61: Chapter 61 The Water Monster Sighting

"The shimmering water is delightful on a sunny day, and the misty mountains are wondrous in the rain." Hiking up the mountain with many tourists in the early morning, standing on the viewing platform beside Heaven Lake, Cao Xiao couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

The graceful Heaven Lake was surrounded by swirling white clouds, with colorful reflections and mountain shadows on the water; encircled by peaks, it was a magnificent sight. Changbai Mountain Heaven Lake is located at the top of the volcanic cone of the main peak of Changbai Mountain. It is a dormant volcano where the crater has filled with water to form a lake. Heaven Lake sits at an altitude of 2,189.1 meters and is slightly oval-shaped, measuring 4.4 kilometers from north to south and 3.37 kilometers from east to west. It has a surface area of 9.82 square kilometers, a shoreline of 13.1 kilometers, an average depth of 204 meters, and a maximum depth of 373 meters, with a total water storage capacity of 2.04 billion cubic meters. It is the largest volcanic lake in Huaxia and also serves as the border lake between Huaxia and North Korea.

There is also a legend that Heaven Lake is a "Longtan Haiyan," meaning it is connected to the sea. The Qing Dynasty text "Brief Records of the Changbai Mountain River Ridges" records: "A monster emerged from Heaven Lake, golden in color, with a head as large as a basin, a square top with horns, and a long neck with many whiskers; hunters believed it to be a dragon." In recent years, there have been frequent sightings of water monsters in Heaven Lake, but the descriptions from witnesses vary greatly. The monsters seen are of different shapes, with the only common point being their large size; to this day, there is still no definitive explanation. However, Heaven Lake is an alpine lake formed by a volcanic eruption, surrounded by sixteen peaks with no vegetation. The natural environment is harsh, with very little organic matter or plankton. Although life forms have been discovered, they are not large.

Research shows that Heaven Lake has an outlet but no inlet. Since the many water monster sightings, some have carefully surveyed Heaven Lake but found no trace of any large aquatic organisms. However, Cao Xiao didn't see it that way. Since Heaven Lake is a volcanic crater, there must be lava channels at the bottom; they are usually covered and blocked by silt and sand, making them hard to find. When underground water levels change at specific times each year, these blocked channels might open. This explains why sightings occur in July and August. If the water monsters are truly large, they might be able to squeeze through these blocked channels. Another possibility is: why must the water monster be an aquatic creature? Changbai Mountain is so vast; perhaps some large land animals come to Heaven Lake to drink or hunt.

But now was not the time to investigate these things. Even if there really were water monsters, it wouldn't be anything extraordinary; if he had the chance to encounter one, it might even provide some energy for the industrial mother machine. If his detection range could be increased to a thousand meters, he would be interested in exploring Heaven Lake thoroughly, but with the current distance of only a hundred meters, he'd better forget it; he couldn't even see the bottom.

"Look, what's that?"

"A water monster?"

"The water monster has appeared!"

"Quick, take a photo! There's more than one water monster!"

Just as Cao Xiao turned to walk away from the viewing platform, the startled cries of nearby tourists reached his ears. Everyone pushed forward in unison, and he also returned to the railing in surprise, gazing out over the water.

He saw several black dots bobbing on the surface in the center of Heaven Lake. Ripples spread out, and mist rose. The viewing platform was too far away to see clearly what they were, but since the splashing water was visible from such a distance, the so-called water monsters must be quite large. These black dots were not stationary; while bobbing, they slowly moved in different directions, leaving trails of water. From time to time, new black dots appeared, and that area of water became murky and yellow.

Cao Xiao took his binoculars out of his backpack. These were the best civilian-grade binoculars available, with twelve-fold magnification. However, since the viewing platform was several kilometers from the center of Heaven Lake, he could only see a rough outline. The black dots were magnified; their shapes were somewhat rounded but irregular, and their sizes varied. The largest were estimated to be six or seven meters, while the smallest visible were about one or two meters. They were yellow and had no obvious biological organs. As for whether there were limbs underwater, he couldn't see. If they weren't moving, one would think they were just large rocks.

