Urban Martial Saint

The crowd on the shore watched as Handsome Fatty Wang jumped into the water, only to sneer continuously, without a single person trying to stop him. If there was a water monster in the water, going down would be a death sentence, so they were more than happy to watch Handsome Fatty Wang meet his doom.

When Handsome Fatty Wang jumped into the water, the first sensation he felt was cold, so cold it nearly took his breath away. However, the fat on Handsome Fatty Wang wasn’t for nothing; after a while, he finally started to feel normal again. Not daring to waste any time, he drew the dagger from his waist and immediately swam forward, wanting to hurry and help Ye Qing.

There was a lot of resistance in the water, along with the chilling cold, so Handsome Fatty Wang’s speed was not fast. After about two minutes of swimming, he was still five or six meters away from the place where the fight was happening.

Seeing the distance clearly, Handsome Fatty Wang took a deep breath, dove underwater directly, and prepared to go help Ye Qing. However, as soon as he submerged, a massive gaping maw came rushing towards him. The stark white teeth, like sharp swords, nearly punctured his neck.

Handsome Fatty Wang hadn’t expected this at all; he flinched in terror and instinctively backed away. However, in the water, his speed was far too slow, and that gaping maw quickly approached him, inch by inch. Handsome Fatty Wang had no power to dodge, could only watch as the maw neared his chest, so frightened he shut his eyes.

But after waiting for some time, the expected pain of having his chest bitten open did not come. Instead, after his chest was bumped, nothing else happened. This surprised Handsome Fatty Wang a great deal; he gritted his teeth, opened his eyes, and saw, not far in front of him, the head of a crocodile floating. It had its mouth wide open - it was the very maw Handsome Fatty Wang had seen a moment ago. It was swaying in the water as if it had lost all consciousness, not moving an inch, as if it were dead.

This stunned Handsome Fatty Wang; upon closer inspection, he was shocked to discover that there was actually a serpent’s body attached behind the crocodile’s head. On top of the serpent’s body, there was a shell about a meter wide, resembling a turtle shell. Behind that was an extended tail, exactly like a serpent’s, looking very strange and quite terrifying.

Could this be the water monster in the water?

While Handsome Fatty Wang was in shock and lost in wild thoughts, a dark shadow suddenly shot out from behind the water monster. Startled, Handsome Fatty Wang quickly clenched his dagger and thrust it towards the shadow. But before his dagger could hit the shadow, his wrist was caught by the other and his dagger was effortlessly snatched away. Then, without a second thought, the person dragged Handsome Fatty Wang towards the surface of the water.

Handsome Fatty Wang struggled with all his might, but ultimately couldn’t break free, being pulled out of the water by this shadow. His hands still flailed around, trying to grab a weapon for self-defense as the two broke through the water’s surface. Then, a familiar voice sounded in his ear: ”You stupid fatso, are you trying to kill me?”

”Huh?” Handsome Fatty Wang paused for a second; that was Ye Qing’s voice. Looking closely, floating beside him was indeed Ye Qing. Ye Qing had already taken off his diving mask and was looking at him with an annoyed expression.

”Oh my gosh, it’s you?” Handsome Fatty Wang’s eyes widened immediately, exclaiming, ”Why didn’t you say anything? I almost thought I’d met a water ghost. Damn, nearly scared me to death!”

”Nonsense, how could I talk to you underwater?” Ye Qing replied in irritation, looking at Handsome Fatty Wang, all geared up in diving suit, curiously asking, ”Why did you come down too?”

Handsome Fatty Wang pouted and said, ”Nonsense, with that massive commotion you caused underwater, how could I not come and take a look? If you were dead, I should quickly leave too, not wait here to die myself!”

Although Handsome Fatty Wang said this, Ye Qing understood that this guy definitely came down to help him. This made Ye Qing feel warm inside, as despite everything, Handsome Fatty Wang was a loyal person.

”Don’t worry, I’ve already said I’m not that easy to kill.” Ye Qing waved a hand at Handsome Fatty Wang, saying, ”Alright, the water monster has been dealt with. Let’s get ashore first and talk then.”

”Water monster?” Handsome Fatty Wang quickly turned his head and said, ”Right, I seemed to see the water monster earlier at the bottom. Crocodile head, turtle shell, snake body, is that right?”

”You’ll see soon enough.” Ye Qing pushed Handsome Fatty Wang and swam towards the shore. He had one hand held behind him, as if he was dragging something.

Handsome Fatty Wang had no idea what Ye Qing was holding, but seeing Ye Qing unharmed, he felt much more at ease. Together with Ye Qing, they swam to the shore, where Nine-Fingers Wu Yong and the others were waiting. Seeing the two return safely, everyone was greatly shocked.

They knew that the underwater disturbance earlier had indicated that Ye Qing had certainly encountered the water monster. In such a situation, for the two of them to come back alive was simply incredible.

