Chapter 64: Bandit Hideout
Hooked?!
The commotion here naturally attracted the other fishermen too.
Including Chen Shun’an, a group of onlookers also bent over, craning their necks, eyes staring straight ahead.
Even the noisy fish market quieted down.
“Up!”
At a certain instant, this fisherman suddenly yanked the rod with all his might, the fishing line taut as a string, splashing water everywhere with a creaking sound.
A glimpse revealed a white, plump Precious Fish with a body all red.
This fish had a tuft of golden flower on its head, bulging eye pouches as if gazing at the sky, exceptionally peculiar.
But its belly was round, as if overeaten and bloated, occasionally belching out a string of bubbles.
All the fishermen and onlookers showed shocked expressions.
It really was a Golden Scaled Perch!
Bang!
But the next moment, this fisherman’s face changed abruptly, his hand loosening as his whole body rolled backward.
All because it got off the hook!
Perhaps due to too little fish bait, exposing the sharp cold fish hook, the Golden Scaled Perch hadn’t fully bitten, suddenly slapping the water surface a few times before rapidly sinking back to the pond bottom.
“My fish!”
Seeing this, the fisherman was so angry he slapped his thigh, hurriedly buying two more boxes of fish bait.
He immediately started chumming heavily!
The other fishermen, seeing this, followed suit one after another.
In the end, the pond was almost full of chum with hardly any fish left!
“Doomed to go home empty-handed fishermen…”
Chen Shun’an shook his head at the sight, feeling sorry for this group of fishermen who failed repeatedly yet fought on tirelessly.
A sound came from the pond bottom again.
“Silver Scholar, that little child’s recitation is quite interesting, I want to go listen…”
“Go on, go on, be careful, don’t let them spot you. These people are very bad; last time I met a Wild Fox Zen pretending to be a water official who tried to destroy my nest…”
In Chen Shun’an’s perception, that Golden Scaled Perch silently floated upward; during this process, its full red luster faded and dimmed, turning grayish-green.
Even the golden flower on its head completely vanished, becoming a fat and large Grass Carp.
Then it openly swam toward the child, finally hovering by a fisherman’s feet.
Its fins flapping, blowing bubbles, as if aimlessly swimming.
The fisherman was both angry and annoyed, glaring hatefully at this tactless Grass Carp before turning his attention back to his own bobber.
“Madam’s spirit is clear, yet the heart disturbs it; then, um, the next line is, oh! People’s hearts are calm, yet desires pull them…”
“Those who study the Dao and chant this scripture will immediately obtain, immediately obtain the Ten Heavens Fish God, oh no, it’s the benevolent god, to protect their body…”
The child recited softly, nodding and shaking his head, eyes darting around, occasionally mispronouncing or stumbling, babbling incoherently.
《Three Character Classic》 how long have you studied it, why can’t you recite it yet? Focus, or tonight you’ll get three strokes of the ruler! The shopkeeper scolded harshly.
This child was just like Scholar Ma, reciting, reading, and studying Daoist Scriptures and Military Strategies.
But far inferior to Scholar Ma.
Chen Shun’an was no longer a novice and could tell that the Daoist scripture this child studied was the most foundational 《Purity Scripture》.
Scholar Ma had been able to recite it backward from memory at age six.
The scripture voice echoed faintly, the child murmuring.
Mundane heat rose, mist formed over the pond.
A Golden Scaled Perch eavesdropped from under the rocks, half understanding, its bulging eyes occasionally flashing with human-like contemplation.
Chen Shun’an saw this, eyes showing surprise.
“Such spirituality, it even knows to borrow the child’s scripture chanting to cleanse its mundane wild nature…”
Qi circulated with strength, the Jia Ma Divine Talisman on his legs quietly lit up; Chen Shun’an was about to seize the chance to net this Golden Scaled Perch.
But just as Chen Shun’an’s thought arose and his muscles tensed.
The Golden Scaled Perch seemed to sense the crisis in the darkness, slapped its tail, and with a whoosh dove deep into the pond bottom, wriggling a few times before vanishing from Chen Shun’an’s sensing range.
“Bad people! Silver Scholar, I’m heading home first; I’ll come get my live bait in a few days…”
Chen Shun’an’s face turned grim, he shook his legs and turned to leave the river goods shop.
