Interrupted in his reminiscence, Xiao Guang felt a surge of anger. Witnessing the ongoing battle only fueled his frustration. In Xiao Guang's mind, crabs were adversaries who had engaged in a year-long feud with Old Su and the others, even more detestable than crocodiles. Spare him the talk of natural selection, animal protection, and the balance of nature. Anyone chased and hunted for a year would undoubtedly harbor thoughts of eradicating that species once they regained their strength.
As Xiao Guang's thoughts churned, his ire intensified. Instinctively, his hands fumbled around the ground, searching for something convenient like a plank or a brick. Somehow, he stumbled upon an elongated object, sleek but with a certain hardness. He thought it might be a water-soaked stick. Without much hesitation, he raised it, as though wielding a spear, and yelled as he charged towards the crab.
Xiao Guang, blinded, rushed toward the cursed crab, holding the makeshift spear. He hadn't overthought it; at worst, he would die. Otherwise, he would remain trapped on this damp reef, a slow demise his only fate.
The two battling creatures were visibly taken aback. The crab blinked its eyes rather humanly at Xiao Guang, then, as it realized the human was charging at it, it attempted to shake off the shell that clung to it by wriggling its body with all its might. Instead of releasing the grip, the shell clamped even tighter, as if anticipating assistance. It even extended a plate-like structure at its base, anchoring itself firmly to the reef.
Blind Xiao Guang charged towards the accursed crab, wielding an unusually lengthy and lightweight spear, using it with unexpected fluidity.
The crab, unable to shake off the shell that was now affixed to the ground, stared in terror at the blind human. The human held an elongated, venomous sea serpent that looked like a deadly kiss of death. The sea serpent's body extended straight, its tongue flicking menacingly as it lunged toward the crab's mouth. Without aiming, the blind human's sea serpent automatically targeted the crab's mouth and bit down.
The crab, now facing death, panicked and attempted to counterattack, but it couldn't grasp the slippery, slender body of the sea serpent. In less than a minute, the crab shuddered a few times and then fell motionless. Blind Xiao Guang stood there, pondering why the stick had slipped from his hand, unaware that the victorious sea serpent had slid back into the water, paying him, the blind human, no mind and ignoring the grudge of being used as a makeshift weapon.
In that spot remained only a blind Xiao Guang, still seeking death but not yet dead, and a shell with an expression one couldn't see. These two beings, both likely considered blind in their own ways, stared awkwardly at each other, mutually pondering the other's intentions. The atmosphere in the cave grew uncomfortable.
Ten days later, Xiao Guang once again found himself beside the shell through his groping. He had grown accustomed to greeting the shell each day; it had become his method of passing time. Whether it was a neurological glitch or not, he felt he could communicate with the shell, and incredibly, he sensed the shell was communicating back.
Blind Xiao Guang, not much to do after having eaten his fill, placed his hand on the shell's surface, tracing its patterns while lost in thought. He wasn't contemplating the universe, the ocean, or the grandeur of life; he was simply venting. For days, he had been venting about the environment here.
If blindness was his fate, and it seemed death was imminent, what harm was there in letting loose for a while?
Xiao Guang complained about the poor food here, attributing it to the abundance of seafood, though he couldn't understand why it was all served raw without any seasoning. He had settled into eating only once a day, resorting to seafood when the pangs of hunger became unbearable.
Xiao Guang also griped about the excessive humidity, how even sleep was accompanied by dreams of water, an oppressive, muggy dampness that pervaded everything.
Xiao Guang's most frustrating plight was his blindness, a near-total loss of vision, leaving him only able to perceive vague outlines. This saddened him deeply, for he could not see his surroundings and could only sense and guess.
Twenty days later, Xiao Guang began suspecting his mental state. He felt that he could somehow sense the shell communicating with him. The shell would occasionally dip into the water, sometimes make its way onto land, and its speed seemed even faster than he had imagined. What kind of shell was this? Wasn't a shell supposed to move slowly by slithering? To move quickly, didn't it need to absorb and expel water? Xiao Guang stroked the shell, puzzlingly asking questions in his mind. To his astonishment, he heard—or rather, felt—a response. The shell was evidently saying,
"You're quite uninformed. I'm a special breed, capable of both walking on land and squirting water."
