Chapter 58 – The Bustling Mortal World
“Ooooh! Xiaoqi, you’ve taken a liking to someone, have you?” one person slapped his oar and laughed loudly.
“Good! Generous enough, bold enough! Giving away a 3.6-meter Gold-Thread Fish just like that.”
“Time for the Asking the Fishing Bridge! The Asking the Fishing Bridge!”
“…”
Laughter erupted all around, even more lively than the bidding war before.
The fishermen broke into a boisterous rendition of the “Fisherman’s Tune”: “Ask my love which fish is the prettiest, oh? Ask my love if he wants to leap into my cabin?…” As they sang, they beat a rhythm on the sides of their boats with their oars.
“Asking the Fishing Bridge” was a custom among the fishermen of Zhunan.
Seafaring folk were people who lived on the edge of a knife. The winds and waves of the sea were unpredictable. If they encountered a fierce tide or sudden squall, it was a one-way trip. Millions of fishing boats set out at dawn, but who would return at dusk was up to fate. This life-and-death struggle against the elements had forged the straightforward and fierce nature of Zhunan’s people. Normally, if a fisherman’s son or daughter took a fancy to someone, they would publicly present the best and freshest fish they had caught to that person.
At this time, the seafolk would sing a verse of the “Seafarer’s Tune.”
If the feeling was mutual, the person who received the fish would jump directly from their own boat to their suitor’s, and from then on, they would build a life together. The “Seafarer’s Tune” sung by the people would serve as their witness. The new couple would then cut up the fish that sealed their bond and share it with everyone, thanking them for making the match.
If there was no mutual interest, that was fine too. They would simply sing a couple of verses in reply to graciously refuse.
For people who came and went with the tides, love and hate were just that simple.
The more expensive and rare the fish offered, the more it demonstrated the fisherman’s skill and spirit. The reason for today’s uproar was that Luo Xiaoqi was actually willing to use a 3.6-meter Gold-Thread Fish for the Asking the Fishing Bridge.
It was something that hadn’t happened in a hundred years.
However, the more boisterous the fishermen became, the more nervous the fishmongers grew.
They knew this was a custom of the seafolk, but this handsome young master had just offered five thousand taels of gold. If he could really produce it, his status must be extraordinary. What if this noble person didn’t see it as a custom, but as an insult, and flew into a rage and killed a few people, or came looking for trouble later…
That would be a huge problem!
When in Rome, do as the Romans do, but that depended on whether the person in question needed or was willing to follow your customs.
Many who regularly dealt with the cultivators and nobles of Zhunan City were breaking out in a cold sweat.
Mortals were like ants.
The fat fishmonger had been running around Zhunan for quite some time. The moment the handsome young master looked up, and he saw the air of nobility in his eyes, his heart sank with a “Crap! This is probably a real young master.” He instantly regretted his big mouth for causing trouble. Just as he was pondering how to swim naked with some dignity, he heard Luo Xiaoqi’s earth-shattering words.
He glanced at Luo Xiaoqi’s still-childish face, thought of his own son of about the same age, gritted his teeth, and squeezed forward, slapping Luo Xiaoqi on the face. “What are you yelling about! Does the young master look like he’s short one fish? Hurry up and apologize to him!”
Luo Xiaoqi stubbornly stuck out his neck, turned his head away, his face flushing a dark red, and offered the fish forward again, puffing out his chest and shouting, “It’s a gift for you!”
The fat fishmonger cursed the boy for being a fool and quickly turned to look at the other main party.
“Hey! He’s asking me,” the main party turned his head to look at the other person on the boat with a smile. “Do you think this Gold-Thread Fish is pretty enough? Should I jump this bridge or not?”
“So it’s a Competing for the Fishing Bridge!”
Someone shouted.
Couples on the sea didn’t last long—after all, who knew when the other person might die. Breaking up and getting together, moving from one boat to another, was all too common. This “Asking the Fishing Bridge” wasn’t limited to single men and women. If the person being asked was already with someone, it was called “Competing for the Fishing Bridge.”
If your partner left with someone else, it was because you weren’t skilled enough to keep them.
You couldn’t say sweet words, couldn’t sing love songs, couldn’t catch big fish, couldn’t treat them well… If you couldn’t do anything, why should they stay with you?
Seeing that the handsome young master was not offended, everyone laughed even more heartily, and even some of the fishmongers joined in.
Shi Wuluo’s hand on the oar tensed, veins standing out as if he were gripping a saber. His already sharp face grew even colder, as if the entire world owed him eighty million. Unfortunately, in this situation, his intimidating cold face lost its power—everyone just cheered louder.
