Chapter 429 - 427: Catching Yang Fish at the Night Sea
After two days with no success, Peng Zhuang and the others couldn’t help but sigh. Peng Zhuang lamented, "Sigh, Night Sun Fish are too hard to catch. If this keeps up, I’m afraid we won’t even catch two in a month."
Although they could keep renting the Ferry Boat as long as they could afford the Longevity Blood, day after day of this was starting to make the Pengzhuang Sixth Minors restless and impatient.
"How about I take the lead today?" Li Qiye found Qiu Rong Wanxue and asked with a smile, looking at the beautiful, charming, and mature woman before him.
Li Qiye was a patient man, but he didn’t have time to wander aimlessly around the Night Sea with Qiu Rong Wanxue’s group. He had other things to do, and for that, he needed to catch a large number of Night Sun Fish right away.
Qiu Rong Wanxue studied Li Qiye for a long moment before finally nodding. "Alright. You can give it a try."
"We’ll head in that direction." Once Qiu Rong Wanxue agreed, Li Qiye smiled and spoke to the Ferryman sitting at the stern.
The Ferryman said nothing and simply steered in the direction Li Qiye indicated. In fact, on the boat, the Ferryman was like an invisible man. He never spoke a word, his only duty being to pilot the Ferry Boat. He didn’t concern himself with anything else.
As the small boat sailed across the sea, Li Qiye silently measured the Night Sea in his mind. He already had a mental map of its contours; he just needed to calculate the Ferry Boat’s travel time and distance.
Over millions of years, Li Qiye had come to the Night Sea to catch Night Sun Fish more than once. His understanding of this place far surpassed that of Qiu Rong Wanxue and her group.
After the Ferry Boat had been traveling for half a day, Li Qiye said in a low voice, "Stop right here."
Without a word, the Ferryman stopped the boat. It came to a silent halt on the inky-black surface of the sea. Li Qiye held his breath, staring at the water without saying a thing.
Seeing Li Qiye’s solemn expression, even Qiu Rong Wanxue was influenced. She couldn’t help but hold her breath and stare at the sea’s surface as well. The Pengzhuang Sixth Minors followed suit.
In truth, they couldn’t see anything at all. The Night Sea was exceptionally mysterious. Even if you opened your Celestial Eye, you couldn’t see through the inky-black water. No matter how powerful you were, you couldn’t see what was happening beneath the surface.
Moment by moment passed. Finally, Li Qiye’s eyes narrowed, and he shouted, "Now! Cast the nets!" The moment the words left his mouth, he threw his own net into the sea.
Qiu Rong Wanxue and the six minors immediately cast their nets into the sea as well. Just as they were cast, one of the disciples was about to pull his net back up, but Li Qiye commanded in a low voice, "Don’t move."
No one dared to move. They all followed Li Qiye’s lead and stared at the surface, though they still couldn’t see a thing.
"Pull them in! Now!" After a good while, Li Qiye suddenly roared. As he spoke, he immediately started hauling in his net. With a great SPLASH, as Li Qiye’s net came up, round after round of sunlight burst forth, so bright that everyone was forced to squint.
Inside the net, countless Night Sun Fish were thrashing about, trying to escape the mesh. But no matter how they struggled, escape was impossible.
Li Qiye moved with extreme speed, immediately taking the Night Sun Fish from his net one by one and placing them into a prepared Treasure Bottle to prevent them from getting away.
SPLASH! As Li Qiye was hauling in his net, Qiu Rong Wanxue and the others hurriedly pulled in theirs. The moment their nets broke the surface, they too were blinded by the incredibly dazzling sunlight.
The scene left Qiu Rong Wanxue and her group speechless. The Pengzhuang Sixth Minors’ mouths hung wide open, and they couldn’t close them for a long time. This single haul contained more Night Sun Fish than what others might catch in an entire month.
"Quick, get the fish!" Qiu Rong Wanxue was the first to react. She immediately ordered the six minors as she took out her own Treasure Bottle and began transferring the Night Sun Fish from her net into it.
The six minors snapped back to their senses and quickly secured the Night Sun Fish in their Treasure Bottles. They were too excited for words. This one cast had yielded so much; they could hardly believe it themselves.
"Fish—!" Just as the six minors were putting the last few Night Sun Fish into their bottles, another Ferry Boat approached. Seeing that Li Qiye’s group had a catch, the people on board grew excited.
Peng Zhuang and the others were no strangers to the people on this boat. It was none other than their old nemesis, Young Master Hei Yun, and the disciples of the Black Cloud Ghost Clan.
"Cast the nets—!" Seeing that Peng Zhuang’s group had a haul, Young Master Hei Yun immediately ordered his disciples. The Black Cloud Ghost Clan disciples all cast their nets into the sea, then quickly pulled them back up, but they came up empty.
"We’re too late!" Seeing not a single Night Sun Fish in their nets, Young Master Hei Yun stamped his foot in frustration.
