Chapter 82

Damn, today I finally got some results—no more air fishing! How would that look for my reputation as Xiao Shen?

Watching the big thing struggling with him in the water, occasionally splashing to the surface, Xiao Yi couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy.

Here, he had waited over half an hour without a single bite.

To make his lure fishing more efficient, Xiao Yi had spent three free attribute points to upgrade his lure technique to max level.

Now, with all skill points invested, his lure technique was on par with Master Gong Lei’s level.

But no matter how skilled you are, you still need fish in the water—if there aren’t any, even the best lure technique will end in air fishing.

After half an hour of waiting, Xiao Yi finally landed his first catch of the day; if he hadn’t caught anything, he’d have moved to another spot.

“Roar! Roar!”

Seeing Xiao Yi hook a fish, Hei Dan excitedly barked twice, but when he saw Xiao Yi locked in a stalemate with the fish, he impulsively charged into the water, trying to snatch the big one.

Though Hei Dan was a bit clumsy, he was definitely a strong swimmer and a skilled fisher.

But seeing this, Xiao Yi couldn’t help but slap his own forehead.

He shouted loudly, “Hei Dan, get your ass back here—are you trying to die?”

This dog was a pure, unrepentant fool—but Xiao Yi loved fools.

Sure, Hei Dan was a great swimmer, but this water was freezing.

He wasn’t some distant cousin of the polar bear with extreme cold resistance.

“Oh! Oh!”

“Sure enough, the moment he hit the water, Hei Dan flailed for a few seconds, then let out two barks.”

But those barks trembled slightly—he clearly hadn’t expected the water to be this cold.

Meanwhile, the big fish on the lure, startled by Hei Dan’s sudden entry, struggled even harder.

As for Xiao Yi, he had no interest in dealing with the dumb bear—he figured it needed a lesson.

Worst case, he’d go home and throw a feast—bear meat!

Still, Hei Dan was stubborn—even with the cold water, he kept swimming fiercely toward the still-struggling fish.

Watching this, Xiao Yi was speechless—this guy was the textbook definition of a fool who’d risk his life for food.

But this dog had actually saved Xiao Yi a lot of effort.

Hei Dan reached the fish, dove under, then leapt up, his jaws clamped firmly on the big fish.

Watching the bear’s head and the fish break the surface, Xiao Yi smiled inwardly, slowly reeling in—but still shouted a warning.

“Hei Dan, take it easy—if you break my line, I’ll slaughter you today.”

Hei Dan slowly swam to shore, and only then did Xiao Yi get a full look at the fish.

The fish he’d just caught was a pike—Xiao Yi estimated it weighed at least thirty catties.

Luckily, Xiao Yi had played the big fish for a long time; otherwise, a thirty-catty monster might’ve been too much for Hei Dan to pull up.

“Bang!”

Pulling the fish ashore—one solid whack—he was very practiced at this move.

Then came the elegant gutting—yanking out the inedible gallbladder and tossing it straight to Hei Dan, living up to his name, “The Butcher Xiao Yi.”

Unfortunately, Hei Dan’s appetite had become extremely picky—he didn’t even glance at the gallbladder Xiao Yi threw, instead shaking the water from his fur.

Xiao Yi was furious—had this dog gotten too full of himself? Didn’t even want food anymore?

But since he’d worked hard just now, fine—he could skip it.

Though this fish didn’t match the pike Xiao Yi caught when he first arrived, it was still a true giant of the water.

And now Xiao Yi wasn’t worried about the blood attracting bigger predators—he and Hei Dan were here, and any big thing that showed up was just dinner.

Without hesitation, Xiao Yi dissected the fish and cast his lure back into the water.

But this time, he expected no quick bites—Hei Dan’s plunge into the water had surely scared off countless big fish.

Still, catching a thirty-catty fish today made this hunting trip worthwhile.

Sure enough, he waited over two more hours, his whole body growing numb with cold.

Night was falling, and just as Xiao Yi was about to pack up and head home, he suddenly felt a strong tug on the line—he instantly grinned.

“Damn, this one’s got serious power! Hei Dan, get in there!”

“Roar!”

Hearing this, Hei Dan was clearly unhappy—he’d jumped in before knowing how cold it was; now that he knew, why would he go again?

Besides, his body had just warmed up, so at Xiao Yi’s shout, he shivered involuntarily.

“Damn it, where’d that boldness go? You’re embarrassing the bear clan! Catch this big one, we’ll go home and eat fish meat and drink fish soup—hurry up…”

“Splash!”

Before Xiao Yi finished speaking, Hei Dan charged into the water again.

Hei Dan didn’t understand most of what Xiao Yi said—but he caught the word “eat.” That was enough.

Xiao Yi stared, then muttered inwardly, “This dog’s brain is nothing but food.”

Soon enough, Hei Dan surfaced again, another big fish in his jaws—this one struggled harder than the last.

But it wasn’t as large as the previous one—still no small fish, at least ten or twelve catties.

After a long struggle, Hei Dan finally subdued it and dragged it ashore.

Up close, Xiao Yi saw it was another pike—he and pike were clearly meant for each other today.

And judging by their size, these two pike might even be father and son.

“Bang!”

One whack, gutted and cleaned—same technique, different fish. Xiao Yi was now thoroughly proficient.

Watching Xiao Yi’s skill, Hei Dan shuddered beside him.

This time, when shaking off the water, he instinctively stepped a few paces farther away from Xiao Yi.

“Roar!”

But before Hei Dan had even finished shaking his fur, he suddenly let out a roar.

Then he bolted toward a distant earth slope, making Xiao Yi, who was still gutting the fish, jerk his hand.

He shouted angrily, “What the hell are you barking at? Get back here—what are you doing?”

But this time, Hei Dan stubbornly ignored Xiao Yi and kept charging forward.

Seeing this, Xiao Yi frowned slightly, then turned to look at the slope Hei Dan had run toward.

“Damn, so there’s another big one tailing them? No wonder Hei Dan got so agitated.”

This time, Xiao Yi clearly saw the big creature behind the slope—but something about it felt oddly familiar.

Then it hit him—it was that big cat from before!

The creature on the slope immediately turned and fled. As a top predator of the wild, it had just made a fatal mistake.

Unable to resist the lure of distant blood, its hunger had clouded its judgment, triggering its animal instincts and accidentally revealing its scent—letting the black bear catch wind of it.