Chapter 70 - 69: Controlling the Catfish Demon

Chapter 70: Chapter 69: Controlling the Catfish Demon

The Ironclad Ship sailed steadily across the river’s surface. Its bow sliced through the murky water, leaving two long white wakes in its trail.

Lu Jing’an stood quietly at the bow, his eyes slightly closed.

In truth, he had immersed his entire consciousness into [Cause and Effect Following Sound].

His perception, like invisible tentacles, pierced through the swaying waves.

It plunged ever deeper, brushing past swaying river grass,

hibernating river clams, and panicked, fleeing schools of fish,

reaching all the way down to the dim riverbed where light could barely penetrate.

"Young Master, past the bend up ahead is the territory of that Catfish Demon."

Chen Xuan came to Lu Jing’an’s side and reminded him in a low voice.

Lu Jing’an nodded slightly, not opening his eyes.

But his focus intensified, carefully scanning every inch of the river bottom near the bend.

He had heard too many descriptions of this Catfish Demon from the old boatmen.

It was a monster larger than an ordinary boat,

that usually lay dormant in the deepest, darkest silt, like an inanimate object.

But once disturbed or hungry,

it would suddenly surge to life,

churning up monstrous, muddy waves.

Passing boats were as brittle as rotten wood before it,

smashed to pieces in an instant.

Anyone who fell into the water stood no chance of survival, all becoming a meal in its belly.

According to descriptions from survivors,

its mouth was filled with layered teeth like a stone mill,

and anyone who fell in would quickly be ground into a paste, leaving not even bones behind.

The boatmen who passed through this section were all on tenterhooks.

If the beast hadn’t caused trouble for a long time, in the hopes of ensuring a safe passage,

they would even proactively throw chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep into the river.

For this river patrol, Lu Jing’an already had a plan.

The three great Water Demons of the Canglan River: the Catfish Demon, the Piggy Dragon, and the Water Monkey.

Of the three, the Catfish Demon seemed the most savage, but in reality, its intelligence was the lowest.

Its Spiritual Power should also be the weakest link among them.

’Controlling it will be the easiest, relatively speaking.’

Lu Jing’an’s Divine Thought swept across the riverbed, inch by inch.

Even so, the riverbed was simply too complex.

If the Catfish Monster truly lay motionless, Lu Jing’an might not be able to distinguish it.

After traveling some distance like this, the next bend was just ahead.

Lu Jing’an ordered the two Ironclad Ships to turn around.

He wanted to investigate this stretch of water again.

The Ironclad Ships patrolled the area, their diesel engines rumbling loudly.

Lu Jing’an intended to use this noise to startle the Catfish Demon.

’If this doesn’t work,’

Lu Jing’an planned to drop livestock next.

As one of the Ironclad Ships once again passed over a seemingly ordinary patch of water, Lu Jing’an’s mind suddenly tensed.

’Got it.’

In his perception, a previously silent, thick layer of silt had trembled without any warning!

In that instant, the water in that area turned foul.

Thick, dark mud billowed out like ink, spreading rapidly.

The sheer scale of the tremor made Lu Jing’an instantly certain—that was it!

The vague silhouette his perception sent back was definitely over five meters long.

Like a sunken skiff.

’I’ve found you.’

Lu Jing’an’s thoughts moved like lightning; he didn’t hesitate for a moment.

[Mind Control]!

His power became an invisible yet unyielding chain,

lancing toward the center of the murk, toward that groggy, newly awakened consciousness.

It pierced forward ferociously!

This wasn’t the first time he had used this art.

When he first gained the ability, he had tested it on a peacock kept at his home.

The process had been incredibly smooth.

But a Demon Beast was, after all, different.

BOOM!

A vast wave of Spiritual Power crossed the surface of the water and shot straight to the river bottom,

slamming hard into a cold, chaotic consciousness filled with primal hunger and brutality!

The expected resistance erupted in an instant!

Although the consciousness was chaotic, it was unbelievably savage.

