This boatman had only been sailing along this route for three years, but he was familiar with some of the folk tales of those who made a living on the water. The noise he just saw from the boat, and the churning of the river, was very similar to the tale of a drowned person transformed into a Lord of the Water.¹

In the end, the boatman was skilled at martial arts, so he quickly calmed himself down and moved around the mast and back into the cabin in just a few steps.

Hu Yun over there had already finished the bowl of rice at a very fast speed. He simply could not stop eating the delicious steamed fish in the sauce. He merely regretted that the boatman did not go to relieve himself sooner. Now that he saw the boatman return, he could only hide under the stool. There were still a few fish bones stuck in his mouth between his teeth, and he attempted to dig them out with his claws.

Ji Yuan had already heard the movement outside the boat, and knew what was in the water. Seeing the man hurrying back with a gloomy expression, he asked a question casually.

“Boatman, what happened?”

The man reached out to the table and picked up the wine jug containing Qianrichun. He shook it, feeling that there was still some wine remaining, and replied to Ji Yuan.

“Mr. Ji, and you, young man, there may be some evil things under the river, but don’t be afraid, we boatmen have our own local methods of dealing with this. I must trouble you for another glass of wine.”

Rumor had it that the better the alcohol, the better the effect; this time, it happened to be Qianrichun that would be used.

Yin Qing subconsciously glanced at Ji Yuan with a curious expression on his face.

“What is it? A water ghost?”²

“Shh! Young Master Yin, do you want to die? It’s taboo to say that…”

The boatman’s expression changed. They all knew it was a water ghost, but who would dare to shout like that over the river? They all called it a “Lord of the Water” in awe, otherwise what if they angered it and it haunted them?

Although the man was a martial artist, this was the first time he had encountered this kind of situation. He was a little afraid of the supernatural.

Yin Qing wasn’t at all panicked. Mr. Ji was standing beside him calmly. He was a very smart boy; although he had never seen the true extent of Mr. Ji’s abilities, he had seen Mr. Ji meet and chat with the City God when he was a child. He had also seen an old man, a friend of Mr. Ji’s, devour half a tree of jujubes in a single bite.

Could a water ghost who, from the elders’ stories, just liked to drag people into the water to drown them, even affect Mr. Ji?

Of course, Yin Qing had asked about a “water ghost” because he didn’t know the name “Lord of the Water,” otherwise he would have at least respected the boatman’s feelings. But he didn’t expect that this man, who could be considered a martial artist, would be so timid. Seeing that the boatman was so concerned, he apologized repeatedly.

There was no way that the boatman would concern himself overly with Yin Qing, a boy not even twenty years of age, so he picked up the wine jug, poured a glass of wine, then apologized to Ji Yuan and walked to the side of the boat.

Holding the mast in his left hand and a glass of wine in the other, the boatman whispered into the water.

“If you don’t offend me, I won’t offend you. Please let me offer a glass of wine to show my respect, Water Lord, Water Lord, please leave immediately!”

After saying this, the man shook the wine glass out, and the wine splashed into the river three feet away. It was obvious that he was using as much strength as he could to shake. According to the old sailors’ sayings, the further the wine was splashed, the better, so that the drowned would run further away to drink it.

Ji Yuan had also heard tales to this effect, mainly from the boatman and his son back then, but now he interpreted it with a bit of wicked amusement.

‘Unfortunately, boatman, what you don’t realize is that the fish below is just a big, greedy carp. The better wine you give, the more likely it will refuse to leave!’

However, after the man poured the wine, he could vaguely hear the sound of water splashing in the distance. However, it was already dark, so he couldn’t see it clearly. He felt a little relieved.

‘It really works! ’

After calming himself down again, the boatman instructed Ji Yuan.

“Mr. Ji, you’d better move your pot to the cabin, the bow is a bit narrow. Let’s all rest peacefully tonight. I see that the sky is clear; it is said that Lords of the Water may only go ashore when it rains heavily. It will be fine to take a good rest on the boat.”

“Okay, thank you for the reminder, Boatman.”