This unexpected mental transmission startled Xiao Guang, leaving him convinced he must be suffering from delusions. He was in trouble.
A month later, Xiao Guang confirmed his mental stability. It wasn't easy, especially to prove that he wasn't insane. In his effort to distance himself from the shell, he found that the shell would always manage to move close to him, much like a loyal dog sticking by his side, unshakable.
Perhaps he wasn't afflicted by illness, maybe it was hunger. After all, he couldn't bear to eat any more seafood.
Eventually, Xiao Guang abandoned the idea of mental therapy. He joyfully communicated with the shell and took a bold step.
"If I go in, you won't close up, will you?" Xiao Guang looked at the shell, considering its invitation in his mind. He hesitated.
"I'll tell you, I'm ill. If you close up, I'll poke at your flesh from inside."
"Are you sure you want to take me deep into the sea to play?"
"Fine, I must be crazy to consider going in."
"I've been crazy since I started talking to you."
"Wait, let me ask how you move." Just as the shell was about to close, Xiao Guang suddenly remembered and tugged at the shell. The shell halted, not closing.
"Did you open and then close, repeatedly expelling water, that sort of thing? I can't have that inside, I'll drown, you idiot." An impatient shell suddenly pulled Xiao Guang in, causing him to crash face-first onto the soft and enormous shell.
Feeling the shell's movement, Xiao Guang crawled to his feet inside. He cursed inwardly, unsure who the real idiot was. He was in deep trouble now, and he'd better not let anyone know. Dying so pathetically was embarrassing enough; letting on that he went insane and died feeding a shell would be even worse.
He knew how a suction-cup shell moved—by wriggling or propelling itself like a running false tooth, expelling water with each stride. If that was the way to move, he would either drown inside or be accidentally squirted out and crushed to death. Xiao Guang's face was a picture of frustration, feeling this manner of death wasn't worth it. His mind had truly deteriorated.
The shell suddenly went underwater. Inside, Xiao Guang, regretting his choice, was hit with a wave of relief. As he sat there, he sensed the shell's tranquility in the water—a serenity that felt like returning to his hometown, an emotion passed on to him through the shell.
Xiao Guang couldn't help but close his eyes. Within the shell, darkness enveloped him as well. He felt the ambiance of this new home and entered a state of meditation.
So, this was it. Xiao Guang sat within the shell, his eyes closed, a contented smile playing on his lips. This peculiar shell's suction cups retracted and expelled, like engines propelling it backward, spewing water. With its unique mechanism, the shell floated gracefully in the water. The shell felt the currents around it and, in harmony with their flow, carried Xiao Guang on an aquatic journey.
Eyes shut, Xiao Guang gently placed his hand on the shell's smooth surface. He sensed a connection akin to the shell's, as if the currents flowed through his own body.
He could feel the fish swimming by, the fine sand on the seabed, the swaying seaweed, and even the sunlight above. He tried to communicate with the shell, asking it to rise slightly. As they approached the water's surface, Xiao Guang could feel the sunlight breaking through. From below, he caught sight of that dazzling ray of light—a sight long missed yet familiar.
Under the sunlight, the shell shimmered with iridescent colors, carrying Xiao Guang through the seawater with exuberance. At this moment, he didn't ponder why such a shell existed; he had affectionately named it in his heart, "Shell Woof," since the shell initially clung to him like a loyal dog, the blind human.
The shell seemed to sense Xiao Guang's joyous emotions and appeared somewhat displeased, even protesting. But Xiao Guang paid no heed. He delightedly repeated the name "Shell Woof" in his mind several times until a surge of water rushed in, filling the space around him. Then, with a whoosh, he was expelled, landing with a thud on the floor of the cave. With that, his first underwater adventure came to an end.