Visitors from the Great Marsh

Wangjiang Wharf, Jiang Huai Great Marsh, is a well-known Crab Farming Bay.

On a clear, cloudless night, two small boats lay quietly moored on the river, the water reflecting the silvery glow of the stars and moon.

Five-Jointed Mangrove stalks droop obliquely, reeds touch the river, and most of the fluffy catkins are submerged in the water, releasing a layer of frosty white pollen, which flows smoothly into the distance along the Great Marsh.

Whoosh!

A long tail pierces the full moon, and waves engulf pollen.

A huge shadow lurked underwater, stirring up waves.

Fat Catfish with a thin braided rope hanging from its plump neck, its fins tightly wrapped around a bamboo fish basket, is searching for crabs along the bank of the Great Marsh River.

The water was gently stirred, causing fish and shrimp to scatter, clams to close their shells, and rock-climbing fish to hop and jump into the crevices of the rocks.

The crab, which was gripping and tearing at a small fish while feeding, sensed danger, its eye stalks twitched, it dropped its prey, and it scurried sideways into its mud burrow.

The Fat Catfish, unhurried, wagged its tail and stepped forward, flicking its Long Whiskers to probe into the hole. With a slight movement, it pulled out a large, menacing crab that was caught on the tip of its tail.

The crab brandished its pincers, firmly gripping the Long Whiskers, unaware that it had been tricked and was about to meet its doom.

The Fat Catfish picked up the crab and brought it close to its body. It opened the lid of the fish basket in its arms to compare the crab with the large crab inside. Disappointed, it shook its head, flicked its Long Whiskers, and the crab, which weighed less than six ounces, flew out of the water and crashed into the grass.

The crab, which had narrowly escaped death, struggled to turn over, touched the ground with its pointed legs, and scurried into the bushes.

The Fat Catfish closed the bamboo lid, flicked its tail and continued forward, and in the blink of an eye, it found a large crab around the corner.

The crab dwells in its burrow, half-hidden and half-revealed, exhaling bubbles, clamping its trembling Long Whiskers, and then the entire crab is lifted up by the Long Whiskers.

A comparison.

The Fat Catfish happily collected the crabs into its basket.

There are many professional crab farmers near Wangjiang Wharf, and they have enclosed large areas of crab ponds along the riverbank.

Crabs often waddle out of the enclosure with their eight legs and slip into the Great Marsh to breed and multiply with wild crabs.

Over time, the quality and quantity of crabs near Wangjiang Wharf have surpassed those of other wharves by several times!

Round Head creatures searched everywhere for Treasure Land of crabs and were the first to realize that this place was extraordinary, with many large and fat crabs.

However, after it informed its finless River Dolphin of the news and went elsewhere to find a place to catch crabs, the Fat Catfish, having somehow heard the news, rushed over with its fish trap, forcibly intimidated and drove away the other finless River Dolphin, and took over the entire marshland, searching for large crabs by itself.

Without a leader to guide them, the finless River Dolphin were no match for the Fat Catfish. They dared not speak out and could only let the Fat Catfish do as it pleased, while they silently went elsewhere to catch crabs.

Having secured this Treasure Land, the fish basket was already overflowing with crab legs, with at least a hundred crabs filling the entire basket.

The Fat Catfish couldn't help but let its imagination run wild, fantasizing about the encouragement and praise from the gods.

Little did they know that while the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole lurks behind.

"A fish that can catch crabs? That's quite unusual..."

The riverbed is filled with reefs and lush aquatic plants.

Two burly men, taller or shorter than Kou Zhuang, the river chief under Liang Qu, were hiding behind him, pointing and gesturing at the Fat Catfish.

There is no apparent difficulty in breathing underwater.

"Brother, the crabs in that basket are all huge. Any crab smaller than seven ounces won't even go in. We haven't eaten crabs in a long time since we came out of there. Now that it's autumn and the weather is nice and crisp, the crabs are plump and full of roe. It's the perfect time. Why don't we snatch that basket of crabs?"

Although slightly shorter, the "strong man" who was about 2.3 meters tall gestured wildly as he described what he had seen and heard.

