Free Web NovelChapter 19: Chapter 19: Monster in the River Channel
Regardless, the "Set the Monster on Fire" plan was starting to look feasible.
As long as the Nightmare Swamp could be ignited, and assuming his hypothesis was mostly correct, Qin Xiaoxia was confident he could set it ablaze.
As for *how* to ignite it, Qin Xiaoxia already had a rough idea.
Although his much-vaunted "Reaction Technique" was severely limited, the Nightmare Swamp’s own weaknesses were just as obvious. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
"Doudou, do you know any Weaver Techniques? Nothing too complicated, the basics are fine. Like, say, fire?"
Thankfully, Doudou proved to be reasonably reliable this time.
Arson was a key component of any Mischievous Elf’s prank repertoire, so Doudou knew a thing or two about the basics.
Upon learning this, Qin Xiaoxia wasn’t sure if he should be grateful that Doudou had never tried to pull a fire-starting prank in his house.
As it turned out, Qin Xiaoxia’s talent for wielding Magic Power was light-years ahead of Doudou’s.
Doudou said it took him three months of study just to produce a spark, but Qin Xiaoxia was able to stably weave a small flame after only two hours.
Of course, this might have been because Doudou’s Wish Magic Power was so specialized that it weakened his other Abilities.
Now that he could use Magic Power, starting the fire was no longer a concern. Qin Xiaoxia was already lost in thought.
’If the swamp gas from the Nightmare Swamp suddenly mixed with a higher concentration of oxygen and then met an open flame... heh heh.’
But if his guess was wrong—if the Nightmare Swamp didn’t actually emit swamp gas, or if it simply couldn’t be ignited...
Then with their current abilities, he and Doudou stood no chance against it in a direct confrontation. Their only option would be to trust the government.
Since Qin Xiaoxia’s Magic Power had only just awakened, the two of them excitedly spent a long time studying it further.
...
The next day, when Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou returned to the riverbank, their eyelids heavy with sleep, they were completely dumbfounded.
The water level in the dredged section of the Winding Loach River had already dropped significantly. You had to admire the cleaning company’s efficiency; they must have started pumping nonstop last night.
But Qin Xiaoxia had forgotten a fundamental human trait, one especially true for Huaguo People: their love of watching a spectacle.
Even though it was now a stinking sewer of a river, a considerable crowd had still gathered to watch.
Some people had even come equipped with nets and buckets.
’Were they actually planning to fish in a river like this?’
’Even if they did manage to catch something, surely those old guys weren’t actually planning to take it home and eat it, right?’
"What now?"
Doudou looked to Qin Xiaoxia, hoping his "big bro" had a good idea.
But Qin Xiaoxia was out of ideas, too. Dredging a river wasn’t like a building demolition; there was no one to maintain order or keep spectators away.
He mobilized his Magic Power, secretly using his Perception to pinpoint the Nightmare Swamp’s location.
Thankfully, as the water receded, the Nightmare Swamp had moved toward the remaining pools and was now "trapped" in a low-lying area in the center of the dredged section.
However, at the current rate of pumping, it would be exposed before afternoon.
With so many people in potential danger, Qin Xiaoxia couldn’t just turn a blind eye.
...
Inside a phone booth, Qin Xiaoxia gripped the receiver, his voice filled with worry.
"Yes, that’s right! All the old men around here have nets and they’re getting ready to fish! You know that filthy river, it’s heavily polluted..."
"The people who catch fish there sell them at the village entrance! My cousin bought one of those fish a few days ago because it was cheap, and now he’s in the hospital! Officer, you can’t let this happen! It’d be one thing if these people poisoned themselves, but it’s another thing entirely to go out and poison others!"
"Yes, yes, you’re right, they shouldn’t eat it themselves either..."
"Right, right. Please, hurry over and take a look."
With that, Qin Xiaoxia slammed the phone down, ignoring the operator on the other end asking for his personal information.
The Qingzhen Police Station wasn’t far, and a patrol car arrived in under ten minutes.
