“Ah?”
Li Yong was stunned. Wasn’t it him who had spotted this koi first?
The koi in the fish tank in his living room had just died, and he was short of one to stabilise the feng shui. He had originally planned to go to the fish street in town in a couple of days to have a look.
As a result, after reading his books this morning, he happened to fancy eating fish, so he came to the docks for a stroll, and unexpectedly saw a koi right there.
This koi was coloured in three shades, with red, white, and blue interweaving, its body slender, its form elegant. It was probably more beautiful than most koi in the fish street, perfectly suited to be kept in that white porcelain fish tank with a narrowing mouth.
Although the big man’s asking price was a bit inflated, he had not even haggled yet, so how had someone else agreed to it first?
“Lu Lang, look at the way this fish is eyeing us. Is it not particularly pitiable?”
Liu Qingyan gently bent down, leaning closer to the fish hold on the fishing boat, looking towards that koi.
“Take it back with us. It would be just right to keep it in the pond in the courtyard.”
Lu Zheng had bought several courtyards and connected them, imitating Suzhou gardens by creating small bridges over flowing water. Although it was still water, he had planted aquatic plants and lotuses, and occasionally filtered and cleaned it with true qi, so the water was clear. He also kept a few koi there.
“Alright!” Lu Zheng nodded, then reached into his sleeve and pulled out three banknotes worth one guan each, handing them to the boatman.
“By the way, do you have wooden buckets on the boat? Get me one. How much?”
“No charge! No charge!” The big man took the banknotes, beaming with joy, waving his hands repeatedly. He told his companion to fetch a wooden bucket from the cabin, then scooped it into the fish hold, scooping up that koi along with half a bucket of water.
Li Yong had not even uttered half a sentence before Lu Zheng and the boatman’s deal was done.
He blinked, pursed his lips, shook his head.
Fine, a gentleman does not seize what another favours, especially when the one who spoke up was a beautiful girl. He could just go to the fish street again that afternoon.
“Boatman, pick me two fat fish.” Li Yong nodded and smiled at Lu Zheng, then turned to the big man and said.
“Good, good, good!” The big man nodded. Business was booming, and he was delighted, so he took a grass rope in one hand and reached into the hold with the other to grab fish.
With one hand carrying the wooden bucket and the other holding the softshell turtle and the carp, Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan turned around, nodded to Li Yong in greeting, and headed back.
Li Yong returned the courtesy, paid the money, took the two fish handed over by the big man, and was just about to say a few words to Lu Zheng to make a friend when he realised that the two figures had suddenly vanished from the road.
“Ah?” Li Yong blinked, thinking to himself, were they really that fast?
Then, carrying the two fish, Li Yong hurried out of the docks, stood at the edge of the wharf, turned his head to look around, but still saw nothing.
“How strange.” Li Yong shook his head, let his gaze sweep over a few carriages around the docks again, but decided not to inquire further.
“Never mind. Perhaps they are young master and miss from the prefectural city out for a jaunt. If we missed each other, then it was not meant to be.”
Li Yong shook his head, shaking off that vague feeling in his mind that he had somehow missed something important, picked up the two fish, and hurried home to cook.
Up on the clouds, Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan watched Li Yong mutter to himself as he left. They exchanged a smile, then turned the cloud around and flew straight to Tonglin County.
…
Up on the cloud, Lu Zheng looked at the koi in the wooden bucket, lost in thought.
Liu Qingyan’s eyes flickered. She glanced at Lu Zheng, then at the koi in the water, and could not help laughing. “What is it, Lu Lang? Are you worried that this koi will be bullied by the larger ones?”
“No, that is not it. It would be a wonder if it did not bully those ordinary koi.” Lu Zheng shook his head.
“Hm?” Liu Qingyan was taken aback. Lu Zheng’s words carried a deeper meaning. Could it be that…
She extended a strand of demonic power into the koi and probed it, finding nothing unusual.
Liu Qingyan looked at Lu Zheng, but Lu Zheng merely curled the corner of his mouth and nodded.
