This time, like what Li Shutong said earlier, he did not ask Qing Chen to light a fire but took the boy directly to the river.
It seemed that this teacher was really planning to scrounge dinner and felt no embarrassment in doing so.
"Teacher," Qing Chen asked as he walked, "Just now, when Qin Cheng was trading with Zhang Tongdan, they almost got into a fight for just four bottles of medicine. It looks like Zhang Tongdan was about to draw his gun. Why would anyone be so vicious to a business partner?"
"Of course," Li Shutong replied, "the people living here in the wilderness are fighting against the slim odds of survival. Their living conditions are harsher than you could ever imagine. Therefore, in the face of life-saving items, they will fight for them with their lives, which is naturally a bit vicious. However, Qin Cheng never really intend to take the medicine away, he just wanted Zhang Tongdan to owe him a favor."
Qing Chen felt that he had to agree that it was a smart move.
Li Shutong said, "Xiaochen, everyone in the world is going through hardships. The little people have learned how to face this world early. Everyone has their own way of survival. As your teacher, I can't always be by your side, so this time, you have to be observant and learn as much as you can. After accompanying you for a while, you'll eventually have to take on a journey yourself."
Qing Chen suddenly realized that there was a more profound meaning to his teacher's words.
The two came to the shallow river. The water here seemed clearer than any other river in the world. The riverbed, several meters wide, was covered with pebbles. Even at the places where it was more than two meters deep, one could still see the bottom of the river at a glance.
If nothing else, the environmental awareness in the Inner World was much better than that in the Outer World.
"There are so many fish," Qing Chen glanced at it and saw hundreds of fish slowly swimming in the river, "Teacher, shall I go straight down to catch fish?"
This river looked almost like a fish pond on a farm.
The sizes overall were very large, each one probably weighing 2 to 3 kilograms.
Li Shutong glanced at him and said, "You want to catch fish? Wait here for a moment."
Then, he took out a ball of fishing line from the bag, tieing one end to his hand and the other to a fish hook.
Li Shutong broke off a small piece of protein bar and threw the hook into the water, "Watch carefully."
As soon as he finished speaking, the surface of the river started churning, and all the big fish within the area suddenly swarmed to bite the hook.
In the tumult of the river, a large fish bit on the hook, and the sharp hook pierced its mouth.
The smell of blood from the wound drove all the big fish completely crazy. They were no longer attracted to the protein bar but started biting the fish on the hook!
In just a few seconds, the sturdy fish bones could already be seen on the body of the hooked fish.
Li Shutong saw the opportunity and suddenly pulled the fishing line, and a few big fish that was too late to let go were thrown to the shore together!
Qing Chen watched this scene silently but was shocked in his heart, "Teacher, are these piranhas?"
"Accurately speaking, it's not," Li Shutong shook his head, "In the records of the new era, the fish in the early years have not fully evolved to look . It should be that a powerful fish died in a certain river basin, causing the river to start changing, much like the whale that died in the Forbidden Sea."
Qing Chen approached the big fish that were still jumping around and clearly found that the fish had sharp teeth in their mouths, which rarely happens in freshwater rivers.
Li Shutong glanced at him and said, "Remember, any river in this world is dangerous, don't try to go down the river until you have completed the sixth Life and Death Stage. Otherwise, you won't be catching fish, you will be fighting fish."
In other words, anyone below Level A could die in the river.
Li Shutong picked up a few leaves at his fingertips and flicked them out lightly.
The few pieces of leaves that were soft at first were suddenly straightened, making them look like blades. Even though they didn't seem to have traveled very fast, they still were able to be nailed into the fish's heads.
"How is it?" Li Shutong asked with a smile.
"Teacher is amazing," Qing Chen said sincerely.
After speaking, Li Shutong's smile became even bigger, as if he was proud to have finally impressed his student.
"This is the effect of the qi in your body," said Li Shutong, "It is reasonable to say that it will appear in the body only after passing the fifth Life and Death Stage, show its power in the sixth, and be fully covered in the body after the seventh. But you are a little special. It seems like it appeared before you even passed the first one."
Qing Chen listened carefully.
Li Shutong continued, "In addition to making a leaf or flower like a bade, everyone's qi has a different effect. My qi can make people feel like they are burning, just like the time I played against Guo Huchan, even if I held back my strength, he must still take a while to recover. Your martial uncle’s qi can make people feel like vomiting, and now I'm really curious about what yours might be.”
Qing Chen thought for a while and asked, "So apart from flying leaves or flowers, qi does not deal any actual damage, but it will make the opponent at a disadvantage when fighting?"
"That's the idea." Li Shutong nodded.
Qing Chen thought to himself, isn't this just a buff?!
He looked at his teacher, and Li Shutong smiled: "Your qi won't have any effect on me at all, and it's not necessarily effective to ordinary people. You should wait for your qi to grow before finding someone to try it on."
When the two returned to the camp, the fire was already burning.
Li Shutong handed the five fish in his hand to Qin Tong and said, "I have caught five fish. We can have them for dinner tonight."
After he finished speaking, he sat down beside the bonfire naturally, without any intention of taking Qing Chen to the other side to make another fire. He waved to Qing Chen and said, "Come on, you can sit too."
At this time, Qin Yiyi had already told her brother Qin Tong and her father Qin Cheng about her guess while the two were gone fishing.
Qin Cheng's attitude changed immediately after learning that Qing Chen was not a servant.
Although he guessed that Li Shutong was probably only a Level C, that was still good news. Or else, if Li Shutong's level was too high, it would be impossible to approach.
"My in-law… No, sir, may I ask what your name is?" Qin Cheng asked.
When Qin Yiyi heard his father's slip of the tongue, she immediately stood up and pulled Qing Chen's mountaineering bag down, and said in a quiet voice, "I'll set up a tent for you."
After speaking, she took out the tent from his bag and ran away.
"My surname is Mu, and the student next to me is Xiao Tu," Li Shutong said with a smile.
Qing Chen, "…" How did my elegant name got turned into Xiao Tu?
(Qing Chen's name "Chen", means dust, but when split into two individual characters, it would be Xiao, which is on the top, and Tu, which is on the bottom, meaning "little dirt" if put together as a new word.)
Qin Cheng and Qin Tong exchanged glances. Now that Li Shutong has admitted that Qing Chen is not a servant, they were naturally delighted.
"Mr. Mu," said Qin Cheng, "I know that you're a master, but there's something that I want to discuss with you."
Li Shutong smiled, "Please go ahead."
"This time, the drones that we brought were all damaged, so our defense power is certainly not sufficient," said Qin Cheng after thinking for a while, "So, if we encounter any danger on the road, can Mr. Mu offer us some help? We can let you ride with us for free."
In fact, in Qin Cheng's opinion, there shouldn't be too much danger before arriving in the Forbidden Land. But he just wanted to mention that he won't be charging them so that they would seem to be closer in their relationship.