Chapter 14

The fish and shrimp caught in the net were still struggling frantically when the largest, dark, snake-like creature suddenly leaped high into the air, its tail slapping the ground with a loud "smack, smack."

The large gray river prawn next to it made a "snap" sound with its pincers, easily cutting the small fish under it in half, and even cutting a hole in the fishing net.

Seeing that the fishing net was about to be ruined, Jiang Shu quickly picked up a stone the size of a washbasin and threw it over.

He used all his strength.

With a soft "squeak," the river shrimp finally quieted down.

The brother and sister exchanged a glance, waited in place for a while, and when nothing happened, Jiang Shu cautiously walked over.

He poked at the fish in the net with a bone stick, and the fish only wriggled slightly before becoming still.

Both of them breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The tension in my body also relaxed.

Looking at the pile of harvest, Jiang Shu grinned and said, "I thought it would be much more difficult, but this is all?"

He reached out and pulled the fishing net out.

Jiang Zhi sensed something was wrong and quickly reminded him, "Brother, be careful of that giant salamander."

As soon as she finished speaking, the giant salamander, which was as thick as an adult's thigh, suddenly let out a scream.

"squeak!!!!!"

The brother and sister were instantly stunned and dizzy. Jiang Zhi was alright and came to her senses in the next second. The ginger tree that was close by fell straight down.

Jiang Zhi's expression changed drastically, and she pulled out a watermelon knife and slashed.

Unexpectedly, the giant salamander was even more cunning than imagined. It twisted its body and dodged, then sprayed a layer of liquid from its body surface, turning its original one-meter-long body into half a meter and shrinking in size by half. Then, it slid and slipped out of the net.

The watermelon knife missed its target, and the giant salamander swiftly slid back into the river from the bank. This fluid movement made Jiang Zhi wonder if the giant salamander could understand their language.

Jiang Shu had recovered by then.

He shook his head: "Holy crap, what's this fish? My mind went completely blank just now, and my body wouldn't obey my commands at all."

Jiang Zhi pursed her lips and walked over. "Brother, are you alright?"

Jiang Shu knew what Jiang Zhi was thinking as soon as he saw her like this. Fearing that she would blame herself too much, he quickly said, "Hey, what's wrong with that? It was just a moment of carelessness. Next time I encounter this giant salamander, I'll definitely smash its head open with a stick."

Jiang Shu didn't hold back either. He knew he was just an ordinary person, unlike his sister who was resilient, so he didn't deliberately hide his discomfort.

He moved his hands and feet, found nothing wrong, grinned and said, "Don't worry, I'm as strong as an ox now! I'm not dizzy, and I'm in great shape. Absolutely no problem!"

He even showed off his biceps as he spoke.

Although Jiang Shu wouldn't admit it, Jiang Zhi knew how dangerous it had just been.

Putting everything else aside, if that giant salamander has any tricks up its sleeve, Jiang Shu will definitely be the first to be affected.

They were too careless, thinking that having a cheat code would allow them to avoid all dangers.

Although the topographic map did not mark the giant salamander as a red dot, the fact that the creature is not aggressive does not mean that it will not pose a threat.

What if that giant salamander takes advantage of her brother being stunned and drags him into the river...

Jiang Zhi felt increasingly guilty. She opened her mouth, but Jiang Shu interrupted her, saying, "Stop! Don't say anything mushy. This whole thing was caused by our carelessness. It's also my fault for being too hasty. If I had killed those fish from a distance first, none of this would have happened."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhi fell silent, but inwardly reminded herself to be more cautious when she was out.

What the two were unaware of was that this river was a notoriously dangerous one.

Many people have fallen into this river in the past, and gradually, fewer and fewer people go near it.

All I can say is that young calves are not afraid of tigers; they were probably the only two newbies in the entire base who dared to venture to the riverbank.

Having learned his lesson from the giant salamander incident, Jiang Shu picked up a rock and smashed it several times against the stone pressing down on the river shrimp, only stopping when he heard a "crackling" sound of a shell breaking.

Jiang Zhi wasn't idle either; she stunned the small fish in the net one by one from a distance of one meter before approaching.

The brother and sister counted their spoils.

I caught four fish in total. One got away, leaving three: two grass carp the size of an arm and one crucian carp the size of a palm.

There was also a river shrimp and two palm-sized river clams.

This is quite a harvest.

Jiang Shu couldn't wait to grab two river clams, pry open their shells, and examine them.

"Drip - Moderate toxicity, can be consumed in moderation."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shu grinned from ear to ear, "A great start! Both of them are edible."

Even though it's only a ounce or two of meat, who complains about not having enough meat these days?

I even took the ginger twigs and peels, but they still tested positive for moderate toxins.

