This Damned Thirst for Survival

It is getting late.

The male’s call grows louder and louder, his tail slapping the floor with a heavy thud.

Blood eels are beasts too, and looking at them the same way as beasts, one can see that the males are courting the females. Among the males, one is extremely large, standing closest to the female and roaring at the approaching male.

The male fish cowered at the roar and foolishly kept wandering.

“This fish is the chief, isn’t it?” Zhuo Zhongqiu lowered his voice.

Ye Xun said, “I think so.”

Once the male leader has been located, Jiang Luo sends out the snake. The golden anaconda moves discreetly through the gaps in the school, slowly approaching the female blood eel.

Behind the container, eight pairs of eyes stare intently at the Silky Snake.

The male fish did not spot the golden python. The snake managed to get close to the female, and the crowd held their breath as they cheered the snake on.

In anticipation, the serpent crawls silently over the female and wraps itself around her.

Several people breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, but only when that sigh was released was there a loud bang behind them.

Jiang Luo looks back and sees Cheng Li, holding Li Sha, looking towards them in a panic.

By their feet, the fire extinguisher was knocked over and rolled to the ground.

At that moment, Ge Zhu tugged stiffly at Jiang Luo’s shirt, “Jiang Luo, it’s bad.”

Jiang Luo looked back up to the deck, where all the blood eels on the deck turned back at the same time, their grotesque fish heads with their bulbous, blood-red eyes staring at them silently.

Jiang Luo made an immediate decision, “There’s been a change of plan, let’s move ahead!”

With that, he turned and ran towards Cheng Li and without saying a word, he took Li Sha in Cheng Li’s arms.

At the same time, the snake wrapped itself around the female and lifted her into the air. A panicked cry escaped the female’s lips and the males on deck instantly went into a rage, one colliding with the other and roaring after her.

The humans and the blood eels were instantly engaged in a chase. Jiang Luo hugged Li Sha as he ran and asked, ” Li Sha, why are you and Uncle Cheng Li making noise?”

” Uncle Cheng Li kept turning his head to look at the deck,” Li Sha’s voice was tinged with sobs at the shock, “but then he accidentally knocked the fire extinguisher over.”

“It’s okay, don’t cry,” Jiang Luo said soothingly, “Did you see your dad on the deck?”

Li Sha sobbed, “The biggest fish is my dad.”

A look of relief passed over Jiang Luo’s face as Li Sha hugged him around the neck, “Brother, are they going to die, Daddy?”

“Why not,” Jiang Luo said immediately, in a relaxed tone, without any shame at deceiving a child, “Brother is just keeping them locked up to keep them from hurting us. Li Sha’s dad will be brought ashore with us. Li Sha wants to go ashore to find a doctor to treat him, doesn’t he? It will be easier to take dad ashore with us.”

Li Sha nodded obediently, “Thank you brother.”

Jiang Luo hugs her tightly and gives a smile.

The snake wraps itself around the female and follows Jiang Luo, followed by a swarm of irrational males in pursuit.

Jiang Luo took a narrow detour in order to slow down the blood eels. By the time he got to the bottom door, Lu Youyi and Kuang Zheng had already opened the door to the bilge and were hiding behind two doors, one on the left and one on the right.

Jiang Luo took Li Sha and hid beside Lu Youyi, covering Li Sha’s mouth and allowing the snake to lead the female straight into the bilge.

The female’s cry came from deep within the bilge and seconds later, swarms of males darted into the bilge with angry roars.

The ground shook and the whole ship kept rocking from the violent running of the blood eels.

The three counted the number of males and, apart from the dead ones, all the remaining males crawled into the bilge after the females.

After the last male had run in, Lu Youyi and Kuang Zheng slammed the door shut.

The golden python flew out just in time, and as the door was about to close, Jiang Luo threw his right hand and the flaming lighter fell through the doorway and onto the floor.

With an abrupt bang, flames sprang up. Scarlet flames flew across the oil-poured floor.

The heavy doors of the bilge were completely shut.

The blood eels and the countless fry and eggs will all disappear in the flames.

But for Jiang Luo and the others, the most dangerous times were not yet over.

Once the flames spread to the side of the gas tank, the fire charm ignites, triggering a chain of explosions.

They have to manage to get away from this position in the bilge before it explodes.

Without pausing for half a second, the three men raced out the door as fast as they could in their lives.

Kuang Zheng and Lu Youyi simultaneously held out their hands to Jiang Luo, “Let me hold her.”

Jiang Luo was indeed unable to carry Li Sha, who was eight or nine years old, so he handed her over to Kuang Zheng with the advice, “Don’t let go of her.”

When Kuang Zheng thought this was wrong, Jiang Luo added with a worried look on his face, “She’s a little girl, she can’t keep up with us on her own.”

Kuang Zheng looked straight and took Li Sha firmly in his arms, “I know.”

They ran so fast that their legs took stumpy steps. Jiang Luo gritted his teeth and slowly blackened his face, ignoring all the discomfort in his body. The three men had just reached the lifeboats when two explosions sounded from the bilge. The cruise ship shook violently and thick black smoke came out of the stern.

Jiang Luo holds on to the handrail to steady himself. On the other side, Ye Xun’s trio also managed to catch the male fish disguised as a skipper. They trapped the male fish in twine, tied it tightly and pushed it over in a cart.