But these so-called water monsters were too strange. Their movement paths were either curves or straight lines, and the distances they traveled were not far. A few minutes later, some stopped moving and just bobbed with the waves, giving the impression of being light and weightless. After more than ten minutes, some "water monsters" slowly sank below the surface and vanished. By the time the scenic area staff arrived in a speedboat half an hour later, the "water monsters" had disappeared, and the water had turned clear again, as if nothing had happened.

By now, Cao Xiao had some suspicions. Those "water monsters" were likely not biological creatures but a type of stone. Changbai Mountain Heaven Lake is a volcanic crater, and there is a type of volcanic rock that can float on water. This type of volcanic rock is formed from the final residual magma at the end of a volcanic eruption. Generally dark red or earthy red, these stones contain many pores and have a very low average density, allowing them to float in ordinary water; thus, they are also called "Pumice."

Those black dots were likely Pumice from the lava channels beneath the crater that had floated to the surface due to changes in the underground environment. Furthermore, the geothermal heat beneath Heaven Lake might be quite high; these Pumice stones likely carried a great deal of heat when they surfaced. As the stones released heat on the water's surface, the resulting steam could propel them across the water, which would explain their strange movement paths. Once the stones finished releasing their heat, they would stop moving and absorb some water. When the cracks or cavities were filled with water, their weight would increase, causing them to naturally sink and disappear.

Thinking of this, Cao Xiao no longer lingered. As for whether this was the true face of the water monster, he no longer cared. He put away his binoculars and walked out, casually wandering toward the other side of Heaven Lake. Avoiding tourists along the way, he disappeared into the ground in a hidden spot, digging a tunnel underground to cross the border. He didn't emerge in the forest until he was five or six kilometers away. After confirming no one was around, he took out a compass to determine his direction and plunged into the dense forest.

He had now entered North Korea. Although he had crossed the border line, there were border outposts nearby and satellites in the sky. He had to hide himself well and avoid open areas as much as possible; otherwise, it would be disastrous if he were caught.

There were no roads in the forest, making progress very difficult. He didn't dare use his personal space to clear a path, as others could quickly find him by following the trail. He could only push through the thorns and brambles, advancing slowly. Although he moved slowly, he gained a lot. His main purpose for coming to Changbai Mountain was to find Wild Mountain Ginseng, but there was no reason to pass up rare wild medicinal herbs when he encountered them.

He collected quite a few precious wild medicinal herbs such as Shengma, Weilingxian, Chuandilong, Tianma, Hongjingtian, Wuweizi, Yinyanghuo, Ciwujia, Tiannanxing, and Longdancao, as well as some common ones. In any case, his personal space was large enough that collecting some herbs wouldn't take up much room. The efficacy of these authentic wild medicinal herbs was much better than those that were artificially cultivated; they might come in handy at some point. He cut down some large trees, dehydrated them in his personal space, and made medicine cabinets to store the dehydrated herbs by category.

After walking a certain distance, Cao Xiao would find a higher vantage point to look out and see the surrounding terrain, then head toward areas with dense trees. By sunset, he had found a few Wild Mountain Ginseng plants, but the oldest was only a dozen or so years old, far short of his expectations. He wouldn't even collect those under ten years old. In half a day, he had obtained fewer than three Wild Mountain Ginseng plants. For an average person, selling them would bring in a significant amount of money; with luck, a high price might even buy a house. But for him, without a century-old ginseng, he wasn't confident he could convince a National Martial Arts master to take him on as an older disciple. They were better than nothing, though.

He did, however, find some Lingzhi and Monkey Head Mushrooms in the old red pine forest, which was an unexpected surprise. As it grew dark, it was time to find a place to camp. Although the Detection Function helped him see no differently at night than during the day, his body was exhausted after nearly ten hours of walking.

He chose not to pitch a tent in the open. There were large predators in Changbai Mountain, and night was the time when animals hunted; a flimsy tent could not withstand a beast's claws. Therefore, he dug a cave under a cliff. The internal space was a square with three-meter sides. He blocked the entrance with a large porous stone and covered it with a layer of window screening so that neither large beasts nor snakes and insects could get in. He made a stone bed, laid out bedding, then took out a storage battery and hung an electric light. He brought out cooking utensils and an alcohol stove to make a hot pot with the ingredients he had gathered today, enjoying a wonderful meal. There was no internet signal here, and with nothing to do, he went to rest early.