Chapter 197: Pregnant Linglong

The big fish’s reaction amused the two people and the fox on board. Hu Yun jumped off Yin Qing’s back, went to the stove, sniffed the clay pot eagerly, and then stared at Ji Yuan, waiting for his portion.

Ji Yuan served himself a full bowl. Estimating that the remaining amount was about another bowl, he took the clay pot off the stove, placed it on the ground, and put the spoon inside.

“Here, you get the most,” he said. “Everything left in this pot is yours. Drink it all!”

The red fox didn’t care about formalities; it grabbed the spoon and began to eat.

Ji Yuan tasted the Silver Aperture fish soup. It was indeed incredibly delicious, and he couldn’t help but gulp it down.

He knew that Silver Aperture, a spiritual item formed from concentrated water essence, could be refined in ways more conducive to cultivation. However, there was no doubt that stewing it into soup yielded the best flavor.

Yin Qing also finished the fish soup in his bowl. Seeing Hu Yun still spooning it out, he thought there was plenty left in the pot and leaned over, hoping for a share.

“Hu Yun, give me some more,” he said. “It’s too greedy for one fox to drink a whole pot.”

Hu Yun ignored him completely, tightening its grip on the spoon with its paw and speeding up. Finally, it wobbled as it lifted the clay pot to drink the last few drops directly, causing Yin Qing’s mouth to twitch.

Ji Yuan looked at the large green fish still lingering by the boat and pointed to the clay pot beside him.

“There was only this much in total,” he said. “Aside from the boatman who had a small half-bowl, the four of us each had one bowl, and it’s all gone.”

Listening to Ji Yuan speak to the big fish, Yin Qing and the red fox had also, at some point, crouched by the old boat, staring at the large green fish in the water.

It was Hu Yun’s first time seeing a spirit-demon other than himself and Lu Shan Jun, so he was particularly excited and curious.

“Hey, haven’t you refined your transverse bone yet?” Hu Yun asked. “The water is so cold; how do you get through winter?”

The large green fish stirred the water, facing the red fox whose head and two paws were peeking over the side of the boat.

It spat out a string of bubbles: “Pop…pop…pop…”

“Mr. Ji says you accumulate virtue and perform good deeds,” Hu Yun continued. “Have you saved many people? Have you ever seen the Water Lord in these waters, I mean, a water ghost…”

“Pop…pop…pop…” The large green fish again produced a string of bubbles.

While it was clearly a fox’s lips speaking to a fish’s mouth, the scene struck Yin Qing and Ji Yuan as surprisingly harmonious, as if both sides perfectly understood each other’s questions and answers.

The large green fish had actually cultivated for many more years than Hu Yun, and its temperament was also more stable. However, as a wild spirit-monster, it was ultimately rootless like duckweed. Hu Yun, on the other hand, had the advantage of regularly consuming elixirs and other benefits after becoming a chess piece, which caused the large green fish’s cultivation to lag behind.

Of course, this lag in cultivation attainment could not be directly equated with combat power. Any discerning person could tell, at a glance, that even several Hu Yuns combined might not be able to defeat one large green fish at this moment.

After the fox and the fish conversed for a while, Ji Yuan finally spoke.

“How about this,” Ji Yuan suggested. “You, the large green fish, can follow this small boat underwater with us to the section of the Chunmu River outside Chunhui Prefecture. I can guarantee that the river god and patrols in that area will not expel you.”

Having said this, Ji Yuan turned to Yin Qing.

“Later, when you study at Huiyuan Academy in Chunhui Prefecture, whenever you have a day off, find a secluded section of the river outside the city and read to this large green fish.”

Yin Qing pointed to his nose in surprise.

“Me?”

The large green fish also produced a series of “pop…pop…pop…” in the water.

Ji Yuan’s expression was calm. He looked at Yin Qing, noting that while his spiritual essence circulated subtly within his body, his heart-aperture was somewhat indistinct. He then spoke with significant meaning.

“Yes,” Ji Yuan replied. “Those with refined hearts handle affairs well; it will help the large green fish avoid unnecessary detours.”

Seeing that Mr. Ji was serious, Yin Qing no longer refused and softly said, “Okay.”

Hu Yun and the large green fish had clearly heard Ji Yuan and Yin Qing’s conversation. Although the large green fish had not yet refined its transverse bone, it had likely cultivated in this river section for a considerable time and could probably understand a fair amount of human speech. At the very least, the recent words were not difficult to grasp.

So Ji Yuan solemnly asked it again, facing the water.

“What I just said was merely our one-sided discussion,” Ji Yuan explained. “If you don’t wish to, you don’t have to bother with it.”