He walked swiftly, rushing to the spot where the Golden Scaled Perch last disappeared from his sensing range; circulating his qi and blood, two streams of scorching energy surged into his legs, and he shot out like a swimming dragon toward the shore.
“Hm? Such extreme speed!”
“What lightness skill expert… damn it, I can’t even see his silhouette!”
“Sigh, who stepped on my head?”
Cries of alarm came one after another.
Moments later, in Chen Shun’an’s perception, a strand of qi flickered like a clear flame and vanished, heading toward a lotus pond at the Two Forks River.
Lush green lotus leaves layered thickly, covering the pond; under sunlight, vibrant colors bloomed everywhere.
The lotus pond connected to the Two Forks River, and inside it had countless inlets; a breeze would stir waves of lotus, obscuring vision.
Chen Shun’an stood before this lotus pond, helplessly sensing the Golden Scaled Perch completely disappear.
The Golden Scaled Perch’s alertness was too strong, always hiding underground; at the first sign of trouble, it fled along the network of hidden currents.
No matter Chen Shun’an’s Cloud Movement Armor Horse ability, without flight or earth-diving spells, he could only watch helplessly.
But in an instant, Chen Shun’an came up with a plan.
Likes eavesdropping on scriptures, does it?
Others use earthworms for fishing; I’ll use Scholar Ma for fishing.
Chum the nest!
Chen Shun’an turned without hesitation and strode toward Silver Ingot Street.
……
A sampan drifted leisurely across the water surface.
Lotus leaves on both sides cradled the sampan in between; some leaves were withered, scraping against the boat with a grating sound.
A water bird startled, flapping its wings, turning into a line across the sky.
Scholar Ma let out a long yawn, looking at Chen Shun’an with a face full of weariness.
He picked up a lotus seed pod dropped on the boat deck and peeled it to stuff into his mouth.
The lotus seeds were bitter and moldy.
Scholar Ma’s facial features scrunched up, looking utterly bitter.
Chen Shun’an, who was rowing, laughed.
“If there were any to eat, would it be your turn? The people on shore would have picked them clean long ago!”
Scholar Ma helplessly tossed the lotus seed pod aside and said,
“Last night Ma Mou copied scriptures very late, only dozing off briefly after cock crow. Old Chen, why did you drag me from bed to here?”
Scholar Ma felt puzzled; lately, Brother Shun An’s attitude toward him seemed rather unkind, as if sulking over something.
Chen Shun’an didn’t answer, instead asking,
“I have some questions to consult Brother Ma on. Does Brother Ma know… Xuhuo Mukou?”
“Oh?”
Scholar Ma’s expression shifted slightly.
“Brother Shun An is actually interested in fortune telling?”
Chen Shun’an smiled: “A sudden whim; after all, this year Chen Mou offends Tai Sui, so I wanted to learn a bit about it.”
Scholar Ma nodded, not suspicious, and slowly said,
“The Earthly Branches have four prospering, four birthing, four graves; whenever the Eight Characters contain Chen, Xu, Chou, Wei, they form the four vaults. When the self is strong meeting a vault, it’s a Wealth Vault; when weak meeting a vault, it’s a Grave Vault.
Wealth Vault brings prosperity and wealth; Grave Vault brings poverty, inaction, illness affliction…”
When weak meeting a vault, it’s a Grave Vault?
Chen Shun’an’s heart stirred upon hearing this.
In other words, that Xu Fire Vault could be either a Grave Vault or a Wealth Vault.
And the reason it automatically evolved into ‘Xuhuo Mukou’ after encountering Chen Shun’an.
Was just as Landlord Zhao said: mismatched Eight Characters, weak fate, unable to suppress this immortal fate!
Ah Hua, who inherited the Li Tan Banner through generations, surely had prosperous ancestors, but by his generation, not only was the family impoverished, but just because Ah Hua exceptionally used the Li Tan Banner twice, it brought father dead, son gone, family destroyed.
And Zhuang Kun, who once escorted Azure Gang Yang Huo, also an Immortal Fate User, ended up with an incomplete corpse.
Behind these two, was there fortune telling at work in the darkness, inadvertently plucking the strings of karma, leading to the fate of weak self unable to suppress immortal fate?
But for Chen Shun’an as the Water Origin Great Emperor, no matter this or that, all transformed from immortal to divine, becoming the foundation stones of the Divine Palace, thereby ignoring the drawbacks of the ‘Grave Vault’.
