Chapter Eighty-six: The Water Nymph

  "Go and take a look." Wang Kuang pulled Lin Xuanmu, who was also curious about the water monster that the fishermen were talking about, and followed him.

  The county magistrate of Tao, having been invited by Xu Guoxu to drink on the boat, suddenly had a good impression of Wang Kuang. Before boarding the boat, he specially instructed two yamen runners to follow and protect Wang Kuang. Although Wang Kuang was accompanied by several servants from the Huang family, it's still better to rely on local snake charmers in this place called Yi'an, where at least locals recognize these yamen runners.

  With the help of the two bailiffs, Wang Kuang squeezed into the crowd with great difficulty. Seeing the "water monster" referred to by the fishermen, seeing its gray and white body, sharp and long mouth, Wang Kuang recognized it as a Chinese sturgeon at a glance. The last Chinese sturgeon died in a rescue station, and there were less than a thousand Chinese sturgeons left. Since then, only large freshwater dolphins have existed in the Amazon River. At that time, the death of this last Chinese sturgeon made many people cry silently, feeling the eternal departure of the Yangtze River spirit. The major media reported on this for several days in a row, so Wang Kuang had a deep impression.

  The Chinese river dolphin is different from the sea dolphin. Except when it surfaces to breathe, it stays in the water and does not jump out of the water like a sea dolphin. Therefore, people rarely see its true face. With its white fin, scaleless body, sharp mouth like a sword, and high-pitched squeaking sounds, fishermen have long considered it a monster. In some places, there are even rumors that the Chinese river dolphin eats humans, so captured dolphins usually do not escape death.

  The white finned porpoise in front of me was about seven or eight feet long, with a grey and white body, struggling to free itself from the fishing net, its mouth opening and closing, making a faint squeaking sound. When Wang saw that its belly was bulging, he guessed that it should be a female porpoise, probably because it was about to give birth and couldn't swim easily, which is why it was caught by the fishermen. Otherwise, with the intelligence of the white finned porpoise, ordinary people would find it very difficult to catch it. And its intelligence just proved the fishermen's nickname for it as "water monster". I wonder, if it weren't a supernatural creature, how could it be so cunning?

  "Halt!" Wang Kuang saw a fisherman raise an oar to strike the finless porpoise, and hastily stood in front of it, blocking the way. He shouted loudly, and somehow managed to summon the strength to grip the fisherman's arm, which was much thicker than his own, with both hands.

  "Quickly get out of the way, don't let the water monster bite you!" The onlooking fishermen saw Wang Kuang standing with his back to the river dolphin and hastily shouted a warning, an old fisherman even came to pull on Wang Kuang's robe.

  "This is not a water monster." Wang Kuang shouted loudly.

  Everyone was startled by Wang Kuang's loud roar, and they all stared at him in a daze, the scene falling silent for a moment.

  Wang Kuang ignored them and suddenly saw a fisherman carrying a fish basket coated with tung oil, which was usually used to hold live fish. Wang Kuang snatched the basket and ran to the dock in three strides, bending down to scoop up water while shouting at Sun Jiajing: "Old Two, go and untie that net!"

  The water was brought over, and Sun Jiaying had not yet untangled the fish net. Probably because the white finned dolphin had been caught in the net and struggled hard after being captured, many places were tangled into a ball. Sun Jiaying didn't know how to untangle the fishing net, so it was a bit difficult. The onlookers around saw Sun Jiaying trying to untangle the fish net, with her hands waving back and forth near the white finned dolphin's long mouth, and they were shocked, retreating continuously. The braver ones held up their oars in defense, ready to strike if the water monster bit someone. The timid ones covered their eyes with their hands, turning their faces away, not daring to look.

  It's not true that Sun Jiaying wasn't afraid, everyone said it was a water monster and that it would eat people, how could she not be afraid? But Wang Kuang said it wasn't a water monster, so Sun Jiaying believed what Wang Kuang said even more. That's why she plucked up the courage to untangle the fishing net. At first, she was still frightened, but as she continued to untangle, she became less and less afraid. The reason was that several times her hands had brushed against the water monster's mouth, and the water monster could have bitten her hand with just one snap of its jaws, but it didn't bite. So Sun Jiaying's courage grew even greater. As she untangled the fishing net, she would occasionally use her hand to touch the back of the white finless porpoise.

  Wang Kuang brought water over and saw Sun Jiaying still trying to untangle the fishing net, which had already cut into the skin of the white finless porpoise. Fortunately, there was a layer of fat under the skin, and the porpoise's self-healing ability was strong, so it wasn't seriously injured. After half a day of trying to untangle the net without success, Sun Jiaying was drenched in sweat. Wang Kuang patted him on the shoulder: "Don't rush, take your time." Then he poured a bucket of water over the porpoise and went to fetch more water. At this point, the crowd erupted in cheers: "It's born! It's born!"

