#12 - Chapter 12 Release
The three brothers were gathered together, but even the heat of the day couldn't outweigh the chill in Cheng Feng's heart.
Cheng Feng warily surveyed his surroundings: "Did you guys hear a little girl talking?"
The eldest brother and the third brother looked at Cheng Feng in astonishment: "No, we didn't?"
Cheng Feng was scared. Was he going to die before he even accomplished anything?
What kind of supernatural event was this?
Wasn't this a normal ancient world?
Holy crap.
Holy crap.
Holy crap.
Could it be a hallucination?
"I say, since you're finding this so difficult, why don't you just let me go?" the female voice sounded again.
Cheng Feng looked around. No one was there.
The only things around were the remaining fish.
Fish? Let go?
Cheng Feng turned his head to look at the fish in his eldest brother Cheng Shu's arms: "Are you talking?"
He had just said that the fish was so big it might attract unwanted attention.
But he was talking about humans!
Was this fish now starting to agree and offer suggestions?
This wasn't ancient times…
The big fish's mouth didn't open and close, but the voice went straight to Cheng Feng's heart: "Besides you guys, is there anyone else? Don't worry, I'll repay you after you let me go."
Confirming the source of the voice again, Cheng Feng's heart panicked. He quickly snatched the big fish from Cheng Shu's arms and threw it on 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 around a couple of times. Although it didn't show much expression,
Cheng Feng just felt like it was looking at him.
Ignoring his brothers' strange expressions as they looked around,
Cheng Feng followed his earlier feeling and thought: "Can you hear what I'm saying?"
"Yes, I can. Hurry up and answer me, are you going to let me back into the water or not? If you let me go, I'll give you a reward. In a little while, this magic will wear off," the little girl's voice sounded anxious.
Cheng Feng sensed the big fish's anxious mood, but he wasn't anxious at all: "Then what reward can you give me?"
"I only have two Water Aversion Pearls. If you mortals eat them, you won't be afraid of water when you swim, and you can swim as fast as a fish. That way you can catch fish every day," the big fish said quickly.
"But there are three of us here, two aren't enough to share, do you have anything else?" Cheng Feng's heart skipped a beat. Was this his lucky encounter? He was still preparing to haggle.
"No, I only have two Water Aversion Pearls," the little girl fish said weakly.
"Then can you teach me this magic that lets you talk?" Cheng Feng asked.
"Mortals can't learn magic, and my magic is about to wear off, so hurry up and decide, are we trading or not?" the big fish said anxiously.
Cheng Feng decided to squeeze out the last bit of value from it: "Are there any treasures in the river, or even human gold?"
"I haven't seen your human gold, but I did see a human skeleton about thirty miles downstream with a package in its arms. There was silver inside, that should count as one," the big fish said anxiously, but didn't finish the word "share" before the magic wore off.
Listening to the big fish's words, Cheng Feng was afraid. This wasn't some hallucination.
He didn't have any martial arts skills right now, and his half-baked archery skills weren't even maxed out, yet he had encountered this kind of spirit.
What if he was suddenly cursed? He wouldn't even be able to protect himself.
He cried out a few more times in his heart, and saw the big fish twist a few times, but no sound came.
It seemed that the time was up.
Cheng Feng complained: "The magic's duration is too short, isn't it? I'm afraid you haven't mastered the art."
Looking at his two brothers who were concerned about him, Cheng Feng didn't tell them that he could communicate with the big fish.
Instead, he continued the same argument he had been making before.
The eldest brother, Cheng Shu, was also honest: "Then where should we throw it?"
Cheng Shu was tired of holding it and didn't want to move.
Cheng Lei also shouted: "We can't just throw it away, what if someone else picks our peaches after we've worked so hard all day?"
"Then let's release it. Eldest brother and third brother, you guys go home and report that we're safe, I'll go back and release the fish," Cheng Feng decided.
Cheng Shu: "Forget it, I'll go. Second brother, you can't carry it."
"No, eldest brother has worked hard all day, I think this fish is so big it hasn't been carried before," Cheng Feng refused.
Although he felt that his second brother was a bit strange, seeing that his second brother was insistent, the eldest brother and third brother didn't say anything more.
Ever since Cheng Feng recovered from his illness, he had been much more opinionated than before, and once he made up his mind about something, he wouldn't change it.
Exchanging the fish in their hands, Cheng Feng struggled to carry the big fish on his back, and continued to head towards the river, at least carrying it would be easier.
Cheng Shu was curious before, but Cheng Feng didn't need to be curious.
It was impossible to say that Cheng Feng wasn't afraid. He had been in this world for almost half a year, and this was the first time he had seen a spirit that could talk.
And it even knew how to trade!
Cheng Feng was afraid that if the big fish spoke again, others wouldn't be able to hear it, and that would be a pity.
He repeatedly probed it on the way.
But it didn't respond by the time he reached the river.
Finding a flat riverbank nearby, he untied the fishing net from the big fish's body. Sensing the big fish eagerly twisting its body, Cheng Feng, who was about to throw the fish, suddenly stopped again.
Cheng Feng said: "You should take out the Water Aversion Pearl you mentioned, right? Otherwise, you'll run into the water and slip away."
The big fish twisted even more eagerly. Cheng Feng took two steps back, making the big fish further away from the riverbank: "It's time to show your sincerity. I carried you all the way here, it wasn't easy. If you run away without a trace, I'll be at a loss."
The big fish twisted its body more violently, waving its tail, but the man and the fish couldn't communicate.
Perhaps finding it troublesome, Cheng Feng didn't want to delay any longer, and patted the fish's tail: "How about this, you give me a Water Aversion Pearl first, and then I'll put you in the water, what do you think?"
The big fish's body stiffened, and then it swung its body a few times,
Under the illumination of the clear moonlight,
Beside the sparkling water surface of the river,
The half-human-sized giant fish spat out a pearl the size of a baby's fist from its mouth.
The pearl shone with a cold light under the moonlight.
Cheng Feng stared blankly at this scene,
The scene of the big fish spitting out a pearl
Made Cheng Feng understand even more that this world was not simple.
Cheng Feng comforted the big fish: "Don't worry, I'll try the effect of your Water Aversion Pearl first."
After saying that, he washed the bamboo pearl with river water.
No matter how magical the big fish spitting out a pearl was,
It still couldn't avoid getting the big fish's saliva on it.
Cheng Feng held the pearl in his mouth, and was about to ask if he would choke if he swallowed it like this,
But the pearl in his mouth seemed to turn into flowing water and was swallowed by Cheng Feng.
He also took off his clothes and went into the water to feel it, and sure enough, as the big fish said, his swimming ability was better, and his body seemed to merge with the river water.
Cheng Feng was sure that next time he wouldn't need a net, nor would he need to block the fish with his body, he could catch fish with just his hands, and he wouldn't be afraid of not being able to catch up with the fish.
"Don't worry, I, Cheng Feng, am also a man of my word," Cheng Feng said as he went ashore and put the big fish into the water.
The big fish swam happily in the water, creating layers of ripples on the river surface.
Before Cheng Feng could call it, a white pearl was slapped by the fish's tail towards Cheng Feng, as if to say: "I am also a fish of my word."
Looking at the pearl, which was almost half the size of the Water Aversion Pearl just now,
Cheng Feng smiled and said: "Who says spirits aren't smart?"
Watching the big fish disappear into the river, Cheng Feng rarely felt kind, and shouted: "Qiu Shui, don't be greedy next time."
The river surface was calm, and Cheng Feng turned back home,
In the unseen depths of the riverbed, a big fish swam.
"Qiu Shui?"
