Back at the wharf, Liang Qu paid two wen in mooring fees and sold his entire catch to the fishing yard for eighteen wen.
The fishing yard was at bottom a lending operation — only what it lent out were fishing boats and tackle, and the interest it collected was paid in fish. Besides renting out gear, it also took on some of the duties of a fish dealer, much like a distributor.
For fishermen who hadn't rented its boats and tackle, the prices were fairly reasonable, and it saved a good deal of time.
It was already the middle of the night, yet shops along the street were still open. After all, whether a shop opened depended on whether anyone was around; as long as fishermen were putting out on the water, someone would naturally do this business.
Liang Qu's stomach happened to be empty, so he found an inn and ordered the old three — one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and rice.
He had no oil, salt, or firewood at home; cooking for himself would mean buying a whole pile of supplies. Better to eat out. They were all poor folk here, scraping out a hard-earned living, and a meal came to exactly eighteen wen.
Saving money could wait. First he had to get his body strong.
Cannot Move swam slowly, but its sheer presence was a deterrent, enough to seal off an area. However you looked at it, it was a helper, and a help in catching fish.
Early the next morning, Liang Qu, walking along the street, spotted Li Libo hawking fish at his stall.
"Yo, you're looking mighty well today! How about a nice fresh fish-head soup to build yourself up?" Li Libo gripped the gills of a big silver carp and held it up.
"Sure."
Li Libo froze. It had been an offhand question — he'd never expected real business to come his way. "Well, that's grand! What's the occasion, good news? Out with it — let's enjoy it together."
"If I told you, it'd scare you. This one will do."
Liang Qu didn't spell it out. As someone in the know, even if Li Libo guessed the truth, without proof he wouldn't dare breathe a word to anyone.
"Well now, listen to the big talk!" Li Libo threaded a grass rope through the fish as he spoke. "There — your fish."
Liang Qu handed over ten copper coins without a second thought.
"That's too much!"
"The extra is for a drink."
"Heh, money burning a hole in your pocket, is it?" Li Libo wondered inwardly, but his hands were quick, and he pocketed the coins with relish.
For several days running, Liang Qu kept to an ordinary fisherman's routine, putting out his boat to fish, with a daily catch worth around thirty wen.
Zheng Xiang, the Zhao residence's steward, hadn't come looking for him again either, which set his mind somewhat at ease.
Scabby-Head Zhang's disappearance caused not the slightest ripple. He'd been a lone bachelor all along; so long as he wasn't stirring up trouble, nobody cared.
Perhaps only when taxes were collected at the end of autumn would anyone notice — and that was still at least a month away.
As for Li Libo, he had long since forgotten the whole affair, and to this day believed Scabby-Head Zhang was simply lying low somewhere, nursing his injuries.
"I can rest easy for a while now."
After days of fear and trembling, Liang Qu could finally lower his guard and focus on making a living.
Apart from one restaurant meal a day to nourish his body, everything else he ate came from the treasure plant, lotus root. He had eaten more than ten sections already, gaining 1.3 of essence of the waters in total, all of it spent on raising his fusion.
A treasure plant that could heal wounds might well be rare, but Liang Qu cared more about the present: the stronger he was, the less he would be hurt.
[Cauldron Master: Liang Qu]
[Refined Marsh Spirit: Water Monkey (White) (Fusion: 6.5%)]
[Essence of the Waters: None]
[River Favor: None]
[Command of Water Beasts: Taihua Alligator]
[Evaluation: The Water Monkey marsh spirit derives from the great Lord of the Huai and Guo Rivers — its bearer's potential barely awakened, a small figure of faint nature and frail fate]
From consuming the essence of the waters to the completion of the rise in his fusion took about one shichen — roughly two hours.
1.5 of essence of the waters had raised Liang Qu's fusion to 6.5. He could now control the force of a forty-jin flow of water, and stay active underwater for more than ten minutes; his range of perception was unchanged, and his physique had improved slightly.
Taking in the essence of the waters did not diminish the lotus root's own effects.
Having eaten so much lotus root, and being young besides, the deficits left by long hunger were being made good; he could feel his vitality steadily recovering.
"I could command another water beast to help with the fishing."
Liang Qu could sense the limit of what his mind could bear — somewhere between two and three "Cannot Moves." To be safe, he could take on one more water beast of roughly Cannot Move's level.