The whole operation went surprisingly smoothly. The group boarded the lifeboat and quickly moved away from the Angonese, waiting until they were far enough away to stop and watch the luxury cruise ship sink.

Black smoke rolled and the sea was calm. The blaze burns on the Angonese and the cruise ship tilts with an almost melancholy beauty.

After a long time, someone sighed tersely, “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Jiang Luo was watching intently when suddenly he saw a dark spot by the railings of the ship.

It seems to be a person.

He stared at once, but from such a distance, he could not see the man at all.

Jiang Luo frowned and sat back, found another bundle of rope, wrapped it around his own wrist a few times, took Li Sha’s hand and wrapped it around the little girl’s hand a few times as well.

Li Sha raised her hand curiously and looked at it, “Brother?”

Jiang Luo smiled and said, “The sea is not very safe, brother tied you to me, brother’s heart is at ease.”

Li Sha smiled coyly as Wen Renlian reached out and touched Li Sha’s dark hair, ” Li Sha , would you be sad to see your father like this?”

Li Sha looked fearfully at the male fish tied up next to her, she shivered, her eyes watering, but shook her head and carefully walked over to the male fish and knelt down, patting him gently and saying in a babyish tone, “Be good daddy, Li Sha will cure you.”

Ge Zhu couldn’t bear to look at it, so he turned his head with a sigh and saw Cheng Li staring blankly at the direction of the ship.

Cheng Li replied in a distracted manner, “This is my wife and daughter’s stuff.”

Jiang Luo looks at the bag in Cheng Li’s hand.

The backpack is in the style of the women’s model, the metal zip has lost its paint and the bag is badly worn, even if it is well protected it cannot hide the remnants of time, so it is probably some years old.

“Ching, how did Sister Jo and the interlude go without?” He asked.

Cheng Li snapped back, his fingers gripping his bag a little anxiously, pain slowly creeping into his eyes, “Two years ago, your sister Zhao took the interval on board to accompany me to work. We were sailing to the Caribbean when a storm came out of nowhere. The storm was particularly heavy, and there happened to be a group of children playing on deck at the bow of the ship, and they were swept directly into the sea by the storm, among them was my daughter, Ma Ma Ma …… Your sister Zhao and several other mothers, and two crew members jumped straight into the water to save them, but only a few people came up, your sister Zhao and my daughter… . they didn’t come up.”

After this paragraph, Cheng Li also choked up and buried his head in his bag and cried bitterly, “Everyone in my old family thought that I had gotten rich outside and found a mistress, so I tricked my wife and daughter onto the boat and then dumped their bodies at sea, how could I do such a thing! I stayed on the boat all these years and didn’t leave, not because I didn’t know about the blood eels, but this boat had my last memories with my wife and daughter, I couldn’t let go!”

Jiang Luo caught a precise message in this passage and asked Li Sha thoughtfully, ” Li Sha, did your mother die in that storm too?”

Li Sha wiped her tears and nodded in silence.

“Did you fall into the water too?” Jiang Luo’s voice grew softer, “Was it you who fell into the water and that’s why mum jumped in to save you?”

Li Sha sniffled, “Yes.”

“Good boy,” Jiang Luo then asked, “did your father jump into the water to save you?”

Li Sha shook her head and said knowingly, “Dad is the captain of the ship and he’s very busy.”

“Brother Cheng, how many people survived at that time?”

Cheng Li stopped the pain and the question almost came out of his mouth without him thinking about it, after all he had wondered countless times why it was not his wife and daughter who survived.

“Two crew members, one child. Li Sha was the captain’s daughter and the storm was so bad that the crew could only save one child and they brought Li Sha back.”

There is a sting in the words, and Cheng Li has kept them inside for two years, and now they are finally coming out.

When he finished, the lifeboat was silent.

Life, illness and death are all too common. Accidents happen to people every minute of every day, and everyone doesn’t believe they can happen to them, and when they do, it’s too late.

Wen Renlian had brought extra flares with him and he lit another one. Less than half an hour after lighting the flare, the police boat managed to find them.

And those who had escaped earlier had been rescued by the police and put on board.

Once Jiang Luo boarded the boat, the police officers gathered around. Jiang Luo received towels and warm clothes and met a familiar Officer Lin Qinlin inside the police.

The smile disappeared from Officer Lin’s face, which always wore a sunny and friendly smile, and he asked worriedly, “Are you all right?”

A few people shook their heads and Officer Lin, still not reassured, asked again, “I heard from the survivors that the boat used people to raise fish, did you have any fish eggs or fry in your stomachs?”

Kuang Zheng gave a bitter laugh and led the way with a shake of his head.

Only when he was sure they were all right did Officer Lam’s expression light up with relief.

Jiang Luo said nonchalantly, “Officer Lin, we don’t have anything in our stomachs, but there was just a boatload of rich people with something inside their heads.”

Officer Lam’s face froze, “Which boat?”

Jiang Luo scanned the crowd and pointed the men out to him. Officer Lin was about to go about his business when Jiang Luo said, “Their business can be dealt with later, do the most important thing first.”

Officer Lam was confused, “What’s the most important thing?”

Jiang Luo patted Li Sha’s shoulder and smiled, “The most important thing, of course, is to subdue the leader of the blood eels first.”