29 Fish

After Li Asan finished instructing the farmers to build the thatched huts, he followed Zhan Xiaobai to the riverside, three li west of the small village. Zhan Xiaobai wanted to see how he speared fish.

When A’Fei saw Zhan Xiaobai and Li Asan heading to the river with wooden spears, he eagerly called out that he wanted to join and watch as well—truthfully, he was just idle and wanted to have some fun. Wading into the water to catch fish was far more interesting than grinding levels.

Zhan Xiaobai thought it would be good to bring back more fish, so he simply gathered a group. He called over several dozen players and NPC farmers, each with a wooden spear in hand, and a few carrying wicker baskets, and they all made their way to the river. Soon, the group arrived. The river was over twenty meters wide, flowing swiftly. At a glance, dozens of fat fish could be seen darting quickly through the water.

Zhan Xiaobai smiled and said, “Everyone, catch fish however you like, use whatever skills you have. After one hour, I’ll pay everyone five copper coins. Whoever catches the most fish will get a special reward—a free trip to the martial arts school to learn a skill!”

The dozen or so players cheered joyfully. “Boss Xiaobai is awesome!” “Catching fish? That’s nothing! Watch the Great River Flying Dragon’s technique!” “Ha! Can you even swim? I grew up practically living in the pool, who in the world could beat me at fishing by hand?” “You think a swimming pool is the same as a river? Don’t kid yourself!” and so on.

The banks were shallow, the middle deep. Players, armed with their wooden spears, eagerly jumped into the shallows to chase fish.

“Wahaha, look how fat this one is! Watch my Ghostly Spear!” A’Fei shouted, aiming at a plump fish in the river. The spear splashed through the water but struck nothing. He was left disappointed.

The NPC farmers tried spearing fish as well.

Zhan Xiaobai noticed their actions were quite different from the players. The NPCs moved stiffly, simply marching up to a swimming fish and stabbing down—one attempt per fish, and if they missed, they moved on, with no attempt to adapt. Li Asan, by contrast, was much cleverer—he would creep up quietly before striking. It was clear the intelligence levels among NPCs varied, leading to big differences in behavior.

By comparison, the players were far more agile. When they found the wooden spears ineffective, they simply started catching fish with their hands, employing any maneuver or trick they could think of, from dog-paddling to flying leaps, anything to land a fish. Some players even formed a circle, herding and trapping the fish together.

Within a few minutes, the player called Great River Flying Dragon burst out laughing, holding a fish aloft and bragging loudly before tossing it into a basket on the bank. “Now that’s skill! If you never learned how to catch fish as a kid, you wouldn’t understand! Not like certain people who only ever dog-paddled in a swimming pool.”

Water Spirit, unwilling to concede, muttered a few protests in return.

Zhan Xiaobai found it all amusing. He had stabbed his spear dozens of times but hadn’t even touched a fish. He tossed the spear aside and tried catching them by hand instead, and once nearly managed to grab one, only for it to slip away—what a pity, he thought. Clearly, catching fish took some talent; without a bit of skill, it was impossible.

He gave up altogether and walked ashore, thinking to himself: judging by the look of things, fish for food shouldn’t be a problem.

A’Fei, quickly losing interest after a few minutes without catching any fish, followed him out of the water. Li Asan also came ashore, somewhat pleased. “My lord, the players are quite skilled at fishing. In just this short time, they’ve already caught three or five fish. By the end of the day, I imagine the catch will be substantial.”

Zhan Xiaobai nodded with a smile. “Indeed, they may not be any good at farming, but when it comes to catching fish, they seem to have a knack. A’Fei, when you get back, post a notice at the East Gate—we’ll buy fish at one copper coin each.”

A’Fei laughed, “No problem, leave it to me.”

Li Asan hesitated. “One copper per fish—isn’t that a bit expensive?”

