Ten – year – old, my cousin took me fishing by the river.
Shortly after we started fishing, my float sank suddenly.
I thought a big fish had bitten the hook and called my cousin to help me pull the rod together.
But then I saw a vague figure emerging from the river.
My cousin let out a terrified scream: “Run! That’s not a fish! It’s a man – eating water monkey!”
1
Water monkey? What water monkey?
Before I could react, my cousin had already run far away.
Because he suddenly let go, I lost my balance and was dragged into the water.
I can’t swim, and the cold river water filled me with fear.
“Brother… Save me…”
I struggled constantly in the water.
Vaguely, I felt something grab my ankle.
That thing was holding my foot and trying to drag me down.
The cold river water started to pour into my mouth.
Just when I could hardly breathe, a pair of hands pulled me out of the water.
After being pulled out of the water, I started gasping for fresh air.
“Xiaoliang, how could you be so careless? If I hadn’t passed by, you would have drowned!”
The one who saved me was Uncle Zhang, my next – door neighbor.
“Uncle Zhang, is there really a water monkey in this water? When I was in the water just now, I felt something pulling my foot.”
After saying this, I subconsciously looked at my ankle.
It was okay not to look, but when I did, I was almost scared to cry.
There was actually a circle of bluish – black fingerprints on my ankle.
When Uncle Zhang saw the fingerprints, his face immediately darkened.
“Something’s wrong. You’ve been targeted by the water monkey. Hurry home!”
Uncle Zhang pulled me and ran home without looking back.
As soon as we entered the house, my grandma started scolding me.
“You naughty boy, where have you been? Didn’t I tell you not to go out today? Why are you so disobedient!”
Today is my tenth birthday, and my grandma repeatedly told me not to go out.
She said a master had calculated for me that I would have a disaster today. To avoid this disaster, I had to stay at home and not go anywhere.
But I still sneaked out with my cousin to fish while she was cooking.
If Uncle Zhang hadn’t interrupted her, I don’t know how long she would have scolded me.
“Aunt Wang, don’t scold him for now. Your Xiaoliang has been targeted by the water monkey!”
“What nonsense are you talking about in broad daylight? How could Xiaoliang be targeted by the water monkey…”
My grandma didn’t believe it at all until she found that my clothes were wet and then she started to panic.
“Aunt Wang, don’t not believe it. The water monkey has already marked Xiaoliang’s ankle. You’d better think about how to deal with the water monkey. As soon as it gets dark, it will come out!”
My grandma trembled and lifted my trouser leg.
After seeing the bluish – black fingerprints clearly, she was so scared that she sat down on the ground.
Could there really be a water monkey?
I always thought my grandma made it up to scare me so that I wouldn’t go to the river to play.
Since I can remember, my grandma has often told me.
“Don’t go to the river if you have nothing to do. There are man – eating water monkeys in the river. If you are dragged away by the water monkey, you will lose your life.”
I never took my grandma’s words seriously. After all, I often saw people fishing by the river.
If there were really water monkeys in the river, who would dare to go fishing?
But now, seeing how scared she was, the water monkey might really exist.
“Grandma, what exactly is a water monkey? What does it look like?”
“According to the older generation, this water monkey doesn’t have a fixed form. It can transform into various things to deceive people. Sometimes it turns into a big fish floating on the shore. As long as someone goes to catch the fish, they will be pulled into the water and eaten. It is said that a person in the neighboring village was pulled into the water. When everyone found him, he had been gnawed to only his head floating on the water. And it can also imitate voices. As long as it has heard your voice, it can imitate you. Stop talking, stop talking. The more I talk, the scarier it gets.”
When Uncle Zhang said this, the expression on his face was as if he had really seen the water monkey eating people.
“Your grandpa is still working in the field. Hurry up and call him back to think of a way to deal with the water monkey!”
My grandma was so anxious that she was pacing around.
“Forget it. You stay at home and behave. I’ll go call your grandpa!”
Grandma pushed me into the house, locked the door, and left.
I was at home, neither able to sit nor stand still.
The place where my grandpa was working today was a bit far.
It was almost dark when I heard movement outside the door.
2
“Dong, dong, dong.”
It was a knock on the door.
“Xiaoliang, open the door quickly.”
It was my grandma’s voice.
I excitedly ran to the door. Just as I was about to open the door, I suddenly remembered.
My grandma locked the door from the outside when she went out.
If she came back, she would definitely open the door herself.
Besides, I couldn’t open the door for her from inside the house.
I didn’t dare to speak and carefully looked out through the crack of the door.
Strangely enough, it wasn’t dark yet, but why was it pitch – black outside the door?
“Xiaoliang, open the door for grandma quickly!”
It was still pitch – black outside, but my grandma’s voice was still going on.
I asked in some confusion.
“Grandma, you locked the door from the outside. I can’t open the door for you!”
