"Recently, the water level of Lake M in City A has risen strangely and may reach an all-time high. "Today's news was on the radio.

"There's always something strange going on these days. The old man took a sip of tea, "Do you say yes, Ye Ke." ”

"Yes, it hasn't rained recently, so how can the water level rise inexplicably. I looked at the details of the warehouse, and did an inventory once a month, and the details book was densely packed with marks, not the people in the store looked like a book from heaven, "Boss, let's also consider the last electronic system, it's easy to preserve, it's easy to find, you see this book is about to rot." ”

"If the book is rotten, find a new book and copy it again.,Anyway, you're so idle every day.。 The old man said.

In Tianbei Groceries, everything is written by hand, from the label of the goods to the details of the entire store, which directly leads to a lot of time being spent copying every day. And the old man is a particularly stubborn person, for decades, no matter how society progresses, Tianbei groceries have remained the same as they were decades ago, handwritten ledgers, only cash, no air conditioning, no television, no computer, no mobile phone, and the most advanced electrical appliance in the house is the induction cooker in the warehouse. I asked the old man why he didn't change it, and he never answered my question directly.

However, it doesn't matter, after all, the customers at night are always generous, so no matter how cold it is during the day, the store will not be unable to operate, and I will always be paid. And everyone has their own secrets that they don't want to tell, and so do I.

It was the middle of the night again, and today's guests came very early, and the bell had just struck twelve o'clock, and before I could hang up the bell, I heard my name called.

"Hello, are you Mr. Yeck?" said a hoarse voice.

I looked around and couldn't find where the guy was talking to, "Who are you?" I asked, a little alert, as my experience has taught me that faceless guys always bring trouble, after all, youkai are good and bad.

"I'm right in front of you. The hoarse youkai said, "As the legend says, you smell good." ”

"Don't make a fuss, come out and say something, or I'll ask you out." "I was so impatient that I hadn't slept well for days, and I was still chatting endlessly.

At this time, I saw a puddle of water on the ground, and it was strange that even if I had mopped the ground in the morning, it would have dried out by now.

I walked over to the puddle of water, stretched out a finger, and tapped it lightly at the air above the water, and sure enough, I touched something.

"Alright, I've got you, come out. "As soon as I finished speaking, a translucent youkai appeared, a jellyfish the size of a man, floating in the air, but the tentacles were still dripping with water, dripping wet the floor of the store.

"As the legend goes, Lord Ye Ke is really powerful, and he found me so quickly. The jellyfish's hoarse voice sounded babbling.

"What's the matter? Could it be that you're really here to eat me?" I sighed after glancing at the water stains on the ground, "Can you take care of the water on the ground first, you've soiled my shop." ”

"I'm sorry, I just came from Lake M, and I didn't have time to dry it. ”

"Lake M?" I woke up for the morning announcement.

"Yes, but it's not that I'm looking for you, it's my friend who wants your help, but it's not the size of the person who wants to come to you, so let me invite you over. The jellyfish paused, "Expense is not an issue. ”

"Do you understand my rules here, it's okay to go with you, but you need to pay a part in advance, and then add if you don't have enough. "I open the ledger and write down the date and time and ..."What's your name? I need to make a record. ”

"Just like the legend, Lord Ye Ke is really greedy. The jellyfish monster's hoarse voice laughed, sounding a little creepy, "But you don't need to know what my name is, because it's not me who asks for you, I'm just passing on the word," it took out a small cloth bag and put it on the table, "This is the reward that my friend gave you, if it's not enough, I'll give you more when it's done." ”

The cloth bag was as wet as this jellyfish, I looked at the water stains on the table, and rubbed my temples worriedly, "Okay, you go outside the house and wait for me, I'll go with you when I'm ready, and if you stay here again, there will be water everywhere in the house." ”

"As the legend goes, Lord Ye Ke really is..."The jellyfish still nagged.

"Okay, okay, Lord Yeke, you wait for me outside!" I pushed it out the door, feeling much cleaner inside the room, smelling my hands that had touched jellyfish, sticky and wet, with a fishy smell. "Eh, it's disgusting... How can something in the sea appear in City A. I rinsed the cloth bag on the table, and when I opened it, it was full of large black pearls, which seemed to be made only in the deep sea, "What a rich monster." I sighed, put on my coat, grab a pen and a notebook, and lock the door.

Traditionally, I seldom go out to meet guests, but I can't refuse such a reward, and the old man promised me ten percent of my nightly earnings, and this big bag of black pearls must be worth a lot of money, and I need it now.

But I regret walking on the road, this jellyfish is talking all the way, the hoarse voice makes me extremely irritable, and what is even more speechless is that although M Lake is a tourist attraction during the day, it is dark at night, the plank road by the lake is empty, the dim lights are flashing, no matter how it looks like a place where normal people will come, not to mention, I am still following a monster I don't know.

"This is it, Lord Yeke. "The jellyfish stopped, turned to face me, and could see the water dripping from it all the way.

"Where's your friend?" I paused.

"There it is. Sticking out of a large pile of tentacles, the jellyfish pointed in the direction of Lake M.

I looked at the lake, and it was dark and there was nothing, "I don't see it." ”

"Hey, hey, Lord Yeke, take a closer look. The jellyfish walked closer to the lake and waved its tentacles to signal me to go too.

I hesitated, but walked to the lake, observing the quiet surface of the lake, and sure enough, as the news said, the water level rose too strangely.

Suddenly, the water level began to drop, splashing all over my face, and I felt a huge thing rise from the bottom of the lake.

"Cruise ship, submarine, whatever!" I took a few steps back, and wiped my face with my sleeve, but no matter how I wiped it, it was still water.

"Lord Yeke, this is my friend. "My mission has been accomplished," said the jellyfish, and as legend has said, Lord Yek is indeed a zealous man. "It jumped into the lake and disappeared.

"I'm sorry to ask you to walk so far at this late hour. "From the surface of the lake came a deep sound, low but clear.

Only then did I realize that it was not a boat or a submarine, but a monster that looked like a whale, half of its body was soaked in water, and the huge Lake M looked like its bathtub.

"Hey big guy. I greeted it, walked in front of its head, and finally saw its face clearly, "The water level has risen during this time, and you are the one who is making trouble." "It has a lot of scars on its face, and some of them look like they were caused a long time ago, and they are very serious injuries.

"Yes, I'm very embarrassed, I didn't want to disturb human life, I came here with the traces of a dear friend, and I didn't expect to enter this lake, and now I don't know where to find my dear friend, so I asked you for help. The sound rippled on the surface of the water, and its eyes looked at me, and I looked at it, and it was a very sincere and deep gaze, a gaze from the sea.

"Your best friend?" I was also a little curious about what kind of best friend such a powerful youkai would have.

"It's a parrot called Flower Feather. ”

“... Parrots? How can you, a guy in the ocean, know a parrot? ”

"I wasn't what you see now, but I became a whale because Hana worships whales and thinks the sea is the freest place. ”