Lin Ze In Manaus, we visited all the large and small bars, fish markets, and dock sheds along the port.
He took the old photo of Newt·Scamander and showed it to everyone he met.
As a result, the other party either shook his head or looked at him sideways. An old lady selling cassava pancakes even spat at him and cursed in Portuguese, Lin Ze. Although he didn't understand it, he could tell with his toes that it was not a good word.
Later, he also thought about the problem. He asked someone if they had seen a centenarian, and what he showed was a photo of a young man, which really made people feel torn.
So he didn't take the photos, and went to find the old boatmen who had been working at the dock for half his life and the hawkers who ran boats on the Blackwater River.
In order to show sincerity, he will buy the other person something first and then ask questions.
An old man selling lemonade took the money and told him that an old white man with messy hair had indeed appeared at the port a few months ago, carrying a broken suitcase with him, and always asking about a flying snake.
Well, this looks a lot like Scamander.
"What happened next? Where did he go?" Lin Ze asked.
"Let's take a boat and go in." The old man pursed his lips toward the dark river in the distance.
Lin Ze Looked in the direction indicated by the old man, Negro River The water was as black as ink, several wooden boats were floating on the shore like dead fish, the clouds in the sky were extremely low, and even the wind was sticky.
Hiss--
This style of painting!
Looks like you found the right place!
So, Lin Ze went to the dock to rent a small wooden boat with a boatman.
The boatman is a dark and thin man in his forties, named Ze·Mario, shirtless, with a red rope around his neck and a boar tooth.
Lin Ze said he wanted to go to the São Gabriel area upstream. Ze·Mario grinned as soon as he heard it, showing a few yellow teeth. When he opened his mouth, he spoke very awkward English, which probably meant... add money.
Lin Ze did not counteroffer.
Not long after the boat left the harbor, the water became open, and the trees on both sides were as dark and crowded as the walls. Occasionally, egrets flew up from the water plants, their necks shrank and looked very leisurely.
"Are you looking for an old man? Does he owe you money?" Ze·Mario asked in stiff English while shaking the oar.
"So... distant uncle, there is something urgent at home." Lin Ze lied casually.
"Okay, distant uncle." Ze·Mario smacked his lips and glanced at Lin Ze's standard oriental face. He obviously didn't believe it, but he didn't ask any more questions.
After the boat reached an open water area, he suddenly pointed to the water. "Look, what is that."
Lin Ze followed his gaze and saw a snake as thick as an arm floating on the water. It was completely black and had two thin fin-like things on its back that paddled against the water. Its head was in the shape of a triangle, and its slender tail was swinging back and forth under the water.
Lin Ze's heartbeat stopped for half a beat, and then jumped up suddenly. Just as he was about to get closer, the snake seemed to be aware of their approach. With a flick of its tail, its whole body bounced off the water like a taut spring, glided along the water for five or six meters, and then dived back into the water with a "pop", leaving only a ripple like broken silver.
"Catch it, catch up with it!" Lin Ze was so excited that he almost jumped up.
"This thing is very ghostly. According to the legends of our elders, it is the mount of the water ghost and cannot be messed with." Mario curled his lips.
"The water ghost's mount?" Lin Ze raised his eyebrows.
"Pursue or not? More money." Lin Ze took out Brazil reals directly from his pocket and slapped it on the board of the ship.
Ze·Mario looked at the bills, then at Lin Ze, then inserted the paddle into the water and pushed it hard.
"Sit tight, don't blame me if it drags you down."
The small wooden boat suddenly jumped out, and the bow split the dark water. The splash of water hit Lin Ze's face, carrying a strange smell of rotten leaves and fish.
Lin Ze didn't care about this anymore. He squatted half-crouched on the bow of the boat, holding tightly to the side of the boat with both hands, staring at the looming black shadow ahead.
The snake swam very fast, jumping out of the water and gliding from time to time, like a black stone floating against the water.
The small wooden boat chased after it for more than ten minutes. Mario was already panting like a bellows and began to curse in Portuguese.
"It's no longer possible. I can't catch up. If I really make it anxious, it will capsize our whole boat." Mario said and was about to slow down.
Lin Ze was about to speak when suddenly the snake shadow in front suddenly flicked its tail, folded its entire body at a right angle, and rushed back towards the bow of the ship.
"Get down!"
Lin Ze pressed Mario into the cabin, and at the same time the wand slipped out of his cuff.
The shadow passed through the bottom of the boat, and the keel of the boat was lifted violently, and the entire boat was lifted into the air.
Lin Ze and Mario lost weight instantly.
Before Lin Ze could react, the next second, cold Negro River water poured in from all directions and swallowed him whole.
Lin Ze took a sip of water and used all his strength to float up. When he came out of the water, he found Mario holding half of the oar, flopping in the water like a frightened monkey, and yelling gibberish.
"Damn it! I knew it! I knew it would be like this!"
Lin Ze wiped his face and tried his best to swim towards the half of the oar.
Fortunately, the current was not fast, and there was a shoal not far away. The two of them rolled onto the shore.
Mario collapsed on the beach, gasping for air like a washed up fish, and kept mumbling something.
"My boat... my meal guy..."
Lin Ze had no time to comfort him, he only felt something moving in his arms.
He subconsciously touched his chest and what he pulled out was the black magic book.
The pages of the book were opened, and the runes on each page were flashing by themselves.
"What the hell..."
Lin Ze had just muttered something when he saw the snake on the river sticking its head out of the water again, looking towards them on the shore.
Its pair of amber vertical pupils were frighteningly bright in the moonlight.
The two sides looked at each other for a moment, and then the snake suddenly floated up from the water, slid towards the other side of the river like a water dragon, and landed in the grass on the far bank, where it stopped moving for a moment.
"Let's go, follow!" Lin Ze secretly cast "Drying Charm" on himself, stood up and wanted to chase after him.
"You are really a lunatic!" Ze·Mario shouted from behind.
"I'll pay you double for that broken ship of yours!"
"That won't work, life is more important than money."
"Three times!"
"... Okay."
Ze·Mario got up from the ground, pulled out a machete from his waist, and followed.
The two chased up the river bank for more than ten minutes, and the snake plunged into a dense area of vines beside Blackwater River.
Lin Ze was about to drill forward when he was suddenly grabbed by Ze·Mario.
"Don't go there, there's something wrong with this place."
"Huh?"
"The elders say that 'Libodu' lives in this bend of the river."
"What's the benefit?"
"Libodu, the water ghost in this water area."
Lin Ze paused in his steps.
"Really?"