The People of Wuling Made Their Living by Fishing

Yin Mountain Prefecture.

Wuling County.

Peach Blossom Spring Lake stretched vast and misty for more than eight hundred li. Rich in aquatic life and unfrozen even in the depths of winter, it sustained countless common folk and fishermen along its shores.

The lake shimmered with ripples.

A black-canopied boat rocked gently on the waves. A frail figure of about sixteen or seventeen, clad in a straw rain cape, was hauling in a fishing net with all his might.

"Feels like another empty haul."

Halfway through hauling it in, Xu Fan knew the net was empty. He deeply understood how the anglers in his previous life felt when they came home empty-handed day after day.

Peach Blossom Spring Lake was clearly rich in fish, and sometimes he could even see the schools with his own eyes, yet nine out of ten casts came up empty.

He dragged the net aboard with all his strength, cleared away the dead branches and weeds caught in it, and only then slumped down.

"I shouldn't have laughed at those anglers in my previous life."

His memories had awakened a month ago, and he had found himself a fisherman on Peach Blossom Spring Lake.

His parents had been forced into deep water to fish three months earlier and died, leaving him alone.

All he owned was this black-canopied boat and a few pots, bowls, and other utensils. In the month since he had awakened after transmigrating, he had barely scraped by on his catch.

Fishermen belonged to a lowly household and were not allowed into the city. They spent most of their time on their boats, and this black-canopied boat was now his home.

Looking at the moon faintly visible in the sky, his thoughts stirred again:

Tonight will be another full moon.

At a thought, a scroll bearing the yin-yang fish slowly unfurled in the depths of his eyes.

[Taiji Dao Evolution Diagram]!

In his previous life, he had found this yin-yang scroll and become so engrossed in looking at it that a truck hit him. When he woke again, he had transmigrated to this world.

This time, nothing can go wrong!

His memories had awakened at the full moon last month, when the [Taiji Dao Evolution Diagram] had appeared of its own accord and drawn in the essence of moonlight.

But several black-canopied boats had approached, leaving him no choice but to interrupt it to avoid exposing it.

After a month of trying, he understood that the [Taiji Dao Evolution Diagram] needed not only to absorb the great sun's purple Qi, but also to draw in the essence of moonlight beneath a full moon before it could fully awaken.

It had already absorbed enough of the great sun's purple Qi. Now all it lacked was the essence of moonlight.

I hope it can help me change my circumstances.

For the first few days after his memories awakened, he had thought he had transmigrated to an ancient dynasty. Full of ambition, he had wanted to use his modern memories to make his fortune.

Then he would marry a princess or commandery princess, or rebel and proclaim himself king, and reach the pinnacle of life.

Only after learning more did he discover that the Qin State of this world was completely different from the Qin dynasty of his previous life.

This world had martial arts experts!

The fish market under the Canal Gang's control alone had two martial artists serving as stewards, each capable of unleashing a thousand jin of force.

The fish market's manager was a Blood Exchange martial master. It was said that his Qi and Blood were like a tiger's, and that he could tear wolves, tigers, and leopards apart with his bare hands as easily as anything!

Rumor had it that a few months ago, a fisherman had seen a martial arts grandmaster standing in midair above Peach Blossom Spring Lake, a figure truly akin to an immortal!

Individuals possessed such tremendous power that he had completely abandoned thoughts of making refined salt, brewing liquor, and the like.

Without comparable strength, producing such things was no different from courting death.

A lowly fisherman who made his living from the water and had no fixed home could be killed without anyone paying attention.

I need to go to the fish market and get some supplies.

After several days on the water, the essential salt and brown rice aboard the boat had run out. He had to replenish them, or he would have no strength to fish.

He lifted the bamboo basket in the water jar. The seven large fish inside were his catch from the past few days, kept alive in the water so he could sell them at the fish market today and buy supplies.

Drifting on the lake for seven or eight days seemed free and easy, but exposed to wind and rain, he often couldn't fill his stomach on small fish and shrimp. It was nothing like the life of an ordinary person.

Still, fishermen all belonged to lowly households and could not enter the city, cutting off almost any chance of learning martial arts and turning their lives around. They really couldn't be considered an ordinary group of people.

Before long, he poled the black-canopied boat to the fish market dock.

He put on his straw hat and tightened his rain cape before carrying the bamboo basket ashore. Then, with a pang, he paid three large copper coins to a petty clerk by the shore.

Ignoring the clerk's look of disgust, he forced a smile and hurried away, knowing full well how strongly he smelled of fish.

If he wanted his moored boat to come to no harm, he had to pay.

It was a rule the fish market had established through countless examples and fishermen's lives.

The fish market was not far from the dock.

As soon as he arrived, he saw Steward Zhao reclining in a chair. Looking at the young man two petty clerks had brought before him, he gently shook his head:

"Little Lin, old man Lin has only been gone three months, and you've already forgotten what you learned at his side?"

"That treasure fish of yours sold for ten taels today, but you secretly held back two and only handed over four."

"Tell me, how should I deal with you?"

