Chapter 18: Alone (Part 2)

  "Very difficult," said Uncle Zhou, "this fish can only be caught with special bait."

  Zhou Xin had carefully arranged the Ming fish, put it into boiling water, covered the pot lid, and smiled: "Lei Gege, it will be ready soon. Ming fish is the best to cook. I just asked Dad to pick a few tender shoots of Leshan grass, hehe, Ming fish soup must be added with Leshan grass to be truly delicious."

  Lei Xingfeng saw a small wooden basin on the side, with a tender green plant inside, which had been washed clean. All of these were unfamiliar to him, whether it was fish or plants, they were all things he had never seen before, apparently local specialties. He thanked again: "Thank you, Little Xin."

  Zhou Xin said: "Lei brother, don't be polite, there's nothing good here, just a little local freshwater food."

  When the water boiled, the fish had melted into the water. Zhou Xin threw away the fish bones and there was nothing left in the pot except for a bowl of white soup with a strong fishy flavor. He sprinkled some tender shoots of shepherd's purse on top and stirred it with a wooden spoon before saying: "Alright, Da Ye, let's eat."

  Uncle Zhou lifted the lid of a small wooden bucket, inside was a bucket of steamed rice and on top of it was a large bowl filled with smoked fish.

  The staple food here is fish and rice, and paddy rice is abundant here.

  Apart from the porridge he had yesterday, Lei Xingfeng came to this world and it was his first time eating fresh rice, which moved him deeply. Although this rice was very different from the rice in his previous life, such as being slightly larger in grain size, having a light green color, and tasting much better than before, extremely fragrant and sweet.

  Lei Xingfeng had a meal, and this bucket of rice, he ate more than half of it. Zhou Dashu and Zhou Xin were stunned, this person can really eat a lot.

  The rice was extremely delicious, the smoked fish was also very tasty, and as for the clear fish soup, it almost made Leixingfeng eat the wooden bowl, whether in this life or the previous one, he had never drunk such a fresh and beautiful fish soup.

  According to Lei Xingfeng's appetite, this little rice and fish would only be half full. To know that when he was in Hu Yanbao, most of the time, he was eating meat, and grains were generally eaten very little, relying on various wild beasts to provide meat food, in order to really eat a full stomach, after all, he is a cultivator, not an ordinary person.

  Uncle Zhou looked at the rice bucket with a bitter smile, this was today's food. Fish could be caught, but rice had to be bought from the market. Generally, fishermen would exchange various fish for rice, and rice was very expensive, usually 7 or 8 kilograms of fish could only be exchanged for 1 kilogram of rice.

  Zhou Xin smiled and said: "Dad is fine, I'll catch more fish, Leigeg likes to eat rice, we can exchange more rice."

  "Is there anywhere around here where we can buy rice?"

  "Ah, yes! There's a big market here where many fishermen come to trade almost every day."

  Lei Xingfeng nodded and said: "Alright, let's go to the market. I'll buy some rice."

  Zhou Xinhai doubted, "Lei Gege, you didn't bring any money with you, how did you buy rice?" He was the one who saved Lei Xingfeng from boarding the ship, so he understood that Lei Xingfeng only had a set of clothes on him, and nothing else. Moreover, those clothes were tattered to shreds, not even a large piece could be found. The clothes he was wearing now still belonged to his father.

  "Don't worry, I have a way."

  Zhou Xin was young, probably only thirteen or fourteen years old, and his physique was small, very typical of an ordinary person. However, he wasn't foolish and said, "What can be done? I'll just go catch some more fish to exchange instead." He was skilled at fishing.

  Lei Xingfeng smiled and said: "Really, I have a way. Little Xin, you must believe me, I won't deceive people."

  "Alright, we were just about to go to the market anyway," said Uncle Zhou. "We're running low on salt and need to exchange some."

  The fishermen here, when they go to the market, generally just exchange a few things: salt, rice, clothes and a very small amount of daily necessities. Their lives are extremely simple, completely for survival, without any other thoughts.

  Lei Xingfeng asked: "Uncle Zhou, where is your home?"

  "Here, on the boat, this is my home. During the rainy season, we will gather at the market, but still live on the boat."

  Zhou Xing burst out laughing, he thought the question was really ridiculous. The homes of fishermen were always on boats, there was very little land here, mostly lake surfaces and swamps. Here, a boat was equivalent to a family, Zhou Uncle was an exception because of special circumstances, so he lived alone with his young nephew, the child's parents had passed away, in this world, only Zhou Uncle was his relative.

  Lei Xingfeng smiled and said: "I used to live in the mountains, this is my first time on a boat."

  "Impossible," said Uncle Zhou, "there are hundreds of miles of lakes here, and there have never been any mountains..."

  Zhou Xin showed great interest and asked: "Mountainous areas? Is it fun?"

  Lei Xingfeng said: "It's different from here. There are many wild beasts there, very fierce wild beasts, and also barbarians."

