Red-Horned Pomfret

Heroes under the heavens are as numerous as crucian carp in the river.

The former Hong Ming had not yet heard of, but the latter, he had witnessed with his own eyes.

As the night faded and the first light of dawn began to break, even before the roosters had crowed, the vast Chuan River slowly pulled back its grand curtain.

Before the spectacle of the fish tide could unfold, the prelude rippled across the various tributaries that were clearly demarcated in the distance.

All the tributaries, large and small, seemed to reach a tacit agreement, simultaneously breaking into layers of fine, dense ripples.

These ripples spread outward at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Accompanying this was the crisp sound of flowing water, "splash, splash," moving from far to near, growing from soft to heavy.

These various preludes rode the autumn wind, carrying the scent of harvest as they rushed toward them.

"It's here!"

Someone with sharp eyes suddenly shouted aloud.

The sound invigorated all the Water Soldiers standing on the banks or aboard the boats.

Their gazes stretched out in an instant, extending all the way to where the river water met the light of the sky.

There, countless fish of all kinds were swimming in massive, surging shoals, rolling toward their position in a grand procession.

A dense, black mass, scrambling and jostling, completely obscured the surface of the water.

It was like a canopy of heaven, as if it intended to dispel the thin dawn light and return the earth to the darkness of night.

Looking from afar, it resembled a moving black tide, sweeping across the entire Chuan River.

Wherever it passed, the tide surged, fish leaped from the river, and water splashed, forming an unstoppable, magnificent momentum!

A truly spectacular sight!

It was almost impossible to describe this grand scene with any words.

Nor was there any need to describe it; the moment the fish tide arrived, all emotions were transformed into action.

At the third tributary, following Li Mo's command, everyone moved in unison, spreading out sturdy fishing nets with gaps the size of a fist.

At the exit point, they quickly pulled together lines of unbreakable defenses.

Behind them and along the banks on both sides, Hong Ming and the others, who were tasked with carrying bamboo baskets and transporting the miscellaneous fish, also stood ready, poised for action.

Taking advantage of this interval, Hong Ming relied on his superior eyesight to search for any sign of the Treasure Fish in minute detail.

Yet it was all in vain; he simply could not catch a glimpse of the Treasure Fish within the dense, cloth-like fish tide.

After searching for a moment, he had to withdraw his gaze in frustration.

Just then, the first wave of the fish tide struck, its numbers simply beyond description.

Even though they were only catching the large fish, they were almost caught off guard by the dense, torrential flood before them.

Fortunately, the group's coordination was quite tacit, and they easily resolved the sudden impact.

In less than a hundred breaths, the harvest was already remarkably substantial; the fish baskets they had brought were decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Often, before the previous basket could be carried away, the next one was already full, leaving them truly overwhelmed.

Whether it was Hong Ming or the others, they were suffering and happy at the same time.

Hong Ming worked in an orderly fashion, not forgetting to search for the Treasure Fish during the process.

He frequently cast his gaze out, sometimes glancing to the side, sometimes looking into the distance, and sometimes sweeping across the water.

He also pricked up his ears, listening to the movements coming from all directions, focusing mainly on Li Mo and the other members of the Treasure Fish team.

They were not participating in the regular fishing; instead, they were on boats in the main channel of the Chuan River, closely monitoring the movements of the Treasure Fish.

If there were any situation, with their numbers and sharp eyes, they would surely be the first to notice.

"A Treasure Fish has appeared!"

"It's a Red-Horned Pomfret!"

"Over at the second tributary!"

"..."

While he was waiting for a rabbit to hit a tree stump, there was no movement on Hong Ming's side, but a series of commotions erupted from the neighboring second team's fishing area.

The sounds rang out in succession, soaring into the sky and causing both the first and third teams to look over repeatedly.

When they saw that a Treasure Fish had indeed appeared, the members of these two teams immediately revealed looks of envy they made no effort to hide.

They wished they could take their place!

"Red-Horned Pomfret!"

