The Faith and Salt

Heavy rain suddenly poured down, as if someone had pulled open a massive water gate.

Faint but festive sounds of gongs and drums echoed from somewhere far away. This strange noise left David deeply confused.

He pulled a shotgun out of his travel bag, nervously aiming at anything breaking through dark river waves.

However, those things below were clearly playing with him.

A dark shadow floated up on his left side. David quickly pointed his gun barrel there.

Yet, before his finger could even press that trigger, that shadow sank back down without making a single sound.

Right after that, a loud splash exploded from his right. He spun his body around, only to find empty water and a few broken bubbles.

These hidden creatures were deliberately testing his reaction speed.

They kept making small noises on opposite sides of his wooden boat, trying to exhaust his nerves. The dark fin slowly cut across the water's surface, swimming in a perfect circle just barely outside his firing range.

A sharp red light suddenly pierced the rain, leaving a bright crack straight through the rain.

A loud boom exploded right at the front of their tiny boat. David was almost thrown flat onto the wooden boards by pure physical force.

Xiao Yan now stood on the boat, his entire body giving off thick, hot steam.

Dark water forming a wide circle around them instantly stopped moving, as if covered by an invisible glass dome.

At this exact moment, Xiao Yan was completely naked in a combat stance.

His long black hair draped over his shoulders, plastered against his skin by the rain.

Rain washed his face, while one of his eyes glowed a snakelike red.

Water streamed down from his jawline, fit breast, and belly button,

His skin bore no scars, marks, or moles, lacking any human imperfection.

It's weird.

David quickly snapped his head away, not daring to look.

A hot, anxious feeling quickly filled his mind.

He even felt a strange itch crawling all over his skin.

David had already made a terrible mistake; he absolutely could not make another one now.

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Yet his heart kept scratching at him, making him desperately want to steal just one quick look.

He threw a rapid glance at Xiao Yan. Almost instantly, deep frustration hit him hard. This was not about how that hunter's body looked, but rather a heavy disappointment and shame directed entirely at himself.

Rushing river currents crashed hard against the outside edge of that unseen dome, making a loud hissing sound.

Whatever hid beneath their boat grew highly restless and angry, letting out wave after wave of sharp screams.

This is a cursed place. Hong Xiuquan's random judgment suddenly popped back into his head out of nowhere.

Those terrible monsters were fighting Xiao Yan right now,

Seeing one ugly creature leap at Xiao Yan's blind spot, David finally pulled the trigger. A loud boom shook their small boat.

That shot of metal balls tore a massive hole straight through its wet chest, dropping it dead on the spot.

Xiao Yan threw a quick, shocked glance at that smoking barrel. He clearly did not expect such deadly force from a short iron tube.

However, David had no time to celebrate. A thick, hard tail slammed violently into his side just a second later.

That heavy hit threw him across wet wooden boards. He crashed against a solid boat edge and rolled over.

Pain exploded all over his back and ribs.

David reached out with shaking fingers, touching his own arms and stomach. He truly believed that the strike had already chopped his weak body into several pieces, leaving him only seconds away from a cold end.

Dying right here felt almost fine to him, as long as he did not have to look at any bloody mess.

His entire life flashed before his eyes like a fast-spinning lantern. He felt nothing but heavy disappointment toward himself.

London slums, those escapings and those ambitions. Today, however, it all looked empty and ridiculous.

He was in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing. Moving forward in total blindness, he relied only on a shameless instinct to survive.

Even with the loud ringing in his ears, David could still hear loud monster roars and the horrible sound of sharp blades tearing through raw flesh. He could even feel sudden waves of heat shaking the air around him, sometimes mixed with a wet, sticky feeling on his skin.

A sudden fear hit him for a few brief moments.

What if this flying liquid carried some deadly poison or strong acid?

Then he quickly decided it did not matter. If it really was a burning acid, he could not dodge it anyway. It would mean terrible pain either way, so it was better to stay blind and ignorant.

The most absurd part of this whole mess was that he knew all of this was entirely wrong, but he had absolutely no way out.

I knew coming to China would probably be a bad idea.

But this is not what I had in mind.

He reached into his pocket to make sure those silver coins were not lost during that fight.

Letting out a long breath, he finally wiped his wet eyes. When he looked down again, broken chunks covered the wooden boards everywhere. Those messy pieces were probably monster limbs, completely coated in thick slime.

Their tiny boat suddenly started moving forward again. Water around it resumed its normal flow.

But Xiao Yan was completely gone, as if everything that had just happened was nothing but a wild dream.

Whatever carried their boat from below was definitely dead now. This entire patch of river had turned a thick, dirty green. A few pieces of broken flesh also floated on the surface, proving that David had not just lost his mind under heavy pressure.

Turning a sharp corner, natural water currents pushed their small craft straight onto a muddy outer bank.

With a loud, wooden crunch, this boat finally ran aground, looking exactly like a dying animal taking its last breath.

David felt like he was taking his last breath, too.

Carrying his travel bag, he dragged his heavy legs off the wooden deck and sat down heavily in dirty, shallow water.

I am not welcome in Britain, and I am not welcome in China.

Where should I go? What should I do?

All the heavy pressure from these past few days finally crashed down together, forcing his body to curl up into a tight ball.

He began to sob.