Silver-backed Fish, Silver-striped Fish!

A line of pale golden characters in "small seal script" appeared on his retina.

At the same time, as his eyes moved, they locked onto four distant points of light.

The points glowed pale gold, each bearing a line of small text.

[Information ①: One li south, Treasure Fish Silver-backed Fish have been spotted in the shallows of Little Path Bay.]

[Information ②: Three li north, inside a cave concealed by dried grass atop the largest dead tree in the withered forest, lies food hoarded by Golden-Tailed Rats for the winter.]

[Information ③: Three li southeast, in the rear courtyard of Through-the-Back Martial Hall in Longcloud County's inner city, the original copy of the force-transformation-grade stance art, "Through-Back Stance," is stored.]

[Information ④: Six kilometers southwest, deep within Cloudwater Lake, lie the belongings and inheritance of a true disciple of Sea-Fishing Tower...]

This was...

A golden finger?

Shen Xiuhan's heart pounded wildly.

Originally, he had planned to rely on his fishing experience from his previous life and try his luck by the lake.

But honestly, he had no confidence.

Fishing was a mysterious business.

If it were really that easy, he would not have gone black-faced at the mere mention of coming back empty-handed in his previous life.

But now that he had a system, things were naturally no longer the same!

"Bwo... Bwo, what's wrong?"

Beside him, Shen Momo tugged at the corner of his clothes, her little face full of worry.

Shen Xiuhan came back to himself, suppressed the surging thoughts in his heart, and rubbed her dry, yellowing hair.

"It's nothing... I was just thinking about where to catch Momo a big fish."

"Really?!"

The little girl's eyes lit up at once, and she began to bounce with excitement. But soon, she shrank her neck.

"But it's so cold outside, and the snow is so deep... Bwo only just got better..."

"That's why Momo should wait obediently at home. Big Brother will be back in no time."

Shen Xiuhan picked up the fishing rod, then dug out an old bamboo fish basket from the corner, thick with dust and visibly patched at the bottom.

It was something Shen Sanhuai had once used.

Madam Zheng had woven a new one last year, so the old one had been left here.

Unfortunately... the new fish basket had gone with Shen Sanhuai and would never return.

With rod and fish basket in hand,

he went to the kitchen as well.

Inside the rice jar,

only a thin layer of millet remained, perhaps half a dou—less than a jin at most...

Shen Xiuhan bent down, grabbed a small handful, and tucked it into his clothes.

When he reached the door, the frigid wind swept snowflakes into his face, cutting across his skin like knives.

Shen Xiuhan tightened his collar, breathed out a cloud of white mist, and strode outside.

"Bwo!"

He had only taken a few steps when a call came from the doorway.

Shen Xiuhan turned around and saw Shen Momo stumbling through the snow, deep step and shallow step, out the door. She clutched a grayish piece of cloth in her hand.

Only when he looked closer did he see that it was a small pouch sewn from gray cloth. Its stitches were crooked and uneven, obviously made by her own hand.

"Bwo, this is the money Daddy gave Momo. Momo saved it all..."

The little girl's cheeks were frozen red, yet her eyes sparkled as she spread her little hand as though presenting a treasure.

Inside the pouch were five or six large copper coins.

"Daddy used to say that if you sell fishies at the fish market, you have to pay a stall fee..."

When the fish market opened, a cut was taken from every stall.

The fish market in the inner city had always been controlled by a gang called the Golden Dragon Gang.

Behind the Golden Dragon Gang stood the Bai clan.

Whenever fishermen set up stalls to sell fish, they had to pay five large copper coins as a "stall fee."

Warmth rose in Shen Xiuhan's heart. He crouched down, accepted the pouch, and said softly,

"Momo is so smart. Hurry back inside and wait. I'll definitely let you eat fish tonight."

"Mm! Momo wants to eat fishies! Bwo has to catch lots and lots!"

The little girl nodded hard, then turned and skipped back toward the doorway. Yet she refused to go indoors, simply standing outside the fence and watching him eagerly.

Shen Xiuhan gently clenched the pouch, took a deep breath, and headed south.

The cold wind, like a dull knife, scraped over Little Path Bay by Cloudwater Lake.

Though it was called a "bay," it was really just a stretch of rocky shallows.

Perhaps children played in the water there during summer, but it was now deep winter. A thin layer of ice covered the lake, snow blanketed the mudflats, and all around was deathly still.

Those able to settle nearby were all hired hands and tenant farmers dependent on the White Family of the inner city.

The Shen Family was no exception.

To earn a living, they had to rent boats from the White Family to go out onto the lake.

And Great Qi had long decreed an ironclad law:

Those of the lowly farmer, tenant, fisherman, and base household registries were strictly forbidden from privately building any boats, bamboo rafts, or skiffs!

