15 – Big Fish! Magical Fish Stone!

At a bend in the river, Lu Qing finally discovered a new fishing spot.

【Beginner Fishing Spot: A place rich in nutrients and lush vegetation, favored by fish as a feeding ground.】

【There are strange fruits growing here, beloved by certain mystical fish. Fishing here might offer unexpected surprises.】

The white light emitted from this spot was even more intense than the previously discovered beginner fishing spot.

“Strange fruits growing above?”

Lu Qing looked up, searching the riverside by the fishing spot.

Soon, several peculiar-looking plants caught his attention.

Under the scan of his ability, these plants also emitted white light.

【Blood Apricot Tree: Can produce blood apricots, which are non-toxic and have medicinal uses.】

【It’s rumored that blood apricots contain a special substance that certain mystical fish adore.】

“Blood Apricots?”

Lu Qing looked at the tiny red fruits, the size of a pinky finger, hanging on the tree.

Are these the strange fruits that mystical fish like to eat?

With a sense of curiosity, he walked forward.

Fortunately, the Blood Apricot Tree wasn’t too tall, and he easily picked a handful.

“Brother, these fruits look so delicious.”

Xiao Yan couldn’t help but swallow as she saw the bright red blood apricots in Lu Qing’s hand.

“These aren’t for eating.”

Although the information from his ability indicated that the blood apricots were non-toxic, it also mentioned their medicinal use. Since they served as medicine, Lu Qing didn’t dare to let Xiao Yan eat them recklessly.

“If they are not for eating, why did Brother pick them?”

“For fishing. Some fish love to eat these fruits. Brother wants to see if he can catch a big fish with them.” Lu Qing explained.

“Big fish like to eat fruits?” Xiao Yan’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Yes, fish like a variety of foods: worms, fruits, corn, and grass.”

“They even like to eat corn and grass?!” The little girl’s eyes widened even more.

It was her first time hearing about this, and she found it fascinating.

“So Xiao Yan, you can’t eat these fruits because they’re for catching big fish.”

“Uh-huh! Xiao Yan understands!” The little girl nodded repeatedly.

Compared to the fruits, she was more interested in the big fish.

“Xiao Yan, you wait here. Brother will tidy up around here.”

After instructing Xiao Yan not to wander, Lu Qing tied a short-handled hatchet to a wooden stick and began clearing the weeds and trees around the fishing spot.

Having done this countless times in his previous life, Lu Qing was skilled and efficient in preparing the fishing spot.

Before long, he had cleared away the weeds and trees along the shore, creating a good fishing spot.

However, he left the blood apricot trees untouched, valuing their white-glowing status.

After the fishing spot was prepared, Lu Qing was ready to start fishing.

He didn’t use any bait to attract fish since the family’s food supply wasn’t abundant enough for such extravagance.

With the river’s rich resources in this otherworld and the ability to identify natural fishing spots, he was confident he could catch fish without bait.

Sitting by the shore, Lu Qing decided to start with worms to secure the next two days’ food supply.

Baiting his hook with worms, he cast his line, and the float settled on the water’s surface.

No surprise, it was the most concentrated white-glowing fishing spot selected by his ability.

As soon as he lowered his hook, before he could even set down his fishing rod, the float started moving.

First, it trembled a few times before suddenly plunging downward.

With a flick of his wrist, Lu Qing heard a whistle as he swiftly pulled up the fish.

It was a small white fish, two fingers wide.

Lu Qing raised an eyebrow. These small white fish appeared to be one of the most common fish in the river, found everywhere.

“It’s a small white fish!”

Xiao Yan immediately recognized the fish on the hook and shouted.

“Yes, a small white fish. Looks like today will be a bountiful day.”

Lu Qing removed the fish and placed it in a bucket.

Catching a fish so quickly and starting smoothly gave him the feeling that he might truly catch a big one today.

With this thought, Lu Qing’s spirits lifted.

However, the subsequent developments were somewhat unexpected for Lu Qing.

After catching a few more small fish, he lowered the hook again, but there was no bite for a long time.

“If the small fish aren’t biting, it’s either because there are no fish left or there’s a big fish driving them away below.”

With his rich experience, Lu Qing immediately made his judgment.

He decisively raised the hook, removed the worm, and took out a small cloth bag.

“It’s a secret weapon!”

