Prologue: Sperm Whale, Thirty Bloody Fingers and Six Lives Chapter 1: Return of the Whale Hunter

Chapter 1 Return of Whale Hunting ()

Dark night, violent storms.

The surging waves of the sea slammed into the reefs crazily, as if they were going to overturn the entire land in the next moment. The orange-red balloon more than ten meters above the ground had been blown extremely crooked, which meant that the typhoon was approaching. Even the sturdy bar with the windbreaks tied below began to creak, as if it would break in the next second.

For the remote port of Siqiao, although this kind of bad weather is rare, it occurs three or five times a year. Therefore, the residents here are accustomed to it, shrinking back into their sheds, lighting dim candles and drinking Red Star Erguotou with salted fish, and of course, padding the leaking roof with basins, oilcloths and anything else that can filter out moisture. Even so, the quilt will always be in a moist state, as if it will be covered with a layer of moisture when touched by hand.

In this atmosphere, a raging fire was burning in a shabby shed west of Siqiao Town. Abandoned rubber tires were piled up in a mess inside - for poor boat people, this was a cheap and effective leather material for repairing boats - and there were a dozen boat people with dark skin but very excited expressions gathered around. Most of them were strong men in their twenties or thirties, and only the middle-aged man sitting in the middle had deep wrinkles on his face, as if he had been cut by a knife or an axe, and his beard on his chin was a little gray. His facial features looked kind in sorrow, and it was obvious that he was the kind of person who accepted life and fate.

"Oh, oh, if I were to say, Sanzai had made a contribution to this incident today, but Senyan's aim was right!"

The speaker was a young man with a scar on his face, named Gao Qiang, who made exaggerated gestures and drooled. And his words were obviously recognized by his companions around him. Many people nodded repeatedly and cast their admiring eyes on a young man sitting on the right.

The young man had thick black eyebrows, bulging muscles on his arms, and a strong physique. Although there was a bit of excitement between his eyebrows, he was still steady. He was sitting casually on a worn wooden stool at this time, holding a porcelain bowl with a missing corner. It was probably because the water in the bowl was boiling hot, so he had to blow it while drinking. The young man called "Sen Yan" smiled slightly when he heard about himself, but he didn't say anything. He just smiled and nodded at his companion, and then continued to drink water.

"Sen Yan's move is naturally impeccable, but I stabbed nine forks, a full nine forks!" A middle-aged man with a big nose stood up and said loudly, and kept gesturing excitedly with his hands.

"Damn it, that big beast dragged us for at least thirty miles! If it drags us for another ten miles, we will have to bear the brunt of this trip."

A dark and thin middle-aged man in the corner suddenly interrupted and laughed:

"Big Four Brother, the ointment scraped out this time is probably no less than 20 kilograms! Even if it is dried, it will be at least 10 kilograms - this time it is considered a big profit. Haven't you always wanted to overhaul Fuyuan? This time, there is more than enough money for ten overhauls!"

Big Four Brother is obviously the middle-aged man. He smiled honestly, but his eyebrows were clearly filled with joy. He was born by the sea since he was a child. The salty taste of the sea water almost penetrated into his bones. He has almost always taken the boat as his home in his life. Because he adopted two orphans very early, he has never found a wife, and it seems that he does not plan to find one in the future. He used his life savings to buy the old boat Fuyuan several years ago, but he was cheated by someone. He had to overhaul the boat as soon as he got it, so he still hasn't paid off his debts.

If kindness and loyalty are favored by fate, then I believe that the fourth brother would have been rich, but the fact is that no matter how hard he works, he can't escape the fate of being displaced and poor. However, no matter how cruel God is, he will occasionally open his eyes. The day before yesterday, when Fuyuan was out at sea, he encountered a lone fat-headed monster!

Fat-headed monster is the common name given to it by fishermen in Guangdong/Guangxi/Hainan. Its scientific name is the famous sperm whale. It has a short body, slow and clumsy movements, and a very strange appearance, showing a heavy head and light tail. If you want to use a creature to describe it, the tadpole magnified tens of millions of times can barely fit the number. The huge head of the sperm whale can almost account for a quarter to a third of its body length, and the whole head looks like a big box. Its nose is also very peculiar. Only the left nostril is unobstructed and located in the upper left front. The right nostril is blocked, so the mist column it breathes out is ejected at a 45° angle to the left front. Experienced fishermen can find their traces from a distance by the water column ejected by this whale. However, after decades of hunting, sperm whales have been reduced to only a few hundred in the world. In the past five years, there have been only three reports of fat-headed monsters being hunted in the entire South China Sea. You can imagine how rare they are.

