That night, Lu Qing slept particularly well, not even dreaming.
Little Yan didn't wake up in the middle of the night as she usually did, calling out for him to comfort her.
The siblings both had a good night's sleep.
In fact, Lu Qing slept so soundly that it was Little Yan who woke him up in the morning.
Still bleary-eyed, he helped Little Yan put on her coat, brushed her teeth and washed her face, then casually tied her hair into two little buns before starting his own morning routine.
Using a willow toothbrush to clean his teeth at a leisurely pace, Lu Qing let his gaze wander without focus, idly landing on the objects in the room.
After brushing for a while, he suddenly felt that something was off. His eyes gradually gained focus.
He stepped forward to look at the two bamboo rings hanging on the pole, now completely empty, his eyes widening in disbelief.
Good grief, which mean-spirited fool had stolen his two generous pieces of fish meat?
Could it have been someone from the village?
This thought was his first instinct.
But he quickly dismissed it.
*While the villagers might not be wealthy, no one was so poor as to steal two pieces of fish meat.*
*Yesterday, when he invited everyone to eat fish, most of them had politely declined.*
*Plus, if someone intended to steal, wouldn't it make more sense to take the whole pot of fish? Why bother just stealing two pieces?*
*What's more, he noticed faint traces of fish meat still clinging to the bamboo rings.*
*Clearly, those two pieces of fish had been forcibly yanked away.*
*What kind of thief would be so noisy, practically begging to wake the entire household?*
Unfortunately for him, he had fallen into such a deep sleep last night that he hadn't heard the commotion outside.
Lu Qing meticulously searched the area, and finally, he found several mudprints shaped like plum blossoms on the wall.
Each print had a few small claw holes embedded within.
Similar prints were scattered on the ground as well.
He stared quietly at the mudprints.
Soon, he noticed a faint white glow emanating from them.
White light?
Lu Qing was slightly startled.
He quickly focused on two faintly visible text descriptions that had floated up:
[Mud footprints: Judging by their shape, they appear to belong to some kind of mysterious little beast.]
[Based on the small holes in the prints, this creature has sharp claws.]
*As he read the descriptions, an image sprang vividly to Lu Qing's mind.*
*A mysterious, light-footed little beast leaping forward, using the wall as leverage, then lunging at the fish meat on the bamboo pole and yanking it down with sheer force.*
*What could this animal be? A cat, perhaps?*
*Speaking of which, are there even cats in this world?*
A question popped into Lu Qing's mind.
*As far as he knew, there weren't any households in the village raising cats.*
*But since he was certain no person had stolen the food, that was all that mattered.*
Lu Qing exhaled in relief.
*If it had been a villager who stole his food, that wouldn't have been good news for him.*
*Luckily, it was just a wild animal, judging by the footprints, a small one at that.*
The village was located near a range of mountains, and the occasional visit by a stray beast was nothing out of the ordinary.
Still, it seemed that he'd need to be more cautious about locking doors and windows at night.
If a wild animal slipped into the house and hurt Little Yan, that would be unacceptable.
After figuring out what had happened, Lu Qing didn't dwell on the matter.
There was no point in getting worked up over an encounter with a wild creature; he simply resolved to store food securely at night from now on.
Just then, Lu Qing remembered something, his eyes widening as he hurried to the kitchen.
A moment later, he emerged with a face full of relief.
Luckily, he had moved the Red Moon Carp into a wooden basin and stored it in the kitchen last night.
To prevent the fish from jumping out, he had even covered the basin tightly with a wooden plank and weighed it down with stones.
If he hadn't done so, there was no guarantee it wouldn't have been carried off by the wild beast.
Following this odd little episode, Lu Qing felt completely awake.
He didn't tell Little Yan about it. Instead, he quietly prepared breakfast, and the two siblings ate together before placing the Red Moon Carp in a wooden pail and heading to the small hillside where Old Doctor Chen lived.
Lu Qing deliberately delayed their departure this time.
*He wanted to avoid showing up too early and running into the elder while he was practicing boxing techniques. Otherwise, he might be tempted to use his superpower to simulate the elder's cultivation methods.*
*Old Doctor Chen had always been kind to him and Little Yan; he couldn't bring himself to do something so ungrateful.*
*So, he decided to eliminate the temptation and spare himself the moral dilemma.*
Lu Qing's plan worked well.
By the time he and Little Yan arrived at Half Mountain Small Courtyard, they saw Old Doctor Chen slowly wrapping up his boxing movements, evidently just finishing his practice.
"Grandpa Chen, we came to visit you!"
Little Yan saw the elder and ran over joyfully.
"Oh, Little Yan! You're here!"
Old Doctor Chen caught her in his arms, his wrinkled face blossoming into a broad smile.
"Good morning, Grandpa Chen," Lu Qing stepped forward politely to greet him.
"You're here, but why are you later than the last time?" Old Doctor Chen asked.
"Because my brother wouldn't get out of bed!" Little Yan giggled, "It was me who had to wake him up this morning!"
Lu Qing's cheeks flushed slightly. "I spent the morning fishing by the river yesterday, and I was a bit tired, so I slept more deeply than usual."
"Sleeping longer isn't a bad thing," Old Doctor Chen nodded thoughtfully. "At your age, getting sufficient rest is essential for growth."
The elder carefully examined the siblings' complexion, which was visibly better than it had been in recent days.
Seeing this, he felt satisfied, knowing they must have been doing well recently.
"Grandpa Chen, yesterday my brother and I went fishing. He caught a huge, huge fish!"
Little Yan began to boast to the elder.
"Oh? How big was it?" Old Doctor Chen chuckled.
"So big, so big—just like me!" The little girl gestured enthusiastically.
"That big?" Old Doctor Chen's brows shot up in surprise.
He'd assumed that "big fish" meant two or three pounds at most, but if it was as large as Little Yan claimed, it would far exceed that expectation.
"Uh-huh! The big fish wasn't just delicious; it even had a very beautiful stone on it. My brother turned it into a pendant and gave it to me. Grandpa Chen, look, do you think it's pretty?"
Little Yan tugged at the fish stone pendant hanging around her neck to show it off.
"Is this… the Green Armor Fish Stone?"
Old Doctor Chen recognized the pendant and was visibly taken aback.
Hearing his words, Lu Qing's thoughts stirred.
Pretending to be surprised, he asked, "Grandpa Chen, do you know what this stone is?"
"What, you don't know?"
"No, I don't." Lu Qing shook his head, "I found this stone near the throat of the large fish while cleaning it. I thought it looked nice, so I turned it into a pendant for Little Yan to wear."
"Well, you're really lucky! This fish stone is quite a rare item—you just happened to come across it," the elder responded, lifting the pendant for a closer inspection.
"The fish you caught must have been a Green Armored Fish, and an older one at that."
"Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to produce such a fine-quality fish stone."
"The Green Armor Fish Stone, once jadeized, offers rather amazing properties. It can soothe heart and spirit, and it's also a valuable medicinal material. Its powdered form, when ingested with water, can calm a frightened child."
"By the way, where did you catch this Green Armored Fish?"