Chapter 39: The Crocodile Man

  "There must be something pulling Lao San's leg down there, let's use a bit more force." I shouted.

  We struggled to pull Karamay, like a tug-of-war match, but this match was life-and-death, we had to use all our strength, no matter how hard we tried, Lao San continued to sink slowly, the swamp had already submerged his neck, we were also exhausted, Lao San's eyes gradually became blurred, and he sank completely.

  Karamay shouted: "Let's hurry up and let go, otherwise we might be taken away too."

  "No way!" I exclaimed, my voice shaking with tears. "We have to bring Old Three back." The pole on the other end suddenly went limp, it seemed that Old Three had fainted and let go. Seeing this, I desperately tried to rush into the swamp, but was held back by Fei Ma and Kelamayi.

  Fu Ma said sternly: "You calm down, if Ah Long can't be rescued later, you'll get yourself involved again."

  In an instant, the other end of the stick seemed to have a sense of weight again, with incredible force. Karamay didn't have time to let go and was quickly pulled into the swamp. Karamay's hands were very agile, seeing the situation he hastily released the stick, I immediately went over to lend a hand and pulled him up.

  Suddenly, a black shadow appeared in front of us like the wind, grabbed the stick, and quickly pulled it up. The stick was emitting a faint white light, and from the other end of the stick, a strange creature was pulled out. I took a closer look and let out a sigh of relief, only to find that it was Wu Zihuan.

  Yang Cangcang hurried over, excitedly saying: "Zihan, when did you appear?" Wu Zihan didn't pay attention to her, staring intently at the marshy land.

  The monster at the end of Wu Zihan's stick was half crocodile and half human, with a crocodile's feet and tail, a human head, and its entire body covered in hard crocodile armor. It lay on the ground, staring at us with hateful eyes.

  Wu Zihan stepped on it with one foot and said in a commanding tone, "Bring the person up to me." The half-alligator man gave him a white eye, as if he hadn't heard anything, and didn't react at all. Wu Zihan looked at me and said, "Give me the dagger."

  I hastily threw it to him, Wu Zihan held the dagger and muttered an incantation, ready to stab the half-alligator man's head. The half-alligator man immediately showed a panicked expression and shouted: "I'm going, I'm going."

  Wu Zihan's hand slipped, and he inserted a dagger into its back. The half-alligator man let out a miserable cry. Wu Zihan coldly said, "If you don't come back, this dagger will kill you." The half-alligator man, with tears in his eyes, hastily promised not to dare, then returned to the swamp. In less than a minute, he carried Old Three up. Karamay hurried forward and pressed down on Old Three's abdomen. Yang Cangcang busied herself cleaning the mud from his face. Old Three coughed several times, spitting out the mud in his lungs, and slowly opened his eyes.

  Wu Zihan looked around us for a week and asked me: "Where is Xiao Lao?"

  I stammered and said: "It was left by the Thunder Spirit of Lei Chui Hill when he suppressed the bandits' lair." Wu Zihan stopped talking, and Yang Cangcang asked again: "When did you come?"

  "Just arrived." Wu Zihan replied perfunctorily, his eyes fixed on the half-alligator man.

  Lao San slowly got up, weakly saying: "Luckily I've practiced breath-holding skills, otherwise I'd have died in this swamp. Luckily Zi Han and his brothers arrived just in time."

  Wu Zihan did not respond to Lao San's gratitude at all, and Lao San was also used to it and didn't say anything else. I asked him: "What formation is this? Is this monster the formation spirit?"

  Wu Zihan's face turned solemn and said: "This is Dui Zhen, the natural attribute corresponds to Ze. Zhen Ling? I've been looking for it too, it seems to be already dead."

  "Is Zhenling dead?" Yang Cangcang was shocked, "Did you come and destroy it first?"

  Wu Zihan shook his head and said: "I was already dead when I came, don't know who broke the formation."

  "What? Is someone really helping us?" I exclaimed, "Then what is this monster for?"

  "It's probably just a doorman." Old Three regained some strength, went up and kicked the half-alligator man several times with all his might, still muttering in his mouth: "I let you pull down, I let you pull, I let you..." He quickly hugged his own feet, "Damn it, the skin is so hard."

  Yang Cangcang pouted and said: "Big brother, aren't you tired? Honestly, just stay for a while."

  "Who broke this formation?" Wu Zihan asked with narrowed eyes, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

  "I don't know either, it's someone I've never seen before." The half-alligator man said with a shudder.

  Lao San pulled out his machete and walked over, saying as he went: "If I don't give it two slashes, it won't know the ferocity of Master." I hastily blocked Lao San to prevent him from causing more trouble.

  "When was it?" Wu Zihan continued to ask.

  The half-alligator man thought for a moment and said, "It should be today's matter. A few days ago, the boss said that there was a group of people breaking through the fire array, and it would soon be close to us. He asked me to prepare well. Today, you haven't arrived yet, but the boss is already dead. That person's strength is very strong, my boss didn't even have time to fight back. I advise you to give up."

