Chapter 3: The Fish That Lures People

  "What's in a surname Su? It turns out it's a mouse!"

  Ning Feng stared blankly at the chaotic scene after "the water overflowed".

  "Squeak"

  The big grey mouse shrieked, the evil wind swept across, and the tables, chairs, and stools were all flying in the air. The little mice were rolled up by the evil wind, using their four limbs to grab onto the hair of their ancestors.

  Good fellow, a big rat, with dozens of small rats hanging on its body, falling down like rain from the tables and chairs, magnificent.

  "I'm shining too!"

  The strong wind saw those huge waves and thought the sky was going to be submerged, where did it not know to run?

  He quickly slung his book bag over his shoulder and rushed out, forgetting about the bench and everything else.

  Before running two steps, Ning Feng saw that the nearest place had a small white mouse that seemed to be stunned, grasping the stool and refusing to let go. Along with the stool flying up and smashing down again, golden stars began to appear in its eyes.

  "Su Tingyu is that little girl."

  Ning Feng's footsteps paused, and he thought of the little girl's round face, feeling inexplicably close and familiar. Instinctively, he reached out and grabbed both the stool and Little White Mouse together.

  "Hurry up and run."

  He stretched out his hand and gave a brainy tap on the forehead of Little White Mouse, then followed by a casual grab, throwing it towards Big Grey Mouse.

  Su was so frightened that she was stunned, and didn't let out a cry until she was thrown out. She frantically grabbed with her hands and feet, using all four limbs to grasp the big grey rat's tail.

  She just managed to catch the last bus.

  The big grey mouse suddenly jumped out of the house, knocking down walls and creating a huge hole in the process, but that was not the main issue.

  The wind was so strong that it delayed me for a moment, and the waves rushed in, choking me with a big mouthful of water. In an instant, the water had risen to my knees.

  If you don't go out now, you will be drowned.

  Ning Feng took three steps and made two strides, running wildly while stretching his hand into the bookcase behind him, not knowing what he was fumbling for.

  The next moment, he stood in front of the big hole that was knocked out by the big grey mouse, took a deep breath and jumped down.

  "Wow..."

  A strong wind, wrapped in heavy rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning, came pouring down from the sky, as if a giant hand was pushing him back.

  Fortunately, the force of that hand was slightly greater as it fell, and Ning Feng plummeted downwards like a plummet.

  At this moment, he had no time to think about it. Obviously, the village was by the river, but how did it suddenly appear and fall down like a cliff?

  Ning Feng didn't even have time to look back, his hands finally came out of the bookcase after fumbling around, grasping something and throwing it out with force into the wind.

  With a "pop" sound, a large bag was blown up by the wind and inflated to the size of a person.

  Another "plop", Ning Feng's two hands were raised high and he plunged into the water, swallowing several mouthfuls of water.

  Before he could shout "Bad luck!", he was busy for a while, tying the big windbag tightly into a ball and letting it float on the water.

  "I'm going up, I'm going up again......, me me me, I'm still going up~~"

  With a final burst of energy, it managed to climb onto the ball floating on the water's surface.

  In the midst of a stormy rain, one person tightly hugged a ball, floating up and down with the waves, sometimes hidden and sometimes visible in the flashing lightning and thunder, drifting away with the current.

  "...and managed to snatch back a life again."

  "What bad luck!"

  Ning Feng finally shouted out, "Ptooey ptooey" and spat out several mouthfuls of water. He turned his head to look back and saw the big grey rat swimming desperately towards the shore in the opposite direction.

  A nest of little mice on its back screaming, mice moving house in all directions.

  "Grandfather, young lady, children, farewell for now, we'll meet again someday~~"

  Ning Feng suddenly stretched out a hand and waved it high, regardless of whether his voice could be heard by the old mouse in this stormy weather.

  Others didn't notice, but obviously Big Grey Mouse had heard it. In the midst of his busy schedule, he turned his head to take a look, and was shocked again, almost choking on a mouthful of water.

  "Go."

  "Fire wash cloth, Mo family wind bag."

  The big grey mouse's head was a mess, and in his mind appeared the image of Ning Feng rummaging through the bookcase with his hand.

  "What kind of student is this? Not bringing books, but instead bringing all sorts of useless things..."

