Chapter 247
Chapter 247
Even so, not seeing any sign of Roundy left me uneasy.
Old Cao naturally noticed my concern and said,
“If Roundy truly lost consciousness after being swept from the underground river, its size and feathers should make it float to the surface on its own. It’ll drift downstream with the river… Let’s go ashore and rest for a moment, then search downstream. Staying in the river for too long at night is dangerous.”
I understood that, of course.
Old Cao was every bit as exhausted as I was. He had spent his last strength using the phoenix rope to save me and destroy several sunken dead.
I nodded.
“All right. Let’s get ashore first.”
If we encountered more sunken dead or a water goblin now, Old Cao and I might truly die here!
Fortunately, we reached shore without incident.
We climbed out of the water and staggered across the pebble-covered riverbank for a while.
Only after putting some distance between ourselves and the water did we collapse to the ground, panting.
“We’re not far from Li Miao’s home. We’ll rest for two minutes, then go find him. We’ll take Heizi with us and search downstream for Roundy.”
Old Cao laid out the plan between breaths.
Just as I was about to reply, a series of coos sounded nearby, something between a pigeon and a hen…
A round black shadow flew toward Old Cao and me. At the same time, an obnoxious voice rang in my mind.
“Ptooey, ptooey! Those corpses in the river are disgusting! Damn it, Lord Bird had barely been swept out of the underground river, dizzy and disoriented, when the damned things started pestering me…”
It was Roundy!
Thank goodness the stupid bird was safe.
It flapped over to Old Cao and me and landed on a large rock. Then it shook the water from its feathers with a great spray. Water went everywhere, and naturally Old Cao and I suffered for it.
My worry instantly transformed into righteous fury. Suppressing the urge to catch the creature in my arms and rub it vigorously, I demanded,
“What happened to you? Where did you go? You had Old Cao and me worried.”
After Roundy told its story, I finally understood…
The fat bird had been rather unlucky. Since it weighed less than us, the underground river swept it farther into the Chuan River, straight into a “ghost whirlpool”!
Despite the name, ghost whirlpools had nothing to do with ghosts.
The Chuan River had a violent current, a twisting channel, and many hidden reefs, making its hydrology extremely complex. All those factors combined to produce temporary whirlpools at random from time to time.
Their appearance and duration followed no pattern, and they even moved with the river, coming and going like phantoms. That was why people living by the river called them “ghost whirlpools.”
Roundy had barely emerged from the underground river into the Chuan River when, before it could react, a relatively small ghost whirlpool caught it!
The current spun it until it was dizzy, leaving it completely unable to break free.
Fortunately, in less than two minutes–by its own estimate–the ghost whirlpool vanished on its own. Otherwise, it might truly have run out of breath and drowned!
Once the whirlpool disappeared, Roundy floated to the surface.
Before it could use demonic energy to dry its body and take flight, several corpse-fiends in the river surrounded it.
The unlucky fat bird had no choice but to fight those sunken dead.
Although Roundy was also badly depleted, it cursed all the while as it tore them apart with its sharp claws and beak. Only then did it use demonic energy to evaporate most of the water from its feathers and fly into the air.
Afterward, it found me through the bond between a household familiar and its master…
When I finished listening, I narrowed my eyes and squeezed the words through clenched teeth.
“So you can use demonic energy to dry your feathers directly? Yet you still shook water all over Old Cao and me!”
“Oh, Wu, don’t worry about the details. Your big brother is already exhausted. If I can shake the water off, why waste demonic energy? Besides, you and Old Cao were already soaked through.”
“Get lost! I’m the big brother.”
“I am.”
“I am!”
“Oh, give it a rest!”
Old Cao watched Roundy and me bicker and pressed a hand to his forehead, speechless.
“These two really are a headache.”
…
After a little more banter, we followed the riverbank toward Li Miao’s wooden cabin.
We were truly exhausted, badly depleted, cold, and hungry. We desperately needed somewhere to rest.
The moment we reached the courtyard gate, Heizi, sleeping in a haystack beneath the eaves by the main door, noticed us.
It wagged its tail happily and ran toward the courtyard gate, barking at us through the wooden fence. At the same time, it alerted Li Miao inside that visitors had arrived.
“Stupid dog, stop drooling! Can’t you have a little dignity as a demon? Don’t act so fawning every time you see Wu. He didn’t bring you any meat today.”
Roundy “scolded” Heizi fiercely.
