Capturing the Red-Scaled Eel

"Sixth Uncle, these are all secrets behind the clan's rise. Above all else, keep them confidential." Wang Shouzhe temporarily gave up on explaining Lure fishing to him and spoke solemnly.

"I understand. I'll be especially careful with all of this. When the time comes, I ask the clan to assign two household guards to me." Wang Dinghai trembled with excitement. "Also, I have some ideas about that Moving Zither. Using cast nets, we can quickly rig up a Moving Zither and test the results first. If it works..."

His eyes gleamed, and he was already impatient to begin experimenting.

From Dingpu Ferry to Boulder Shoal was all Wang Clan territory. Ordinary people neither would nor dared approach the riverbank. After all, the banks had never been developed, only roughly cleared, and held all manner of unseen dangers.

Moreover, this stretch of river wound through nine bends and eighteen turns, with countless secluded, hidden spots. Inspired by Wang Shouzhe, Wang Dinghai, who knew the fishing trade inside out, had already come up with numerous plans and ideas.

Once Wang Shouzhe agreed, Wang Dinghai steered the boat toward a hidden little dock along this stretch of river. Each such dock was a secret outpost with many possible uses. Even a cunning rabbit had three burrows, let alone the Wang Clan's fishing fleet.

A concealed wooden hut had been built beside the small dock as a place to rest when avoiding wind and waves. Wang Dinghai settled Wang Shouzhe and Gongsun Hui in this crude shelter, left Wang Goudan behind to attend to them, then hurried off.

"This is the first time I've seen Sixth Uncle in such a whirlwind rush." Gongsun Hui sighed. "It seems the fishing methods you provided, Zhe'er, will work remarkably well."

"They're all things I read in ancient books. Without putting them into practice, there's no telling whether they'll work. I only hope they'll be of use to the clan." Wang Shouzhe smiled calmly, then said to Wang Goudan, "Goudan, can you grill fish?"

"I can." Wang Goudan nodded smartly. "C-Clan Head, I'll go grill some fish right away." With that, he dashed out in a puff of smoke.

Once only Gongsun Hui and Wang Shouzhe remained, Gongsun Hui studied him closely. She stared until his scalp began to prickle before sighing. "Zhe'er, you've changed. You've become so free and unrestrained, so confident. Before, burdened with heavy responsibilities, you only knew how to cultivate desperately and paid no heed to anything else. If I hadn't watched you grow up, I'd truly suspect you'd been swapped out."

"You're joking, Aunt. Father used to hold everything up, so naturally I could leave all matters alone." Wang Shouzhe's expression remained calm as he sighed. "But now Father has passed away, and the clan's situation has worsened to this point. If I still don't pull myself together, where will the Wang Clan go? Aunt, let's not talk about this for now. You've had a tiring journey by boat and carriage, so rest awhile. Later, we can look forward to Sixth Uncle's surprise."

Wang Shouzhe took control of the situation and proactively ended the topic, closing his eyes to rest first.

Less than half an hour later, Wang Goudan returned with several golden-brown grilled fish that smelled wonderfully fragrant. Wang Shouzhe took out two Big Copper coins and tossed them over. "A reward for you. Wait outside."

"Thank you, Clan Head! Thank you, Clan Head!" Wang Goudan ran out joyfully.

Wang Shouzhe shared the grilled fish with Gongsun Hui. Though Goudan's skill was utterly ordinary and he had only sprinkled on some coarse salt, the ingredients were fresh and excellent. The taste filled Wang Shouzhe's mouth with fragrance, and he praised it repeatedly.

It was also Gongsun Hui's first time eating such rough, rustic fare. After several bites, her beautiful eyes flickered again and again; it seemed very much to her taste.

After they finished several grilled fish, Wang Dinghai's excited shout came from outside. "Shouzhe, Fifth Sister-in-Law, come out and take a look!"

Hearing this, Wang Shouzhe and Gongsun Hui went outside. At the little dock, they saw that Wang Dinghai had already erected a simple Moving Zither according to his design. Good heavens—Wang Shouzhe's brows twitched at the sight of it. The four support poles were round logs as thick as arms, while the main pole was even thicker than a thigh.

The thing was far too cumbersome, probably weighing two or three hundred jin. A person from Earth certainly wouldn't be able to handle it.

Wang Dinghai stood on the wooden dock, merely braced his waist and legs together, then gave the cable a slight tug. The cumbersome Moving Zither was effortlessly levered out of the water.

Heh. Wang Shouzhe had forgotten that this fellow was a fifth-layer Qi Refining Realm Profound Warrior. His strength was more than ten times that of an ordinary person from Earth.

Boom!

A large fish was caught in the Moving Zither's net. It violently burst through the water, only for the mesh to block its path. Before it could react a second time, it was dragged out of the water and left lying in the center of the net, at the mercy of the knife. Several small fish weighing one or two jin also lay silently beside it.

"Good!"

