Fierce Fish

Before he had even set out, people had begun following him. Wei Luo immediately assumed they harbored ill intentions and wanted to do something out of line.

But after talking with them, Wei Luo learned that they regarded him as a guiding beacon and wanted him to tell them where they could find Treasure Fish.

It was not easy to make a trip here, and no one wanted to return empty-handed. Most of this group had not caught a single Treasure Fish.

After seeing Wei Luo catch two Treasure Fish last night, they had decided that his luck was exceptionally good.

Some even took out rough maps and asked Wei Luo to point out locations on them at will.

Wei Luo had not wanted to bother with them, but this group seemed determined to follow him, trailing behind him like iron filings to a magnet.

If people kept following him, how was he supposed to catch Treasure Fish? So he casually marked a few spots for them on their maps.

He was not drawing at random, either. He revealed several places with a high chance of producing Treasure Fish.

Those places were either relatively remote or not among Wei Luo's targets, so it did not matter if he disclosed them to others.

As for whether they could catch anything, that was none of Wei Luo's concern.

The group immediately thanked Wei Luo profusely. Some even said that if they caught a Treasure Fish, they would give Wei Luo silver in return.

Wei Luo did not take it seriously. He only wanted to send them away.

Afterward, he gave Liu Changle directions to two locations, then left alone.

The island was lush and green, covered everywhere in dense old forests. Yet from dawn onward each day, miasma spread through the woods.

Fortunately, Wei Luo had long prepared pills to dispel miasma. Even so, the farther he went into the island, the denser the miasma became.

At first, taking one pill every half day was enough. But near the island's interior, he had to take one every two hours.

The ninety-percent probability deduced by the Great Thousand Revelation was truly remarkable.

By afternoon, Wei Luo had already gone into the water twice, and two more Treasure Fish had been added to his fish basket.

Although the Treasure Fish from these past two days were not as good as yesterday's Blue-Line Fish, among all the crewmen, he was undoubtedly the strongest.

And the deeper he went into the island, the more snakes, insects, rats, and ants there were. Along the way, Wei Luo spotted quite a few poisonous creatures.

With one slash, he severed a small snake that had tried to ambush him. Wei Luo emerged from the woods and arrived beside a pool roughly several dozen meters across.

Wei Luo had deduced this place himself; it was not marked on the Sun Family's map.

Still, Wei Luo knew the general direction. It should not be far from the cold pool where Sun Qianchuan and the others were.

Wei Luo could only look up at the sun's position. Judging the time to be about right, he tossed in the bait.

In truth, two Treasure Fish should have been enough for him to break through to the second training stage. But to be safe, he still planned to see whether he could catch one more.

He poured all the remaining half portion of bait directly into the pool and sat waiting for a Treasure Fish to appear.

Perhaps he had misjudged the time. After waiting nearly half an hour, there was no sign of anything unusual.

Wei Luo still gripped his fish spear and crouched by the shore, waiting patiently.

A short while later, a glint of scales suddenly flashed past at the mouth of the channel.

Wei Luo's gaze sharpened. He thought his eyes had deceived him.

After another ten-odd minutes, a red fish shadow with a large swollen lump on its head poked its way out cautiously.

This red Treasure Fish resembled a carp, but its two long whiskers were fully twenty to thirty centimeters long, nearly as long as its body.

Wei Luo had previously read many books on Treasure Fish at Steward Li's place. The moment he saw the fish clearly, delight surged through him.

Dragon-Whisker Carp!

The Dragon-Whisker Carp was a superior-grade Treasure Fish. Its two carp whiskers could serve as the main ingredient in many kinds of pills.

He had heard that wealthy households would do everything possible to raise such Treasure Fish after catching them. If raised well, they could bring a steady stream of wealth.

At this moment, the Dragon-Whisker Carp was still lingering by the channel, clearly more vigilant than ordinary Treasure Fish.

Wei Luo lay low by the shore and even slowed his breathing, afraid the Dragon-Whisker Carp would flee.