Hong Ming's eyes flickered, and relevant information quickly surfaced in his mind.

The Red-Horned Pomfret was a Treasure Fish known for its beauty; it was slender like a whip, with a streamlined body, so handsome that it was like an aristocrat among the Treasure Fish.

The red, horn-like protrusion on the top of its head only served to confirm this.

However, its true "value" was reflected in its price.

The market price of the Red-Horned Pomfret far exceeded that of the Azure Dragon Fish and the Black Bass.

The functions of the three were actually quite similar; all could assist martial artists in their cultivation and help ordinary people consolidate their foundations and nourish their vitality.

The only difference was that the former was an excellent medicine for beauty and skin rejuvenation.

Such a characteristic directly caused the market price of the Red-Horned Pomfret to skyrocket, far outpacing the other Treasure Fish.

Hong Ming did not care about such medicinal effects; he was more concerned with whether the Treasure Fish could bring benefits to his cultivation.

The answer went without saying—naturally, it could—but the problem was that this Treasure Fish could only be watched, not caught.

Distance was a secondary reason; the main issue was that it had not appeared in the jurisdiction of the Third Team, but in the Second Team's.

According to the rules, before it left the Second Team's jurisdiction, only they were allowed to attempt a capture.

Unless they failed to catch it and the Red-Horned Pomfret broke through their blockade and swam into the Chuan River, only then could everyone compete based on their own abilities.

Hong Ming kept an eye on the situation of the Red-Horned Pomfret while also monitoring his own jurisdiction.

Before any Treasure Fish appeared in his own river, he discovered that the Second Team had failed!

Hong Ming did not see the full picture of how they lost their hold, but once he learned the result, he saw the Red-Horned Pomfret leaping into the wide river.

"Move!"

Li Mo and the others, who had been waiting for a long time, were overjoyed at the sight and immediately took action.

Everyone nocked their arrows and fired them out.

The dense rain of arrows, carrying the expectations of both teams, streaked across like lightning, yet all were nimbly dodged by the Red-Horned Pomfret.

No one cared about the initial failure; everyone was fully energized, firing arrows as quickly as snapping their fingers, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

At this moment, all members of the Treasure Fish teams were exceptionally nervous, worried both that the Treasure Fish would escape and that the team next door would snatch it first.

The two sides competed fiercely, fearing they would fall behind.

However, this intense struggle not only failed to cause any harm to the Treasure Fish but instead prompted it to swim even further away.

Just as it was about to disappear into the school of fish and vanish into the Jianghuai, an arrow pierced through the air.

No, not one, but two!

They came from two different directions.

The first arrow fired originated from the Second Team, seizing the initiative.

The one fired afterward came from the Third Team; although it was a beat late, its speed was extremely fast, and it was bravely giving chase.

The two arrows moved like a whirlwind, fast as light, both locked tightly onto the Red-Horned Pomfret.

The Red-Horned Pomfret seemed to sense the near-tangible threat and, as if feeling something, violently slapped its tail fin, wanting to dodge as it had done before.

However, it was too late; the first arrow had already crossed the heavy obstacles and was less than half a zhang away.

Just as everyone thought this arrow would surely hit, the second arrow caught up completely at that very moment.

It not only deflected the arrowhead of the first arrow but also struck the Red-Horned Pomfret first, pinning it violently onto the surging surface of the river.

The Red-Horned Pomfret struggled, but it was unable to break free, constantly bleeding and staining the water surface.

The moment the blood of the Treasure Fish diffused, it stimulated the surrounding fish to surge over frantically, completely cutting off its last path of retreat.

"Who hit it?"

On the fishing boats, this same thought surfaced in the hearts of all the Treasure Fish team members.

Doubt was doubt, but their speed was not slow.

Soon, Li Mo and the others scared away the other fish and picked up the Treasure Fish.

They checked the injuries of the Treasure Fish immediately, and seeing that its life was not in danger, they looked at the gleaming arrowhead.

When he saw the serial number on it, Li Mo was suddenly overjoyed: "It's from our team!"