The fishing hands around them shouted excitedly and scrambled to scoop up the catch with simple dip nets. Though it was a worthless Red Carp, at six or seven jin it could still sell for several dozen Jiao, and it also proved the effectiveness of the Moving Zither.

Afterward, under Wang Shouzhe's personal guidance, Wang Dinghai further improved the Moving Zither by adding a counter-lever, counterweights, and other components.

The principle was very simple: it was an Earth-style seesaw. However, this seesaw was triangular, with cables connecting its two upper points. A suitable counterweight was placed at the other end, so that with only a light application of force, the Moving Zither and its net could be lifted from the water in the manner of a seesaw.

By the time they finished tinkering, another two hours had passed, and the sky had nearly gone dark. Yet everyone's enthusiasm only burned brighter. They could raise the net once every half-incense stick's time, and it took hardly any effort.

Of course, empty nets were unavoidable. But by then dusk had fallen, and many fish had begun to quietly approach the shore under cover of night, searching for food along the banks. There was far more food near the shore than in the middle of the great river.

Boom! Splash!

After several empty nets, there would always come a thunderous burst as they hooked a big fish or something similar. Occasionally, they even caught two or three in one net. This thrilled the fishing hands and Wang Dinghai beyond measure.

"Shouzhe, we're making a fortune—a fortune!" Wang Dinghai reported ecstatically, holding a torch. "In the past hour, we raised the net thirty times. Five got away, but we caught nine big ones, and the medium and small catches are too numerous to count.

"In just one hour, we brought in over a hundred jin of fish, worth around ten Big Copper in total."

Such a terrifying haul left even Wang Shouzhe somewhat stunned. This truly was the Profound Martial World—its resources were vastly better than Earth's. However, Wang Dinghai then explained that it was currently peak fish-run season, and nighttime was the best time for fishing, so such a harvest was still reasonable.

"This thing is far stronger than cast nets." Wang Dinghai said excitedly. "Cast nets can bring in plenty too, but even a fishing hand in prime condition can cast at most a hundred nets in a day before running out of strength. This new tool doesn't consume much energy and requires no skill. We can arrange for two fishing hands to work in shifts around the clock, and it's safer as well. After all, the riverbank is far less dangerous than the middle of the river."

"Not bad, but you've overlooked another advantage—replicability." Wang Shouzhe was also in an excellent mood. "Sixth Uncle, tomorrow find some skilled craftsmen from the clan to polish up this crude device, then gradually roll it out. While this year's fish run lasts, we can haul in another windfall."

"The most important thing is confidentiality." Gongsun Hui added from the side. "Sixth Uncle, we can't blindly expand our manpower. Try to find reliable helpers from among the branch families."

Everyone chimed in with one addition after another.

Suddenly—

Boom! A tremendous explosion of water rang out.

Wang Goudan howled from over there, "Master Hai, quickly—come quick!"

All three turned to look. A long, serpent-like giant creature had been caught in the Moving Zither. Its explosive strength was ferocious. Even after two adult fishing hands pinned down the Moving Zither's frame and forcibly lifted it from the water, the creature, though already out of the water, continued struggling madly in the net, shaking the entire frame.

"It's a Red-Scaled Eel!" Wang Dinghai's face lit up with wild delight, but in the next instant, his expression changed drastically. "Not good—it's going to tear through the net!"

The Red-Scaled Eel clamped its sharp teeth onto one of the mesh openings, then twisted and spun its body wildly. In an instant, it ripped a huge gash in the fishing net and began wriggling toward the opening to squeeze out.

Without a word, Wang Dinghai shot straight into the water and swam toward the net at astonishing speed. Just as the Red-Scaled Eel was about to escape, he reached out and clamped a large hand around its neck. With his right hand, he drew the Water-Splitting Spike from his waist and viciously drove it into the creature's head, twisting it back and forth.

Yet even so, the Red-Scaled Eel remained coiled around him, thrashing desperately. Its life force was clearly incredibly tenacious. Only after another full incense stick's time did the creature finally die, barely breathing its last.

Wang Dinghai dragged it ashore and laid it across the simple dock. Its body was over two zhang long, its thickest part wider than a thigh, and its entire body was covered in crimson scales.

"A first-rank aquatic Fierce Beast, a Red-Scaled Eel. Sixth Uncle, this should be an adult Red-Scaled Eel, right? Does it weigh a hundred jin?" Wang Shouzhe and Gongsun Hui gathered around as well, watching curiously.

"Hahaha, more than that. This one weighs at least a hundred and fifty jin, and is worth at least thirty to fifty Qian Gold." Wang Dinghai dropped onto the ground, panting, his eyes shining with excited light. "If this vicious thing had gotten back into the water, your Sixth Uncle might not have been able to deal with it. But this Red-Scaled Eel is treasure from head to toe. Clan Head, today's all thanks to your good fortune, hahaha! Tomorrow, I'll take it to Dingpu Ferry and show it off."