shark. To be precise, a half-adult man-eating shark, the kind of fish commonly known as a great white shark, was currently being held up in Klein's withered palm. The scene looked a bit ridiculous, like an ant holding up a dead scarab beetle. Jania really hoped this was just a nightmare that was both ridiculous and a little scary. But it was better to be realistic, she knew this was not a dream. This is much more dangerous than catching her ex-boyfriend trading white powder.
Let’s face reality. Stay calm and pragmatic. Jania thought of Malcolm's stories about Spain and bullets. Learn to control your imagination. Don't let it stretch into unnecessary, horrifying vistas, like what it would be like to be shot through the head, or bitten in two by a shark. In fact, there is nothing you can do about falling into that situation - so stop thinking about it, keep your eyes on your next step, and think more about what else you can do. What does she know about sharks? She didn't know much about sea life. Sharks are unique among fish in that they can blink. They grow teeth throughout their lives. And their underwater vision is much better than humans. The eyes and nose are often their most vulnerable areas. Sharks, especially great whites, are a species that have been recorded attacking people. In fact, they don't particularly like to attack people, and in fact they don't find human flesh delicious at all. However, if they take a bite out of curiosity, the rest may not be brought back to shore for rescue. what else? How is their sense of smell? What kind of prey do they like to attack?
Jania pursed her lips together, staring at the shark's wounded belly instead of its terrifying teeth. The fear she revealed must have comforted the thing. It shook its arms triumphantly, trying to intimidate Jania further. The great white shark whipped its tail violently above his head, struggling to free itself from the ten fingers dug into its soft belly, where blood trickled down. Seeing this scene did not make Zhannia feel more frightened. Instead, it made her feel a little pity: this unlucky guy was just like her, being tortured by the monster under him. It was involved in the same disaster as her.
"This fish is really energetic!" said the monster, "I like this kind of energizing thing. I saw you made a movie about it."
"The stars also know movies?"
"Of course. What don't I know? Before that impolite drunkard locked me up, I liked to see what you little cookies were doing. Most of it was rubbing your tattered cookie crumbs .Cookie crumbs, cookie crumbs, cookie crumbs! You guys are boring enough."
Klein's facial features distorted in response to the monster's voice, making creepy faces. But Zhaniya will no longer be intimidated by this. She was still using her brain and pretending to be interested in the topic.
"Where are you looking at us?" she asked suddenly.
"What words! Of course it's heaven!"
"Where in the sky specifically? Which constellation do you belong to?"
"You're such a stupid girl. I can fly around on my own, understand? Why do I have to stay in one place?"
"Okay. So do you have a name?"
The monster seemed ready to answer, but suddenly became suspicious again. Its strange eyes blinked rapidly, and then it said in an obviously pretended friendly tone: "You name me one, little biscuit. We stars never care about names. Anyway, you will just point at me and bark. You love Call me whatever you want."
"Then...I'll call you Argo. I have to distinguish you from Klein."
The monster who claimed to be a star - Jania decided to call it Argo first, the devil's star that appeared and disappeared in the constellation Perseus - laughed wildly and shook the shark in his hand. The shark opened its mouth wide and bit into the void manically. The ferocity of its struggle is enough to drag an adult into the sea. Zhannia suppressed her fear and heard the devil star with the same name as the ghoul praising her.
"I like that name, you little girl!" it squeaked. "I know what it means. An old friend has this thing in his head. Of course, he has it and I have it. Friends don't distinguish between friends! But that's it. Come back, you look familiar."
It suddenly stopped laughing, turned its head back and forth like an owl, and studied Jania's face. Klein's neck made a dangerous creaking sound.
"Humph." Finally it lost interest, "You little biscuits all look the same. If I had my previous body, I would be able to smell and taste it."
"Have you ever eaten anyone, Argo?"
"Each of you meatbags call themselves people. How do I know what you are referring to?" the devil said lazily, "round, flat, square, soft, hard, it's all yours. People in language. Are you considered a person? I can't tell. I see there's nothing in your flesh. Do you know what I mean? Generally speaking, those who call themselves human have to have something in their flesh. What is it? Your meat is meat. What is the difference between it and the one in my hand?"
Zhaniya did not understand the monster's crazy words. She thought that maybe the monster had eaten many sick people. This may seem a bit unreasonable, but don't think about it for now. She had to continue stalling for time.
"I don't understand," she said slowly, "if you were a star, you wouldn't need to eat. You wouldn't have a stomach or intestines."
"What nonsense! Of course stars need to eat, you stupid girl. If I don't eat, how can I increase my mass? You live on a star, can't you even see that it has become fat? ? It must not have been as big as it is now. I have seen a lot of its iron head. When it eats you too, I wonder how you can ask such stupid questions."