With the fury of an underwater overlord that had been provoked,

it went wild like a wounded beast,

ramming against Lu Jing’an’s invading Spiritual Power.

As the Catfish Demon’s consciousness struggled violently,

its massive body submerged at the bottom of the river

also began to writhe fiercely!

WHOOSH! RUMBLE!!!

The originally calm river surface exploded without warning!

Several giant, muddy waves shot into the sky, then crashed down, rocking both Ironclad Ships violently.

The rotting sludge that had settled on the riverbed for who knows how many years was completely stirred up.

Great swaths of inky-black wastewater roiled to the surface,

rapidly dyeing a large area of the river black.

An indescribable,

acrid stench—a mix of decaying silt, the stink of fish, and rotting river grass—

spread through the air, so pungent and suffocating it was almost impossible to keep one’s eyes open.

"Water Demon!"

"It’s the Catfish Demon!"

"On alert! Everyone on alert!"

On both ships, everyone’s expression changed drastically.

They never imagined their first river patrol would actually draw out this ferocious beast!

The tense atmosphere instantly tightened. Everyone grabbed the ship’s railing to steady themselves.

At the same time, with a clatter of movement, rifles and handguns were all aimed at the churning river surface.

Fingers rested on triggers, trembling slightly.

Chen Xuan dashed forward, positioning himself slightly in front of and to the side of Lu Jing’an, half-shielding him.

His eyes shot out a sharp glint, staring intently at the roiling black water like a falcon.

The vitality in his body surged faintly, as if he were about to pounce at any moment.

However, at this tense moment, when things could erupt at any second—

the churning on the river’s surface, without any warning...

calmed down!

The giant waves no longer rose, and the murkiness slowly began to settle.

Although the nauseating stench hadn’t completely dissipated, the world-ending prelude from moments ago vanished as if it were just an illusion.

The river’s current resumed, though its color remained deep black.

It was as if the giant creature below had merely shifted uncomfortably in its sleep,

and had now fallen into an even deeper slumber.

Everything happened extremely quickly. From the disturbance to the calm, less than half a minute had passed.

At the bow, Lu Jing’an slowly

let out a long, almost imperceptible breath.

He still stood there, his expression placid.

Only a faint trace of exhaustion, followed by the composure of one in control, flickered deep within his eyes.

’The control process was much shorter than the five minutes I’d estimated.’

’The Catfish Demon’s consciousness really was ridiculously simple.’

It seemed that although the Catfish Demon had grown larger and stronger,

its brain hadn’t developed much at all; it was still as smooth as could be.

For example, at the fourteenth second of Lu Jing’an’s struggle for dominance,

the Catfish Demon suddenly forgot what it was doing.

This allowed Lu Jing’an to crush its resistance in one fell swoop and establish complete control.

"Continue the patrol," Lu Jing’an’s steady voice rang out, breaking the dead silence on the ship.

The men were filled with shock and doubt, looking at the river that had returned to normal.

Then they looked at their perfectly composed director. Though full of questions, they followed the order.

The two Ironclad Ships readjusted their course, sounded their horns, and headed toward the next section of the river.

After rounding a verdant river bend ahead, they were completely out of sight from anyone who might be watching from behind.

On the other side of the bend, in a relatively open stretch of water,

KABOOM—!!!

a massive black shadow suddenly broke through the water’s surface and leaped into the air!

It was a behemoth, well over five meters long and grayish-black all over.

Its slimy skin reflected a murky, oily sheen under the sky, and two long whiskers by its mouth whipped around like whips. It was none other than the notoriously ferocious Catfish Demon!

It carved an almost clumsy arc through the air—a movement that didn’t suit its size—before slamming heavily back onto the river’s surface.

THWACK!!!!

A huge, muffled clap like a thunderstrike, as if a cannonball had hit the water.

It sent up a skyful of white foam and spray, and the ripples spread out violently, lasting for a long time.

This commotion was naturally noticed by the men on the Ironclad Ships, which hadn’t gone far.