After saying this, it was quiet outside the door for a while.
“It’s grandma who’s confused and forgot about this. Let me look for the key… Strangely, why can’t I find the key? I guess I dropped it on the way. I’ll go back and look for it.”
After my grandma said this, there was no more movement outside.
When I looked out through the crack of the door again, I actually saw two figures approaching us in the distance.
Judging from the figures, they should be my grandpa and my grandma.
It wasn’t until they got closer that I felt a chill down my spine.
My grandma walked to the door without knocking, took out the key from her pocket, and opened the door.
“Grandma, didn’t you just say you lost the key and went to look for it? Why are you back so soon?”
Facing my question, my grandma just felt a bit baffled.
“When did I say I lost the key?”
After getting my grandma’s affirmative answer, the worry in my heart finally sank.
“Grandma, before you came back, someone knocked on the door. She said she was my grandma, and her voice was the same as yours. But I didn’t see what she looked like. Could that person be the water monkey?”
As soon as my grandpa heard me say this, his face immediately darkened.
“Something’s wrong. The water monkey has come to our door!”
After my grandpa and grandma entered the house, I saw a large puddle of water at the door.
“Such a large puddle of water. It seems that this water monkey has great powers.”
My grandpa squatted on the ground and carefully looked at the puddle of water.
No wonder it was pitch – black when I looked out through the crack of the door before.
This water monkey was so cunning. It blocked the crack of the door with its body so that I couldn’t see anything.
Then it pretended to be my grandma and tried to trick me into opening the door.
“The water monkey can only come out at night when it leaves the water. Before, it didn’t force its way into the house directly because it wasn’t completely dark yet. So it could only try to trick you into opening the door. Once it gets dark, it will have no scruples. Then it will be difficult for us to deal with it!”
“Old man, then think of a way! It has targeted Xiaoliang and definitely won’t let it go! Xiaoliang lost his mother since he was a child. Now his father is working outside. If he is caught by the water monkey, how can we explain it to his father!”
My grandma was so anxious that she was stamping her feet.
“First, enter the house and lock all the doors. The water monkey is afraid of fire. No one should sleep tonight. Let’s light a brazier in the house. As long as the fire doesn’t go out, the water monkey probably won’t dare to come.”
After hearing my grandpa’s words, my grandma immediately ran to the firewood shed to carry firewood without saying a word.
“Something’s wrong, old man. There’s not much firewood left in our house. It’s probably not enough to burn for a whole night!”
My grandma came out of the firewood shed with a sad face.
It had rained for many days in a row some time ago, and the newly – picked – up wood hadn’t dried yet and couldn’t be used at all.
3
“Never mind that. You quickly carry the remaining firewood into the house! I’ll go to the next – door neighbor’s to borrow some wood and get through tonight first!”
“Old man, it’s almost dark now. You have to be careful when you go out!”
My grandma lit a torch and handed it to my grandpa.
“It’s just a few steps away. Don’t worry. Nothing will happen.”
My grandpa took the torch and replied to my grandma pretending to be relaxed.
But the light of the torch clearly showed the nervous look on my grandpa’s face.
Watching my grandma hurriedly carry firewood and set up the brazier.
Rather than being scared, I felt more regretful in my heart.
I regretted not listening to my grandma and insisting on going out to fish. Now, I didn’t catch any fish and caused trouble instead.
“Xiaoliang, come here. Grandma will hug you. Don’t be afraid. No matter what you hear or see later, don’t pay attention to it.”
After lighting the fire, grandma hugged me in her arms.
The two of us sat around the brazier and didn’t dare to say anything more.
Time passed by minute by minute.
The wood for burning was also decreasing one by one.
“Why hasn’t grandpa come back yet?”
The nearest neighbor to us was only about a hundred meters away.
Logically, my grandpa should have come back long ago.
As soon as I finished speaking, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door.
“It’s me. Open the door quickly.”
It was my grandpa’s voice.
Did he borrow the wood back?
“Xiaoliang, sit by the brazier and don’t leave. I’ll go open the door for your grandpa.”
My grandma walked to the door quietly.
“Old man, did you borrow the wood? Why did it take so long to come back? Was Old Chen next door not at home?”
My grandma didn’t open the door immediately but asked my grandpa first.
There was no immediate response outside.
After a while, I heard my grandpa stammering: “Old Chen is at home. I borrowed the wood. Come out and help me carry it quickly.”
After hearing my grandpa’s answer, my grandma immediately took a few steps back.
She turned around and made a gesture to me to keep quiet, then walked towards me quietly.
“Shh! Don’t make a sound. The thing outside isn’t your grandpa. The Chen family moved away several years ago!”
That is to say, my grandma was just testing the person outside.
Grandma hugged me in her arms again and silently picked up the kitchen knife on the ground.
The thing outside probably also knew that it had been seen through and there was no more movement.
I shrank in grandma’s arms, trembling all over.
