Chapter 398, Water Babies

Translator: Silavin

 

Once Yan Hua was done catching Fish Frogs, many more creatures appeared around the river surface.

 

These creatures looked quite strange, with only black lines visible across the river surface.

 

These black creatures kept advancing toward the Fish Frogs, moving very quickly, like natural-born swimmers.

 

“What is that?” Su Bai asked.

 

Yu Ying stood on her tiptoes looking toward the river, saying. “They seem to be Poison Insects. They live in the river and occasionally come out.”

 

Yu Ying knew about these creatures. She had been accidentally bitten by them before, with the bitten area remaining numb for a long time. Moreover, these creatures’ bites were extremely painful, and after biting, the Poison Insects would release toxins, causing temporary paralysis in the bitten area.

 

They would then bite other parts to ensure the prey would not be able to move, before proceeding with the kill.

 

“Poison Insects? They look a bit like centipedes,” Su Bai had already seen the overall appearance of the Poison Insects. They looked just like centipedes from Earth, though larger in size, with longer rows of feet, while their heads had not changed much.

 

“Shaman, what’s a centipede?” Yu Ying asked.

 

“Nothing. Are these Poison Insects out to hunt?” Su Bai noticed they were appearing in groups.

 

“Yes, they’ll try to eat anything, even Humans,” Yu Ying said, feeling somewhat fearful just thinking about it.

 

Just as she finished speaking, Totem Warriors began telling people to evacuate.

 

Those who had been crowded along the riverside began retreating, moving very quickly. In the blink of an eye, what had been a dense crowd of people suddenly disappeared.

 

“Are they that terrifying?” Su Bai was very curious about the Poison Insects’ lethality.

 

On Earth, it was rare to see centipedes acting in groups – they were usually solitary, and though quite large, they did not actively attack Humans.

 

*Shh shh shh…* The Poison Insects made sounds as they glided across the water’s surface. It was not clear if it was their calls or the sound of their feet sliding across the water.

 

Those Poison Insects swam over from the distant river surface, and the Fish Frogs quickly fell prey.

 

In just a moment, many Fish Frogs that had just jumped into the water were bitten by Poison Insects.

 

The Fish Frogs were quite large, bigger than two adult palms put together, yet they were quickly immobilized by Poison Insects smaller than themselves.

 

However, the Poison Insects prevailed through numbers, with usually three or four Poison Insects biting one Fish Frog.

 

After being bitten once, those frogs could not move their legs. Within ten seconds, they gradually lost consciousness until they were completely motionless.

 

“So the toxin is that strong…” Su Bai muttered, having gained new knowledge about this world today.

 

*Shh shh shh…* Those Poison Insects began crawling toward the shore, as they did every year, sometimes even entering the Tribe.

 

Yan Hua calmly took out her longbow and began aiming at those Poison Insects, with other Warriors doing the same.

 

A series of *whooshing* sounds rang out, and those Poison Insects were all pinned down by arrows.

 

Seeing most of their landed companions violently die, the rest did not dare to act rashly. The lingered in place for a while before returning to the river.

 

“This is what must be done, every year.” Yan Hua put away her longbow, preparing to continue spearing fish with the Warriors.

 

But before they could get close to the shore, small whirlpools suddenly appeared on the river surface.

 

These whirlpools were like something underwater openings. The Poison Insects and Fish Frogs floating on the surface were pulled in by the vortex.

 

*Splash splash…*

 

The sound was loud enough for Su Bai to clearly hear even at a distance from the riverbank. This suction took away large numbers of Poison Insects and Fish Frogs.

 

It was not over yet, as many more whirlpools appeared on the river surface, continuously sucking in those Poison Insects, Fish Frog, and other fishes.

 

The scene looked exactly like black holes had appeared, with all the creatures around the surface of the river being sucked into those whirlpools.

 

“Is this a natural phenomenon or is there a Ferocious Beast doing this?” Su Bai did not know what this phenomenon was, having seen many strange things today.

 

“These are Water Babies, they have very large mouths, and there are many of them during the rainy season though they’re rarely seen at other times.” Yan Hua explained.

 

Yan Hua began preparing her Beast Bone Spear, looking eager to act.

 

“Water Babies?” Su Bai found this name familiar and asked. “What kind of creature is it?”

 

“A beast that makes sounds like a baby and lives in the water, so we call them Water Babies…” Yan Hua kept her eyes fixed on the river surface without turning her head.

 

Sha Lan and other warriors were the same, all beginning to prepare their spears.

 

[So, they’re Giant Salamanders… to call them babies… haaa…] Su Bai immediately recognised the creature after hearing what she had said and seeing them himself.

 

On Earth, Giant Salamanders were also called ‘hellbenders’. They lived in unique environments. They generally lived in mountain streams, rivers, and lakes with rapid currents, cool water, abundant water plants, and many rock crevices and caves.

 

Sometimes, they would also be active among tree roots on shore or fallen tree trunks, choosing to inhabit caves near shoals with backflow.

 

Their food included fish, frogs, crabs, snakes, shrimp, earthworms, and aquatic insects, so seeing them sucking in frogs now was not that surprising.

 

However, the Giant Salamanders on Earth were certainly not like those of the Primitive Era. These were able to form whirlpools underwater!

 

“Oh yes, I guess Giant Salamander does suit them better.” Yan Hua suddenly felt this name was good.

 

She had always felt something was off about the name ‘Water Babies’. She realised it was missing the word ‘Salamander’.

 

“Actually, Giant Salamanders aren’t fish, they are a type of amphibian.” Su Bai explained.

 

Yan Hua was bewildered after hearing this, only knowing she wanted to catch some Water Babies, as these Water Babies were very large, and it would be good if they could catch a big one.

 

She focused intently on the whirlpools on the river surface, saying, “Shaman, I’ll catch some to bring back to eat.”

 

“Eat a Giant Salamander? Well, I’ve certainly never tried one before.” Su Bai raised his eyebrows.

 

On Earth, wild Giant Salamanders could not be eaten, as it was illegal. However, it was not completely impossible to eat them. However, only second-generation and beyond Giant Salamanders could be consumed and utilized.

 

This meant that wild Giant Salamanders’ offspring raised in captivity, which were the first generation, could not be eaten.

 

The next generation was the second generation, the ‘grandchild’ of the wild Giant Salamanders. Those were the ones which could be eaten.

 

“Shaman, I’ll catch some for you right now.” Yan Hua said.

 

“Be careful,” Su Bai reminded her.