"This is my granddaughter. Xiaohong, come and greet senior!"
Yu Feishui was relieved as he knew he that this person was not evil. He immediately pulled her granddaughter out to greet Fang Yuan.
"I"m Yu Xiaohong. Greetings, senior!"
Her granddaughter was about 20 years old. She had bright eyes and a natural cheerful smile. She had two braids, was tall and had a beautiful figure. Her skin was tanned as she was often under the sun.
"Hmm, alright!"
Fang Yuan waved his hands and came to the bow of the s.h.i.+p. "Did you build this s.h.i.+p to catch the spiritual fishes during the Drunken Moon Festival?"
"You"re correct!"
Yu Feishui took a few steps forward and continued, "I"m a water explorer. With the help of this s.h.i.+p, I would be satisfied if I can get some inheritance for my future generations.….."
Fang Yuan had no comments.
The spiritual energy was limited. In the entire Drunken Moon Lake, this area had the highest concentration of the spiritual energy, which explained the appearance of spiritual fishes.
Fang Yuan had the spiritual bird, and Yu Feishui had the Metal Hull Flying s.h.i.+p, both of which would attract attention. After a while, there might be many other martial artists would flock here like as if they were sharks who had just smelt blood.
"Grandfather! It"s the silver fishes!"
At this moment, Yu Xiaohong stared at the silver lining on the surface of the lake with her sharp eyes and shouted.
"Hmm? Get the metal nets and the spearguns. We shall use the fis.h.i.+ng hooks first. Order the other 2 boats to surround this area and don"t let any of the fish escape!"
Yu Feishui told Fang Yuan that he needed to leave to attend to his business.
Even though he appeared cowardly in front of Fang Yuan, he was, in fact, smart and capable.
Along with a few exclamations, many sailors began to sprinkle large amounts of fish bait into the lake. They also tossed a huge fis.h.i.+ng hook into the lake, with a golden red coloured earthworm on the hook as bait.
"This golden earthworm is a favourite among the silverfish and the Drunken Silverfish…...There might even be a slight chance to attract the spiritual fis.h.!.+"
Seeing that Fang Yuan was a little confused, Yu Xiaohong explained to him in detail.
"Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+"
Fang Yuan came to the side of the boat and saw a silver glitter on the surface of the water. Many silver fishes had come to feed on the bait.
As many of the fishes s.n.a.t.c.hed to feed on the bait, there were some caught on the hook.
"How could the normal fish bait compare to the golden earthworm? Of course, they would s.n.a.t.c.h for it! However, naturally, the stronger ones will win the fight! How can the silverfishes be able to s.n.a.t.c.h the earthworm from the Drunken Silverfishes? And how will the Drunken Silverfishes be able to s.n.a.t.c.h it from the spiritual fishes? The ones that will be caught on the hook will be the best fishes!"
Fang Yuan looked on and agreed silently.
"Hooks up!"
Yu Feishui gave the order with a calm look.
"Ughhh! Ughhh!"
Two sailors started to the turn the winch to bring the fishnets back, pulling up many silverfishes.
"Hmm…..most of them are Drunken Silverfishes. We have a good catch today!"
Even though his goal was to catch the spiritual fish, Yu Feishui also wanted the normal silverfishes and the Drunken SIlverfishes.
He stared at the fis.h.i.+ng line as it reeled in, nervous.
"Whoos.h.!.+"
At that moment, the fis.h.i.+ng line came onto the surface of the water and there was a 37-inch long spiritual fish on the hook!
Its shape stood out from the rest of the fishes and it was obvious that it was different.
As the fis.h.i.+ng line was pulled even harder, the line was rising slowly and was under tension, as it approached its breaking point.
"Grandfather, it"s the spiritual fis.h.!.+"
Yu Xiaohong shouted.
"Hmph!"
Yu Feishui ran to the speargun at the bow of the s.h.i.+p. With steadied hands, he aimed at the spiritual fish and pulled the trigger.
"Peng!"
The speargun at the bow of the boat was, in fact, a ballistic projectile. It was a few inches long and had a metal hook that was chained to the speargun.
As it was fired, a shocking sound was heard and the whole s.h.i.+p vibrated slightly.
"Pa!"
The struggling spiritual fish knew that it was facing a threat and flicked.
With a light sound, the fis.h.i.+ng line finally broke. The spiritual fish flicked its tail and basked under the sunlight as it avoided the speargun, before dropping back into the lake.
"Sigh….."
Yu Feishui sighed and gave another order again. "Spread the metal nets!"
A sailor from the lower decks ran to the upper deck and started waving a flag.
Two other Metal Hull Flying s.h.i.+ps started to surround and spread their metal nets. As the nets slowly combined together, the sailors turned the winch and hoisted the silverfishes caught in the nets.
"With what we have caught, we will not incur any loss. The spiritual fish is too cunning! I"m afraid that that fish will not…..hmmm…."
Yu Feishui was disappointed and approached Fang Yuan. As he spoke halfway, he suddenly stopped and was shocked.
"Hua la!"
Huge waves appeared together with a long silver shadow. This fish was a few yards long and was on the surface of the water. Suddenly, it lifted its head and shot out a stream of water, like an arrow. The metal nets were broken.
"Kacha!"
As the deafening noise was heard, the water arrow struck the metal nets and sparks were formed. A large hole broke open, and the silverfishes fell back into the lake like a waterfall as they escaped with their lives.
"What...what the h.e.l.l..."
Yu Feishui rubbed his eyes and said, "It"s not even possible for a spiritual fish to break the metal nets!"
"All right!"
From the disruption, Fang Yuan was able to see the gigantic fish"s entire body.
