Chapter 75

"Who is it, so good at playing?" Zhu Shen asked curiously, and Qi Xiang beside him also paid attention to listening.

"It can't be anyone else, it's Cannon King Ma Qianjun." Hai Gongzi sneered, looking down on him: "That guy got a five-toothed large ship, saying he's looking for the Three Immortal Islands in the Bohai area, but in fact, he often cruises around Japan and Korea."

"Every time he arrives somewhere, he invites dozens of girls on board, what exactly he does, who knows."

Hai Gongzi said resentfully: "He even calls it practicing dual cultivation techniques, what a beast!"

"Damn, that pretty boy, I wish he'd lose it soon!" Zhu Shen joined in the condemnation, but his tone was full of envy.

Anyway, Qi Xiang could tell that these two had a bit of sour grapes. But he was also a bit puzzled; with their wealth, they could do the same, so why envy?

Qi Xiang, somewhat puzzled, walked lightly into the ship's cabin.

The cabin was very spacious, like an elegant restaurant, very clean and tidy. More interestingly, in one corner of the cabin, there was a standard kitchen setup. Boilers, stoves, cutting boards, and kitchen utensils, all were present.

Qi Xiang also noticed a situation; after boarding the ship, Tian Shi suddenly disappeared. A few minutes later, he reappeared, but in different clothes.

White shirt, high hat, sleeves with gold edges, his body straight, looking spirited.

Seeing Tian Shi's appearance, Hai Gongzi and Tian Shi had默契 (a tacit understanding), and both lowered their heads to drink tea, unwilling to look more.

Qi Xiang watched with interest, and saw that after Tian Shi changed his clothes, someone pushed a set of knives over. Long knives, short knives, thick and sharp, variously shaped knives, all gleaming and sharp.

The utensils Tian Shi mentioned should be these.

"Professional!"

Qi Xiang's eyes swept over the knives, and he felt a bit of anticipation.

At this moment, someone carried a large round basin in. In the basin was water, and a large silver-white fish was jumping around, its strong tail splashing water, full of wild energy.

"Nice fish..."

Tian Shi approved somewhat, then rolled up his sleeves, grabbed the struggling fish, and pulled it out. The fish, out of water, bent and straightened its tail, slapping hard.

But Tian Shi's hand was very steady, his five fingers firmly gripping the fish's head, making the fish's struggles futile.

"Bang!"

Tian Shi, quick and nimble, lifted the fish and slammed it heavily onto the chopping board on the table.

Strangely, with just that casual slam, the wild, lively fish suddenly went limp, lying flat, as if it had fainted.

Qi Xiang's eyes lit up, realizing that Tian Shi's technique was very skillful. He used a soft force to knock the fish out without hurting its head.

"Clang!"

Suddenly, Tian Shi drew a thin, sharp knife, then pointed the tip at the fish's belly and gently slid it open. The knife tip was very sharp, easily slicing the fish open.

Just as Tian Shi was about to remove the fish's innards, Qi Xiang suddenly called out: "Wait..."

"Hmm?"

Tian Shi was taken aback, puzzled: "What's wrong?"

"Almost forgot to mention." Qi Xiang smiled: "Earlier, I had an agreement with Young Master Zhu. I will personally kill this fish, and whatever is in its belly belongs to me..."

"What?"

Everyone was surprised and felt very unexpected.

Hai Gongzi frowned slightly, confirming: "A-Zhu, you agreed to this?"

"Yes..." Zhu Shen, unwilling to lie, nodded: "He said he wanted to kill the fish himself, and I found it strange. Turns out he wanted what's in the fish's belly, but what could be in there?"

"Besides some organs, what else could there be?" Hai Gongzi was puzzled and suspicious.

Qi Xiang didn't explain, walking straight to Tian Shi's side and smiling: "Sorry, I'm interrupting you."

"No problem..." Tian Shi shrugged, put down the knife, took a few steps back, and washed his hands.

"Thanks."

Qi Xiang was polite in words, but his actions were quick. He immediately reached into the fish's belly, carefully feeling around. He wasn't sure if the Taihu Mystic Pearl was really inside, but he didn't want to miss any chance.

His hand felt the soft, fishy insides...

Qi Xiang felt for a while, his brows furrowing slightly. The situation seemed not so optimistic, he might find nothing?

Qi Xiang sighed, just about to pull his hand out, when he felt something slightly hard on the side of his palm.

Suddenly, Qi Xiang's heart leaped with joy. He quickly grabbed the object and pulled it out. After getting it, he searched the fish's belly again to make sure there was nothing else, then stopped, satisfied.

"Done..."

Qi Xiang immediately stepped away, smiling: "Mr. Tian, now it's your turn to show your skills."

"Really something in the fish's belly?"

