Chapter 238: Food Shortage: Everyone Goes Down to the River to Spear Fish

"Is sharpening it enough? Give me the stick, I'll sharpen it for you!"

The butcher looked at the stick and saw it wasn't thick, very easy to sharpen, a matter of a few moments, so he let Jerry hand it to him to sharpen.

Hearing the butcher say he would sharpen it for him, Jerry didn't hesitate and handed the stick over.

The butcher took the stick Jerry handed him, sat directly on the ground, and began to sharpen it.

"How old are you? You don't look old, must be from a wealthy family, eating well and growing tall!" the butcher said to Jerry while sharpening the wood.

"Uncle, I'm 15 this year. My family isn't wealthy; my father was a village schoolteacher, and I've been studying since I was small. There's a drought and famine this year, my father passed away, and there's no one left at home, so I'm fleeing the famine." When Jerry spoke, he tried to squeeze a little expression onto his face, but after trying a few times, it didn't work.

He couldn't help but think, I'm afraid I haven't fully merged with this body yet, I can't even make an expression when I want to.

I hope the previous owner's soul hasn't completely dissipated yet!

Jerry said directly in his heart: Previous owner, don't worry, I will live well, I will slowly integrate into this world, your father wanted you to go to Beijing to make a career, I will continue to complete it, go in peace!

But the situation mentioned in novels did not occur, where the soul-transmigrator says they will fulfill the previous owner's wish, then the previous owner departs, and the soul-transmigrator can fully merge with the body.

This didn't work either; it seems I still need to continue adapting to this body.

Jerry's current body is a flesh-and-blood vessel he created only after mastering numerous Rules, directly extracting the body's energy, and then returning the body to its Origin.

Because the energy was extracted, when Jerry first woke up, he felt uncomfortable all over, leading him to mistakenly believe that the previous owner's body couldn't hold on anymore and had passed away.

Later, he slowly recovered his physical strength, but as for soul power, that was impossible to recover.

To steer this world completely toward a technological path, Jerry improved the Spirit-Suppressing Array, which can now suppress not only plant souls but also animal souls.

Afterward, Jerry was a bit uneasy and directly isolated the nine basic elements in this world, so in this world, wanting to practice Cultivation is completely impossible; one can only honestly move toward a technological path.

The physical discomfort Jerry felt was actually the aftereffect of the body being empty after energy extraction and unable to recover, but it wasn't very serious, and he would adapt after a period of time.

After hearing Jerry's words, the butcher spoke.

"So you're a scholar, no wonder, a fair-faced scholar! It's good to be a scholar! But in this day and age, even scholars can't get enough to eat!" The butcher shook his head and sighed.

"Who's to say otherwise, that's why I want to go to Beijing; there are many scholars there, it's easier to find a way out. Staying in the village, there's nothing." Jerry also sighed; in an era like this, being able to eat a hot meal is already the greatest gift from heaven.

"You're a scholar, do you know how to spear fish? Fish aren't that easy to catch." The butcher said while sharpening the stick.

"Uncle, don't look at me as a scholar, my body isn't sturdy, but I'm also a child who grew up in the village; going into the river and climbing trees are basic operations."

Jerry wanted to pretend to be confident when saying this, but he remained expressionless.

Could the previous owner be paralyzed in the face? There's not a single reaction.

"Alright then, watch your safety, don't lose your life without catching any fish."

"Don't worry! Uncle, I can swim too, I'm young, and after resting for a while, I've already recovered my strength."

"Just keep it in mind, everyone is exhausted from fleeing the famine, don't think just because you're young you don't need to be careful. It's sharpened, take a look!"

After the butcher finished speaking, he handed over the sharpened stick. Jerry took a look; it was quite good and could be used.

"Then thank you, Uncle. When I spear a fish later, I'll send you one to eat."

After Jerry finished speaking, he took the stick and ran toward the riverbank.

"This kid, sigh!"

The butcher watched Jerry run off, sighed, twirled the butcher knife in his hand, and tucked it directly into the belt behind his back.

But Jerry didn't see that this move, regardless of whether it was useful or not, was a skill practiced for a long time.

Arriving at the riverbank, Jerry observed for a bit and found a spot that wasn't deep, about up to the bend of his calves, where fish were constantly swimming by.

