"Uncle Gu, stop."
Mo Hua immediately called out.
Gu Changhuai stopped the boat and turned around in confusion. He saw Mo Hua leaning over the side, craning his head toward the water as though looking for something.
At the same time, Mo Hua lowered his voice and quietly called:
"Little Silver Fish~"
The Yanshui River was a pool of emerald ripples, its bottom nowhere in sight.
After a while, a streak of silver flashed across the water's surface. A tiny fish with a slender body, so faint it was almost impossible to notice, swam up.
"Benefactor, I'm here..."
It happily swished its tail.
It really was Little Silver Fish!
Delight flashed across Mo Hua's face before he asked in puzzlement, "Weren't you in Small Fishing Village? How did you get here?"
Little Silver Fish said something, but its voice was too weak to make out.
Mo Hua leaned his head even closer to the water, and only then did he hear Little Silver Fish's fine, faint voice:
"...Thanks to you, Benefactor... I have a Spirit Shrine to shelter in, offerings to fill my belly, and incense to nourish my spirit. I'm much better now."
"My Authority as a river god has also recovered a little. I can merge with the Yanshui River, but my Authority is still weak, and the range in which I can move is very small..."
"This stretch of river is near Small Fishing Village."
"I was taking in incense in Small Fishing Village when I sensed your aura, Benefactor, so I swam over to see you..."
Before Mo Hua, Little Silver Fish swam back and forth through the water, occasionally splashing up droplets. It truly looked much livelier than before.
Mo Hua nodded.
So that was it...
The nearby channels of the Yanshui River twisted and