  Wang Kuang turned around to see that the white finless porpoise was struggling to free itself, and a small tail had already appeared under its abdomen. However, this was not in the water, and the mother and child were unable to borrow any force. The more the mother struggled against the fishing net, the tighter it became, and one of the ropes had even wrapped around the young porpoise's tail, making the situation even more critical. Wang Kuang panicked and quickly pulled out a dagger from the waist of a nearby officer, cutting open the net with three swift strokes. He then tried to lift up the white finless porpoise, but it was too heavy, weighing over 100-200 kilograms, and its smooth skin made it impossible to get a grip on, so he couldn't budge it at all.

  Thinking of the last white finned dolphin in later generations, Wang Kuang couldn't help but feel sad and desperate. If he could save one more white finned dolphin now, maybe there would be a little more hope for future generations. He stood up straight, quickly untied his belt, took off his robe and spread it on the ground, and shouted loudly at Lin Xiangyun: "What are you doing eating dry rice over there? Don't come and help?" This loud shout scared Lin Xiangyun, who had never seen Wang Kuang get so angry before. The sudden shout stunned him, leaving him standing there at a loss for what to do.

  Those two bailiffs probably didn't get yelled at much usually, and after being yelled at once, they became energetic and came to help. Under Wang Kuang's command, they pulled open the cut fishing net, and with the combined strength of four people, they flipped the white finless porpoise onto a mat, then carried it to the riverbank. Wang Kuang lifted while tears streaming down his face: "Hold on, you must hold on, we're almost back in the river."

  Perhaps the sow understood Wang's words, or perhaps it was already exhausted. At this time, it lay motionless in its blanket, only making faint grunting noises to indicate that it was still alive.

  They arrived at the riverbank, where the stone steps on the dock extended into the water. Wang and his companions slowly carried the sow into the river, soaking their robes in the water, allowing it to gradually submerge the sow. Once in the water, the sow became lighter, and Wang instructed the others to continue holding onto the robes while he lifted the sow's head and slowly moved it backwards, ensuring that its reproductive tract was not obstructed by the robes. Under Wang's direction, two constables and Sun Jiaying slowly rocked the robes up and down, allowing the sow to move back and forth in the water, which helped facilitate the birth of the piglets.

  Perhaps feeling Wang Kuang's help, the mother pig gradually began to cooperate with the movement of her tail, and as she saw more and more of Xiao Baiqian's body, Wang Kuang's heart slowly calmed down. It was only then that he remembered his previous loud scolding of Lin Xuanmiao, so he looked up at Lin Xuanmiao and smiled apologetically.

  Although he was stunned by Wang Kuang's loud shout, Lin Xuanming quickly came to his senses and turned around to help Wang Kuang calm down the fishermen whose nets had been cut. However, he didn't see Wang Kuang's apologetic smile directed at him. Wang Kuang saw that Lin Xuanming was helping him calm down the fishermen, so he knew that Lin Xuanming hadn't taken the matter to heart either. He too didn't mind it anymore and continued to observe the white-fin dolphin with his head lowered.

  Most of the little white fin's body was already exposed, and Wang let them take off their robes. The mother dolphin herself went to help, without the robes, the mother dolphin's body twisted left and right, and the little white fin smoothly slid into the water. The mother dolphin then turned around, using her mouth to gently lift up the little dolphin to help it surface for air.

  After a change of air, the little pig suddenly became lively and swam around its mother with tender movements. Wang could still hear the little pig's squeaks.

  Perhaps from the first glance after birth, the little piglet also saw Wang Kuang and others, so when swimming around its mother, it would still run back and forth between the legs of the four people, with a mischievous baby look. When Wang Kuang stretched his hand into the water, the little piglet would swim over to gently touch it with its mouth.

  At this time, the mother pig also gradually recovered her strength, but she didn't rush to take the little pigs for a walk. Instead, she slowly wandered around Wang Kuang and the other three people, oinking and calling out from time to time, occasionally rubbing against their legs with one side of her body. Wang Kuang stretched out his hand and gently stroked the pig's back: "Go, be more careful next time." The mother pig led the little pigs in a few more circles before letting out two high-pitched squeaks and swimming towards the middle of the river, disappearing from view in no time.

  The county magistrate Tao's wine was temporarily undrinkable due to the commotion. He heard that Wang Kuang had come ashore while rescuing a water monster, and Li Yexu was worried that Wang Kuang would get into trouble, so he brought several soldiers to hurry over. When they arrived, it just so happened that the mother pig was leading the little pigs in circles around Wang Kuang and his companions before swimming away.

