Chapter 13

Chapter 13

With a flick of his tail, Yu Fei sent the small fish—who had lost the competition but still tried to snatch their meal—flying. Noticing his elder brother’s gaze, Yu Fei quickly snatched a piece of floating hay and swam swiftly to Yu Ye. "Big Brother, try this," he offered.

Yu Ye wanted to scold them, but seeing his younger brother’s eager expression, he hesitated. Since their bodies had grown weaker, Yu Fei rarely showed such liveliness. Now that he was finally happy, Yu Ye didn't want to spoil it.

Glancing at the other fish nearby, Yu Ye considered whether to let his brothers eat a few before escaping. After all, they were so hungry they had resorted to grazing—even if the hay tasted good, they had always been carnivores.

Yu Ye stared at the hay, then snatched it up and swallowed it quickly. He had never liked eating hay.

But after finishing, he licked his lips. This hay…

Yu Ye looked at the floating hay and took another bite. This time, he didn’t bolt it down thoughtlessly but savored it carefully.

He hadn’t been mistaken earlier—this hay contained a trace of Weird Qi. Compared to the Weird Food he had eaten before, the amount of Weird Qi in this hay was meager. Normally, it wouldn’t be considered valuable, but the problem was… there wasn’t a single trace of impurities in it.

At some point, the Weird Qi in the entire Weird world had begun to dwindle. Along with this change came another crisis—the Weird Qi within Weirds themselves was uncontrollably dissipating.

For Great Weirds, the impact wasn’t too severe, but weaker Weirds could only watch helplessly as they grew weaker. To avoid vanishing entirely, they resorted to devouring other Weirds.

It was from that point onward that the Weird world plunged into turmoil and danger.

Yu Ye’s strength was decent, but his younger brothers fared worse. The Weird Qi in their bodies couldn’t withstand the dissipation, leaving them increasingly feeble.

As for restoring Weird Qi by consuming Weird Food—not only was it expensive, but even if they could obtain it, most Weird Food nowadays contained too many impurities. While stronger Weirds could handle it, small Weirds like Yu Ye and his brothers would suffer. Excessive impurities would impair their intake of Weird Qi and even hasten its loss.

At first, the Weird Qi absorbed from Weird Food could offset the loss, but the more they ate, the more impurities accumulated, worsening the dissipation. Now, it was just a waiting game—seeing how long their remaining Weird Qi could sustain them.

But this hay… had no impurities at all.

This meant that for every bite Yu Ye took, he absorbed a trace of pure Weird Qi. Even if it wasn’t much, it was better than nothing.

Instantly, Yu Ye dismissed the idea of escape. Seeing that there wasn’t much hay left in the pond, he drove off the other fish trying to snatch it and urged his brothers to eat quickly.

Yu Fei and Yu Ye wolfed down the hay eagerly. However, after a few bites, Yu Fei noticed Yu Ye wasn’t eating with them and couldn’t help but ask, "Big Brother?"

"You two eat first," Yu Ye replied without explanation.

Though puzzled, Yu Fei assumed Yu Ye wanted to eat later and continued.

Yu Ye had never liked Weird Food. For him, eating it might stave off weakness, but the process was always painful—the more he ate, the worse he felt, especially when digesting the Weird Qi. But this hay was different. Though the Weird Qi was minimal, the more he ate, the more comfortable his body felt.

Ying Yuanxing hadn’t scattered much hay into the pond, and the two Weirds ate quickly. By the time Yu Ye regained focus, only two strands of hay remained at the bottom of the pond. Suppressing the urge to devour them, he turned to see Yu Fei floating near the surface, staring intently at Ying Yuanxing’s cabin.

"Big Brother?" Yu Fei grabbed the remaining hay and swam over, confused. But as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, the hay fell loose. He quickly dove to retrieve it, not daring to speak again, only wordlessly asking.

"Xiao Fei, Xiao Ye… let’s not escape yet. We’ll stay here a while longer," Yu Ye said after weighing his options.

Yu Fei and Yu Ye had always obeyed Yu Ye. Though Yu Fei didn’t fully understand, he didn’t question it. Instead, he pushed the hay at Yu Ye, urging him to eat—otherwise, Yu Ye might not resist snatching it. Even he had to hold back from swallowing it whole.

Yu Ye glanced at his brothers, then ate the last two strands. The Weird Qi they provided was minimal, but it had been so long since he’d absorbed impurity-free Weird Qi.

So long that he could barely remember how it felt. Now, a cool, soothing sensation spread through his body, easing his tension. The hay left a refreshing bitterness on his tongue, with a faint hint of sweetness—it was surprisingly tasty.

Yu Ye’s decision to stay wasn’t just about the hay Ying Yuanxing provided. More importantly, he wanted to observe Ying Yuanxing.

To him, impurity-free hay had to be Ying Yuanxing’s secret. The only reason they’d discovered it so easily was because Ying Yuanxing mistook them for ordinary fish. If they missed this chance, they might never get close to the farm again.

By observing carefully, they might not secure a permanent stay, but perhaps they could buy some hay to take back.

Yu Ye remembered Ying Yuanxing had said he fished to sell for money. Though someone of his strength hardly needed to fish for income—maybe it was just a hobby—they could still use this opportunity to purchase hay.

…

Ying Yuanxing had no idea the small Weirds he’d caught were observing him. After waking up, he first checked the fields and noticed the fish he’d left out overnight was gone. Though there were no cat paw prints nearby, perhaps the cat was just cautious. At least the fish had been eaten.

Approaching the pond, Ying Yuanxing was surprised to find all the hay he’d thrown in yesterday completely gone.

