pertwk Chapter 1 The Prince of Goose City
Chapter 1 The Prince of Goose City
May 28th, 1919 (Da Zhang)
Goose City.
There are still three months until Zhang Muzhi, disguised as Ma Bangde, enters the city.
There are three months left until the Huang family of Goose City is destroyed.
Huang Shujian was sitting in the carriage next to Biyou Pool at that moment.
Biyoutan is located in the desolate mountains thirty miles outside Goose City.
The pool is deep and dark, the color of ink jade, and it is permeated with a faint fishy smell all year round.
The old trees all around had gnarled roots and twisted branches, blocking out most of the sunlight. Even at midday in late May, there was a chilling cold that seeped into the bones.
Beside the pool, a paved railway track stretches like a python, disappearing into the distant dust.
On the railway tracks, a Western-style carriage is parked quietly.
The car body is made of the finest Southeast Asian hardwood, and the windows are covered with velvet curtains.
Huang Shujian was wearing a well-fitting gray flannel suit with a meticulously tailored collar.
At this moment, he was frowning as he parted the curtain and looked at the dozens of servants of the Huang family by the Biyou Pool.
They stood bare, their dark, muscular upper bodies bare, chanting deep, unified work songs, sweat dripping down their backs.
The thick hemp rope, as thick as a cup's rim, dug deep into their flesh, slowly hoisting an old sow weighing four or five hundred pounds onto the large, makeshift beam above the Azure Pool.
"Is there really a monster in this pool?" Huang Shujian muttered to himself, a hint of barely perceptible irritation in his voice.
No one told him that the "Goose City" he had transmigrated to was actually a world haunted by evil spirits.
This didn't match the place name in his memory.
"Young master, it's absolutely true!"
The steward, Hu Wan, trotted over. He was wearing a dark blue silk mandarin jacket, sweat beaded on his forehead, and his face was plastered with obsequiousness.
He gestured vigorously with both hands, trying to make his words more persuasive.
"In the past two months, the number of merchants and woodcutters swallowed by this thing in the pool is at least this many!"
He stretched out his hands, fingers spread wide: "Ten people! They're nowhere to be found, dead or alive!"
"Now everyone would rather take a detour of dozens of miles through the mountains than take the shortcut to Biyoutan."
"Well, Master Huang is kind-hearted and compassionate towards the people, so he specially ordered me and Instructor Wu to come and wipe out this menacing water monster!"
He leaned closer to the car window, lowered his voice, and wore a mysterious expression:
"That Liu Erdan from the south of the city got drunk last night and made a bet with someone. He mustered his courage and went to the edge of the pond. He saw with his own eyes the water churning like a boiling pot, and the water monster turned over, revealing a gaping maw—my goodness, it could easily swallow a calf whole!"
On the other side, Wu Zhichong, the instructor of the Huang family militia, was shirtless, revealing his bronze-colored muscles and a tuft of black hair on his chest.
His hair was disheveled, and his eyes were fierce, making him look exactly like Wu Song, the tiger-slaying hero from the opera.
He was directing his servants to adjust the ropes, ready to cut them at a moment's notice and drop the old sow into the pool as bait.
Beside them, twenty or thirty armed servants were already in position, bullets loaded, their muzzles all pointed at the deep pool, waiting for the water monster to surface before unleashing a barrage of shots.
"Wait!" Huang Shujian raised his hand, his voice not loud, but it made the busy crowd pause. "Get the gun."
Hu Wan reacted quickly, snatching the Type 38 short-barreled carbine from a servant beside him and eagerly holding it to the carriage window with both hands.
"Young Master also wants to personally kill this water monster and rid the people of this scourge?" Hu Wan's face lit up with a smile.
Huang Shujian didn't reply. He leaned forward and took the slightly heavy lance.
He felt the cold metal of the gun and took a deep breath. With slightly clumsy but unusually steady movements, he cocked the gun and pressed the butt firmly against his shoulder.
The crosshairs were aimed at the three thick hemp ropes suspending the old sow.
"Bang!"
Flames shot from the gun barrels, and smoke billowed up.
Pull the pin quickly, and the cartridge case pops out.
"Bang!"
Pull again, strike again!
"Bang!"
Three gunshots rang out, sharp and clear, echoing through the valley.
The distinctive, pungent yet subtly exciting smell of gunpowder smoke assaulted my nostrils.
Huang Shujian, still holding the warm lance, sat back down on the carriage cushions, his gaze calmly fixed on the three hemp ropes.
Not moving.
"Excellent...excellent gun! Young master's gunshot was truly loud, echoing throughout the land and terrifying even the thieves!"
Hu Wan paused for a moment, then immediately clapped his hands, breaking the brief silence.
"Let the bullets fly for a while," Huang Shujian said calmly.
He had barely finished speaking.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The three thick hemp ropes seemed to be cut by an invisible blade at the same time, making a teeth-grinding cracking sound!
The bent log suddenly bounced back, whistling like the wind breaking through the air.
The old sow, freed from its restraints, crashed into the dark green pool with a mournful howl, sending up a murky spray several meters high.
