Chapter 344: Fishing

Chapter 344: Chapter 344: Fishing

After a half-day delay at Beast Taming Peak, Bai Mo rushed back toward the inner sect without stopping.

Qin Wen watched the Flying Ship disappear into the distance, a look of longing on his face.

A disciple from Beast Taming Peak walked up behind him and asked casually, "So? Did you deliver it?"

"Yeah."

Qin Wen nodded, shaking the cloth bag in his hand. Inside was a whole pile of Pills that Bai Mo had stuffed in.

"It’s been a while. I almost didn’t recognize my Shopkeeper."

"The scenery in the outer sect is already like this... I can’t imagine what the inner sect he talks about is like."

"Tsk!" The other disciple shook his head.

"The inner sect is beyond our imagination. The threshold to the outer sect alone keeps out ninety-nine percent of the world’s Cultivators."

"As for the inner sect... they live in a different world from us."

The two chatted for a bit before slinging their arms over each other’s shoulders and heading back, clearly good friends.

It was time to return to Immortal Arrival City.

Qin Wen had only been able to come because the people of Beast Taming Peak gave Bai Mo face; he couldn’t possibly stay for long.

In that short time, the guardian Spirit Beast of Beast Taming Peak had already issued several warnings...

Bai Mo hurried along and finally returned to the marketplace on the third day after he had set out.

After a good deal of browsing, he spent over ten thousand Spirit Stones on various old items from the Sea Eye before finally stopping.

New goods were still arriving at the marketplace stalls.

The disciples who had done business with Bai Mo were impressed by his big spending and tried to persuade him to stay.

But Bai Mo couldn’t wait any longer.

Looking at the sky, he figured if he traveled through the night, he would make it back at just the right time.

...

In the early hours of the morning, Bai Mo’s Flying Ship descended.

This was a similarly remote place, north of Mi Mountain, on the bank of a great river.

Bai Mo searched around before spotting a thatched hut in the woods.

In front of the hut was a yard enclosed by a bamboo fence. The chickens and ducks inside had already fallen silent.

At first glance, it looked like the home of a hermit deep in the mountains.

But it wasn’t. Bai Mo had heard before that north of his Mi Mountain, there was a fisherman performing a tedious chore.

Bai Mo had come to his door for Spirit Fish.

As he reached the courtyard gate, he could faintly hear snoring from within the hut.

Bai Mo knocked lightly on the gate and called out in a clear voice:

"Bai Mo of Mi Mountain, here to request some fish. Might Brother come out for a moment?"

The snoring stopped abruptly.

Bai Mo waited quietly for a moment before a bleary-eyed Cultivator walked out.

It was a disciple with stiff stubble who looked to be in his twenties. He had pushed the door open wearing only his underclothes.

As he draped his outer robes over his shoulders, he said:

"Oh? Mi Mountain has a new person in charge?"

"I remember it was the two brothers from the Shi family who were stationed there before."

His tone held none of the resentment one would expect from being woken from a deep sleep.

Bai Mo cupped his hands and replied, following the man’s line of questioning:

"The two Brother Shis have gone on a long journey with an elder. It’s not certain when they will return."

"Oh." The disciple had a look of understanding.

"So that’s how it is."

They exchanged a few more words, and Bai Mo learned that this young disciple was named Meng Chong. Only then did he bring up his reason for coming.

"Junior Brother is looking for fish?"

"That’s right."

Bai Mo said apologetically, "I had no other choice. Coming at this hour is really..."

"Hey!" Meng Chong waved a hand, cutting Bai Mo off.

He reached out and pulled a bamboo fishing rod from behind the gate.

"What are you talking about, Junior Brother?"

"No one’s come to visit me in ages. I’m just happy to see you, why would I mind?"

He led Bai Mo toward the bank of the great river.

"Besides, since you’re stationed at Mi Mountain, you must not have much freedom."

"It’s like me over here. I often oversleep and miss the proper time, then get chewed out for being incompetent..."

The two arrived at a spot by the river. Meng Chong expertly sat down and cast his line.

"There’s only one type of fish in this river, so there’s no choosing. How big of one do you need, Junior Brother?"

"A small one, just a couple of ounces will do."

Bai Mo saw that a few nearby rocks were worn smooth and knew this was Meng Chong’s usual fishing spot.

The current was swift.

It was impossible to know when a fish would bite. In the dark, early hours of the morning, with a cool night breeze blowing, the two men on the bank spoke in low voices.

"Brother, why do you fish here?"

Meng Chong pointed upstream and asked casually:

"Junior Brother, do you know what’s upstream on this river?"

Bai Mo shook his head.

"It’s where our sect forges and nurtures swords. Several elders who follow the Sword Dao live there in seclusion year-round."

"I don’t know if it’s from them practicing their swordplay or contemplating their swords or what, but some kind of fortune from the Sword Dao always flows out and merges into the river."

Just as he spoke, the fishing line twitched. With a practiced tug, Meng Chong pulled a small, shuttle-shaped fish, as silvery-white as the moon, from the water.

"I left a basin around here somewhere, but I forgot where. Junior Brother, can you help me find it?"

Bai Mo hurried to look. After searching around a bit, he found a covered wooden basin nearby.

He filled it with water and brought it back to Meng Chong.

The palm-sized fish dropped into the basin and swam around in circles, full of life.

"So this is one of the fish that’s received the fortune."

"But the elders have said that true fortune is hard to come by. If all the fish in this great river received it, it would actually be harder for a unique variant to emerge."

Meng Chong cast his fishing rod again.

"See? That’s my job. I catch the fish, dispel the fortune, and release them back into the river."

Bai Mo was quite interested in this "unique variant" Meng Chong mentioned.

If it were just some ordinary matter, the sect wouldn’t have assigned someone specifically to manage it.

"Has one of these unique variants you mentioned been born in recent years?"

"Nope," Meng Chong said casually.

"I’ve been fishing here for over seven years and haven’t seen one. There probably hasn’t been one in the last hundred years, either."

"How could you see one just like that? I hear the ones that succeed are Spiritual Objects with the potential to transform into flood dragons or true dragons. What’s more, because of their affinity for swords, they are naturally close to humanity..."

Bai Mo listened, stunned.

The moonlight cascaded down like a waterfall. Before they knew it, the two had spent a full hour by the river.

There were now five fish in the basin.

Bai Mo said, "That’s enough. Thank you for your help, Brother."

"Mhm." Meng Chong waved his hand.

"Just take the fish and go. I haven’t talked to anyone in a long time, so I really enjoyed our chat."

"No need for all the pleasantries."

After saying that, he leaned back, yawned, and looked as if he was about to fall asleep right there.

Bai Mo took out a bottle of Pills that aided cultivation and placed it beside him.

"I specialize in the Alchemy Dao. The reason I came for the fish was also for Alchemy."

"It’s nothing valuable. Please accept it, Brother."

After a few more words, Bai Mo bid him farewell and headed back to Mi Mountain, carrying the fish.

Three days of tiring travel.

Even someone like Bai Mo felt a bit exhausted.

Fortunately, he finally made it back to Mi Mountain before dawn.

The opening of the door startled Li Wuji, who was meditating inside.

Seeing Bai Mo, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Junior Brother, you’re finally back."

"I also heard a rumor that the inspecting elders will be here any day now."

Bai Mo nodded. "It’s fine. I’ll handle it."

He hurried into the stone house, grabbed a stone basin, filled it with water from the Spiritual Spring, and placed the five Spirit Fish inside.

The five fish chased each other around, showing no signs of sluggishness.

Li Wuji saw them and asked in surprise:

"There aren’t any fish like this in the nearby streams. Where did you get them, Junior Brother?"

Bai Mo replied, "There’s a brother to the north who’s an expert fisherman. He helped me catch them."

"He’s a great guy. We should visit him more in the future."

With that, he gave Li Wuji a few instructions, went into the stone house, washed up, and fell straight into bed.

After three hectic days, he was completely exhausted and needed a good rest.