Because I clearly smelled the smell of blood in the air.
A bad thought lingered in my mind.
Grandpa was likely eaten by the water monkey, and then the water monkey pretended to be grandpa.
As soon as I thought of this, my tears couldn’t stop flowing.
It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t insisted on going fishing with my cousin, this wouldn’t have happened.
“Xiaoliang, don’t cry. Grandma will protect you.”
Grandma comforted me in a low voice.
I don’t know if it was because the room was too warm or grandma’s arms were too comfortable.
I actually started to doze off.
Just when I was so sleepy that I could hardly keep my eyes open, there was a tick – tock sound outside the door.
This was the sound of water dripping on the ground.
It wasn’t raining at this time. Where did the sound of water come from?
This sudden sound of dripping water scared away my sleepiness.
It seemed that the water monkey hadn’t left.
The sound of dripping water stayed at the door for a while and then moved to the window.
I was facing the window.
As soon as I looked up, I saw the shadow on the window.
That shadow looked human – shaped.
But –
Its limbs seemed to be twisted.
It appeared on the window of my house in a very strange posture.
Grandma was afraid that I would cry out and directly covered my mouth.
She covered me with one hand and kept adding firewood to the basin with the other.
The shadow on the window just stayed there motionless.
It didn’t seem to be leaving, but it didn’t seem to be coming in either.
Until my grandma whispered to me.
“That thing is very smart. It’s just waiting us out. When we burn all the firewood, it will come in!”
Grandma’s voice was trembling.
I turned my head and looked at the wood on the ground. There was actually only one piece left.
There were still a few hours until dawn.
This little wood wouldn’t last.
Grandma also found that the wood was almost gone.
What was more desperate was that there was not even a place to hide in the room.
The two of us stared at each other.
Watching the last piece of wood burn out.
As soon as the fire was about to go out, there was an immediate loud noise from the window.
“Not good. The window was knocked open by it!”
4
There was a loud bang.
The window of my house was directly broken.
Then a thing covered with a mass of waterweeds stuck half of its body in through the window.
“Xiaoliang, hide behind grandma!”
My grandma pulled me behind her.
That thing like a mass of waterweeds was dripping water all over.
Just as it was about to climb in through the window.
The waterweeds on its body were scraped off by the nails on the window.
Without the waterweeds, its original appearance was completely exposed.
I just took one look and felt nauseous and wanted to vomit.
Its figure was very human – like.
But its skin was like that of a toad, full of pustules.
The flesh on its face was swollen and rotten as if it had been soaked.
Some bluish – black liquid was dripping from the corner of its mouth.
There were no eyeballs in its eye sockets, just a pitch – black void.
It crawled towards us slowly on all fours.
Wherever it passed, the ground was dripped with bluish – black liquid.
“Xiaoliang, later grandma will hold it back. You take the opportunity and run out!”
“Grandma, I can’t leave you. You get out of the way first!”
I don’t know if it was because I spoke too loudly and angered it.
It suddenly sped up and rushed towards us.
Seeing that it was about to pounce on my grandma.
I immediately threw the coat I had taken off in advance into the brazier.
At the same time that the firelight illuminated the room again, the water monkey froze in place and didn’t dare to move.
My grandma was so scared that she froze in place.
“Grandma, quickly bring all the things that can be burned in the house to burn!”
The water monkey was afraid of fire.
Now that there was no wood left, we could only burn other things to buy time.
After hearing my shout, my grandma immediately came to her senses and started taking off her own coat.
Seeing the fire getting bigger and bigger.
The water monkey was also forced to hide by the window.
Clothes burned much faster than wood.
Before long, almost all the clothes in the house were burned.
The water monkey seemed to see our embarrassment.
It actually started approaching us again.
“Xiaoliang, quickly go and burn the quilt, the table, the stools, everything that can be burned!”
The quilt, tables, and stools were all my grandma’s dowry.
On weekdays, my grandma cherished them very much.
Whenever the sun came out, my grandma would take them out to dry, for fear that they would get worms.
“Xiaoliang, what are you still standing there for? Things are not as important as people!”
The water monkey seemed to understand our intention.
It actually jumped up. It wanted to pounce on us while the fire was weak.
Grandma also saw the water monkey’s intention. She pushed me hard and pushed me to the bedside.
I didn’t dare to hesitate anymore. I directly picked up the quilt and threw it into the brazier.
As soon as the quilt touched the fire, it immediately burned.
As the fire grew stronger, the water monkey actually made a turn in the air and forced itself to jump to the other side of the brazier.
But the big fire still burned a little of its skin.
I clearly saw that the place burned by the fire seemed to have melted.
The water monkey covered its injured place and stared at me with bared teeth.
I pulled my grandma and carefully stood in the place where the fire was the strongest.
