“You guys seriously never do anything proper!” Chen Mu was speechless.
For five or six consecutive days, whenever he had time, he opened his clairvoyance to enjoy the rapid change of faces in their performances.
In the meantime, he foiled their fishy contract schemes.
Forced to stop their current actions, they had no choice but to stay home and sulkily practice their skills.
“Always scheming, always conning people.”
“What if you mess with a protagonist with great fortune? Wouldn’t it be game over in an instant?”
“I don’t care if you guys are finished, but what if I get dragged into it?”
Seeing that they were honestly practicing at home, Chen Mu finally nodded in satisfaction.
“Practicing honestly is so much better.”
“Hmm… I need to keep a watch for a few more days.”
“I can’t let these guys cause me any trouble.”
Chen Mu closed his clairvoyance, stepping onto the fishbone boat and slowly approaching a bay.
After anchoring the fishbone boat, Chen Mu once again inspected the Five Ghosts Bag.
“This factory overstates its capabilities…” Chen Mu shook his head.
More than ten days had passed and judging by the fish prices at the docks, the fish consumed by the Five Ghosts Bag would be worth at least fifty or sixty White Jade Coins.
Yet there was not even a hint of growth.
“It’s a long road ahead.” Chen Mu shrugged his shoulders.
It was simply a matter of slowly raising it. Currently, the Five Ghosts Bag was sufficient for his use; there was no need to rush its growth.
With that in mind, Chen Mu controlled the Five Ghosts Bag to spread bait in the bay.
“Whether the Five Ghosts Bag grows or not is not the immediate concern, the fishing must continue.”
Chen Mu pulled out a rocking chair, lit a Calming Pill, silently recited the Void Cloak Technique, and leisurely farmed experience.
“Making money and cultivating simultaneously, how comfortable.”
…
In the Xinyou District, Lu Ku’s residence.
Six people gathered in the living room, silent.
After a long while, Lu Ku looked up at the sky.
“Alright, at this time, Gongsun Sheng is most likely busy.”
All of them let out a sigh of relief at the same time.
“Ah…” Ai Ji couldn’t help but sigh.
“Being watched all the time, having to be careful with every move.”
“When will this kind of life end!”
“There’s no need to be anxious.” Lu Ku comforted them with a smile.
“Gongsun Sheng’s clairvoyance has a pattern that can be followed.” Lu Ku narrowed his eyes.
“It was hard to tell at first, but in the past few days, the pattern has become more and more obvious.”
“He clearly has something to do that requires large blocks of uninterrupted time, possibly cultivating a secret technique, or perhaps concocting pills or alchemy.” Lu Ku mused.
“He only checks on us during the intermissions or while resting.”
“Especially during these days when all of us have hunkered down at home, this tendency has become even more clear.”
Lu Ku smiled at everyone: “As long as we observe for a few more days and grasp the pattern, we can avoid his surveillance.”
“We can even align the times we cultivate our secret techniques with the times he’s likely to check on us, creating the illusion that we’re always diligently practicing!”
“By that time…”
“Haha! By then, it’ll be like he’s blind even with open eyes!” Ai Ji couldn’t help laughing out loud.
“Dancing in shackles, is it?” Wu Ruo’s lips curled up slightly.
“Interesting.” Xu Rao’s face was filled with a sly smile.
“Should we continue with the plan to control the fishermen?” Yu Lin asked in his deep voice.
“We should, but not by ourselves.” Lu Ku’s eyes gleamed.
“From our current people, we pick a few daring troublemakers, give them a share of the benefits. They hang around the docks all year, they know who has good fishing skills, and with benefits, they will do a better job than us.”
“As long as we show our might at the right times, we can ensure our plan will be executed smoothly.”
“That way, we will also have more time to cultivate.”
The faces of the five people immediately lit up with smiles.
Proceeding with the plan and outsmarting Gongsun Sheng, ha ha…
…
Three days later, at the southern section of the Tongtian Square dock, a certain riverbank cove of the Tongtian River.