"You mean our bodies return to the earth after we die?"
"You are really good at beautifying yourselves." Demon Star Argo said, letting out another burst of laughter that Jania could not understand. The laughter stopped suddenly, as if the pause button had been pressed on the broadcast. Magic Star said to Zhaniya: "Okay, silly girl. If I still use my own body, I don't mind playing with you. But this broken meat bag is so annoying! It's so smelly and hard! I can't bear to wait for it. In a bag like this. I want to play with your bag. If you don’t mind, I’ll open your brain and take a look. You definitely don’t mind, right? We can also become good friends!”
Perhaps because of the monster's crazy words, or because she had been kept at too low a body temperature for a long time, Jania's thinking had become a little sluggish. She knew that she should continue talking to the monster, asking as many questions as she could, delaying as much time as possible to understand this terrible thing. But deep down in her heart, there was a feeling of fatigue and sleepiness. She wanted to just sleep until she woke up from a warm, dry bed.
The seawater was still so cold that it stung the bones. In a daze, Jania even felt that the pile of bamboos under her body were heating up, steaming her arms and belly. She couldn't help but lie down, trying to absorb as much comfort and fighting spirit as possible through the tarpaulin. As she did so, Argo's voice grew shriller and more urgent.
"Do you want to be friends with me, silly girl?" the thing threatened, "You'd better like to make friends, or I'll throw this fish at you! Guess how many bites you can give it?" "
"Why did you throw the fish over?" said Jania. "If you can catch it, then you are much better than it. Why don't you come over yourself?"
"It's not your turn to boss me around, you bad cookie!"
"Are you afraid of these bamboos, Argo? They once imprisoned you, and you dare not go near them again."
Zhaniya is actually not sure about this conclusion. Maybe that thing was indeed afraid of the pile of bamboo poles she was holding, but fear was not a very stable protection. When she expressed this suspicion, she was even a little afraid that the thing would be angered by it. Anger can easily overcome fear, and she wonders if the stars can do the same.
"I have plenty of ways to deal with you, silly girl," the thing said. "I don't have to get close. Where could you run to?"
"Someone is looking for me. They will find me when daylight comes."
"The most they found was one or two crumbs."
Jania's lips moved. If she only leaves a trace of blood on this sea, she thought to herself, what will her parents say about this situation? If you can only leave blood stains, leave as much blood as possible. Leave whatever clues you can, because this is essential information for those who want to avenge her.
"Someone will find you, Argo," she said, "and if they can only find a few crumbs, they will tear you to pieces. Are you really a star, Argo? I hope you Yes, that way they won't put you in jail like they did to Klein, so that you can still eat and sleep on time every day. You can't go to jail, they will bake every piece of you until crispy, and then soak it. Put it in milk and eat it for breakfast.”
"Wow!" Argo said, "You have a lot of personality, little biscuit! Uh-huh... you remind me of an old friend of mine. It's so nostalgic, you cute chubby one. Little thing. To be honest, I even kind of think... Hmm... If I let you go and let you go back to your warm biscuit family... If we become a pair of longer-term friends, every commemoration Sing and dance together every day... No, it’s boring. Let’s forget it!”
The manic great white shark crashed towards Jania. The scratches on the abdomen and dehydration caused the predator to lose its normal nature. When its side hit one end of the bamboo pile and it sank, Jania, who had hid at the other end, fell. Her leg touched the shark's open mouth, and she pulled it back in time before the bloody mouth closed. She could feel the sharp shark teeth penetrating her pants and swiping rapidly across her skin. For a few seconds, she didn't dare to look down, because when there is too much adrenaline, people will ignore the pain. She won't feel anything, so she can survive, even if her entire foot is actually eaten.
After the shark rolled into the sea, Zhaniya, who hugged the bamboo pile tightly, immediately climbed back to the top. Her ears were filled with a dizzying morbid laughter that was as much like Kolain's as it was Argo's. She looked back at her feet and found that they were still in place, but her calves were scratched by shark teeth, and the blood from the wounds stained a small area of the sea red.
Jania took a few breaths and began to beat the waves with both hands. At the same time, she put her head into the sea, spit out a series of bubbles quickly, and let out the loudest and most piercing roar at the sea surface. She tried her best to make a movement similar to that of a whale or other beast, until the black fins were far away from her, then she curled up her hands and feet, trying not to expose her body to the underwater view as much as possible. Her actions must have been extremely embarrassing, because the beast's proud laughter didn't stop for a moment.