One of my grandma and me stood by the brazier, watching the water-monkey, while the other secretly moved things to burn. Just like this, we stood at an impasse until the tables and chairs were almost all torn apart and burned by us. Finally, the rooster in the yard crowed. I swear this was the first time I thought the rooster’s crowing was so pleasant.
After hearing the rooster crow, the water – monkey climbed over the window and ran away. But before leaving, it actually showed me a strange smile. Its mouth was almost grinning to the ears, and the liquid in its mouth kept dripping down. That look was as if it was saying to me, “I will eat you sooner or later!” Looking at its departing back, I subconsciously shivered. Anyway, no matter what happened next, this night was finally a narrow escape.
5
My grandma and I were so tired that we directly slumped on the ground. We were almost choked to death in the house, not to mention being eaten by the water – monkey. After it was completely light, grandma dared to take me out to look for grandpa. The nearest neighbor to my home was Uncle Wang. Grandpa would surely go to his house if he wanted to borrow wood. Along the way, grandma and I kept shouting for grandpa. But the only response we got was the wind. I didn’t want to believe that grandpa had been eaten by the water – monkey. Until I found the torch grandpa took when he went out by a small pond. There were also many messy footprints by the pond, which extended to the water and then disappeared. Along the traces on the ground, I looked towards the center of the pond. The small pond was very small, probably formed by the rainwater accumulated some time ago. But the color of the water was not right. The water was a bit reddish.
“Xiaoliang, look at what that is?” Grandma pointed to a black thing floating in the center of the pond. The morning fog was a bit thick, and I couldn’t see clearly. So I had to find a wooden stick to pull that thing over. As the thing got closer to me, my heart beat faster and faster. Until a gust of wind blew, and the black thing turned around with the wind.
“Ah!” After seeing the true appearance of that thing clearly, my grandma let out a scream and then rushed straight towards the pond. That… that was grandpa’s head… I just stood there dumbfounded, holding the wooden stick in my hand. At that moment, my mind went blank. Although I was prepared that grandpa might be eaten by the water – monkey at first, I still couldn’t accept such a cruel scene.
“Old man…” Grandma had already jumped into the water and picked up grandpa’s head. There was only a head and some broken clothes in the pond. I didn’t know how to comfort grandma. I only knew that I should be the one who deserved to die the most. If I hadn’t been disobedient and run out, none of this would have happened. Grandma’s crying soon attracted the surrounding neighbors. Uncle Zhang came first. Uncle Zhang was also very frightened when he saw this scene.
“This… this…, if I had come out to take a look last night, maybe I could have saved Uncle Wang!” Uncle Zhang said that he heard some noises at home last night. He thought it was the wild ducks nearby splashing in the water, so he didn’t care.
“To put it bluntly, the living are more important now. Now that the water – monkey has killed someone, after seeing blood, it will only get worse. While it’s still daylight, you’d better bury Uncle Wang quickly and then find a way to escape!” Uncle Zhang kindly reminded us. But where could we escape to? Grandma wiped away her tears, took my hand, and got up to leave.
“What your Uncle Zhang said is right. The most important thing now is your safety!” Grandma buried grandpa near the ancestral grave. “Old man, don’t blame me. After Xiaoliang safely gets through this disaster, I’ll come to move your position. You must bless Xiaoliang in the heaven!” After dealing with grandpa’s matter, grandma took me to my cousin’s house. My cousin’s house was farther away from the river and relatively safer.
6
When my uncle’s family knew it was us, they didn’t even let us in.
“This disaster was caused by Xiaoliang. Now you want to hide him in our house. Are you trying to drag us to death together?” Although my aunt’s words were harsh, there was some truth to them.
“Eldest daughter – in – law, don’t talk so harshly. If it weren’t for Xiaojun insisting on pulling Xiaoliang to go fishing, would this have happened? Your second brother has been working outside, and your family has spent a lot of the money he earned! Now that Xiaoliang is in trouble, you have to take care of it whether you like it or not!” Grandma was so angry that she pointed at my aunt and scolded her. My grandma had two sons. The new house she built was given to my uncle’s family to live in. Grandma and I had always lived in the old house. Although we lived separately from my uncle’s family, whenever there was something good at home, grandma would take it to my uncle’s. My aunt was so scolded by grandma that she didn’t know how to refute for a while. It was not until my uncle came back that we were let into the house.
“Mom, it’s not a good way to keep Xiaoliang hiding like this. We have to find a way to get rid of the water – monkey!” The few of us sat in the house, looking at each other, and no one could come up with a good idea. After the room was quiet for a while, my aunt spoke.
“Didn’t you say a master had calculated for Xiaoliang? Since he could figure out that Xiaoliang would have that disaster, you can go to that master for help. Even if he can’t help, you can send Xiaoliang away. Maybe the water – monkey won’t be able to find him.” My aunt’s eyes were rolling non – stop. I didn’t know what she was up to. Grandma looked at my aunt with some confusion.