Lin Chu's face was deathly pale, and his body trembled incessantly as he hurriedly begged:

"Master Zhao, I was wrong! It was my fault!"

"I shouldn't have hidden it. I'll hand over all the silver I have as a tribute to you."

Zhao He's smile vanished, and he shook his head. "I don't like the sound of that. What do you mean, a tribute to me?"

He then looked at the fishermen coming and going through the market:

"These are troubled times. Circumstances forced us to raise the cut by ten percent."

"Don't go thinking the fish market's sixty-percent cut is too high. Without our Canal Gang greasing palms at every level, could you make a living fishing peacefully on Peach Blossom Spring Lake?"

"Who deals with strange beasts when they appear in the shallows? Should we leave them to eat you? Doesn't our Canal Gang have to send martial masters to deal with them?"

"And what about the water bandits in the depths of Peach Blossom Spring Lake? Aren't we the ones who clear them out for you?"

"Without our Canal Gang keeping them in check, who knows how many people would set themselves up as kings on this lake and take a cut from you three or five times over? How could you live as peacefully as you do now?"

"Master Zhao is right."

"We all remember the Canal Gang's kindness."

The fishermen forced ingratiating smiles and nodded repeatedly. Even if the cut rose another ten percent, who would dare say no?

Little Lin's parents had only died three months ago. Pitiful as he was, he had been caught red-handed hiding silver, so he couldn't blame anyone else.

It was his first time catching a treasure fish, and those two taels of silver had blinded him. He hadn't known someone had been watching from the shadows all along.

He was far too young.

"It's good that you understand. As long as you follow the fish market's rules, I, Master Zhao, won't deliberately make things difficult for you."

Pleased with the fishermen's reaction, Zhao He waved a hand and reclined again:

"Just take one of his arms, so no one else forgets the lesson."

The two clerks assented and dragged Lin Chu away as he cried and begged for mercy. Soon, a piercing scream rang out.

Xu Fan took a deep breath, looked away, and carried his bamboo basket into the fish market to set up a stall.

The Canal Gang wielded great power. Here in the fish market, they were like local emperors, able to decide a person's life or death with a single word.

A fisherman who had lost an arm was not far from death.

He found a spot in the market and sat down to set up his stall. After waiting quite a while, someone finally asked the price, and Xu Fan immediately put on a smile and began his sales pitch:

"Sister, my fish are all fresh and alive, at least two jin apiece. I was going to sell them for ten large copper coins, but you have a kind face, sister, so eight will do."

The woman buying groceries hesitated briefly, then nodded.

"All right! I'll pick out the biggest one for you, sister."

Xu Fan deftly threaded a strip of rattan through the fish and handed it over.

I live by the water and make my living from it, yet it's hard enough just to feed and clothe myself, let alone save any spare money.

Only a treasure fish can fetch a good price.

Treasure fish sold for a tael of silver per jin, and there was no shortage of buyers. The fish market had a fixed purchasing point that supplied the major restaurants and wealthy households and clans of Yin Mountain County and the prefectural city.

But treasure fish were scarce and highly prized by martial masters. They were extremely rare in the shallows, so one had to venture deep into Peach Blossom Spring Lake.

But treasure fish were not the only things in the lake's depths. There were strange beasts in the water too!

No one knew how many fishermen had risked entering, never to return.

As a fisherman, I can't even enter Wuling County's city. Learning martial arts is nothing but a pipe dream. I have to find a way to escape my lowly status.

It took him over two hours to sell all the fish, throwing in extras to close the sales, for a total of fifty-three large copper coins.

After paying the stall fee and the sixty-percent cut, he was left with twenty-four large copper coins.

He bought some low-quality crude salt in blackish-yellow lumps and a small bag of old brown rice before taking his boat back onto Peach Blossom Spring Lake.

As for refined salt, white rice, and white flour, those were beyond the hopes of a lowly person of his station.

He could only use these things with small fish and shrimp, and gather wild fruit and vegetables to keep himself alive. After a month, he had grown somewhat accustomed to it.

What a hopeless way to live.

If I still have no other choice after a while, I'll try joining the water bandits and trade my skills for a chance to learn martial arts.

Xu Fan moored the black-canopied boat in the reeds, took out the brown rice, and pondered as he cooked.

He truly couldn't see the slightest room to rise. The fish market exploited him, and being barred from the city cut off his access to martial arts altogether.

The water bandits had established themselves on Peach Blossom Spring Lake and remained there despite repeated suppression campaigns. That meant they surely had martial masters among them, and perhaps he could learn there.

Now I just have to wait for tonight's full moon!

He covered the pot and looked up at the moon, which was already nearly full. He couldn't help looking forward to it.

After a hurried meal, he lay at the bow and waited.

Not until the late-night hour of the rat did Xu Fan sense that long-absent, familiar feeling. The [Taiji Dao Evolution Diagram] in the depths of his eyes stirred once more.

Bathed in moonlight, the [Taiji Dao Evolution Diagram] began to turn again, drawing in and releasing moonlight until it reached a certain threshold!

Hum!

In the blink of an eye, Xu Fan vanished from the black-canopied boat into thin air, as though he had never been there.