"Heh, you little black ghosts, you’re too late." Peng Zhuang was especially pleased to see the Black Cloud Ghost Clan disciples come up empty. He laughed heartily and said, "The Night Sun Fish were probably gone long ago."
"Cast the nets again!" Young Master Hei Yun refused to believe it. He roared the command, and he and his disciples cast their nets once more, determined to catch some Night Sun Fish. However, even after casting several times, they still had no luck.
Young Master Hei Yun wouldn’t give up. He had just seen Peng Zhuang’s group catch Night Sun Fish right here with his own eyes. He continued casting his net, dead set on catching one!
"Let’s go." Li Qiye couldn’t be bothered to even look at Young Master Hei Yun’s group. He understood the Night Sea better than anyone. Once he intercepted a school of Night Sun Fish, it would be a very long time before any others passed through this area.
The Ferryman steered the Ferry Boat in the direction Li Qiye pointed. Peng Zhuang, feeling immense satisfaction, waved to Young Master Hei Yun from afar as they were leaving and shouted with a laugh, "Take your time scooping, little black ghosts! This grandpa is leaving first!"
These words made Young Master Hei Yun tremble with rage. He stomped his foot hard, his eyes spewing fire as he glared at the retreating backs of Peng Zhuang’s group.
Li Qiye had the Ferryman pilot the Ferry Boat to another area of the sea and then had him stop. He then said to Qiu Rong Wanxue and the others, "We’ll spend the night here. We cast the nets at midnight." After speaking, he sat to one side and closed his eyes to rest.
Peng Zhuang and the others couldn’t help but exchange excited glances. The six minors began to chat amongst themselves. Peng Zhuang said, "I netted thirteen Night Sun Fish. How about you guys?"
"Fifteen," one disciple said with immense excitement after counting his own. Some people only caught three to five Night Sun Fish in an entire month, yet they had caught over ten in a single cast. How could they not be ecstatic?
"I got eighteen!" The only female disciple among the six minors was the most excited of all, as she had caught the most Night Sun Fish in that one haul. How could she not be thrilled?
The six minors compared their counts. Every single one of them had caught over ten Night Sun Fish in that one cast. It was impossible for them not to be excited.
"Man, Brother Li is really our lucky star! We really struck it rich with this haul. Heh, Brother Li is truly amazing," Peng Zhuang said excitedly.
The other disciples chimed in excitedly, "Yeah! Even though we didn’t catch anything for the past ten-plus days, this one haul is more than enough. It’s equal to what others catch in a month!"
The six minors discussed excitedly amongst themselves. They all felt incredibly lucky. With Li Qiye leading the way this time, they had gotten a huge harvest in a single attempt. Their luck was just too good.
Only Qiu Rong Wanxue remained silent. She watched Li Qiye, who was resting with his eyes closed. ’If this massive haul from a single cast was just good luck...’ As their Clan Leader, she didn’t see it that way.
’This was a little *too* lucky.’ She had been to the Night Sea several times and had never heard of anyone catching over ten Night Sun Fish in a single cast, let alone everyone in the group having such success. A harvest like this was simply too bountiful.
’Besides, they hadn’t cast their nets in a random spot; Li Qiye had clearly chosen the location carefully. Could it be that he knew where to find Night Sun Fish in the Night Sea and where not to?’
The thought seemed absurd as soon as it crossed her mind. Legend had it that Night Sun Fish appeared and disappeared like ghosts. No one knew which Water Realms they would appear in. Even a Great Sage personally coming here couldn’t predict their time and location of appearance.
’But if not, how could Li Qiye’s first cast be so accurate?’ Qiu Rong Wanxue simply couldn’t figure it out.
At the same time, this made her more suspicious of Li Qiye. The Pengzhuang Sixth Minors might be too young and unobservant, but she was certain that Li Qiye had joined them intentionally.
Throughout their journey, Li Qiye had been very well-behaved. Although Qiu Rong Wanxue initially felt there was something off about him, he hadn’t done anything to harm them, so she had gradually let her guard down.
But after this one cast, clouds of doubt rose in her heart once again. Now, looking at Li Qiye, she felt she couldn’t see through him at all. All she knew was his name and that he came from Nanyao Yun. Beyond that, she knew nothing.
"Get ready." At midnight, Li Qiye, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly stood up and addressed Qiu Rong Wanxue’s group.
Qiu Rong Wanxue and the others, who had also been resting with their eyes closed, immediately became alert. They all picked up their nets, excited and eager to try again.
"You have to be fast with this next one. A moment’s hesitation and you’ll miss the perfect opportunity," Li Qiye instructed them after glancing at the night sky and confirming the direction.
The minors immediately committed Li Qiye’s words to memory, gripping their nets tightly. Li Qiye was now staring intently at the water, silent once more.
The minors couldn’t help but hold their breath, mimicking Li Qiye as they stared fixedly at the sea’s surface. Even Qiu Rong Wanxue grew tense and focused her gaze on the water.
Moment by moment passed. In the blink of an eye, a full two hours went by, but Li Qiye remained motionless, staring at the sea as if he had turned into a wooden statue.
...