“Who told you that a master had calculated for Xiaoliang? I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this to you. I haven’t told anyone else about this either. How did you know?” My aunt was caught off – guard by grandma’s question. She stammered for a long time, “It was Xiaojun who told me. When he went to find Xiaoliang to fish, Xiaoliang told him.” Grandma then turned her gaze to me. I vaguely remembered that I did seem to mention this to my cousin. At that time, my cousin came to me and asked me to go fishing. I initially refused him clearly and also told him the reason why grandma didn’t let me go out. But my cousin said that the fish were very fat this season. If we caught fish and went home, grandma would surely be very happy. After all, fish were so expensive, and grandma usually couldn’t bear to buy fish to eat. I couldn’t resist the temptation and still went out with my cousin.
“Mom, what my wife said is right. We should send Xiaoliang out first. Maybe that master really has a way?” My uncle also started to echo my aunt. Grandma hesitated for a while and finally gritted her teeth and agreed.
“There’s no other good way now.” The water – monkey didn’t dare to come out during the day. Today was a sunny day. It should be safe to go out now. After a simple packing, my uncle’s family sent us out of the village. After walking out of the village, we realized that the nearest way to find that master was to cross the river. But the nearest bridge to us was on the other side of the village. By the time we got there, it would probably be dark again. Just when everyone was worried and didn’t know what to do, my aunt spoke.
“I remember Erzhu’s family has a bamboo raft. His house is close to here. Let’s go borrow the bamboo raft. You can just row across the river, right?”
“Yeah, we can row the bamboo raft across. Anyway, the river water is not flowing fast.” My uncle echoed my aunt. Grandma frowned, and her tone was a bit heavy, “It’s easy for you to say. What if the water – monkey capsizes the bamboo raft?”
“Mom, don’t worry. Look at how big the sun is today. It’s noon now. Even if it has a hundred guts, it wouldn’t dare to come out! If you don’t leave now, you won’t be able to leave when it gets dark. Although the water – monkey is afraid of fire, we can’t be on tenterhooks every night, burning things to deal with it. Otherwise, we’ll be exhausted to death even if we’re not eaten by it!” Grandma’s worry was reasonable, but what my uncle said also made sense.
“Grandma, why don’t we listen to uncle? At worst, we can take knives with us and tie ropes around our bodies. If we’re in danger, uncle can pull us back.” After hearing my suggestion, grandma hesitated for a while and then nodded. But before getting on the bamboo raft, grandma said to my uncle, “If there’s really something wrong, you must save Xiaoliang first!” My uncle was stunned for a moment when he heard grandma’s request, and then he nodded. My aunt rolled her eyes on the side and said, “Hurry up. If we delay any longer, it will be dark again.”
Although the water flow was not fast, the bamboo raft was not as easy to row as we thought. Grandma and I struggled for a long time but didn’t even reach the middle of the river. The longer we stayed on the river, the more uneasy I felt.
“Grandma, look. It seems to be foggy!” Just when I was burying my head and rowing hard, I suddenly felt something was wrong. When I looked up, I found that there was actually fog on the river surface. It was sunny just now!
“Something’s wrong, Xiaoliang. Hurry up and pull the rope to let your uncle pull us back.” Because of the thick fog, we couldn’t see my uncle and the others anymore. We could only shake the rope to remind them. But strangely, I had shaken the rope several times, but there seemed to be no response on the other side. I didn’t give up and pulled the rope hard again. As a result, I pulled the whole rope over. That is to say, the person on the other side of the rope had let go long ago. Grandma looked at the rope in my hand, and then she immediately started pulling her rope. The result was the same as mine. The whole rope was pulled over.
“I knew your uncle was unreliable!” Grandma was so angry that she threw the rope in her hand into the water. “Xiaoliang, let’s row quickly. Don’t worry about anything else.” When I picked up the oar again and was about to row, I found that I couldn’t row. It was as if something was holding the oar in the water.
“Grandma, I can’t row!” The fog was getting thicker and thicker, so thick that I could hardly see grandma.
“Xiaoliang, stop rowing for now. Quickly pick up the knife!” Grandma held my hand with one hand and held the knife with the other. My legs were shaking so much that I could hardly stand. Grandma and I didn’t dare to blink, and we kept staring around. But the fog was too thick, and we couldn’t see anything. On the water, it was like entering the water – monkey’s home. It would be too easy for it to eat us. Grandma and I were like meat on the chopping board, at its mercy.
7
“Grandma, look at what that is?” A black thing seemed to be floating on the river not far away. And that thing was getting closer and closer to us.
“Something’s wrong. The water is not flowing towards us. That thing shouldn’t be floating towards us. It’s swimming towards us!” After hearing grandma’s answer, I subconsciously tightened my grip on the knife in my hand. The thing got closer and closer. Just when it was about to reach us, it suddenly disappeared. Before we could catch our breath, the bamboo raft under our feet suddenly started shaking.
