the four sides is inlaid with a lock, which can roughly fit a candle as thick as an arm and as long as the palm of a hand to secure it. But what Akurabin put inside was just a very thin black candle. It had no smell, but it burned very slowly. When Zhaniya could no longer tell which direction the coast was, and her cheeks were a little numb from the wind and waves, the candle had only burned down half the length of her thumb. It was burning the whole time, and the fire was so bright, it seemed like it would never burn out in this lifetime. At first, Zhannia thought it was because she was not used to the sea climate, which was why she felt so uncomfortable, but when she quietly took out her phone and took a look, she realized that two full hours had passed.
Jania was startled. It occurred to her that maybe Mademoiselle Antiy had woken up now, had found her note, and was waiting for her on the shore with the police. She also wanted to send a message to Anti, saying that there were two lunatics who wanted to take a human-powered canoe to see the ghostly sea monster. She did edit such a message, but her phone had no signal.
She did all this while trying to keep a low profile. But it is simply impossible to turn on the battery screen in such a narrow and dark space without being visible to two other people. Chi Labin and Zhou Wenxing had obviously seen her playing with her phone. Zhou Wenxing didn't say anything, but Chi Labin asked with interest: "What time is it now?"
"It's almost two o'clock."
"Time flies so fast." Akurabin said, "That's what happens when you have something on your mind."
"Can we still see the sea monster?"
"Of course, we'll end it. It's a sure thing. But now that we're here, maybe we should talk about some safety rules. You know, the sea is very dangerous."
Jania almost laughed. She wanted to say that she really didn't expect Akarahama to know this. But Akira Bin still had a serious expression on his face. He said, "Jennifer, do you know how sea monsters eat people?"
"What? Does it eat people?"
"It's called a 'weird,' Jennifer. If it didn't eat people, you'd call it an animal, or at best a 'magical beast.' But if it ate enough of you, you'd call it God's."
Zhaniya couldn't agree with this statement. She retorted: "Wolves and lions eat people too."
"That's not the same way to eat it, Jennifer."
"Isn't it just opening its mouth and swallowing people? You said it was big."
"No, no, that's too simple, Jennifer... Well, whales eat small fish this way. They swim around with their mouths wide open, and the prey goes into their stomachs. The sea monster has to do it more cleverly. , it's targeted. Have you ever heard the story of a siren singing in the water, luring sailors closer? Or, a sea that sometimes disappears and sometimes reappears? A ship full of dead people? A giant spitting out phantoms. Fog clams? Like these, head on, this is how the sea monster eats people. You can say it's a technique, but I'd say it's a style. It won't rush at you all at once, But it gives you dreams and confusion. Just when you think you will never, or even, ever want to, return to shore, you are eaten by it.”
It's kind of funny to call sea monsters "classy". But Akurahama still acted like he was very interested in such a thing. He went on to conclude: "This is the only safety rule we have, end. You have to believe you will make it back to shore. You won't stay at sea forever. Can you guarantee that, end?"
Jania followed him and said: "I will go back to the shore, I will not stay at sea forever-but what if our boat is capsized by a wave, Captain?"
"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter." Akurabin said, "That's a trivial matter."
Jania felt like laughing again. She told herself that this was a serious matter—the capsizing—and it was best not to joke about it all the time. The superstition of sailors is not to mention bad things at sea. She shook her braid and wanted Akarabin to tell her what kind of ecstasy song the sea monster could sing to her. But she suddenly found that her surroundings became a little brighter. The moonlight seemed to suddenly come to life, twisting and floating on the sea like a ghost. She blinked hard several times and saw clearly that the twisted silver was condensed water vapor. The moonlight shines on the water vapor, seeming to breathe life into it.
It's foggy on the sea.