"Don't delay us. We've come to the south to find the reincarnated Dragon Lord. That fish looks strange; we've never seen it before. We don't know what kind it is, and it's so intelligent. It might be an alien species with an owner."

Don't forget the Black-Clad Commandant of yesteryear, who rode alone on Black Tortoise across the Great Marsh. Have you forgotten the series of events that followed?

The second brother didn't take it seriously. "Big brother, we don't know if it has a master yet. If it does, the Black Tortoise of the Black-Clad Commandant back then was at least a Great Monster Spirit. The strange fish now is just a Spirit Monster, a whole level below it."

"We'll act swiftly, deliver a fatal blow, leave no trace, rob us and nobody's aware—it'll be a debt left unresolved!"

He pondered for a long time.

A muffled gurgling sound came from the water.

The older brother coughed twice.

The two had been traveling south for several days without eating...

Since my life became unsettled, I haven't eaten crab in a long time.

Suddenly recalling the delicious taste of crab meat Crab Roe, it was unforgettable, making one's mouth water.

"Second brother, what you said makes sense..."

Bang! Bang! Two muffled thuds echoed from the bottom of the water, like Wooden Stick hitting rubber.

"Strange, this fish has such thick skin and tough flesh! It took two hits to stun it, and my hands are numb from all the tapping!"

"Hmm, second brother, did it see our faces?"

"No, I'm pretty quick..."

"Oh dear! I warned you before, but you wouldn't listen. Now you've caused such a disaster. What are we going to do?"

"Huh? Then, brother, do you want some?"

"Since things have come to this, let's eat!"

The sky was just beginning to brighten.

Sunlight bathed the Great Marsh.

A group of finless River Dolphin rushed downstream, leaving trails of water, startling the fish into scattering and leaping out of the water.

The fisherman, returning to his boat, stood on the sampan. Suddenly, his foot swayed, and he saw Big Fish leaping out of the water, puzzled.

Below the Great Marsh.

Round Head led his henchmen and stormed back to Wangjiang Wharf to settle scores.

After searching around, the River Dolphin below responded.

Unexpectedly, when Round Head arrived, the Fat Catfish was lying on the ground fast asleep, its fish basket overturned and empty beside it.

After a whole night, they hadn't caught any crabs at all. Round Head was furious.

Whether it's monopolizing the space or not, it's all for the benefit of the gods.

I never expected the Fat Catfish to be so incompetent.

A prime spot for crabbing was abandoned, and in the end, both fins were empty! With a flick of its Round Head fin, a River Dolphin on the left understood perfectly.

It put down its fish basket, retreated a hundred feet away, aimed at the Fat Catfish was fast asleep, and suddenly began its dive, accelerating! Its streamlined body left a large water trail, and the hundred-foot distance was covered in an instant. In the blink of an eye, its solid head slammed into the Fat Catfish's plump belly! Boom! The flat belly bounced like waves.

The dark shadow flashed and disappeared in the water, crashing onto the riverbank and splashing up a large amount of mud and sand, covering the surrounding area.

"Who! Who! Who! "The Fat Catfish stood up angrily. It swam out of the sand and dust, and after looking around, it found that it had been surrounded by finless River Dolphin carrying fish baskets.

The Round Head catfish slowly swam forward, the sun shining through the water, gilding it with a dazzling golden light, looking down at the bewildered Fat Catfish.

Facing the large shadow cast by the Round Head that mercilessly scrutinized it, the Fat Catfish scratched its forehead with its whiskers, about to make a fuss, when the Round Head threw down a fish basket.

The fish basket bounced twice, then the bamboo lid fell off, revealing that it was empty inside; it was clearly an empty basket.

The Fat Catfish was puzzled. It observed the basket for a long time and found it increasingly familiar until it saw the broken rope and shuddered.

???

!!

The wind blows across the pond, creating large folds.

Duckweed drifts from east to west.

"You're saying that two people ambushed you and tried to steal your crabs?"

Liang Qu stroked his chin, lost in thought.

In the pond, the Fat Catfish nodded repeatedly, its fins wrapped around the fish basket, then patted the back of its head, rolled its eyes, and floated on the surface with its belly up.