Chapter 126: Utopia

Chapter 126: Utopia

“Come on, there’s no creature that powerful, is there?” Liu Xin pursed his pale lips after hearing Liu Chang’s alarmist claim.

“There really is something that powerful.” Liu Chang smiled. “Believe it or not, but don’t blame me for not warning you. When it comes attacking Zhengzhou, you won’t even have anywhere to run.”

“Bullshit. I can run faster than you. Even if it comes, you’ll be the first to die.”

“That’s true.” Liu Chang was rendered speechless. “Eat, eat. Forget about all that for now. Let’s eat first.”

“Right. I’ll go get the cook.”

At the mention of food, Liu Xin broke into a childlike smile. Then, in three quick strides, he leaped into the sand cave. Before long, he emerged dragging out a middle-aged man.

“He’s the cook we captured. He makes very tasty food.” After setting the enormous pot and the cook down on the ground, Liu Xin said with a smile, “His name is Li Haiyong. It sounds very aquatic. A beautiful name.”

“Oh, hello. I’m Liu Chang, another prisoner here.” Seeing someone of his own kind, Liu Chang smiled at him.

“Uh, I’m Li Haiyong. He’s already introduced me. I’m just the cook—the one who prepares the food.” The middle-aged man gave a bitter smile. He found a dry patch of ground beside the riverbank and set up the iron pot, which was enormous compared with his own body. Then he went back into the sand cave, brought out his cooking utensils one by one, fetched some water from the river, and began preparing the meal.

Liu Chang soon grew bored watching him and pulled Liu Xin back into the water.

He was curious about the creatures in the river and wanted to see what had become of the giant beasts and fish. By observing them, he might be able to imagine what the fish and monsters in the sea had become, and thus infer the current state of the coastal regions.

Liu Chang leaped into the faintly reddened river, dove beneath the surface behind Liu Xin, and once again gazed into the underwater world.

Visibility underwater was fairly good. Most parts of the Yellow River were not seventy meters deep, but the farther down one went, the dimmer the light became. At a depth of about one meter, Liu Chang could see seventy meters ahead when looking straight forward. But the deeper he descended, the poorer his vision grew. By the time his feet touched the riverbed, the world around him had become almost completely dark.

Water plants swayed beneath his feet. The view at the bottom of the Yellow River was even worse than outside.

There was no light, and some of the strange creatures that lived on the riverbed had lost their eyes altogether. Liu Chang wondered what the deep sea must look like.

Holding his breath, he still lacked the fishlike ability to breathe underwater, so he tried not to make any strenuous movements that would cause his body to consume oxygen too quickly. He had only taken a few steps along the riverbed when a strand of waterweed caught around his calf.

The weed was extremely tough. After several hard pulls, he tore off the creature’s tendrils and continued forward.

Liu Xin stayed beside him the entire time.

After walking together for a while, they developed an easy rhythm. Every few steps, Liu Xin would point out something dangerous. Some creatures looked like rocks but were actually mutant turtles concealed by camouflage. Others looked beautiful but carried fiercely potent toxins. Some fish appeared gentle, resembling ordinary carp, yet when Liu Chang caught one and held it up for inspection, he saw a row of sharp teeth inside its mouth, much like those of a piranha.

When Liu Chang caught one of the piranha-like fish, Liu Xin hurriedly waved his hands beside him.

Seeing his expression, Liu Chang was just beginning to wonder what was wrong when the strange scales covering the fish suddenly changed shape with a loud pop. Countless sharp barbs shot out from its body, transforming it into something resembling a sea urchin. It stabbed straight through Liu Chang’s palm.

“Damn!”

All ten fingers were connected to the heart. The strange fish had pierced his entire palm, and the pain forced Liu Chang to exhale a mouthful of air. He immediately felt short of breath and began paddling desperately with both hands and feet, trying to reach the surface.

The wound in his hand trailed thin ribbons of blood through the water as he moved.

“Gasp!”

Once he reached the surface, Liu Chang drew a deep breath. Treading water, he held his palm up before his face.

“Damn it, what’s wrong with this fish? It even knows how to ambush people!”

“We call them spikefish. They’re extremely difficult to deal with, and they like to summon their companions. With the smell of your blood here, an entire school of them will arrive before long. I’m not afraid of them, but you should get ashore and bandage your hand first.” Liu Xin sniffed the blood in the water. “Once the school arrives, they can strip you down to the bones in three seconds.”

“That powerful? They sound like piranhas.” Liu Chang swam toward the bank with a smile. “But they must be terrifying. Even the larger aquatic beasts probably wouldn’t dare swallow them casually, not with all those spines.”

“Exactly. Very few creatures in the Yellow River dare provoke spikefish.” Liu Xin smiled. “Even I’ll temporarily avoid them if there are too many. Their bite can’t pierce my skin, and they swim much more slowly than I do, but when an entire school of fish with sharp teeth and bodies that can fire out those things starts circling in front of you, they become very annoying.”