“Xiaoliang, it’s the water – monkey hitting the bamboo raft. You quickly lie down. Don’t be shaken off!” Grandma reacted quickly and immediately pulled me to lie down on the bamboo raft. I held onto the edge of the bamboo raft tightly with my hands. The water – monkey was still hitting the bamboo raft constantly. But its movements didn’t seem to be very big. If it hit hard, the bamboo raft would have capsized long ago. It didn’t seem to be in a hurry to deal with us. It was deliberately scaring us. It was like a cat catching a mouse but not in a hurry to eat it. It regarded us as toys and would eat us when we were almost half – dead.
“Xiaoliang, later I’ll jump into the river to hold it back. You quickly row the bamboo raft and run!” Grandma whispered in my ear. I didn’t answer her, with tears in my eyes.
“Listen to me. If we delay any longer, neither of us will survive. Grandma can swim. Maybe I can still survive if I jump down. You can’t swim. If you fall into the water, you’ll surely die. Listen to grandma. As soon as I jump down, you run!” Grandma always did what she said. Before I could refuse, she directly jumped into the water. With a splash, grandma disappeared. After grandma jumped down, the bamboo raft stopped shaking.
“Grandma!” I cried out in despair. The last bit of rationality left in me drove me to row the bamboo raft. I don’t know how long I rowed. Just when I felt that I had no strength left, the bamboo raft started moving by itself. I looked back and was surprised to see that it was grandma pushing the bamboo raft in the water.
“Xiaoliang, row quickly!” The moment I saw grandma’s head emerge from the water, I seemed to be full of strength again. With grandma’s help, the bamboo raft quickly rowed back to the shore. As soon as we reached the shore, I was stunned by the scene in front of me. After seeing what happened on the shore, I seemed to suddenly understand why grandma jumped into the water but was unharmed.
It was my cousin who saved us. My cousin was bleeding on the shore! He put his hand in the water, and blood was flowing out from his wrist continuously. The river water had been dyed red in a large area. The water – monkey was churning in the blood – red water.
“You guys run quickly!” My cousin’s voice was very small. It should be because he had lost too much blood. His face looked very pale.
“The water – monkey likes the smell of blood. It’s temporarily confused by the blood in the water. We have to run quickly!” Grandma climbed out of the water and pulled me off the bamboo raft. I wanted to pull my cousin to run together. But he seemed to have no strength left.
“You guys run first. Don’t worry about me. This matter was caused by me. I hurt you guys!” I didn’t have time to listen to what my cousin was saying. I quickly tore off a piece of cloth from my clothes and tied it to his wound. The blood in the water would disperse quickly. We couldn’t afford to waste any more time. Although my cousin was two years older than me, he was very thin, so he wasn’t very heavy. Grandma and I carried him and ran desperately. Anyway, it was daytime, and the water – monkey didn’t dare to come ashore. As long as we escaped to a place far away from the shore, we should be safe.
8
We carried my cousin and ran several miles in one breath. Finally, we were so tired that we couldn’t run anymore and stopped.
“It’s okay. The water – monkey didn’t follow. Let’s go find Doctor Liu to bandage Xiaojun’s hand first!” We had run back to the village. But my cousin’s blood was still flowing out.
“Brother, why did you hurt yourself so badly!” My cousin didn’t have the strength to answer me. Doctor Liu frowned throughout the process of treating my cousin.
“This kid is really ruthless. If he had used a little more force, I’m afraid he would have bled to death!” After bandaging my cousin, when Doctor Liu heard that we got into trouble because of the water – monkey, the frown that had just relaxed tightened again.
“Water – monkey? That thing is very strange. As long as it targets someone, even if they run to the ends of the earth, it’s no use. As long as there is water, it can go there! It bears grudges very much. It won’t let go of anyone who has offended it! To survive, you have to get rid of it directly. Otherwise, you can’t escape.” Fear was evident in Doctor Liu’s eyes.
“If I had known that this child was injured because of the water – monkey, I might not have let you into my house. Now that I’ve saved him, I’ve offended the water – monkey!” Doctor Liu was both angry and helpless.
“According to what you said, we’re all in the same boat now. Not only you, but also my neighbor Uncle Zhang, who saved Xiaoliang, and my eldest son’s family, you’ve all indirectly offended the water – monkey. Since things have happened, instead of hiding and running around, we should find a way to get rid of the water – monkey!” After my grandma said this, Doctor Liu looked at my grandma as if she were a fool.
“Sister, what nonsense are you talking about? That’s a water – monkey! We don’t even know what it is. Besides, it has lived in that river for so many years. Countless people are dragged into the water by it every year. Look, who dares to deal with it? If there was a way to deal with it, it would have been eliminated long ago!” Looking at everyone’s dejected appearance, an idea suddenly flashed through my mind.