"You're leaking juice!" it shouted happily, "you're going to be eaten!"
Jania didn't answer. She lifted her injured calf as high as she could and pressed where she thought it would stop the bleeding. keep Calm. She bit her lip and thought. This thing wasn't as smart as she feared. This thing is just as stupid as her ex-boyfriend. It doesn't even know that sharks are not interested in human blood that doesn't smell like fish. Will not. A wounded great white shark wasn't going to attack her first when food was plentiful, so long as she acted like an untouchable beast. If a shark suddenly came out of the water and bit her, she would have to hit it hard on its nose and eyes, where it was vulnerable. Her blood wouldn't excite the shark, she just had to let it know that messing with her wouldn't pay off.
The thought of these countermeasures made her brave again. She stared at the adult great white shark while listening to Argo making a fuss. The devil star tried his best to encourage the shark, hoping that it would enjoy a feast of human flesh. Jania sat coldly on the bamboo pile, deciding to resist the urge to taunt. It would do her no good to have Argo discover fallacies in popular movies. It can continue to hope that the shark will eat her instead of thinking of other ideas.
"Eat her!" cried Argo.
The great white shark ignored his cry. At first, it was still swimming in the sea, and its intentions were a little unclear. Zhannia did not dare to say that the knowledge she read on the Internet was much more useful than the movies. But she made up her mind to stick here and never let the magic star take her away. This wasn't a kidnapping for ransom, if she was taken away she was dead. And before she dies, that thing will try its best to laugh at her and despise her because she is so easy to deal with.
But luck was on her side in the end. Argo's voice had brought pain and fear to the great white shark. When it regained its freedom, Jania floating on the water could no longer arouse its interest. After a short swim, both sides of the confrontation on the sea saw its black dorsal fin suddenly sinking into the water.
"What?" said Argo. Its dancing posture froze, and its head was tilted to stare at the water, as if waiting for the shark to jump out again and attack Jania. The stiff expression on its face really made Zhannia want to laugh hard, but she was actually just as scared in her heart. She waited with bated breath to see if the shark would suddenly jump out from underneath and topple the entire pile of bamboo.
Nothing happened. Argo began to lose his temper.
"You stupid fish, stupid fish, stupid fish, stupid fish!" it screamed, "No one will ask you to perform!"
No one likes to put on a show for you. Jania said in her mind. No fish like it either. Live sharks are not the dolls and special effects used in movies to scare people. They do not exist to create horror and fun. But now she doesn't dare to guarantee it. Since there is a monster who claims to be a star, there is nothing surprising about a shark that takes pleasure in killing people. Maybe there really is, but she hasn't encountered it yet.
She just thought about it. But then she saw the iconic triangular dorsal fin floating on the sea again. It appeared quietly between her and the magic star Argo, without causing even a splash of water. When he saw the thing appear, Argo let out a shrill laugh of surprise, but Jania felt a chill coming up from the soles of her feet.
"You finally figured it out." Mo Xing praised, "You are a good fish!"
As if in response to its compliment, the black fins circled around Jania and Argo, drawing gradually shrinking figures of eight on the sea. Zhannia tore off some scraps of cloth from her pants and made a better-than-nothing hemostatic bandage for her calf wound. She stared at the shadow in the waves and saw that the triangular dorsal fin had lightly hit the bamboo pile behind her, but it did not knock the bamboo pile over. She heard a very slight, short crunching sound, and the scent of bamboo leaves. When the dorsal fin swam away, she discovered that the tarp in that area seemed to have been bitten by shark teeth. How is this going? She wondered blankly, could this be a shark eating bamboo? It wanted to know what was wrapped in the waterproof cloth?
The black dorsal fin had already come out from behind her, and then swam towards Argo. Jania thought she might have a very stupid expression on her face, because the magic star was pointing at her and laughing loudly.
"Okay, okay, it seems that this fish has figured it out!" Argo said, "It knows that if it doesn't listen to me, it will be eaten by me sooner or later. It is much smarter than you, Silly girl. Okay, do you want to play the fish tossing game? Now let’s do it again.”
Argo stretched out his hands toward the approaching black dorsal fin. At that moment, Zhaniya seemed to have received some kind of omen. She secretly prayed that the shark would bite off both of Klein's arms in one bite, and it wouldn't matter if he ate the entire upper body. However, what happened next made her not expect at all.
The shark's pointed nose poked out from under the water. Its back was facing Jania, so from Jania's perspective, it looked like the shark had spit out a long bamboo pole from its mouth. The outward end of the bamboo pole has been shaved as sharp as a javelin. When Argo stretched out his arms to lift the shark, the bamboo pole pierced Klein's throat.