It had always believed that Heizi, a large black dog raised by a corpse retriever–and in fact something of a dog demon itself–was far too affectionate toward us. Heizi was not aloof enough. It ought to learn from Roundy and act more distant and arrogant.
I found that opinion both stupid and hilarious!
While scolding Heizi, Roundy flapped over the courtyard gate. Using its beak and claws, it lifted the bar behind the gate and opened it for us.
“Good Heizi! Such a good dog! We came to ask for help today and didn’t bring food. I’ll make it up to you with twice as much next time!”
I immediately crouched and stroked the big black dog’s glossy fur, affectionately pressing my cheek against its large head.
Woof, woof, woof!
It barked happily.
I glanced at the fat bird in the air and shook my head.
“How can the difference be so enormous? Look how obedient and lovable Heizi is. Then look at a certain fat bird–creepy and obnoxious… Tsk!”
Roundy bristled.
“What’s that supposed to mean, Wu? This stupid dog can’t even transmit its thoughts yet. All it can do is bark. How can it compare to Lord Bird, the king of all demons?”
Good grief!
Had it been eating raw garlic? That was some seriously big talk!
King of demons, indeed!
Even Heizi looked at it sidelong as though it were an idiot.
“Hey, stupid dog! What’re you looking at? What’s with that look? Come on, fight Lord Bird one-on-one! Damn you!”
Roundy shouted arrogantly. Honest, docile Heizi shrank closer to me, genuinely a little afraid of it.
Just then, a door creaked…
Li Miao came out of the house. When he saw us in the courtyard, our clothes soaked and dripping, astonishment filled his face.
“Young Brother Wu, Brother Cao, what happened to you…?”
Old Cao gave a wry smile.
“Brother Li, it’s a long story. Could you let us inside to take off our clothes and dry them first?”
“Oh, of course! Come in!”
Li Miao slapped his forehead apologetically, then hurriedly instructed Heizi,
“Heizi, go into the back room and bring out two sets of my dry clothes for Brother Cao and Young Brother Wu.”
Woof, woof, woof!
Heizi wagged its tail and went to find the clothes.
Once inside, we changed into dry clothes and drank hot tea. I told Li Miao everything that had happened that night from beginning to end.
He marveled at the story and said that he had never imagined so many secrets were hidden beneath the hill behind Lianghe District Middle School.
“Brother Li, have you ever seen this before?”
I took the mysterious black iron token from my backpack and handed it to him.
I had only asked casually and expected nothing. Even Old Cao did not recognize it, and both his strength and breadth of experience should have exceeded Li Miao’s…
To my utter surprise, Li Miao turned the token over and studied it for a while. Then he frowned and said uncertainly,
“I have a theory about this thing, but I can’t be completely sure.”
What?!
I started in surprise, then became overjoyed. I grabbed Li Miao’s hand.
“You really recognize it, Brother Li? Tell us, what is it?”
Old Cao smiled and nodded beside me.
“I didn’t expect you to be so knowledgeable, Brother Li. We spent most of the night struggling for this thing and nearly died several times. We’re all curious about what this iron token is.”
Roundy stood on Heizi’s broad back with its wings planted on its hips, staring at him with an overbearing expression.
Cough, cough…
Holding the black iron token, Li Miao said helplessly,
“You’re putting a lot of pressure on me. It’s only a guess. This resembles something from the legends of us corpse retrievers. But I’ve never seen the real object either, so I can’t be certain.”
“That’s fine, Brother Li. Tell us! We can take it as a reference. I’ll still ask Master when I go home this weekend.”
“All right!”
Li Miao lowered his head, rubbed the black iron token with his fingers, and looked at it twice more before handing it back to me. Only then did he begin,
“I think this looks very much like a River-Warding Token!”
A River-Warding Token? What was that?
It was a new term to me.
Old Cao, seated beside me, suddenly understood. He stared at the black iron token in my hand and exclaimed,
“So this is the legendary River-Warding Token!”
When I looked at him, Old Cao explained,
“When I was little, I went to Tianjin with my master and grandmaster on a job. I saw a Jinmen River-Warding Token there.”
“That was before Liberation, in the old society. I was only seven or eight, just a little child, so Grandmaster and Master didn’t let me study it closely.”
“And that one was a different shape. It was so long ago that I never connected the two.”
So that was it!
It made sense. Who would remember some object they had seen at seven or eight years old, especially when it looked different?
Li Miao then began telling us the story of River-Warding Tokens in detail…