  "What's left in the bookcase?"

  The wind was strong and the waves were high, the water was rushing rapidly, in the blink of an eye both sides could no longer see each other.

  Ning Feng didn't know that Da Hui Lao Shu had moved house, and still had the heart to mock his book collection. He raised his head to look towards the place where he had just jumped out.

  This time he finally saw clearly.

  At the upstream head, there is a Suzhai Village, which is obviously an old and worn-out river embankment that predates the city wall.

  The ancient river embankment is full of holes and cracks, with countless caves, and in the midst of this stormy flood, it's unknown how many snakes, insects, rats, and ants are fleeing for their lives.

  For a moment, Ning Feng couldn't tell which hole he had just jumped out of.

  "No wonder I felt something was off when I entered that village? It turns out I had arrived at someone's home as a guest."

  Before Ning Feng could react, the turbulent water swept away the giant ball and him on it, carrying them downstream. In an instant, they were thrown off to a distance of unknown miles.

  Also thrown into the background was that half-night migration, a supernatural night of mice moving houses.

  "Hey~"

  Ning Feng bitterly thought to himself with a smile: "Next time, if I have the chance to be someone's teacher again, I won't mind telling them the story of how this old mouse moved house. Speaking of which, when Old Su transformed back into his true form that instant, it was really... amusing."

  As time passed, Ning Feng drifted downstream for hundreds of miles, and the amount of water that was poured into him in between was even more unbearable to speak of. Only the round belly of a pregnant woman witnessed the heart-wrenching scene.

  No matter how big the storm is, it will eventually stop.

  After the rain, the sky is clear with a rainbow hanging in the distance. The torrent has calmed down and flowed into the wide riverbed, carrying the peaceful breeze on its surface, moving forward slowly but steadily.

  "We made it through..."

  The wind blew up half of his body on the ball, looking around at the situation. He was mainly estimating how far he was from the shore and whether he could swim over. He felt like his whole body was going to be swollen.

  "It seems like there's some distance..."

  Ning Feng covered his eyes with his hand and barely saw the scenery on the shore.

  Small river embankment, weeping willows, February wind trimming out a good view, looks like a nice place.

  "In normal circumstances, if you can't swim, then you'll sink and become fish food."

  Ning Feng gave up his plan to swim over.

  "If you drift slowly, it'll take at least half a day." He looked around and saw nothing but the calm water surface, feeling quite bored, "That's too boring."

  Ning Feng thought for a moment, freed up one hand and reached towards the bookcase again.

  Heaven knows how he managed to keep his book box from falling into the water with such high and rapid waves.

  Suddenly——

  "Oh no! Help!"

  "Who can save me~~~~"

  The cries for help were heard one after another, the voice was soft and sweet, listening to it made me feel weak all over.

  "Huh?"

  Ning Feng's ears perked up with a "whoosh" and looked into the distance following the sound.

  In that moment, a large tree was laboriously pushed by the water flow into his line of sight.

  The big tree is difficult for several people to hug, the top is full of moss-like things, the branches and leaves are green and dripping, it's hard to believe that it can still float in the water.

  The biggest branch of the tree trunk had a girl sitting sideways with her legs together, and she was the one who shouted for help loudly.

  Seeing this woman, Ning Feng's eyes couldn't help but widen slightly.

  She has a round face like Su Tingyu, but without the childishness, looking mature and charming. Her figure is not like that of a young girl, with curves in all the right places.

  This appearance is exactly the grown-up version of Su Tingyu's little maid.

  Soft light, heavenly light, shines on her body with a delicate glow, eyes can't help but stick to it, and can't be pulled away.

  This woman has suffered countless disasters on the road, her clothes are either hooked on tree branches like a piece of cloth or full of holes, and it's better not to wear them.

  "Scholar, save our household!"

  The woman also seemed to have seen Ningfeng, her voice became even more mournful and sorrowful, like a cuckoo crying blood, listening to it made one's heart and liver tremble.

  "Slave, slave can't swim..."

  "Oh no!!"

  Far away, the woman's two hands stretched out, her upper body leaning forward, what should be exposed and what shouldn't, all fell into Ning Feng's eyes.

