Lu Dakun didn't say what he wanted, but I already guessed it.
Now that I have the Wisdom Root and Spirit Sprout, my understanding is naturally much higher than before.
However, even though I already know what he wants to say, I can't jump to conclusions and reveal this matter until he says it. I have to sit steadily and wait for him to come to me. This way, my importance and profoundness will be revealed.
"Uncle, if you have something to say, just say it," I took a sip of wine and looked at Lu Dakun.
While speaking, I couldn't help but ask YunQingYue in my heart: "There are only a few living people on the river surface. Unless there's an accident, your brother should be one of them. Quickly take a look and tell me which one is your brother. Don't tell me it's the one who was thrown into the river just now."
"Your brother was just thrown into the river," YunQingYue's disdainful voice came over. After a moment of silence she said: "None of them are him."
"That's strange then. Is your brother really a fish? Can you still sense where he is? Do you know where he is?" I asked YunQingYue with some doubt.
"I don't know yet; temporarily unable to determine his location. You talk with them first; let me be alone for a while." YunQingYue lost interest in talking so I stopped asking her questions and turned my gaze towards Lu Dakun.
"Young man... no... young master," Lu Dakun changed how he addressed me before speaking again: "As you saw earlier there's a monster in this river -a water demon that eats people-. We ordinary people find it difficult to deal with such things but young master has extraordinary skills; exceptional abilities! So, I believe that if you are willing to help us, we can definitely kill that water demon."
"Hmm, it's my duty to eliminate demons and defend the way. It's what I'm supposed to do. Uncle's request is something I can agree with; however, there is one thing unclear," I said to Lu Dakun.
"Young master please speak," Lu Dakun raised his glass and clinked it against mine.
"What exactly is this water demon? Has it always been here?" I asked Lu Dakun while looking at him.
Upon hearing my question, Lu Dakun sighed before telling me the story of the water demon. As it turns out, these people including Lu Dakun come from a village downstream of the river.
This river is called Siyun River, the mountain is called Siyun Mountain, and their village is called Lujiagou.
Lujiagou is located deep in the mountains, isolated from the world. For many years, almost no one has set foot there. Even during times of war, this small village was able to remain safe due to its remote location. After liberation, officials were sent to manage the village but its customs and traditions remained largely unchanged.
There are about two hundred households in the village with most of them surnamed Lu. Some families are relatively wealthy and similar to ancient landlords.
The Lu family's wealthier than most; they have a large estate and numerous siblings making them one of the wealthiest families in town even after some of their property was confiscated following liberation. They had many servants and tenants before then but now they farm for themselves.
However, because of their strong foundation as a family they remain among the richest people locally until today. Their house is very large with an old-fashioned courtyard that gives off an ancient atmosphere upon entering.
According to Lu Dakun (the head of household), his ancestors lived here peacefully like living in paradise on earth while farming fertile land irrigated by Siyun River which made for comfortable living conditions.
But what they didn't expect was that about two years ago a man-eating water monster suddenly appeared in Siyun River.
This water monster was extremely ferocious; anyone who approached it near shore would be bitten or scratched at best or dragged into water alive at worst resulting in twelve deaths over two years according to statistics kept by villagers with countless others injured too badly for counting purposes alone.
Since this water monster appeared everyone nearby became terrified so much so that nobody dared approach it anymore not even when digging ditches during dry weather seasons fearing being dragged into water by it if seen nearby again."
I furrowed my brow asking: "Hasn't anyone thought of dealing with such a ferocious water monster? Doesn't the government care?
We tried to control it, but we couldn't," Lu Dakun said with a gloomy expression after taking a sip of his drink. He was somewhat angry as he continued, "At the beginning, the government hired people who were skilled in hunting and fishing to deal with it. They set up traps and checkpoints along the riverbank and placed bait everywhere. We thought they could kill that monster, so everyone in our village welcomed them with good food and drinks. However, at the end of their efforts, not only did they fail to catch the monster but two people also lost their lives trying. As a result, all remaining hunters were scared away by this creature."
I asked him dejectedly if there was no other solution.
"What else can we do?" he replied angrily. "The government later suggested that this monster might be some kind of rare extinct animal species; therefore instead of killing it outrightly they recommended bringing experts to observe and study it slowly over time."
He went on saying that recently two biologists had come from above (the city) who are still living in their village now without any use while this monster continues harming people around.
Sometimes even biting villagers at night inside their homes."
Hearing this made me think about how insensitive these actions were towards Lu's family members' life or death situation.
If they wanted to research this creature then first priority should have been given for protecting villagers because human lives are always more important than wild animals.
Lu Dakun's group seemed forced into fighting against water monsters under such circumstances where others cannot be relied upon except themselves.
Unfortunately until now they haven't succeeded yet despite losing some men during battles against it many times before.
"When we formed our team half year ago there were ten of us," Lu Dakun sighed bitterly looking at me "now only six remain alive till today after countless encounters with that water demon which killed each one's loved ones too."
He continued, "To be honest, everyone on our boat has an irreconcilable hatred towards that monster. We will fight it to the end even if only one of us is left alive. We will kill it and tear its body into pieces!"
"Yes, what big brother said is right! We never thought about going back!"
"That's right! We are not afraid of death; we never thought about going back!"
Lu Dakun's words made all remaining men bloodshot-eyed with excitement as they raised their arms in unison.
These were true warriors who had a spirit of self-sacrifice!
At this moment, I decided to help them.