The Fatty, having weathered many storms, was not easily fazed by a human hand in a pile of fish.
He was startled for a moment, but quickly noticed something unusual about the hand – it existed on its own, yet the severed end was impossibly smooth, devoid of any blood or gore. It looked as if its parents had simply birthed it in the form of a hand.
After a couple of glances, the Fatty casually tossed the hand onto the ground and yelled at Zhang Qiling, who was busy dodging starfish, "Little Brother, what's this? You've added a dish for us?!"
"But this isn't for eating. Why don't you take it now and stick it on Black Glasses’ head? It'll be way more destructive than a starfish, hahaha!"
Zhang Qiling glanced at the hand on the ground, a hint of confusion on his face.
Every fish had been stunned before he fished them out; he could even state the exact number of each species in the pile.
This hand wasn't something he had caught. It was a living thing that had crawled up on its own and hidden amongst the fish.
Just as he was about to pick up the hand for a closer inspection, his hood was pulled down heavily. Black Glasses had finally succeeded in placing a starfish on his head.
Zhang Qiling: ...
Meanwhile, Wu Tianzhen had finished preparing the side dishes in the kitchen. He waited and waited, but the Fatty, who had gone to find a big mackerel, hadn't reappeared. Losing patience, he had to go out and check.
The moment he stepped outside, he saw Zhang Qiling and Black Glasses in a tense standoff.
...Good heavens, they still haven't finished fighting. They're really lively.
As he boldly and playfully made these thoughts in his mind, something on the ground seemed to move out of the corner of his eye.
Wu Tianzhen instinctively looked over and saw the human hand, which had been lying motionless on the ground, face up. The instant he looked, it sprang up from its near-death state and "resurrected" on the spot!
As if propelled by a spring, the hand shot up into the air, spun 180 degrees, and successfully flipped itself over upon landing.
Wu Tianzhen clearly saw the palm of the hand twitch, its muscles contorting, and several fine cracks appearing.
The cracks widened, revealing two eyes and a mouth. The eyeballs had very little black, almost just a tiny dark dot.
The eyeballs on the hand swiveled, fixing on Wu Tianzhen. The corner of its mouth pulled up into an exaggerated smile.
Wu Tianzhen: ...
"Fatty, Fatty..." His body stiffened, and he slowly raised his hand, vigorously patting the Fatty, who was still rummaging through the fish.
"Look, am I hallucinating?"
"Damn it! Tianzhen, what are you doing? Are you trying to kill a pig here?!" The Fatty yelled out from the blows, "What hallucination? Where's the hallucination? Did you see a mermaid inviting you to the underwater kingdom to be king?!"
"Well, not exactly..." Wu Tianzhen was about to say something when he saw Zhang Qiling, drawn by their commotion, bending down to pick up the smiling hand and walk over.
...Wu Tianzhen wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but the hand seemed to smile even more cheerfully upon seeing Zhang Qiling.
Seeing Little Zhang approaching with the grinning hand, Wu Tianzhen slowly reached out and patted the Fatty, who was still shouting "Long live King Wu Tianzhen!"
"Fatty, turn around."
At this, the Fatty vaguely sensed something was wrong. With a hint of caution, he abruptly turned his head, only to see the face on the hand immediately close its mouth the moment it saw him.
Forget smiling, its expression was probably more serious than if it had actually seen Wu Tianzhen become king.
"...Although this face did startle Fatty." The Fatty stared at the serious hand for a long time. Seeing that the hand had even closed its eyes, he became furious!
"But what's its deal? Why does it look at me like that? Does it look down on Fatty?!"
"Little Brother, give it to me!"
The Fatty snatched the hand and shoved it in front of his face—
"Smile! You smile for me!!!"
The hand remained unresponsive, as if it were already dead.
The Fatty shoved the hand in front of Wu Tianzhen again. The hand instantly opened its eyes and mouth, grinning like an idiot.
When it was moved in front of Zhang Qiling, its mouth stretched as if it were about to tear apart.