An old fisherman banged his oar on the side of his boat and shouted at Shi Wuluo with a voice like a broken gong, “Young man! This won’t do! With a long face like a coffin, she’s going to leave! If someone is willing to be with you, you have to know how to coax them!”
“Old Hu, didn’t your wife go off to Old Yang’s boat just like that?” a fishmonger who knew him laughed heartily, exposing his past on the spot. He laughed and shouted at Shi Wuluo, “Listen to him, listen to him! These are the heartfelt words of an old man.”
“That’s right, that’s right!”
Chou Bodeng was bent over with laughter.
Others might not be able to read anything from Shi Wuluo’s cold face, but Chou Bodeng’s sharp eyes caught his ears turning red…
From anger.
Shi Wuluo said nothing.
With a touch of the oar, the small boat, like a bamboo leaf, skimmed past several other boats by a hair’s breadth. It was light and agile. A chorus of cheers erupted from the surroundings. The fishermen of the sea didn’t understand cultivation and didn’t recognize any immortal sects or Kongsang. In their eyes, being able to handle a boat well and being a good swimmer was true skill.
It was unclear if Shi Wuluo did it on purpose, but as he navigated the crisscrossing gaps in the water, he passed directly in front of Luo Xiaoqi’s boat, perfectly parallel.
As the two boats passed, Shi Wuluo glanced at Luo Xiaoqi.
His eyes were long and narrow, and his silver-gray gaze swept past like the cold glint of a long saber’s edge in the darkness.
Luo Xiaoqi subconsciously took a step back.
“He’s got some skill,” the old fisherman muttered, tapping his oar.
Just as he spoke, the small boat brushed past him. Shi Wuluo waved his sleeve, and the net from the old fisherman’s boat landed in his hand. Immediately after, the boat shot forward like an arrow, heading straight for the light-green sea area.
“Let’s go, let’s go! Let’s watch the show!”
People called out to their friends and followed from a distance.
The Cangming Sea was considered one of the most dangerous seas in the Twelve Continents. The currents were unpredictable, and the winds and waves could change dozens of times in a single day. This was even with the nine Black Tortoises of the Mountain Sea Pavilion suppressing the sea. Even earlier, this place was a raging sea where less than one in a hundred of the population survived. Over time, the fishermen of Zhunan had all become first-rate tide-riders.
But today, none of the fishermen, accustomed to riding the tides and waves, could catch up with the strange young man.
The distance between them grew wider and wider.
Those behind watched from afar, only seeing him reach the center of the light-green sea area. They didn’t see how he moved, but the net spread out in the air into a perfect, full circle. At that moment, the sun had just risen to be tangent with the sea’s surface. From a distance, it looked as if the young man’s cast had enveloped the entire sun.
A moment later, the young man forcefully pulled the net out of the sea.
The fishing net tightened, and a sun was pulled up, its golden light brilliant.
It was a fish larger than any they had ever seen!
“Heavens!” someone exclaimed in amazement. “Is that still a fish?!”
The moment the fish emerged from the sea, everyone felt as if they were seeing a piece of sunlight leaping, a piece of molten gold boiling. The 3.6-meter Gold-Thread Fish looked like a tiny fry in front of it… The large golden fish twisted in mid-air, forming a circle, like a complete, brilliant sun!
With a flick of its tail, it kicked up a wave.
The small boat carrying the young man and the handsome young master looked like a child’s toy in front of it, ready to be overturned at any moment.
Amidst everyone’s cries of alarm, the young man let go of the net rope and rose up with his saber drawn.
A line of scarlet slashed down through the center of the golden sun.
Boom—
The great fish fell back into the sea.
The waves instantly ceased.
Casting the net, hauling it in, and slaying the fish were all done in a single, fluid motion. That final slash possessed a ferocious and ruthless quality that ordinary fishermen couldn’t comprehend. Everyone inexplicably felt a chill run down the back of their necks. For a moment, everyone forgot to cheer. After a long while, the dead silence suddenly cracked like the earth’s crust, and lava boiled.
Applause thundered, and cheers were like a tidal wave.
“Good! Good!”
Even Luo Xiaoqi was shouting his approval.
In the distance, the handsome young master stood up and waved to everyone.
Throughout the young man’s process of catching and slaying the sun-like fish, amidst the terrifying waves and the lightning-fast slash of his saber, that young master had remained seated at the prow, gently tapping his Bo Chopstick… as if the handsome young master had believed from the very beginning that he could catch an unprecedentedly large fish and slay it, believed from the very beginning that he would never fail.