Every means of entering the water across the entire lake was monopolized by the aristocratic families and wealthy gentry of the inner city.

Beyond class oppression,

another reason fishermen were unwilling to fish near the shore at Little Path Bay

was that the water there was too shallow, while jagged rocks thrust up beneath the surface, easily snagging and tearing fishing nets.

Usually, they could only catch some small fish and shrimp there, which fetched little money.

Once winter came, the fish and other aquatic catch near shore fled the cold early and swam toward the deep waters at the lake's center. Even small fish and shrimp became difficult to catch.

That was precisely why, on these days when heavy snow sealed the land, Little Path Bay's shallows were completely deserted—not even a ghostly shadow could be seen.

If not for the pale golden coordinates guiding him all the way, Shen Xiuhan would not have come here either.

Upon reaching the shallows, Shen Xiuhan carefully stepped onto the ice and tested it with a few cautious stomps.

The ice was frozen solid. No problem.

So, braving the bone-piercing wind, he slowly made his way deeper in.

After walking roughly two hundred steps, Shen Xiuhan pushed aside dried reed stalks coated in frost and stopped before a pool where the ice was slightly thinner.

"This is it!"

Shen Xiuhan looked around.

He found a stone nearby and smashed an ice hole directly above the coordinates.

Then he snapped off a dry reed stalk and made it into a float.

After that, he pinched a few grains of millet onto the iron hook and cast it into the ice hole.

The float rested on the water, trembling faintly.

Shen Xiuhan stared at it without moving, the white mist he exhaled condensing into frost.

To be honest, even now, he still felt somewhat uneasy.

His memories told him that Silver-backed Fish were no ordinary fish one could find at will.

Because this was a Treasure Fish!

Legend had it that its flesh was crystal-clear, incomparably delicious, and melted the instant it entered one's mouth. Within it was contained an enormous amount of pure, gentle vital energy!

For martial artists nourishing their vital energy and tempering sinews and bones, this stuff was simply a natural all-purpose tonic.

Its medicinal effect was even better than the expensive medicinal paste sold in the inner city's martial halls.

Eating just one fish could equal months of hard training!

Shen Sanhuai had fished for many years, yet had only accidentally caught a Silver-backed Fish once on Cloudwater Lake. The moment he returned to shore, a White Family steward exchanged it away for one tael of silver!

Shen Sanhuai had been thrilled over it for more than half a year.

From time to time, he would cast nets in that stretch of lake, hoping to try his luck.

But until he met with disaster on the water, he had never caught a second one.

Most of the time, he could only catch "Silver-striped Fish."

They were a kind of silver carp with two to six silver stripes on their backs.

Their flesh was delicious, and they were similarly popular.

But naturally, their benefits for martial artists could not compare with Silver-backed Fish.

Still, fishermen passed down tales that Silver-backed Fish were very likely Silver-striped Fish with numerous stripes that had transformed and evolved.

Therefore, the more stripes a Silver-striped Fish had, the more valuable it was.

And now, the information system had told him there was a "Silver-backed Fish" here...

Before he caught a fish, even though Shen Xiuhan had faith in the system, he could not help feeling uncertain.

Time trickled by.

The frigid wind above the water burrowed through his thin shoe soles and trouser cuffs, piercing into the seams of his bones like fine needles.

Shen Xiuhan's hands and feet gradually froze numb, nearly losing all sensation.

He set down the fishing rod, cupped his hands before his mouth and breathed into them, then rubbed them hard.

After waiting a while, seeing that the reed float still had not moved, he prepared to stand and move around a little so he would not get frostbite.

Just then!

The reed float, which had been bobbing with the waves, suddenly jerked downward without warning!

Immediately after, it shot into the deep water and vanished completely beneath the surface!

"It's here!"

Shen Xiuhan's whole body shook, and a sharp gleam burst from his eyes!

Ignoring the biting cold of the ice, he dropped to his knees with a thud.

He gripped the fishing rod tightly in both hands, braced his waist and stance as one, and sharply flicked his wrist upward!

The slender bamboo rod instantly bent into a drawn bow, letting out a teeth-grating groan!

"Come up!"

Splash!

Water burst like shattered jade, spraying in every direction!

Accompanied by a tremendous struggling force, a slender silvery-white shape was forcibly pulled from the water, breaking through the ice with freezing lake water in its wake!

With a slap, it crashed onto the ice and thrashed wildly!

Shen Xiuhan pounced forward, panting heavily, and pinned it down in one grab.

The fish was as long as a pair of chopsticks. Its scales were snow-white, and five silver-white stripes of varying thickness ran along both sides of its back.

A Silver-striped Fish!

"Good!"

Shen Xiuhan did not have time to get excited. In a flurry, he stuffed the fish into the bamboo basket.