Jerry took off his shoes, which already had a hole in them, walked over slowly, stood still, raised the stick, struck a pose for spearing downward, his body motionless, his eyes fixed on the water surface at all times.

Some people saw Jerry go into the river, but they didn't follow suit; they just sat on the bank and watched, treating it as entertainment.

One minute passed, two minutes passed, ten minutes passed.

A crucian carp about twenty centimeters long swam over, slow and leisurely, as if foraging at the bottom of the water.

Jerry still didn't make any move, but his gaze was fixed tightly on this fish.

The fish was still in the water, foraging slowly, and as it swam, it swam into Jerry's attack range, yet it didn't know it and continued to swim forward.

The further it swam, the closer it got to Jerry. Finally, it swam right in front of Jerry. At this moment, Jerry exerted force from his waist, and with the sharpened stick in his hand, he speared directly into the water.

In an instant, he speared the fish through, and then with a flick of his wrist, Jerry flipped the fish out of the water.

The fish, having been speared through and flipped out of the water, began to struggle. Jerry used his hands directly, stuck his fingers into the fish gills, and subdued it in one go.

At this time, the people on the bank saw that Jerry had really speared a fish, were surprised, and started clapping one after another. A few children even shouted loudly: "He speared a fish! He speared a fish!"

Soon, a crowd gathered around.

The butcher and the old man also ran over.

"Young man, you're capable, you really speared one!" the old man said happily.

"Old man, Uncle, you stay on the bank, I'll throw them to you, you kill them and roast them first, I'll go spear a few more." After Jerry finished speaking, he threw the fish onto the bank.

A few people originally wanted to go over and snatch the fish, but seeing the butcher's fierce expression, they didn't dare to come forward.

The butcher picked up the fish from the ground and started cleaning it by the river. The people nearby watched with envy.

Jerry continued to maintain his spearing posture. At this time, many people ran over to see how Jerry speared the fish.

This time he was lucky; in less than ten minutes, another large crucian carp swam in front of Jerry. No sooner said than done, the sharpened stick in Jerry's hand speared down instantly, and with a backhand flick, a fish was flipped out of the water.

The people on the bank started cheering. Jerry threw the fish directly to the old man and continued to spear fish.

Jerry speared two in a row, and some people couldn't sit still, thinking that if Jerry could spear fish, they could too.

These people ran to find sticks and begged the butcher to help sharpen them. The butcher didn't refuse and sharpened them for everyone.

While the butcher was sharpening the wood, Jerry speared four more. Two for each person should be enough to eat, so Jerry returned to the bank.

The first one was already roasted. The old man had a knack for roasting fish; although there were no seasonings, it was roasted very fragrantly, golden yellow, without a single burnt spot.

The old man took the roasted fish and handed it directly to Jerry.

"Young man, you eat first, you must be tired after spearing fish for so long!"

Jerry didn't stand on ceremony, gave a hum, took the fish, and started gnawing on it.

So delicious!

At this moment, Jerry felt very happy; he had only eaten one sesame seed cake yesterday, and after walking all night, he was both thirsty and tired.

While Jerry was eating the grilled fish, the river was now very lively, with over twenty younger men all imitating Jerry's method of spearing fish.

They started by having an argument, but after an old man said a few words, they separated.

Everyone wanted to grab the spot Jerry had been in before, but there was only one such spot.

There were many fish in the river, but everyone's method of catching them was quite backward, and the success rate was too low.

Not long after, someone managed to spear a fish and was so excited that they ran off holding it.

There were also some people who speared many times; even though they clearly aimed at the fish, they just couldn't hit it.

Those who managed to spear fish were either lucky or had done it before and had experience.

Those who had speared dozens of times without success were clearly doing it for the first time.

There was no help for it; in this era, many people had never been to school and did not know about things like the refractive index.

They were all refugees, and Jerry prepared to help them a little.

Then he shouted to the people in the river: "When you spear fish, aim below the fish, don't aim directly at the fish!"

The people in the river looked up at Jerry, and seeing that he was an expert who had speared six fish, they knew what he said must be correct, so they followed Jerry's instructions.

Before long, many people had speared fish.

However, the method Jerry taught was very effective; they were having fun spearing, and they would spear one, throw it on the bank, spear another, and throw it on the bank.

