Chapter 8

Holding the black hemisphere that Shaoxuan used as a float, he didn't have a fishhook and couldn't find a stone hook to replace it. Out of options, Shaoxuan decided to tie a stone bug directly to the line. It would be great if there were carnivorous fish in the water that were interested in stone bugs.

In his previous life, he used earthworms to fish, but in this life, he hadn't seen any earthworms, so he decided to try using a stone bug. The tribe members said that the creatures in the water were very fierce and wouldn't mind such a simple bait. Without a hook, Shaoxuan didn't plan to catch a fish right away. If the fish in the water ate the stone bug, he could make a fishhook tomorrow.

Shaoxuan had Caesar dig up the stone bug earlier and tied it securely to the front end of the grass rope. However, this was only temporary. If the stone bug could withstand the water, it would eventually slip off the grass rope. Without proper tools, he could only try this for now. If the stone bug slipped away, he could just dig up another one.

The black hemisphere serving as a float was tied about half a meter from the end of the rope. Shaoxuan didn't intend to test the deep water. Standing at the edge of the shallow area, he threw the bait and the black hemisphere into the water. The black hemisphere, bearing the weight of the grass rope and the stone bug, sank a little but still floated steadily on the surface. Shaoxuan watched it to gauge what was happening underwater.

The grass rope he carried wasn't very long, less than five meters when combined. Shaoxuan was still quite close to where he threw the stone bug. Standing on the shore, he didn't touch the water, keeping an eye on the surface to be ready to run if anything unexpected happened. Not far away, there were warriors on guard. If he encountered danger, he would run to them for help.

As Shaoxuan did all this, the two warriors responsible for guarding the riverbank were also curious about his intentions. They initially thought the child was going to enter the water and planned to drag him back to the cave. However, they were surprised by this series of strange actions. So, after exchanging a glance, they decided to keep a close eye on Shaoxuan instead of dragging him away.

"Caesar, when I signal, pull the rope," Shaoxuan said, placing the other end of the rope in Caesar's mouth while he held the middle part.

After waiting for a while with no movement in the water, Shaoxuan thought: Could there be no fish in the shallow area? Or perhaps the creatures in the water weren't interested in stone bugs?

Before he could finish his thought, the black hemisphere on the surface suddenly sank.

Got it!!

The rope in Shaoxuan's hand slid rapidly, and his palm burned from the friction. Shaoxuan gripped the rope and pulled back, calling out to Caesar for help: "Caesar, pull!"

Although it was sudden, Shaoxuan could feel that the force pulling the line into the water was within his capacity, so he asked Caesar to help pull to see what had bitten the bait.

Caesar bit down on the grass rope and pulled back with all his might. He had dragged people before and was no stranger to pulling ropes.

The two warriors watching from a distance became tense. They had never been in the water and only dipped their feet in to wash animal hides at the river's edge. They had seen large river beasts in the summer and heard the tribe's stories about the river's dangers, so they always approached it with caution. Now, seeing Shaoxuan pulling something from the water, they were on edge, fearing that something large might emerge.

"Should we go over?" one warrior nudged his companion.

"Go... go... and see," the other hesitated, seemingly thinking of something.

A breeze blew from the river to the shore, carrying moisture and a faint, fishy smell. The smell made the two warriors even more nervous.

Shaoxuan could feel the creature in the water pulling on the rope. It was trying to drag the line back into the water, but Shaoxuan was gradually pulling it out, step by step.

The creature that had bitten the bait was almost visible. The water in the diving area was splashing due to the creature's violent struggles.

As Shaoxuan gripped the rope and focused on pulling it back, a scene suddenly flashed before his eyes, like a large mouth with countless tiny teeth biting towards him, almost covering his head!

Just as it was about to touch him, the scene disappeared.

The scene flashed by too quickly for Shaoxuan to react. He shook his head, thinking it was just a hallucination from the tension.

By the time the two warriors reached Shaoxuan's side, the creature in the water had fully emerged.

