Mentality Shattered

Mentality Shattered

When Lu Qing and Xiao Yan appeared at the little fishing spot,

the villagers still fishing there were all dumbstruck when they saw the fish on Lu Qing's back.

"Lu, Lu Qing, what, what are you carrying on your back?" a villager stammered.

"Fish," Lu Qing replied after catching his breath.

He truly felt a little tired.

His body had not fully recovered to begin with, and he had wrestled with the Azure Armor Fish and the Red Moon Carp for so long.

Now, carrying so much stuff while walking was honestly more than he could bear.

Yet his answer nearly broke the villagers' minds.

Nonsense—they obviously knew he was carrying fish!

The question was, where had he caught such enormous fish? Looking at the huge fish on Lu Qing's back, standing more than half as tall as he was with its tail dragging along the ground, the villagers' eyes were beginning to swim.

Good heavens, it was their first time seeing such a huge fish!

Still, some villagers noticed Lu Qing's predicament and hurried over to help him untie the fish.

"Come, come, I'll carry it for you. You've only just recovered—don't go exhausting yourself again."

Lu Qing did not refuse.

He really was nearing his limit. He had thought he could carry the fish home himself, but it seemed he had overestimated his strength.

"Thank you, Da'an Ge."

Lu Qing set the fish down and said after taking a breath.

"Hehe, no need to thank me. It's my first time seeing such a huge fish—being able to touch it is already a blessing. Wait, there's another one in this bucket! This fish is so beautiful!"

Wang Da'an was still delighted when he lowered his head and suddenly cried out again.

Hearing that, the other villagers could no longer hold themselves back. They immediately crowded around and peered into the bucket.

"There really is another big fish in there!"

"What kind of fish is this? It's fiery red—I've never seen one before!"

"This fish is so pretty. Those rich gentlemen in the city would definitely like it."

"Good grief, Lu Qing, how exactly did you catch them? You caught two huge fish at once?"

When that final question was asked, everyone looked at Lu Qing.

"How did I catch them? Same way you do," Lu Qing said, taking the fishing rod from Xiao Yan's shoulder. "I picked a spot in the river stretch ahead. I didn't expect to catch two big fish either—it was just luck."

"Then where did you fish?" One villager's eyes shifted as he asked.

The moment those words came out, several other villagers looked at him with contempt.

His intentions were far too obvious. He could not even be bothered to hide them, trying to take advantage of a child like this.

After asking, the villager also felt something was off. He hurriedly gave an awkward laugh. "I was just curious. Don't tell me none of you are curious."

Of course, Lu Qing could hear what the villager meant, but he did not care much.

Even if he did not tell them, they would definitely go searching for it later.

After all, he had no way of concealing the traces he had left when opening up that fishing spot.

So he said directly, "It's not far ahead, but I'd advise you not to go there right now."

"Why?" the villager blurted out.

"Because the fish there have long since scattered. Forget big fish—even the small ones are gone. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come back so quickly," Lu Qing said, half truthfully and half falsely.

The other villagers all felt that made sense.

Lu Qing had caught two huge fish, especially the one on the ground, which was astonishingly large.

A fish that big must have made quite a commotion when it was caught. It would be stranger if the other fish had not all fled.

Still, even so, some villagers clung to a sliver of hope.

For instance, the villager who had asked Lu Qing about the fishing spot had already made up his mind to sneak over later and see exactly where Lu Qing had fished.

Lu Qing did not care what these villagers were thinking.

He had already said what needed saying. If they refused to believe it and insisted on fishing there, there was nothing he could do.

Besides, even if someone really went there to fish, he would not care.

He did not care about small fish. As for big fish...

It was not that he looked down on these villagers, but with their skill, it was simply impossible for them to land a big fish.

Even if a big fish happened to bite their hooks, their flimsy hemp-thread fishing lines could never withstand the terrifying force of a large fish.

After resting for a while, Lu Qing felt some of his strength return.

"Everyone, Xiao Yan and I are heading back. You can keep fishing."

With that, he prepared to lift the Azure Armor Fish.

Seeing this, Wang Da'an hurriedly bent down and scooped up the fish. "Didn't we agree that I'd carry it? Lu Qing, just take the bucket. Damn, this fish is heavy—it must be nearly twenty jin!"

Only when he truly picked up the Azure Armor Fish did Wang Da'an realize that it was even heavier than he had expected.

He could not help glancing at Lu Qing, finding it difficult to imagine how someone with Lu Qing's slight frame had managed to catch such a huge fish.

"Then thank you, Da'an Ge. When we get back, I'll treat you to fish!"

Lu Qing did not decline. He was more than happy to have someone help him.

"That would be great! I've never eaten such a huge fish in all my life!" Wang Da'an immediately brightened up.

Watching the three of them walk toward the village, the remaining villagers looked at one another.

Suddenly, one villager shouted, "Why the hell are we still fishing? Let's go back to the village and watch the excitement!"

"Exactly! We've been sitting here all morning and only caught a few tiny fish. We might as well go back and watch Lu Qing clean his fish!"

"I didn't get enough of those two huge fish earlier. I have to go back and look at them a few more times."

Before Lu Qing returned, the villagers had still had the patience to remain here and keep fishing.

But now, as they watched Lu Qing leave with two huge fish before their very eyes, everyone's mindset could not help but collapse.

They had kept watch here for two or three days, yet their haul did not even amount to a fraction of what he had caught in two hours. Where was the justice in that? To hell with fishing! With their mindsets shattered, the villagers began packing up and preparing to return to the village.

Lu Qing and the others had not left long ago. If they hurried, they might still catch up to them.

"Lao Zhao, you're not going back?"

Everyone was packing up, but one person remained unmoved, still sitting there and fishing.

Seeing this, the others asked him.

"You go ahead. I'll fish a little longer. Maybe the fish will start biting soon."

The villager everyone called Lao Zhao—the same one who had earlier asked Lu Qing about his fishing spot—gave a simple, honest smile.

"Fine, keep fishing then. If you ask me, I've fished this place for days already. The fish were probably caught out long ago. Didn't you see how Lu Qing disliked this place before?"

If everyone had not thought much of Lu Qing's fishing skills before, believing that his earlier catches of so many small fish were due to the secret trick of using earthworms as bait,

then after seeing those two huge fish just now, no one dared underestimate Lu Qing's fishing skill anymore.

Fish that huge were something they absolutely could not hold onto if it were them.

It was not as though no one had hooked large fish over the past few days. What had happened? Every one of them had returned with feathers scattered and bows broken.

Either their fishing lines snapped, or their rods burst apart. Not a single person had managed to haul up a big fish.

After packing up, everyone left one after another.

Only Lao Zhao remained, calmly fishing in the same spot.

After a while, once he had confirmed that no one could see him anymore, Lao Zhao suddenly sprang to his feet.

He hurriedly packed up his things.

"A bunch of idiots. They believe whatever that brat Lu Qing says. I refuse to believe he really caught all the fish there!"

With that, he grabbed his belongings and ran in the direction Lu Qing and Xiao Yan had come from.