Chen Mu held a black gourd in his hand as he sat in a rocking chair, swaying back and forth while muttering under his breath.
From the mouth of the black gourd, bursts of blue flames occasionally spurted out, causing the surrounding temperature to steadily rise.
This left Chen Mu with no choice but to stand the Soul-Calming Stake by his side to keep the air inside the cabin cool.
After a while, Chen Mu stopped chanting the spell, took a sip of cool tea to moisten his throat, and casually looked up at the water surface not far away.
Fish, over half a meter long with names that Chen Mu couldn’t call out—dark scale, white scale, multicolored scale—swayed under the water.
They wandered left and right as if drunk, in a lazy manner.
Sometimes they would thrash about crazily like a drunkard, then continue swaying to the left and right.
“These truly are Exotic Beasts of the Tongtian River.”
“An improved version of the Drunken Bait, and it still can’t fully knock them down.”
Back in Da Liang, casting the Drunken Bait would quickly turn the water surface white with fish.
Nothing like now, where it only manages to attract the fish and makes them sway dizzily without being able to fully knock them down.
Chen Mu couldn’t help but take out the Heartless Bell.
Hum!
“If it weren’t for this gadget, I’d indeed have to put in some extra effort.”
Gurgle… Gurgle… Gurgle…
The drunken fish that had been thrashing a moment ago suddenly flipped belly-up and floated on the water’s surface.
Chen Mu looked at the Heartless Bell with increasing fondness, “What a wonderful thing.”
“It would be even better if I had a Curse Command.”
Five Ghosts Black Smoke spread over the water surface, quickly gathering up the aquatic products.
Chen Mu stood up and stretched lazily, glancing at the experience points on the grey wall.
Fire Cloud Curse: 6455/10000/First Rank;
“Not bad. Without any accidents, in just over three months, I should be able to reach the next rank,” Chen Mu silently calculated.
…
On the dock, after selling the fish caught and returning the fishbone boat,
Chen Mu strolled leisurely, casting envious glances at various massive and odd aquatic catches.
A two-meter-tall, earthy yellow toad caught Chen Mu’s attention—
mainly because it was too ugly, except for the golden threads beside its eyes, which appeared somewhat eye-catching.
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Two groups of people were talking beside the toad’s corpse.
In not too long, a merchant-looking fellow handed a bulging cloth bag to the lead fisherman.
“That’s gotta be at least fifty White Jade Coins!”
“That’s almost what I make in two months of fishing,” Chen Mu thought enviously, wondering if he should catch more miscellaneous fish.
After a moment’s thought, he shook his head, “Forget it, earning a White Jade Coin a day is already not too shabby.”
Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a large seventy or eighty-meter ship entering the harbor from the north.
“Old Hao?”
“Has it been over a month?” Chen Mu suddenly realized.
He wasn’t in a hurry to leave, waiting for the other party to disembark.
…
“How come you’re free to pick me up?” Old Hao asked with a surprised face.
“You sure have a big face,” Chen Mu said with a smile.
“Oh, are you capitalizing on the farming slack season to fish for some extra cash?” Old Hao realized after observing for a moment.
“That’s not an easy job, is it?” Old Hao chuckled, “I’ve tried my hand at it before.”
“The Tongtian River is abundant with aquatic products, but those working solo can only catch miscellaneous fish at best.”
“Toiling away all day, one might not even be able to make a White Jade Coin.”
“After a month of being battered by the wind and baked by the sun, you’d only end up with four or five White Jade Coins.”
“When you really do the math, it’s not much more than what we make from farming.”
“Take my advice, stick to honest farming,” Old Hao advised while puffing away on his cigarette.
Earning less than a White Jade Coin a day?
Only four or five White Jade Coins in a month?
I can make thirty White Jade Coins in a month, thank you very much!
“I’ll listen to Old Hao!” Chen Mu agreed cheerfully.