The old man who led the group at the start did not let the people on the bank scramble for them, but instead made arrangements.

Thus, the people on the bank began to clean and grill the fish, while the people in the river kept spearing.

After Jerry ate two fish, he felt he was finally full, and seeing everyone starting to spear fish collectively, he picked up his stick and went into the river too.

It must be said, in this era, there were few people catching fish, and the fish resources in the river were truly abundant.

Twenty-some people speared fish for nearly three hours, catching eighty-four fish.

Jerry himself later speared 14 of them.

Jerry felt that his current body, aside from the inability to control his facial expressions, was very strong in all other aspects.

For instance, after walking for a whole night, Jerry recovered very quickly;

When spearing fish, whenever a fish swam in front of Jerry, he would hit it with every strike.

Jerry counted the people in the group; some had left midway, and some had newly joined, so now there were 53 people.

Excluding Jerry, the old man, and the uncle who was a butcher, there were fifty other people, and the eighty-four fish were eaten very quickly.

Although he didn't know if they were full, everyone ate very happily.

Before, everyone was on guard against each other, but now that they were full, they had no more defenses and lay down on the ground to sleep.

Looking at the Sun in the sky, he estimated it was only a little past two o'clock; if the group set off, they would probably have to wait until six or seven o'clock for the Sun to set.

That meant they could have another meal in the evening!

Jerry found the old man who had been leading the group; perhaps because this old man knew the way and had been in the group the whole time, everyone listened to him.

Jerry found the old man to suggest that after everyone slept for a while, they should get up and catch more fish together, then grill them to take on the road.

If it were before, the old man certainly wouldn't have agreed with Jerry's idea, as fish were hard to catch and they still had to travel and conserve their strength, but now it was different; having experienced spearing fish, the old man agreed.

Having regained his strength, Jerry felt energetic and not at all sleepy, so he didn't sleep; watching everyone lying in the shade of the trees, Jerry picked up his stick and went to the riverbank alone.

Spearing fish alone was better; at first, everyone stood in a bunch, and those in front couldn't spear, so they ran to the back, and only then could the people behind spear, but now there was no need to wait for the people in front.

Someone in the group had brought a back basket; at first, it contained some clothes and food, but after the long journey, the food was mostly gone.

Jerry borrowed the bamboo basket from the person carrying it.

Because Jerry had led them in spearing fish, the person carrying the bamboo basket was also very grateful to Jerry and, without hesitation, gave the basket to Jerry.

Jerry carried the bamboo basket into the river, found a spot, and began to spear fish.

Over an hour passed, and many people had rested well and were sitting up chatting.

At this time, the leading old man gave notice, and the young men who had speared fish at noon picked up their sticks and ran to the riverbank, shouting; it seemed they were addicted to spearing fish.

Upon arriving at the riverbank, they saw Jerry alone, carrying the bamboo basket, spearing fish in the river.

He would spear one, take it off, put it in the basket, spear another, take it off, and put it in the basket.

Seeing people coming, Jerry stopped and carried the bamboo basket to the bank.

The others looked into the bamboo basket with curiosity, "Wow, so many fish!"

That's right, in over an hour, Jerry's harvest was quite substantial; he counted 23 fish, more than he had speared before.

Jerry dumped the fish from the bamboo basket onto the bank, and the leading old man arranged for people to clean them.

Then Jerry returned to the river, but this time he stood in the first position, and no one dared to stand in front of him.

The river was quite wide, so there was no worry about running out of fish further down.

Jerry was also having fun spearing fish, and every fish that appeared in front of him was speared by Jerry.

Suddenly, he saw a carp weighing about three jin appear in front, but it was a bit far from Jerry and just wouldn't swim over.

Jerry waited for a few minutes, but it still didn't swim over, so he decided to take a gamble; Jerry directly threw the spearing stick in his hand with all his might.

Then he quickly ran toward where he had thrown the stick, grabbed the end sticking out of the water, and lifted it directly; at the front of the stick, a carp of over three jin was struggling, flapping its large tail.

But it was useless; Jerry grabbed it with one hand.

The people nearby saw Jerry spear such a large fish and began to applaud.

Because the river was not still water, more fish soon swam over, sometimes two or three together.

