Chapter 556: Chapter 556: The Arrival of the Sea God (Middle)

Jiang Chun emerged from the water, shaking off the shells and algae that clung to him. Despite appearing undressed, he quickly found a pair of loose trousers outside the little cabin into which he changed, before crouching nearby and making frog noises.

Soon, a boy and a girl ran out of the cabin. The older one looked about eight or nine years old while the younger one seemed to be about five or six. Trailing behind them was a tottering old woman.

The little girl excitedly shouted next to Jiang Chun: “Chun! Chun! Chun!”

The little boy, on the other hand, laughed and used oddly-accented Chinese to call out, “Uncle Jiang!”

Jiang Chun grinned and ruffled their hair, before settling cross-legged at the entrance of the cabin. He started preparing the fishes for drying while intermittently conversing with the two kids and the old woman, who were teaching him Burmese as he worked.

Having been diagnosed with a terminal illness and with little time left, Jiang Chun was travelling everywhere with all his money, hoping to see the world before he died and to “die outside” without anyone knowing — after all, he didn’t have any family or friends left.

In Myitkyina, when he caught sight of the “Eight-armed, eight-eyed giant illusion”, he chose to confront the giant despite his great fear, intending to end his sickness and life in this unusual way.

Yet when the illusion faded away, under the overwhelming emotions, he abruptly realized what he truly feared.

What he feared was not simply dying, but dying alone, painfully, with nothing to his name. He feared leaving no trace in the world when he disappeared from it, the world also holding no memory of him. The idea filled his forty-one years of life with regret.

His choice to travel abroad without seeking treatment was in part because it was too late for treatment to work, and the costs of ongoing therapy and expensive medicines were too much for him to afford. On the other hand, it was also a form of escape.

After Myitkyina was affected by the projection of fear, Jiang Chun suddenly came to understand many things and identified what he was most afraid of and what he most desired.

No matter how much life remained, only by living could one have the opportunity. Even if nothing was accomplished by the time of death, at least he would have done his best.

Before returning to China, Jiang Chun planned a final trip to a small island that he had read about in a magazine on a plane. Therefore, he went to the seaside, chartered a small fishing boat, and set off.

Surprisingly, due to various accidents, he never reached that island. With the boatman dazed for quite some time and losing their bearings, they ended up in an area known for smuggling, trafficking, and other illegal activities. Jiang Chun unfortunately witnessed an internal execution within a gang.

The performance of Jiang Chun’s boat was mediocre, and the boatman failed to respond in time. Consequently, they were discovered and captured by the gang members.

Ill-fated Jiang Chun and the boatman were both thrown into the sea.

However, unexpectedly, Jiang Chun, who was deemed certain to die, awakened at the bottom of the sea, his body bound by heavy weights, unable to free himself.

Fortunately, he seemed to have gained the ability to breathe underwater, which kept him from suffocating.

After some time, driven by hunger, he managed to catch and consume the blood of a wandering fish, which caused him to lapse into slumber once more.

When he awoke again after an indeterminable amount of time, his joints restricted by the weights could suddenly twist in the opposite direction, and the strength of some of his muscles had significantly increased, enabling him to break free.

Jiang Chun spent a good deal of time assessing his condition, realizing that his body had undergone a miraculous mutation. However, he could not eat anything at present, and when he was hungry, he only managed to alleviate his hunger by consuming the blood of other animals. After each feeding, he would fall into a deep sleep for a while.

The need to drink blood was a bit hard for him to accept at first because, in his understanding, blood-drinking was something only done by evil beings. However, after spending some time in the sea, he came to accept it because he saw the brutal and bloody hunts that took place among many sea creatures. As he realized, no one thought that this natural interaction between predator and prey deserved to be labeled evil. Humans themselves were involved in various forms of predation, with many meats found at markets and on dining tables coming from animals that had been slaughtered.

As long as he had boundaries, as long as he didn’t touch human blood, as long as he didn’t kill for the sake of killing, the killing and blood-drinking for survival seemed not worth fussing over——don’t ordinary people also have to catch and kill fish to eat?