  "Barbarians? What are they? Are they human?"

  Lei Xingfeng said: "Don't you have any barbarians here?"

  Zhou Xin shook his head and said: "I've never heard of it..."

  Lei Xingfeng said: "This is not bad, there are no barbarians. Hehe, barbarians are also human beings, they just eat anything, including humans."

  Zhou Xinzhang's mouth opened wide in shock and he exclaimed: "Eat people? Wow, Big Brother, did you hear that? The barbarians eat people!"

  After a simple exchange with Uncle Zhou and Xin, Lei Xingfeng knew that this was a relatively peaceful area, without too much war or danger from wild beasts. This was a rare haven, very suitable for a simple life.

  Uncle Zhou was finally moved by Leixing Peak and returned to the stern of the boat, picked up the oars and started rowing.

  Zhou Xin also became busy, he put the dried lotus seeds into a cloth bag, and took out the dried fish from the cabin to sort them out. The dried fish could also be exchanged for things. He also had a small cloth bag that made a clinking sound, this was his treasure, inside there were dozens of copper rings, which were specially used to buy those things that couldn't be exchanged with goods.

  The next day at noon, the small boat arrived at the market.

  It was a water-based building, which looked magnificent from afar. The high and low wooden houses were all built on the water surface, with thick logs inserted into the lake bottom. Here, the lake bottom is not deep, only about three or four meters at most. The houses are connected to each other by planks, and the streets are made of lake water, with various boats as transportation tools.

  The climate is hot here, and fishermen are generally bare-chested, wearing only a pair of shorts, with a fish basket tied around their waist, barefoot, and holding fishing spears or other weapons in their hands, with some tattoos on their bodies.

  As we approached the market, countless small boats gathered from all directions and rowed towards the market together.

  This place gives Lei Xingfeng a peaceful atmosphere, it's a good place for cultivation. He has made up his mind to cultivate here and advance to the first ring of True Body of Mysterious Wheel, that's when he can truly set foot on the path. After experiencing real battles, he is very clear in his heart that a Mysterious Wheel Master is very dangerous if they are not careful when walking outside. Now he has many resources, enough for him to cultivate in seclusion.

  Lei Xingfeng was also bare-chested, wearing a pair of linen shorts, but without a fish basket around his waist or a fishing spear in hand. He carried a cloth bag containing dried lotus seeds, which were a type of medicine needed by cultivators. These lotus seeds were different from the ones he had seen in his previous life, with a light red color and being a local specialty - fire lotus seeds. A single lotus pod on the lake surface could produce several kilograms of these fire lotus seeds, which was already quite good.

  This bag of fire lotus seeds, was collected by Zhou Xin over ten days, then peeled and dried in the sun, to get just a few catties. According to Zhou Xin, these fire lotus seeds can be exchanged for several silver rings. Because of Lei Xingfeng's gluttony, Zhou Xin had to take out his own treasure to exchange for rice. One catty of fire lotus seeds can be exchanged for one hundred catties of rice, so he let Lei Xingfeng carry it.

  Uncle Zhou carried several hundred kilograms of dried fish and walked onto the dock. In Zhou Xin's fish basket, there were dozens of Ming fish, which were also very valuable.

  Three people walked on the wooden board in front of the wooden house and soon arrived at a rice shop.

  Here, most people like to barter, gold rings, silver rings and copper rings. Fishermen mostly own copper rings, only a few silver rings are in circulation, and gold rings are hardly seen, they are used only between shops.

  Uncle Zhou put down the dried fish and said: "Old boss, I'm here!"

  An old man sat on a recliner, holding a fan in his hand, gently fanning himself and smiling: "Little Zhou, you're using dried fish to exchange for rice again?"

  "Ah, yes, Old Zhang, how's business been lately?" The two of them seemed quite familiar with each other.

  The old man sat up, patted the mat with force and said: "Recently, business has not been good. There are too many dried fish here. You know that the rainy season is approaching, and the dried fish can't be stored. If it gets damp, it will get moldy, and the boat team won't come to collect it either...". He sighed and continued: "Is there anything else? Dried fish can't be exchanged for much rice."

  "There's some Ming fish here and also some fire lotus seeds."

  Lei Xingfeng watched with a cold eye, and when he saw the old shopkeeper's eyes rolling around, he knew that this guy was not speaking sincerely.

  The old shopkeeper said: "Hmmm, fire lotus seeds are fine, how many do you have?"

  "There's about three to five catties."

  The old shopkeeper said: "One catty for fifty catties of rice, how about it? The price of lotus seeds has dropped recently."

  Zhou Xindun's face turned sour. He had been hoping that Hu Lianzi would exchange a bit more rice, but instead it suddenly dropped by half.

  Lei Xingfeng couldn't help but step forward and ask: "How much does a catty of rice cost here?"

  The old shopkeeper said: "Money? Do you have money?" It wasn't that he looked down on the fishermen, but rather that they really rarely used money to buy rice.