  Seeing County Magistrate Tao coming over, the two bailiffs hastily reported: "Your Honor, it's really a god, it's really a god. This water monster doesn't bite people and understands human nature. Look, it's still attached to us and won't leave for half a day. If Young Master hadn't let it go, I'm afraid it would have swum several more laps."

  The onlookers were amazed. Lin Xuanmu finally seized the opportunity and glared at him: "Second Brother, you owe me ten tables of wine money." Wang Kuang knew that this guy had already exposed what had just happened, and whether he owed or not, it was all the same. He, Lin Xuanmu, had that copper plate, and the Rich Come Inn would never ask him for wine money, even now, that copper plate was only shown to new partners.

  "Second Master, I heard the villagers say that you said it wasn't a water monster, what is it?" As the county magistrate of Tao County, he naturally put the safety of the county first. If it was indeed a water monster, he would have to organize fishermen to catch it and eliminate the threat.

  "This creature is called the Whitefin Dolphin, named for its relatively pale fin color compared to another type of dolphin. The other dolphin has a less pointed mouth and a protruding forehead, and is called the Great River Dolphin, named because it only inhabits the Yangtze River (in ancient times, the Yangtze was not called the Long River, but rather the Great River or simply the River). Both types of dolphins only inhabit the Yangtze, and are found nowhere else. They normally eat fish and shrimp, never harming humans, and are extremely intelligent, surpassing even dogs in this regard. In some places, fishermen often partner with the river dolphins to catch fish - the dolphins drive the fish towards shallow waters, where the fishermen simply need to cast their nets. After catching the fish, they only need to feed a few fish to the dolphins as payment. These dolphins are like hunting dogs that accompany hunters on land in the mountains. Moreover, these dolphins love to play and will often rescue people, especially children, who fall into the water. Calling them 'water monsters' is truly a great injustice."

  When Wang said this, the fishermen thought carefully: "Now that you mention it, it seems to make sense. I've only heard of water monsters hurting people, but in over a decade of fishing on the river, I haven't heard of anyone being harmed by them. If what young master says is true, and these 'river dolphins' can help us catch fish, then that would be a wonderful thing. However, right now it's just your word against ours, with no proof to back it up - how are we supposed to believe you?"

  He was still talking when someone in the crowd standing by the river shouted, "Look, look! The water monster is back. See what's in its mouth?"

  Everyone looked into the river and, indeed, in the river there was a small cluster of waves rolling towards the shore. Next to it was an even smaller wave. As they got closer, you could see a grayish-white shadow in the water - that was the mother manatee. The one next to it should be the little white-fin manatee.

  When Wang Kuang returned to the riverbank, he saw that the mother otter had quickly swum over to his side, lifted its head, and amazingly, it was holding a large fish of over three kilograms in its mouth. The mother otter slapped the fish onto the shore with a "plop" sound, chirped at Wang Kuang several times, nodded its head, and the little white finned otter following beside it also chirped away. Wang Kuang bent down, reached out to touch the river otter's head that was exposed above the water, and scratched under the chin of the little river otter which had also poked its head out. The little white finned otter looked very pleased, opened its mouth, lightly nipped at Wang Kuang's fingers, and chirped away.

  "Go ahead, thank you for your kindness." Wang Kuang waved his hand to the white finned dolphin, and all the big and small white finned dolphins dived into the water, swam a few rounds by the shore before leaving.

  "Ah, indeed understanding human nature, unexpectedly knowing how to repay kindness." The crowd by the river exclaimed in surprise. For a moment, people's gaze towards Wang Kuang also changed.

  "You don't know, do you? Erlang is actually a celestial being in disguise. Even the geese his family raises are close to him." Lin Xuanmu glanced around at the crowd and was about to show off again, completely forgetting that he was supposed to be a scholar.

  "Speak one more word and you'll have one less dish to eat." Wang Kuang only said one sentence, and Lin Xuanmu immediately pursed his lips and didn't make a sound. The person next to him heard that Wang Kuang was the Star Lord descending to the mortal world, and wanted to ask for confirmation, but he just hummed and nodded in agreement.

  "It seems that this finless porpoise is indeed as Second Brother said, it understands human nature and can catch fish." County Magistrate Tao stroked his face, deep in thought. Wang Kuang seized the opportunity: "Your Honor will be delighted to know that your jurisdiction has produced a finless porpoise that understands human nature and can save people, this is an auspicious sign!" Wang Kuang's words made County Magistrate Tao's eyes light up: Ah, isn't this an auspicious sign? Although the current emperor doesn't like these things, this is indeed a real thing, and it doesn't need to be reported upwards. As long as it is announced throughout the region to treat the auspicious sign with kindness, even if it is passed on to higher authorities later, it can still earn some face for oneself, right?

  Division

  Thank you for correcting me, I have changed the finless porpoise to the Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphin. This chapter is dedicated to the last Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphin - QiQi.

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