Chapter 14: Corpses at the Riverbed

Cheng Feng is still young; he has plenty of time and patience.

From the 26 large coins earned from selling fish, 4 large coins were deducted for miscellaneous household expenses, and another 13 large coins and 4 small coins were deducted for the bow Cheng Feng bought; Cheng Feng gave the remaining 8 large coins to Cheng Mu to keep as emergency savings for the family.

Cheng Feng kept 6 small coins for himself as pocket money.

As Cheng Feng's performance became increasingly impressive, his voice in the family grew stronger.

It wasn't just in the family; the village also knew that the Lao Cheng family's Second Dog had become enlightened and capable after his illness.

Taking advantage of this momentum, Lao San and the children he had previously selected were also fishing together, forming a small group led by Lao San.

Cheng Feng told Lao San not to be too flashy, intentionally failing at Fishing twice to make outsiders think it was just luck.

But Cheng Lei had such excellent swimming skills that he could catch one or two fish every day.

Consequently, those following Lao San were also in luck.

One day there would be Xiao Yu for you, and two days later Xiao Yu would give some to him.

With only six people, even if they were to split up and go their separate ways, they could still manage the division.

Slowly, things returned to their original state.

Cheng Feng knew that once the autumn harvest passed, the river water would become eerie.

The Fishing activities would naturally cease, and the family's limelight would fade with the passage of time; one should know when to stop.

Additionally, the plan for the cellar had been approved by Cheng Fu.

After the autumn harvest, there was no more work at home, so Cheng Fu prepared arrangements for himself.

Lao Er had more and more of his own ideas, and there were new changes in the family; this was a good thing.

The old bedding and mattresses were already piled in the corner.

The broken tables and stools had also been replaced with new ones, and the old ones were placed in another room.

Kitchen knives, cutting boards, salt, and sundries were basically all stored away.

But the space was indeed no longer enough.

In past winters, they would worry about not having enough to eat and would take on odd jobs.

The work Lao Er had now arranged for himself would ensure he wouldn't be idle this winter.

Lao Cheng had now come to his senses and understood Lao Er's intentions.

Lao Da and he would provide a safety net by farming, the wife would stay home to cook and look after the house, and Lao Er and Lao San would fish to earn money to supplement the household.

Now, who didn't know that the Lao Cheng family's Lao Er and Lao San had excellent swimming skills and possessed a knack for Fishing?

Cheng Fu was very happy now; sometimes when he returned home, he could swing his hoe a few more times to dig the cellar.

Work slowly, no need to rush.

These were Cheng Feng's exact words.

And now, Cheng Feng and Cheng Lei had arrived at the place the big fish had mentioned.

In the river beneath the steep cliffs.

It was also a place thirty miles away from the riverbank of Liujiacun.

Where the third person's opportunity lay.

Cheng Feng did not know how much silver the big fish had seen.

But as long as there was information, one just had to go and verify it.

The height of the cliff made Cheng Feng, standing at the top, feel a bit dizzy.

He visually estimated the length and width of the gorge.

Cheng Feng had an idea in his mind; his greater confidence came from the effect of the Water-Avoiding Pearl.

After scouting the location, he had Lao San watch from the top, not just looking down, but also staying alert to the surroundings; it was best if no one knew about this.

Just make a fortune in silence.

Jumping down from the cliff was obviously impossible.

Cheng Feng chose to go downstream from the upper reaches; utilizing the water flow would also make things easier for himself.

Two miles of river water was not short.

Cheng Feng also had to look underwater to see if there was any place he had missed.

Lao San did not know what his second brother was doing.

But he still did his best to keep a careful watch.

They searched like this for three days, covering the general area, but Cheng Feng still found nothing.

Seeing Cheng Feng's helpless expression, Lao San finally couldn't hold back and asked curiously, "Second Brother, what are you looking for? Is it that difficult?"

Cheng Feng smiled and said, "I heard someone fell off the cliff here, and that person was carrying silver; the amount is not small, so Second Brother is here to try his luck."

"Then I can help Second Brother look too; there hasn't been a soul around here for days, it should be fine," Cheng Lei really wanted to help his second brother.

Everyone could see the changes in the family.

