Chapter 00133: The Water Spirit
# The Water Spirit?
Chapter 133
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 133: The Water Spirit?
The alligator's blood dripped down the spear, and he heard that "heh-ha" sound again.
Now he finally understood—it was the alligator's cry of pain.
In that moment, a thought flashed through his mind: What if he thrust the spear upward with all his might? Would it pierce the alligator's brain? Killing this massive beast would surely eliminate the threat, right? But the thought was fleeting.
If the alligator could be killed so easily, wouldn’t Wu Shaoyi have tried it already? Even if he succeeded, would the alligator drag him down with it in its death throes? After all, he was still inside its mouth.
So He Lingchuan quickly dismissed the idea and instead focused on slowly and carefully pulling the spear out of the alligator's tooth hole.
The process made the alligator howl in pain.
Of course, he kept his wits about him.
He first stepped back onto the rock, then pulled the spear sideways and retreated swiftly.
Finally, he managed to pull it out.
Just as he retreated a few meters, the alligator snapped its jaws shut with a loud "clack," the sound echoing crisply through the cavern.
Seeing it lying motionless on the ground, He Lingchuan reminded it, "Hey, it's time to take us up."
"If it moves, it dies," the alligator god muttered, still lying in place.
"I'm tired too. Let me rest for a bit."
After hours of struggle, it was utterly exhausted.
The alligator species wasn’t known for its endurance.
Since the alligator showed no intention of attacking, He Lingchuan felt slightly reassured.
Taking advantage of the moment, he rushed back to Wu Shaoyi's side, lit two more candles, and began examining his injuries.
Earlier, he had only given Wu Shaoyi a pill to stop the bleeding but hadn’t administered the Shituo Powder.
Pain could make people desperate, and He Lingchuan didn’t know Wu Shaoyi well enough to trust him completely.
Better to let him suffer a bit longer.
Out of the water, Wu Shaoyi coughed frequently, each time bringing up blood.
The more He Lingchuan examined him, the more alarmed he became.
"Your injuries are severe. Your lungs and kidneys are damaged, you have seven fractures, and you've lost a lot of blood."
The holes in Wu Shaoyi's body were over an inch wide, and he was slowly bleeding internally.
"If this continues, you'll either drown in your own blood or die from organ failure."
In four words, Wu Shaoyi's condition was beyond saving.
"I know. I've already used all the medicine I have," Wu Shaoyi said with a bitter smile.
"Can you swim back to shore with me in this state?" Now He Lingchuan understood why the alligator had agreed to the terms so readily.
It had likely realized that Wu Shaoyi, who had injured it, was on the brink of death and didn’t need its revenge.
"I can push through," Wu Shaoyi said, his eyes half-closed.
"I just don’t want to die in darkness."
Whether it was dying in a hidden underwater cavern or being devoured by the alligator, both were indeed fates of utter darkness.
"Take me up, and I have a way to save myself. I’ll also reward you handsomely."
This was the second time he had mentioned it.
After a moment's thought, He Lingchuan fed him another pill—a precious elixir he had used months ago when he was severely injured after falling off a cliff.
It was said to have been specially obtained by He Chunhua from the Great Shaman of Zhaomandu, capable of giving a dying person one last breath of life.
Before leaving Blackwater City, He Chunhua had made sure to stock up on it.
Wu Shaoyi felt the pill had a foul, earthy smell, as if it had been rolled from river mud, but it dissolved instantly in his throat.
Soon, a warm current surged through his abdomen, and his limbs seemed to regain some strength.
Meanwhile, He Lingchuan took a candle and ventured deeper into the cavern.
Earlier, he had noticed something at the bottom of the cave, and while tending to Wu Shaoyi's wounds, he had caught a whiff of a foul stench emanating from within.
Now, as he approached, he was shocked by what he saw.
"This... this?" Under the candlelight, he saw the remains of a massive turtle... a giant! The creature was over four meters long from head to tail, with a tall, thick shell adorned with sharp ridges.
From a human perspective, it looked like a small mountain.
He Lingchuan recognized this creature as a leatherback turtle, but he had never seen one of such colossal size.
Without a doubt, this was a powerful demon beast.
The turtle's head was missing, its front limbs were bitten off, and its entire hind leg was gone.
A large gash had been torn open in its side, spilling its innards.
The blood had pooled on the rocky shore, coagulating into black stains.
Crabs, rats, and other scavengers feasted on its carcass.
Suddenly, He Lingchuan remembered the Water Spirit Shrine in Xianling Village.
This dead turtle was likely the spirit of Xianling Lake.
Yesterday morning, the Water Spirit's tablet had suddenly cracked, probably because the giant turtle had been killed by the alligator, leading to Zhu Shi being slapped by the village chief.
The turtle's shell was covered in deep, jagged scratches and holes of varying depths.
He Lingchuan glanced at it, then back at the alligator resting on the shore, and guessed that these were the marks left by the alligator's conical teeth.
However, he also noticed that despite the alligator's sharp teeth, they hadn’t pierced the turtle's shell.
In the battle between spear and shield, the shield had held out until the end.
Clearly, the alligator had won by seizing the opportunity to bite the turtle's head, delivering a fatal blow.
This revealed two things.
First, the alligator demon was an outsider, having entered Xianling Lake only a couple of days ago and clashed with the local lake spirit, emerging victorious.
This coincided with Lu Yao's arrival in Xianling Village.
Second, the giant turtle hadn’t been an easy opponent, so the alligator demon likely hadn’t fully recovered from the fierce battle yesterday morning when it fought Wu Shaoyi.
It wasn’t at its peak strength.
No wonder it had agreed to a truce so quickly.
Both sides were at their limits.
Of course, He Lingchuan couldn’t help but feel a mix of excitement and confusion.
The Water Spirit lay dead before him, confirmed to have died yesterday morning.
So what did the two terrible divination sticks he had drawn a few hours ago mean? Was it really as He Chunhua had said—that the giant turtle had tampered with the divination sticks to ensure He Lingchuan always drew the worst possible outcome? Or was there some lingering spirit after death? With the Water Spirit gone, who could interpret those two sticks for him?
He Lingchuan took two more steps forward and suddenly noticed a faint golden glow emanating from the edge of the turtle's shell under the candlelight.
He grabbed the shell and tried to lift it a couple of times.
As expected, it didn’t budge.
The alligator demon suddenly spoke, "Go inside."
"Huh?" He Lingchuan turned to see it resting with its eyes closed.
"There’s a pearl in its belly. I couldn’t reach it, and neither could my children. If you can retrieve it, it’s yours," the alligator said indifferently.
"Consider it a thank-you for pulling out the spear."
Alligator claws weren’t dexterous enough for such delicate work.
A treasure in its belly? He Lingchuan looked at the mountain-like carcass and the pool of black blood on the ground.
To get the treasure, he’d have to crawl inside this thing’s belly? It was too bloody, too filthy, too brutal...
But he had no choice.
He Lingchuan bowed to the giant turtle twice, silently apologizing to the Water Spirit for the disrespect he was about to show its remains.
There was already a hole in the turtle's belly, so he took out his broken blade and widened the opening to make it easier to crawl inside.
Although the alligator had already torn it open, the turtle's flesh was still tougher than century-old vines.
If not for the sharpness of his broken blade, He Lingchuan doubted any other tool could have cut through it.
(End of Chapter)