Trafford's Trading Club

624: Chapter 37: The Drowning Man 624: Chapter 37: The Drowning Man “Wait, turn over there.”

The Passat had not been on the village road for long before Da Zhe had Da Tou turn in another direction—not towards the road to his ex-wife’s village.

Da Tou was taken aback, “Brother Zhe, why are you going there at this time, aren’t you worried about… your ex-wife?”

Da Zhe shook his head and said calmly, “Do you really think Xiao Yu Cheng is god, daring to act recklessly in broad daylight?

Don’t worry, Tingting’s family elders are not doing well, and the relatives are all gathering there, nothing will happen in broad daylight.” “Alright then.”

It didn’t take long for Da Tou’s Passat to park next to a reservoir surrounded by mountains.

Da Tou stayed in the car, and Da Zhe told him to wait.

Da Zhe carried the things he bought from a small village shop and took a shortcut to the edge of the reservoir—it was a reservoir built long ago.

How deep is the water?

Probably no one was willing to try.

But every year, people from the nearby villages would secretly come here to swim, and eventually drown.

The government put warning lines around the reservoir… yet it couldn’t stop the daring ones.

Da Zhe finally crossed over the warning wire and came to a recessed sandy area next to the water, squatted down by the edge, and silently took out the things he bought from the plastic bag.

A few small pieces of bread.

Da Zhe stacked them up, then took out a bundle of incense from the bag, lit a few sticks, closed his eyes, and prayed silently for a moment, then stuck them into the ground. “Not something great, but eat it, it’s better than those cold fish down there.”

Da Zhe sat cross-legged by the side and started smoking, yet his ear hummed. … “Brother Zhe, I can’t, I really can’t!

If I can’t gather enough money, Sang Kun will kill me!

He really will kill me!” “How many times have I told you, don’t gamble at Sang Kun’s place!

Are you crazy?

Don’t you know what kind of place that is?

It devours you whole!” “How should I know!

That croupier told me there was a way to make money from the booth, split it half with me!

Brother Zhe, my wife is about to give birth, and my dad is in the hospital, I just intended to try my luck… didn’t expect them to conspire against me!” “Enough, I don’t want to hear these things!

Let me ask you, do you feel right kidnapping someone’s child like this?

You said your wife is going to give birth, and you are about to become a father.

Your child is a child, but someone else’s child is not?

And you all, the ones hiding this from me and helped him kidnap someone?

If Dragon hadn’t let it slip when I asked, were you planning to keep this from me, as if nothing happened?

Do you all even consider if I exist?” “Brother Zhe, we… we really had no choice!

Xiao Hu owed too much, even if we wanted to gather the money, we couldn’t…” “Yes!

If we weren’t driven into a corner, pushed by Sang Kun, we wouldn’t have done it.

You don’t know, the other day Sang Kun even led people to Xiao Hu’s house, made a scene, saying if the money wasn’t returned, there’d be no son to speak of!

It scared Xiao Hu’s wife nearly into miscarriage…” “Where is she now?” “In the hospital, the fetus is safe for now… but she doesn’t want to see me anymore.” “Serves you right!” “Brother Zhe… what about this matter?” “Don’t even think about it!

You must return the child!

I’ll think of something for Sang Kun… tonight, I’ll talk to him.” “Brother Zhe… maybe you shouldn’t go?

You said you wouldn’t get involved anymore, that you’ve washed your hands of these matters.

Sister is so good, you don’t need to get involved in this mess.

Besides, the kid’s dad, Lin Chenggong, runs a apparel factory, he’s loaded.

Asking for five hundred thousand, he won’t make a fuss!

We just need to be careful, and it’ll be fine!” “No way!

I said no and that’s final!

You send the child back right now, go find Sang Kun immediately.

Did you hear me?” “Un… understood…” …

Suddenly feeling a sharp pain, Da Zhe shuddered, realizing the cigarette butt unknowingly burned his finger.

The burning pain instinctively made him flinch.

Da Zhe sighed; the day had somehow turned gloomy, as if it was about to rain.

Just as he was about to leave, the tranquil reservoir water suddenly started to ripple, with circles of ripples spreading from different spots, intertwining, canceling, and intertwining again.

The water began to churn, faster and faster, more and more intensely.

Sharp children’s laughter echoed all around, bursts, bursts, from all directions, near and far.

It felt like something passed behind him; Da Zhe turned sharply to look, only to see a small figure flash by… then on his left… right… behind once again!

Da Zhe could never get a clear look, only catching glimpses of the small figure.

Gurgle, gurgle… the reservoir water’s gurgling sound grew louder, Da Zhe felt cold all over, his heart pounded fiercely, fixing his gaze back on the water surface.

He saw, from the dark green reservoir water, a stream of water slowly rose… lengthening, morphing, clearing, a small water figure floated to the water’s surface.

Round eyes, round mouth, silently, silently…

Da Zhe instinctively stepped back… backing off by instinct!

The horrifying small figure before him suddenly swung its hands!

The dark green water beside it seemed alive, transforming into thousands of arms, layer upon layer, surging toward him.

These arms grabbed Da Zhe’s arms, feet, body, neck… his entire being was engulfed by these water arms!

He instantly couldn’t breathe within these water-made arms, with cold liquid flooding in through his nostrils, mouth, eyes… every pore of his body.

Bit by bit, he was dragged into the water by these terrifying arms. …

Gasp…

Gasp!

Da Zhe clutched his throat, gulping down fresh air, kneeling on the soggy sandy ground.

The incense beside him was almost burnt to the end, yet the reservoir before him remained calm.

He was still sitting in the same place, not having moved an inch…

Da Zhe finally took a deep breath, as if accustomed to this terrifying experience, stood up quietly… walked away silently.

Da Zhe crossed over the warning line and climbed up the road, where Da Tou was unbuttoning his pants to urinate under a tree nearby.

Da Tou turned around at the sound, “Brother Zhe, I even took a nap and you took so long… you don’t look so good, huh?” “Da Tou,” Da Zhe suddenly looked at Da Tou with a serious look. “What?”

Da Zhe paused for a moment, shook his head, and said, “Don’t play in this reservoir’s water.”

Da Tou was stunned, “Am I crazy?

Why would I play in water here when I can go to the pool, lots of women there!” “Drive, let’s get going before it’s dark.” … … “Ready to eat!”

Grandma Xiao Chun came out with a smile, holding a dish of taro and braised pork.

There were two tables in the living room, and newspapers were spread on the coffee table, making a makeshift third table, all of them were filled with people.

The old, the middle-aged, the young, forcing smiles. ￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥

PS1: Many people asked why some plot holes weren’t filled, like why hasn’t little butterfly appeared, and so on.

Let me explain the timeline a bit.

PS2: To start with, Boss Luo became a boss around March or April, then it moved into the summer holidays, then Golden Week.

The online game incident after Golden Week was less than a month.

The storyline in hometown now is around November to December.

So… little butterfly has been evolving underground for at most three or four months.

PS3: Actually, I wanted to say, though I have written this book for almost eleven months, Boss Luo has only lived through eight months… you try torturing me (manually crossed out).