Chapter 12: Releasing Life

The three brothers were all gathered together, but even the heat of the sweltering day could not suppress the chill in Cheng Feng's heart.

Cheng Feng guarded his surroundings: "Did you all hear a young girl talking?"

The eldest brother and Lao San looked at Cheng Feng in suspicion: "No?"

Cheng Feng was terrified; would he die before his mission even began?

What kind of supernatural event was this?

Wasn't this an Ordinary ancient world?

Holy crap.

Holy crap.

Holy crap.

Could it be a hallucination?

"I say, since you are all so troubled, why not just let me go?" that female voice sounded again.

Cheng Feng looked around; there was no one there.

The only things around were the remaining fish.

Fish? Let go?

Cheng Feng turned his head to look at the fish in the arms of the eldest brother, Cheng Shu: "Are you the one talking?"

They had just said that such a large fish might attract malicious gazes.

But they were talking about humans.

Was this fish now starting to agree and offer ideas???

This wasn't ancient...

The large fish's mouth did not open or close, but the voice reached straight into the depths of Cheng Feng's heart: "Are there anyone else besides you few? Rest assured, after you let me go, I will reward you."

Having confirmed the source of the voice again, Cheng Feng panicked; he hurriedly snatched the large fish from Cheng Shu's arms and threw it onto the ground.

He pulled Cheng Shu and Cheng Lei behind him, putting distance between them and the fish on the ground.

The fish on the ground flopped twice, and although it didn't show much,

Cheng Feng just felt that it was looking at him.

Ignoring the strange expressions of his two brothers as they looked around,

Cheng Feng followed his previous feeling and thought: "Can you hear what I'm saying?"

"I can. Hurry up and answer me whether you'll let me go back into the water. If you let me go, I'll give you a reward. This spell will wear off in a moment," the young girl's voice sounded anxious.

Cheng Feng sensed the large fish's anxious emotions and felt less anxious himself: "Then what reward can you give me?"

"I only have two Water-Avoiding Pearls here. If you mortals eat them, you won't fear the water when swimming, and you'll be able to swim as fast as a fish. That way, you can catch fish every day," the large fish said quickly.

"But there are three of us here; two aren't enough to go around. Do you have anything else?" Cheng Feng's heart skipped a beat—was this his fortuitous encounter? He prepared to haggle.

"No more, I only have two Water-Avoiding Pearls," the large fish said weakly in the young girl's voice.

"Then can you teach me this spell to talk?" Cheng Feng asked.

"Mortals cannot learn spells, and my spell is about to wear off. Hurry up and make a decision: are we trading or not?" the large fish urged.

Cheng Feng decided to mine it for its final bit of value: "Are there any treasures in the river, or perhaps human gold?"

"I haven't seen you humans' gold, but I did see a human skeleton about thirty miles downstream in the river; there was a bundle in its arms that had silver in it. That should count as a..." the large fish anxiously blurted out what it knew, but it didn't finish the word "share" before the spell lost its effect.

Listening to this passage from the large fish, Cheng Feng was afraid; this was no hallucination.

He currently had no martial prowess, and his half-baked Archery skill wasn't even maxed out, yet he had run into this kind of spirit creature.

He hoped he hadn't been cursed; he wouldn't even have time to protect himself.

He called out a few more times in his mind, seeing the large fish twist its waist a few times, but no sound came through.

It seemed the time was up.

Cheng Feng muttered to himself: "The spell's duration is way too short; I bet it's just poorly learned."

Looking at his two brothers who were concerned for him, Cheng Feng did not mention that he could communicate with the large fish.

Instead, he continued with the previous argument about the crime of harboring a treasure.

The eldest brother, Cheng Shu, was also honest: "In that case, where would it be appropriate to throw it?"

Cheng Shu was also tired of holding it and didn't want to move anymore.

Cheng Lei also chimed in: "We can't just throw it away; we worked hard all day, so what would it matter if someone else picked the peaches?"

