Chapter 033: The Six-Whiskered Black Carp

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me everything got eaten by the creatures in the lake? If your little fishies really are all gone, then you’ll just have to accept your loss, Little Hu.” Qingzhen showed not a hint of brotherly sympathy, grinning gleefully at her misfortune.

Qinghu rolled her eyes at him, thoroughly annoyed. “If all my little fish are eaten, then you can forget about your daily offerings for good. Do you still want to feast every day?”

“That’s true,” Qingzhen admitted after a moment’s thought. “So, how many of your little fish are left?”

“Not many, just a bit over ten thousand,” Qinghu replied.

“Wait a minute, didn’t you originally have just over ten thousand? We’ve been here for seven days, and you haven’t lost a single fish?” Qingzhen stared at her in disbelief. “How is that even possible?”

“I did lose some—over thirty, actually,” Qinghu replied, exasperated. “This lake is no ordinary place. Of course, there’d be some losses.”

“You just said the lake isn’t simple, and yet your eighth-tier fish only suffered thirty-some losses in seven days? Are you sure you’re not raising sixth-tier Swordfish instead of eighth-tier White Swordfish? Haha!” Qingzhen teased, laughing. “Ah, look at your face! I’m just messing with you, Little Sister! I know you have eighth-tier fish, not sixth. Still, there’s no way you could’ve bought sixth-tier beasts. So, how did you manage to lose so few fish?”

Qinghu was speechless, thinking, Fourth Brother, you’ve basically hit the truth! My fish survive by their own strength—if I hadn’t hatched sixth-tier Swordfish myself, how could so many have survived? Even a true adult sixth-tier Swordfish would never take so few losses. There are plenty of big predators in this lake, after all.

“I’m not telling you. Hmph. Nasty Fourth Brother—do you still want carp or not?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Qinghu was already standing, ready to leave.

Qingzhen was momentarily at a loss. Why was she in such a hurry? But Qinghu had no intention of giving him more time to mock her fish.

The siblings made their way to the lake shore.

This time, Qinghu didn’t use her spiritual sense to communicate. Instead, she suddenly whistled sharply toward the vast expanse of the lake.

The piercing whistle cut through the air, quickly carrying far across the broad waters.

Splash—one tail, two tails…

As the lake’s surface erupted with splashing water, more and more little fish appeared, their sleek forms breaking the surface. Like arrows of water, they shot toward Qinghu’s location from the distant reaches of the lake.

Such commotion immediately startled the lake’s larger inhabitants. One by one, they stretched out their spiritual senses toward the surface—only to recoil in terror as soon as their awareness touched the water above. The powerful will that blanketed the lake inflicted heavy injuries with a single brush against their senses.

A god! Could it be that those little fish were pets released by a god?

Beneath the now placid surface, countless powerful shadows longed to escape the lake, but when they rushed to the outlet that led to the underground river, they discovered it had become a one-way passage—exit only, no entry! Were they to be trapped here forever?

Unable to leave, each creature found a hiding place, burrowing as deep as possible in hopes of surviving this crisis.

Qinghu’s gaze fell on the enthusiastic fish now circling her, wagging their tails and leaping in graceful arcs above the water.

They had grown again—how wonderful! There would never be a shortage of high-tier fish meat in the future.

“Hello, everyone!” Qinghu greeted the fish warmly.

The little fish leapt even higher, showing off their aerial skills with ever greater effort.

“Jump higher, just a bit more—beautiful!” Qinghu clapped in delight.

Spurred on, the fish soared higher, their movements increasingly elegant. Soon, they formed groups, leaping in unison.

“Wow,” Qingzhen was dumbfounded. The fish leapt in groups of five, their timing so precise it was uncanny. Was this even possible? What kind of fish were these? Not even humans could manage such perfect, continuous leaps, let alone synchronize so flawlessly.

“Beautiful leaps!” Qinghu applauded even more enthusiastically.

If one looked down from above, they would see schools of little fish moving in neat rows of five, each following the tail ahead, forming an endless procession toward the shore. At the designated spot, they would slap their tails, spring from the water in perfect arcs, and as each group reached its apex, new fish would leap from below to take their place.

“Hey, hey, we’re here for carp, remember? Carp!” Qingzhen reminded Qinghu, exasperated at her distraction. “Enough watching, let’s get to business.”

“All right. Little fish, help me bring up some six-whiskered black carp—I’m hungry,” Qinghu communicated with them via her spiritual sense.

The fish scattered instantly, diving back into the depths.

Soon, large black carp with six whiskers at their mouths shot from the lake, landing on the grass beside Qinghu.

Thud, thud—each one hit the ground, flailing wildly in an attempt to leap back into the lake.

Qingzhen would have none of it. He hurriedly used his sword to push any fish too close to the water further into the grass.

Clear Spring, who had been following behind, saw this and ran off to call the others.

Not long after, Qingjin and the group arrived, just as another wave of six-whiskered carp landed on the shore.

The grass was soon strewn with large, lively fish, each weighing at least ten pounds, still flopping about energetically.

“Heh, six-whiskered black carp—these are absolutely delicious,” Old Zhao exclaimed happily at the sight.

Qingjin quickly assessed the situation and turned to Qinghu. “Little Hu, that’s enough. These carp will more than suffice.”

Hearing this, Qinghu relayed the message to her little fish—they could return and eat.

As the last carp landed ashore, the lake returned to its peaceful stillness.

“Go home and eat well, everyone. Eat whatever you like, and grow big and strong!” Qinghu waved and called out toward the great lake.

All that could be seen on the water were rippling waves—no sign of fish remained.