Living with Monsters

Chapter 8: The Creepy Fish Soup II
Translator: JuneZ
“Ahhh! Summer, come and help me!” Ye’s screaming was sexy. She held that big fish with all her strength, but the fish struggled so hard that its tail slapped her face. Clever Summer lifted up Ye’s shirt and the big fish slid to the ground. But meanwhile Ye’s upper body was exposed.

Blood erupted from my nose again.

The big fish caused some chaos and was eventually thrown into an iron bucket by Summer, Ye was so excited and said she would be cooking fish soup for us right after changing her clothes. What a cooking-holic!

I asked Summer to help me put the lid back. Safety matters the most.

Ye was cooking the fish in the kitchen enthusiastically while Summer was watching TV, eating a pack of black plums. I started to think who moved that well lid.

‘Summer and I were at school, so that rules her out. Ye arrived home before us, but she could not move that heavy lid all by herself. And I’m the only one who have the key to the backyard door.

If someone climbed over the fence…it’s hard to explain why anyone would be interested in an old well. Also the fence is so high, no one ever tried to climb it all these years.’

“Ah! What fish is it? I’m not able to butcher it!” Ye ran to us helplessly, “The knife could not cut in its scale.”

The fish was lying on the cutting board in a seductive pose, it seemed like it was flirting: come on, baby!

“Maybe, we shall just put it in the pot and boil it…although it’s a bit cruel.” I said.

“Good idea!” Ye rushed back to the kitchen.

“The fish is creepy…” I said to Summer, “Would it be a risk if we eat it?”

“It’s fine…it’s normal to find a fish in a well, in ancient times people keep fishes in their well, so if enemy put poison in the water, they immediately know.” Summer seemed to have a rich knowledge of this.

“Come and check.” Ye waved to us with a weird look on her face.

The water was boiling but the fish was happily leaning against the pot, like a weird man enjoying hot springs, and there were even a floating tray with a wine kettle on it…is this fish, a monster?

Summer was surprisingly happy, she took some black plums form her snack bag and threw them into the pot.

A flash followed by a steam fog from the pot filled the kitchen. When we looked into the pot again, the fish was well boiled.

“Is this…edible?” I looked at them in doubt.

“AHHHH! I haven’t gutted the fish and there are grasshoppers in its belly! AHHH! What an insult to my cooking!” Ye freaked out, tears all over her face.

“Eat! Everyone should eat! This is the Henggong Fish, its flesh cures all diseases.” Summer was already eating a bowl of the fish soup.

“What’s that fish again? Can you explain it in detail?” Ye was still freaking out.

“The legendary beast from ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas(1)’, it turns into a human at night, it cannot be cut up or boiled, the only thing can kill it is black plums.” Loli lectured us while enjoying the fish soup, it seemed that she is familiar with weird stuffs like this.

“turn into… a human…” I got brain burn.

“Refill my bowl!” Ye said, “ So this is what human flesh tastes like, delicious!”

I threw up.

(1)Classic of Mountains and Seas is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts.