Chapter 168: The Killer Whales’ Hunting Ground

What else could Yun Linhai do? He just poked her on her small forehead.

"You say that every time!"

Yun Jiao lowered her head and stared at her toes, not saying a word.

WOOF WOOF WOOF...

The two little puppies were quite protective of their owner. They were tiny, but they stood in front of Yun Jiao and barked fiercely at Yun Linhai.

They didn’t know Yun Jiao had gone on an adventure. All they knew was that this big person was being mean to their little master.

Yun Linhai was speechless. ’How did I end up looking like the bad guy here?’

Defeated, he let Yun Jiao off the hook and went to check on the swordfish.

A few people were still gathered around the swordfish, examining it from all angles.

Swordfish were fierce and hard to come by, but they weren’t considered a top-tier delicacy.

It wasn’t expensive, but it wasn’t cheap either.

It could probably sell for about one yuan per catty right now.

But one this big, at least eighty or ninety catties, would still fetch a good price.

They placed the bled-out swordfish into a large box filled with ice.

Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe had paid Ah Wang for the ice and the box.

It couldn’t be helped. Every time they went to sea with Jiaojiao, they managed to find rare and valuable marine life. If some of the catch wasn’t frozen quickly, the quality of the meat would decline. A lesser-quality product would depreciate in value, but worse, some would become completely unsellable and not even fit to eat.

And now, it was finally being put to use.

The ice was kept in a large box insulated with an old cotton-padded jacket. Even if it couldn’t hold the entire fish, just lowering its temperature was good enough.

Otherwise, they would’ve had to turn back right after setting out.

"Who knows what part of the sea we’ve ended up in."

The swordfish had dragged their boat a long way.

Since they didn’t know where they were, they decided to just keep going and leave it to fate.

They had brought two cast nets and a longline with them today.

Just as Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe were about to set out the longline, Yun Jiao’s eyes suddenly lit up with excitement.

"Dad, Uncle, don’t set the longline yet! Keep heading that way. A killer whale group is hunting."

"Huh?"

The two men were a little baffled. ’What does a hunting killer whale group have to do with us?’

’Are we supposed to go over there just to watch them hunt?’

Yun Jiao looked at them, her eyes clear and bright.

"It’s a school of fish. They’ve cornered a huge school of sardines."

This was information Yun Jiao had gleaned from the calls of the killer whale group.

A school of sardines.

Anything large enough to be called a "school" was bound to be massive.

Upon hearing this, Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe didn’t hesitate. They put their backs into it, rowing with all their might in the direction Yun Jiao pointed.

Soon, they could see seabirds circling in the distant sky.

Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe grew excited.

"With that many seabirds, this school has to be huge!"

Seabirds also ate fish. Flying high in the sky, they naturally gathered wherever they saw food.

Just by looking at the dense swarm of seabirds in the sky, they knew the school had to be massive.

So they put even more strength into rowing toward it.

The killer whale group was clearly very experienced at hunting together. They had herded a huge school of sardines into a tight circle.

They had already been feeding for a while.

But the school of sardines was still immense.

As they drew closer, even from two or three hundred meters away, they could see the spectacular sight of the trapped school of sardines churning the surface of the sea.

"Let’s get over there, quick."

Standing at the bow of the boat, Yun Jiao called out to the killer whale group.

Shen Kuan and Shen Xiuyuan were completely stunned. ’Going out to sea is this exciting?!’

’What is Jiaojiao doing?’

The sounds Yun Jiao made were somewhat similar to the calls of killer whales, and most of them were inaudible to the human ear.

But the killer whales answered her.

’Human, come quick. Hunt.’

’So much prey. Come quick.’

The familiar killer whale group enthusiastically invited them to join the hunt, not minding at all if they took some of the prey.

One killer whale, apparently annoyed at how slowly their boat was moving, even slipped behind the wooden vessel and began pushing it forward with its head.

Anyone not braced for the sudden movement was thrown off balance by inertia. The unlucky Shen Xiuyuan tumbled like a ball and rolled right off the boat.

"Ah, holy shit! GURGLE GURGLE..."

Yun Jiao quickly had a killer whale rescue him.

Shen Xiuyuan sat stiffly on the killer whale’s back, not daring to move, screaming internally.

’Ahhhhhh, I’m riding a fish! I’m riding such a huge fish!’

Shen Kuan scrambled back to his feet. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his brother was safe, but his own heart was anything but calm.

’What in the world is going on with our little cousin?!’

"What are you all staring for? Cast the nets!"

A school of this size was an incredibly rare sight.

Sardines weren’t valuable, only a tenth of a yuan per catty.

But the sheer quantity more than made up for the low price.

More quantity meant more weight, and more weight meant more money.

Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe each grabbed a cast net and threw it toward the school. They hadn’t completely lost their heads in the excitement, carefully avoiding the areas where the killer whales were.

Soon, a net holding over a hundred catties of sardines was being hauled in. The veins on the two men’s arms bulged with the effort.

Yun Jiao ran over to help.

She was very strong, so she went to help her dad, Yun Linhai, pull in his net first.

Yun Linhe shouted, "Shen Kuan, come over and help!"

Shen Kuan pulled his stiff, dazed brother from the killer whale’s back onto the boat. "Coming!"

"Quick, let’s go help," he said.

At this point, they had no time to think about anything else. There was only one thought in their minds: haul in the net, dump the fish into the hold, cast the net, haul it in. They didn’t even have time to check the fish in the hold before casting again.

The killer whales kept the school of sardines corralled, opening their huge mouths and eating their fill.

The commotion was considerable. Even if they couldn’t see the sardine school, nearby fishing boats could spot the seabirds circling and gathering in the sky.

Experienced fishermen guessed there was a school of fish and steered their boats in that direction.

It was a real school of fish, all right, but seeing so many killer whales, the other fishing boats didn’t dare get too close.

This feeling—being able to look but not fish—was agonizing.

What was the difference between this and staring at piles of cash right in front of you that you couldn’t pick up?

"Quick, look! Is that a boat fishing over there?"

Someone with sharp eyes spotted the wooden boat fishing amidst the killer whale group and cried out in astonishment.

The others followed his gaze and saw that it was true.

"Good heavens, who’s that daring?"

"The killer whales don’t seem to be attacking them."

The other fishing boats were green with envy. If no one had dared to approach, they wouldn’t have felt so strongly, but now that one boat had gone in, the other restless crews were tempted to take the risk.

"To hell with it, let’s get closer! We’re going to fish, too."

"With a school of sardines that big, even if we don’t get close to the killer whales, we can still get a good haul by casting our nets at the edges."

Although the killer whales were the ones hunting, the sheer concentration of sardines had attracted other predators from the ocean.

These other fish risked getting close while the killer whales were feeding, picking off the stragglers. It was far easier than hunting on their own.