Tian Shi noticed Qi Xiang's clenched hand, his eyes naturally filled with doubt.

Qi Xiang smiled but said nothing, walking to the nearby faucet to wash his hands carefully. He deliberately blocked others' view, then opened his palm.

"Huh?"

After washing his hands, Qi Xiang himself was somewhat surprised. Because the object wasn't the Taihu Mystic Pearl he expected, but something else.

The object wasn't large, a small piece, but had some weight. Qi Xiang played with it, studying it. It felt hard but also somewhat soft.

Soft yet hard, hard yet soft, very contradictory yet harmonious.

Qi Xiang's admiration of the object naturally aroused others' curiosity. Even though he blocked their view, the object itself had some shine, which, through the water's refraction, caught others' eyes.

"Really? There's something in the fish's belly?" Zhu Shen was both surprised and suspicious: "He didn't feed it to the fish, did he?"

Hearing this, Hai Gongzi shook his head lightly, thinking it unlikely. Qi Xiang had no reason to do that, what benefit would it bring?

Zhu Shen scratched his cheek, unable to resist calling out: "Hey, what is that? Show us."

"Nothing..."

Hearing the commotion, Qi Xiang calmed down, took a dry towel, wiped the water off his hands and the object, then put it in his pocket.

With it safely in his pocket, the fabric immediately blocked others' prying eyes.

"... Stingy!" Zhu Shen said resentfully: "What's the harm in a quick look?"

Qi Xiang pretended not to hear, naturally walking over and sitting down, then smiled: "Mr. Tian, please continue. Everyone is waiting for your whole fish feast."

Tian Shi composed himself, deciding to ignore Qi Xiang, and picked up the sharp knife again. He easily and quickly cleaned out the fish's innards, then quickly scaled the fish...

After rinsing the scaled fish clean, Tian Shi changed to another knife.

"Chop, chop, chop!"

In an instant, Tian Shi's knife moved swiftly, following his hand, creating layer upon layer of residual images. The speed was so fast, like white lightning, impossible to follow.

In a short while, Tian Shi put away his knife. The over-foot-long fish was immediately cut into segments, each segment with a balanced amount of bone and flesh, as if connected by threads, neatly and orderly.

At this point, Tian Shi put down the knife, opened a drawer, and took out various seasonings.

The handling of the seasonings was very meticulous.

While Tian Shi was busy, Hai Gongzi withdrew his gaze and looked at Qi Xiang, asking: "Mr. Qi, how did you know there was something in the fish's belly?"

"I guessed..." Qi Xiang smiled, being vague.

"How could it be a guess..." Zhu Shen was very dissatisfied: "You are... sly, not sincere. If you have something to say, just say it, why hide it?"

"My affairs are trivial." Qi Xiang's eyes twinkled, shifting the blame: "Yours are more important."

"Our affairs?"

Zhu Shen and Hai Gongzi's faces changed simultaneously, a bit uneasy.

"Yes." Qi Xiang bluntly said: "Young Master Zhu, you probably don't know, but Hai Gongzi came to Huzhou specifically to find you, for something important."

"Specifically to find me?" Zhu Shen was taken aback: "What's going on?"

"You..."

At this moment, Hai Gongzi was so angry he could gnash his teeth. His plan with Tian Shi was to find Tao Zhu Gong, Zhu Shen, spend a few days building a relationship, then gradually achieve their goal.

He didn't expect that such a well-laid plan would be exposed by Qi Xiang before it even started. It was like a card game where the table was overturned before any bets were placed, how could they continue?

If looks could kill, Qi Xiang would have been sliced a thousand times by Hai Gongzi.

But Hai Gongzi understood the urgency of the situation. He could settle accounts with Qi Xiang later, but the immediate priority was to calm Zhu Shen and prevent him from becoming suspicious.

"Yes, we came specifically to see you."

Hai Gongzi reacted quickly, instantly thinking of a reason, frowning: "Why have you been offline so often these past two years? Everyone is quite worried about you, wondering if something happened to you."

"What could happen to me?"

Zhu Shen was happy to be cared for: "I just... felt that being online was boring, and I had other things to do, so I didn't use the computer."

Anyone could tell that Zhu Shen's explanation was very weak and unbelievable.

Hai Gongzi pondered for a moment, then sneered: "Young Master Zhu, if you don't want to talk about the reason, just say so, no need to make excuses."

"I'm not making excuses..." Zhu Shen loudly contradicted, but without much conviction.

"Sure you're not." Hai Gongzi sneered: "At least try to come up with a plausible reason when you lie."

"Cough, cough!"

Zhu Shen rubbed his nose, then suddenly slapped the table, shouting: "Cultivation is too troublesome, I don't want to do it anymore, okay?"

With over 200,000 words, it should be quite readable. Please support and recommend it.