The officers wrinkled their noses at the stench and looked toward the riverbank. Just as the caller had said, plenty of people—mostly older men—were standing there with nets, peering into the water. Since it was the weekend, there were also a number of children gawking.
"Do these people really plan to eat fish from here? Are there even any fish left in there?"
The officers didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Technically, this wasn’t a matter for the police station; it should have been handled by the Qingzhen Street Office or the river management committee. But in a small town, there was no need to be so strict about jurisdiction for an isolated incident, so they had responded directly.
The four officers quickly approached the riverbank and began trying to persuade the crowd.
"Sir, excuse me, sir! The fish here aren’t safe to eat. Please don’t catch them."
"Folks, the river cleanup is a key government environmental project. Please don’t interfere with the work..."
Some of the old men holding nets left without much fuss.
"This damn river... Been here all morning and haven’t seen a single fish, not even a dead one. Let’s go, let’s go..."
Of course, some still wanted to hang around and see what would happen.
Just then, people from the river management committee finally arrived. Wearing red armbands, they began telling the crowd of onlookers to move away from the river.
People had come to catch fish or watch others catch fish. Seeing as there were no fish and that officials were now involved, no one was willing to stick around just to smell the stench.
The crowd began to disperse.
But just then, the crowd that had started to leave began to gather again on the bank.
"What is that?"
"There’s something huge moving in the river!"
"What is that thing? It’s pitch-black, and it stinks to high heaven."
...
Someone shouted, drawing everyone’s attention.
Everyone, including the police and the committee members, instinctively moved closer to get a better look.
In the back, Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou facepalmed in perfect unison.
Because of the Magic Power drain, Qin Xiaoxia couldn’t keep a constant lock on the Nightmare Swamp. At some point, without him noticing, it had moved into the shallows.
A part of its foul form was visible through the murky but shallow water.
At first, only a small part was visible, and people thought it was a huge fish.
But as more and more of it came into view, the Nightmare Swamp’s terrifying form was gradually revealed.
When it seemed just a few meters across, people wanted to catch this "big fish." Even when it appeared to be ten meters wide, people were shocked but still watched with curiosity. But when the thing’s size approached that of a small field, the situation changed.
Especially as the unknown object’s movements grew more violent.
Sweat beaded on the officers’ foreheads. The one in the lead, Officer Zhao, keyed his radio while signaling to his colleagues.
"Evacuate the crowd! Now!"
In truth, they didn’t need to be told; the crowd was already backing away.
But there were always exceptions.
Some of the older people actually clasped their hands and began praying toward the river, while some of the younger ones, not wanting to miss a beat, pulled out their phones to record.
"Shit, that thing is full of dead cats and dogs... and all those fish..."
The praying elders were the first to be ushered away. The ones filming, however, retreated slowly while keeping their phones pointed at the river, which left them closer to the bank.
Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou already had a bad feeling. Even without using Magic Power, their keen Perception told them the Nightmare Swamp’s aura was turning violent.
For a split second, Qin Xiaoxia had the urge to run to the riverbank and drag the few people filming away, but it was just an impulse. He didn’t act on it.
A few seconds later, he was glad he hadn’t.
In the instant before anyone could react, globs of stringy mud shot out from the river.
They instantly enveloped two of the people filming; the other projectiles were dodged by the crowd.
"AHHHH—!"
The searing, corrosive pain made the two scream in agony.
Seeing this, one of the police officers rushed forward without a second thought and grabbed one of the victims, trying to pull him out of the sludge.
But the slimy threads, which seemed so frail, suddenly went taut, yanking all three of them into the river. The screams stopped the moment they hit the water. freёwebnovel.com
"RUN!"
Qin Xiaoxia roared from the back with all his might.
The few people who had been frozen in shock by the scene snapped out of it as if waking from a nightmare, scattering in every direction away from the riverbank.
"Run!"
"Go, go... Don’t look back..."
PS: Thank you to reader Wuliao sd6909 for the 500-coin tip, and thank you to reader Meng de Feng for the 100-coin tip~