Nine-Fingers Wu Yong hurried over, smiling as he said, ”Mr. Ye, you really opened my eyes. To encounter a water monster and still return alive, you...”

As he spoke, Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s expression suddenly froze, his eyes fixed on the space behind Ye Qing, with an expression full of disbelief.

The people behind Nine-Fingers Wu Yong were also staring at Ye Qing’s back, their expressions even more shocked than Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s. Handsome Fatty Wang didn’t know what had happened and turned his head with curiosity, ”Hey, Young Ye, what’s wrong with these people? What are they looking at...”

As he spoke, Handsome Fatty Wang’s voice stopped abruptly. Because he too saw what Ye Qing was pulling behind him.

It was a gigantic crocodile head, the very one Handsome Fatty Wang had seen underwater earlier, looking extremely terrifying. A scabbard, the scabbard of The Ancestor of Miao Dao, was stuck in the crocodile head’s neck. Behind it was a massive turtle shell, and a snake tail extending far out.

”This... this...” Handsome Fatty Wang gaped, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time.

”What are you staring at? Come help!” Ye Qing dragged the water monster along as he walked and said, ”This water monster is too heavy, I can’t pull it by myself.”

Only then did everyone snap out of it, with Nine-Fingers Wu Yong being the first to jump into the water, quickly running over to help. Seeing Nine-Fingers Wu Yong move, the others hurried over too, working together to drag the water monster to the shore.

Once the water monster was on the shore, Handsome Fatty Wang was able to see its full appearance clearly. It was truly deserving of being called a water monster. Not only did it look strange, but it was also massive, measuring about five meters in length, with its tail taking up three meters. That three-meter tail, similar to a python’s body, possessed terrifying strength, enough to crush a person’s bones. The water monster’s entire body was covered in scale armor, which ordinary blades would be hard-pressed to penetrate, and the shell on its back was even more fearsome, impervious even to a Famed Instrument.

”Is this... this really the water monster?” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s face was full of excitement and shock; clearly, he had never seen such a thing before.

”It should be.” Ye Qing nodded and said, ”There’s only this one thing underwater, and it’s very powerful, with scale armor that is impervious to blades and guns. Fortunately, I brought a Famed Instrument with me and stabbed it in the neck to kill it. Otherwise, a bare-handed fight wouldn’t have been able to deal with this water monster!”

”I see!” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong glanced at the water monster’s neck where the scabbard was but didn’t pay much attention. In his line of work, Famed Instruments were common, but a water monster like this was something he was seeing for the first time.

”Wow, what on earth is this thing?” Handsome Fatty Wang was also staring at the water monster in awe, with everyone’s attention fully drawn to it. Seeing such a thing for the first time, everyone couldn’t help but feel curious.

Ye Qing asked, ”Mr. Wu, you’ve seen a lot, haven’t you ever seen such a thing?”

”Let me take a closer look.” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong circled the water monster and observed it closely for a while, his face full of shock. After a long time, he slowly retreated a few steps, examined it from a distance, and then said in a low voice, ”This thing, why does it look like the legendary and supposedly extinct dragon crocodile?”

”Dragon crocodile?” Ye Qing asked curiously, ”What is this thing?”

”It’s a branch of the crocodile, looking like both a crocodile and a python. Initially, people called these crocodiles serpent crocodiles, but later found the name unpleasant, so they changed it to dragon crocodile.” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong said solemnly, ”However, this kind of dragon crocodile is said to have gone extinct over a thousand years ago. Biologists have found fossil specimens, but to this day, no living specimen has been discovered anywhere in the world!”

”Is that so?” Ye Qing was astonished as he looked at the water monster, so it’s not really a water monster, just an exotic species that has not been seen by people. Because it looks strange, it gets called a water monster, but actually, it’s not that mysterious.”

”It looks very much like a dragon crocodile. However, there is a big issue...” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong walked up to the side of the water monster and tapped its shell, speaking solemnly, ”Dragon crocodiles don’t grow shells. How could this dragon crocodile have such a shell on its back?”

”So it shouldn’t be a dragon crocodile then?” Ye Qing said, ”Could it be some other species?”

”It’s hard to say.” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong scratched his head and said, ”Judging by this water monster’s body, it looks exactly like a dragon crocodile. But, dragon crocodiles don’t have shells, so if it’s not a dragon crocodile, then what species is it? I’ve read many ancient books, but have never seen a creature like this!”

”Just because you haven’t seen it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist,” Handsome Fatty Wang said, ”Maybe it’s a species not recorded in books, or in the ones you’ve read!”

”That is possible.” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong slowly nodded and circled the water monster again, closely examining the shell. After a while, his expression suddenly changed, and he said in a solemn voice, ”No, no! This is not another species; it is a dragon crocodile!”