Chapter 4 The Fisherman and the Hunter

  Who would have thought that as soon as the fishing net landed, the "stillbirth" in the net suddenly let out a loud wail.

  The fisherman with the surname Li cursed loudly, "Which son of a bitch?! Throwing one's own daughter into the river in broad daylight, truly deserving of death!"

  Within hundreds of miles, the river is flat and calm, never having fierce waves, and it's rare for people to fall into the water from a ferry boat. This little newborn baby couldn't possibly run into the river by herself. There's only one possibility - the child's family was disgusted that she was a girl, so they deliberately threw her into the river when she was just born.

  April day, the river water is cold and piercing. Although this little child is still alive, he can't withstand the icy chill either. Mr. Li, a fisherman, climbed up to the shore in three strides, untied his fishing net, stretched out his hands to pick up the little child, and quickly opened his swaddling clothes.

  The scene before him was a big surprise, and the one who was crying loudly was actually a male infant. His whole body was icy cold, his skin was dark blue and black, as if he had been frozen to death. Fortunately, his abdomen was flat, and it seemed that the river water had not entered his belly.

  The thin fisherman and hunter following behind were also stunned, secretly marveling!

  The hunter quickly walked up, swiftly untying the leopard skin cloak from his body and wrapping it around the little boy. The child's face was pale purple as he cried hysterically, but the hunter held him skillfully in his arms, gently patting the child's back with one hand. The child slowly stopped crying, the dark energy dissipating from his body, his shiny black eyes staring unwaveringly at the hunter's rugged, reddish-brown face.

  The hunter smiled stupidly and the little boy's face also showed a hint of a smile.

  The thin little fisherman patted Li's shoulder and said, "Brother Li has a deep good fortune, he can actually save a baby boy from the river. Since that's the case, why not take him back to raise him? Who knows, when you're old, this child might still be able to show filial piety to you."

  Li surname fisherman saw that the little boy's hands and feet were moving randomly, not like he had a serious illness. He was surprised that the little boy's life was big, and at the same time, he thought about which village upstream the little boy would be from, and why he was thrown into the river. Hearing this, he bitterly smiled and said: "Brother, where are you talking nonsense? My five little devils, one is more mischievous than the other, every day making your sister-in-law anxious and worried, if I bring back another one, won't she scold me to death?"

  With a sudden movement in his heart, he said: "Since you've brought it up, why don't you just take him home and raise him yourself? This little boy can even survive falling into the river, so he's bound to have good fortune later on!"

  The thin little fisherman hastily waved his hand and said, "Big brother doesn't know, my wife is a tigress, if I rashly bring this kid back, she will definitely say that this is the wild species born by me and another woman outside, who knows how to deal with me? Better not!" When talking about his wife, a hint of fear appeared on his face.

  "What's there to be afraid of? When the time comes, I'll be your witness, won't that do? Besides, you have three daughters at home, and this little guy will grow up to support his sisters and give you two a comfortable old age." said Mr. Li, the fisherman, with a glare in his eyes.

  The thin fisherman took the child from Orion's hands, looked at it again and again, seemed to have a thread of movement in his heart, thought for a moment, but finally shook his head and refused: "My brothers and I often go fishing together, our relationship has always been good, do you think your brother will believe you? Even more won't believe that we picked up a boy from the river? Besides, it's not clear where this child came from, what if we get into trouble?"

  As soon as the words fell, the child suddenly let out a loud wail and burst into tears. No matter how hard the thin fisherman tried to coax him, he couldn't stop the child's crying. The thin fisherman handed the child over to Mr. Li, but the child continued to cry uncontrollably!

  The fisherman with the surname Li returned the child to the hunter, and unexpectedly, as soon as the child was in the hunter's arms, he stopped crying instantly.

  The thin fisherman chuckled and said, "Brother Zhou, it seems that this little boy is quite compatible with you. Why don't you take him away and raise him?" The Li surname fisherman echoed in agreement from the side, and the two of them jointly persuaded the hunter to take the child away.

  The hunter declined, but seeing the sky gradually darkening and still having dozens of miles of mountain roads to walk, he deliberated in his heart and said with a hum: "We three can meet this little boy, it's also fate, naturally can't be abandoned. My younger brother has only one or two-month-old infant at home, my wife is kind-hearted, I'm sure she won't blame me. Since so, I'll take this little boy back home to raise him temporarily. If someone asks about the little boy's whereabouts because of today's matter, please ask the two brothers to inform them that I am Zhou Jinping from Hanshui Village at the foot of Fowu Mountain."

  This person looks rough and unrefined, but when he speaks, he is surprisingly articulate and reasonable.

  Two fishermen nodded in unison, and the fisherman with the surname Li quickly strung up seven or eight chi-long green fish on two willow branches, hanging them from Zhou Jinping's hunting spear. He chuckled and said: "Brother, rest assured, if anyone asks about this little kid's whereabouts, we'll naturally let him go find you."

  Zhou Jinping nodded at the two of them, not saying much, and took down the gray cloth bundle hanging from his shoulder. He wrapped the small child in the leopard skin cloak inside the bundle and hung it around his neck. Turning around, he strode forward with big steps. As soon as he stepped onto a flat and broad road, he suddenly quickened his pace to be as swift as flying. In no time, dust flew up behind him. This man's footsteps were surprisingly fast, like those of a running horse, and he seemed not to be an ordinary hunter.