“I have a way to get rid of the water – monkey!” As soon as I said this, their eyes all turned to me.
“Since the water – monkey is afraid of fire, we can burn it to death with fire!”
“What nonsense are you talking about, you little brat? That water – monkey is so smart. Do you expect it to jump into the fire pit by itself?” Doctor Liu retorted with some disdain.
“Of course it won’t jump into the fire pit by itself, but we can lure it in! For this method to succeed, everyone has to work together. Later, you all move the firewood and oil that can be burned in your houses to my yard.
“Grandma, later I’ll have to trouble you to persuade uncle to take out the firewood and oil.” Although grandma didn’t ask me exactly what the method was, she still nodded.
“I’ll go find those two unfilial things later. They were supposed to hold the rope by the shore, but they just ran away!
“Doctor Liu, you said that anyone who has anything to do with the water – monkey will be targeted by it. Instead of living in fear, it’s better to try my method. At least there’s a glimmer of hope.” Doctor Liu hesitated for a while and then reluctantly nodded.
“I’ll say this first. I don’t have much firewood at home, and there’s not much oil either. Don’t expect me to contribute a lot!” I didn’t pay attention to him. As long as he agreed to my request, that was enough. I helped my cousin back to his home. When my aunt and uncle first saw my cousin’s appearance, they were terribly frightened.
“You two heartless people, do you want to kill us?” Grandma started scolding my aunt and uncle as soon as she saw them. They were so scolded that they didn’t dare to say a word. I believed that grandma could persuade uncle to hand over the firewood and oil at home. Now I just needed to find Uncle Zhang. It was Uncle Zhang who saved me. If it weren’t for him, I would have long become the water – monkey’s meal. The water – monkey must hate him the most. After understanding my intention, Uncle Zhang agreed to my request without thinking. The firewood and oil collected from the three families were not much, but they should be enough. I directed them to stack the wood into a circle. Then I poured all the oil on the wood. After finishing all this, I put on several thick clothes. When it was almost dark, I soaked myself with water and then squatted in the circle of wood, waiting for the water – monkey to come for me. As long as the water – monkey entered the circle, the people waiting outside would immediately light the fire. I didn’t believe that it couldn’t be burned to death in the raging fire. After learning about my whole plan, grandma immediately started shaking her head.
“No, no, this won’t work! The fire will be so big that you’ll be burned to death! At worst, we can make a dummy and let the dummy wear your clothes. It’ll be the same.”
“It’s okay, grandma. I’ve soaked myself, and the fire won’t reach me so quickly. The water – monkey is very smart. A dummy can’t fool it. If you’re not at ease, tie a rope around me, and then you can pull me out together later.” Although grandma was very reluctant, she couldn’t persuade me and could only reluctantly agree.
9
After everything was ready, I entered the circle of wood and started waiting nervously. The water – monkey’s first target was me, and it would surely come to find me as soon as it arrived. Grandma and the others were holding matches outside, ready to light the fire at any time. The sky was getting darker and darker, and I was shaking more and more severely. I didn’t know if it was because my clothes were wet and I was freezing, or because I was scared.
“Drip… Drip…” There was a sound of dripping water outside. I quietly reached for the firewood – cutting knife at my waist. The dripping sound came intermittently, but the water – monkey was nowhere to be seen. Had it seen through my plan? This wouldn’t do. Every minute it was late to enter, grandma and the others would be in more danger. I didn’t dare to hesitate and directly cut my hand. The water – monkey liked the smell of blood. Since it wanted to eat me so much, it would surely smell my blood at the first moment. Sure enough. Under the illumination of the moonlight, I saw a twisted shadow slowly moving towards me at the corner. One step, two steps… three steps.
“Grandma, light the fire!” It had entered and was standing less than half a meter away from me. Hearing my shout, it directly pounced towards me. I didn’t dodge but pulled out the firewood – cutting knife and slashed at it. The knife cut into it as if it had cut into a puddle of mud. Although no blood came out from its wound, it still felt pain. This knife completely enraged it. It grabbed my clothes and threw me hard onto the ground. I was in so much pain that I could hardly get up. Fortunately, the fire had started to grow. But it hadn’t reached the extent to be able to burn it to death yet.
“You damned thing, come on. I’m not afraid of you!” I lay on the ground, provoking it. It attacked me again. The fire had already ignited all the surrounding wood.
“Grandma, quickly pull the rope!” The timing was ripe. Just as it was about to lift me up from the ground again, the rope around my waist started to exert force. I was dragged and slipped out from between its legs. Seeing me escape, it let out an extremely ugly angry roar. I was about to turn around and mock it, but I seemed to be too happy too soon. It actually pulled out the knife stuck in its body. It was going to kill me with the knife! Could it even use weapons?
