Chapter 46: Fishing Song and Dance
Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Fishing Song and Dance
Quanya?
’A dog’s tooth... a lackey?’
Zhu Ge desperately wanted to take a deep breath to quell the growing fire in his heart.
But he knew any movement right now would be noticed, would be interpreted.
He refused to believe that someone who had reached the Third Realm could be as brainless and brazenly sharp as he appeared on the surface.
So, Zhu Ge sighed. "It is what I wished for, but I dared not ask."
It was a sigh, but no one could know of the flames igniting in the depths of Zhu Ge’s heart.
’Power!’
’I have to grow stronger!’
’I must obtain immense power!’
But Zhu Ge also felt a sense of powerlessness.
He had only just transmigrated and had to face the Fungus God. Now, with the Fungus God finally dead, he had hoped to cultivate for a good eight or ten years.
But forget eight or ten years; he wasn’t even being given a year or two.
This Jingzhe Official’s intentions were anything but friendly. If he mishandled this, it would be more dangerous than the Fungus God.
However, this was also an opportunity.
A Third Realm existence... if he played his cards right, he might even be able to gain something from this.
In any case, he would have to play it by ear... Zhu Ge concealed the sharp glint in his eyes.
"Good!" At that, the Raincoat Fisherman sat down with a laugh, picked up his chopsticks, and put a slice of Jianshouqing mushroom in his mouth. He then gestured to Duan Lei and the others.
"Everyone, please sit. From now on, you are all my trusted confidants, my eyes and ears. This food is quite delicious. Hurry up and eat!"
’Eat?’
Everyone fell silent, staring at the food scattered on the dusty ground amid the overturned tables and chairs.
"What’s wrong?" Seeing their hesitation, the Raincoat Fisherman chuckled and put down his chopsticks. "Or do you need me to beg you to grace me with your presence?"
Zhu Ge sighed internally. He was about to say something when he saw Duan Lei be the first to get up and right the furniture.
But the village mostly had benches to save on wood. After all, of the seven necessities of life—firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea—firewood came first. Where would they find so much lumber for furniture?
So, the few tables they had were already broken from the commotion.
Without a second thought, Duan Lei simply sat right on the ground, picked up a wooden plate, and started eating. He paid no mind to the dust clinging to the food, and though his table manners were atrocious, he ate with a surprising appetite.
It was as if he wasn’t eating filth, but a gourmet delicacy.
"Hahaha, good, good, good! You’re quite the eater. What’s your name?" the Raincoat Fisherman asked kindly.
"Everyone calls me Big Belly Dog. They say I can really eat," Duan Lei replied.
"Big Belly Dog? A fine name, haha! There’s still some food on the ground, don’t let it go to waste!" The Raincoat Fisherman seemed to be in high spirits.
"I used to have a dog. Dogs just love eating off the ground. Haha, hahaha!"
As he spoke, he glanced, intentionally or not, at Zhu Ge.
Zhu Ge’s face was expressionless.
"I’ll eat it," Duan Lei suddenly said.
He reached his grimy, dusty chopsticks toward the ground.
"Delicious."
It was a piece of cured meat. As he tossed it into his mouth, the grit seemed to dissolve instantly, followed by the rich, savory aroma of fat, which made Duan Lei’s eyes light up.
However, the way his throat worked as he swallowed betrayed the presence of the dirt.
"Good! Good! Haha, good!" the Raincoat Fisherman roared with laughter.
Seated nearby, Xianxian had tears streaming down her face, but she kept her mouth covered, stifling any sound.
The tears carved clean paths down her dust-streaked face.
"Little girl, you must be starving, aren’t you? Crying from hunger... come over here to me," the Raincoat Fisherman said, looking at Xianxian. "I’ll feed you."
More tears welled up in Xianxian’s eyes. She instinctively wanted to shake her head, but in the end, she forced her trembling legs to rise.
But her legs had likely gone soft with fear; she tried several times but couldn’t get up.
"Don’t!"
Sui Niang couldn’t hold back any longer. She rushed forward to embrace Xianxian, her pleading gaze shifting between Yu the Scholar, the Raincoat Fisherman, and Zhu Ge, before finally landing on Zhu Ge.
In her pleading eyes, Zhu Ge saw a glint of grim resolve.
"Haha, I’m not a ravenous beast. What is there to be afraid of?" The Raincoat Fisherman shook his head with a smile and took a sip of wine from his cup.
"I just think the little girl is cute and want to hold her, that’s all."
After speaking, he set down his cup, his gaze shifting to Sui Niang.