After Ji Yuan finished speaking, he tidied up the bowls and the clay pot. He then scooped a small bowl of water from the boat’s side to extinguish the remaining charcoal in the stove. Looking around at the distant river, he noted that their boat was the only one stopping nearby that night. “Alright,” he announced, “it’s getting late. Feel free to do as you please; I’ll go rest now.”

Leaving this light remark, Ji Yuan walked back into the cabin and lowered the front cover halfway.

Yin Qing stayed outside, chatting with the fox and the fish for a while. Feeling sleepy, he went to the other side of the boat to relieve himself, then returned to the cabin to sleep, leaving only Hu Yun and the large green fish to continue their idle chatter.

“Da Qing, do you know,” Hu Yun chattered, “in my hometown, Niu Kui Mountain, there’s a very, very fierce tiger. Its mouth is so big, you wouldn’t even be enough for one bite! And Mr. Ji has a peculiar paper bird. Yin Qing said Mr. Ji folded it when he was bored, but I suspect it’s a trick—there must be a spirit bird inside…”

“Pop pop…pop…”

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, the boatman woke up from his sleeping quarters in the rear cabin.

“Hoo-ah!”

He yawned and stretched, feeling brimming with vitality and energy. The true qi in his entire body flowed more smoothly, and the fatigue accumulated over the past few days had completely vanished.

“Goodness,” he marveled, “that Mr. Ji’s fish soup was indeed a profoundly nourishing medicinal tonic. I’ve never experienced a supplement with such magical effects. Even king ginseng probably pales in comparison—how much must this cost…”

He got up, rinsed his mouth, and washed his face. Then he walked to the front cabin; both cabin covers were still closed, indicating the two passengers were likely still asleep.

The boatman walked along the gunwale outside the cabin to retrieve the stove from the front. When he arrived, he found that the clay pot and bowls had already been washed clean. Looking outside the front cabin door, he saw that the bowls and chopsticks used last night had also been cleaned and neatly placed there.

“Now that’s a true scholar!”

With this thought, the man carried the stove and clay pot, with the chopsticks and spoon placed on top, in one hand. In his other arm, he balanced a tall stack of bowls of various sizes, as he walked back to the rear cabin along the gunwale outside the cabin.

Switching to a larger clay stove for more heat, he set a pot of porridge to cook. The boatman then took some bamboo strips and a small handful of dry thatch, walked to the stern, pulled down his trousers, and squatted.

With a “plop…”, as something dropped into the water, a green shadow darted far away beneath the surface…

Half an hour later, Ji Yuan and Yin Qing woke up. After greeting the boatman, they ate porridge, accompanied by freshly retrieved and cut pickled vegetables from the boat’s pickle jar.

Meanwhile, the boatman, who had already washed and finished his meal, resumed rowing, propelling the small boat towards Chunhui Prefecture.

In a great mood, the boatman even hummed, “Ai hei ai hei.” The tune almost made Ji Yuan mentally sing along to “West Lake’s beautiful scenery on a spring day.” Approximately two and a half days later, in the afternoon, the small boat reached its destination, docking at the large pier outside Chunhui Prefecture. This allowed Ji Yuan to once again witness the lively scene on the spring waters, which, compared to the Tongtian River outside Jingji Prefecture, was less bustling but far more vibrant and imbued with the essence of spring.

The boatman refused to accept any more fare from Ji Yuan and Yin Qing. While he could feign ignorance about the Thousand-Day Spring wine they drank that night, the fish soup they had afterward was truly a rare and invaluable treasure, certainly worth far more than the boat fare.

Seeing his insistence, Ji Yuan did not try to persuade him further. He thanked the boatman and led Yin Qing into Chunhui Prefecture city.

Compared to his last visit, Ji Yuan wasn’t entirely familiar with the route this time, but Huiyuan Academy was quite well-known in Chunhui Prefecture, making it easy to find.

He took the opportunity to stroll through the vibrant city with Yin Qing and Hu Yun, allowing Yin Qing to familiarize himself with the new environment.

To prevent Hu Yun from causing unnecessary trouble in the city, Ji Yuan had specifically hung the small Yin wood plaque—originally given to Master Yin by the Chunhui Prefecture City God—on the red fox. This ensured that even if a day or night patrol deity discerned the red fox’s magical abilities, they wouldn’t immediately take action.

At the same time, Ji Yuan was also formulating a somewhat mischievous plan: he needed to show Hu Yun the hardships of a demon cultivator’s life. For instance, by having him meet the old turtle, Hu Yun would learn to appreciate his own good fortune.