The next day, Lai Yi rose early again to prepare Mung Bean Porridge.
Having learned from his lack of experience during the first sale, he arrived at the spot only after the midday break.
People woke from their naps drenched in sweat, and buying a cup of chilled barley tea or sweet Mung Bean Soup felt incredibly refreshing. They flocked to his stall to relieve the heat.
Simon noticed Lai Yi’s arrival and bought another cup, again asking for an extra spoonful of Mung Bean Paste. Several apprentices followed Simon’s lead and purchased drinks as well.
The village had given them a decent payment, and since they came from relatively well-off families, they didn’t find the Mung Bean Soup expensive. Instead, they thought Lai Yi’s offerings were both delicious and reasonably priced.
With only a small amount of mung beans left, Lai Yi quickly sold out his Mung Bean Soup for the day.
In the afternoon, after packing up, Lai Yi took out his Fishing Net and headed to the river to catch fish.
Having eaten meat frequently, it was time for a change of taste.
The small river in the mountain village was over ten meters wide, with a gentle current. The shallow parts only reached Lai Yi’s ankles, while the deeper areas plunged to over ten meters.
The riverbed was composed of smooth, rounded stones and fine sand, visible clearly to the bottom. In the calmer sections, tiny fish fry and tadpoles could be seen.
The villagers had built three low dams at different spots, creating designated areas for washing clothes and fetching water.
The babbling water reflected the sunlight, glaring painfully into the eyes. Lai Yi lowered his head and carefully walked against the current.
The riverbanks were covered with fuzzy moss and aquatic plants, and snails inched slowly along the stones toward the water. He tread cautiously on the slippery path until he reached where the water turned white and the current grew rapid before stopping.
He was now far from the small mountain village.
Lai Yi looked upstream against the flow, trying to trace the river’s source, but only dense vegetation met his gaze, obscuring any view of its origin.
Standing by the riverbank, Lai Yi swung the Fishing Net forcefully, and it spread out perfectly upon hitting the water. He tied one end of the rope to a wooden stake to prevent it from being washed away.
Without a fishing rod and unwilling to wait idly for fish to enter the net, Lai Yi took his personal weapon and ventured into the nearby mountain forest.
Thanks to the abundant water source, the plant variety here was richer.
The outer layers featured shorter plants with plump, moisture-filled leaves. The deeper he went, the taller and more bizarre the plants became.
Some leaves were serrated, while others were covered in tiny thorns that could easily snag and tear clothing.
Lai Yi rolled down his sleeves and pant legs, using tough grass stems to secure them tightly, preventing insects from crawling inside.
A thick layer of fallen leaves had formed humus on the ground, dark, moist, and nutrient-rich. Stepping on it felt soft, as if one could sink in with each step.
Amid the plant scents, a faint fragrance seemed to linger. Lai Yi sniffed carefully, trying to identify the smell.
Unconsciously, his vision began to blur, his mind growing somewhat uncontrollable, and his feet moved steadily toward the direction of the fragrance.
Lai Yi sensed something was wrong and tried to regain control of his actions, but his limbs refused to obey.
What’s happening?
Alarm bells rang loudly in Lai Yi’s mind as he struggled to reclaim command.
His body moved farther away, and the surroundings fell utterly silent—not even the usual bird calls could be heard. The air was thick with an eerie atmosphere.
The fragrance grew increasingly intense, veins bulging on Lai Yi’s forehead. He had tried every method, but nothing worked.
With a crack, his foot stepped on something that made him stumble, and Lai Yi finally regained control of his body.
He carefully observed his surroundings. Having wandered too far, he could no longer find his way back, only vaguely remembering the direction he came from.
Lai Yi looked down at his feet—a complete animal skeleton entangled with tiny vines, cleanly stripped down to pale white bones.
The surrounding fragrance was thick and somewhat choking. He tightly covered his nose and mouth with a handkerchief, gripping the Bone Knife firmly in his hand.
There were no other plants around the skeleton except for the entwining vines.
Lai Yi followed the vines forward for about ten meters and encountered another skeleton in the same condition, also wrapped in numerous vines.
Something in the distance deeply attracted him; there was a strong aura of wood element there, but it also radiated danger.
His intuition told him not to proceed further—this was beyond his current capabilities.
Lai Yi felt conflicted.
What exactly was over there?
Curiosity killed the cat. Reason ultimately triumphed over curiosity, and Lai Yi turned to leave.
Struggling to discern the direction, he followed the traces he left on his way into the mountains and finally emerged two hours later.
The sun remained scorching. Lai Yi stepped barefoot into the river, the icy water jolting him awake.
The cool river water washed over his calves as fish and frogs swam leisurely. Lai Yi gazed deeply into the mountain forest where birds chirped cheerfully. Everything was so peaceful, as if nothing had happened earlier.
“Brother! Brother!”
Neil’s voice carried over the breeze from afar—he must have come looking by the river after returning from school and not finding anyone home.
Lai Yi returned to the bank, pulling the rope with effort to retrieve the Fishing Net. Having been in the water for only a few hours, he didn’t expect much of a catch.
