Chapter 2 | The Path from Fisherman to Martial Deity

A row of pale gold characters written in seal script floated across his retina.

At the same time, as his eyes scanned around, they locked onto four distant glowing dots.

The dots were pale gold, and each had a line of small characters hovering above it.

【Intelligence 1: One li to the south, in the shallows of Xiaojing Bay, the Precious Fish, the Silverback Fish, has appeared.】

【Intelligence 2: Three li to the north, in a hole covered by dry grass on the largest dead tree in the withered forest, lies the winter food hoard of the Gold-Tailed Rat.】

【Intelligence 3: Three li to the southeast, in the backyard of the Tongbei Martial Arts Hall in the inner city of Changyun County, the original manuscript of the Huajin-level stance work, the 『Tongbei Stance』, is stored.】

【Intelligence 4: Six kilometers to the southwest, in the depths of Yunshui Lake, lie the remains and inheritance of a legacy disciple from the Diaohai Pavilion...】

This was...

A cheat?

Shen Xiuhan's heart thumped wildly.

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

But honestly, he hadn't been confident.

After all, fishing was a highly unpredictable, almost mystical endeavor.

If it were really that easy, his face wouldn't have gone dark every time he ended up empty-handed in his previous life.

But now that he had the system, things were entirely different!

“Big bwother? Big bwother, what's wong?”

Beside him, Shen Momo tugged at the hem of his shirt, her small face filled with worry.

Shen Xiuhan snapped out of it. Suppressing his racing thoughts, he rubbed her dry, yellowing hair.

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

“Really?!”

The little girl's eyes lit up instantly, and she hopped with joy, but she quickly shrank her neck back:

“But it's so cold outside, and the snow is so deep... and big bwother just got better...”

“That's why Momo has to wait obediently at home. I'll be back in a jiffy.”

Shen Xiuhan picked up the fishing rod and fished out a dusty, worn-out woven bamboo creel from the corner, which had obvious signs of repair on the bottom.

This was an old item that Shen Sanhuai had used.

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

Sadly... the new creel had gone with Shen Sanhuai and would never return.

He took the fishing rod and the creel.

Then he headed to the kitchen.

Inside the rice urn, there was only a thin layer of millet left—at most, less than half a kilogram...

Shen Xiuhan bent down, grabbed a small handful, and stuffed it into his shirt.

Walking to the doorway, the cold wind carrying snow hit him right in the face, scraping like knives.

Shen Xiuhan tightened his collar, exhaled a breath of white mist, and took a large stride forward.

“Big bwother!”

Just a few steps out, a shout came from the doorway.

Shen Xiuhan turned around and saw Shen Momo running out, stumbling through the deep snow, clutching a dusty piece of grey cloth in her hand.

As she drew closer, he realized it was a small pouch sewn from grey cloth. The stitching was crooked, clearly her own handiwork.

“Big bwother, this is the money Daddy gave Momo. Momo saved it all...”

The little girl's face was red from the cold, but her eyes shone brightly as she held out her small hand like presenting a treasure.

Inside the pouch were five or six copper coins.

“Daddy said before that when we go to the fish market to sell fishies, we have to pay a stall fee...”

When the fish market opened, they took a cut per 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 was the Bai family.

Every time fishermen went to set up a stall to sell fish, they had to pay a stall fee of five copper coins.

Warmth welled up in Shen Xiuhan's heart. He squatted down, took the pouch, and said softly:

“Momo is so smart. Go back inside and wait. I'll definitely make sure you eat fish tonight.”

“Mmh! Momo wants to eat fishies. Big bwother must catch a lot of them!”

The little girl nodded vigorously and turned to skip back to the door. Yet, she refused to go inside, standing just outside the fence, watching him longingly.

Shen Xiuhan gently squeezed the pouch, took a deep breath, and walked south.

...

The cold wind scraped like a dull knife across Xiaojing Bay by the shores of Yunshui Lake.

Though called a “bay,” it was actually a rocky, shallow beach.

In the summer, children might play in the water here, but now in the dead of winter, the lake's surface was covered with a thin layer of ice, the beach was blanketed in white snow, and a deathly silence hung all around.

Those who settled nearby were all long-term laborers and tenant farmers dependent on the inner city's Bai family.

The Shen family was no exception.

To make a living, they had to rent a boat from the Bai family to go out onto the lake.

