Harvest

You Lanchuang was rowing an ordinary fishing boat to keep his movements concealed.

The hull was neither made of quality timber nor particularly thick.

Lu Cheng had little trouble punching a hole the size of a human head through the wood.

The river water immediately surged into the cabin like a breached dam.

In the blink of an eye, the water inside had already risen above his ankles.

You Lanchuang glanced at the churning, turbulent river, then looked toward Lu Cheng's boat two zhang away. A flash of ruthlessness crossed his eyes as he shouted:

"Lu Cheng, I yield! I admit defeat. Spare me this once, and I'll agree to whatever terms you set!"

"If you've yielded, why are you still gripping that fish spear?"

You Lanchuang turned his head at the sound, but he was momentarily dazed when he saw Lu Cheng standing on the river surface.

Across the waves, Lu Cheng was visible from the waist up, standing atop the water.

No matter how high the waves rose, he remained as steady as a boulder, without the slightest sway.

In his right hand, he held an old fish spear.

The head was less than a foot long, with blades only an inch and a half wide, yet they glinted with a cold, sharp edge.

The center prong protruded slightly like a spearhead, while the two outer prongs were fashioned with barbs.

The sun had already climbed high, casting its light across the river.

River water streamed down Lu Cheng's face and hair, yet rather than looking disheveled, he seemed to shimmer with iridescent light under the sun.

In this posture, he truly looked like a river deity.

You Lanchuang was, after all, a man who lived by the blade; he quickly regained his composure and forced a stiff smile onto his face:

"Lu Cheng, this is all a misunderstanding. You mustn't be impulsive. If a life is lost, you won't be able to answer to the authorities."

"I'll give you ten taels—no, fifty! Fifty taels. How about you let me go?"

Lu Cheng shook his head:

"Answer for it? Answer for what? The wind and waves on this river are fierce; it swallows people every day. It just happens to be your turn today. As for the money, I'll just go to your house and take it myself."

You Lanchuang hurriedly said:

"No, my money is hidden very carefully. No one can get it but me."

Lu Cheng replied:

"Then forget it. Your life is worth more than a few taels of silver."

In the time it took to exchange these few words, the water in the cabin had risen another few inches, already submerging You Lanchuang's lower legs.

You Lanchuang grew increasingly desperate:

"That's right, my life is worth more than silver! I can help you—I can pay for your studies!"

"And the bribes! Even if you pass the xiucai exam, you'll still need to grease palms. If Clerk Wang didn't get kickbacks from the fish market, he could never hold his position as a tax official."

So that was it. Only now did Lu Cheng understand why Clerk Wang, a mere government clerk, would take orders from a vicious thug.

He had underestimated You Lanchuang.

Lu Cheng's expression led You Lanchuang to mistakenly believe he had been swayed.

He quietly tightened his grip on the fish spear while continuing to speak:

"You're much more capable than that man surnamed Wang. Once you pass the xiucai exam, the fish market will support you with everything we have. By then, you won't just be a tax official—even a magistrate could be made to... die!"

As the word "die" left his lips, a flash of malice crossed You Lanchuang's eyes. He exerted force with his right hand, and the fish spear shot out like a bolt of lightning.

By the time the last word fell, the spear had already crossed the distance between them. With a splash, both Lu Cheng and the spear vanished into the water.

"Heh heh heh heh~" You Lanchuang laughed viciously in excitement. "You little bastard, see how you like that."

Without waiting to see if Lu Cheng was dead, he immediately turned and leaped toward Lu Cheng's boat.

But just as You Lanchuang's body was about to hit the water, a fish spear suddenly lunged out from the river.

With a wet thud, it pierced straight through his chest without a hint of mercy.

As the searing pain struck, You Lanchuang's eyes widened in disbelief.

Lu Cheng was actually unharmed?

How did he dodge it?

How could he be so fast?

He was so fast it was as if he had been waiting there all along, and he, You Lanchuang, had simply thrown himself onto the blade.

How could someone so young possess such terrifyingly deep experience?

You Lanchuang's throat rattled as he tried to say something, but a great surge of blood rushed to spill from his mouth.

With a couple of "clucks," his head lolled to the side, and he breathed his last.

A notorious gang leader who had plagued the surrounding villages for years had met his end.

Lu Cheng took a deep breath, looking at the corpse on his harpoon, then at the water where Diao the Fourth had long since vanished. He couldn't help but feel surprised:

I've killed two men in such a short time, yet I don't feel a thing?

Is it because they were wicked for so long and deserved to die, or... is this just how the world is?

He looked up at the sky; the clouds in this world were always a strange, dark gray.

Even though the sun cast its light upon the river, the sky above remained devoid of blue.

Perhaps it wasn't the clouds that were gray, but the resentment of the people at the bottom.

That's right, human life is as cheap as grass; isn't that just how it's supposed to be?

Lu Cheng was naturally decisive. With that thought, his mind was clear of burdens, replaced instead by a surge of motivation.

Adapting to this world so quickly—a good thing, a very good thing!

It's high time I made a name for myself!

Lu Cheng snorted coldly, flicked his waist and arm, and pulled the harpoon free.

The corpse of You Lanchuang was first slapped beneath the surface by a large wave, then pushed back up by an undercurrent.

Before the body could sink, a massive black shadow from the depths rose rapidly and slammed into it.

Bang!

The corpse was launched high into the air, clearing the water, spinning like a tattered sack before crashing back down.

"..."

"That was... a Silver Sturgeon?"

Lu Cheng watched the massive shadow, over three meters long, with astonishment.

A fish that size must weigh over a thousand pounds!