"You people of Yunjiang, on the other hand, have slightly darker skin. Though not as delicate and fair as the women from my Dongting Prefecture, I imagine you must have a certain charm when you dance. Come, little lady, I will teach you to dance."
This time, the Raincoat Fisherman began to sing directly:
"Oh, the big rains, they don’t fall, hey / The soft rains, they sprinkle so!"
"My love, oh brother, sends a letter / Askin’ for my straw raincoat."
"The raincoat’s still here, a-hangin’ / On the palm tree, don’t you know!"
As he began to sing, a peculiar ripple of power spread out.
Zhu Ge instantly felt his body freeze, unable to move. It seemed Duan Lei and the others were the same, even Yu the Scholar.
Only Sui Niang, who suddenly let go of Xianxian and, with graceful steps, walked forward to stand before them all.
She waved her arms and moved her feet, beginning to dance to the rhythm of the song.
The dance was like the fleeting shadow and ripples left by a water bird skimming across a lake. Her hand and foot movements were quick and nimble, but her gestures were not overly large.
It wasn’t the provocative, hormone-fueled dance Zhu Ge had imagined. Instead, it was quite reserved, yet it expressed a sense of life and vitality full of classical beauty.
If not for the current situation, the song and dance would have been an absolute audio-visual feast.
But at that moment, everyone else was just part of the backdrop. Only the Raincoat Fisherman watched Sui Niang, stuffing his face all the while.
His mouth, singing and eating at the same time, was completely unimpeded. The Raincoat Fisherman even clapped his hands from time to time, exclaiming, "Marvelous!"
"Marvelous! Marvelous! Truly marvelous!"
The Raincoat Fisherman’s mouth was slick with grease. "This coarse food may be humble, but the dancer is like a leopard in the woods! Compared to the water birds of Dongting, she has a flavor all her own. Marvelous, utterly marvelous!"
After about fifteen minutes, the singing slowly stopped.
"A most excellent meal!" The Raincoat Fisherman put down his bowl and chopsticks. Not a scrap of food was left on the table. Even the cilantro leaves used as seasoning had been picked clean, and every last drop of oil on the wooden plate had been sopped up with rice.
’Does this man really live a life of luxury in the city?’ Zhu Ge, still paralyzed, watched this scene unfold and couldn’t help but feel that the Raincoat Fisherman ate far too cleanly.
THUD!
The moment the Raincoat Fisherman stopped singing, Sui Niang’s body collapsed to the ground.
"Mama!!" Xianxian could no longer hold back her sobs. She ran over to hug Sui Niang, tears streaming from her eyes.
Zhu Ge couldn’t care about the consequences anymore. He got up and went with Yu the Scholar and the others to help Sui Niang to her feet. Then, they stood together, facing the Raincoat Fisherman.
But the Raincoat Fisherman didn’t even spare them a glance. He turned and walked toward the small boat he had left outside.
"Tonight, I will rest in my boat. Tomorrow, after I collect some money and grain, I will depart. Zhu Ge, you rest for one night. Tomorrow, you will accompany me into the mountains!"
His voice drifted back from a distance as his figure vanished from their sight.
"Zhu Ge..." Yu the Scholar looked at him, his eyes full of worry. "Are you really going to be his Quanya?"
Duan Lei and Ji Fuhui also looked over. Sui Niang, though weak, exhausted, and tear-streaked, struggled to stand on her own.
"If I don’t go, we will all die." Zhu Ge shook his head. "If there were more people, he wouldn’t dare to slaughter us. But there are only a few of us, and given what just happened, he could kill us all without it affecting his Dao Heart or his scholarly conscience in the slightest."
"It’s all my fault." Yu the Scholar’s face filled with shame upon hearing this.
Before the meal, Zhu Ge and the others had held the moral high ground, as they had been completely obedient to the Raincoat Fisherman.
But Yu the Scholar’s outburst had given the Raincoat Fisherman a reason, an excuse.
With such an excuse, the Raincoat Fisherman would have a perfectly valid pretext to kill them.
Not only did outsiders not know what was happening here, but even if they did, they probably wouldn’t blame the Raincoat Fisherman.
This wasn’t a society ruled by law. Here, people like the Raincoat Fisherman, who wielded power, truly belonged to a higher class and status.
"Don’t worry. He must need us for something," Zhu Ge said, patting Yu the Scholar’s shoulder.
"There’s no need to say any more. Just stay put and behave. I’ll go with him tomorrow."
Those in the Third Realm develop Divine Sense, so he couldn’t say much more to Yu the Scholar right now.
At the same time, he wasn’t entirely without a way to fight back.
Tonight... Zhu Ge narrowed his eyes, looking toward the soon-to-appear moon.
Tonight was when he would get his second simulation!