The Haul

You Lanchuang had used an ordinary fishing boat to hide his tracks.

Its planks weren't made of good wood, nor were they very thick.

Lu Cheng didn't have to work hard to punch a man-sized hole through them.

The river water poured into the cabin like a breached floodgate.

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

You Lanchuang glanced at the churning river, then at Lu Cheng's fishing boat two zhang away. A vicious glint flashed in his eyes as he shouted:

"Lu Cheng, I give in! I admit defeat. Spare me this once. Whatever you want, I'll agree to it!"

"If you've given in, why are you still holding that fish spear?"

At the sound of his voice, You Lanchuang turned his head. But when he saw Lu Cheng on the river, he suddenly froze.

Across the waves, Lu Cheng stood with everything above his waist rising out of the water.

No matter how violently the waves surged, he stood like a boulder, without the slightest wobble.

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

Its head was less than a foot long, and its blades were barely an inch and a half, yet they gleamed with a cold edge.

The middle prong jutted out a little like a spearhead, while the two outer prongs curved into barbs.

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

Water streamed down Lu Cheng's face and head. He looked not the least bit bedraggled; instead, sunlight glinted off him in dazzling colors.

In that moment, he truly looked like a river god.

You Lanchuang had lived by the blade long enough to collect himself quickly. He forced a stiff smile:

"Lu Cheng, this is all a misunderstanding. Don't do anything rash. If someone dies, you'll have a hard time explaining yourself to the authorities."

"I'll give you ten taels. No, fifty! Fifty taels. Let me go, how about it?"

Lu Cheng shook his head.

"Explain myself? Explain what? The wind and waves are fierce out here. How many people does this river swallow each day? Today, it just happened to be your turn. As for the money, I can go to your house and take it."

You Lanchuang hurriedly said:

"No, I've hidden my money somewhere very secret. No one but me can find it."

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

"..."

In the time it took to exchange those few words, the water in the cabin had risen several more inches, already covering You Lanchuang halfway up his calves.

You Lanchuang grew even more frantic.

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

"And I can help you build connections. Even if you pass the scholar exams, you'll still need to cultivate relationships. If the fish market hadn't greased Clerk Wang's palm, he'd never have become a tax collector."

So that was why Clerk Wang, a low-level clerk, listened to a vicious bully.

Lu Cheng had underestimated You Lanchuang.

Seeing the look on Lu Cheng's face, You Lanchuang mistakenly thought he was tempted.

He tightened his grip on the fish spear in secret and continued, "You're far more capable than that man surnamed Wang. Once you pass the scholar exams, the fish market will give you its full support. Then, you could do more than become a tax collector—you could even sit as a courtroom official. I could make you... die!"

As the word "die" left his mouth, a vicious glint flashed in You Lanchuang's eyes. He thrust his right hand forward, and the fish spear shot out like lightning.

By the time he finished the last three words, the spear had already crossed the distance between them. A splash rang out over the river as Lu Cheng and the spear both disappeared beneath the water.

"Heh heh heh!" You Lanchuang laughed with savage delight. "You little brat, that'll teach you to act so high and mighty."

Without bothering to check whether 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 shot up from the river.

With a wet thud, it pierced clean through his chest.

Pain ripped through him. You Lanchuang's eyes widened in disbelief.

Lu Cheng was still alive?

How had he dodged?

How could he be so fast?

So fast it was as if he'd been waiting there all along, while You Lanchuang had simply thrown himself onto the spear?

How could someone so young have such terrifyingly rich experience?

You Lanchuang's throat bobbed as he tried to speak, but a gush of blood rushed from his mouth first.

He managed only a couple of gurgles before his head lolled to the side, and he fell silent.

A tyrant who had plagued the surrounding villages and towns for years had met his end.

Lu Cheng drew a deep breath. Looking at the corpse impaled on his fish spear, then at the patch of water where Diao the Fourth had vanished, he couldn't help feeling surprised.

"I've killed two people in such a short time, and I don't feel a thing?"

"Is it because they've done evil for years and deserved to die, or... is this just how the world works?"

He lifted his eyes to the sky. The clouds in this world were always a strange, dark gray.

The sun clearly shone over the river, yet the sky overhead remained without a trace of blue.

Perhaps the clouds weren't gray. Perhaps it was the resentment of those at the bottom.

"That's right. Human lives are as cheap as grass. Isn't that just how things are?"

Lu Cheng had always been decisive. With that thought, the last of his misgivings vanished, replaced by even greater resolve.

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

He was destined to make a name for himself!

Lu Cheng gave a cold snort and shook his arm, pulling the fish spear free.

A great wave slapped You Lanchuang's corpse beneath the water, then an undercurrent pushed it back up.

Before the body could sink, a huge black shadow rose swiftly from below and slammed into it.

Bang!

The corpse was launched high into the air, clear of the water. It swung through the air like a torn sack before crashing back into the river.

"..."

"Was that... a Silver Sturgeon?"

Lu Cheng stared in amazement at the enormous shadow underwater, more than three meters long.

A fish that big had to weigh over a thousand catties!

It could do more than toss people around; it could easily capsize a boat.

Could it be the king of the fish in this river?

If he caught a few more Silver Sturgeon, surely he wouldn't anger it.