Seeing that the man seemed to be going back to the aft cabin to rest, Ji Yuan hurriedly called out to him again.

“By the way, boatman, would you like to drink some of my fish soup? With your physique, it should be fine to eat half a bowl.”

The boatman was a little baffled by his words. What did he mean that ‘it should be fine to eat half a bowl’ given his physique? Could it be that this fish soup was poisonous, or was it too nourishing, like mountain ginseng?

He was about to refuse, but he suddenly thought of the fragrance he had smelled, and his words changed as they reached his throat.

“Well, a taste would be nice!”

Ji Yuan smiled and nodded. He took a few clean small ceramic bowls and spoons from the cabin and walked to the bow. The moment he lifted the lid of the pot, the rich aroma wafted out again.

‘Indeed, it really has melted into the soup. ’

This pot was usually used to stew fish soup and rice porridge. The fish soup made by two Silver Essences took up about half of the pot, which was no small amount.

Ji Yuan used a spoon to scoop less than half a bowl of fish soup for the boatman, then handed him the bowl.

“Here, boatman. In truth, this fish is no ordinary fish, but a medicinal fish. It has been fed precious medicines over many years and is a great tonic. After stewing, the meat is so tender that it melts into the water, releasing its medicinal potency. Eating this is very good for the body, but it is not advisable to eat too much. You are a martial artist, so it is alright for you to eat a little more, but the ingredients in this soup are really precious, so I can only give you a taste.”

After listening to Ji Yuan’s explanation, the boatman somewhat understood. It was a justified reaction.

“Thank you very much.”

The boatman took the bowl, breathed in the aroma of the fish soup, and licked a bit of the soup on the edge of the bowl. He tasted it. A mellow fragrance like wine lingered in the air. Although he appeared to be tasting the food, he was actually checking for poison. After all, he was not merely a boatman or a fisherman, so he needed to be on guard against others.

He sensed that there was no problem, so he ate it in one gulp.

“It’s delicious!. Thank you, Mr. Ji…”

Halfway through this sentence, the mellow fragrance in the mouth lingered, and it seemed as though a stream of clear water in his stomach moistened his five internal organs. At the same time, Qi rose in his body. He started to feel tipsy, as if he had drunk alcohol. However, his body instinctively knew that this was not poison, but rather greatly beneficial.

Seeing that he was staggering, Ji Yuan hurriedly took the bowl from his hand to prevent him from dropping it.

“Boatman, please go back to the cabin and take a nap, or meditate. Don’t stand here, you’ll fall into the water!”

Ji Yuan reminded the boatman. The latter merely said “okay,” returned to the cabin in a slightly drunk state, and closed the hatch.

In the boatman’s current state, as long as he fell asleep or meditated, anything that happened around him before dawn would remain fuzzy in his mind. Ji Yuan had anticipated this long ago.

“Mr. Ji, what happened to him?”

Facing Yin Qing’s curious question, Ji Yuan glanced at Hu Yun, who was already standing over the dining table feasting with the momentum of a “fierce tiger descending the mountain,” and smiled.³

“It was very nutritious. Alright, well, how about the four of us just eat this fish soup!”

“Okay, this soup smells so good, it can’t be helped. Um… Mr. Ji, did you say four?”

Yin Qing looked at Ji Yuan and Hu Yun, and instinctively felt that this boatman was obviously not the fourth Mr. Ji mentioned.

Ji Yuan didn’t say much. He sat at the bow of the boat, filled a bowl with fish soup, and waved at Yin Qing.

“Come, try my homemade fish soup.”

Yin Qing walked over to pick up the bowl and smiled.

“Mr. Ji, didn’t you tell the boatman that he could only eat half a bowl? How could I eat so much?”

“Hahaha, you are different from him, it’s okay.”

Yin Qing didn’t refuse. Mr. Ji wouldn’t hurt him, anyway. He laughed and took a sip. Immediately, a delicious, mellow taste filled his mouth.

“It’s delicious. Mr. Ji is a really good cook, even better than my mom!”

