Swallowing the Seas (吞海)

Chapter 2

Translate: moon | Edit: Ice, juurensha, Amelea

Jinhai City.

Torrential rain scoured the river bank as the current sped ahead, rushing towards the deepening twilight with "hua hua" sounds.

*　　

"I told you not to work so hard. They wouldn't give you any extra money even if you worked until midnight! Those people are very black-hearted!" The umbrella the boy held quivered; half his body had already been drenched by rainwater that continued to sluice along his dark, thin calves and into a pair of worn sneakers. Each step he took tracked through the muddy soup below. "I'm leaving as soon as I get you to the first floor, otherwise I'll be seen by your dad again!"

The girl beneath the umbrella was wearing a distinctly oversized dark blue worker's outfit. Her voice trembled slightly as she clutched her arms tightly: "The foreman gave me an extra 40 RMB..."

The boy let out an emphatic "hai" sound.

He wanted to say something, but swallowed it back. After a while, he continued to urge her again: "Then you should hide the money well ah. Don't let your dad find out, or he'll gamble it away again."

"I... I know," the girl seemed to reply automatically, before reaching out to pull her backpack up with a hard tug on the straps: "When I earn enough money, I'll take my mother away from here and bring her back to our hometown. Even if we have to grow crops, it'd be better than this. I heard someone say..."

Hua la la!

An indistinct noise reverberated through the air, causing the boy to come to an abrupt halt and look back.

"Did you hear something?"

The girl faltered. After regaining her balance, she shook her head in confusion. The boy's words evoked a tendril of nervousness: "What?"

*

It was already late, and the last bus that passed by the industrial park and headed towards the suburbs had already departed. Within the dark wilderness, the road lights had yet to turn on, and the deluge obscured their vision; only the thigh-high weeds swaying back and forth under the downpour was discernible in the distance, appearing as if a group of little people were weaving unsteadily through them as they slowly approached.

Sha sha, sha sha.

"......" The boy suspected that he had misheard, but didn't dare retreat a single step. After a long time, he tentatively called out: "Hello! Is anybody there?!"

Not a single response sounded amidst the torrential rain.

"Wind... It must have been the wind..." The girl was overcome with a profound unease, and she once again tightened the straps of her backpack: "Let's, let's go..."

*

A small patch of goosebumps instantly erupted across the boy's back the moment a freezing gust of salty, fishy wind blew from across the river's surface. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty: "Let's go."

He hastily turned around as he pulled the girl along, but they had taken no more than two steps before hearing——

Sha sha.

Sha sha.

It was as if some kind of huge crawling creature was swimming swiftly across the undergrowth towards them. Even without exchanging any words, the two of them simultaneously froze. A few seconds later, the boy tilted his head towards the girl with a rigid expression. The look in his eyes conveyed, 'You heard it too?'.