Chapter 1284

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Protagonist:

Xu Zhangqing

On Yuheng Star, ninety-nine percent of the water was diverted by the Star Spirit Grass for irrigation, and every inch of waterway from source to mouth was engraved with Spirit-Gathering Arrays.

Swimming in the water were Ling Ji and Ling Carp, and the riverbed grew nothing but spirit algae.

But this river was different.

It was a wild river, almost devoid of spiritual energy.

Yet such a wild river happened to have a fine exterior.

Nine bends and eighteen turns, each turn curving just right.

The river water flowed from upstream, winding around seven or eight mountains along the way, leaving behind a backwater bay, large or small, at the foot of each mountain.

The water plants in the backwater bays grew taller than people.

Between the grass, one could occasionally catch sight of a few green carp flashing past.

With a flick of their tails, they could slap a ring of fine ripples on the water's surface.

The pebbles in the shallows had been worn round and smooth by the current; stepping on them barefoot did not prick, only bringing a lukewarm coolness.

The old willow trees on both banks did not know how many years they had grown.

Their roots dug deep into the river embankment, their branches slanting across the space three feet or so above the water, just right for fishing old-timers to set up a row of spots.

Those who came here to fish were basically mortals.

They did not care about spiritual energy concentration, the grade of fish, or even whether they could catch fish.

On the shallows, a group of children were playing in the water.

The splashing water, struck by sunlight, burst into a string of seven-colored droplets in mid-air.

In the deep water, several small wooden fishing boats bobbed on the waves.

The fishermen at the bows cast their nets one by one, timing it just right.

Fishing spots in different river sections each had their own master.

Under the willow roots, several slightly better spots had been taken by old men.

The stone platform at the entrance of the backwater bay was occupied by several young, sturdy men.

On the stone slope near the shallows sat a group of women watching the children while cracking melon seeds.

Melon shells fell into the water, were swallowed in one gulp by a green carp, then spat out in disdain.

Xu Zhangqing carried a bamboo pole, walking along the riverbank upstream.

He walked slowly, nodding at the people sitting at each fishing spot he passed; occasionally someone recognized him and raised a hand to greet him.

"Brother Xu, you're here again!"

"Mm."

"That big green carp you caught last time, my wife kept talking about it for half a month, insisting I catch one too, but so far I haven't even seen a fish scale."

"Try changing the bait."

"Change to what?"

"Mix some sesame oil into the dough."

The reason Xu Zhangqing liked this river was actually very simple.

Here, no one knew he was the Yuheng Star Lord.

No one knew he was a Direct Disciple of the Northern Dipper Immortal Mansion.

Even less did anyone know he had lived for over eight thousand years.

Here, he was just that "Brother Xu."

A man with decent fishing skills, few words, who occasionally shared fish.

Though this identity was fake, it made him feel more at ease than any true identity.

Just like that, Xu Zhangqing walked a short distance further along the riverbank, finally slowing his steps under a patch of willow roots.

Here was an old fishing spot he had used many times.

The tree roots on the river embankment naturally formed a groove half a zhang square, just enough for one person to sit cross-legged, and the willow branches overhead hung down, just enough to block the harsh midday sun.

The backwater bay in front had a moderate current, the waters where green carp liked to gather most.

But today, this spot was taken.

The one occupying it was an old man.

He looked about seventy or eighty years old.

His hair was all white, but very clean white.

Not the withered gray-white, but a smooth silver-white like wool.

Deep wrinkles lined his face, three horizontal lines on his forehead, and a cluster of crow's feet at each eye corner.

But his complexion was not bad, his face ruddy.

His slightly turbid old eyes stared fixedly at the float on the water's surface.

His clothes were clean coarse brown short clothes, sleeves rolled to the elbows, revealing a section of forearm tanned bronze by the sun.

Beside his feet sat a bamboo fish basket, with several small crucian carp inside.

Seeing the spot taken by someone else, Xu Zhangqing thought it over but did not speak.

Instead he walked to another spot not far away and found a stone position.

The bait he brought wasn't any spirit insect, just the most ordinary red earthworms.

He threaded it onto the hook tip, then cast the rod.

It entered the water; he adjusted the float.

Then he sat down on the stone and didn't move.

But in less than a quarter-hour, the first fish came up.

This was a green carp of just over two catties, its scales gleaming with a greenish-black luster in the sunlight.

As it was pulled out of the water surface by the fishing line, it was still frantically thrashing its tail, smashing the water surface into continuous "hua-la" sounds.

"Full of vitality!"

Xu Changqing smiled, then took the fish off and threw it into the creel.

Then he re-baited and cast again.

After another while, the second one also came up, still a green carp.

Then the third, the fourth.

The old man's float beside him didn't stir a thread, as if welded onto the water surface.

He glanced sideways at Xu Changqing's creel; inside were already five or six green carp.

Looking again at his own creel, those few small crucian carp suddenly became embarrassing.

At first, the old man endured for a while.

When Xu Changqing lifted the seventh green carp from the water, he finally couldn't hold back.

"You... what bait are you using?"

"Ordinary earthworms."

"Just ordinary earthworms?"

The old man looked him over with half-belief half-doubt, his gaze sweeping from the earthworms to the fishing rod, then from the rod to the creel, and finally shook his head.

Both fishing, how can the gap between people be so large.

But the silence didn't last too long.

When two people sit side by side, one catching no fish while the other keeps hauling them in nonstop, the atmosphere becomes extremely awkward.

The old man's bamboo rod didn't move, but his lips moved, asking curiously: "Young man, how old are you this year?"

Xu Changqing hearing this, the hand gripping the rod paused for a moment.

He turned his head, looking at the other in surprise.

An eighty-year-old mortal, calling an eight-thousand-year-old Star Lord "young man"?

Afterwards, Xu Changqing laughed and cried as he made up an age: "Twenty-eight."

The old man nodded, seemingly very satisfied with this age.

He reeled in a length of line, then changed to another angle and cast out again.

"Started a family?"

"Yes."

"Taken how many rooms?"

"Had two wives."

The old man froze a moment, this time truly a bit surprised.

He sized up Xu Changqing again; the bamboo hat covered his face so it couldn't be seen clearly, but his bearing was straight, sitting posture upright, every movement carried an indescribable steadiness.

An ordinary mortal, to marry one room of a wife by his early twenties is already not bad; this young man, silent and unassuming, actually married two.

And both were wives.

You know, one room is the principal wife, a second room is a concubine.

Two terms both being wives, that is indeed not simple.

However, the old man didn't pursue the details; some things don't need to be asked too carefully.

At this moment, the float moved.

He lifted the rod, discovered it was empty, had no choice but to re-bait and cast out again.

"Young man, you're not a local, right?"

"No."

"Where from?"

"Tianyuan!"