Bu Fang walked over the water. A wind blew at his hair, flapping his robe.
In the distance, a small boat drifted through the mist. The sound of a flute rang out of it, and an old man in a bamboo hat and a straw rain cape could be seen sitting in it, swaying with the motions of the vessel.
When Bu Fang saw the boat, he twitched the corner of his mouth and produced a jade wine jar, which was smaller than the fist-sized jar he gave Yellow Spring Great Sage. Judging by its size, the wine inside could fill no more than three cups. Even so, that was already three million Nether Crystals, which was by no means cheap.
As the little boat moved, the water broke apart. Suddenly, the flute stopped, and the Soul Fisherman looked up, revealing his old face under the shade of the bamboo hat. When he saw the lean figure in the distance, the withered skin on his face trembled.
“This young man again!” The Soul Fisherman’s face turned unsightly as he put away the bone flute. Then, he grabbed a bamboo pole and slapped the water with it. The little boat immediately turned and changed its course. It was plain that he did not want to meet with Bu Fang.
The corners of Bu Fang’s lips, which had curved upward ever so slightly, froze. The scene left him somewhat confused and speechless. Why did the Soul Fisherman turn away from him? When did he become so frightening?
“Wait…” Bu Fang cried out softly, but his voice exploded across the river.
When the Soul Fisherman heard the voice, he was startled, and the withered skin on his face twitched even more violently. Without hesitation, he slapped the river with the bamboo pole, causing the water to splash everywhere while the boat sped into the distance like an arrow.
Bu Fang sighed softly, then his Vermilion Robe transformed. A sonorous bird cry rang out of it, and a pair of flaming wings unfolded behind him. With his toe, he lightly kicked the surface of the river, which exploded in an instant as he turned into a beam of light and sped toward the Soul Fisherman’s little boat.
Bu Fang was already a Nine-revolution Little Saint, and that made him stronger than the Soul Fisherman. It would be very easy for him to catch up. Before long, he was flying next to the little boat.
“Why don’t you just let me go?” the Soul Fisherman said bitterly as he looked at Bu Fang, his face shivering.
He could not believe the rate at which this young man was improving. They had met three times, and the young man always brought him a big surprise each time. When they met for the first time, the young man was still very weak and no different from a worm to him. At that time, however, he was followed by a dog. The second time, the young man was still not strong, and yet he could fight him. And now, the third time, the young man had become a Nine-revolution Little Saint and was stronger than him.
How long had it been? Was this young man here to settle scores with him now?
The bamboo pole slapped the river rapidly, causing the water to keep exploding and making the little boat move like a beam of light. For a moment, two beams of light sped over the Yellow Spring River.
A long time later, they came to a wider section of the river, where the water was calm. The little boat finally stopped flying. Soul Fisherman sank back into the boat as if he had given up resisting.
Bu Fang had a strange look on his face. He couldn’t understand why the old fellow kept running away from him.
“I’m old, and I’m too lazy to play with you anymore… I didn’t bring the Flower of Helplessness today, so it’s useless for you to stop me,” said the Soul Fisherman. He removed his bamboo hat, exposing his dried white hair.
“Who told you that I’m here for the Flower of Helplessness?” Bu Fang asked, glancing at the old man.
That gave the Soul Fisherman a pause. He stared at Bu Fang, his cloudy eyes full of surprise and doubt. ‘If he’s not here for the Flower of Helplessness, why did he force me to stop my boat? Is he here to kill me?’
Bu Fang did not say anything but threw the wine jar at the old man.
‘What is this?’ Soul Fisherman raised a hand reflexively and caught the jar.
“When I took the Flower of Helplessness from you, I told you that I will pay back with a jar of wine. I’m here to pay the debt…” said Bu Fang.
His voice was calm, but the old man could not keep calm upon hearing that.
“Are you really just here to give me a jar of wine?” The Soul Fisherman was astonished.
Bu Fang nodded.
The Soul Fisherman’s cloudy eyes lit up instantly, and his mood relaxed. “Now that I’ve taken the wine, can you let me go?” he said.
Bu Fang glanced at him and didn’t say anything. Then, he flipped his hand and threw a steaming Fortune Flatbread at him. “Here’s another thing for you… Take it as a token of appreciation for the One-petal Flower of Helplessness you gave me when we met for the first time.”
After that, he stepped on the river, causing the water to explode while he sped away in a beam of light and disappeared into the hazy mist.
The Soul Fisherman grabbed the wine jar and Fortune Flatbread with hands as thin and withered as dead branches. As he watched Bu Fang leave, his eyes gleamed.
“I’ve been fishing for souls on this Yellow Spring River for ten thousand years, and this is the first time someone gave me wine… What a strange thing…”
His dried white hair waved in the wind as a hint of a smile came over his old face. It came from the bottom of his heart, which was now filled with mixed emotions. It had been a long time since he smiled like this.
Bu Fang’s feet stepped across the river, and the water immediately rose with him like roaring dragons. After his strength was improved to that of a Nine-revolution Little Saint, his control over his power had become more skillful. When he landed on the riverbank, the flaming wings on his back had disappeared, and the Vermilion Robe had returned to its striped red-and-white look. With his hands behind his back, Bu Fang walked leisurely toward the restaurant.