Jerry called to the person next to him to give him another spearing stick.

After spearing for so long, Jerry felt that he could spear fish with one hand; his arm strength was sufficient, and there was no need at all to use both hands to spear fish.

Moreover, in the process of spearing fish, Jerry discovered that he could multitask.

Jerry feels that his current body is truly excellent; although he exercised in his past life, in terms of strength, it really wasn't as great as this body.

At first, Jerry fantasized that since he had transmigrated, there should be a system; he tried a few times, but there was nothing, so he gave up.

Afterwards, he thought about it and realized that he hadn't transmigrated to a world of Cultivation, so even if there were a system, it wouldn't give him any Cultivation techniques or the like.

Moreover, after Jerry discovered that this body had a strong memory, a robust physique, and great potential, he stopped caring about whether there was a system or not.

Relying on a good body and a formidable memory, he wouldn't starve to death in this world.

Now that he has discovered he can multitask, it is truly a pleasant surprise.

Jerry uses two sticks to spear fish, and his speed is getting faster and faster.

In some remote spots, Jerry even throws the sticks out to spear them, and he hits them every time.

Therefore, he feels that spearing fish must be something his predecessor already knew how to do, and the body has muscle memory.

Two hours later, around five o'clock, the Sun already shows signs of setting.

It is currently the season where spring and summer alternate, and with the nationwide drought, the daytime temperature is high and the days are long; it won't be completely dark until around seven o'clock.

When night falls, perhaps because they are in the wilderness, the temperature is a bit cold and one still needs to wear a padded jacket, but since everyone is traveling at night, this bit of cold is nothing.

At this moment, Jerry shouts once, and everyone stops spearing fish; however, the harvest this time is truly not small—he didn't count carefully, but there should be two hundred of them.

Jerry and these young people have been spearing fish all afternoon, and most of them are tired; they are not catching fish now, but going up first to eat grilled fish to replenish themselves.

However, this time only those who caught the fish are eating, while the others have started to clean the fish.

Furthermore, the others had not even thought about eating dinner.

After Jerry and these twenty-some young men are full, the leading elder walks over and asks Jerry how to distribute them.

Jerry says to distribute two fish to each person first and see how many are left.

Very quickly, everyone has two fish in their hands, and they are all very happy.

Labor is truly cheap in this era; after working for so long, two fish are enough to make them very happy.

Jerry counts the remaining fish, and there are fifty-five left; they just ate quite a lot, and there are still fifty-five left—it seems they really did catch over two hundred.

There were twenty-some people who hadn't eaten just now, so Jerry simply takes out the remaining fish and lets everyone have a dinner; after all, they worked in the afternoon and still have to travel at night.

The leading elder has no objections; he was also killing fish in the afternoon and has been tired all afternoon, so he has been hungry for a while.

The remaining fifty-four fish, some big and some small, were indeed finished by the twenty-some people.

It seems they were hungry before, but the fish were caught by those who went into the river, and they were also allotted two fish; if the people who caught the fish didn't speak up, the others didn't dare to eat.

People fleeing famine are all honest and upright people with simple natures. It is truly because they could no longer survive at home and the fields yielded nothing, and since every household in the village was in a similar situation, they could only flee.

If they are lucky, they can survive by fleeing; staying in the village would be a dead end.

After everyone finishes eating, the Sun sets, and at this time everyone begins their journey.

However, the mood today is completely different; some people are chatting while they walk.

Jerry quietly comes to the side of the leading elder and asks the elder how much longer it will take for them to reach Beijing.

The elder tells Jerry that they already entered the territory of Beijing the day before yesterday; today everyone is full and has reserve food, so they are traveling fast, and they should arrive by tomorrow noon.

Jerry doesn't know the way either, and he cannot verify whether what the elder said about arriving by tomorrow noon is true or false.

However, whether the elder is deliberately concealing it or if they really can arrive tomorrow, the elder is acting out of kindness.

Saying they will arrive tomorrow gives everyone something to look forward to, so that everyone can keep going.

If he told them directly that they wouldn't arrive tomorrow and their food was gone, many people would feel despair.

The elder says it this way to give them hope to keep going, and Jerry thinks the elder is not wrong for doing so.

(End of this chapter)