The net was gradually dragged out of the river, tangled with plenty of aquatic weeds, but fish could be seen flapping inside. Lai Yi persisted and finally pulled out the entire net.
The harvest was decent: one twenty-centimeter-long large fish, over a dozen finger-length small fish, and a few frogs that had wandered in by mistake.
“Brother!”
Neil finally found his way over and saw Lai Yi throwing the frogs back into the water, preparing to use a knife to clear the weeds from the Fishing Net.
“School’s out?”
“Yep. Did you catch any fish, brother?”
“In the wooden bucket.”
Neil looked into the bucket where a large fish was swimming.
“Brother, let me help you.”
Neil rolled up his pants to help Lai Yi clear the weeds.
After cleaning up, Lai Yi moved to another spot and cast the Fishing Net back into the river. He planned to leave it overnight and check tomorrow, hoping to catch more fish.
The two brothers walked back along the river, carrying the wooden bucket of fish.
Village women were washing clothes by the river with wooden basins, chatting and laughing as they worked, their laughter carrying far.
“Little Neil found your brother?”
“Yep!”
Neil responded cheerfully while Lai Yi greeted the elders politely.
“Wow, such a big fish!”
“Indeed.”
The women glanced at the bucket the brothers were carrying and chattered away excitedly.
“Someone else caught a fish this big a few days ago,” they said, “and a fish this size could sell for so much money in town.”
Seizing the opportunity to bid farewell, Lai Yi took Neil home.
Lai Yi planned to steam the big fish for dinner, while the smaller ones were temporarily kept in a large basin, left unattended.
After stunning the fish with the back of a knife and removing its internal organs, careful not to rupture the gallbladder, Lai Yi scaled it, cleaned out the gills, and rinsed it with water. He then scored both sides to allow the seasoning to penetrate better during steaming.
Placing the fish on a plate with various seasonings, he steamed it directly in a steamer.
After finishing all the tasks, it was time for the much-anticipated money-counting session.
Today, they sold 38 cups and earned 192 copper coins. Lai Yi gave Neil some pocket money.
With the mung beans at home running out, Lai Yi needed to go to town tomorrow to buy more mung beans and sugar.
“Brother, I almost forgot to tell you.”
Neil ran to the storage room and brought out two bird eggs.
“It’s so strange—I found these two bird eggs by the gate today!”
In the village, everyone guarded their birds’ eggs like treasures, so how could a red prairie bird lay eggs at someone else’s doorstep?
The two hens at home had stopped laying eggs after starting to raise chicks, and the only one still laying did so sporadically.
“Probably laid by a wild bird.”
“Then we’re really lucky.”
Neil cheerfully placed the eggs back in the basket.
Lai Yi didn’t even believe his own words—it was just to humor Neil, who was still a child.
So who left them there? And why?
Lai Yi pondered silently.
Once the water boiled, the fish steamed quickly. The flesh was tender and delicious, though it had many small bones, making it somewhat troublesome to eat.
Lai Yi didn’t feel like meticulously handling the remaining small fish. He decided to gut and clean them tomorrow, then coat them in egg and flour before frying them in oil as snacks for Neil.
The pickled bird eggs at home, having been cured for over twenty days, were now ready to eat. Lai Yi planned to cook some oatmeal porridge for breakfast tomorrow, pairing it with the salted bird eggs before heading straight to town.
There wasn’t a oxcart going to town every day, so most of the time, they had to walk.
The road was rugged, and carrying dozens of pounds of mung beans made Lai Yi sincerely hope the tunnel would be completed soon or that they could acquire a draft animal for transportation.
Even though he had arrived on the Magic Continent, he had yet to see any teleportation arrays, and the village wasn’t filled with swords and magic as described in novels.
Everyone was just ordinary villagers living ordinary lives, with magic being a rarity. The Goblin who knew earth magic was treated as a novelty, and when it was imprisoned in the storage shed, villagers visited it daily.
Perhaps he still didn’t understand this place well enough.
Lai Yi thought to himself.
This time, Lai Yi bought thirty pounds of mung beans and two pounds of sugar. It might not be a lot, but it was enough for him to sell Mung Bean Soup five or six more times.
By the time he finished shopping and returned home, it was already afternoon. Lai Yi had hitched a ride back, saving a lot of time.
It was still early, and the sky hadn’t darkened yet. Worried that the Fishing Net might be washed away by the current, Lai Yi set down his purchases, grabbed a lightweight basket, and headed to the river.
This time, he caught even more, and dragging the net alone was quite strenuous. It took him some time to pull it completely ashore.
There were a total of four large fish, dozens of small fish, and some river clams and snails.
Lai Yi placed the large fish in a basket, threw the overly small fish back into the river, discarded all the river clams, picked out the larger snails and put them in the basket, and poured the rest of the smaller ones into a worn-out cloth bag to take home for feeding the birds.
After cleaning the Fishing Net, he headed straight home.
This time, he didn’t bring Neil along, as he was busy tidying up at home.
There were too many fish to eat, so Lai Yi kept one large fish, over a dozen small fish, and some snails. He gave one large fish to his neighbor Old Guge and sent the rest to Haggard’s family.
Lai Yi decided not to go fishing again for a while—this was enough to satisfy his cravings.