  As Orion walked away, the two fishermen reeled in their nets and headed towards the village together.

  That night, tens of miles away in Wan'an Town, a burst of beastly roars echoed through the air, accompanied by human wails and dog howls, all mixed together in chaos. The next day, the entire town was shocked to discover that a white-browed tiger, three green wolves, and a five- or six-meter-long black python were roaming freely on the streets of the town as if they owned the place.

  Yesterday, among the people who took away "Bao Xing" from Ye Cheng's home, all the men who personally carried "Bao Xing" died miserably under the claws and teeth of several ferocious beasts. Especially the black-clothed man who led them, four out of six members of his family were swallowed into the belly of a giant centipede, leaving behind only two elderly people who were shocked to the extreme.

  These fierce beasts and poisonous insects gathered outside Ye Cheng's thatched cottage, divided into three groups, mutually hostile, seemingly wanting to enter the cottage, yet also showing a hint of fear towards the things inside.

  Although several ferocious beasts no longer actively attack the residents, they have caused the entire town to be in a state of panic. The few shops and taverns in the town are closed tight, and even the children playing on the streets are being closely watched by adults and locked at home, not allowed to go out.

  Although there were dozens of hunters in Wan'an Town, they saw that the tigers, wolves and giant pythons were far different from ordinary beasts. Not only did they not dare to drive them away, but they also restrained their neighbors from approaching the Ye family, lest they disturb the few beasts. Those ordinary dogs that would bark loudly whenever someone passed by were now cowering on the ground, trembling with fear, and their usual arrogance was nowhere to be seen!

  No one can guess what these fierce beasts will do next, whether more fierce beasts will emerge from the deep mountains and forests. One by one, they hide at home, cursing that damned "calamity star", drowning in the river but still harming their fellow villagers! There are also many people who secretly rejoice that when they sank the "calamity star" into the river that day, they did not take the lead to hug it tightly.

  On that day, in front of everyone, the eighth uncle who took charge and threw the " evil star" into the river was so afraid that tigers and wolves would come to his door that he was frightened to death!

  Jiang Xiuzai sighed to the sky and cried out for justice! Even though he had read many classic books and was knowledgeable, he couldn't figure out how a few tigers and wolves could suddenly appear in Wan'an Town like they were descending from heaven, and why they only bit to death the men who had carried the child that day.

  Of course, if there are immortals in the town, they may be able to see that the black air rushing out of Xiaotong's body and then entering several men is a kind of evil spirit rarely seen in the world. For some ferocious beasts, getting a thread of evil spirit might just make them become spirits or demons.

  These tigers and wolves naturally sensed the heavenly tribulation aura emitted from Xiao Tong's body due to excessive fright, which was why they came to Wan An Town.

  For over a thousand years, since Yu Xuxu Daozhang attained the supreme divine power on the main peak of Taishan Mountain "Yuding Mountain", subdued demons and monsters, preached the Dharma, and established the Yuding Gate, his disciples and mountain spirits would often descend to inspect and restrain the wolves, insects, tigers and leopards in the mountains, not allowing them to enter densely populated villages. The appearance of such a strange scene in Wan'an Town is an unprecedented event in hundreds of years.

  Fortunately, the few tigers and wolves ultimately only destroyed Ye Cheng's thatched hut, leaving it in shambles, before departing from Wan'an Town one after another, fleeing into the deep mountains and dense forests.

  It is said that good news never goes beyond the door, while bad news travels a thousand miles. The commotion in Wan'an Town soon spread to all the surrounding villages. Those two fishermen who had pulled the child out of the river were naturally frightened and secretly discussed it among themselves without telling their families, ultimately not daring to reveal the news that the "calamity star" was still alive, which would bring them great trouble.

  As for the hunter named Zhou Jinping, the thin fisherman had only ferried him across the river a few times in his small boat and they didn't have any deep connections, so he wouldn't specially run to the deep mountains tens of miles away to inform him about this matter.

  The flowers bloomed and fell, and eight years passed in the blink of an eye. Wan'an Town had long since returned to its former tranquility, and no one was willing to mention that "calamity star" again. Even Ye Cheng's two brothers thought he had drowned long ago, burying it deep in their hearts.

  In a chaotic world, even with fierce beasts running amok, deep in the mountains and forests, many small villages remain hidden. Hanshui Village is one of them.

  A small village was built on the mountain, famous for its spring. Dozens of thatched cottages and hundreds of earth caves were scattered all over the place, standing on a relatively flat area. To the right of the village, there was a narrow stream about two meters wide, winding and flowing, irrigating dozens of hectares of thin fields. The source of the stream was a spring eye, which was about one or two acres in size, bottomless, and continuously gushing out blue spring water.

  This spring is quite different from other springs in the mountains, extremely cold and piercing to the bone. The spring water is on one side, closely attached to the cliff. Perhaps due to its icy nature, there are no flowers, grass or trees within a radius of ten square meters around the spring eye, and people and animals do not want to get close. What's strange is that the spring water does not freeze, even in the depths of winter it still flows out happily and vigorously.

  This chapter is over! Your support is my greatest motivation!