Chapter Nine: The Magpie's Vengeful Heart

"Chatter, chatter..." Suddenly, a dark shadow swept overhead.

Lu Chen had barely turned his head when—smack—a warm, foul-smelling mass dropped from the sky, landing squarely on his forehead.

In the next instant, he realized what it was.

Damn it… feces, and fresh at that.

The magpie had actually relieved itself right on his head!

"Chatter, chatter!" The culprit didn't fly away after its mischief. Instead, it hovered in midair, flapping its wings and shrieking at him.

Lu Chen finally understood: this magpie's act was no accident—it was looking for trouble.

He recalled reading online in his previous life that magpies are highly vengeful birds. If a person or animal provokes them, they're subjected to relentless attacks.

He was fairly certain he hadn't eaten any magpies lately, so why had this creature targeted him?

After a moment's thought, he remembered the recent incident with the fishhook and magpie. It was likely this very bird had been among those that besieged him.

He hadn't expected it to hold a grudge for more than a week, but clearly it did.

"Roar, hiss, roar, hiss..." Lu Chen tilted his head towards the sky and let out a low growl.

How dare you deploy biological weapons against me? If you've got the guts, come closer and face me!

With his strengthened claws, Lu Chen's jumping ability had greatly improved. If he unleashed the full power of his limbs, he could leap over a meter high. Should the magpie descend any further, he'd teach it a lesson it wouldn't soon forget.

But before he could even close his mouth—

Smack—another barrage of droppings landed, delivered with pinpoint accuracy.

"Ugh..." Lu Chen nearly retched, vomiting repeatedly, the stench lingering in his long beak. Even after rinsing his mouth several times at the lakeshore, the foul odor persisted.

Forget it, there's no point in arguing with a foolish bird.

Knowing he was temporarily powerless against the magpie, Lu Chen wisely ceased his provocations and turned his attention to more pressing matters.

He let the three young saltwater crocodiles forage in the shallow waters near the shore, then slipped his robust tail into the lake, heading for the deeper water to explore.

After swimming barely twenty meters, he spotted a rectangular object on the lakebed, glimmering faintly—it was unmistakably man-made.

The crocodile's body sank, and his sharp claws gently scraped through the silt—he uncovered a smartphone.

The latest model from a certain brand, worth several thousand yuan, probably dropped by someone boating or fishing in the lake.

The phone's surface was coated in green algae, evidence it had lain underwater for months, rendered completely unusable.

Yet, for Lu Chen, the device was utterly worthless. He glanced at it, then discarded it.

Soon, he noticed the lakebed was littered with far more human detritus than he had imagined. Beverage bottles, plastic wrappers abounded, countless in number. There were also selfie sticks, torn clothes, umbrellas, fishing rods, cameras—a veritable landfill.

After swimming a bit further, Lu Chen surfaced.

With his exceptional eyesight, he could clearly observe the opposite shore.

When he first chose to settle in Willow Lake Park, Lu Chen had carefully studied the map signs posted along the bank and had a thorough understanding of his surroundings.

The park covered nearly two thousand acres, with Willow Lake as its centerpiece, stretching irregularly east to west and spanning over four hundred acres of water.

Lu Chen and the young crocodiles inhabited the reed marsh near Wujiang, an undeveloped protected area rarely visited by tourists.

The developed area across the lake, however, was lively, often bustling with people boating or fishing.

With the sun just risen and the lake's temperature still cool, anglers were already casting their lines from the shore.

Wary of being discovered, Lu Chen kept his distance, turned back, and headed for the shallows to catch some fish and satiate his hunger.

Passing through a patch of aquatic grass, he noticed many mitten crabs foraging, but felt no urge to hunt them.

"In September, the females are rich with roe; in October, the males are plump and tender," he recalled—the golden season for eating crabs. Now, in early May, the crabs’ shells were empty, their flesh scant and fishy, hardly appetizing.

Moreover, they provided little energy, so Lu Chen didn't bother.

He soon turned his gaze to another patch of water plants—there lurked several large catfish.

Catfish prefer to dwell among aquatic weeds or in crevices, and are often found in groups.

With the rising temperatures, they too had ventured out to forage.

Lu Chen became a silent predator, approaching without a sound.

From underwater, he appeared as a piece of weathered, black driftwood, floating with the current.

A catfish feeding at the edge of the grass was oblivious to the threat.

Splash!

With a sudden rush of water—

Snap!

A gaping maw clamped down on the prey’s head.

The surface churned as the one-kilogram catfish struggled desperately, its tail thrashing the water in a bid to escape death.

All in vain—soon, the water was stained crimson.

The other catfish, startled by the commotion, had already fled. To them, a fifty-centimeter-long saltwater crocodile was an unquestioned overlord, not to be trifled with.

With his quarry secured, Lu Chen headed for the shore to enjoy his meal.

Suddenly, he caught a faint scent of blood drifting through the lake—not from the catfish, but something else, two or three hundred meters away... oddly familiar.

Lu Chen felt instinctively uneasy, as if this blood carried an aura of dread and aversion.

What could it be? Was the giant snakehead also out hunting?

He was curious, but not enough to risk investigating.

Curiosity killed the cat—if it really was the snakehead, approaching would be suicide.

***

After a day of blazing sun, the bloody smell in the water not only persisted, but grew stronger.

That rotten, nauseating odor tormented Lu Chen’s sensitive nose.

He sniffed carefully, confirming it was not from dead fish, but something unknown.

Determined to uncover the truth, Lu Chen set out to investigate.

Following the scent, he glided smoothly through the water, never letting his guard down, always attuned to the vibrations around him.

Closer, and closer.

With every meter, the sense of discomfort intensified.

Until—he stopped.

Ten meters below, on the lakebed, rested a reddish-brown rolling suitcase. Its appearance was almost new, suggesting it hadn't been submerged long.

The overwhelming stench, the source of his unease and nausea, emanated from within the suitcase.

Lu Chen was stunned, anxiety and panic flooding him as terrible thoughts took shape.

Words like crime and murder flashed through his mind. He finally understood why the initial scent had triggered such instinctive dread and revulsion.