Branching Out

"It's all right."

Chen Fan shook his head, then rose solemnly and bowed to the Angler before him. "Thank you, senior, for caring about the Human Race and answering my questions."

"Caring about the Human Race?"

The Angler smiled and shook his head, a hint of drunkenness in his eyes. "I only care about my king. Whatever choice he makes, I'll follow. If he bets on the Strange Entity Clan, I'll stand with them without hesitation."

"You don't know."

"They beat my king so badly back then."

"I thought about it then, and I've kept thinking about it all these years."

"If I'd been a little stronger, maybe I wouldn't have been sent flying with one slap."

"In this world..."

"No one gets to hurt my king. One day, I'll kill that bastard. Believe me?"

With that,

the Angler couldn't help laughing himself.

"All right, I really must be drunk. I'm starting to talk nonsense."

"My young friend."

"I enjoyed our conversation today. Until we meet again, if fate allows. Once the Third Dark Turmoil officially begins, the Angler Clan's sentence will end. Then we won't have to meet only in this sea."

"I've already put in a word for you."

"Go wherever you like in these waters. None of the creatures here will dare bother you."

He rose to leave.

"Senior."

Chen Fan hurried forward. "May I ask your name?"

"One cast to fish Canghai Yue from the boundless sea; ten thousand ages of rivers flow on in vain."

"I am the Angler, Canghai Yue."

Without looking back, the Angler waved a hand and murmured drunkenly. His body faded in the sunlight, and by the time his words fell silent, he had vanished completely.

The fishing boat moored on the water had disappeared too, no one knew when.

Some