Chapter 706: Our Friends

The fishermen relayed the original words to Changle, and Changle slapped his thigh: "Ah, so this is a finless porpoise. Quick, quickly steer the Boat over a bit; I want to get closer to see."

The fishermen immediately rowed the Boat a bit closer to where the finless porpoises were, and now their figures could be seen very clearly; some finless porpoises even swam directly to the side of the Boat to look at these strange creatures.

Although Changle had heard his father say that these large fish were very friendly to people and also very intelligent, he really didn't dare to reach out and touch or poke them, so he could only watch from a distance he felt was relatively safe.

Suddenly, a finless porpoise swam toward their direction and then spat a mouthful of water onto the deck. Changle was startled, then burst into loud laughter; was this finless porpoise attacking him? It was somewhat funny and amusing.

The fishermen also felt it was very interesting and crowded over to watch. More and more finless porpoises gathered by the side of the Boat to play, spitting up mouthfuls of water from time to time, and everyone thought it was great fun.

Changle's playful spirit was also stirred. Looking at the fish he had caught on the deck, he took one directly and threw it toward the finless porpoise that had spat water at him. That finless porpoise also hurriedly caught it and swallowed it in two or three gulps.

Afterward, that finless porpoise dived into the water and disappeared. The other finless porpoises continued to play by the side of the Boat; the bold ones would keep floating on the surface of the water, staring at the people on the Boat, and the other side of the Boat was also surrounded by finless porpoises.

No one felt afraid, because such large fish, and in such large numbers, had not shown any aggressive posture until now; the most serious situation was nothing more than spitting a few mouthfuls of water, and their calls were pleasant to hear as well.

Changle's playful spirit was stirred, and he began to continue throwing the fish he had caught downward. They were not short of food, and there were plenty of fish in the river; it was impossible to be starving while guarding the Dahe, and fish couldn't be eaten if they weren't fresh after being kept for a long time.

The finless porpoises also did not waste Changle's good intentions at all, eating every one he threw; they did not scramble like other large fish or wild beasts, and whoever's mouth it was thrown to, it was theirs. After eating, they would happily call a few times. Changle felt that this must be the happiest day of his last few years; he seemed to have felt what it meant to be free.

Just as he wanted to stand on the deck and look up to laugh out loud, a fish suddenly flung onto the deck interrupted his preparation to stand akimbo.

He didn't understand the situation, only seeing a type of fish he had never seen before just like that flung onto the deck. He looked at the few fishermen in confusion, and they smiled and pointed at a finless porpoise, saying: "Prince, it was thrown up by this finless porpoise. What do you think it means by this?"

Changle was also confused; this couldn't possibly be a gift from the finless porpoise to him, right? They probably found it difficult to hunt themselves, so why would they give him fish? Was it dropped by accident?

He looked at the bright-eyed finless porpoise, picked up the fish, and then gently placed it into the water, right next to the finless porpoise, but not a single finless porpoise moved its mouth.

The finless porpoise that had given him the fish saw that Changle had actually returned the fish, so it dived back down and ignored him further. The other finless porpoises didn't touch the fish either, continuing to swim around the deck.

A fisherman tentatively asked: "Prince, do you think these fish were a gift to you? After all, the King has said that these finless porpoises are very intelligent. Perhaps they saw you giving them fish and wanted to give you a fish too."

Changle felt it really must be like that, so he cautiously used a landing net to scoop the fish back up. Seeing Changle accept the fish, the finless porpoises were clearly even more joyful; there were more of those calls around, and more finless porpoises dived into the water.

One of the fishermen said: "King, do you think they all went down to catch fish for you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, another fish was flung onto the Boat, and it was another type of fish they had never seen before. Although everyone thought the finless porpoises all looked exactly the same, if they looked at their eyes, they felt this finless porpoise should be the same one that gave the fish last time.

Seeing the finless porpoise call out twice with some urgency, Changle picked up the fish and said to the finless porpoise: "Thank you, I will accept the fish then."

Afterward, he put the fish into a bucket on the Boat. Although the finless porpoise couldn't understand, it was clearly very happy to see Changle accept the fish; after calling twice, it went to play with its companions, and in a short while, Changle couldn't tell which one was which anymore.

Changle sighed: "Ah, so finless porpoises are really this intelligent and this friendly, better than many humans. It seems that one really shouldn't catch these fish; they should just be allowed to live freely in the water."

Changle had just wanted to sit down and properly admire the graceful swimming posture of the finless porpoises when another fish was thrown onto the Boat—it was the same type as the one thrown onto the Boat the first time. Subsequently, different finless porpoises threw up more than a dozen of the same fish one after another. This made Changle somewhat excited and also very happy; the way the finless porpoises opened their mouths also looked like they were smiling.

Looking at the identical fish, a fisherman said: "Prince, I think they might have seen you accept this type of fish and thought you liked this kind, so they kept sending this one. Perhaps they even think this type of fish tastes the best."

Changle nodded: "I think that makes a lot of sense. How about this: let's cook a few to taste the flavor first. If it doesn't taste good, then I'll tell them to stop sending them. How about that?"

The fishermen all smiled and hurriedly agreed; they also wanted to taste this type of fish they had never seen before. Their laughter seemed to infect the finless porpoises, and the finless porpoises became even happier, swimming more joyfully and even performing water-spitting for Changle and the others. Changle also realized that they could actually spit water that far; it seemed that spitting so close at the beginning was just to tease them.

Just as they were preparing to cook, a fish of the second type was thrown up, and subsequently, many more of the second type of fish were thrown up. Afterward, a group of finless porpoises surrounded the Boat to watch, probably wanting to see Changle and the others eat.

"Prince, I feel like they can talk. This... the fish sent up seem to have been discussed; they are all these two types. Now that they are watching like this, is it because they want to know which one we like?"

Changle plucked up his courage, lay on the deck, and reached out to touch a finless porpoise. Unexpectedly, the finless porpoise moved its head over to nudge Changle's hand. This moment actually gave Changle an urge to cry.

Changle lay on the deck just like that, touching the finless porpoise with one hand while saying to the fishermen: "Cook both types of fish using different methods. I want to taste which one is actually better. I, Changle, have accepted these finless porpoise friends, and I must tell my friends which one tastes better."

The fishermen also really wanted to touch the finless porpoises because some had already come right up to them, but they still didn't quite dare, and they also had to go prepare the fish.

Changle saw their thoughts and said: "If you want to touch them, then touch them. These are not just my friends, they are your friends too. In the future, if there are wild beasts or people bullying our friends, you must help them, understand?"

The fishermen's mouths split into wide grins. People on land had dog friends, which they envied, and now they had finless porpoise friends. They all happily agreed: "Rest assured, Prince, if anyone dares to bully my friends, I will jump into the river and fight them with a fish spear!"