These pink, ovular eyeballs were not merely attached to the hand; they protruded from a split in the palm. The hand itself remained rigid and rough, like a sculpture, presenting an exceptionally bizarre sight.
"Fatty..." Wu Tianzhen knew these things had likely crawled onto him when he fell into the water earlier. Enduring the goosebumps that erupted all over his body, he tremblingly tried to turn his back, hoping Fatty would remove them.
However, perhaps his movement disturbed the aggregate of snail eggs, for the mass flickered and seemed poised to climb onto his head!
"Holy crap!!" Wu Tianzhen's heart leaped into his throat. He couldn't wait for Fatty's slow operation. He sprang up, grabbed the human-like hand, and smashed it down into the water with a crack!
"Brilliant!" Fatty exclaimed, clapping his hands in admiration from the side, clicking his tongue. "Impressive, Tianzhen. Is this the power humans unleash when pushed to their limits?"
"Indeed, quite good~" Hei Yanjing chimed in naturally. "But aren't you forgetting, you just smashed it near your own feet?"
"Perhaps that thing is now in the water, inseparable from your shoe, deeply in love and planning to spend eternity together~"
Wu Tianzhen: !!!
His face drained of color instantly. But unwilling to show weakness before Hei Yanjing, he maintained a calm expression, even glaring to project his image as a fearless man.
...Although, with his active self-suggestion, he already felt something crawling by his leg.
This time, no matter how much he wanted to avoid showing fear, his body reacted instinctively. Wu Tianzhen slowly turned to look at Zhang Qiling. For some reason, ever since that troublesome Hei Yanjing appeared, he felt that Xiao Ge was paying him less and less attention. Thinking this, Wu Tianzhen's tone couldn't help but carry a hint of grievance.
"Xiao Ge..."
Zhang Qiling: (Actually, he just wanted to train Xiao Wu more)...
When Zhang Qiling had a moment of intense eye contact with the sculpture earlier, he had already sensed something was amiss. Although the sculpture appeared to be a complete human form, a closer inspection revealed several distinct cracks. The sculpture was clearly pieced together from many parts.
He tried to activate the corpse-speaking communication channel but failed. Clearly, this wasn't a place where the dead, seeing living people after many years, were eager to come out and dance to express their welcome.
...That was likely a gathering of many living creatures.
Xiao Zhang hesitated whether to nip these strange things in the bud. But he was, after all, a peace-loving, friendly youth and didn't intend to annihilate these seemingly well-behaved (and possibly rare) creatures. So, when Wu Tianzhen called him, he let them be.
...But ultimately, he underestimated Xiao Wu's attraction to these things.
"Come here." Zhang Qiling finally gave up, believing that any education must be gradual, and even Xiao Wu couldn't be rushed.
In fact, the moment those things revealed their true nature, Zhang Qiling had seen through them—
These were merely a species of conch. They might look a bit sinister, resembling various body parts, but upon closer observation, one could see that the hands, feet, and heads were merely their shells.
They possessed no aggression and were even timid, needing to gather together to feel safe.
...As for Wu Tianzhen's earlier shout, it was hard to say who was more scared, him or that unfortunate human-hand conch.
The sound of "patter patter" reached his ears. It was Wu Tianzhen, running over excitedly upon hearing his voice.
Even though he was still standing in the unknown black water next to Zhang Qiling, Wu Tianzhen felt his sense of security skyrocket, perhaps due to a psychological effect.
It wasn't just him. Even in Fatty's mind, Xiao Ge was synonymous with miracles and hope. As long as he was there, nothing was insurmountable!
...Although Xiao Ge's expressionless face didn't quite fit with such hot-blooded shonen manga vocabulary.
Glancing at Hei Yanjing, who was once again shaking his head and muttering, Zhang Qiling pulled up his hood and continued walking in the direction of the water's source.
In this dark space, besides the sound of them wading through the water, there were occasional splashes as "sculptures" hit the water. These densely hanging objects, illuminated by the flashlight, appeared like countless ghostly figures roaming and lurking.
Although Wu Tianzhen was brave with his words, Zhang Qiling knew clearly that he was actually quite panicked.
...Because as they walked, Wu Tianzhen kept getting closer to him. While he might still have a shred of reverence and not dare to truly cling to him, Zhang Qiling could already feel the heat emanating from his arm.
Zhang Qiling: ...
"Those are conchs."
A faint voice sounded. Wu Tianzhen didn't react immediately until he followed the beam of Zhang Qiling's flashlight and saw a sculpture.
Under the light, the sculpture stirred, seeming to want to move. But upon hearing the unintentional hum of the Black Gold Ancient Saber, they fell silent and froze as if they were real sculptures.
This scene made Wu Tianzhen's pupils dilate. It took a long time for his cognitive abilities to return. Thinking carefully, he finally understood the characteristics of these things. But the mere thought that he had been scared stiff by a conch made a flash of red, green, blue, and purple emotions cross his mind.
"Conchs?!" Fatty's attention was immediately drawn. He moved past the inwardly shaken Wu Tianzhen and observed the sculpture closely.
Although he still couldn't see any connection between these things and conchs, he completely trusted Zhang Qiling. Thus, he reached out on the spot—
And pulled off the head of a sculpture.
Conch cluster: ...I may not be human, but you are truly a dog.
Under the deterrence of the Black Gold Ancient Saber, the conch cluster dared not move, only silently mourning their former companion in their hearts.
Meanwhile, Fatty, holding the head, finally discovered the location of the conch meat and broke into a happy (in Zhang Qiling's eyes) and ferocious (in the conchs' eyes) smile.
"Xiao Ge, can we eat this thing?" His stomach rumbled in response. "You know, it's been a long day, and I haven't really eaten properly. Fatty is getting hungry!"
Conchs: ?!!!
Zhang Qiling fell silent for a moment. He didn't understand why Fatty was interested in this thing covered in pink eyeballs. But then, remembering how he once carried canned fish eyes to Changbai Mountain, he could suddenly understand.
Having understood, Xiao Zhang carefully sifted through his knowledge base—
"Yes, you can eat them."
"Heh heh, refreshing!" Fatty reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter.
Before long, a strange, fragrant aroma wafted from within the whale's body.