Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian was not just entertaining Xiao Zhi. Under Xiao Zhi’s supervision, Zian and Huang added one another on WeChat. Zian also promised time and time again that he’d take a photo when the whale appeared and send the photo to Huang.
Huang held Xiao Zhi’s hand in one hand, and in the other he held onto the kite. Huang thanked Zhang Zian. “Sorry to trouble you. This kid is really stubborn. God knows who he took after…”
Zhang Zian laughed. “It’s all right! It’s just a small matter. Anyway, I’m also quite free. I would also like to see what kind of whale it is, so you don’t have to feel bad.”
“Aiya! Both of you stop talking! What if we miss the whale again!” Xiao Zhi vigorously shook his father’s hand.
“Fine, we’ll be leaving first then.” Huang smiled and said goodbye.
Zhang Zian waved his hands at them, then took his phone and returned to his original position.
From the sound of a car engine behind him, it seemed as though the father and son also came to the beach by car.
After they left, Zhang Zian continued to wait patiently.
Another few minutes passed.
Zian was also growing a little impatient. He started to doubt—well, not Xiao Zhi, but he suspected that the whale had already left. Why was it not surfacing after such a long time?
If it hadn’t swum away yet… then it was most likely going to be a big guy beyond imagination.
There seemed to be very few large whales in the waters around China. Of course, due to the emergence of Sihwa, the situation had changed and past experience was no longer applicable.
Zhang Zian grabbed some stones in order to pass some time and to not grow sleepy from waiting. He stood up and threw them into the sea one by one. He constantly adjusted the height and angle of the shot as he tried to reach further and further.
The stones went right into the sea, making little splashes of water.
Soon, he had only one stone left in his hand. The size and weight of the stone felt very comfortable, and with the experience of the cannon fodders earlier, he was sure that he could throw the stone further.
Standing on one foot, his body half turned, his arm stretched out––just like a professional baseball pitcher––he threw the stone out.
The stone really did fly far away, drawing a curve in the air before slamming into the sea.
Right when the splash of water jumped out, almost at the horizon, a huge water pillar suddenly spouted out of the sea!
The water pillar was really high, although there were no objects nearby to compare it with. Through his visual inspection, it was definitely not less than five meters––it was probably about ten meters, or even higher. There was a large volume of water splashed out and it looked exactly like a giant fountain. It’s not comparable to the thin gas column sprayed by the minke whale that was just about two meters high.
The sea breeze was very loud, and if that wasn’t the case, the sharp whistling sound as the airflow passed through the hole would definitely be heard from afar.
Zhang Zian was so surprised and stunned, that he almost forgot to take a picture for Xiao Zhi. After a momentary pause, he raised up his mobile phone and pointed the camera at the target. The water pillar had already reached its highest point and was already falling back down, but it was still very spectacular as the water smashed back down into the sea like a waterfall.
A wide gigantic black back separated the deep blue waters and floated up like a submarine to breathe. Because it was too far away, the details couldn’t be seen clearly, but one thing was for sure: that was a huge adult whale. Just by looking at its back, it looked just like a moving, floating island. It was definitely one of the few, largest types of whales.
Zhang Zian not only observed the whale but also took photos one after another. Although the photos were blurry when they were enlarged, one could still tell that it was a whale.
In the end, he gave up taking photos and took a video instead.
This behemoth wandered around the sea alone, floating up one moment, and then going back down just beneath the water’s surface the next. According to the habits of whales, the continuous surfacing and diving motion was the way it prepared to take a deep breath for its deep dive. After that deep dive, no one knew how long it would take to surface again, or even where it would surface; it could be a few kilometers, or even a dozen kilometers, away.
Zhang Zian stared at its figure. It might be his first and last time seeing it, and there might not be another chance if he missed the next one.
Sure enough, the next time it floated on the surface of the sea was exceptionally long. It then plunged down at a steep angle––almost at a 45 degree angle to the sea.
Its huge tail fin emerged out from the water, then slapped back down against the sea, creating large waves.
Following its dive, a small whirlpool and white foam were formed on the surface of the water, which disappeared after some time.
The whale also disappeared.
The sea returned to its usual calmness as if nothing had happened. If it wasn’t for the video on his phone that recorded everything, Zian really wouldn’t have been able to believe that such a huge whale had appeared in the waters just outside of Binhai City.
Zian waited on for a while more, but the whale did not appear again.
He had no plans to continue waiting. God only knew when the whale was going to surface again, and he did not have a whole day to waste there.
Zian kept his promise. He picked out a few well-taken photos, including the video, sent them to Huang, satisfying Xiao Zhi’s wish.
Huang soon replied with three thumbs up emoticons.
After he was done with the matter, Zhang Zian didn’t forget what he came there for. He took the underwater speakers from the car and lowered them into the sea. He then searched around the nearby beaches for any rare marine creatures, looking over at the distant sea from time to time, holding on to the thought that it just might come back again.
As he continued to walk, he suddenly stepped on something hard.
Zian bent down and brushed off the sand to find a broken wooden handle. The handle was black and red in color, like it had been soaked in blood.
“…What a coincidence,” Zian muttered to himself. He then pulled the wooden handle out from the sand. The tip of the wooden handle was barbed with sharp metal; it was the harpoon that was extracted from the injured minke whale.
At that time, the situation was urgent, so after he took out the harpoon, he didn’t have the time to take a closer look and just threw it to the ground. It was then washed away when the high tides came, and he couldn’t find it even if he wanted to.
It turned out that he had unknowingly walked to the location where the whale had beached itself.
Zian used the seawater to wash off the sand from the surface of the harpoon, revealing the harpoon’s original appearance.
How does one put it… It was a simplified version of the harpoon. It was not the kind that would be launched by the harpoon cannon of a large whaling ship. It also showed that the minke whale did not meet a Japanese whaling team… If it had really met such a team and it was struck by their powerful harpoon cannon, it could never survive.
The metal part of the harpoon had already rusted red, so it was not known if the color of the rust was already reddish or if it was dyed red with the whale’s blood.
Zhang Zian flipped the harpoon around and looked all over it. His finger seemed to have come in contact with an unusual bump near the tip.
Once again, Zian took out his Swiss army knife and used the file to file off some of the rust.
An unfamiliar character was revealed underneath the rust that seemed to have been carved on.
If Zian was not wrong, the character was Korean. He was not too sure about its meaning, but if he were to guess, he would guess that it represented a certain surname.