  "Stop trying to scare us." I looked at the creature with disdain. "Just answer what we ask, no need for so much nonsense!"

  That half-alligator man looked at me and sneered, "You're Zhou Junyang, aren't you?" I was shocked, how did he know? Before I could ask, Old Three jumped in, "Is my second brother so famous now? He's not very capable, but he likes people, you don't have a chance."

  The half-alligator man looked at us with a sly smile and said, "It seems that the legend is not all empty talk. I knew you were coming when I was guarding this formation, and it's about time."

  "When did you guard this array?" I was confused by the old monk's words, wasn't this ancient country destroyed 10,000 years ago? Did this monster know I was coming 10,000 years ago? I chuckled to myself, how stupid I was, falling for this monster's trick. "Can't you make yourself sound any older? I'm only 22 this year, you've been stuck here for less than a thousand years, right?"

  Seeing that I didn't believe him, the monster let out a low hum: "You're still quite naive, you think just because you're 22 years old, you've really only lived for 22 years?" The monster paused for a moment before continuing: "I heard your grandfather went mad previously, and he's currently in the great hall of this ancient country. Have you ever thought that your grandfather might not actually be your grandfather?"

  Lao San was confused by this monster: "His grandfather is not his grandfather, could it be your grandfather? This monster speaks so strangely."

  When that monster spoke, my heart skipped a beat. Back then, Grandfather followed the troops to the Western Regions, but all those people encountered difficulties and only Grandfather returned. I heard he was rescued while still lying on the edge of the desert, so how did he get past? Afterwards, Grandfather went mad, but Mother said he was just pretending to be crazy. Could it be that my real grandfather had already... And the one in the nursing home is... I immediately shook my head, this is all too terrifying.

  Karamay asked with interest: "The legend you mentioned earlier? What legend?"

  The half-alligator man didn't answer him, but instead stared at me: "Looks like you're starting to doubt yourself too. I don't understand the human world, but I know this thing is definitely not simple. From the moment my boss died, I knew it, because what I said was what he told you."

  "Do you want to talk to us and then drag us into the swamp?" Fu Ma asked suspiciously.

  "I don't know about you guys either, but I've got to take care of myself first." The half-alligator man sighed.

  "You're saying that the spirit of this Zhe Array had something to say to us, but was killed in the end? But how are you still alive?" Kalamayi's thoughts were meticulous, and she immediately discovered the loophole in the situation.

  "Because I don't know anything, these things are just my guesses." The half-alligator man put on an expression of indifference, "I've told you everything I know, whether you believe it or not is up to you." He turned his head towards Wu Zihan again, "And you, what did you come here for...to get yourself killed?"

  Before the half-alligator man could finish speaking, Wu Zihan's eyes flashed with a cold light, and he drew out the knife from his back and stabbed it into the half-alligator man's head. The half-alligator man struggled for a few moments before falling to the ground, dead. Wu Zihan muttered to himself, "I should have killed you earlier if I knew you'd talk so much." We were left standing there in shock.

  "Why didn't you just kill me after I finished speaking?" I looked at him in dismay.

  Wu Zihan glanced at me faintly: "Do you think what he said makes sense?"

  "You're getting nervous, aren't you?" Lao San said with a burst of courage. "This monster just said you wanted to kill someone? You didn't let it finish speaking, are you afraid we'll find out? Could it be that the array spirit of this Ze Array was also killed by you? With your abilities, what is it that you don't want us to know?"

  Wu Zihan's face was expressionless as he said, "If you think so, I have no way to stop you, suit yourself."

  Yang Cang couldn't bear it anymore and shouted: "You've had enough, you believe in the divisive plan of a monster! Zi Han has saved us countless times on this road, you all have seen it with your own eyes. If he wanted to kill us, let alone him making a move, we wouldn't even have time to fight back. Even if he didn't make a move and just stood by watching, we would've died who knows how many times!"

  Fu Ma patted Lao San and said: "Zi Han did this, he must have his reasons. Don't make random guesses, it will hurt our brotherly feelings."

  Lao San glanced at Karamay and me who were silent, and said angrily: "Right, only I am the bad guy, I shut up!"

  Wu Zihan turned around and said lightly, "If you feel uneasy, then each of us will go our separate ways. This formation has already been broken, continuing forward is just the next formation, do as you please."

  Yang Cangcang immediately smiled and said, "I'll go with you." She followed behind him, skipping along, and we exchanged a glance, also following after them.

  Since I arrived in this Western region, there have been too many strange things happening. I came into contact with a world that I had never faced before. I once doubted every person around me, but I never doubted Wu Ziheng, despite his secrets all over him. Suddenly, I remembered the Director Zheng who sent me the letter, he said: "What you see may not necessarily be true, many things need you to find the answers yourself."

  After walking two steps, Wu Zihan suddenly stopped and looked at us saying: "You guys wait a moment, I'll be right back."

  "Old Three immediately guarded and asked: 'You... where are you going?'"

  Wu Zihan expressionlessly said: "Go and rescue Old Man Xiao."