They all basically started from the fishing idea Second Brother provided.

Cheng Lei also really wanted to be able to help Second Brother.

Cheng Feng looked into Lao San's eyes and said steadily, "Second Brother is just worried that you might run out of stamina in the water. There isn't even a flat spot to stand on in the river; if something happened to you, Second Brother would regret it too late."

Lao San also knew where his own shortcomings lay; when Cheng Feng was testing himself earlier, Lao San had also followed along to test his own limits.

His swimming skills had suddenly become much better, as if he had merged with the water, and it seemed he could stay underwater for longer.

He was definitely better than he used to be.

But Second Brother was still Second Brother; from morning until evening when it was almost time to go home, he could still swim, and during this time, except for eating and going to the bathroom, he was like a normal person while staying in the water.

Knowing his second brother was right, he didn't continue to ask.

After going into the river for several consecutive days, Cheng Feng was losing confidence and prepared to finish today if he still hadn't found anything.

Let's turn the page on this matter.

He had almost swum to the middle of the river channel when he heard a shout from the top of the canyon: "Second Brother, run, run! There's a giant snake, there's a giant snake!"

Cheng Feng didn't hear it clearly at first, but after listening carefully, the hair all over his body stood on end: "Damn it, there's a giant snake in this godforsaken place?"

Just how big must a snake be for Lao San to see it from such a high cliff?

It really was the right decision to have Lao San keep watch from above.

Without a word, Cheng Feng didn't dare to swim along the middle of the river channel.

He swam quickly along the mountain wall, but he didn't expect something underwater to give him a swipe.

Cheng Feng was even more terrified.

"To hell with it, there wouldn't be a water ghost here, would there!" Cheng Feng panicked after that swipe.

He hurriedly shook off the thing that had hooked his calf.

It was a human arm bone.

He could vaguely see a water-logged skeleton wedged between the rocks at the bottom of the river.

The rocks in front were large and the ones behind were small, and the gap was narrow, which was why Cheng Feng hadn't noticed it when he was swimming past earlier.

But at this moment, Cheng Feng couldn't care about that much; he ruthlessly kicked the skeletal hand away.

The calm river surface behind him began to churn with waves, and a long, massive creature appeared in glimpses.

The cold scales rising and falling on the river surface looked as if they had been oiled, a glossy, dark cyan.

Just looking from a distance, Cheng Feng felt that a single scale was as big as his own face.

Cheng Feng was also swimming very fast; his body's potential was triggered between life and death.

Fortunately, Lao San had warned him in time, and Cheng Feng's own swimming ability and speed could stand the test; relying on the advantage of having familiarized himself with the river channel over the past few days, he quickly climbed ashore at a bend to escape this godforsaken place.

Seeing his Second Brother escape the danger, Cheng Lei also breathed a sigh of relief.

He hurried toward where his Second Brother had come from; regardless of anything else, they should get home first.

He couldn't stay in this godforsaken place for even another moment.

Cheng Feng also gave it his all, running for a full quarter of an hour.

Lingering in fear, he said: "Damn it, what kind of godforsaken place is this? Such a big snake, it probably could have swallowed me in one bite."

Its figure was simply like the giant python from the Amazon forest in the movie *Anaconda*.

"Let's take Lao San home first to calm down and plan for the long term."

Cheng Feng was truly frightened.

This counted as another giant creature he had encountered after that big fish.

Cheng Feng had run into all of them.

After resting for a while, he took Lao San, who had run over, and quickly headed home.

As for why the giant snake came out and what it was doing?

Cheng Feng expressed that it had nothing to do with him.

It was good enough that it hadn't eaten him.

Being alive is damn good.

He warned Lao San not to speak of this matter, then went home with Lao San's support.

Without resting for five, six, seven, or eight days to rebuild his mental state,

Cheng Feng wouldn't dare say he had the courage to go back into that river.

The silver, that definitely had to be obtained.

He had worked hard for so many days and finally found that corpse.

How could he give up now?

But the current situation required planning for the long term.

He couldn't throw his life away, and he still had to see how much silver was in that bundle.

With the silver, Cheng Feng could carry out many of the things he had planned.