“Grandma, pull quickly! It wants to kill me!” The surrounding wood was crackling in the fire. I didn’t know if Grandma and the others could hear me. When I turned around again, several burning pieces of wood happened to fall on the water-monkey. It was burned and immediately stopped chasing me. Before I could catch my breath, I saw it throw the knife in its hand towards me. It was so strong, and the knife flew over so fast. I had no time to dodge. If this knife slashed at me, I would be either dead or seriously injured. I desperately closed my eyes out of instinct. Time seemed to pass by minute by minute. Strangely, I didn’t seem to feel any pain. Had the knife missed? I was a bit curious and slowly opened my eyes.
“Cousin!” It turned out that the knife didn’t miss. It was my cousin who saved me. He blocked it for me. The knife stabbed right into his back.
“Xiaojun!” My aunt and uncle came running towards us, crying and wailing. The place where the water – monkey had been was completely surrounded by the big fire. My aunt held my cousin in her arms. I stood there, stunned, and couldn’t come back to my senses. There was chaos all around. After grandma confirmed that I was okay, she went to take care of my cousin. I stared blankly at the big fire. The water – monkey should have been burned to death, right? When I came back to my senses, Doctor Liu had already bandaged my cousin. Fortunately, Doctor Liu was with us. And fortunately, it didn’t hurt any vital parts. After the fire went out, there was nothing on the ground but ashes. Well, with such a big fire, not to mention one water – monkey, even a group of them should have been burned clean. After my cousin woke up, the first thing he asked about was my safety. After confirming that I was okay, he let out a sigh of relief. I didn’t understand why he risked his life to save me.
“Xiaojun, why are you so stupid? If something happened to you, what would your father and I do?” My aunt was both heart – broken and angry.
“Wasn’t all this what we should do? If you hadn’t forced me to find Xiaoliang to fish, would this have happened?” As soon as my cousin said this, we were all stunned. Grandma asked in disbelief, “Xiaojun, what do you mean by that?”
“At first, I didn’t know why my mother insisted on asking me to find Xiaoliang to fish. I didn’t want to go at first, but my mother told me that it was Xiaoliang’s birthday that day. If we caught fish, it could be used to celebrate his birthday. I thought it made sense, so I went to find him. Later, when we got to the river, I heard a noise in the grass. I thought there was a hare, so I went to look. When I came back, Xiaoliang called me to help him catch the fish. Then I saw a figure in the water. I was so scared that I ran away immediately.” My cousin said while looking at me carefully.
“After I got home, I accidentally overheard my parents’ conversation and found out that all this was planned by them.” My cousin turned his resentful gaze towards my uncle and aunt. According to my cousin, my aunt accidentally heard that my grandma had asked a master to do a divination for me. She knew that I would have a disaster that day. She wanted to use this as an excuse to let me drown in the river. So at the river, they had actually been watching us secretly. After I started fishing, my uncle led my cousin to another place, and then my aunt took the opportunity to push me into the river. They just didn’t expect us to encounter the water – monkey. What was ridiculous was that the reason my aunt wanted to harm me was that she thought grandma was partial to me. She thought that as long as I died, all the things in this family would be hers. After learning the truth, grandma was so angry that she almost couldn’t catch her breath.
“Eldest daughter – in – law, has your conscience been eaten by dogs? The good house in the family has been given to you to live in. Grandma and I have been living in the old house. Your second brother sends back money every month, and I’ve given you a lot. Don’t you have a clear conscience?”
“Who knows if you’ve secretly saved some money for him!” What I never expected was that my aunt didn’t show any sign of repentance at all.
“You! You might as well drive me to my death. Because of you, his grandpa is dead!” Grandma was so angry that she almost slapped my aunt.
“Grandma, don’t get so angry and hurt your body. At worst, we won’t have anything to do with them in the future. Cousin has also saved me twice. Let’s just let this matter go.” Anyway, my uncle was grandma’s biological son. Now that grandpa was gone, no matter how angry she was, she couldn’t change the bond between her and my uncle. That my uncle agreed with my aunt’s approach only showed that he would unconditionally side with my aunt. All I could do was to take good care of grandma as much as possible and let grandma have less contact with my uncle’s family in the future. After cleaning up the mess at home, Uncle Zhang brought some wood from his house.
“I still have some dry wood at home. It should be enough for you to use for a few days.” All the wood at home had been burned before, and the other wood hadn’t dried yet. If Uncle Zhang didn’t send us wood, we wouldn’t even be able to cook.
“I saw some branches that others didn’t want at the village entrance before. You can go and pick some back. It should be enough for two days.”
“Thank you, Uncle Zhang. I’ll go pick them right away.” When I came to the village entrance, most of the branches on the ground had been picked up by others. I originally wanted to pick up a few thick ones and go back. But when I looked up, I vaguely saw something black floating on the river not far away. When I rubbed my eyes to see more clearly, that black thing disappeared again. Maybe I was wrong. It was more important to pick up the wood quickly…
– End –