"Then let's just release it. Eldest brother, Lao San, you two go home first to report that you're safe; I'll go back and release the fish," Cheng Feng made his decision.

Cheng Shu: "Forget it, I'll go; you can't carry it on your back, Lao Er."

"Don't, Eldest brother, you've worked hard all day. I see this fish is so big, I haven't even held it yet," Cheng Feng refused.

Although they felt Lao Er was a bit strange, seeing his insistence, the eldest brother and Lao San didn't say anything more.

Ever since Cheng Feng recovered from his illness, he had much more of his own mind than before; once he made a decision on some things, he wouldn't change it.

Exchanging the fish they had caught, Cheng Feng laboriously carried the large fish on his back and continued toward the riverbank; at least carrying it on his back would be easier.

The previous Cheng Shu had been holding it out of curiosity, but Cheng Feng didn't need to be curious.

To say Cheng Feng wasn't afraid would be impossible; he had been in this world for nearly half a year, and this was the first time he had seen a spirit creature that could talk.

It even knew how to trade.

Cheng Feng was afraid that if the large fish spoke again and others couldn't hear it, that would be a pity.

On the way, he tested it back and forth.

Unfortunately, by the time he reached the riverbank, it still hadn't replied.

Finding a nearby flat spot on the riverbank, he untied the fishing net from the large fish. Feeling the large fish's urgent wriggling of its body, Cheng Feng, who was just about to toss the fish, suddenly stopped again.

Cheng Feng said: "You should take out the Water-Avoiding Pearls you mentioned, right? Otherwise, you'll just run away once you get into the water."

The big fish thrashed more urgently, and Cheng Feng took two steps back to move the big fish further from the riverbank: "It's time to show your sincerity. It wasn't easy for me to carry you all this way, and if you just vanish, I'll have suffered a huge loss."

The big fish twisted its body and flicked its tail even more violently, but the man and the fish could not communicate with each other.

Perhaps finding it troublesome, Cheng Feng did not want to drag it out any longer and patted the fish's tail: "How about this: you give me a Water-Avoiding Pearl first, and then I'll put you back into the water. How does that sound?"

The big fish's body stiffened, then it flicked its body twice.

Under the illumination of the cold moonlight,

beside the shimmering surface of the water by the river,

the giant fish, half the size of a person, spat out a bead the size of an infant's fist from its mouth.

The bead shone with a cold radiance under the moonlight.

Cheng Feng watched this scene, dumbfounded.

This scene of the big fish spitting out a pearl

made Cheng Feng understand even more that this world was not simple.

Cheng Feng soothed the big fish: "Don't be anxious; let me test the effect of this Water-Avoiding Pearl first."

Having said that, he rinsed the bead with river water.

No matter how miraculous the big fish spitting out a pearl was,

it still could not avoid being covered in the big fish's saliva.

Cheng Feng held the bead in his mouth, just about to ask if he would choke to death if he swallowed it like this,

when the bead in his mouth turned into flowing water and was swallowed by Cheng Feng.

He took off his clothes and went into the water to feel it; it was truly as the big fish had said, his aquatic ability had improved, and his body felt as if it had merged with the river water.

Cheng Feng was certain that next time he wouldn't need a net or to block the fish with his body; he could catch fish using only his hands, without fear of not being able to keep up with them.

"Rest assured, I, Cheng Feng, am also a man of my word." Once on the bank, Cheng Feng put the big fish into the water.

The big fish swam a happy circle in the water, creating layers of ripples on the river surface.

Without waiting for Cheng Feng to call it, a white bead was slapped by the fish's tail and flew toward Cheng Feng, as if saying: "I am also a fish of my word."

Looking at the bead, which was almost half the size of the previous Water-Avoiding Pearl,

Cheng Feng laughed: "Who says spirits aren't clever?"

Watching the big fish disappear into the river, Cheng Feng felt uncharacteristically kind and shouted: "Autumn Water, don't be so greedy next time."

The river surface was calm, and Cheng Feng turned back toward home.

Deep in the unseen riverbed, a big fish swam.

"Autumn Water?"