Moreover, the Qi State had long since decreed an ironclad law:

The lowest four classes—farmers, tenant farmers, fishermen, and those on the lowly registry—were strictly forbidden from privately building any boats, bamboo rafts, or sampans!

All watercraft in the entire region were monopolized by the aristocratic families of the inner city.

Aside from class oppression, there was another reason why fishermen were unwilling to fish near the shore of Xiaojing Bay.

The water here was too shallow, and the underwater rocks were jagged, making it extremely easy to tear fishing nets.

On normal days, they could at most catch some small fish and shrimp, which wouldn't fetch a good price.

Once winter arrived, the shallow-water creatures swam to the deep water in the center of the lake early on to escape the cold, making even small fish and shrimp hard to catch.

Because of this, on this snow-covered day, the shallows of Xiaojing Bay were completely deserted, without a single soul in sight.

Had it not been for the pale gold coordinates guiding him all the way, Shen Xiuhan would never have come here.

Reaching the shallows, Shen Xiuhan stepped carefully onto the ice, testing it with his foot.

The ice was frozen solid. No problem.

Thus, braving the bone-chilling wind, he shuffled step by step toward the deeper area.

After walking about two hundred paces and parting the frost-covered dead reeds, Shen Xiuhan stopped before a puddle where the ice was slightly thinner.

“This is the spot!”

Shen Xiuhan looked around.

He found a nearby rock and used it to smash open an ice hole directly above the coordinates.

Next, he snapped off a dry reed stalk to make a bobber.

Then, he took a few grains of millet, secured them to the hook, and cast it into the ice hole.

The bobber floated on the water's surface, trembling slightly.

Shen Xiuhan stared at it without moving, his exhaled breath condensing into frost.

To be honest, even now, his heart was still beating with uncertainty.

His memories told him that the Silverback Fish was no ordinary fish.

Because it was a Precious Fish!

It was rumored that its flesh was crystal clear, incomparably delicious, and melted in the mouth, containing a massive amount of pure, gentle blood qi!

For martial artists who were nourishing their blood qi and tempering their muscles and bones, this thing was practically a natural, ultimate tonic.

Its medicinal properties were even better than the expensive medicinal salves sold in the inner city's martial arts halls.

Eating just one was worth several months of hard work!

His father, Shen Sanhuai, had fished for many years and had only caught a Silverback Fish once by chance on Yunshui Lake. Upon returning to shore, the Bai family's steward had taken it off his hands for a single tael of silver!

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

From time to time, he would cast his nets in that part of the lake, hoping to get lucky again.

But until he met with his watery demise, he had never managed to catch a second one.

In most cases, one could only catch “Silver-Striped Fish.”

It was a type of silver carp with two to six silver stripes on its back.

Its meat was delicious and also very popular.

However, its efficacy for martial artists was naturally incomparable to that of the Silverback Fish.

Nonetheless, there was a legend among fishermen that the Silverback Fish was highly likely to be a mutated evolution of a Silver-Striped Fish with many stripes.

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

And now, the intelligence system had informed him that there was a “Silverback Fish” here...

Before a fish actually bit, even though Shen Xiuhan had confidence in the system, he couldn't help but feel a bit anxious.

Time passed second by second.

The cold wind blowing over the water seeped through his thin soles and pant legs, boring into his bones like fine needles.

Shen Xiuhan's hands and feet gradually grew numb, almost losing all sensation.

He put down the fishing rod, cupped his hands to blow a breath of warm air onto them, and rubbed them vigorously.

After waiting a moment longer, seeing that the reed bobber remained completely still, he prepared to stand up and move around to prevent frostbite.

Just then!

The reed bobber, which had been bobbing with the ripples, suddenly yanked downward without any warning!

Immediately after, with a whoosh, it was dragged deep into the water, vanishing completely!

“It's a bite!”

Shen Xiuhan shuddered, his eyes instantly bursting with sharp light!

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

Grasping the fishing rod tightly with both hands, he aligned his waist and horse stance, and snapped his wrists upward!

Screech!

The thin bamboo pole was instantly bent into a taut bow, letting out a tooth-gritting creak!

“Get up here!”

Splash!

Water splashed in all directions like shattered jade!

Accompanied by a massive struggling force, a slender, silvery-white figure was yanked violently out of the water, breaking through the ice along with the freezing lake water!