It was a strange-looking fish, about half a meter long, with its head taking up two-thirds of its body. Even out of the water, its mouth was still clamped onto the rope tied to the stone bug, refusing to let go.

"Keep pulling, don't stop!" Seeing the warriors standing there, Shaoxuan urged Caesar to continue.

It was the first time Caesar had dragged a fish. After the initial surprise and caution at seeing the unknown creature, he quickly bit down on the rope and pulled with all his might.

Once the fish was out of the water and pulled a safe distance away, Shaoxuan let go of the rope.

"Finally out! Good job, Caesar! Let go, where are you dragging the fish to?!"

Caesar was still pulling the rope with his rear end up, growling as he pulled. The fish clearly made him wary and aggressive, and he was so focused on pulling that he continued even after Shaoxuan let go.

When he heard Shaoxuan's words, Caesar reluctantly let go of the rope and cautiously approached the fish, which was still thrashing its tail, baring its teeth as if ready to bite.

From where Shaoxuan initially stood to where he threw the stone bug, it was only a few steps. The water where he placed the bait was not deep enough to submerge a person, yet he hadn't expected such a fierce fish to be in the shallow area. The fish's mouth was full of tiny, sharp teeth, and it refused to let go of the bait, even out of the water, thrashing its tail violently, determined not to let go.

One of the warriors who had come over used a spear, with a tip that was either stone or bone, to pierce the fish. He used a lot of force, and the spear quickly penetrated the fish's body, pinning it to the ground.

The fish finally released the rope, its mouth opening and closing, its head moving as if trying to bite anything around it.

The grass rope, which had been tied to the stone bug, was now just a fragment, and the rope itself was almost bitten through.

Shaoxuan's grass rope was strong and durable, made by his own hands, and had never broken despite frequent use. He hadn't expected it to be almost bitten through in just a short time.

Looking at the fish's open mouth, Shaoxuan was taken aback.

The most noticeable feature of the fish's head was its large mouth, filled with countless tiny, sharp teeth. The proportion and the teeth seemed designed for tearing and killing. If the pulling force had been a bit stronger, Shaoxuan might not have been able to drag it out of the water without Caesar's help.

If the shallow areas were full of such fish, anyone entering the water would likely be reduced to bones. This was just one type of fish; there might be even more terrifying creatures in the water, which explained why even totem warriors in the tribe were unwilling to enter the water.

Thinking about what might happen to the tribe's children if they entered the water, Shaoxuan shuddered.

Moreover, the image that flashed before his eyes while pulling the rope seemed to be the fish's mouth, filled with tiny, sharp teeth...

Staring at the fish's mouth, Shaoxuan remembered the hallucinations he saw in his previous life, in front of the stone wall of a remote village.

The two warriors, seeing Shaoxuan staring at the fish's mouth, thought he was scared and hesitant to approach the fierce creature.

Shaoxuan had never seen such a fish before, but one of the warriors had.

"Before I awakened my totem power, I came to the river with my father and saw this kind of prey once. The shaman said it was a fish. The water is dangerous everywhere. A woman from the tribe was bitten and lost her arm while washing animal hides by the river. My father killed one with a spear."

The warrior glanced at Shaoxuan, surprised that the child could pull a fish out of the water without entering it. His father had risked his life to save a woman who was dragged into the water, but by the time she was rescued, half her arm was gone. After that, the women in the tribe avoided the river, only coming to fetch water when the mountain streams dried up.

Shaoxuan snapped back to reality. The fish that had been pierced was already dead.

The warrior who pierced the fish pulled out his spear, removed the fish from the spear, and handed it to Shaoxuan by the tail.

"Here, this is your prey. Good job! You'll definitely become an excellent warrior in the future!" After a moment, the warrior added, "But don't get too close to the water. Besides fish, there are many other dangerous things in the river. You won't always be this lucky."

However, half an hour later, Shaoxuan, who was supposedly "not always this lucky," used the same method to drag out an even larger fish from the water.

The two warriors: "..."

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