After another quarter of an hour, the Dragon-Whisker Carp finally swished its tail and slowly swam toward the bait.

Seeing this, Wei Luo's heart settled. His body silently slipped into the water.

Just then, another mass of fish shadow shifted and squeezed out from the channel entrance.

That "fish" had the shape of a snake, but its body resembled rotting sludge.

Its fish head was a ghastly pale white, and no matter how he looked at it, it resembled a human face.

Wei Luo caught sight of the fish shadow from the corner of his eye, and a chill immediately ran through his heart.

He thought of the strange thing he had encountered while fishing on the Hun River before. The two had to be the same creature.

But this one was even more sinister and terrifying, fully two to three meters long.

Fierce Fish!

After spending so long at the compound, Wei Luo had long heard of this thing. The old crewmen all called it a "Fierce Fish."

Some said it was formed from wronged souls, while others claimed that any fish that ate a human would become a "Fierce Fish."

What it was did not matter. The only thing certain was that Fierce Fish were exceedingly ferocious and preyed upon every living thing!

The good news was that the Fierce Fish did not seem to have noticed Wei Luo. It merely swam quietly toward the Dragon-Whisker Carp.

Clearly, its target was the Dragon-Whisker Carp as well.

Watching the Fierce Fish draw closer and closer, Wei Luo's heart gradually sank. Was he really going to give up the Dragon-Whisker Carp just like that?

But soon, a flash of viciousness crossed Wei Luo's face.

"A stinking fish dares steal what is mine!"

He gathered all his strength and hurled the fish spear directly at the Dragon-Whisker Carp.

Pfft!

His aim was not bad. One of the fish spear's prongs instantly pierced through the Dragon-Whisker Carp.

The Fierce Fish noticed Wei Luo at that moment. Perhaps stimulated by the scent of the Dragon-Whisker Carp's blood, it thrashed wildly and charged toward Wei Luo.

Without the slightest hesitation, Wei Luo grabbed the fish spear and swam toward the shore.

Only a little over ten meters separated them. By the time Wei Luo reached the shore, the Fierce Fish had caught up.

The Fierce Fish was indeed fierce. It leaped straight out of the water and onto the bank.

Wei Luo had just jumped out of the water when he seized the long blade lying on the ground, turned, and slashed.

The long blade struck the Fierce Fish's body, but Wei Luo felt as though he had cut into a lump of rotten mud. He could not even pull it back out.

"Screech!"

The monstrous fish cried out in pain and immediately whipped its huge tail, striking Wei Luo across the shoulder.

Smack!

With that single blow, Wei Luo felt his entire shoulder go numb. The impact drove him stumbling backward again and again.

At that point, Wei Luo had no thought of continuing the fight. He grabbed the Treasure Fish and ran.

Fortunately, the Fierce Fish was not fast on land, and Wei Luo escaped with ease.

The Fierce Fish wriggled twice. Seeing Wei Luo had run far away, it could only let out a strange cry before returning to the water.

Not long afterward, Wei Luo returned.

Looking at the quiet, secluded surface of the water, he sighed.

Had he not gotten out of the water so quickly, the Fierce Fish might have dragged him down to the bottom.

His strength was still far too weak. He had actually been chased into fleeing by a "fish."

By then, his shoulder had swollen high and was in excruciating pain.

That strike was no weaker than an attack from a second-training-stage martial artist.

Though he had taken some risk, gaining a Dragon-Whisker Carp was still immensely worthwhile.

His gaze soon shifted to the Dragon-Whisker Carp.

"This time, I will definitely break through the second threshold of qi and blood!"

Without much hesitation, Wei Luo gutted all three Treasure Fish, started a fire, and roasted them.

Before setting out this time, Wei Luo had even specifically brought some salt for seasoning.

Though the Dragon-Whisker Carp was precious, raising it was not very realistic given Wei Luo's current circumstances. Strengthening himself directly was the more practical choice.

The flames rose, and the three Treasure Fish gradually began to give off waves of fragrance.