In truth, Lu Zheng had not thought much of it at first. After all, it was just an ordinary koi, and there were plenty in the world.
But the problem was, right after he agreed to buy the koi for Liu Qingyan and completed the exchange of money and goods with the boatman, nearly four hundred points of qi yun light flooded in, almost scaring him to death.
It was not from this koi, but from that scholar Li Yong.
Or perhaps from both of them combined!
More than the qi yun light provided by the two ancient demons on Zhu Yu Mountain before!
Could it also be an ancient demon?
So, although Lu Zheng had probed it three times with true qi and detected nothing amiss with the koi, he would not believe it was an ordinary one.
Thus, the question arose: what to do with this koi?
“What should we do?”
“Of course, release it.” Lu Zheng said matter-of-factly. “Once I lower the cloud, I will put this koi back into the river.”
In any case, safety first. Lu Zheng could not possibly take this koi home. Besides, he had already earned several hundred strands of qi yun light; it was not a loss!
“But…”
Liu Qingyan hesitated a little. “What if it gets caught by ordinary fishermen again?”
Such a beautiful koi naturally stirred some sympathy in Liu Qingyan.
“Oh, right.”
Lu Zheng blinked, also realising the point. If this fish were an ancient demon, how could it be caught so easily?
What if it fell into the hands of someone who did not appreciate it and they simply stewed it?
Could it be…
One must know that qi yun light was not entirely proportional to one’s own strength. It encompassed strength, potential, luck, influence, and more, with strength being the most direct manifestation.
Thus, ancient demons all had abundant qi yun light, while Zhu Yu Shan, Du Yueyao, and Wang Xiaowan would also gain qi yun light when their fortunes were altered.
As for the koi before them, if it truly were an ancient demon, it would not idly allow itself to be caught by mortals. It would have revealed its true form and devoured them long ago.
So, given this behaviour, it was either high in potential but low in strength, or an old monster gravely injured.
Either way, Lu Zheng reckoned he could handle it.
Since that was the case…
“Confess yourself. What is your origin?”
Lu Zheng said calmly, while holding Liu Qingyan close, ready to strike at any moment or to flee at any moment.
If it was a man-eating demon, then kill it for the qi yun; if it was a fallen noble, then save it for the qi yun.
As soon as the words fell, Lu Zheng fixed his gaze on the wooden bucket and saw the koi swimming about in it, showing no reaction whatsoever.
Lu Zheng said fiercely, “If you do not confess, I will stew you into soup the moment we get home!”
Buying a single fish had netted so much qi yun light. If he really stewed it into soup, could the qi yun light directly reach a thousand?
Lu Zheng could not help swallowing a mouthful of saliva. It seemed this might be worth considering?
“Hmph! Fox Sister will protect me!”
A crisp voice suddenly rang out from the koi’s mouth.
Liu Qingyan was startled. So it really was a demon?
Lu Zheng was also startled. This koi could see through Liu Qingyan’s true form?
An ancient demon! It must be an ancient demon!
Lu Zheng narrowed his eyes, shielding Liu Qingyan as he put some more distance between them and the wooden bucket. “This junior is Lu Zheng of Baiyun Temple. Please reveal yourself, senior.”
“Hee hee? Do you call me senior?”
The koi’s voice was full of amusement, but it then asked, “How did you discover me? Father’s transformation technique cannot be seen through by anyone.”
Liu Qingyan looked at Lu Zheng, who said calmly, “First, those big carp in the fish hold were all avoiding you, which is unreasonable.
Second, when the boatman scooped you into the wooden bucket, you did not panic or struggle at all, which is not the behaviour of an ordinary fish.
Third, your eyes are full of spirit, unlike those of ordinary fish.”
What a joke. Knowing the result, guessing the process was simple enough.
“Oh oh, so that is how it is. You are truly impressive!” The koi was indeed fooled.
“So…”
In the next moment, the koi leaped out of the wooden bucket and, in an instant, transformed into human form.