Xiao Yan instantly recognized that this was something her brother had taken when they left home.

Lu Qing opened the cloth bag and took out a few golden-yellow things.

They were fresh corn kernels.

These corn kernels were obtained from Aunt Wang next door in the morning, specifically to be used as bait.

In his previous life, when Lu Qing went wild fishing and wanted to catch big fish, he often used corn kernels.

Fish like carp and grass carp particularly loved corn and it never failed.

He wasn’t sure if the big fish in this world liked it too, but he had to try.

If it didn’t work, he planned to switch to the freshly picked blood apricots.

He attached a plump, fresh corn kernel to the fishhook and started fishing again.

To his surprise, this time, something unexpected happened.

The moment the hook went into the water, before the bobber could even settle, he was in a half squat, about to sit down.

Suddenly, without any warning, the bobber plunged into the water and disappeared, the fishing line tightened, and a tremendous force came from the fishing rod, almost knocking Lu Qing off balance.

Fortunately, Lu Qing reacted quickly, took a step forward, and stabilized himself.

“Goodness, you’re attacking me by surprise!”

With both hands gripping the fishing rod tightly, feeling the pull from the rod, Lu Qing’s face lit up with excitement.

This was definitely a big fish! Such power couldn’t be exerted by a fish weighing less than five catties.

Whistling!

Unable to break free, the fish below began to exert force again, making the fishing line whistle.

“Trying to escape from my hands? No way!”

Seeing the fish below exerting force again, Lu Qing remained calm, gently loosened his grip, releasing most of the tension.

Then he tightened his grip again, continuing to fight the fish below.

His newly made fishing rod had been certified by his supernatural abilities to withstand a hundred catties of force. He didn’t believe this fish could break it.

“Brother, go for it!”

Xiao Yan, who was beside him, was also very nervous.

But she didn’t dare to shout loudly, fearing that it would scare the big fish away. She could only clench her tiny fists and quietly cheer her brother on.

The following time turned into a contest of wits and strength between Lu Qing and the fish.

After a full half an hour of tugging back and forth, Lu Qing finally felt the fish’s strength begin to wane.

“Finally wore you out.” Lu Qing breathed a sigh of relief.

The tugging had also consumed a lot of his energy.

If it weren’t for the acupuncture he received from Old Doctor Chen two days ago, which restored much of his vitality, he might not have been able to outlast the fish.

Once the fish reached its limit, it was impossible for it to escape Lu Qing’s grasp.

After a while, with another effort from Lu Qing, the big fish that had been fighting him for so long finally surfaced.

Both siblings finally got a clear look at the fish’s true appearance.

“Such a big fish!”

Seeing the fish’s head and back, Xiao Yan couldn’t help but exclaim.

Even Lu Qing was a bit excited.

Goodness, just by its size, this fish had to weigh more than ten catties.

Suppressing his inner excitement, Lu Qing continued to grip the fishing rod tightly.

Fishing was something where the more you neared the end, the more you couldn’t relax.

Otherwise, if you let the fish escape at the last moment, you’d regret it for a long time, even when you were elderly.

However, despite all his caution, there was still an unexpected hitch when Lu Qing was about to scoop the fish.

He realized a crucial problem.

He hadn’t prepared a landing net!

Of course, he couldn’t be blamed for that because they didn’t have such a thing at home.

Not to mention a landing net, they didn’t even have a netted bag.

Without a landing net, he couldn’t simply scoop the fish. Lu Qing had to continue letting the fish wear itself out completely.

Only when the fish was utterly exhausted did he have Xiao Yan hold the rod while he lay on the shore, intending to hug the fish up himself.

Doing this was actually dangerous because a fish of this size, if it still had some strength left, could knock a person out with one flip of its tail.

Luckily, this fish was indeed utterly exhausted by Lu Qing.

In the end, without further incident, Lu Qing managed to carry the fish ashore.

“Brother, this big fish seems taller than me!”

When the fish was finally on the shore away from the river, Xiao Yan measured it and was amazed.

“Seems like it is slightly taller.”

Lu Qing looked and indeed it seemed so.

The big fish was over a meter long and when lifted, it was indeed a bit taller than Xiao Yan.

“Let me see what kind of fish this is.”

Seeing the fish’s long body and its organized, shiny scales that looked like armor, Lu Qing felt it exuded a certain majesty.

