Chapter 392 - 386: Pen Shells

Finally, after feeding the pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese at home, the entire family set out.

Even the two dogs and Cat Boss went along.

Their boat was bigger now and could fit so many people.

Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe piloted the boat, taking them to an island.

It was an island they had never been to before, farther than the ones they’d previously visited, but still within the typhoon’s path.

As soon as they set foot on the island, a foul stench assaulted them.

Wang Mei gagged twice. "What kind of island did you two pick? Something on here stinks to high heaven."

Yun Linhe got smacked and felt wronged.

"We just saw that the island was big."

’Who knew something had died up here and would stink so bad?’

Everyone pinched their noses and walked a short distance forward before they saw the true source of the foul smell.

"What is this? A fried egg? Such a huge fried egg!"

The moment Yun Xiaowu finished shouting, he received a "loving" pat from his dad.

"A fried egg, huh? Why don’t you go have a taste?"

Yun Xiaowu grumbled, "I was just joking. You have no sense of humor."

Still, everyone’s gaze fell upon the large, flat mass.

Its flat shape did indeed resemble a fried egg, but this thing was reddish.

Yun Jiao said, "Stay back. It’s a jellyfish."

She recognized it.

"A lion’s mane jellyfish."

’That thing is highly venomous!’

Not only was it huge, but its venomous tentacles were incredibly numerous and long.

It could capture many prey at once, entangling them in its tentacles.

In the sea, this creature was a perfect example of the saying: the more beautiful something is, the more poisonous it is.

It was one of the most beautiful creatures Yun Jiao had ever seen in the ocean.

But now, dead on the shore, it didn’t look very appealing.

"Hiss... It’s *that* thing!"

Yun Linhai and the others quickly pulled the children back.

A closer look confirmed it.

"My god, this jellyfish is enormous."

The foul stench was emanating from the jellyfish itself.

When a jellyfish dies, it releases a fishy smell as it decomposes. If that were all, it wouldn’t be so unbearable.

The key was that the giant’s tentacles were still entangled with numerous fish and shrimp.

All those things rotting together created an overwhelming stench.

"Let’s get out of here."

’Any longer and I’m really going to puke.’

The group found a spot downwind and walked away. After a while, the smell finally dissipated quite a bit.

"Dad, are those barnacles over there?"

They looked in the direction Yun Jiao was pointing, but it was too far to see clearly.

After walking a bit further, they saw she was right!

"Quick, let’s go dig up some barnacles! These ones are a good size."

They were big and fat, and most importantly, there were quite a few gooseneck barnacles.

If you found the right buyer for these, you could make a lot of money.

The only problem was that fierce waves crashed onto the shore there from time to time, so they had to be careful.

"Everyone, pay attention. Don’t stand too close to the edge."

"Xiao Wu, you kids take Jiaojiao and Su Huan and go look for things somewhere else."

This spot was just too dangerous for children.

Yun Xiaowu, who had been about to rush over, stopped in his tracks. "Oh, fine."

"Mom, Dad, don’t come over here either. I saw some decent-sized mussels over there. You two can go pry those off."

Granny Yun and the old man’s eyesight wasn’t the best, but they walked in the direction Yun Linhai pointed and, sure enough, saw a lot of mussels.

They were large and plump.

So, they got right to work.

Yun Xiaowu puffed out his chest. "Jiaojiao, let’s go! I’m sure we can find something even better than this!"

Yun Jiao nodded. It wouldn’t hurt to check other places.

The kids headed off in another direction.

"Jiaojiao, hurry! There are so many sea worms over here!"

Yun Xiaoqi’s slightly excited voice called out.

Yun Jiao, who was in the middle of scooping up a small octopus, heard him, shoved it into her bucket, and headed toward Brother Qi.

Sure enough, on that stretch of beach, they discovered a large number of sea worms.

Yun Xiaoqi and the others were already gathering them. Some had to be dug out from under the sand.

After picking them up for a while, Yun Jiao lost interest. She wanted to see what else she could find.

The island was littered with fish, shrimp, and crabs that had been washed ashore by the typhoon. Many had died and were rotting, and the smell was far from pleasant.

She wanted to check the water to see if there was anything good around here.

So, after letting her brothers know, Yun Jiao went into the sea.

As soon as she was under, she discovered quite a few lobsters hiding among the island’s reefs.

They weren’t huge, but there were smaller ones about the length of an adult’s palm.

There were several whole nests of them clustered together. With just a quick glance, Yun Jiao spotted about thirty in one crevice alone.

She didn’t try to catch them. Instead, she swam back up.

After her head broke the surface, Yun Jiao shouted.

"Brothers, there are a bunch of lobster nests down here."

The lobsters looked a lot like ornate spiny lobsters, but there were differences. Yun Jiao couldn’t tell what they were called.

"It’s not deep there. You guys can all go down and catch them."

Hearing Yun Jiao’s words, the boys completely forgot about the sea worms.

"Where? Where?"

"Down there."

Seeing them about to strip off their clothes and dive into the sea, Yun Jiao reminded them.

"Brothers, bring the net bags. They’re hard to catch with your bare hands."

"Right, right! Little Nine, you and Su Huan, go get the net bags, quick!"

"Got it."

In a flurry of activity, several of them grabbed net bags, took off their shirts, and followed her into the water to a depth of about twenty meters.

After a period of diligent practice, Su Huan could now dive as well.

He just couldn’t hold his breath as long as the others.

Following Yun Jiao, their eyes lit up when they saw the lobsters.

They then worked together, with a few of them blocking one exit with a net while the others herded the lobsters toward the large net bag.

Don’t let their small size fool you; these lobsters were incredibly fast.

Yun Jiao watched from the side for a bit. Seeing that they were coordinating quite well, she left them to it and continued deeper.

Then, on the seabed here, about a hundred-odd meters deep, she discovered a dense bed of pen shells.

The adductor muscle of a pen shell is the largest of all shellfish.

Not only was it large, but it was also considered a high-end ingredient.

Its price was much higher than other shellfish.

This creature’s adductor muscle was the largest among shellfish. The shell was very thin, and the most conspicuous part inside was the adductor muscle, which was the size of a small baby’s palm.

Yun Jiao had dug up these fan mussels before, but never so many, and never this large.

She took her net bag and began rummaging around on the seabed.

She put the small ones back, taking only the large ones.

Before long, her net bag was full.

It couldn’t be helped; the shells were simply too big and took up too much space.

’I’ll take these to the island first and then come back for more.’

Yun Jiao hoisted the large net bag of pen shells and left the seabed.

When she climbed back onto the island, she heard her Fifth Brother’s wild laughter.

’Needless to say, his haul must have been pretty good.’

Sure enough, their net bag was filled with about a dozen small lobsters.

"Jiaojiao!"

Yun Xiaojiu was the first to spot Yun Jiao.

The others looked over, and when they saw what she was dragging, they all crowded around.

"It’s fan mussels! Such huge fan mussels!"

"Where did you find them, Jiaojiao? Can we go too?"