12 Girls Rekindled Their Courage

For some reason, the eel fell onto the grass and stared at Yang Xiao, opening its mouth wide to reveal sharp teeth. It seemed to want to attack but lacked the power it had in the water.

This was definitely the fiercest eel Yang Xiao had ever seen.

"D*mn it, you scared me! I'm going to stew you up today!"

Yang Xiao waved the one-foot-long watermelon knife eagerly.

Huang Wen was the bravest one. She rushed over with a shovel but was shocked to see the arm-thick eel.

Yang Xiao quickly took the shovel and whacked the eel on the grass.

The eel seemed to realize the danger and quickly turned to swim back to the pond.

"You won't escape that easy!"

Yang Xiao's shovel missed. He rushed forward like an arrow and smashed down again.

Bang!

The solid blow struck the eel's back. The huge eel squealed and turned to bite Yang Xiao.

Yang Xiao jumped back urgently as the shovel in his hand slammed down once more, hitting the eel's head with a bang.

The eel's head was flattened. It lay twitching on the grass.

Holding the shovel upright, Yang Xiao chopped down on the eel's head, cutting off half of it. Blood poured out as the massive eel finally died.

Yang Xiao was thrilled and excited. He plopped down on the grass, heart racing and panting heavily.

Huang Wen and the girls watched in terrified shock, not daring to approach.

Just then, Chen Lu suddenly screamed, "Yang Xiao, run! The pool monster is coming out again!"

Yang Xiao looked up in alarm at the huge fin emerging and rapidly swimming toward them.

He dared not linger but rolled and scrambled up the slope, the girls screaming as they fled further away.

After running several dozen meters Yang Xiao was quite far from the pool. Sensing no pursuit, he understood the water monster would likely not leave the pond.

Glancing back, he saw the huge fin had stopped some ten meters from shore, churning the water but not advancing.

Breathing deeply to calm down, Yang Xiao felt relieved that the giant creature remained in the water swimming along the bank rather than coming ashore.

The girls had run farther ahead. Seeing Yang Xiao not following, they looked back to find him standing dazed on the bank. Everyone halted.

"Yang Xiao!" Huang Wen shouted.

He waved reassuringly. "It's okay, you can come back!"

"Really alright?"

"Good lord, when do fish ever leave the water?"

The girls realized this made sense. Seeing he was fine on shore with no threat, they cautiously returned to him.

Everyone still had lingering fear, merely watching from afar rather than approaching the grassy bank.

"How much taro did you dig up?" Yang Xiao asked Huang Wen.

"Maybe over ten catties?"

"Any more?"

"There's more, but..."

"You're afraid?"

Huang Wen and the others nodded. It would be a lie to say they weren't.

Yang Xiao didn't want to do the work for them. If they couldn't even pass this test, how could these girls survive when the creatures finished mutating and grew more aggressive?

He had never considered being responsible for them his whole life since they weren't his wives!

"It's the fourth day after the calamity. Gu Bo said all living things would finish mutating in seven days. By then, we likely can't come up the mountain anymore. Right now while the creatures are still weak, you need to stock up food or you really will just be waiting to die in a few days."

Hearing this, the girls looked at each other. Facing the looming threat of death, they gradually gained the courage to fight.

"It's up to you if you dig or not. I have food either way. And you're only digging taro on shore. The water monsters can't hurt you there, right? You know how Xiao Zhe's group treated you. Would you prefer to keep suffering that humiliation?"

His words ignited them.

Huang Wen, Chen Lu, and the others nodded resolutely to each other. "Sisters, at worst we'll die in a monster's mouth, which is still better than humiliation from those Xiao Zhe punks, right?"

"Yes, let's fight it out!"

"Alright, together!"

The girls were suddenly filled with courage. Two stayed behind to gather water while the rest went to dig taro.

Adding Yang Xiao's three buckets to the existing water onshore, everyone's bottles were soon filled.

Yang Xiao carefully walked over and picked up the huge dead eel, placing it in the metal bucket. Hefting it, he estimated around 30 catties.

Before the calamity, this eel could have set records!

He covered the bucket with some taro leaves and carried it ashore.

The water monster did not reemerge.

Huang Wen's dozen girls worked hard, digging up dozens of pounds of taro.

In the process, they saw many mutated creatures, giant eel-like earthworms, and enlarged reptiles in the grass.

If not driven by hunger, the girls would have fled long ago.

Now one dug while three others cleared mutated insects around her. Fortunately, the mutations seemed non-aggressive for the moment.

Yang Xiao figured they were in the middle of mutation. Once finished, they likely wouldn't remain docile.

"The taro stems can be eaten too. Drag them to the bank to process later," he directed.

Being a country boy, Yang Xiao knew the stems were edible. Some rural girls also knew.

Regaining strength from the sight of food, they soon dragged all the dug-up taro and leaves to the shore.

"Don't complain about the bitterness. Separate the taro and stems first. Put the taro in bags. We can take the stems back to dry and cook later," said Yang Xiao, handing out his two watermelon knives finally being put to use.

Soon they had the taro and stems neatly packed up.

The taro filled one woven bag, an estimated hundred-plus pounds, carried down by four girls.

The stems filled three bags.

With dozens of bottles of water too, they headed down happily with shoulders burdened, singing and chatting, depression swept away.

Yang Xiao followed behind carrying the metal bucket.

Seeing the taro leaves covering it, Huang Wen asked, "What's in the bucket?"

"Something delicious," Yang Xiao smiled mysteriously.

Huang Wen paled. "You didn't put that...thing in?"

Yang Xiao nodded.

Huang Wen whispered uneasily, "Can it be eaten?"

"Should be able to."

To the gluttons of the Mysterious Darkness Nation, what animal couldn't be eaten?

Still, Yang Xiao planned to ask old man Gu Bo if the mutated eel was safe to eat. If so, he wouldn't miss out on such delicacy.