In autumn the water grew cold, and the Sow Dragon moved sluggishly; catching fish was truly beyond its strength. If Liang Qu were not driving it on, it would have gone into hibernation long ago, sleeping straight through until spring.
With man and beast working together, if he didn't single out the pricier species, a day's catch came to no more than thirty wen. It wasn't that he had no wish to catch the expensive ones — he feared that hauling in valuable fish day after day would give him away.
If he was going to hunt at all, it should be fish like the tiger-head grouper, the kind measured in silver.
He rowed the boat to the edge of the lotus-root waters and slapped the surface with his oar.
At his summons, the Sow Dragon surfaced beside the boat with a few blades of waterweed perched on its head, scratched at its flank with a hind claw, and blinked.
Liang Qu stripped off his clothes, took up a wooden spear, and dove in.
Cannot Move swung its long tail, gliding at his side, the waterweed on its head drifting off with the current. Man and beast explored the surroundings together.
The light underwater was faint. In the shallows he could still make out the riverbed and the water plants; a little deeper, everything turned pitch black, and feeling his way through the environment relied mainly on his perception.
One common fish after another slid past him. Liang Qu paid them no mind — today's target was a good helper.
He kept watch on his heading, careful not to stray into deep water.
Large water beasts did appear in the shallows now and then, but none longer than four meters, so his safety was assured. Deep water was another matter; the fishermen of the older generation said every kind of monster lurked down there.
He searched with the Sow Dragon for the better part of a shichen and came up with nothing. It wasn't that there were no big fish — only that none were fierce, predatory species.
He was not discouraged. An angler with nothing but a folding stool and one rod will sit by a pond all day; this was hardly anything by comparison.
Then, as he dove again and brushed past a grass carp, a huge blurred shape suddenly grazed the edge of Liang Qu's perception circle and vanished — and the grass carp vanished with it!
So fast!
Startled, Liang Qu tightened his grip on his spear and hurriedly summoned Cannot Move to guard him.
The shape he had glimpsed, dim and fleeting, was at least two meters long — a genuinely massive creature!
Cannot Move swept its tail rapidly and came to Liang Qu's side, circling without pause to guard against a sudden strike.
Liang Qu had assumed it was a chance encounter, but the dark shape turned, appeared once more within his perception circle, and began circling him.
It skimmed the rim of his perception, now and then closing to within three meters, until at last Liang Qu sensed what species it was: a six-whisker catfish!
A two-meter six-whisker catfish was rarely seen. The species was savage. When it attacked, it first swept its pectoral fins to raise a whirlpool that robbed its prey of all sense of direction, then opened that enormous broad mouth and sucked the prey in like a vacuum cleaner, swallowing it whole.
It was said that once, in Yixing, a child who fell into the water was eaten by a six-whisker catfish!
There was no doubt about it: this six-whisker catfish had taken Liang Qu for prey!
What a bold fish — two meters long, nearly fifty kilograms, and it actually dared to attack a man and an alligator at once!
Coming in with a slide tackle, are you? Serving yourself up like this?
The catfish met his requirements in every respect. It was decided — you're the one!
With a splash, the catfish rolled in the water near the river's surface. Liang Qu immediately sent Cannot Move charging. The alligator moved slowly, but its strikes were lightning fast — like a dagger thrust into the heart, it brought the circling six-whisker catfish to an abrupt halt in an instant.
The catfish turned to dodge; Cannot Move swung its body after it, and in the moment they brushed past, it whipped its iron tail like a pendulum and smashed it into the catfish's head.
The blow raised bloody welts on the six-whisker catfish's skull. It twisted around to ram the Sow Dragon's soft belly, but without the slightest effect, and the Sow Dragon seized the opening to hook its sharp claws into the catfish's fins.
Holding his breath to one side, pupils trembling faintly, Liang Qu fixed his eyes unblinking on the battle. In the gap as the catfish whipped about in its struggle, the water abruptly locked down its tail fin — an intercept of exquisite precision!
The six-whisker catfish lost its balance, and the Sow Dragon, watching for just that chance, clamped its jaws around the catfish's tail!
The catfish thrashed wildly, straining to break free of the Sow Dragon. Liang Qu, gripping a shard of gravel, cut open his fingers, and his blood dispersed through the current in thin red threads. Kicking off the water, he shot around behind the catfish, black hair fanning loose like ink smoke, three fingers held parallel in a slicing line — and drew the water command sigil!
Chapter 8