He glanced at the pond, casually scooped out a fish, and tossed in another handful of hay.

Though he’d planned to grill fish yesterday, considering the farm work ahead, he lost interest. But eating raw fish?

Ying Yuanxing frowned. With the game now reality, who knew if raw fish had parasites? Not to mention the texture…

He couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he built a small fire, skewered the fish, and left it to cook while he went to water the crops.

The fish wouldn’t taste great this way, but Ying Yuanxing suddenly remembered how time-consuming eating fish could be—boneless fish were manageable, but deboning was tedious. Maybe he’d just gulp it down once cooked. As long as it was edible, that was enough.

Yu Fei had never seen a Weird so farming-obsessed—so diligent it was almost admirable.

All morning, Ying Yuanxing was busy watering, plowing, chopping wood, digging stones, and cutting weeds.

But now, Yu Fei finally understood why that dark-furred Weird had appeared in the fields.

The aroma was intoxicating!

Buried in soil, their scent was muted, but in Ying Yuanxing’s hands, the aroma was irresistible. Even Yu Fei couldn’t help his mouth watering, let alone the two younger Weirds. Yu Fei and Yu Ye gazed hungrily as Ying Yuanxing buried the sweet-smelling seeds.

"Big Brother?" Yu Fei called softly, but Yu Ye understood his implied request—he wanted to eat them.

Yu Ye was tempted too, but logic prevailed.

Ying Yuanxing tossed hay haphazardly, but his attitude toward seeds was clearly different. To him, seeds were clearly precious.

Not to mention Ying Yuanxing—just yesterday, a Weird had tried stealing seeds, and Yu Ye had seen the consequences firsthand. No matter how tempting, acting meant certain death.

After finishing his farm work, Ying Yuanxing noticed a few fish surfacing, likely hungry. He pulled out another handful of hay and tossed it in.

Compared to the seeds, the hay wasn’t as fragrant, but with the seeds buried, their scent had weakened. Paired with the hay, it wasn’t bad.

Other fish sensed the food and swarmed over, but Yu Fei expertly herded them away, letting Yu Fei and Yu Ye eat first. Remembering Yu Ye had only eaten four strands yesterday, Yu Fei urged him to join.

Yu Ye didn’t refuse, joining them. The three Weirds hogged all the hay Ying Yuanxing had scattered.

Just as Ying Yuanxing was about to leave, he glanced back at the pond and noticed the three bully fish dominating the food. The largest one kept the others trapped in a corner, unable to approach. Their appetites were enormous—in the short time Ying Yuanxing watched, they devoured every last strand, leaving nothing for the rest.

Ying Yuanxing’s mouth twisted. If he didn’t separate these three, the other fish would starve. Though they didn’t seem like carnivorous fish, their aggression was concerning. If they killed the others, that’d be a loss.

He decided to stop by the village chief’s house on his way to dumpster dive. He remembered the chief had some spare buckets—maybe he could even scrounge a meal.

The chief’s cooking wasn’t great, but the energy replenishment was too tempting to resist.

Ying Yuanxing quickly made his rounds through the village, digging through bins. Today’s luck was mediocre—after much effort, he only found a lump of coal. His haul was meager.

Sighing, he shrugged. He wasn’t counting on trash for profit anyway. Finding something useful was a bonus; not finding anything was normal. Now, off to the chief’s house.

From a distance, Ying Yuanxing spotted the chief standing in his yard and hollered a greeting.

The chief turned, saw Ying Yuanxing, and immediately recalled the high-grade Weird Food Ying Yuanxing had devoured yesterday—his painstakingly hoarded supply, nearly depleted by half. Pretending not to see him, the chief turned to go inside. "Chief?" Ying Yuanxing hurried over, cutting him off.

"Oh... it's you," the village chief said with visible reluctance. "Is there something you need?"

"Chief, I caught a few fish, and some of them are pretty vicious. I don’t think it’s safe to keep them with the others, so I was wondering if I could borrow a bucket from you to keep them in. Once I sell the fish, I’ll return it," Ying Yuanxing replied.

The chief fell silent for a moment before pointing to a large water vat in the yard. "If you can carry it, this vat is yours."

Lending meant having to deal with returns, and the chief really didn’t want any further interactions with Ying Yuanxing.

The vat was his now!

Ying Yuanxing glanced at the large vat, pleasantly surprised. He instinctively checked the relationship meter and saw that the chief’s favorability hadn’t changed at all. Yet, with just this level of favorability, he could receive a gift from the chief. If he worked on raising it further, could he get...?

Ying Yuanxing wasn't exactly scheming for the house itself, but the chief’s place had a great location—close to the river. If he didn’t feel like returning to the farm to rest at night, staying at the chief’s place would be a convenient alternative, saving him the trip back from the farm.

The chief had no idea that his generosity had only fueled Ying Yuanxing’s greater ambitions.

Originally, Ying Yuanxing had planned to score a free meal, but now that he’d gotten a free vat, he felt too embarrassed to bring it up. However, he noticed there was no food on the chief’s table, even though it was already mealtime.

"Chief, haven’t you prepared any food yet? How about waiting for me? I’ll go catch a few fish right away and cook them as a thank-you meal."

He couldn’t offer much in return, but a few fish were doable.

The chief’s expression stiffened. Who could afford to eat Weird Food every day? To him, Ying Yuanxing’s words were just another attempt to mooch. Just as he was about to say something, his wife stepped out and whispered, "A child went missing outside, and they think they might’ve gotten lost in our village. They need your help to find them."

The chief perked up but feigned concern. Ying Yuanxing immediately understood—the chief probably had no time to entertain him now—and with that, bid his farewell before leaving.