The one who discovered the lone fat-headed monster was Ah Fa, the dark-skinned man who was on equal terms with the eldest fourth brother. The rest of the young men had to call the eldest fourth brother "Fourth Uncle". To be honest, according to the configuration of the old fishing boat Fu Yuan, it was impossible to attack this huge monster. Fortunately, an orphan adopted by the eldest fourth uncle was clever and skillful. A few days ago, he found a spear gun that someone else had dismantled and didn't want in the scrapyard at the dock. He tinkered with it for a while and was able to make do with it. However, his original intention was to shoot sharks in the South China Sea and cut a few fish maws. How could he have expected to encounter the almost extinct fat-headed monster?

Then there was a relentless pursuit.

The Fu Yuan was determined to seize the opportunity given by God. Despite the typhoon warning, it bit the sperm whale, which was about ten meters long, in the wind and waves! But except for the fourth uncle, no one on the boat had any experience in whaling, and the fixed harpoon installed on the boat was in a semi-disabled state. It failed to hit the target after four consecutive shots in the turbulence of the wind and waves, which made the giant creature alert and about to dive into the seabed.

At this moment, Fang Senyan, another orphan adopted by the fourth uncle, rushed forward. His body was tossed like a fallen leaf in the swaying of the wind and waves, but his hands were as firm as if welded to the harpoon. He aimed for a full ten seconds, and then fired a shot when everyone was almost desperate!

This shot pierced the vital part of the sperm whale!

The dying beast dragged Fu Yuan for a full thirty nautical miles in pain, and the sea water along the way turned red. But in the end, it had no choice but to become a human trophy. The old Fu Yuan, who returned with a full load, also miraculously returned to Siqiao Port before the typhoon landed. For sperm whales, although their meat/oil/bones are expensive, the most valuable thing is the "balm" in their intestines. This is the common name for this thing by local fishermen. After being dried, it becomes the famous "ambergris."

The main food of sperm whales is squid/octopus. After eating it, they cannot digest its sharp beak and the round bones inside. At this time, the end of the large intestine or the beginning of the rectum of the sperm whale will be stimulated and cause lesions, resulting in a gray or slightly black secretion. These secretions gradually form a sticky dark substance in the small intestine and are stored in the colon and rectum. It smells bad when it is just taken out, and gradually becomes fragrant after being stored for a period of time. This is the so-called ambergris.

Ambergris contains 25% ambergrisin, which is the raw material of precious spices and the best substance to keep perfume fragrant. It is used as a perfume fixative. It is also a precious Chinese medicine. The sperm whale hunted by the fourth uncle was only more than ten meters long, which was considered to be of medium size among its kind. Even so, the ambergris harvested could be sold for a huge sum of money!

The people on the boat gathered together to talk and laugh, and it was already late at night. They had been fishing on the sea for half a month, and they had to rush to Siqiao Port before the typhoon came. It was also very hard. After the excitement of hunting a big guy passed, fatigue immediately hit. It was raining heavily outside, and the typhoon would not stop until tomorrow afternoon at least. The fourth uncle naturally let people stay in his shed and sleep on the floor. These boat people were used to the hardship on the boat and didn't think it was a big deal. However, Sanzai and Senyan had separated from each other. The two of them built a shed next to Mazu Temple Street at the north end of Siqiao Town, which was also their own private space. Although the wind was strong and the rain was heavy, it didn't take much time to walk from one end of the town to the other with a tarpaulin.

The two pushed open the old door with several wooden boards nailed to it in all directions. A cold wind and a large amount of rain rushed in, which immediately made people shiver. Even the boat people who were lying around the fire in the middle grumbled a few times in dissatisfaction. Fang Senyan and Sanzai held up the door with their heads huddled under the oilcloth, but the fourth uncle came up and stuffed an umbrella out. The two of them used the dim light from the crack in the door to identify the direction, and then walked back home with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

Siqiao is a small town, a town that is not marked on the map at all.

Its specific location is a small bay south of the border city of Fangchenggang, Guangxi. Even when the weather is clear, you can see the land of Vietnam to the west with the naked eye. In terms of administrative location, it happens to be a no-man's land. Therefore, a deformed port that combines smuggling, trade, and illegal immigration has been formed invisibly. Most of the people in it are engaged in gray industries that wander on the edge of the law.

The reason why the honest Fourth Uncle chose to settle here was because the old ship Fu Yuan was also stolen, and the Fourth Uncle could not afford the heavy taxes. Fang Senyan had seen the long bill, which involved many departments, including finance, taxation, industry and commerce, public security and border defense, health, township government, fishery committee or village committee, fishing boat management company, etc., but here, you only need to pay a protection fee to the local "big boss" Hua Shanfei on time.

Because they didn't know when they would be "raided" by the higher-ups, most of the buildings on the Fourth Bridge were temporarily built with cheap plywood, tires, fiberglass tiles, etc., which were the illegal buildings that were a thorn in the eyes of the city management. Fang Senyan was nearly 19 years old this year, a few months older than Sanzai, but he had been working on the ship since he was 14 years old, thanks to his uncle's help from an acquaintance. Because he was steady and down-to-earth, he was well-received by his employers and was repeatedly trusted. At a young age, he had traveled to ports all over the world, and was second to none in terms of knowledge and character.