Chapter 43

Below the high mountain, there was originally a long, winding river that circled around the mountain and eventually flowed into the sea. However, after a massive explosion on the mountain, half of the mountain peak had completely collapsed, and the rolling boulders and debris had filled up most of the river below. The blocked river overflowed, quickly flooding countless fields in the outskirts of the city. Even the nearest small village in the outskirts was hit by the flood, causing several houses to collapse and several people to drown.

The turbid river water continued to wind and flow rapidly towards the distance. In the river, a broken and battered corpse could be faintly seen, drifting with the current, being continuously battered by the flood, heading downstream.

This river is called the Xishui River. As the saying goes, "Those who live by the mountain eat from the mountain, and those who live by the water eat from the water."

On both sides of the Xishui River, there are many fishermen who rely on the river for their livelihood, fishing to earn some silver to support their families.

At a spot several thousand feet downstream on the Xishui River, an old fisherman was casting his net to catch fish. Unfortunately, his luck was not good. After casting the net for a long time, he only caught a few small fish the size of thumbs. These small fish were not enough to sell and could only be kept for his own consumption.

"Ah, I wonder what's going on today. There are so few fish. In the past, I would have already returned with a full load by now." The old fisherman looked at the setting sun, shook his head, and sighed deeply. He could only continue to cast his net, hoping to catch a big fish.

If he didn't catch any fish today, he would have no rice to cook for the next few days. He had an elderly wife and a young grandson at home, waiting for him to buy rice.

Therefore, even if it got dark, he couldn't go home without catching enough fish and could only continue to wait patiently.

"Huh? What's happening?" At this moment, the old fisherman's face suddenly changed. He noticed that the originally clear river water was now churning with countless black waves, mixed with many scorched grass and tree ashes.

"Ah, who is so unscrupulous, burning grass by the river? Don't they know that many people live by the Xishui River and drink water from it? Now the river is so polluted, how can we drink the water?" The old fisherman muttered angrily, preparing to pull up his net to avoid catching a bunch of ash and garbage.

But when he had only pulled the net halfway, his eyes suddenly widened, and his big hands stopped moving. He saw a broken corpse being swept by the surging river, heading towards the net.

"Ah?" Suddenly seeing a dead body floating in the river, the old fisherman couldn't help but scream in fright.

"Boom" The "corpse" suddenly rushed into the net under the old fisherman's terrified gaze, and a powerful force almost capsized his small boat.

"What... what should I do?" The old fisherman was trembling with fear, at a loss for what to do.

"No, I must immediately take this corpse to the government office to report it. Otherwise, others might think I killed someone, and I would be unable to defend myself." After much thought, the old fisherman finally came up with a plan and immediately started to pull the net frantically.

When he pulled the net back onto the boat, the old fisherman immediately saw a young man lying in the net, his face as pale as paper, covered in wounds all over his body, with his eyes tightly closed, seemingly without any sign of life.

Next to the young man were a few small fish, trapped in the net, struggling to break free and regain their freedom.

The old fisherman nervously pulled the net open and placed the dead young man on the deck of the boat.

Ignoring the few small fish still struggling in the net, the old fisherman immediately gathered the net and placed it at the stern of the boat. Then, he hurriedly steered the small boat towards Xishui City, determined to report the dead body he had fished out of the river to the government office as soon as possible, to avoid being mistaken for a murderer and ending up in jail.

As the small boat sailed, many black ashes and debris continued to churn in the river, making the water even more turbid.

But the old fisherman had no time to pay attention to these things. His only thought was to get to Xishui City as quickly as possible, hand over the corpse to the government office, and prove his innocence.

Suddenly, a sharp cold wind blew from the front, causing the old fisherman's small boat to spin in the water, unable to move forward and even drifting backward due to the strong wind.

Under the strong wind, the young man lying on his back on the deck of the boat had his tattered clothes blown away, revealing a cracked green jade pendant on his chest.

"Boom" The jade pendant was blown away by the wind and hit the deck with a dull thud, startling the old fisherman, who quickly turned his head.

