Overnight, the water in the riverbed had dried up by seven or eight tenths.
Every now and soon, some fish could be seen stirring up muddy ripples in the water.
Before long, villagers began to arrive one after another, looking at the nearly dried-up river with a mixture of surprise and delight.
"Ha! We'll have fish to eat tonight!"
Every year, the river had a dry season when the water level dropped.
Sometimes, when the drop was significant, the village would dam the river and drain the water, leaving behind a bounty of glistening fish.
There was nothing quite as fresh and delicious.
The crowd called out to one another, fetching farming tools from home. They dug up earth, broke off tree branches and wild weeds, and mixed them into the mud to block the upper and lower sections of the river.
Working day and night in shifts, they pumped the water downstream.
Gradually, fish could be seen swimming along the riverbed.
The villagers celebrated as if it were the New Year.
Yet, amidst this lively atmosphere, a few entirely different remarks began to spread.
"Why is the riverbed drying up so fast this year? I wonder if it'll affect the crop harvest!"
......
For days, the village remained in a state of excitement, with every household receiving a share of the fish.
However, as time passed, the concerns voiced by a few on that first day gradually became reality.
There were signs of an impending drought in this region!
An invisible, gloomy cloud slowly shrouded the land.
"In ancient times, the most terrifying thing wasn't fierce beasts or grueling labor, but natural disasters and man-made calamities!"
"Natural disasters still come before man-made ones!"
Holding a wooden stick, Lu Changsheng looked into the distance.
The blazing sun in the sky seemed somewhat distorted.
Logically speaking, with the year-end approaching, the weather shouldn't be this sweltering, yet right now, it felt rather abnormal.
"The river is almost completely dry, and we can't catch fish anymore. I need to find another way out!"
Lu Changsheng stood up.
He had already memorized all 168 characters by heart. Once he understood their meanings, he would be a "capable person" who knew how to read.
By then, even if he went to Heishan Prefecture, he wouldn't have to worry about finding work.
Still, no matter what, he had to get through the end of the year first.
He picked up a dried fish from the rack.
Lu Changsheng walked around a large part of the village until he reached a courtyard.
The courtyard was secluded, and green moss was visible along the threshold.
Just as he raised his hand to knock, he heard a voice from within.
"The master fish-catcher Lu Erdan?"
Lu Changsheng turned his head and saw a burly man standing not far away.
"Uncle!"
Zhao Family Village was quite large.
Since they weren't of the same generation, Lu Changsheng didn't know the man's name and could only address him broadly.
"Are you eyeing that old cripple's craft? Let me tell you, that fellow is no good. Back when he was young—"
With a squeak, the courtyard gate opened from the inside.
The man seemed to feel a chill, turned around, and walked away.
"Little brat, you want to learn my archery?"
"Yes! I humbly ask the old master for your guidance!"
Lu Changsheng felt that this man's gaze was piercing—a temperament entirely different from the villagers, resembling the fierce bandits he had imagined.
"This craft of mine was learned through a lifetime of rolling and crawling through the mud and blood! Do you know about the Nujiang Gang up in Heishan Prefecture?"
"I do not!"
Lu Changsheng replied honestly.
"Hmph, you're just a kid with little experience, so it's normal that you don't know! Today, I'll tell you all about the Nujiang Gang!"
The old man seemed to have opened floodgates of chatter, recounting the tales of the so-called Nujiang Gang to Lu Changsheng.
It was truly three parts blood and wind, seven parts thrilling and breathtaking!
It wasn't until the sky grew dark and Lu Changsheng gently reminded him that the old man reluctantly stopped talking.
"Many thanks, Old Master, for telling me so much! It's getting late, so I'll head back first!"
"Mm—good!"
The old man nodded instinctively.
As Lu Changsheng walked toward the door, the old man suddenly remembered something.
"Wait! The dried fish—"
Lu Changsheng looked at the old man with a faint smile.
The old man stared hard at him for a moment, then let out a cold snort. "If your heart isn't sincere, you still expect me to teach you my craft? Pure delusion!"
Lu Changsheng turned and walked away.
"Wait!"
The old man spoke up again.
"One lesson for one dried fish!"
"Deal!"
A trace of a smile appeared on Lu Changsheng's face as he placed the dried fish on the nearby table.
"I'll come find the old master every morning!"
"Get lost!"
......
Lu Changsheng left the courtyard and looked up at the sky.
The temperature was scorching!
In his mind, he recalled what Father Lu had told him.
"The cripple in the east village is named Zhang Cun. He used to be one of the top hunters in Zhao Family Village. Because his family was poor, he went to Heishan Prefecture all by himself and went completely without news for a full twenty years. Later on, I heard he joined a gang in Heishan Prefecture! No one knows exactly what he did, but a few years later, when he finally came back, he had a crippled leg, supposedly chopped off by someone."
"That Zhang Cun has a sketchy personality. Back when he was in the village, he was always looking for crooked ways to make a living. When he first came back, plenty of people went to his house wanting their children to learn archery from him. But even though the fellow agreed with his mouth, he actually held back and didn't teach any real skills, simply taking the offerings from those young children's families for nothing. You must not actually go looking for him!"
Lu Changsheng had originally come with sincerity, but after hearing Zhang Cun's words, he already had a clear idea in his mind.
"A single speech, full of untrustworthy parts! Conflicting from start to finish, with logic that doesn't hold up! Even if it wasn't as vicious as the rumors suggested, he certainly couldn't be trusted heart and soul!"
Therefore, Lu Changsheng had changed his mind and decided to bind him directly with mutual interests.
"Gangs, martial arts... I wonder if such things really exist!"
Lu Changsheng now doubted whether the possibility of this world being a supernatural one was really all that slim.
However, he would need to find a way to verify that once he reached Heishan Prefecture.
Before verifying its authenticity, his energy remained focused on reading; after all, the two pursuits did not conflict at the moment.
......
The missing dried fish at home was soon discovered, but upon learning that Lu Changsheng had taken it, nobody made a fuss about it anymore.
After all, Lu Changsheng had brought back quite a few fish earlier.
Poor families knew how hard it was to come by food, so whenever there happened to be extra fish on any given day, they would keep a couple and make them into dried fish.
Over a few months, the stockpile wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either.
Even so, Father Lu still reminded him to keep his distance from that cripple.
"Fortunately, my status in the family has risen quite a bit now; otherwise, I really wouldn't know how to handle this situation!"
Lu Changsheng thought to himself.
The next day.
In the courtyard of Zhang Cun's house in the east village.
"No dried fish?" Zhang Cun looked at Lu Changsheng with displeasure.
"When I went back yesterday, I got scolded and beaten by my family for a bit. If I want to sneak out a dried fish, I'll have to wait until another day!" Lu Changsheng said with a look of "shame."
Before Zhang Cun could fly into a rage, Lu Changsheng added, "If the old master thinks this won't do, then let's forget it for now! This archery isn't something I absolutely have to learn. I have my fish-catching skills; once the river rises a bit, I won't even need this archery!"
Zhang Cun sneered. "Narrow-minded! Skills are never a burden! Don't look down on this archery! Your fish-catching skills can at most keep you half-full for a moment, but my craft can secure your future!"
A curse word nearly reached his lips, but he swallowed it back down.
With his crippled leg, old age, and no descendants, it was already hard enough for him to scrape together a bite to eat day-to-day. Now that someone had finally come along, he absolutely could not let him slip away.
"He's a tricky one to deal with! Still—he's just a kid after all!"
Zhang Cun thought to himself.
He didn't know whether this was just one of Lu Changsheng's little tricks, but either way, it wouldn't change his mind.