Fox Shadow took the fish basket.
Inside, the carp was still alive, angrily thrashing its tail.
Ye Piaoling said proudly, “I caught this fish myself!”
Fox Shadow frowned. “Young Miss, isn’t this fish a bit too small? Is it even enough for a meal?”
Ye Piaoling let out a geigeigei laugh. “Even though it’s tiny, it looks very nutritious. Eating it might even extend your lifespan!”
The carp: “…”
Fox Shadow said, “Young Miss, how about we raise it for a while, fatten it up, and then eat it?”
The carp agreed. One more day alive was one more day earned.
Ye Piaoling disagreed. “What’s the point of raising a black carp? It’s not even good-looking. Let’s just kill it and eat the meat!”
She added disdainfully, “If it were a beautiful koi, I’d be willing to raise it.”
As soon as she finished speaking,
Fox Shadow exclaimed, “Young Miss, look!!”
Ye Piaoling looked down and saw that the black carp in the basket had somehow transformed into a robust and dazzling koi!
Golden body, red spine—exceptionally beautiful!
“This…”
Ye Piaoling stared at the koi in shock.
If you’d dressed up like this earlier, you wouldn’t have had trouble finding a partner…
After a moment of astonishment, she blinked and tentatively said, “This koi’s appearance is just average. If its tail were like a colorful skirt, I’d raise it.”
Upon hearing this, the malevolent ancient dragon immediately turned its tail into a skirt-like shape with seven colors, ethereal and flowing.
Filled with resentment, it thought:
I, the great ancient demon, am actually humiliating myself today by wearing a skirt just to survive!!
Ye Piaoling didn’t notice the koi’s humiliated expression and was overjoyed.
“Fox Shadow, I’ve caught a treasure!”
Ye Piaoling said excitedly, “This must be the legendary immortal fish that can grant human wishes!”
Fox Shadow was stunned. “Immortal fish?”
“Yes! It can change its skin so splendidly in an instant—it must have boundless Magical Power!”
“…”
Ye Piaoling began explaining, “Haven’t you heard the story of the fisherman and the goldfish? A fisherman caught a goldfish but didn’t kill it. To thank him, the goldfish granted a series of wishes for the fisherman’s family—gold, silver, jewels, property, status… Unfortunately, the fisherman’s family grew too greedy in the end, and the goldfish took back everything it had given them.”
After hearing this, Fox Shadow suddenly understood. “So, this koi can also grant your wishes?”
“Definitely!” Ye Piaoling nodded.
Fox Shadow asked, “Then what wish do you want to make?”
Ye Piaoling chuckled. “That’s a secret.”
She urged Fox Shadow, “Go find some fish food first. We mustn’t neglect the immortal fish.”
Fox Shadow nodded and left to carry out the order.
Ye Piaoling found a fishbowl, filled it with water, and placed the koi inside.
As soon as the koi entered the water, it regained its vitality and began swimming.
Ye Piaoling eagerly carried the fishbowl into her room, closing the doors and windows tightly.
Then, facing the koi in the bowl, she spoke solemnly, “Great Immortal Fish, I know you have boundless Magical Power and can grant anything I wish… Don’t worry, I’ve learned from the fable and won’t be overly greedy. Right now, I only have one small wish. If you can help me fulfill it, I promise to treat you like an ancestor and care for you forever!”
Lowering her voice and winking mischievously, Ye Piaoling said:
“Well, I want Regent King Di Xiulan’s bathrobe… Could you use your magic to get it for me?”
After hearing this, the koi fell silent for a moment.
Then it slowly turned over, belly up, floating on the water’s surface, motionless.
…
Fox Shadow returned with fish food and was startled to see the koi in the tank.
“Miss, how did it die in such a short time?”
Ye Piaoling: “Don’t panic, I think it’s just doing the backstroke.”
“But it’s turned white—only dead fish turn white…”
Fox Shadow said, “Did you make some overly excessive wish that drove it to death?”
“Impossible!” Ye Piaoling said with a mournful face. “I only made a very small wish—how could that drive it to death? Maybe it just wanted to change positions for a while, or maybe it fainted from hunger! A little food will make it better!”
After saying this, Ye Piaoling took the fish food and poured it into the tank with a splash.
The fish food was made from cornmeal. As a large amount of it entered the water, the entire tank immediately became murky…
The next second, the koi suddenly flipped over and began swimming frantically.
It was a Virgo. It never ate such low-quality feed and couldn’t tolerate such a filthy environment!
Ye Piaoling laughed heartily. “It really was hungry! It got so excited at the sight of food!”
Fox Shadow frowned and muttered to herself, “I don’t think it looks happy…”
Ye Piaoling said, “Alright, go to Concubine Liu’s place and gather information. I need to know all her movements by tomorrow night.”
“Yes!” Fox Shadow accepted the order and left.
After Fox Shadow left, Ye Piaoling looked at the koi and smiled. “You seem quite tired today, so I won’t disturb you. I’ll come back tomorrow to make another wish!”
With that, she turned and left.
Leaving the koi alone, bewildered in the cornmeal soup…
…
That night, Huoxin Canglong used what little Magical Power he had left to send Ye Piaoling a dream.
In her dream, Ye Piaoling saw a large fish floating before her.
“You’re that koi!”
Ye Piaoling recognized it and was delighted. “It seems my guess was right—you really are an immortal fish! What’s your name?”
The koi said, “Huoxin.”
“Huoxin?” Ye Piaoling frowned. “With a name like that, you don’t seem like a good person…”
“Who are you calling a person?!”
The koi was displeased and immediately retorted angrily, “I am a great demon! How could I be compared to lowly humans?”
Ye Piaoling: “…”
Alright, humans look down on demons, and demons look down on humans. Mutual disdain is understandable.
Ye Piaoling politely apologized, “Sorry, you’re not human.”
The koi said proudly, “You’d better remember that.”
Ye Piaoling: “Your name is Huoxin, so from now on, I’ll call you Huohuo.”
“Whatever.”
The koi didn’t care about the name at the moment and simply said, “I sent you this dream to tell you to change my water immediately. Get me a clean tank of water.”
“Change the water?” Ye Piaoling didn’t understand. “There’s a lot of fish food in that water—changing it would be such a waste!”
“I don’t eat fish food,” the koi said disdainfully.
“You don’t eat fish food? Then what do you eat?” Ye Piaoling asked.
The koi sneered and remained silent.
When I regain my true form as the Canglong, you’ll find out what I eat.
And you’ll be the first one I devour!
Ye Piaoling: “I’m asking you a question! Tell me what you eat, and I can arrange it.”
Koi: “Forget it, I don’t eat mortal food. You don’t need to feed me in the future, just make sure the water is clean.”
“But how can you not eat!”
Ye Piaoling said, “Humans are like iron, food is like steel…”
“I told you I’m not human!!”
The koi roared in anger.
Ye Piaoling: “…”
The koi roared: “Don’t insult me with the word ‘human’ again!”
Ye Piaoling: “I’m sorry, I promise it won’t happen again. I’ll take care of changing the water.”
She rubbed her hands and smiled: “But I also want to ask you for a favor. I want the Regent King’s bathrobe.”
Koi: “…”