"Ah Zhi, what do you want with this shell? Even if it's moderately poisonous, you can't eat it."

It takes up space for no reason.

Jiang Zhi ignored him, "You don't understand."

We'll take this stuff back, grind it into powder, and sprinkle some into the porridge; it'll make it delicious.

If he didn't understand, he didn't dwell on it and continued to catch the remaining fish.

But the moment Jiang Shu touched the two grass carp, he noticed something was wrong. The scales covering the fish were thick and hard. "Could the flesh of these grass carp be hard too?"

He couldn't resist reaching into the fish's mouth and touching it. He breathed a sigh of relief after feeling the soft texture.

"It's alright, it's alright."

However, he spoke too soon.

The two grass carp were remarkably similar; apart from their thick outer scales, which were moderately toxic, the rest of their bodies were highly toxic, even their eyes.

Jiang Shu retorted, annoyed: "...Are you kidding me?!"

Jiang Shu was so angry that he threw the fish into the river, but Jiang Zhi stopped him in time.

"Wait a minute, brother, let's remove the fish scales."

Jiang Shu frowned: "Azhi, these fish scales are so thick, eating them will break your teeth."

Jiang Zhi smiled and said, "Do you remember that crunchy treat we ate when we went back to our grandparents' house when we were sixteen?"

Jiang Shu was taken aback and said, "How could I not remember? That thing was delicious, but unfortunately you ate it all."

"That stuff was made by our grandma using fish scales."

Jiang Shu's eyes lit up, but he quickly complained, "That won't work either. We don't even have oil at home right now, what are we going to use to press it?"

Jiang Zhi remained calm and continued scaling the fish without stopping. "You don't necessarily need to use oil; you can grill it too."

Hearing his younger sister say it was edible, Jiang Shu didn't hesitate any longer and started cooking.

At this point, as long as it's edible, would they still complain that there's not enough meat in the ants?

To be fair, the mutated grass carp had scales that were twice as thick as before, with an extremely hard outer layer but a very elastic inner layer.

The knife pierced through, but it bounced back without even leaving a mark.

Jiang Shu joked, "Is this what they call putting all your skill points into defense?"

Jiang Zhi pouted: "That's all relative. Unless there's no creature more powerful than it in the world, it's still going to die, like it is now."

At most, they just die a little slower than the others.

Jiang Shu: ...That makes so much sense, he couldn't think of anything to refute it.

The brother and sister worked for a while and finally managed to remove all the fish scales.

The remaining crucian carp and ginger have been tested and found to be highly toxic throughout, so they are inedible.

The river shrimp that was smashed by the ginger tree also fired a water arrow when they moved the stone. Fortunately, the brother and sister were prepared and the shrimp was eventually stomped to death by the ginger tree.

These river shrimp look even bigger than the lobsters we used to see. Surprisingly, apart from their larger size, their shape is almost identical to the river shrimp we used to see.

"Drip, moderate toxicity, can be consumed in moderation."

"Drip, moderate toxicity, can be consumed in moderation."

Several parts of the ginger tree were tested, and all of them showed moderate levels of toxins.

Now, the brother and sister were finally happy.

Although it wasn't much, the scattered bits and pieces added up to enough for their family of four to eat two meals a day.

Jiang Zhi threw the two highly toxic fish back into the river.

The moment the dead fish entered the water, the calm surface instantly erupted into chaos.

As if receiving a signal, the fish, shrimp, and crabs in the river quickly gathered from all directions, splashing water everywhere on the river surface.

Seeing this, Jiang Shu couldn't help but say, "It's a pity that this net has a hole in it, otherwise we could have made another haul of meat."

Jiang Zhi also expressed some regret: "Maybe next time."

She pulled up the fishing net and found that, apart from the part that had been cracked open by the shrimp, the rest was intact.

She was quite certain how strong those fish were when they jumped around, and she was surprised that they didn't rot.

Jiang Shu: "What?"

"It's nothing," Jiang Zhi put it back in her backpack. "I just think this thing is quite durable."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shu said smugly, "Back then you all complained about me buying things recklessly, but now you know how good it is, right?"

When Jiang Shu was preparing his camping gear, he specifically chose to buy expensive brand-name items.

He was even scolded by Ye Qingyun for this.

In retrospect, you get what you pay for; the more expensive ones are indeed of better quality.

Just as Jiang Zhi was about to speak, a golden symbol flashed briefly in the topographical instrument in her mind.

Jiang Zhi couldn't help but hold her breath.

When she checked the exact location of the golden creature again, she didn't see anything.

Seeing that her expression was off, Jiang Shu quickly asked, "What's wrong, Azhi?"

Jiang Zhi looked into the depths of the river. "There's something good there."