Then it was moved to Black Glasses, who was watching the spectacle. The eyes on the hand carefully identified the area covered by Black Glasses' sunglasses and also revealed a radiant smile.
Then, with lightning speed, the Fatty quickly brought the hand back to his own eyes—
In an instant, the hand tightly closed its eyes and mouth, remaining unresponsive, as if it were already dead.
The Fatty: ???!
The Fatty felt deeply insulted. Just as he was about to sit down and crush this arrogant hand, Wu Tianzhen seemed to have finally recalled the origin of this thing and exclaimed excitedly:
"I know! This thing is mentioned in the 'Ji Shen Lu'!"
"It's called a Sea Hand. It has eyes and a mouth, but on land, it can only move and not speak. Once thrown into the sea, it lets out loud laughter!"
"It likes to climb onto ships and play pranks. It's not aggressive and is good at judging people's appea—"
"Uh..." Wu Tianzhen's voice gradually faded as he reached this point.
Conversely, the Fatty's anger surged!
"Good at judging people's appearances, is that right?!" The Fatty spun the Sea Hand wildly among them. The Sea Hand's expression flickered between "laughing—not laughing—laughing—not laughing," appearing quite grotesque for a moment.
Zhang Qiling, seeing that the Fatty was on the verge of going mad, hesitantly reached out and patted the Fatty's shoulder.
"You look very good." (Little Zhang's sincere gaze)
Seeing that Zhang Qiling, for the first time, had come to comfort him, the Fatty felt his wounded heart greatly soothed. He instinctively stopped the torment of spinning the Sea Hand.
Just as he was about to express his newfound enlightenment, his detachment from worldly matters, and his indifference to good or bad looks, he suddenly heard a "swish."
...The Sea Hand, having been spun too fast, couldn't help but vomit.
The Fatty: ...
Zhang Qiling: ...
"Hey, Fatty!" Black Glasses leaned in with a mischievous smile, placing a hand on the Fatty's back as if offering comfort.
"Relax, this Sea Hand might have just vomited because it was spun too fast~"
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
"Blind!" Zhang Qiling interrupted Black Glasses' increasingly wild laughter.
Black Glasses glanced at him, shrugged, cleared his throat, and affected a dramatic tone:
"Alas, poor Black Grandpa, such a kind person, only to be suppressed by some cold and ruthless fellows when trying to comfort others~"
The cold and ruthless Zhang Qiling: ...? (Draws his knife)
Although Zhang Qiling had called Black Glasses "Blind" at sea earlier, the situation had been urgent then, and neither of them had paid much attention.
So when Wu Tianzhen first heard it, he thought Little Zhang wanted to eat shrimp. It wasn't until Black Glasses responded that he realized this was a unique nickname between them.
...Both "mute" and "blind."
Wu Tianzhen: ...Why are they called Wu Tianzhen and Fatty?
Fatty's nickname at least omits a "Wang." I'm being called by my full name!
Could it be that on "Little Zhang's Friends Ranking," I truly have no place?!
His pupils trembled. Just as he was about to pull the Fatty to form a strategic alliance to suppress Black Glasses' arrogant demeanor, he saw the Fatty, who had been still, suddenly move.
Holding the Sea Hand, the Fatty walked slowly to the bow of the ship with a solemn expression. With his hands behind his back, he looked as if he had seen through the vanities of the world.
"Beauty is but withered bones; the true heart is genuine..."
"It's good that you can see through it, Fatty. We—" Wu Tianzhen was about to step forward to offer more comfort when he saw the Fatty suddenly lunge. With a perfect pitching posture, he "swished" the Sea Hand and hurled it fiercely into the sea!
"Get the hell out of here, you bastard!!!!!"
Wu Tianzhen: ...
As the Sea Hand fell into the sea, it let out a series of arrogant cackles and scurried away.
The laughter echoed around the ship, making the Fatty's retreating figure seem particularly desolate.