Chapter Thirty-Three: The Things Beneath the Surface

Speaking of this kind of spider silk, I didn’t feel particularly afraid, since it possessed a peculiar stickiness, making it extremely suitable for climbing and walking. It was somewhat like the wax they use on supermarket floors, only the effect of this spider silk was much better. What truly unsettled me, however, was Peanut. Since we arrived, he’d been staring into the pool, his face expressionless, as if he’d seen something in its depths.

Old Tan hurried to be the second across, and after him, two other companions followed. That left Peanut and me. I said, “Why don’t you go next?”

He took a deep breath and replied calmly, “You go first.”

His words struck me as odd, but it made little difference who went first, so I just chuckled and said, “Fair enough. You count as one of the wounded now—be careful and step where I stepped.”

With that, I stepped onto the stone bridge. The adhesive sensation underfoot was reassuring; it felt as though the bridge itself kept me securely in place, so even its slight swaying seemed almost entertaining. Besides, though the drop below was considerable, it was only into a pool of water—not especially dangerous. As I thought this, I glanced down at the surface.

“Peanut, what are you doing?” Qin Feng suddenly shouted from the far side.

I turned and saw that Peanut had also stepped onto the bridge. Qin Feng must have worried that the combined weight might strain the webbing, but I quickly reassured him; with so much spider silk, it could easily hold two of us.

“What’s this, getting impatient for once?” I thought to myself. “You’re always showing off in front of us, but it seems that thing inside really scared you.”

Peanut gave no response, so I turned back and kept moving. Yet just as my eyes shifted, I suddenly glimpsed a massive white shadow flicker through the pool below.

Startled, I quickly aimed my flashlight at the water. The surface was calm except for a ripple spreading slowly from the center.

“Was I mistaken?” As I recalled the size of that shadow, a chill swept down my spine. It seemed to occupy a quarter of the entire pool—if that were real, what enormous creature must it be?

The thought made the bridge feel less stable beneath my feet. It was nearly four meters wide—wide enough that you wouldn’t feel afraid unless you deliberately looked down. But now, I couldn’t stop myself from peering into the inky water through the mist. I edged closer to the side and shone my flashlight downward.

It wasn’t that high—about twenty meters—but staring at that black, seemingly bottomless surface, I felt a cold dread seeping in from every direction.

“What are you doing? Don’t dawdle, get over here!” Qin Feng shouted from across the bridge.

I answered, shaking off my unease and preparing to move on. But then, suddenly, I sensed something was wrong. I turned around and saw that Peanut had stopped moving. Since we both held flashlights, my turn coincided with his beam.

“Hey, why are you just standing there? We should hurry across,” I said, shielding my eyes from his light.

Several seconds passed before I heard him speak, his voice low and somber. “Didn’t you see it?”

“I did…” I blanched, hesitated, then whispered, “You mean you saw the shadow in the water too?”

Peanut didn’t reply. He walked up beside me and shone his light onto the water. “A gigantic white thing.”

Hearing him say that made my legs go weak. If we both saw the same thing, it probably wasn’t just my imagination. But if it was real, did that mean something truly enormous lurked in the pool? Could there really be some kind of water monster in these remote mountains?

“Peanut, we’d better go,” I whispered, as though afraid to disturb whatever lay below.

Peanut ignored me, instead raising his head to look around. I also sensed something was off. As I swept my gaze, I realized that at some point, a white mist had shrouded the bridge, leaving visibility at less than ten meters.

“How did the fog rise so quickly?” I wondered anxiously, trying to make out anything around us.

Suddenly, there was a splash from the pool below, as if something had stirred in the water. Terrified, I shone my light down, but all I saw were ripples spreading wide.

“Something’s not right,” I muttered. “The fog on the bridge is this thick, but underneath the bridge it’s just as before.”

“The fog isn’t rising from the water,” Peanut said, pointing at the stone bridge beneath us.

I looked down, astonished. White vapor was wafting up from the web-covered stones. It seemed to seep directly from the surface, as though the stone itself was dissolving from within.

“It’s a chemical reaction. The bridge is so white because it contains a lot of gypsum. When it comes into contact with moisture or highly acidic substances, this happens. Haven’t you noticed it’s getting warmer around us?” Peanut said.

I focused and realized he was right. “But why is it happening suddenly?”

Peanut gave a wry smile. “It probably has to do with whatever’s in the pool.”

At the thought of that enormous white shadow, I felt I could hardly stand to stay put. “Then let’s hurry across.”

“We definitely need to go, but if there really is something like that in the water, well… things could get interesting.”

He seemed to know something, and even sounded curious to see more. But I had lost any desire to linger on the bridge. “Let’s talk about it once we’re across.”

“Fine,” Peanut replied with a shrug, and strode off into the mist ahead.

The others kept shouting, asking how we were, and I called back that we were fine. Judging by their voices, we couldn’t be far from each other.

Suddenly, I heard a series of bubbling noises in the water, loud as if huge bubbles were bursting from below. Peanut and I stopped at once and trained our lights downwards.

What we saw stunned us: a succession of bubbles was rising on the black surface. Normally, bubbles wouldn’t be frightening, but when each one was two or three meters in diameter and kept coming, bursting from the depths, it was enough to shake anyone to their core.

“What the hell is that?” I exclaimed, and in that instant, I saw the white shadow again.

This time, it was deeper in the water, and appeared even more sinister. I could see with utter clarity now: the massive white thing was moving. Its movements resembled a shark magnified a thousand times—wherever it swam, bubbles followed. Yet, clearly, the pool was too small for such a gigantic creature, so it only glided slowly around the center. If not for the bubbles, we might never have noticed anything so immense lurking below.

The sensation of seeing such a thing was utterly unlike beholding a colossal building. No matter how grand, a building could only inspire awe, because it was still made by human hands. But faced with what lay before us, I felt nothing but terror and dread—along with a crushing sense of my own insignificance. This, I thought, must be the awe of nature itself.

I was almost frozen in place; Peanut’s face was also filled with shock. I heard him mutter through clenched teeth, “It really is it… It really is.”

“W-what is it? Do you know what it is?”

Before I could finish, Peanut suddenly whipped around, grabbed my arm, and shouted, “Run!”