Chapter 18 - Spear fishing

The hand holding the paintbrush started to tremble. He gently touched the bristles of it. 'it was all your fault… then am I really dead? There is a small percentage that I can be alive in that world. So can my grandma…'

He hurriedly squatted down on the ground and licked the brush to wet it. To his surprise, it tasted bloody.

Upon careful look, he noticed a huge blotch of blood that was still wet on the brush's stem.

'This could only mean that the attack happened. I was really hacked by Dai Zu…'

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he hurriedly started to write on his hand. "I wish to go back to the life of Kui lang,"

After writing, he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened. It really frustrated him.

"Why isn't this working? This was supposed to be a magic bush! JUST TAKE ME HOME," he hurriedly wrote another one of his wishes. 'Save my grandmother's life.'

Without a break, like a crazy person, he licked the brush and started to write his wishes again and again hoping and praying that it would come true.

Sighing, Kui hugged the brush close to his body... "please work… please. At least save my grandmother. I don't want anything else… just save her,"

His fingertips graced the blunt broken handle of the brush. It was possible that the brush stopped working because it was not whole.

"Fuck... what am I going to do…"

he crumbled to the ground.

Three days went by and the doctor came to check on him. The old man carefully unwrapped the bandages. "Umm looks like your wounds have healed,"

Kui quickly took a look at his thigh. The huge bite marks that were red and bleeding profusely had completely disappeared, leaving small pink scars. 'What the… how did It heal so fast?'

For a wound at that degree, it would have taken at least a month to completely heal. This speed of healing was completely inhuman.

"How did it heal so fast?" he whispered ever so softly to the doctor.

"it's because of your blood, young man. hybrids always heal fast. If we had saved your father sooner, he would have survived too," he sighed softly.

'Hybrid? Just as I had guessed, I might not be completely human... but what kind of hybrid am I?' he touched his own torso.

The place he was reborn into was a small seaside village with a total of Four families. The women of the family stay behind and take care of the kids while the men go to work at the crack of dawn. The kind people actually took good care of him while he was sick. The food they brought was bland, but it was filled with love.

Weirdly, so the small human/hybrid settlement did not have a mirror. It looked like no one cared about their appearance.

The woman simply braided their hair and men wore their hair longer in a tight braid with bots of glass and bone beads.

He had met the men of the small settlement only once. That too when they were going to fish. All of them looked tall and sleek, with swimmer-like muscles. Weirdly, all of their eyes were brilliant blue. Just like that merman.

"This is good. that means you can get back to work." The old doctor whispered, pulling him out of his thoughts.

It was a fishing village and everyone here depended solely on fishing for their income.

'I have no clue how to fish though…'

Gulping, he gazed at the old man. "I… I can't remember how to fish,"

"It's okay. The men will teach you. Be ready by early morning. They'll come pick you up." the old doctor picked up his basket and left slowly.

Kui sat frozen on the bed. 'Okay... this is an opportunity for me to explore. I can learn more about this world. If, maybe if, I find some clue I might be able to go back to my world.'

The next morning came about before he could realize it. at the crack of dawn, the men came calling for him.

"Kui," a young twenty-of-something guy poked his head into the hut. "Ready?"

Kui nodded. He wore the most intact pair of shirt and pants. "Ready,"

The young man looked him up and down. "You're not ready yet. Oh, Aunt said you forgot. How did I forget that? I swear I have fish brains," Chuckling the man entered his house. "I'm Chao by the way,"

"Hi," Kui awkwardly stood in a corner, watching the man search through the small trunk of clothes. Under the layer of clothes was a wooden spear tied to hemp rope. "Here you will need this."

He took out the weapon confusedly. 'So, we are spearfishing... this is going to be harder than I realized.'

"You'll need this too," the man handed him something that looked like a flipper.

"Wait…. You guys don't fish with nets?"

"Nets? No, the stone fish close to the shore do not fall for it. we have to hunt them personally," the man said cheerfully.

Kui clutched the spear tightly. 'Goodness I'm screwed…'