  It can be seen that as long as a bookish scholar comes forward to rescue the beauty, it's not just a matter of catching someone's eye, but rather being thrown into their arms.

  What can be tolerated, what cannot be tolerated?

  Ning Feng endured it reluctantly!

  He didn't mean a word of what he just said, cleared his throat and shouted loudly: "Miss, if you're willing to teach me the skill of moving trees that have fallen in the deep mountains into the river, and it just so happens that you can hold onto me, I'll go over."

  Tilting his head in thought, Ning Feng added: "Not to mention saving you, becoming a disciple is no problem."

  "Hmm..."

  Solidify!

  Time, wind, flowing water, all seemed to have solidified in an instant.

  And then there was that woman.

  All she saw was her two hands stiffening in mid-air, the words "help" stuck in her throat and couldn't be spat out, her face as pale as it could get.

  "It seems like it's no use..."

  He shook his head in disappointment and helplessness.

  "That's all for today."

  He had just turned around and was about to continue what he was doing when a non-human voice let out a deafening roar.

  "Wooooo~~~"

  "Ah!"

  As the wind turned back to look, he saw the woman's face twisted in a scowl. The entire giant tree on the deep mountain, along with the charming woman above it, burst forth and leapt into mid-air.

  Below, the clear water surface reflects a huge shadow at the bottom of the water.

  "What is that?"

  Ning Feng's eyes almost popped out.

  The answer is revealed immediately.

  That was a huge fish of unprecedented size.

  The big fish rose from the bottom of the water, and the first thing it did was open its huge mouth towards Ning Feng, revealing two rows of sharp triangular teeth.

  On top of this big fish head that doesn't look like a vegetarian at all, there is a piece of flesh that looks like a fishing rod.

  As the big fish floated to the surface, the woman and the big tree melted together in an extremely disgusting way, wrapping around the sharp tips of the flesh, forming a bead-like shape, which could be seen emitting a fluorescent glow even in broad daylight.

  It's going to be in the evening, shining like a fishing fire, don't know how many more people will be deceived.

  "It's always been said that people catch fish, but today I see fish catching people."

  Ning Feng sighed and showed off his bookish nature, but the next moment he was shocked and said, "No, this is a pipa fish - although I've never seen one so big, it's definitely a pipa fish."

  He shouted strangely: "Who can tell me how fish in the sea run into the river?"

  Ning Feng shouted, but he didn't wait for a response at all. He didn't even glance back over his shoulder as he hastily turned around and pulled out two bamboo sticks of varying lengths from the bookcase.

  "Boom boom boom~ boom boom boom~~~~"

  Even without turning his head back, it was enough for him to imagine what was happening behind him.

  That big fish was dripping with saliva, jumping out of the water and then heavily smashing back into it, repeating this process over and over again. The rolled-up waves all splashed behind him, making a "whooshing" sound.

  "Run!"

  Ning Feng held a bamboo pole in each hand and swung them with great force.

  "Ka-cha" sounds, the bamboo pole instantly lengthened from his forearm, becoming taller than a person. The part on his hand was the thickest, and the back was slender like an arm of a child.

  To put it bluntly, it's not worth a penny, just a bamboo pole with one tube inserted into another, relying on clever design and fine craftsmanship to create a portable rod.

  "Whoosh whoosh~ Whoosh whoosh~~"

  The waves crashed against the shore, exhausting all their strength, creating ripples and foam on both sides of the ball, rushing towards the shore with a whooshing sound.

  Behind him was a huge fish monster that was obviously man-eating, and he was apparently performing exceptionally well. The pipa fish were getting closer and closer in pursuit, but still lacked the breath to catch up.

  Closer, closer, even closer!

  The pike's eyes gleamed with ferocity, its mouth open to the fullest extent, and its sharp teeth reflecting sunlight as it charged at Ning Feng's back and bit down viciously.

  "Crunch!"

  The crocodile fish bit into thin air, its upper and lower rows of teeth making a powerful intimate contact, its massive body stranded on the shore.

  It was just a little bit short!

  "What a close call!"

  Ning Feng rolled down from the ball that had already rushed ashore and stood up with a pat on his chest.

  He gazed at the pipa fish demon who was struggling incessantly, unable to move forward or retreat backward, and said calmly:

  "Let's talk about how you ran from the sea to here again."