Zhan Xiaobai chuckled. “It is a bit high, but we can’t be stingy with our own people. Besides, money may go out quickly, but it comes back just as fast. Whether it’s for medicine or skill learning, everything costs a fortune anyway. That’s settled.”

Li Asan withdrew.

Zhan Xiaobai glanced along the riverbanks and noticed that only their side—the side of Xiaobai Village—had people; the far side was empty. He was puzzled and asked, “A’Fei, the river isn’t that wide, nor is it very deep. Why don’t any players simply wade or swim across?”

A’Fei shook his head. “Those who can’t swim will drown.”

Zhan Xiaobai frowned. “Can’t swim? Surely not all players are bad swimmers. Lots of people can swim.”

A’Fei quickly explained, “Boss, it’s not about real-world swimming. In the game, every player is randomly assigned a swimming skill attribute at birth. Most players born in the North are given the ‘landlubber’ trait. Even if they’re expert swimmers in real life, if they enter a deep part of the river here, they’ll still drown. That’s why no one dares swim across.”

Zhan Xiaobai was embarrassed; he hadn’t realized the game contained such a detail. No wonder the people from Tiger and Leopard Village would always take the long way around, crossing at the shallow areas upstream to do business.

It seemed a ferry port should be established here to allow players on both sides to cross easily. That would save time and boost trade.

“Asan, how difficult would it be to build a ferry port here?” Zhan Xiaobai asked Li Asan.

Li Asan thought for a moment. “My lord, building a basic wooden-stake ferry port isn’t difficult. The challenge lies in shipbuilding. I once asked the carpenter, and he said even a small boat requires an intermediate carpentry skill to construct. He’s still some time away from upgrading—perhaps another month or two.”

Zhan Xiaobai pondered, then smiled. “What about a raft? That should be easier to make.”

Li Asan was startled, then replied, “That—I haven’t asked, but I imagine it’s possible. I’ll check when I return. If it can be done, I’ll have the carpenter bring a team to build the ferry port immediately.”

Zhan Xiaobai waved him off with a laugh. “No rush. Wait until the farming slack season next month. Let the Tiger and Leopard Villagers take the long way around a few more days, ha ha.”

An hour later, the results of the fishing contest were in. The NPC farmers hadn’t caught a single fish. Among the players, the top catch was three fish, with several others catching one or two. The champion was Great River Flying Dragon, who shouted with delight, “Boss Xiaobai, how about my fishing skills?”

Zhan Xiaobai patted him on the shoulder. “Well done. When you return, you can go to the martial arts school and study a skill for free.” He then announced to the group, “Every player, collect your five copper coins. And I have good news—our village’s procurement center at the market will now offer a fish buyback, at one copper coin per fish. With skills like Brother Flying Dragon’s, catching three fish in a few moments, there’s a real chance to make a fortune!”

“Thank you, boss!” Great River Flying Dragon shouted with joy.

“Fishing is so much fun, way better than digging for herbs!” “Let’s just fish from now on!”

Everyone burst into laughter.

As they were joking, a player came running from Xiaobai Village, panic written on his face. From several hundred meters away, he shouted, “Boss Xiaobai, Boss A’Fei—trouble in the village!”

Zhan Xiaobai called out, “What’s happened?”

The breathless player replied urgently, “Wolves—a pack of wolves suddenly appeared outside the village! Many players are already dead. Elder Qiushui heard you had left and sent me to fetch you—she’s already leading a group to intercept the wolves.”

Zhan Xiaobai tensed immediately. “A pack? How many?”

“More than a dozen—level eighteen or higher sand wolves, incredibly dangerous.”

“Hurry, back to the village!” Zhan Xiaobai ordered, leading the group in a sprint toward the village. A’Fei grabbed the trembling Li Asan and hurried after them.

If they ran into such a high-level pack of sand wolves in the wild, their group of a few dozen would be no match at all. The players’ deaths were not a big deal, but Li Asan, the village’s top advisor, must not be allowed to die. Not to mention the dozen valuable NPC farmers with them.