Once he figured this out, Jiang Chun seemed even more at ease in the sea.

In the water, he began to feel even more comfortable and free than on land. The prolonged illness and discomfort that had plagued him disappeared entirely, as if the old Jiang Chun had died and he had become a “water ghost”.

He had a vague feeling that his resurrection and mutation in the water might have something to do with the “Eight-armed, eight-eyed Giant illusion” that Myitkyina had seen.

Or had he now transformed into a creature from the same dimension as the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant”?

Jiang Chun enjoyed his time in the water, continually sensing and luxuriating in the changes in his body, and experimenting with various things.

But one thing kept troubling him.

The fisherman who took him to sea was similarly “handled” by the “gang” that night. However, unlike him, the fisherman neither resurrected nor underwent any mutation. Instead, he perished at the bottom of the sea.

He couldn’t just let this slide.

He considered many plans, but in the end, he chose a more cautious approach. Instead of directly confronting them, over several nights, he moved the bodies of the fisherman and the others killed by the “gang” to a seaside area frequented by tourists, where they would be discovered.

Later, he wrote down the locations of the stash belonging to the smuggling, human trafficking, and drug trafficking gang—in English—and dropped it off at the local police station one night.

Then, he waited.

To be safe, Jiang Chun wrote another draft in English detailing what he had discovered and the circumstances of the two victims he’d witnessed. He hid this information, deciding to send it to the media if the police did not take action. If it came to it, he even considered dispensing “justice” himself to avenge the dead.

During his time after the mutation, apart from pondering over the changes in his body, he thought mostly about why these things happened. He reflected on the “miracle” that had occurred in Myitkyina, the spectacle of the deity-like “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant” descending to Earth. He found it hard not to connect the two events.

These connections, his reflections on various mental states, and his firsthand experience of the fear at that time, led to the emergence of an idea:

Could his transformation be the result of the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant” bestowing upon him the authority and power to act, granting him a “new life” in order to enable him to punish certain evils?

During this process, Jiang Chun accidentally saved a drowning boy and discovered that this boy was the son of the fisherman.

The fisherman’s wife had run away after his disappearance, leaving behind two children and an old mother with various ailments. The family’s living situation had become dire.

Jiang Chun began to help the family, guiding and assisting them in fishing for valuable items from the sea to sell. He captured fish and other high-quality seafood to improve their meals or to sell at the market.

As they became familiar, he would occasionally come out of the water at night to help with tasks like repairing their house and appliances. At the same time, he would engage them in casual conversations—learning Burmese from them and teaching them some simple Chinese phrases.

The children took a liking to Jiang Chun and developed a strong fondness and curiosity for China because of him. They both said they would definitely visit China one day, even expressing the desire to study there.

Aside from this old woman and two kids, others in the vicinity had also seen Jiang Chun.

A few local fishermen, upon seeing the two children with giant, high-quality seafood caught in the deep sea, accused them of theft. They took away the children’s catch and drove them away.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chun snuck into the homes of these fishermen that night and gave them a simple “warning”. He painted a few basic symbols of the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant”.

During subsequent fishing trips, these fishermen found that someone had tampered with their boats. Their terror confirmed the “warning”, thus deterring them.

Afterwards, whenever the two children were selling seafood at the market, these fishermen didn’t dare bully them again.

While the mass illusion event in Myitkyina had ended some time ago, its impact continued to ferment throughout Burma.

Especially in rural areas, the more undeveloped they were, the more in awe they were of the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant”. Various speculations and associations arose. Among the fishermen who set out to sea, the effect was equally significant.

Knowing this, Jiang Chun used the name of the “Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant” to intimidate them.

From the results, it seemed effective.

Today, as per usual, Jiang Chun was at the children’s house helping out, learning Burmese, and getting to know the situation.

From the old woman, he knew that the police still hadn’t taken action and those involved in the murder were still at large. Jiang Chun knew he couldn’t depend on the Burmese police.

