Chapter 65: The Monster Beneath the Sea

Saltwater surged relentlessly into his mouth and nose, waves of suffocation crashing over him. Fang Baoliang struggled desperately, but his hands and feet were bound with rope; the harder he fought, the faster he sank. Faintly, he could hear the wild laughter of pirates aboard the ship, mocking him as he slipped beneath the sea. When boredom struck on the open water, the pirates found their own amusements—though their games were always cruel. Like now, when they tied a man hand and foot and tossed him into the ocean, watching him struggle as he sank.

The briny tang of seawater filled Fang Baoliang’s mouth, and the suffocation left him dizzy. He had sunk beneath the waves; darkness crept into his vision…

…

Fang Baoliang, dazed and drifting, floated along the seabed. He saw many strange things: an octopus with only one remaining tentacle, a yellow croaker with half its skeleton exposed, a shark hollowed out on one side, a phosphorescent shrimp with only a head, a deep-sea crab whose shell had been flipped, a turtle missing its carapace…

They were strange because their bodies were so mutilated they ought to be dead. Yet as Fang Baoliang brushed against them, he realized they, like him, could still move, floating aimlessly through the water. Their color was uniformly gray-white, their eyes lifeless, their movements stiff and sluggish—drifting along with the currents.

Had Fang Baoliang been in his right mind, such sights would have terrified him. But now, he felt nothing, incapable of thought, drifting on instinct alone. In fact, he was one of these bizarre creatures himself. Half his body was missing—gnawed away by predatory fish, the flesh gone from one side of his face…

…

Fang Baoliang drifted with these gray-white remnants until they reached a certain place. There, he saw a monstrous creature, terrifying beyond description, too vast to comprehend. Most of its bulk was buried in the sand at the bottom of the sea, only a small portion exposed to the water. Even this exposed part was enormous, like a mountain; it was impossible to imagine how large the creature truly was.

The monster slumbered, its length of sleep unknown. Around its massive form, layers upon layers of gray-white sea creatures circled. They seemed neither fully dead nor alive, their movements mechanical and aimless as they drifted about the sleeping beast.

Among them, there were scattered, mutilated human corpses—gray-white and empty—like Fang Baoliang, mixed with the sea creatures, drifting on for years.

…

Fang Baoliang came back to life; in that moment, he understood at last that his previous dazed state was the form of his death.

Because of the immense unwillingness in his heart, drawn by the aura of the slumbering monster, he was resurrected. He saw his own mutilated body—recently dead, but already torn apart by the creatures of the deep. Bones exposed in one hand, flesh missing from the right side of his face, organs spilling from his ruptured belly…

Panic overwhelmed him. He grabbed the gray-white sea creatures floating nearby, desperately stuffing them into his body, trying to patch up his ruined form.

…

Fang Baoliang awoke suddenly from the nightmare; daylight streamed into the room. He shrank back with a sense of dread and aversion. The sunlight, though not harmful, made him very uncomfortable. It was difficult to tell what he was now—alive, or dead?

He glanced at his wife, Chen Xiangyu, still sleeping beside him.

Now, the two of them were one; his flesh and blood were in her, and hers in him. He no longer had to fear losing her.

…

Fang Baocen had risen early and was helping his mother stoke the kitchen fire. Chen Dame was rinsing rice, preparing breakfast.

Chen Dame and Chen Xiangyu were from the same village. Years ago, when Chen Dame visited her mother’s home, she heard that Chen Dahuo’s daughter had returned from the city and was looking for a matchmaker to arrange a marriage. Chen Dame went over for a look and found the girl, true to her reputation, beautiful and fair-skinned—unlike their seaside folk, whose skin was darkened by the salt wind.

Chen Dame thought of her eldest son, still unmarried, and struck up a conversation with Chen Dahuo’s wife. Unexpectedly, things worked out, and Chen Xiangyu married Fang Baoliang.

But only days after the wedding, Chen Dame regretted it; she hadn’t gained a daughter-in-law, but a princess. She felt sorry for her son, but Fang Baoliang doted on his new wife, never daring to defy her slightest wish. This left Chen Dame frustrated.

Yet in the past few days, after her son returned from a perilous voyage, his temperament changed—he no longer obeyed Chen Xiangyu in everything. On the contrary, Chen Xiangyu had become more virtuous. Their roles had reversed, and Chen Dame was puzzled.

“Baocen, do you think your brother and sister-in-law have been acting strange lately?” she asked her younger son.

Chen Baocen nodded; he felt the same.

The conversation ended as quickly as it began, for Chen Xiangyu entered just then.

“Mother, let me cook,” she said, expression blank.

…

After breakfast, Chen Baocen left for the village school, while Fang Baoliang, following Fang Yue’s instructions, headed to the beach to join Deng Dahai’s spear training.

The two brothers walked in silence.

“Brother,” Fang Baocen finally spoke.

Fang Baoliang turned to look at him.

“No, nothing…” Fang Baocen fell silent, considering whether he should consult their teacher.

…

“What’s your name?” Fang Yue asked the little maid clutching her luggage in the carriage.

She looked sixteen or seventeen, delicate, though not exceptionally beautiful. Master Ren had a discerning eye; the maid he sent was nimble and capable, but not a rare beauty.

“My name is Xing’er,” she replied timidly, unsure what to expect from her new master.

Last night, Fang Yue had stayed at the Ren household, and Master Ren had arranged for Xing’er to attend to him.

“Very well, I’ll call you Xing’er from now on,” Fang Yue said kindly, then asked her a few more questions. Perhaps it was his gentle manner and striking appearance, but the maid gradually relaxed and answered readily.

…

The carriage stopped outside Fang Yue’s stone house. The young driver helped unload the bundles of medicine Fang Yue had brought. Fang Yue thanked him; the young man modestly declined and drove away.

Fang Yue led Xing’er inside, set down their belongings, and said, “I have to go to the village school and will be back at noon. Get familiar with the place in the meantime.”

He had already arranged with the old scholar at the neighboring Botou Village’s school for his students to study there. Fang Yue himself was busy with many affairs and had no time to continue teaching. But in these few days of transition, he still needed to finish his last lessons as a schoolmaster.