Argo cooed. Both of its eye sockets seemed to be twice the size of a normal person, like an enlarged baby's head mounted on an adult body, ready to cry loudly. But it can no longer make the noise it did before. There was almost no bleeding from the area where the bamboo pole was penetrated, but Klein's face turned pale. He seemed to suddenly transform again, from a monster wrapped in human skin back to a corpse. Jania couldn't tell what specific changes there were. She just felt that Klein's body had become more... normal. A normal corpse did not scare her.
The body pierced by a bamboo pole disappeared into the waves, as calm as if it had never appeared before. Zhannia stared at this scene blankly, even forgetting that she still had her mobile phone in her sleeve. As she clutched her wet hair in confusion, the phone slipped out and fell along the bamboo pile toward the sea. She wanted to rush out and grab it, but the pain in her calf made her cry out and she couldn't use any strength at all.
Wow! A hand stretched out from under the sea. It seemed that it had already taken aim, and firmly grasped Zhaniya's mobile phone that was about to fall into the sea, and then a red Akarahama crawled out of the dark water. His weight made the bamboo pile sink, but it was not unbearable. When he returned the phone to Jania with the flashlight on, the light illuminated a wet face full of smiles.
"Oh, that's really a scary thing." Akurabin said, "I didn't expect to meet such a man. Thank you for tossing with him for a while, otherwise I would have been in trouble. But I see you My legs need to be disinfected and my head needs to be shaved. How do you feel?"
Jania was pleasantly surprised to see another living person. There were still ten thousand questions in her head, but she couldn't deny that she was very happy to see Akarabin survive. She got her phone back, and then she remembered the shark that spit out the bamboo pole.
"There was a shark just now," Jania said. "Well, it was a little unusual..."
"I really didn't expect him to play this trick." Akurabin said, "It's quite effective, but I guess he's in trouble himself. Are you willing to help, sir? Zhou can't get on this pile of bamboo. It might kill him."
Jania was completely bewildered. She watched Akira Bin put his hand into his trouser pocket and kept pulling out some, like her mother pulling documents from the crack at the bottom of the drawer. The things she finally pulled out didn't look like they could have been stuffed into the cabinet. Akira Bin actually took out a whole inflatable lifebuoy from his trouser pocket that was so deflated that it could no longer be deflated. Then he took out a mini manual air pump for inflating balloons from his coat pocket, and politely handed these two toy-like things to Jania.
"Can you do me a favor, Toutou?" he said. "Inflate this thing. We'll need it later."
Jania took the two things in a daze. She didn't understand it clearly, but it didn't stop her from inflating the swimming ring first. "What do we need this for?" she asked.
"Like I just said, it's over. We have to find a place for Zhou. It doesn't matter to us, but he'd better stay away from these things."
"Is he still alive? Still under the water?"
Akira Bin shook his head. For a while he crossed his arms and stared at Jania inflating, with a strange smile on his face. Zhannia pretended not to care, but her heart was pounding, as if she had understood some unacceptable facts.
"You probably don't want to know that, anyway."
"why?"
"As the saying goes: sausages are delicious, but don't ask how they are made."
"I know how sausage is made."
"Oh, right. I forgot you were a sausage-loving place here. Well, well, since this is about sausages, let's check it out..."
Chirabin squatted down, carefully moved himself to the side of the bamboo pile, and asked loudly toward the sea: "Zhou, do you mind coming out? I think it's better to let me see you."
The full moon had set in the west, and although the sky was dark, the original mysterious atmosphere had dissipated. The black curtain that shrouded the world did not exist. What held her and Akarahama up was just a vast and ordinary body of water.
Is it appropriate to describe the ocean as ordinary? It is the source of all life and is as sacred as the mother's womb. However, if miracles appear day after day, if wonderful scenery always appears in front of the world unconditionally, then people will think it is ordinary. What people know and are used to are as small as ants and as big as whales. They are all ordinary, not monsters, but animals. Ordinariness doesn't even have to do with harm, since man-eating stars are monsters, while murderous sharks are just animals. The shark that swam in front of Zhaniya and Akarahama from the sea was also an animal - until Zhou Wenxing, whose right arm melted, crawled out of the thing's mouth. The whole time, Jania's mouth was as wide as the shark's.
"It's quite strange, isn't it?" Akurabin said, "Let's go back as soon as possible and let him take a bath. We all suffered a lot tonight."
Jania breathed in, breathed in again, and breathed out again. She stared at Zhou Wenxing as he pulled his feet out of the shark's throat, and finally let out his first hysterical scream that night.