Many looked back in horror, seeing the towering splash in the distance but not understanding what had caused it.

Chen Xuan’s gaze hardened slightly as he looked at Lu Jing’an.

Lu Jing’an just stared at the broadening river ahead, as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

"Maybe... the monster’s just throwing another fit," someone muttered under their breath.

Despite their concerns, since the Director had not given an order, the fleet continued along its original route.

After traveling a while longer, the river channel suddenly opened up.

This was the widest part of the Canglan River.

In the middle of the river, an extremely dense reed marsh suddenly appeared.

The reeds were over two meters tall and stretched on endlessly.

Like a yellow-green barrier standing in the water, they swayed and rustled in the wind, with no end in sight.

Waterways crisscrossed within it, a mix of open channels and hidden paths.

It was a perfect place to hide one’s tracks.

When the Water Bandits on the Canglan River were pursued by the Government Office, they often fled into this ten-li-long reed maze.

If outsiders unfamiliar with the layout were to rush in, not only would they have difficulty finding anyone, but they would also be easily ambushed.

Mapping out the waterways within this reed marsh was another one of Lu Jing’an’s important objectives for this patrol.

He was just about to focus his mind, using [Cause and Effect Following Sound] in tandem with his sight to begin a preliminary survey of this complex water region.

"Young Master, there’s a boat. It’s the Black Shark Gang."

Chen Xuan’s low voice sounded again, interrupting Lu Jing’an’s train of thought.

He lifted his gaze and looked in the direction Chen Xuan indicated.

At the edge of the reeds to their front and side, a slipper-prowed speedboat was nimbly zipping out, heading for the Ironclad Ships.

This type of speedboat, with its sharp, upturned prow and narrow hull,

was often used by the Water Bandits on the Canglan River for its swiftness.

Three men stood on the boat: one at the bow, two at the stern.

The man at the bow was dressed in a mismatched, tacky outfit.

He wore a clearly ill-fitting, wrinkled gray suit, a worn black fedora cocked on his head, and cloth shoes on his feet.

He seemed to be chewing on a blade of grass, standing at a slant with the air of a thuggish gangster.

The two men behind him had the standard look of Water Bandits, dressed in short, rough clothes.

Their chests were bare, their faces dark and coarse.

Their eyes held a brazen, vicious gleam, and each held an old rifle.

CLACK!

On the two Ironclad Ships, all the bureau members instantly raised their guns again.

The dark muzzles of their guns were all aimed at the uninvited guest, and the atmosphere immediately turned grim.

The slipper-prowed boat stopped about a hundred feet from the Ironclad Ships, bobbing gently with the waves.

The man at the bow in the suit and fedora grinned, revealing teeth stained yellow from tobacco, and shouted in a loud voice:

"Hey! Is that Director Lu of the Water Patrol Bureau over there?

We’re from the Black Shark Gang, here on our boss’s orders.

We’ve come specially to... ’pay our respects’ to you, Director Lu!"

His tone was slick and carried an undisguised mockery.

After speaking, he tilted his head back toward the men behind him.

The two Water Bandits behind him understood, their faces breaking into savage, smug grins.

They bent down and lifted a dilapidated bamboo basket from the boat, which reeked of a strong, foul stench.

With a grunt, the two men put their strength into it and swung the basket up with all their might.

They hurled it violently toward the deck of the Ironclad Ship!

The basket tumbled through the air, spilling some of the dark, dripping contents.

Then, with a CLANG, the basket slammed heavily onto the Ironclad Ship’s hard deck, nearly falling apart on impact.

What rolled out was half-rotten fish, stinking shrimp and crabs, and filthy entrails that were unrecognizable.

Sticky juices instantly spread across the deck. The putrid, fishy stench was even more nauseating than the one from the Catfish Demon stirring up the mud.

It billowed out, assaulting everyone on the ship.

This was hardly a show of respect; it was clearly a power play of the utmost insult and provocation!