It was twice as long as a normal spiritual fish and there was a golden line on its back. Immediately, Fang Yuan knew that this fish was a special one; it was the king of the spiritual fishes!
"It"s the Dragon King!"
"The Dragon King is angry!"
Some of the superst.i.tious sailors immediately shouted, and some of them even knelt down and kowtowed.
"Grand….grandfather….what should we do?"
At that moment, Yu Xiaohong was stunned as she looked at the surface of the lake.
She saw a big school of silverfishes gathering around the golden line, and together with other Drunken Silverfishes and spiritual fishes, they formed a humongous school. The fins of the fishes were like tiny waves, undulating.
"Tens thousand fishes are coming! Is the Dragon King really here?"
Yu Feishui was extremely experienced, and yet this was his first time witnessing such incident. Looking at the number of fishes gathered below the surface of the lake, it seemed that they didn"t want to leave, but wanted to attack instead. Cold sweat started to form on his forehead.
It was never easy to hunt for a spiritual beast, and one had to mentally prepare to risk one"s own life in the process.
"Whoos.h.!.+ Whoos.h.!.+"
Many fishes followed behind the spiritual king fish and circled around. Waves from the lake started to rise to form a whirlpool, and it started to grow in size.
"Leave now!"
Yu Feishui shouted at the top of his voice and the sailors on the three Metal Hull Flying s.h.i.+ps shouted together. On both sides, the s.h.i.+ps started to use oars to get out of the whirlpool.
"Puff! Puff!"
How could the spiritual king fish let them go easily?
Beneath the surface of the lake, many spiritual fishes came together, shooting water arrows at the oars in an attempt to destroy them. Some of the fishes even charged straight at the hull of the s.h.i.+p, producing hitting noises which shocked the sailors.
If their s.h.i.+ps weren"t the Metal Hull Flying s.h.i.+ps and didn"t have the metal boards to protect the hull, the s.h.i.+p would have been destroyed by those fishes and all of them would have drowned!
Even so, Yu Feishui was helpless and in despair as he witnessed the Metal Hull Flying s.h.i.+ps being dragged into the centre of the whirlpool. It seemed that there was no way to salvage this.
"Senior!"
He went to Fang Yuan and took a big bow. "I"m not afraid to die, but I beg of you to bring my granddaughter away with you!"
Yu Feishui knew how the situation was going to end.
The situation had reached a point where it couldn"t be salvaged. The only way out was to sit on the Iron-tailed Black Eagle to escape!
"No! Grandfather! I will not go!"
Yu Xiaohong held onto her grandfather"s arms and started to tear.
"Hmm...Old Yu, does such a situation happen often?"
Fang Yuan, however, was feeling calm. He was leaning against the railings and looked at the silver shadows beneath the whirlpool.
Hundred of fishes had come to greet their king by forming a whirlpool. This spiritual king fish indeed had the style of being the king of the sea.
"How is that possible?"
Yu Feishui gave a wry grin. "Previously, only a few spiritual fishes gathered together to attack, breaking my wooden s.h.i.+ps into pieces…..This was why I spent a fortune to build these Metal Hull Flying s.h.i.+ps. I originally thought that nothing bad would happen as long as we do not enter the Bewildering Fog, but no one has expected this…..Sigh. I guess this is how life works!"
"Bewildering Fog?"
Fang Yuan touched his chin and his eyes glittered. "Tell me more about it!"
At that moment, there were mournful cries everywhere on the s.h.i.+p, as if it was the end of the world. Therefore, Fang Yuan"s att.i.tude made Yu Xiaohong furious.
Many of the sailors knew that the only way out was by taking a flight on the Iron-tailed Black Eagle and they surrounded it, looking unfriendly. However, with the respect they had for Yu Feishui and Fang Yuan"s mysterious background, they didn"t dare to touch it.
Yu Feishui felt that Fang Yuan was a courageous and powerful man. Hence he went straight to the point. "Now, it is the Drunken Moon Festival and there will be an occasional fog. However, this fog is different from any other fog. Whoever sets foot in it will not be able to make it out alive! Ever since, any cultivators who would see this fog would keep a good distance from it. If one enters this fog in an attempt to catch the silverfish, one would surely die…...Senior, if you want to know more, my granddaughter will tell you more in detail..."
At that moment, the s.h.i.+p had started to list to one side. It felt as though everyone on the s.h.i.+p was going to die along with the destruction of the s.h.i.+p.
"I shall fight him!"
"Kill him and s.n.a.t.c.h the bird from him!"
Those sailors were mentally tortured to their limits. Seeing how Fang Yuan was able to remain calm, they couldn"t hold it in any longer. One of the stronger man with a long face led the other sailors, drew out his long sword and pounced towards Fang Yuan.
"You all….."
Yu Feishui blushed but couldn"t do anything to stop them.
No matter how respectable he was as the captain, his fellow sailors would still waver when it came to the decision between life and death.
"Sorry senior, I shall teach them a lesson!"
He still wanted her granddaughter to leave with Fang Yuan, as he went forward and stopped the group of sailors.
"That will be unnecessary!"
Fang Yuan waved his hand. "Little Black! Go!"
"Chirp! Chirp!"
Iron-tailed Black Eagle took a glance at everyone and swiped them with its wings.
"Kacha!"
Its feathers were hard as steel it had magical strength. Wherever it swiped, the sailors fell backwards and fractured themselves.
Even metallic daggers and sword were easily broken by its wings.
This scene caused the teary sailors to be stunned.
Only thinking about their survival, they did not care and think much, which explained why they were now stunned.
How would they expect themselves to escape on the bird if they are no match for it?