Underwater, Xielina was still firing.
She was merely faithfully executing Yu Xian's orders, but the problem was that Yu Xian had forgotten one crucial detail.
Xielina possessed a passive skill—or rather, the bow in her hands was no ordinary weapon, but the national guardian divine weapon: the Thunderous Bowstring Bow.
And with every arrow loosed from the Thunderous Bowstring Bow, there was a chance to summon heavenly thunder to strike the target.
Just as Yu Xian was about to reach the shore, thunder abruptly cracked across the clear sky. A numbing shock coursed through his body, and his movements instantly slowed to a crawl.
A swarm of fish monsters had already closed in below him, their jaws gaping to tear into his flesh.
"Big Bro, your hand!" Little Nora shouted from the bank.
Yu Xian frantically reached out and grasped Little Nora's hand, and Little Nora hauled him ashore with all its might.
The moment Yu Xian was pulled onto dry land, hordes of fish monsters broke the surface, their razor-sharp teeth resembling sawblades and their crimson eyes glaring fixedly at Yu Xian and Little Nora.
"Holy shit," Yu Xian cursed when he caught full sight of them.
He had no doubt that a bite from those monsters would hurt like hell.
[Sharp-Toothed Schooling Pomfret]
[Level: 30]
[Skills:]
[Blood Resonance: Upon detecting the scent of blood, all Sharp-Toothed Schooling Pomfrets simultaneously trigger this ability to gain a synchronized effect, massively increasing their defense and attack power.]
[Schooling Attack: When moving in a group, every basic attack performed by a Sharp-Toothed Schooling Pomfret enhances the basic attacks of nearby kin.]
[Remarks: A worm on its own; a dragon in a swarm.]
He inspected their attributes and was surprised to find that these fish monsters were actually Level 30. Their appearance certainly hadn't given that away.
While an individual Sharp-Toothed Schooling Pomfret's combat power was quite low according to its stats, they became terrifyingly potent in a school.
Fortunately, the fish clearly couldn't come ashore. As long as they stayed on land, they were safe.
"Big Bro, are you all right?" Little Nora asked anxiously.
Yu Xian mentally commanded Xielina to get ashore at once, then shook his head to signal he was fine.
Still, where on earth had that blast of wind blown them?
Yu Xian quickly pulled up his map and found that they were dozens of kilometers away from Fukang City; walking back would probably take the better part of a day.
On the bright side, judging by the level of the Sharp-Toothed Schooling Pomfrets, the distance wasn't absurdly far—at the very least, they hadn't left Fukang City's surrounding zone.
The two rested by the water for a while, waiting until Xielina came ashore before setting off on their return trek.
Right now, they both looked like drowned rats. Little Nora's normally fluffy feathers were plastered flat against its body. Luckily, it was naturally plump, so it didn't suffer the fate of a drenched cat—shrinking down into a rack of ribs.
As they walked, Yu Xian contacted Ximen Wangcai and Situ Xingye through the team channel. Fortunately, neither had sustained serious injuries; they had merely been swept several kilometers away by the shockwave and were likewise heading back.
Having confirmed their safety, Yu Xian issued an order to the wolf king Bolaiye, directing it to rendezvous with him.
Earlier, Bolaiye had also been blown away by the shockwave, but thanks to its massive size and quick reflexes, it had grabbed onto a boulder after being hurled some distance, anchoring itself in place.
If Yu Xian and Little Nora hadn't been swept up by that sudden gale, Bolaiye could have met up with them in just a few minutes. As things stood, at Bolaiye's speed, it would take around twenty minutes to reach them.
Yu Xian walked over to an open area with a clear view, found a rock to sit on, and said to Little Nora with a smile, "Let's bask in the sun here. Once Bolaiye gets here, we'll continue our way back."
"Big Bro..." Little Nora flopped down onto its butt, sounding somewhat dejected.
Yu Xian chuckled. "Don't blame yourself. Besides, it was actually pretty fun."
He felt this hadn't really been Little Nora's fault; they had simply been caught in the collateral fallout.
Suddenly, a pot appeared in front of Little Nora. Even before the lid was lifted, an astonishing aroma wafted out. Then a plate appeared bearing pan-seared fish belly, followed by a large bowl filled with fish and vermicelli...
Evidently, because the fish was so ridiculously gigantic, the God of Cookery hadn't been able to stew it in a single pot, so he had simply prepared it into dish after dish—and now the feast was being served.
"All right, cheer up. What's done is done—let's eat first." Yu Xian rubbed Little Nora's head and took out a pair of chopsticks with a grin.
Picking up their chopsticks, the two took a bite of the pan-seared fish belly—and instantly, their minds were blown.
Delicious.
Unprecedentedly delicious.
Yu Xian had never tasted anything so heavenly in his life; he felt as though every single cell in his body was screaming in sheer bliss.
"So good! This is delicious, and this one too!" Little Nora shoveled down food by the mouthful, while even more courses continued to materialize around them.
While Yu Xian and Little Nora were completely immersed in the culinary bliss, a young girl in the nearby woods caught the scent and followed it over. When she saw the feast spread all across the ground, she instinctively swallowed hard.
"Um..." Noticing Yu Xian and Little Nora gorging themselves, she spoke up in a timid voice.
Little Nora didn't hear a word, but Yu Xian noticed her. He looked up, his mouth crammed full of fish, and mumbled, "Whash izzit?"
"These dishes look really good... May I have some?" the girl asked meekly.
Her expression gave off the impression of being weak, pitiful, yet very capable of eating. Though she was only about one hundred and forty centimeters tall, her "grain granaries" were impressively endowed—her future children certainly wouldn't starve.
"No," Yu Xian refused bluntly, completely unmoved by her pitiful demeanor.
The girl was indeed quite pretty, possessing a delicate, vulnerable charm. Normally, upon seeing a girl like this, men would feel one of two urges: the urge to bully her, or the urge to protect her.
Yu Xian felt neither. He just wanted her to scram so she wouldn't disturb his and Little Nora's meal.
As a married man who had weathered over a decade of matrimony, Yu Xian had already reached the mental stage of an old angler—except he wasn't particularly keen on actual fishing, preferring instead to be a salted fish himself.
In short, women held zero appeal for him, even if he still ran his mouth boasting about loving women.
"I can pay! I have money," the girl stammered softly after hesitating. She had thought about leaving, but the tempting aroma was simply too overwhelming.
Swallowing a mouthful of fish, Yu Xian frowned. "I'm not short on money."
"I have rare items." The girl took out gemstone after gemstone in an array of distinct colors from her backpack.
Yu Xian had intended to turn her down flat, but the moment he caught sight of the gems in her hands, his jaw froze mid-chew, leaving him utterly dumbfounded.
Did this girl rob a boss's lair or something?
How did she have so many enhancement gems?!
Chapter 460