While he was distracted, the shadow swam into deeper water and disappeared.

You Lanchuang's corpse went under with it, swept quickly toward the riverbed by the undercurrent stirred up by the shadow.

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

He plunged headfirst toward the spot where You Lanchuang's body had sunk.

After all that trouble fighting a monster, how could he not loot the corpse?

He used Swimming with all his might. Before You Lanchuang could sink to the riverbed, Lu Cheng had caught up.

A short while later, Lu Cheng sat in his own fishing boat, taking stock of the four items in his hands.

A short knife, a folding fan, a money pouch, and a string of keys.

The short knife was about half a foot long. Held up to the light, it revealed faint sesame-seed snowflake patterns.

It had even been forged with a little Refined Iron.

Buying one at a shop would cost at least five hundred copper coins—half a month's worth of Lu Cheng's fishing income.

"Not bad. What a shame."

Lu Cheng swung it a couple of times, then casually tossed it into the river.

With a splash, the short knife vanished without a trace, just like the sound Old Man Ge made when he released a fish into the water.

The blade was good, but it had been hand-forged. Even if Lu Cheng resold it, it would leave a trail.

If anyone found out, it would only cause him trouble.

It wasn't worth it for a few hundred copper coins.

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

When he'd found it underwater, he'd initially tossed it aside without a thought.

But the moment it left his hand, he remembered something and snatched it back.

Lu Cheng remembered clearly that when he'd lunged from underwater to kill You Lanchuang, the man had been about to haul someone aboard.

At the time, he'd still been holding this folding fan.

After Lu Cheng had been forced back underwater by the spear and surfaced again, You Lanchuang had only been holding the fish spear.

It seemed he'd tucked the fan into his clothes.

But that was exactly what didn't make sense.

It was only a folding fan. Was it more important than his life?

He'd been so panicked, yet he hadn't tossed it aside. Instead, he'd tucked it away?

"There's something wrong with this. Definitely."

Lu Cheng examined the folding fan closely.

The fan was made of ordinary rice paper. After being soaked in the river and tossed around underwater by Lu Cheng, it had already fallen apart, so there was no need to look at it.

The fan ribs were made of some kind of bamboo, poorly polished and finished, with an uneven color.

The tassel was a round piece of fish bone, a little larger than a palm, carved with the most ordinary river scene.

Lu Cheng studied it for a moment, then suddenly smashed the tassel against the gunwale.

The tassel struck the gunwale with a crack, and a fracture appeared in the fish bone, faintly revealing something inside.

"Hmph, who does he think he's fooling with a cheap trick like that?"

"What kind of person hangs something this huge from a fan? Why not hang a brick on it?"

He smashed it twice more, and the fish bone shattered completely, leaving a palm-sized black iron piece in Lu Cheng's hand.

The iron piece was about three millimeters thick and roughly triangular.

One side was a smooth curve, while the other two had jagged edges. It looked like a fragment of a broken circular disc.

Lu Cheng examined the curve and size of the rounded edge, then sketched out its shape in his mind.

If it had come from a circular disc, the whole thing would have been about the size of both hands. This piece made up roughly one-fifth of it.

Circular, and about this size...

A mirror?

Or a plate?

Unfortunately, the iron was covered in rust. It was neither smooth nor marked with any patterns, so there was no way to tell what it had come from.

Still, You Lanchuang had hidden it so carefully. It had to be a secret.

He'd hidden the thing so well that surely no one else knew about it. There was no harm in keeping it.

Lu Cheng didn't throw away the fan ribs either.

First, he tapped them. They made no unusual sound.

Then he snapped them one by one, but found no hidden compartment inside.

It seemed the fan's secret was this mysterious iron fragment.

Realizing he couldn't figure it out for now, Lu Cheng put the fragment away and picked up You Lanchuang's money pouch.

It felt light in his hand, and Lu Cheng was a little disappointed.

But when he opened it, his eyes lit up in delight.

Besides a few hundred copper coins, there were several pieces of silver inside.

Together, they came to about one tael—not a small amount.

What a shame the fish market's cash box hadn't been there. Otherwise...

Hm?

Lu Cheng suddenly thought of something and picked up the last item, the string of keys, to examine it closely.

There were only four keys.

Three of them were large and clearly meant for opening big door locks.

The remaining one was only half a finger long, but finely made.

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

Without a word, he turned and plunged into the water, diving rapidly toward the spot where You Lanchuang's sunken boat lay.

He passed through layers of undercurrents. The wreck had sunk into the silt on the riverbed.

Lu Cheng quickly squeezed into the cabin to search.

Bedding, fishing nets, a straw rain cape—he swept aside heaps of junk one by one, kicking up clouds of silt. In an instant, the cabin became impossible to see through.

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

The air in his chest gradually ran out, and with it went his hope.

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

He'd only meant to give it a try. Finding nothing, Lu Cheng finally gave up.

He turned around and kicked off from the bottom of the cabin, hoping to propel himself to the surface.

But his foot failed to find purchase. The object beneath it shifted when he kicked it, throwing Lu Cheng off balance.

A sudden surge of delight struck Lu Cheng. He turned back at once and reached down to feel beneath his foot.