As he was thinking about this, the little boy handed him a painting he had done in the past few days.

It was a portrait of the Eight-armed, Eight-eyed Giant, with two crooked Chinese characters written underneath—Justice.

Those were the two characters he had taught the little boy just a few days earlier.

Jiang Chun smiled, and as he reached out to take the painting, he suddenly heard a peculiar noise.

After his transformation, his senses in the water were significantly enhanced. He could sense the movement in the water around him through the tiny hairs on his skin, and his underwater vision had also improved.

However on land, while not so compromised as to have breathing difficulties or mobility issues, he didn’t have any notable advantages either.

The only exception was his acute sensitivity to sounds of water, such as the sloshing of liquid in a container or the sound of footsteps in water.

Just now, he sensitively noticed that something had stepped in a puddle in the woods not far from the cabin. Judging by the sound and motion, it was a person. The position was perfect for watching the cabin.

Immediately alert, Jiang Chun told the old woman and children to go back inside. He quickly ran towards the beach. Once in the water, he would feel safe.

After a few steps, a spotlight targeted him.

It came from a pick-up truck on a distant road. At first, they seemed to be the police, but soon, Jiang Chun noticed men with various weapons emerging from the dense forest along the road.

Among them was the gang leader who had ordered his men to throw him and the boatman into the sea.

Jiang Chun understood instantly why the police hadn’t taken any action against the gang, even with such detailed leads and the discovery of the bodies of the victims.

This group was all in it together!

Jiang Chun turned to sprint towards the water, but after only a few steps, he saw a speedboat approaching from the sea. Someone on board was pointing a gun in his direction.

These people came prepared.

Jiang Chun realized that his previous actions might have exposed him. After finding out about the report, the gang had connected the dots—the old woman and two children were the family of the victimized boatman.

Jiang Chun regretted not being more careful and underestimating the gang’s connections, ruthlessness, and audacity.

The gang leader with long braids and tattoos on his neck and arms approached the cabin. His men brought out the two children and the old woman. A machete was held to the little boy’s throat as he looked over at Jiang Chun.

“Brother, where are you from? Did you write that English email?”

Jiang didn’t fully understand the Burmese used by the gang leader, but he got the gist of it from a few words.

Despite his nervousness, he turned his face towards the gang leader in the spotlight. Then in Burmese, he loudly responded: “Me, sea! You, hurt people. Eight-eyed, eight-armed Deity, punish!”

The phrase “Eight-eyed, eight-armed Deity” was pronounced the most fluently in the sentence.

The gang leader didn’t seem to clearly understand and asked someone next to him. Breaking into laughter, he looked at the drawn picture clutched by the little boy, snatched it, spitting on it: “What kind of goddamn deity?”

A little man with earrings next to him couldn’t help but whisper: “Brother Hui, this ‘Eight-eyed Deity’ appeared in Myitkyina. It’s very famous, said to control fear and life and death…”

His voice progressively got weaker and by the halfway mark, he didn’t dare continue. The leader “Brother Hui” was glaring at him with a chilling gaze.

“Brother Hui” suddenly tore up the boy’s drawing. “I’ve never believed in gods or ghosts in all my years on the streets. I am the biggest ghost! The biggest god!”

Jiang Chun brushed aside his long hair and yelled, “Take a good look at who I am!”

He had intended to intimidate them by showing them the face of someone they had personally killed. This should make them hesitate to harm the children and old woman, giving him a chance to escape. As long as he was in the water and not captured, they should be cautious. This was his only strategy under such circumstances.

To his surprise, as soon as he finished speaking, all the lights, whether from the spotlights on the road, the lamps in the cabin, or the flashlights held by the gang members, went out and plunged into darkness.

A gentle drumbeat sounded, gradually increasing in volume and pace. Each beat was like a heavy knock on the heart, causing unease.

“Brother Hui” noticed that the drumming seemed to be coming from his cell phone, from everyone’s phone.