Seeing the jade pendant on the young man's chest, the old fisherman's eyes lit up. Although the jade pendant had some marks on it, it still emitted a faint green glow, clearly indicating it was not an ordinary piece.

The old fisherman quickly stepped forward, lifted the young man from the deck, and took the jade pendant from his neck. Then, he let go, and the young man's head fell heavily onto the deck with a thud.

"It seems this person was a wealthy young master before his death, wearing such a fine jade pendant around his neck, which must be worth a lot of silver. Unfortunately, it has some cracks, which might reduce its value." The old fisherman muttered, quickly putting the jade pendant in his pocket, planning to take the dead body to the government office and then go to a pawnshop to exchange the cracked jade pendant for some silver to buy rice.

"Cough..." At this moment, the old fisherman suddenly heard a faint coughing sound from behind.

"Who?" The old fisherman was frightened, breaking out in a cold sweat, and immediately turned around. However, he saw no one behind him, only the dead body still lying on the deck, with bubbles coming from its mouth.

"Really strange, I clearly heard someone coughing. Could it be that my old age is affecting my hearing?" The old fisherman muttered suspiciously, turned around again, and picked up the oar, preparing to continue sailing.

"Cough... cough..." Suddenly, another weak coughing sound came from behind, this time much louder, and the old fisherman heard it clearly.

"Ah?" The old fisherman quickly turned around and saw that the corpse lying on the deck had opened its mouth and was coughing weakly, with murky water gushing out.

"Not... not dead yet?" The old fisherman's eyes widened, staring intently at the young man on the deck.

"Ugh..." Finally, after coughing up a lot of water, the young man's eyelashes twitched slightly, and his eyes slowly opened, revealing a pair of lifeless eyes.

"Little... little brother, you're awake..." The old fisherman put down the oar and cautiously walked to the young man's side, asking.

"Where... where am I?" The young man, as if just waking from a nightmare, opened his dim, lifeless eyes and looked at the old fisherman.

"This is the Xishui River, little brother. You're fine, that's good. You really scared me. I fished you out of the river, thinking you were dead, and was about to take your body to the government office to report it." The old fisherman sighed with relief, realizing that the young man was not dead but had only fainted after drinking a lot of river water, thus he no longer needed to worry.

"Old man, thank you..." The young man immediately expressed his gratitude, but as soon as he spoke, he couldn't help but cry out in pain. A wound on his body quickly split open, and a stream of fresh blood gushed out, staining the deck with a blood-red flower.

"Ah, little brother, you're injured." The old fisherman, seeing this, hurriedly tore a piece of rough cloth from his robe and pressed it tightly on the young man's wound to stop the bleeding.

"Old man, I'm seriously injured. Could you please take me to shore first? I need to find a place to treat my injuries." The young man said weakly.

"Sure, little brother, I'll take you home. Then I'll find a doctor to treat you properly." The kind old fisherman nodded, suddenly remembering something, blushed slightly, and took out the cracked jade pendant from his pocket, handing it to the young man.

"Little brother, this jade pendant fell from your body. Since you're fine, I'll return it to you." The old fisherman said with a guilty expression.

The young man, seeing this, was momentarily stunned, then his expression became extremely excited. He trembled and extended his right hand to take the jade pendant with countless fine cracks from the old fisherman.

He was none other than Lu Tianyu, who had survived a disaster.

Logically, with Lu Tianyu's current strength, if he had been hit by the explosion of hundreds of Tiger Roar Pills, he would not have survived.

Fortunately, Lu Tianyu had always carried the jade pendant given to him by Lu Yi. It was this jade pendant that saved his life in the critical moment.

When Lu Tianyu was about to be overwhelmed by the destructive energy, unexpectedly, a brilliant green light suddenly spread from his chest, forming a green light shield that firmly enveloped him.

"Boom" With a deafening explosion, the green light shield was rapidly pushed out by the explosion, flying through the air in a long arc and finally landing heavily in the Xishui River below.

The green light shield then shattered, and Lu Tianyu, who had already been severely injured before the explosion, involuntarily swallowed several mouthfuls of river water and fainted.

As for what happened next, it was what the old fisherman had seen.

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**End of Chapter**