But he couldn’t speak now, and standing there with a broken umbrella, pretending, really did look quite foolish.

So, angrily, he left the bridge and went down to the willow trees by the riverbank.

He remembered it was here that he had released the red carp. Returning to this old place, he felt a bit dazed...

Splash, splash!

Suddenly, the river’s surface churned with waves, making a series of noises.

Sanlang Brooks was startled and craned his neck to look.

He saw the waves rolling in, and among them a flash of bright red appeared, lively and energetic.

“Red carp!”

Sanlang Brooks opened his mouth wide in surprise.

Whoosh!

The red carp in the water seemed to hear his silent call, shot forward like an arrow, and suddenly leapt out of the water, flying straight toward him.

It really did leap up!

Sanlang Brooks didn’t understand, but instinctively dropped the broken umbrella and reached out with both hands to catch it, cupping them together. In the next moment, the red carp landed squarely in his palms.

What was going on?

Sanlang Brooks was full of doubts: a fish out of water will die. Since it knows it will die, why would the red carp jump ashore on its own, as if committing suicide?

Ever since the red carp repaid his kindness and gave him the mysterious little sword, he understood that this was definitely not an ordinary fish.

Could it be that it’s so extraordinary that it can survive without water?

Yet right now, the red carp in his palms was opening and closing its mouth, looking a bit suffocated and very uncomfortable.

“Looks like I was overthinking it.”

Sanlang Brooks gave a self-deprecating smile, quickly bent down, and put the red carp back into the water, silently thinking, “Fish, oh fish, you’d better swim freely in the river from now on, and don’t let yourself get caught again.”

But strangely, as soon as the red carp touched the river water, it became extremely nervous and uneasy, its two pectoral fins flapping hard, desperately churning up splashes.

Sanlang Brooks had just let go and stood up.

Whoosh!

The red carp leapt up again.

No way, what’s going on?

Sanlang Brooks was completely baffled, and in his haste, didn’t have time to think, quickly reaching out both hands to catch it again.

The red carp landed in his palms, as if falling into a warm embrace, so determined, without regret or complaint.

Sanlang Brooks was a bit stunned, feeling like his brain couldn’t keep up.

In two lifetimes, he had never encountered or even heard of such a thing.

Luckily, there was no one else around at this moment, or if someone had seen this, their jaw would probably have dropped to the ground in shock.

In an instant, Sanlang Brooks seemed to understand something, stomped his foot, turned around and ran, holding the red carp as he dashed home.

Not long after he left, the surface of the Jing River churned with even bigger waves, accompanied by a faint black wind. Amid the wind and waves, a shadowy figure darted about, baring its fangs and claws, as if searching for something. It searched the waters under the Wanqing Bridge for quite a while, found nothing, and then dove back into the water, heading downstream.

Sanlang Brooks rushed home in a flurry. As he passed through the main hall, he saw his mother chatting with Mr. Sullivan, but didn’t stop to greet them, charging straight to his own room. Looking around, he spotted the porcelain basin he usually used to wash his face, hurried over, and put the red carp into the basin.

But there was no water in the basin.

“Water, where’s some water?”

He grabbed the porcelain basin and rushed out, almost bumping into his mother coming over.

Mrs. Brooks was full of suspicion: “Yuan’er, what are you doing?”

Sanlang Brooks didn’t answer, anxiously found his way to the well in the front yard, quickly drew a bucket of fresh water, and poured it into the basin.

Once the fish had water, it immediately began to swim nimbly, its tail swaying, no longer tense or uneasy as before.

Sanlang Brooks breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yuan’er, what on earth is going on?”

Mrs. Brooks followed behind in a panic, looking a bit pale with worry.

Sanlang Brooks hurriedly said, “Mother, I bought a fish to keep as a pet, but I accidentally broke the basin on the way, so I had to rush home to find water. I was rude just now, please don’t blame me.”

A very reasonable explanation.

More importantly, a quarter of an hour had passed, and he could finally speak again.

It felt great.

Mrs. Brooks scolded him a little: “So that’s what happened. Honestly, all this fuss over a fish, and you’re soaked through. You’re not strong, what if you catch a cold and get sick?”

Sanlang Brooks nodded obediently, thinking to himself: This is no ordinary fish!

“…Ay, hurry and change into dry clothes, then come out to the hall and greet the teacher.”

Sanlang Brooks first put the porcelain basin on the ground, but after thinking about it, felt uneasy, afraid the chickens and ducks at home might disturb it, so he picked it up and set it on the low wall.

Only then did he go back to his room to change clothes and come out to see the teacher.

“Meow!”

A while later, a cat’s meow suddenly sounded, and soon a big tabby cat poked its head out. It had been curled up under the eaves, but with sharp eyes, it spotted the red carp swimming in the porcelain basin.

Cats naturally love to eat fish, and couldn’t resist, so it nimbly leapt down, landing beside the basin.

The red carp in the basin seemed completely unaware of the approaching danger, still swimming leisurely.

The tabby cat stretched out its right front paw, trying to reach into the water to grab the red carp and eat it.

Splash!

The red carp flicked its tail, sending a splash of water that drenched the tabby cat’s face, leaving it soaking wet and rather embarrassed.