Chapter 157: Elder Chen Says You Offended the Sea Dragon King

Xiao Hu climbed up from the ground with a look of grievance.

"Brother, everyone says you got all this from gathering seafood; you must have used some dark magic, and now the Sea Dragon King knows, so he gave you that fever yesterday."

Hearing Xiao Hu say that, Ye Cheng was practically speechless, wanting to laugh.

"No, I got a fever because I offended the Sea Dragon King?"

"What nonsense, you believe that? I just caught a cold—you weren't even there the day before yesterday."

Xiao Hu glanced at him angrily: "Not just you—Uncle Yuan came back sick after we set the fish traps with us; they say he was punished together with the Sea Dragon King because he was with you."

"And they said Duan Yong's boat is also because of you."

Ye Cheng really, really, thanks—does everything have to do with me? Am I a god?

"No, you just believe their nonsense?" Ye Cheng looked at Xiao Hu.

"It's not others saying it; it's the village elder who said it." Xiao Hu said softly.

"The elder? The one from the Chen family?"

"Yeah, that's him—he said he dreamed of the Dragon King."

Ye Cheng frowned, a bit troubled.

The elder Xiao Hu spoke of is from Chen Jinhai's Chen family, over ninety years old, high seniority; everyone forgot his name.

It's said that when the elder was young, he went out to fish, met the Sea Dragon King, who taught him how to fish, so he caught more fish than anyone else.

In his old age, he also had great prestige in the village; many people would consult him before going out to sea.

Now he actually says he offended the Sea Dragon King—of course the villagers will believe him.

Just then, Ye Guowei walked in from outside.

"Brother, why are you here? Don't you have work today?"

Ye Guowei shook his head, glanced at Xiao Hu, and roughly understood from their expressions.

"Did Xiao Hu tell you all that?" Ye Guowei asked.

"Ah, I told my brother; I mean, maybe we shouldn't go gathering seafood for now." Xiao Hu hesitated a bit.

"A Cheng, I feel the same. Elder Chen's words are still reliable; he knows a lot about sea matters."

"Don't say there's no Sea Dragon King; we fishermen rely on the sea, and even if there's no Sea Dragon King, there must be other deities protecting us."

"You should stop for a while."

Ye Guowei knew Ye Cheng's nature—there's no way the Sea Dragon King exists.

However, since ancient times, because sea conditions are complex and changeable, fishermen pray to deities for protection, such as the Maternal Ancestor.

Compared to inland regions, coastal areas are more devout in their deity worship.

So now that Elder Chen has brought up the Sea Dragon King, it's rather troublesome.

Judging by how much the villagers trust Elder Chen, 80% would believe him.

Obviously, Ye Cheng belongs to that 20%.

"Brother, Xiao Hu, I'll put it plainly: we grew up in the new era, live in the spring breeze—ghosts and gods, you can pray for peace of mind, but if you truly believe in offending deities, that's just fake."

"Offending the deities over a few fish? Meanwhile, they haul in net after net and the deities don't care?"

Ye Cheng was also convinced—sometimes the charlatan's words, when analyzed, reveal flaws, but everyone is used to self-hypnosis and chooses to believe.

"A Cheng, you should trust Elder Chen's judgment—he's usually right; otherwise you wouldn't have a fever." Hearing Ye Cheng's words, Ye Guowei frowned worriedly.

Xiao Hu sat there silently.

"Do I believe him?" Ye Cheng snorted coldly, "He's from the Chen family—Chen Jinhai, as village chief, has always disliked me; the other night he saw us barbecuing, then when I got a fever, Elder Chen spoke up—where was he earlier?"

After saying that to Ye Guowei, Ye Cheng turned to Xiao Hu: "Besides you, Xiao Hu—my brother's old enough that believing this is understandable, but you're only twenty and actually believe this?"

"You say you don't believe there really are necromancers who can summon skeletons?"

Xiao Hu pouted and said softly, "Brother, that's just a game."

"You know games aren't real? Then why believe whatever they say? Have you seen the Sea Dragon King or chatted with him on QQ?"

After being scolded by Ye Cheng, Xiao Hu couldn't say anything, head down, sitting there.

Seeing Xiao Hu being scolded, Ye Guowei quickly interjected, "A Cheng, the older generation has its experience—you should believe."

"Believe my ass, I only trust science." Ye Cheng said bluntly, "Humans have probed the seabed over ten thousand meters deep—no Sea Dragon King, not even monsters."

"I have to collect the fish traps I set the day before tomorrow; when I do, I'll check if the Sea Dragon King left any message and let you know."

Ye Cheng didn't want to talk to them anymore—no point.

Gathering seafood and offending the Sea Dragon King—amazing they could think of that, and amazing they believe it.

"Ah? You're still going out to sea today? You've just recovered—you can't handle it." Ye Guowei grew anxious as soon as he heard Ye Cheng would go back to sea.

"Brother, I know what I'm doing—I bought a wetsuit to keep my body temperature as stable as possible and keep dirty stuff off my skin."

"Also, I bought a spear—if there's danger I can handle it."

"I even bought professional diving mask lights—what's there to fear?"

Ye Cheng took out each item and showed them to Ye Guowei.

Seeing Ye Cheng prepare all that, Ye Guowei felt relieved inside, but still started nagging.

"This is a cold invading you; going out to sea is ultimately dangerous."

Ye Cheng pursed his lips at Xiao Hu: "How about letting him go down instead?"

Xiao Hu jumped: "No, I can only dive for a minute or so—definitely not enough time."

"Then you can help pull the fish traps up top, right?"

"Oh, I can do that." Xiao Hu nodded earnestly.

"All right, I'll go down, you pull the rope—let's do it, let's go."

"Oh."

Xiao Hu instinctively stood up, just about to head out, when he suddenly felt something was off. He turned to Ye Cheng and said, "No way, bro—how did I just agree to go with you? We were just talking about not letting you go sea‑gathering."

Ye Cheng shrugged his shoulders and said solemnly, "Because you still have a sense of justice in your heart, kid—come on, grab your stuff and let's go."

After saying that, he walked up to Ye Guowei and said, "Big brother, don't worry—what era is this? Still all superstitious? Customs can be kept, we can ask for lucky tokens, but we can't believe everything."

Ye Guowei saw that he probably couldn't persuade them, so he could only give up; after telling the two to stay safe, he himself went to Matou to work.

"Take these, these, all of them—just in case we hit a big catch today." Ye Cheng pointed at the Water Tank and the Snakeskin Bag.

Xiao Hu still looked bewildered, unable to figure out why he had agreed so suddenly.