He immediately used his supernatural ability to check the fish’s information.

Under his gaze, a rich white light soon appeared on the fish.

“It’s white light…”

Lu Qing felt a trace of disappointment.

He was thinking, with such a large fish, could it possibly be at the Red Glow level?

But on second thought, he felt he was being too greedy.

If this big fish were at the Red Glow level, whether he could reel it in was another matter.

One must know, he had only seen Red Glow level items twice.

One was Old Doctor Chen, and the other was Snow Silkworm Thread.

Both of these were extraordinary.

Old Doctor Chen was a practitioner, and Snow Silkworm Thread was a rare treasure.

If this big fish also reached the Red Glow level, it might possess some special abilities.

In that case, who would be reeling in whom would still be uncertain.

He might very well get pulled into the water in the first round.

After calming himself, Lu Qing turned his attention to the newly appeared note.

【Green Armor Fish: A large fish covered in green armor-like scales, a tyrant of the river, containing a Fish Stone.】

【It is said that a fully-grown Green Armor Fish has a Fish Stone located in its throat. When refined and worn, it has the effect of calming the spirit and mind.】

Seeing the information on the note, Lu Qing was instantly overjoyed.

Fish Stone!

The big fish he just caught actually has a Fish Stone!

This Fish Stone thing wasn’t unfamiliar to Lu Qing.

In his previous life, he had once caught a wild Green Fish weighing over twenty pounds, containing a Fish Stone.

At the time, a buyer offered thousands for it, but he didn’t sell.

The reason, besides liking it, was also because there was a rumor in the fishing circle.

That is, a Fish Stone of sufficient age possesses the function of ensuring safety.

Lu Qing didn’t know if the Fish Stone in his past life could ensure safety.

But the Fish Stone in the Green Armor Fish before him was confirmed by his ability to have the effect of calming the spirit and mind.

Coincidentally, ever since Xiao Yan’s parents passed away, she had been having restless nights, often waking up from nightmares, needing his embrace to fall back asleep.

If this Fish Stone truly had such a miraculous effect, that would be wonderful.

In his excitement, Lu Qing almost couldn’t help but gut the Green Armor Fish right then and there.

Fortunately, he retained his rationality and ultimately restrained himself.

“Brother, how are we going to take this big fish home? The bucket seems too small.” At this moment, Xiao Yan asked with some distress.

She just measured, and this big fish was much taller than the bucket they brought, making it impossible to fit.

“No worries, I’ll twist some grass into a rope and carry it back!” Lu Qing said confidently.

It’s just a twenty-pound fish or so.

Having caught the fish, he wasn’t afraid of not being able to carry it back.

“Really? But are we still going to continue fishing?” Xiao Yan asked again.

This question stumped Lu Qing.

From his usual experience, after the long battle with the Green Armor Fish, the entire fishing spot had probably been alarmed. Even if there were fish, they would have fled.

But thinking about the blood apricots he picked earlier made him hesitate.

According to the information given by his ability, blood apricots were a favorite food of some strange fish.

As a seasoned fishing enthusiast, he was quite curious about so-called strange fish.

What made them special to be labeled as ‘strange’ by his ability?

Even the Green Armor Fish with a Fish Stone wasn’t termed ‘strange’ by his ability.

What sort of peculiarity did these strange fish possess?

After some inner conflict, Lu Qing decided to fish a bit longer.

If they were called strange fish, maybe they weren’t afraid of the Green Armor Fish and hadn’t been scared away?

With this hopeful thinking, Lu Qing filled a bucket with water, put the Green Armor Fish’s head into it, and sat back at the fishing spot.

However, he was also determined to fish for just a while.

If no fish bit soon, he would go home, as the Green Armor Fish wouldn’t last long.

Dead fish wouldn’t be as tasty as fresh ones.

Setting up again, Lu Qing put a blood apricot on the fishhook.

Casting the hook into the water, he began to wait quietly.

Time passed second by second, and soon, half an hour had elapsed.

The float remained motionless, as if it was frozen.

“So it was truly alarmed, even strange fish couldn’t escape it.” Lu Qing sighed.

This outcome was within his expectations.

It was just that he had held onto a sliver of hope earlier.

“Let’s head back.”

Just as Lu Qing was about to pack up his fishing rod and go home…

Suddenly, he saw the float plunge into the water!