"Excellent marksmanship! Young master, you're truly a god..."
Hu Wan tried to continue flattering him, but Huang Shujian reached out and pressed his hand against his face, shoving him away without any politeness.
"Get out of my way, don't keep me from seeing the lake monster!"
Huang Shujian stood up, gripped the car window, and stared sharply at the gradually calming surface of the pool.
Only the old sow with its thick skin and tough flesh was still bobbing up and down on the water.
Where is the lake monster?
The group exchanged bewildered glances, a sense of awkwardness and unease hanging in the air.
Indeed, no one here has ever actually seen the full appearance of the lake monster; all the fear comes from rumors and missing persons.
"Get your sights on, you all!"
Wu Zhichong's voice boomed, breaking the silence. He looked around at the armed servants with a fierce gaze.
"If anyone accidentally fires, or hesitates later, my bullet will pierce their forehead first!"
A slight commotion arose within the group, and the gun barrels were gripped even tighter.
"They're here!" Huang Shujian, with his sharp eyes, called out in a low voice.
Beneath the pool, a huge, inky shadow rapidly rose, moving at an astonishing speed!
"Splash—!"
The surface of the pool exploded as if a bomb had been dropped on it!
A gaping maw suddenly opened, filled with fine fangs, its diameter large enough to easily swallow an entire fat pig.
A foul stench wafted over, and the giant maw snapped shut, swallowing the old sow whole, leaving not a single hair behind.
"Beat them! Beat them to death!" Wu Zhichong roared, firing his Type 38 short-barreled lance first.
"Bang bang bang bang bang...!"
Suddenly, gunshots rang out by the Biyou Pool, like the most intense string of firecrackers exploding during the New Year.
The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, which completely overpowered the fishy odor of the pool water.
Bullets rained down on the water like a storm, making splashing noises and causing waves to surge.
"Young master, be careful, don't let the gunshots startle you..." Hu Wan tried to ingratiate himself by reaching out to cover Huang Shujian's ears.
"I told you! Don't interrupt my show!" Huang Shujian pushed him away again, his eyes fixed on the churning surface of the pool.
The gunfire gradually subsided.
The servants began frantically reloading the cartridges.
The water in the pool gradually returned to calm, and ripples spread out in circles.
On the water's surface, the old sow vanished, and so did the enormous figure of the water monster.
The deep blue pool once again resembled a piece of dark green jade, as if the breathtaking scene from just moments ago had never happened.
Wu Zhichong frowned, and Hu Wan's smile froze.
Could it be... that it missed?
Is the water monster still invulnerable to swords and spears?
But the next moment, wisps of dark red, like ink dripping into clear water, slowly seeped up from the bottom of the water.
Immediately afterwards, large gushes of scarlet blood surged out, quickly staining a large area of the pool red, a shocking sight.
"Splash..."
With a soft splash, a massive creature writhed helplessly and floated to the surface.
This was a giant catfish, almost as long as a truck, with smooth skin covered in strange patterns, and a huge mouth that remained terrifyingly open even after death, revealing sharp white teeth.
What is most unsettling is its swollen belly, which vaguely outlines a distorted human shape.
At this moment, the monster's massive body was covered with countless blood-sucking bullet holes, like a broken sieve.
"Haha! The monster is dead! Young master, we've killed the monster!"
Upon seeing this, Hu Wan was overjoyed and jumped up and down with excitement.
"Damn it! Don't you dare block my way!" Huang Shujian couldn't take it anymore. He kicked Hu Wan over, crawled out of the carriage, and looked around.
Watching the servants throw out the hooks with iron chains, hook the heavy corpse of the water monster, and shout in unison as they struggled to drag it ashore, Huang Shujian's tense nerves finally relaxed a little.
The water monster had a ferocious appearance and a huge body, estimated to weigh over a thousand pounds. The bulging, human-shaped outline on its abdomen added to its eerie appearance.
Wu Zhichong picked up a thick-backed, ghost-headed broadsword, ready to step forward and cut open the abdomen to see what was inside.
"Stop," Huang Shujian said, stopping them.
Wu Zhichong paused, then turned around to look.
"Use logs as wheels to drag this water monster back to the city as a whole," Huang Shujian ordered, leaving no room for argument.
Hu Wan immediately rushed forward, ignoring the footprints on his chest, and said with a fawning smile, "Young Master, what a brilliant plan!"
"Drag this scourge back into the city and parade it through the streets, so that those ungrateful scoundrels can see clearly who is protecting them in Goose City!"
"Such swift and decisive measures! Let's see who dares to gossip behind our backs now!"
Huang Shujian ignored Hu Wan's flattery and turned to get back into the carriage.
He leaned back in the soft chair and closed his eyes slightly.
The Huang family's procession, dragging the enormous carcass of the water monster, embarked on their journey home in a grand procession.
The servants were overjoyed, as if they had won a battle.
No one noticed that behind them, in the depths of the pale red-tinged emerald pool, an even larger and deeper black shadow silently swept past.
A huge tail, as thick as a bucket and covered with bluish-black scales, swirled gently beneath the murky water before disappearing into the endless darkness.