…
The night had grown old. A lone boat drifted on the quiet Yellow Spring River as pale fireflies speckled the darkness. Along the banks, pitch-black dead trees stood frozen as if they had been struck by lightning.
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The little boat stopped. A faint candlelight lit up inside, and then the Soul Fisherman came out. He removed his straw rain cape, revealing his wizened body, and sat down on the deck. A red candle was burning at one side of the deck, dripping with wax.
He took out a clay pot and slapped its lid open, exposing the wailing souls inside. There was a look of disgust in his eyes, but he still brought the pot up to his lips and drank the liquid in it that was mixed with souls. A pained look immediately appeared on his face as he hunched and trembled.
A long time later, when the moon was high up in the sky, the Soul Fisherman breathed a sigh of relief.
“The curse is getting stronger and stronger… After fishing souls for ten thousand years, the time that it cannot be suppressed has finally come…
“How could I defy destiny when even his lordship had fallen? I’m just dragging out my feeble existence…”
The Soul Fisherman sighed. As his cloudy eyes looked at the reflection of the moon on the river, the rippling water made him dazed, lost in thought. In his eyes, he saw his former glory, the time when he was high-spirited and vigorous.
‘A pity…’
At this moment, he suddenly craved for wine. Although wine would fuel sorrows instead of quenching them, it was also a way to relieve worries. He thought of the jade wine jar, the wine that the amazing young man had given him.
“A wine made with Flower of Helplessness… Young men nowadays are really creative.”
The Soul Fisherman sighed and took out the wine jar. Seeing that it was only about the size of half a fist, he could not help but criticize Bu Fang’s stinginess. Then, he slapped the lid open. The moment the lid was removed, he was stunned.
A rich bouquet seemed to turn into a dragon and flew out of the jar, wheeling in the sky. As he took a deep breath, the strong aroma went into his body and wrapped him from top to bottom. The feeling made him shiver. At the same time, shafts of colorful light thrust out of the jar, illuminating the skies.
“This wine…”
For the first time, there was a look of shock in the Soul Fisherman’s eyes. He sensed a familiar essence from the wine.
“Could it be…”
Carefully, he brought the jade wine jar up to his cracked lips and took a sip. The refreshing liquor rushed through his throat. At that moment, it was as if flowers were in full bloom and everything was restored. The Soul Fisherman felt he was several decades younger in an instant. With just one sip of wine, he had found the feeling of his youth, the time when he was shaking heaven and earth.
Holding the jar, he closed his eyes softly. He could hardly contain the excitement in his heart as tears trickled down from the corners of his eyes.
A green light was swirling over his body as if it was fighting with the spirit essence in the wine, but the old man wasn’t concerned by it anymore. Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, and he quickly pulled out a steaming flatbread from an old cloth bag that hung from the side of his waist.
Even after so long, the flatbread was still hot to the touch. He took a bite of it. As soon as the crispy flatbread entered his mouth, it gave him an unprecedented sense of satisfaction, while a refreshing gas flowed out of it and went into his body. It was the fortune gas of the Fortune Flatbread.
With the fortune gas entering his body, the Soul Fisherman’s cloudy eyes suddenly brightened, and his aura began to change tremendously. His cultivation base skyrocketed, breaking through the barriers and rushing into the realm of Great Saints. At the same time, his old face had returned to his younger appearance, an inconspicuous middle-aged man.
“I…”
He touched his face and was somewhat stunned. The Fortune Flatbread actually restored him to his younger appearance and gave him back his strength. A pity that this state would only last for half an hour.
As if he thought of something, the Soul Fisherman suddenly burst out laughing. His voice echoed through the darkness over the Yellow Spring River. Alerted by it, the birds perched on the dead branches flapped their wings and took to the air noisily.
After returning to his younger appearance, the Soul Fisherman’s body seemed to glow brilliantly. He went into the cabin and took out a food container, which was sealed with arrays.
“It’s been so long that I, an old man who is waiting for death to come, almost forgot his lordship’s order… Now that the man I’ve been waiting for has finally appeared, it’s time for this food container to be given out.”
The Soul Fisherman laughed, then he poured all the wine in the jar into his mouth. His aura soared in an instant, sending a storm across the whole Yellow Ring River while one Flower of Helplessness after another bloomed all over the water.
With the food container in hand, he walked over the waves and disappeared into the distance in a flash.
…
In the Yellow Spring Valley, Yellow Spring Great Sage, who was spewing fireballs with a dark face, suddenly furrowed his brows and looked in a certain direction. There was a mixture of surprise and doubt in his eyes.
“Soul Fisherman? How strange… How did this old fellow’s aura change so much? Was he given a second life? Well, forget it… It’s none of my business.”
Yellow Spring Great Sage shook his head and continued to study the fireballs with a dark face.
…
It was deep into the night, and a dead silence reigned everywhere. However, a mighty existence visited Yellow Spring City. His terrible aura suppressed the void as a small world appeared and disappeared over his head, with everything inside broken and destroyed.
The Soul Fisherman arrived on waves. Soon, he entered the city and stopped in front of Yellow Spring Little Restaurant. There, he retracted his aura, and he stared at the restaurant with a nostalgic look in his eyes.
He placed the food container on the floor and tapped it three times. After that, he just stared at the restaurant without making a sound.
Bu Fang, who was sleeping soundly in his room, suddenly opened his eyes. He sat up in bed and looked suspiciously at the door.