The two of them swam to shore and lay on the beach to rest for a while.

“You seem to live quite well in the jungle.”

“We do, because we’re strong. Thank the Red Mist. Thank the Second Cambrian Era. It gave us life.” Liu Xin gazed up at the sky.

“I hate this era. It took away all my family and most of my friends. They’re all dead,” Liu Chang said.

“Strangely enough, I love this era. It gave me a family and everything else I have,” Liu Xin replied.

“I miss the life I used to live.”

“That’s because you had too much in the past.”

“I miss the cities.”

“There’s nothing worth missing about those steel contraptions.”

“Do you have a mother?”

“No.”

“Right.”

…

A human and an amphibian lay on the beach, chatting aimlessly about everything under the sun. They talked about their favorite foods, where amphibians defecated, whether amphibians drank water, and whether a species incapable of reproduction and without distinct sexes possessed sexual organs. Liu Chang even plucked out a strand of hair for Liu Xin, while Liu Xin asked Liu Chang to touch his smooth skin.

They talked for a long time. Even after the crabs were ready, they continued talking while they ate.

Finally—

“Do you think our two species could ever communicate and cooperate?” Liu Chang asked.

“Individuals can. Someone like you and me, for example.” Liu Xin thought for a moment. “My father once said that an amphibian and a human can become friends.”

“But the amphibian race and the human race as a whole can never become friends.”

“The reason is simple. Humans have no advantage over amphibians whatsoever. If our numbers became large enough, humanity would have no competitive strength at all. Extinction would only be a matter of time. Since it concerns survival or death, humans cannot tolerate amphibians. And by the same logic, amphibians cannot tolerate humans.”

“Sounds reasonable!” Liu Chang slurped up a large mouthful of crab roe, then turned to Li Haiyong. “Chef Li, you’ve got some skill!”

“Nothing special.” Li Haiyong was eating as well.

“Do you have any family?” Liu Chang asked, looking at the solitary Li Haiyong.

“No. They’re all dead. My family came from the countryside. You know what the countryside is like now. Apart from a few isolated places, it’s all been swallowed up by the jungle. The fact that I managed to escape is already fortunate enough.” Li Haiyong’s expression darkened. “Everyone I could care about is dead. I don’t have any goals or ideals anymore. I just take each day as it comes.”

“Then you’re not doing too badly here.”

“It’s not bad. At least I’m well fed and clothed. To be honest, these amphibians aren’t bad people. Even that giant one inside isn’t particularly bad.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Liu Chang nodded.

“They’re simply a different species—and too exceptional. That’s why humans can’t tolerate them.” Li Haiyong sighed. “Everyone has their own ideas, and where there are ideas, there will be disagreements. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the whole world could live as one? No disagreements, no conflicts. Everyone could have their own thoughts and their own way of life, yet each person could attend peacefully to their own affairs…”

“You’re describing an ideal world,” the amphibian interrupted. “I’ve read a word for that somewhere. What was it? Utopia, or maybe Eutopia? That’s what you mean. It’s impossible.”

“Not necessarily.” Liu Chang suddenly smiled. “Do you remember the great willow tree I told you about?”

“That…” At Liu Chang’s words, Liu Xin fell deep into thought. Five full minutes passed. By then, the crab meat in his hand had begun to cool, so he stuffed it into his mouth. “Utopia sounds wonderful, but when you think about it, it really isn’t that wonderful…”

“Exactly. In a utopia, you couldn’t eat crab meat like this. You couldn’t kidnap me, either. And I wouldn’t be able to flirt with women. I wouldn’t even have the right to urinate or defecate.” Liu Chang said, “So disagreements are what make perfection possible!”

“Haha…”

The amphibian laughed and continued eating.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the two of them wandered around until nightfall before returning to the sand cave.

That night, Liu Chang slept beside Liu Xin. The bed was large, but he was extremely uncomfortable. First, the inside of the sand cave was far too humid, leaving him feeling sticky all over. Second, Liu Xin’s body beside him was cold, clearly more than ten degrees lower than a human’s body temperature. Third, Liu Xin was restless in his sleep. Because he had a tail, he could only sleep on his side, and he kept turning over in the night and laying his enormous tail across Liu Chang’s stomach.

So, the next day—

“I’m not sleeping with you tomorrow night,” Liu Chang said. “I didn’t get any proper sleep with you beside me.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing. I just miss women.” Liu Chang did not want to explain, so he tossed out the words casually.

From his conversation with Liu Xin the previous day, he had learned that amphibians had no distinction between sexes. Since they were incapable of reproduction, they had no interest in sex at all. Whenever the subject came up, Liu Xin immediately lost interest and refused to join the conversation.