Hu Yun couldn’t bear it any longer, and quickly leapt out of the cabin. The unfinished fish and meat dishes over there were obviously not as attractive as this fish soup.

“Splash… Splash…”

A constant sound of surging water sounded near the bow, startling Yin Qing and Hu Yun. The latter suddenly jumped behind Yin Qing, scaring him even more. He felt the familiar paw pads trembling slightly, and realized that it was Hu Yun.

“I think you had something do to with that. You are a sly fox after all. Or were you scared that I wouldn’t be scared too?”

Hu Yun was not to be outdone.

“How could you be better than me? I almost spilled the fish soup! Mr. Ji, there is a monster in the water, quickly, get rid of it!”

The first half of his sentence was a barb at Yin Qing, while the second half was Hu Yun’s cry for help.

“Tsk…what kind of monster could this Lord of the Water be? The thing in the water is a big black carp with spiritual intelligence. If we were to compare abilities, you, Mr. Lord Immortal Fox Hu Yun,⁴ are much stronger than it!”

Lord Immortal Fox Hu Yun was a self-proclaimed, self-aggrandizing title that Hu Yun often used when he and Yin Qing were bickering. Of course, Ji Yuan had also overheard it, However, when Hu Yun heard Mr. Ji’s ridicule, Hu Yun was not ashamed, instead acted arrogantly behind Yin Qing’s back.

Ji Yuan ignored this silly fool⁵ for the time being. He filled another bowl of fish soup, stood on the bow of the boat, and bowed slightly with cupped hands towards the river.

“I haven’t seen you for many years, but you really are still active in this section of the river. Have you continued to accumulate virtue and do good deeds?”

The black carp⁶ in the water seemed to remember Ji Yuan. It stopped stirring currents underneath the water and floated directly to the surface. It blew bubbles and looked at Ji Yuan.

“Wow… what a big fish…”

“Yeah…”

The man and the fox stared blankly at the water, but they didn’t feel scared whatsoever.

They could see that this big carp was larger than a person in length, land its body was thicker than an ordinary, strong man’s waist. Its scales glowed with a faint azure light under the moon and star light

“Bo…Bo…Bo…”⁷

Bubbles came out of the big black carp’s mouth. It looked like it was drooling, watching the fish soup intently.

Ji Yuan widened his eyes and took a closer look at the big black fish. Its body was still the same as before, without any hostile energy, but even more spiritual, shining faintly with the power of of faith. It was far from the divine light of gods, but it could help stabilize its spiritual path to a certain extent. It seemed that the family had kept their promise. ⁸

“Please also try my homemade Silver Essence soup.”

As he spoke, Ji Yuan extended his arm with the bowl and poured it downwards. Immediately, the big black carp in the water took big gulps of water from the river and sucked all the fish soup that had been poured out into its stomach.

This Silver Water Essence was a true natural tonic for aquatic creatures. In addition, the Silver Essence soup was extremely delicious. The big black carp was so excited that its front fins flapped rapidly in the water.

T/n: me seeing the chapter title: CANNIBALISM?? :0

Although technically it would be an interesting debate whether a fish that is basically concentrated spiritual water essence that formed a physical body truly counts as a fish. Tell me what you think in the comments

1. Lord of the Water refers to a spirit or god that controls the water and has jurisdiction over a small portion of some kind of body of water. This could include the River Gods (very powerful Lords of the Water) or minor spirits of the drowned that live in a tiny square of the river.
2. Might also be translated as “drowned” or “drowner” (like in the Witcher) but I’ll be sticking to “water ghost” until there’s some other conclusive translation
3. 猛虎下山 Could refer to either a general metaphor, the literal interpretation, an artist’s drawing, or a martial arts attack position
4. In case it wasn’t obvious, JY is tacking on mocking titles
5. lit: “funny guy” LOL
6. Black carp
7. Sound of bubbles popping. Could have been “pop” but I chose to leave it like this
8. Back in the ch. 70s, a man was saved from falling in the river by the black carp

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read