Old fisherman Hu poled his boat past Luo Xiaoqi, chuckled, and patted him on the shoulder. “Xiaoqi, it seems there was no bridge to compete for from the start!”
Luo Xiaoqi scratched his head and grinned foolishly.
He didn’t seem to mind too much.
Asking the fishing bridge, jumping or not, that was just how it was.
The fishermen gathered in the middle of the green sea.
The Gold-Thread Fish caught by the young man was far more than thirty meters long. From a distance, it was already shocking, but up close, it was even more terrifying. Its body was serpentine, its golden scales like armor. Lying quietly on the sea, it was like a small island. The fishing line was only hooked to half its head; no one knew how the young man had managed to drag it out of the sea.
It wasn’t that no one had caught large fish before, but that usually involved dozens of sea boats and hundreds of fishermen working together.
It was nothing like now, with one person, one saber, in one instant.
“This must be the Gold-Thread Fish King.”
An experienced old fisherman rowed his boat around the fish, clucking his tongue in amazement.
A fishmonger shouted at Chou Bodeng, “Young Master, are you really willing to share such a large Gold-Thread Fish?”
“What would I do with so much fish meat?” Chou Bodeng retorted. “Eat myself to death?”
As they got closer, everyone realized that despite the huge commotion, not a single drop of water had landed on this handsome young master.
At this point, who didn’t know that these two were definitely immortals with cultivation?
Normally, there was a “distinction between immortals and mortals,” but since the handsome young master answered with a smile as before, everyone tacitly forgot about it, treating them all as fellow travelers who had met by chance on the waves.
“A Luo.”
Chou Bodeng asked to borrow Shi Wuluo’s saber.
Shi Wuluo shook his head gently, telling him to just sit.
The fishmonger who had been teasing old fisherman Hu nudged him, winking and gesturing, as if to say, “See, he’s not like you, he knows how to dote on someone…”
Old fisherman Hu glared at him, then finally laughed himself, squatting at the stern of his boat and shaking his head.
Shi Wuluo stepped onto the sea’s surface and walked around the fish. With a light swing of his scarlet saber, slices of fish flew out like thin, brilliant flower petals, landing precisely and evenly on every boat that had participated in the “Asking the Fishing Bridge.” He used a saber that could slay gods and kill ghosts to divide fish, and didn’t feel it was beneath him in the slightest.
Shi Wuluo swung his saber casually, and everyone accepted the meat just as casually.
Finally, Shi Wuluo returned the fishing net he had taken from the fish’s head to old fisherman Hu.
“Hey. This is for you.”
Old fisherman Hu handed him a piece of oiled paper along with a piece of fish bone that looked like green jade.
“The meat of the Gold-Thread Fish needs to be wrapped up before it’s cooked, otherwise it will dry out quickly.”
Shi Wuluo subconsciously looked back at Chou Bodeng.
The people nearby couldn’t help but laugh.
They had seen this young man swing his saber to slay and divide the fish with an unapproachable coldness that had intimidated them all. They hadn’t expected him to have a side that was so strictly managed… They instantly felt much closer to him and started giving him all sorts of bad advice in a clamor: don’t be too obedient, don’t be controlled too tightly…
But Chou Bodeng knew why he hesitated, why he looked back.
—This was probably the first time he had been so close to the bustling, ordinary world of mortals.
Chou Bodeng folded his hands in his sleeves, said nothing, and just smiled at him.
Shi Wuluo paused for a moment, then took the oiled paper and the fish bone, and awkwardly said a word of thanks. He wrapped the fish meat in the oiled paper and returned to the lone boat with the piece of fish bone.
“Hey! This is for you!”
A head popped out from the crowd. Luo Xiaoqi tossed them a jar of wine, grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth, and then poled his boat away.
“This, this.”
“Here!”
“…”
The people around who had received the Gold-Thread Fish meat began to toss one thing after another onto their boat. In a flash, a small mountain of miscellaneous items, like coral fished from the seabed and newly opened pearls, piled up in the cabin.
“Let’s go, let’s go.”
Chou Bodeng, who had been laughing, suddenly grabbed the oar and urged them on.
“Young Master—next time you come, we’ll save the best fish for you!”
An old fisherman shouted from behind.
Save the best fish, offer the best wine, and host the best guest… Chou Bodeng didn’t look back, only waving vaguely to show he had heard.
People who are born in the morning and die at dusk just have to live a lively life.
***
The Black Tortoise’s back was like a mountain, carrying a nine-tiered city. The city was high enough to touch the clouds, like a candle illuminating the southern sky.
