Chapter 82 Completely Bare

At this moment, Yue Yurou also noticed Xiao Ding’s predicament. Seeing that he was at his wits’ end, she quickly called out, “Brother Ding, throw some sand into the clam’s mouth—it’ll loosen its grip.”

Xiao Ding immediately came to his senses. Of course! How could he have forgotten that trick in his panic?

However, there was no sand nearby. Instead, he grabbed a handful of soil mixed with wood shavings and tossed it into the giant clam’s mouth that held his right foot.

Sure enough, as soon as the clam got a mouthful of debris, it hurriedly opened its shell, trying to spit the dirt out. Xiao Ding quickly pulled his foot free and, to his astonishment, spotted five or six pearls the size of longans glittering inside the open shell.

Pearls? No, these must be luminous pearls—they’re glowing!

Oh, heavens above! Pearls this large could blind a man with their brightness!

Unable to resist, Xiao Ding reached forward and yanked one out. The pearl was still attached to the clam’s flesh, and the clam, stung by pain, snapped its shell shut so quickly that it nearly caught his hand.

Startled, Xiao Ding thought to himself how lucky he was; if his fingers had been trapped, they might have been broken.

Then a sharp pain shot through his left ankle—the giant clam gripping his left foot had tightened its hold.

This time, Xiao Ding didn’t rush to throw in dirt. Instead, he dragged the other clam, the one that had already closed its shell, over to his left side. It must have weighed more than a hundred pounds. He wedged the flattened end of its shell right up against the mouth of the clam holding his left foot. Although his left foot was still caught, the pressure eased considerably.

He then reached into the mouth of the clam gripping his left foot and fished out four more longan-sized luminous pearls, adding them to the one he’d already collected.

With the pearls secured, Xiao Ding finally stuffed a handful of dirt into the clam’s mouth. The foolish creature immediately opened up in an attempt to spit it out, allowing Xiao Ding to free his left foot. By now, both his ankles were swollen.

Looking at the two giant clams, Xiao Ding felt a surge of annoyance. He grabbed the one with its shell shut and hurled it toward the bank where Yue Yurou stood.

Xiao Ding was strong; the massive clam crashed onto the ground beside Yue Yurou with a resounding thud. The other clam was still gaping and spitting, trying to expel the dirt. Xiao Ding carefully picked it up by its shell, keeping his hands well away from its mouth, and, using all his strength, flung it onto the far side of the bank.

Turning back, Xiao Ding saw that the patch of mushrooms growing on the platform beside him had been badly trampled by himself and the clams. Red, yellow, and white mushrooms lay flattened.

He gathered up all the broken mushrooms, regardless of their color, and set them aside. The ones that weren’t severely damaged, he propped back up and covered with a bit of soil.

The platform’s soil was rich with wood shavings, making Xiao Ding suspect it was man-made rather than naturally formed.

After tending to the mushrooms, his attention shifted to the red ones. He noticed that the tops of these had a small bulging sphere in the center—a detail different from any mushroom he’d seen before. The white mushrooms were flat-topped, much like ordinary ones, while the yellow mushrooms were slightly rounded but hadn’t formed a full sphere.

The red mushrooms stood taller than the others, over three inches high, with caps nearly as wide. There were only about a dozen or so of them.

Xiao Ding circled the platform, picking all the red mushrooms and placing them together. Only then did he realize he had nothing to carry the mushrooms and luminous pearls in. He’d swum over with nothing but a pair of shorts.

Now, with a small heap of mushrooms and pearls—neither too many nor too few—how could he bring them back?

If he returned to the bank for a shirt, he could wrap everything up, but he wasn’t keen on swimming again. With all those glowing spots in the water, there were likely more giant clams below.

This pool was the source of the creek, so there must be a spring beneath, rich in minerals that nourished these black giant clams. After centuries of growth, they’d reached monstrous sizes.

Xiao Ding couldn’t be sure there weren’t even larger clams lurking below. If there were, a single bite could sever his ankle.

What puzzled him was finding luminous pearls inside the clams. Ordinarily, clams could produce pearls, but not ones that glow. True luminous pearls are usually formed from rare minerals with luminescent properties.

With so many glowing spots in the pool, there must be a huge number of luminous pearls! Xiao Ding suddenly doubted this. If all those lights came from pearls in clams, there’d have to be countless clams, each holding its mouth open.

No—the glow wasn’t from pearls in the clams, he decided. Looking into the water, he reasoned that the light must come from mineral deposits rich in luminescent substances covering the bottom.

This thought brought a smile to his face. He knew that such minerals usually formed from volcanic eruptions, with molten rock and geological movement concentrating the materials in the stone. The hot spring here was proof: Luoxia Peak must once have been a volcano.

Understanding this, Xiao Ding was delighted and soon thought of a way to carry the mushrooms and pearls back.

He turned and called out to Yue Yurou, “Miss Yue, would you please turn around? I need to use my shorts to wrap up these mushrooms and pearls.”

Yue Yurou blushed, understanding his intention. She agreed and turned away, taking a few extra steps to give him privacy.

Xiao Ding took off his soaking shorts, leaving himself completely bare. He wrung out the water, carefully wrapped the pearls and mushrooms inside, gripped the bundle tightly in his right hand, and jumped into the water, swimming across.

This time, he made sure not to let his legs dip too deep, keeping close to the surface. The pool was only a bit over twenty feet wide, and after a few strokes, Xiao Ding reached the other side.

Climbing out, he found his skin reddened from the hot spring water. His ankles were already swollen, with broken skin where the clams had bitten, but the bleeding had stopped.

He set the bundle of mushrooms and pearls on the ground, quickly pulled his shorts back on, and then called Yue Yurou to turn around.

Yue Yurou approached, relieved to see Xiao Ding’s injuries weren’t serious, and her attention was quickly drawn to the mushrooms and luminous pearls. She picked them up, examining them closely with delight.

Although she had seen everything Xiao Ding did on the platform, the distance and mist had kept her view indistinct.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ding dressed, his gaze flickering toward the two giant clams.

“Miss Yue, let’s have some clam meat later,” he suggested, feeling a pang of hunger.

Yue Yurou glanced at the clams, which had both shut their shells tightly. “Eating clam meat sounds great, but with the shells closed so tightly, how will you open them?” she asked.

Xiao Ding picked up a large rock and smashed it against one of the clams. With a loud bang, the rock bounced off without leaving a mark.

“These shells are really tough!” he exclaimed.

After a few more fruitless blows, Xiao Ding stopped, his eyes darting thoughtfully. Suddenly, he said, “I’ve got an idea…”