Chapter 16

The sudden bite on the hook caught Lu Qing off guard.Fortunately, with his years of fishing experience, his reaction was swift.

In an instant, he gripped the fishing rod tightly and steadied himself, preventing both him and the rod from being dragged into the water.

The pull this time was no weaker than the previous Blue-armored Fish!

"Goodness, do all the fish in your world like to ambush?"

Feeling the pull on the rod, Lu Qing couldn't help but laugh.

As a seasoned angler, he had nearly been outwitted twice today, almost becoming the bait himself.

The fish in this otherworldly lake had a peculiar way of attacking the bait without any warning, often ambushing without any prelude.

Had it not been for his extensive experience, he might have fallen for it.

But now that the initial ambush had failed, it was time to reel them in!

Lu Qing gripped the rod with both hands, constantly feeling the changes in the force from the rod and responding accordingly, beginning a new round of battle with the fish beneath the water.

After some time of fighting and exerting strength, Lu Qing noticed something was amiss.

Initially, he thought the new fish on the hook was another large one like the Blue-armored Fish.

The initial tug was indeed strong.

However, he soon realized something different. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ N0vᴇlFirᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Unlike the Blue-armored Fish, which exerted a strong and continuous force, this new fish, although powerful at first, lacked endurance.

As long as Lu Qing could stabilize the initial surge, the force would quickly weaken.

It was the type of fish that had explosive strength but couldn't sustain it.

Based on his experience, Lu Qing guessed that the fish beneath the water was not as large as he initially thought.

Instead, it was a fast-swimming, highly explosive fish but not large in size.

Realizing this, Lu Qing felt more at ease.

Speed-driven fish were much easier to handle than large fish like the Blue-armored Fish.

The Blue-armored Fish had tremendous strength, requiring cautious handling at every moment, and had great endurance, turning the battle into a test of patience for both sides.

In contrast, with a sprinting explosive fish, once he managed the initial struggle, its strength would diminish rapidly, making escape impossible.

Things proceeded just as Lu Qing had anticipated.

After stabilizing the force of the fish’s struggle a few more times, he clearly felt its explosive power diminishing.

Then, after a period of tugging, Lu Qing saw the fish’s silhouette.

"A red fish?"

When the fish emerged from the water, Lu Qing was stunned.

It was a vivid, fiery red.

An extraordinary fish, undoubtedly!

Seeing such a brilliant red, Lu Qing’s heart leaped with excitement.

At the same time, he noticed that the fish was not large, only about twenty to thirty centimeters long.

Feeling more confident, Lu Qing relaxed and played with the fish more easily.

Before long, the fish, exhausted, was reeled in.

"Brother, this fish is so beautiful!"

Xiao Yan’s eyes lit up as she looked at the fish on the grass.

"It really is beautiful."

Seeing the fish clearly, Lu Qing couldn't help but praise it.

The newly caught fish was about a foot long, slender, resembling the carp from his previous life on Earth.

It had two long, flowing whiskers at the corners of its mouth, and its tail looked like a blossom.

Coupled with its flame-like red scales, the whole fish appeared very beautiful.

After observing for a while, information about the fish began to surface in Lu Qing's mind.

[Red Moon Carp: An extraordinary fish covered in red scales, exceptionally fast.]

[Contains a trace of spiritual energy, making its flesh highly nutritious and delicious. Its scales can also be used in medicine.]

[It is said that with proper nurturing, the Red Moon Carp has a chance to evolve into a spiritual fish.]

Along with these descriptions, a white glow tinged with a hint of red emanated from the fish.

"Red glow?"

At first, Lu Qing thought he had seen it wrong.

The red glow was reflected from the Red Moon Carp’s scales.

But upon closer inspection, he confirmed it wasn’t just a reflection from the scales but a genuine light that only his abilities could see, indicating the item's grade.

This meant that the Red Moon Carp was not just an ordinary white-light level item.

It was a unique fish that lay between the white and red-light grades.

No wonder it had three lines of description.

Ordinary white-light items typically had only two lines of description.

He immediately focused on the third line of the description.

"Has a chance to evolve into a spiritual fish…" Lu Qing pondered as he read the third line. "Does this mean that the spiritual fish is a higher grade than the extraordinary fish?"

He suddenly remembered the Snow Silkworm silk given by the old doctor.

Snow Silkworm silk was already a red-light level treasure; perhaps the Snow Silkworm that produced such a treasure was a spiritual silkworm.

Unfortunately, this hypothesis could not be confirmed for the time being.

Even the old doctor didn't know the origin of the Snow Silkworm silk, so there was no one to ask for advice.

Therefore, the description of the second line was more useful to him than the third.

"Extremely nutritious and delicious flesh…"

Reading the information, Lu Qing couldn't help but smile.

Finally, he had a suitable gift for visiting the old doctor tomorrow.

Originally, he had planned to take the Blue-armored Fish if there were no other catches.

But now, the Red Moon Carp was clearly more valuable.

Moreover, its size made it more suitable as a gift.

Thinking of this, Lu Qing quickly took out the Blue-armored Fish and placed the Red Moon Carp in the bucket.

Since it was meant to be a gift, he couldn't let it die.

Fortunately, the Red Moon Carp lived up to its extraordinary nature. Although it had been exhausted from the struggle and had stayed on the grass for a while, it immediately started swimming vigorously when it hit the water again.

Its vitality was remarkably strong.

With the Red Moon Carp in hand, Lu Qing decided not to continue fishing.

After battling two large fish, he was exhausted.

Even if he continued fishing, he wouldn’t have the strength to reel in another one.

So, it was best to stop while ahead.

"Xiao Yan, let's get ready to go back."

Using materials on hand, Lu Qing twisted a grass rope to tie up the Blue-armored Fish and hoisted it onto his back.

With a bucket in one hand and a knife and fishing rod in the other, he turned to Xiao Yan.

"Brother, let me help you carry something."

Xiao Yan looked at her brother, feeling distressed seeing him carrying so much.

"Alright."

Lu Qing tried walking a bit and realized it was indeed difficult to manage all the items.

After some thought, he hung the bamboo tube holding the worms around Xiao Yan's neck.

Then, he placed the fishing rod on her shoulder.

"Xiao Yan, you carry this fishing rod and walk carefully, don’t trip."

"Okay, I got it!" The little one nodded seriously.

With that, the siblings trudged back with one carrying the fish and the other the fishing rod.

As they passed the fishing spot, the villagers were astonished to see the two figures, one big and one small, making their way back.