Forget capsizing a man, it could easily overturn a boat.

Could it be the king of this river?

If I catch a few more Silver Sturgeons, I shouldn't anger it, right?

In the moment he was stunned, the shadow swam into the deep water and vanished.

The corpse of You Lanchuang sank along with it, dragged down rapidly toward the riverbed by the current the shadow had stirred up.

Lu Cheng was about to turn and swim toward his own fishing boat when he suddenly cursed under his breath.

He dove headfirst toward the spot where the corpse had sunk.

Having finally cleared the mob, how could he not loot the body?

He pushed his [Swimming] to the limit, chasing after You Lanchuang before the body could reach the riverbed.

A short while later, Lu Cheng sat on his fishing boat, inspecting the four items in his hands.

A short blade, a folding fan, a money pouch, and a ring of keys.

The blade was about half a foot long; held up to the light, it revealed sparse, sesame-like snowflake patterns.

It was actually forged with a bit of refined iron.

Buying it at a shop would cost at least five hundred wen, equal to half a month of Lu Cheng's fishing earnings.

"Nice item, but a pity."

Lu Cheng swung it twice and tossed it into the river.

With a "splash," the blade vanished without a trace, sounding exactly like Old Man Ge releasing a fish back into the water.

The blade was good, but it was hand-forged; even if Lu Cheng sold it, it would leave a trail.

Once discovered, it would only bring him trouble.

It wasn't worth it for a few hundred wen.

After tossing the blade, Lu Cheng picked up the folding fan.

When he first grabbed the fan underwater, he had instinctively tossed it away.

But just as it left his hand, he remembered something and immediately snatched it back.

Lu Cheng remembered very clearly that when he had lunged from underwater to ambush You Lanchuang, the man had been planning to pull someone onto the boat.

At that time, he had been holding this folding fan.

Later, after he was forced back underwater by a harpoon strike and returned, the man had only the harpoon left in his hand.

It seemed he had tucked the fan into his clothes.

But that was exactly where the problem lay.

It was just a folding fan; could it really be more important than his life?

He had been so tense, yet instead of tossing it aside, he had tucked it into his robes?

Something is wrong, absolutely wrong.

Lu Cheng examined the folding fan carefully.

The fan face was made of ordinary rice paper, and after being soaked in the river and tossed about by Lu Cheng underwater, it had long since rotted away, so there was no need to look at it.

The ribs were made of some unknown bamboo, poorly polished and uneven in color.

The fan pendant was a circular fish bone slightly larger than a palm, carved with a mundane river scene.

Lu Cheng glanced at it twice, then suddenly slammed the pendant against the side of the boat.

With a sharp "crack" upon impact, a fissure appeared on the fish bone pendant, faintly revealing what lay inside.

"Hmph, trying to pull a trick like this on me?"

"Who hangs something this big off a fan? Why not just hang a brick?"

He struck it two more times until the fish bone shattered completely, leaving a black iron shard the size of a palm in Lu Cheng's hand.

The iron shard was about three millimeters thick and triangular in shape.

One side was a smooth arc, while the other two sides were jagged, looking much like a fragment of a broken circular plate.

Lu Cheng studied the curvature and size of the arc, roughly sketching the shape in his mind.

If it were truly a circular plate, it would be the size of two hands, and this shard was about one-fifth of it.

Round, and of this size...

A mirror?

Or a plate?

Unfortunately, the iron was covered in rust, neither smooth nor patterned, making it impossible to tell what it actually was.

However, since You Lanchuang had gone to such lengths to hide it, there had to be a secret.

Since You Lanchuang had kept this hidden so carefully, no one else could possibly know about it, so there was no harm in keeping it.

Lu Cheng didn't discard the remaining fan ribs either.

He tapped them first, but the sound was normal.

Then he snapped them one by one, finding no hidden compartments.

It seemed the secret of the fan was just this mysterious iron shard.

Knowing he wouldn't figure it out right away, Lu Cheng put the shard away and picked up You Lanchuang's money pouch.

It didn't feel heavy in his hand, and Lu Cheng felt a slight pang of disappointment.

But upon opening it, his eyes lit up with surprise.

Aside from a few hundred copper coins, there were actually several pieces of broken silver inside.

Altogether, it amounted to about one tael, which was not a small sum.

It was a pity the fish market's cash box wasn't there, otherwise...

Hm?

Lu Cheng suddenly thought of something and picked up the last ring of keys to examine them closely.

There weren't many keys, only four.

The three large ones were clearly for opening heavy door locks.

The remaining one was only half a finger long, with exquisite craftsmanship.

Looking at this key, Lu Cheng's heart began to pound violently.

Without a word, he flipped over and dove into the water, descending rapidly toward the site of You Lanchuang's shipwreck.

Passing through layers of undercurrents, the rotted boat was already embedded in the silt at the bottom of the river.

Lu Cheng quickly ducked into the cabin to search.

Bedding, fishing nets, rain capes—he tossed aside piles of tattered debris, stirring up clouds of silt that made the cabin instantly impossible to see through.

Lu Cheng searched for a long while with his eyes closed, but found nothing.

His breath was running out, and the anticipation in his heart began to fade.

It seemed You Lanchuang hadn't brought the item with him.

It had only been a guess, and with nothing to show for it, Lu Cheng finally gave up the search.

He turned around, planting his feet firmly against the bottom of the cabin to push himself toward the surface.

But as he kicked, he didn't find leverage; instead, the object beneath his feet shifted, causing Lu Cheng to stumble.

Yet, a sudden surge of joy erupted in Lu Cheng's heart, and he immediately turned back to grope at what lay beneath his feet.