Three Suns in the Sky

The sky was overcast, and a light drizzle was falling.

The boat bobbed and swayed with the waves, Liang Qu stood at the bow, his hair flying in the river breeze.

Looking out, one can see countless Big Fish leaping on the surface of the water, interspersed with a few Giant Crocodile.

As the Water Beast and River Dolphin moved towards them, the entire school of fish continued to expand, visibly extending into the distance.

Small fish, Big Fish, giant crocodiles, carnivorous or herbivorous, all gathered together in harmony, stirring up endless waves.

If there truly were a water god in this world, he would surely look like this, wouldn't he? Liang Qu was in high spirits.

Unfortunately, a beast is still a beast, and its brain capacity is limited.

The tens of thousands of Big Fish in front of them were completely unable to comprehend the complex instructions that required them to exercise their initiative.

It cannot be used for finding lost items, conducting investigations, or sending messages.

Moreover, once out of sight, they are prone to "rebellion," and once they let go, they are gone forever and can never be found again.

They would be suitable as cannon fodder.

Besides the ability to command ordinary Water Beast, Liang Qu also discovered Golden Eye's second ability through repeated testing in the water—night vision.

It was a cloudy day, and the light wasn't great to begin with. The water was pitch black more than 100 meters below.

However, he has no visual impairment and can still see underwater as if it were daytime.

The underwater sensing system in Liang Qu has a radius of 130 meters and provides extremely detailed observations. While it may not be widely used, it is in high demand and very useful on land.

The fish surged around the boat, creating large patches of white foam.

Watching the herds of Water Beast moving in groups, following the undulating terrain, Liang Qu waved his hand, signaling the Fat Catfish to stop chasing them away.

Having subdued 30,000 people, he still felt no physical burden. His physical strength and mental state were both excellent, which was enough to prove that Golden Eye really had no consumption. Continuing to experiment would only be a waste of effort and there was no need for it.

Unfortunately, even if a single fish sells for three or four copper coins, the sheer number of over thirty thousand Big Fish would amount to nearly one hundred taels of silver.

One hundred taels of silver can be harvested in an hour, which is almost equivalent to the output of all the fishermen in Yi Xing Town for two days! But they can't sell it.

Liang Qu was about to disperse the fish when his gaze suddenly sharpened.

Among tens of thousands of fish facing him, two Big Fish with bodies completely different from ordinary fish, swimming around, stood out.

A Golden Rainbow Trout and a Red Blood Perch were somehow driven into the school of fish by several Water Beast.

"Taking advantage of troubled waters... passing off inferior goods as superior ones?"

Liang Qu couldn't think of a suitable word to describe it for a moment. Behind him, the White Ape phantom flickered, and a vast pressure swept over him. Treasure Fish, who was being jostled around by the school of fish and darting around like a headless fly, froze.

Water tentacles emerged from the side, passed through the Treasure Fish's gill cover, and were lifted onto the boat.

Liang Qu threw out the Azure Wolf, and the water flow caught the knife handle as he awkwardly gutted the two fish.

In the past few days, he has been practicing manipulating the water flow in the Vortex Aperture, and now he can perform many more complex actions, such as gutting a fish with a knife.

The Golden Eye narrowed, and the fish disappeared.

Liang Qu fed the offal and bones to the beasts, then stuffed the prepared fish meat into the fish basket.

I'll make some fish congee tonight, something light and simple.

Eating too much Big Fish all the time gets greasy.

The reeds grow thick and green, and fishing boats come and go along the wide riverbank, creating a bustling scene.

Pedestrians came and went on the Azure Stone Street. When they returned to Liang Qu in Yi Xing Town, they found that the crowd had become dense. At first, they thought that a shop was opening, but then they heard a gong.

Upon entering, they found two minor officials surrounding the crowd, one banging a gong and the other posting notices. The one banging the gong shouted a message with each strike.

