Aaron's heart gave a sudden jolt.
Recently, he had used the Incomplete Sea-Gathering Art to catch quite a few Crimson Blood Carp.
His expression unchanged, he looked toward the crowd. "Old Yan?"
"Master Yu!"
Old Yan stepped forward with a beaming smile and bowed.
He looked honest and guileless, short, squat, and thick-built, his face flushed red with excitement.
"You caught a Crimson Blood Carp? Congratulations!" Aaron said with a grin, raising his cup.
"Thanks to your good fortune... This round of drinks is on me too." Old Yan patted his chest, looking thoroughly proud of himself.
"Haha, Old Yan's struck it rich..."
"Even selling it to the Twelve Linked Forts got him a full thirty taels of silver!"
"Land prices are cheap now. He could buy loads of farmland out in the countryside..."
The tavern patrons all sighed in envy.
Old Yan had truly turned his luck around.
For a time, the tavern was filled with cheerful harmony. Only a few gang members stared at Old Yan, lost in thought.
Night.
The moon hung high.
Aaron cast his bait once more and began fishing...
This time, he was doing it entirely to verify certain suspicions in his heart. When he hauled up the net, his expression did not change as he spotted a flash of vivid red.
"Another one..."
Aaron scooped up the Crimson Blood Carp and placed it in the fish tank.
Two Crimson Blood Carp were already swimming within it.
They were all tonight's catch.
"I deliberately left my familiar fishing grounds... roamed around and struck wherever I could, using the Incomplete Sea-Gathering Art. Sure enough, I caught quite a few rare fish—three Crimson Blood Carp alone... This probability isn't normal!"
Aaron recalled Fang Yu's most vivid memory.
"The Crimson Blood Carp are increasing... I'm afraid...