Red Railing Street was in the highest of Zhunan’s nine cities. The fire from last night seemed not to have left many traces. After daybreak, the craftsmen quickly repaired the eaves and flying corners. Only in some places were there still some uncleaned remnants of black ash.
In an inconspicuous painted pavilion, two people sat opposite each other.
“Absurd! Simply absurd!” The white-robed old man slammed his hand on the table in anger. “The esteemed Young Pavilion Master’s cultivation is low, which is one thing, but to be mixing with a bunch of profligates, what future does the Mountain Sea Pavilion have?”
“Grand Elder Ying, please calm your anger.”
Mister Xi unhurriedly poured a cup of tea for Grand Elder Ying, who sat opposite him.
Mister Xi smiled and said in a warm voice, “Grand Elder Ying, there is something I don’t understand. Shouldn’t the head of a sect be the one with the highest cultivation and the highest prestige?”
Grand Elder Ying shook his head and snorted heavily. “The Zuo family, besides their pact with the Black Tortoise, what prestige do they have?”
“It is the Zuo family that has the pact with the Black Tortoise, but it is you, the Grand Elders, who guard the mountains and seas,” Mister Xi said softly. “You Grand Elders guard Undying City, using your bones as pillars, yet the Zuo family enjoys all the glory… It is far too unfair. Is the Mountain Sea Pavilion, then, a family’s Mountain Sea Pavilion?”
He turned the teacup, as if intentionally or unintentionally. “If I remember correctly, it will soon be your grandson’s turn to guard Undying City, won’t it?”
Grand Elder Ying was silent.
He was not as furious as he had just appeared.
“You’ve been in contact with the Taiyu Clan,” Mister Xi said, placing a small wooden box on the table. “However, the Taiyu Clan themselves are nothing more than the running dogs of Heaven Beyond Heavens. How could they give you what you want?”
“If I agree to your proposal,” Grand Elder Ying shifted his gaze from the wooden box to Mister Xi’s eyes, “then wouldn’t I also become a running dog of the Great Wilderness?”
“We are all pawns. Why not choose the most profitable option? We are all just trying to survive. Who is truly free?”
Mister Xi’s eyes were not deep. At first glance, they seemed light and even smiling, but if you looked for too long, you would feel that it was very fake, as if a deeper vortex was hidden behind them.
Grand Elder Ying was silent for a long time.
“You don’t have to join us just yet,” Mister Xi smiled. “A Return to Void Order in exchange for a piece of information.”
“What do you want to know?” Grand Elder Ying finally spoke.
“The Zhunan sea boundary has three million two hundred thousand sea pillars, but there are only eight true ‘Sea Gates’.” Mister Xi was still smiling. “You only need to tell me the location of one sea pillar.”
When he mentioned “Sea Gate,” Grand Elder Ying’s expression changed. “Who told you about the Sea Gates?”
“As long as you can pay a high enough price, you can even buy the sun and moon. Isn’t that what your Mountain Sea Pavilion often says?” Mister Xi retorted, then chuckled again. “Grand Elder Ying, you don’t need to feel too burdened. It’s just one ‘Sea Gate pillar.’ It won’t affect the entire sea boundary. At most, it will cause some small waves in the tranquil sea. It won’t even reach the foot of Zhunan City. No loss at all, right?”
Grand Elder Ying’s expression changed rapidly.
Mister Xi seemed too lazy to say more and placed another wooden box. “Grand Elder Ying, you should know that you are not the only one in this Mountain Sea Pavilion who knows the location of the Sea Gates.”
His voice was slightly cold.
Grand Elder Ying frowned, and finally, slowly, he gave a location.
Mister Xi pushed the two wooden boxes towards him. “Then, I await your joining us.”
Grand Elder Ying didn’t look at him again. He put the wooden boxes into his sleeve and quickly turned to leave, as if he didn’t want to stay here for another second.
Mister Xi gazed out in the direction of the vast sea.
Destroying one Sea Gate pillar would indeed only cause some small winds and waves in the tranquil sea, not even reaching the walls of Zhunan City. But… in the tranquil sea below Zhunan City, there were hundreds of thousands of fishing boats moored. Millions upon millions of mortals lived on these fishing boats, like countless small schools of fish nestled beside the Black Tortoise.
“The gods bestowed techniques upon the sages, the sages spread the Dao throughout the world. We who have obtained the Dao should protect the common people from calamity.”
Mister Xi tilted the teacup.
The tea fell through the air and shattered on the table.
“What a pity. Protecting the common people was a joke from the very beginning.”
Mister Xi had a smile on his face.
How could immortals who had already witnessed the vast changes of the world look up to mortals who were born in the morning and died at dusk?