"Starting July 6th, a curfew will be imposed from 7:45 PM to 7:40 AM, for a period of one month! Please inform your relatives and friends if you hear this. Under no circumstances should you wander around outside and miss the curfew, otherwise you will be arrested and imprisoned and have no one to blame but yourself!"

"A curfew will be imposed on July 6th..."

Passersby were used to it.

Every year, as the Great Heat approaches, there is a period of curfew, and no one thinks there's anything wrong with it.

"The Great Heat is coming soon, I wonder how hot it will be this year."

Time flies, another year has passed.

"I wonder how many there will be this year?"

"Two, I guess. We usually have two."

"I saw three of them once when I was a child!"

"I also remember once, that guy, dried salted fish was ready in a day."

"Three days are rare; I've heard it only happens once every twenty or thirty years. It's usually two days."

Is a curfew about to be imposed? Liang Qu, standing outside the crowd, had a glint in his eye.

Let's count the days.

With less than half a month until July 6th, the time is indeed fast approaching.

I wonder if it's really as miraculous as described in the book? Seasonal learning was a "required course" for beginners at the academy, and Liang Qu had naturally studied it.

The entire Twenty-Four Solar Terms were almost identical to those he was familiar with, except for a section marked with bright red cinnabar around the time of the Great Heat – Bing Fire.

When the Bing Fire was about to rise, the three stars were obscured.

At first glance, it was puzzling, but later Liang Qu consulted ancient texts and discovered an astonishing phenomenon.

Around the time of the Great Heat each year, more than one sun will appear in the sky! Most of the time there are two, but a third will appear every 23 to 25 years!

The Great Heat, the middle of the three periods of dog days, is the hottest period of the year.

Because there's more than one sun, it's naturally the hottest.

What the world takes for granted is incredibly incredible to Liang Qu.

Two celestial bodies are still understandable to form a binary star system, but how can three celestial bodies form a stable system?

Moreover, the Bing Fire Day does not occur all year round; it only appears a few days before and after the Great Heat, and the number of days it lasts does not exceed one month.

Three Suns in the Sky, everything becomes restless and aggressive, and many creatures will enter people's homes to escape the heat and avoid disaster.

Not only animals, but humans can also be impulsive and easily angered, often resulting in fights and brawls. This is how curfews came about, to prevent people from causing trouble.

Whether it's true or false, we need to see it for ourselves.

Liang Qu noted down the curfew time and hurried home. Just as he carried the fish basket into the kitchen, he heard a series of barking dogs coming from the garden, their voices soft and childlike.

"Oolong? Someone's come to the house?"

If it were someone you knew, Oolong would never make random noises.

By the pond, Fan Xinglai and Aunt Zhang were standing aside watching something strange. Oolong kept running and barking along the pond, clearly having seen something.

Liang Qu asked in surprise, "A-Fan, what's going on?"

Fan Xinglai turned around upon hearing the sound and quickly pointed to the opposite bank of the pool.

"Something came to the pond, it seemed to have crawled out of the underground river, it brought over a few pieces of Wooden Head, and then disappeared again."

Oolong was the first to be discovered; we heard it making noise and came over to see if it had attracted a thief.

Following Fan Xinglai's gaze, Liang Qu noticed a pile of Wooden Head that had appeared by the pond, neatly stacked on the bank.

There was absolutely no such thing before.

"Did you see what it was?"

"No, I only saw a dark shadow, like a big rat, with a butt as big as a pig's!"

Fan Xinglai spoke vividly and excitedly, while Aunt Zhang looked worried.

"Okay, I got it. You guys go ahead and get busy. I'll keep an eye on things here."

Liang Qu calmly dismissed the two men and then summoned Oolong to stop barking.

Once the pond was completely still, he looked at the motionless Old Giant Clam at the bottom of the water.

"Old Bei, what's the deal with the big rat?"

The Old Giant Clam, disguised as a stone and motionless, opened its shell and released a series of bubbles.

"Your family has introduced beavers."