!!!
The sudden bite on the hook caught Lu Qing off guard.
Luckily, with years of fishing experience, his reaction was always reliable.
In just a moment, he gripped the fishing rod tightly and steadied himself, avoiding being dragged into the water along with his rod.
The force of this pull wasn't far behind that of the Green Armored Fish from earlier!
"Wow, you Otherworld fish, do you all love sneak attacks or what?"
*Feeling the pull from the rod, Lu Qing found himself both amused and exasperated.*
As a seasoned angler, he almost got overturned twice today, and was nearly forced into a "human bait" situation.
This Otherworld's big fish have no sense of honor—they don't give any warning before biting the hook and go straight for sneak attacks.
Had it not been for his experience, they might have succeeded.
*Still, since your first ambush didn't work—just come on up here, all of you!*
Lu Qing grasped the rod with both hands, his senses attuned to the changes in force coming from the rod, ready to respond as he began another round of tug-of-war with the underwater fish.
After battling for strength and will for a while, Lu Qing realized something felt off.
Initially, he thought the new catch might be another large fish like the Green Armored Fish.
After all, the initial pull was quite powerful.
But now, he sensed it was different.
Unlike the Green Armored Fish, which exerted brute force with unwavering strength, this fish's power was fierce but lacked stamina.
As long as Lu Qing could withstand the initial burst, its force weakened quickly.
It seemed to be of the explosive type—strong at the start but unable to endure for long.
Relying on his experience, Lu Qing speculated that the fish underwater wasn't as large as he'd imagined.
Instead, it seemed more like a swift-moving fish with significant burst strength but a smaller size.
*Once he grasped this detail, his heart settled further.*
Fast-swimming fish relying on speed were much easier to manage than large fish like the Green Armored Fish.
Big fish like the Green Armored Fish had immense strength—every pull required immense caution.
They were also incredibly enduring, turning the contest into one of patience for both sides.
For explosive burst-type fish, as long as he could handle the initial struggles, their strength would diminish, giving them no chance to escape.
Things proceeded exactly as Lu Qing had anticipated.
After stabilizing against a few more bursts from the unknown fish beneath the water, he felt its explosive force gradually weakening.
Soon after a period of pulling and maneuvering, the fish's outline came into view.
"A red fish?"
When he saw the fish come to the surface of the water, Lu Qing froze for a moment.
Because he saw the fish was an extraordinarily vibrant fiery red.
A Strange Fish—this was definitely a Strange Fish.
Upon witnessing such a stunning, radiant shade of red, Lu Qing's heart instantly surged with excitement.
At the same time, he noticed the fish wasn't particularly large—just about twenty to thirty centimeters long.
*Having full clarity in his mind, catching this fish became even easier for Lu Qing.*
It didn't take long before the fish lost nearly all its strength and was lifted directly out of the water by him.
"Brother, this fish is so beautiful!"
Little Yan's eyes lit up as she stared at the fish lying on the grass.
"It really is beautiful."
When Lu Qing took a closer look at the fish, he couldn't help but admire it.
The newly snagged fish was about a foot long, with a slender shape reminiscent of the carp seen in his previous life on Blue Star.
It had two elegant, flowing whiskers by the corners of its mouth, and its tail resembled a blossoming flower.
Adding to its fiery red scales, which looked like flames, the entire fish appeared mesmerizingly stunning.
After observing it for a while, details about the fish began surfacing in Lu Qing's mind.
[Red Moon Carp: Strange Fish, covered with red scale armor, extremely fast swimmer.]
[Contains traces of spiritual charm within its body, making its flesh highly nourishing and delicious; its scales can also be used for medicine.]
[Rumor has it that, with proper cultivation, the Red Moon Carp has a slight chance of evolving into a Spirit Fish.]
Accompanying these entries was a glow emanating from the fish—a light white tinged with faint red essence.
"Red Light?"
At first, Lu Qing thought he was mistaken.
He assumed the red light was simply reflections from the carp's scales.
But upon closer inspection, it became clear—this wasn't a reflection; it was the unique glow detectable only with his superpower, used to gauge the grade of objects.
This meant the Red Moon Carp wasn't merely of the ordinary "White Light" grade.
Instead, it ranked somewhere between White Light and Red Light in terms of grade—as a Strange Fish.
No wonder—it explained why the fish had three text descriptions.
Normally, White Light-level objects only carried two pieces of descriptive info.
He immediately fixated on the third line in the text.
"'A slight chance of evolving into a Spirit Fish'…" Lu Qing stared at the third text entry thoughtfully. "So, the Spirit Fish—could it be an existence superior to Strange Fish?"
He suddenly remembered the Snow Silkworm Silk gifted by the elder doctor.
Snow Silkworm Silk was already a Red Light treasure, and the Snow Silkworm that produced it—could it be a Spiritual Silkworm?
*Regrettably, this theory was destined to remain unanswered for now.*
Even Elder Chen didn't know the origins of the Snow Silkworm Silk; even if Lu Qing had questions, there was no one to consult.
So, compared to the third text entry, the second one's description was far more relevant to him.
"'Its flesh is highly nourishing and delicious'…" Lu Qing read the text with a smile creeping onto his face.
Finally, he had a gift in mind for Elder Chen tomorrow.
Originally, he'd been planning to take the Green Armored Fish to the elder doctor if nothing else came up later.
But now, it was evident that the Red Moon Carp was far more precious.
Its smaller size made it more suitable as a gift.
With this realization, Lu Qing quickly took out the Green Armored Fish and placed the Red Moon Carp in the bucket.
Since it would be a gift, he couldn't let it die.
Fortunately, the Red Moon Carp lived up to its Strange Fish reputation. Despite being exhausted from being reeled in and spending quite a while on the grass, the moment it entered the water in the bucket, it started swimming again.
The fish had remarkable life energy.
With the Red Moon Carp in hand, Lu Qing decided to call it a day and not continue fishing.
The consecutive battles with two large fish had drained most of his energy.
Even if he caught more fish, he would be too tired to reel them in properly.
It was better to quit while ahead.
"Little Yan, let's get ready to head back."
Lu Qing improvised by twisting a grass cord to tie up the Green Armored Fish and hoisted it onto his back.
With one hand carrying the bucket and the other holding the machete and fishing rod, he turned to Little Yan.
"Brother, let me help you carry something."
Little Yan looked at her brother, loaded with items on his back and in his hands, and felt a pang of compassion.
"Alright."
Lu Qing tried walking a bit and realized that carrying so many things was quite inconvenient.
After thinking for a moment, he hung the bamboo tube filled with earthworms around Little Yan's neck.
Next, he placed the fishing rod on her shoulder.
"Little Yan, carry this fishing rod carefully. Walk cautiously, don't fall down."
"Mm, I got it!" the little girl replied earnestly with a nod.
And so, the siblings—one carrying a fish and the other hauling a fishing rod—started trudging back, their movements slow and laborious.
As they passed the small fishing spot, a group of villagers stared in stunned amazement at the tall-and-short pair walking together.