Protect Our Patriarch

Chapter 7: Catching the Red Scaled Eel

"Sixth Uncle, these are all family secrets, and everything must be kept confidential," Wang Shoujie said seriously, temporarily giving up on his plan to educate him on the path of cultivation.

"I understand. I'll be extra careful with all of this, and I'll ask the family to assign two bodyguards to me later," Wang Dinghai said excitedly, his whole body trembling. "Moreover, I have some ideas about that Dredge net. We can quickly modify a Casting Net to create a Dredge net. Let's try it out and see if it works."

His eyes were shining with excitement, and he couldn't wait to start experimenting.

From the Dingpu Ferry Terminal to Lianshi Beach, it was all Wang Clan territory, and ordinary people wouldn't dare to approach the riverbank. After all, the riverbank was undeveloped and had many hidden dangers.

Moreover, this section of the river had nine bends, and there were many hidden and secluded areas. After being inspired by Wang Shoujie, Wang Dinghai, who was familiar with the fishing industry, had come up with many plans and ideas.

After getting Wang Shoujie's approval, Wang Dinghai took the boat to a small, secluded dock in this section of the river. Each small dock was a secret base that could be used for multiple purposes, and the Wang Clan's fishing fleet was no exception.

There was also a hidden wooden hut near the dock, which was a place to rest and avoid the wind and waves. Wang Dinghai settled Wang Shoujie and Gong Sunhui in this simple place, leaving Wang Gou Dan to serve them before hurrying off.

"This is the first time I've seen Sixth Uncle so enthusiastic," Gong Sunhui said with emotion. "It looks like the fishing strategy you provided will be very effective."

"It's all from ancient books, and it's not reliable without practical experience. I hope it will be useful to the family," Wang Shoujie said with a calm smile, then turned to Wang Gou Dan and asked, "Can you grill fish?"

"Yes," Wang Gou Dan nodded quickly. "I'll go grill the fish right away."

After Wang Gou Dan left, Gong Sunhui looked at Wang Shoujie carefully, making him feel a bit uneasy before sighing and saying, "You've changed, you've become more carefree and confident. In the past, you only knew how to work hard and cultivate, and you didn't care about anything else. If it weren't for your mother watching over you, I would have doubted that you were the same person."

"Grandma is joking, in the past, I had my father to rely on, so I didn't need to worry about anything," Wang Shoujie said with a calm expression, sighing and continuing, "But now that my father is gone, the family's situation has become so dire. If I don't take action, what will happen to the Wang Clan? Grandma, let's not talk about this for now. You're tired from the journey, rest for a while, and wait for Sixth Uncle's surprise later."

Wang Shoujie took control of the situation, ending the conversation and leading the way to rest.

About half an hour later, Wang Gou Dan returned with several golden grilled fish, which smelled delicious. Wang Shoujie took out two large copper coins and threw them over: "This is your reward, go wait outside."

"Thank you, Master, thank you," Wang Gou Dan happily ran out.

Wang Shoujie and Gong Sunhui shared the grilled fish, and although Wang Gou Dan's cooking skills were ordinary, the freshness and quality of the ingredients made up for it. Wang Shoujie praised the dish, saying it was delicious.

Gong Sunhui was also eating this kind of rough food for the first time, and after a few bites, her beautiful eyes sparkled, seeming to enjoy it very much.

After finishing the grilled fish, they heard Wang Dinghai's excited shouting from outside: "Shoujie, Fifth Aunt, come out and take a look!"

Wang Shoujie and Gong Sunhui went out to the dock and saw that Wang Dinghai had already set up a simple Dredge net according to his plan. The Dredge net was so heavy that it made Wang Shoujie's eyebrows jump, with four pillars as thick as arms and a main pole thicker than a leg.

This thing was too heavy, probably weighing over 200-300 pounds, and an ordinary person on Earth wouldn't be able to move it.

Wang Dinghai stood on the wooden dock, using his waist and leg strength to pull the rope, and the heavy Dredge net was easily lifted out of the water.

Ha ha, it was easy to forget that he was a Qi Refining Realm fifth-layer martial artist, with physical strength ten times that of an ordinary person on Earth.

"Boom!"

The Dredge net caught a large fish, which struggled violently but was blocked by the net and couldn't escape. Before it could react again, it was pulled out of the water and lay in the net, waiting to be slaughtered. In addition, there were several small fish weighing one to three pounds lying silently beside it.

"Great!"

The surrounding fishermen cheered excitedly, using simple poles to scoop up the catch with all their might. Although it was just a worthless Red Carp, its weight of around 13-15 pounds (6-7 jin) could still fetch several dozen coins, proving the effectiveness of the Dredge net.

Next, under Wang Shoujie's personal guidance, Wang Dinghai further improved the Dredge net by adding a counterweight and other equipment.

The principle was extremely simple, similar to a seesaw on earth. But this seesaw was triangular, with two ends connected by ropes, and a counterweight installed on the other end of the seesaw. With just a slight push, the Dredge net and the net sheet could be lifted out of the water like a seesaw.

After another two hours, the sky had darkened, and everyone was still bustling with excitement. With just a short while, they could haul in the net once, and it didn't even require much effort.

Of course, it was impossible to avoid empty nets. However, at this time, many fish began to swim quietly to the shore under the cover of night, searching for food along the riverbank, where there was more food than in the middle of the river.

"Boom!" "Splash!"

After several empty nets, there would finally be a big catch, like a large fish. Occasionally, they would even catch two or three fish at once. This made the fishermen and Wang Dinghai extremely excited.

"We're rich, we're rich!" Wang Dinghai reported excitedly, holding a torch, "Just in the past hour, we've hauled in 30 nets, caught 5 big fish, and netted 9 large catches, not to mention the numerous small ones."

The total catch was over 100 pounds, worth around 10-20 silver taels.

Such an incredible harvest left Wang Shoujie somewhat stunned, realizing that the resources in this martial arts world were far superior to those on earth. However, Wang Dinghai also pointed out that it was currently the peak fishing season, and nighttime was the best time for fishing, so this harvest was reasonable.

"This thing is much stronger than a Casting Net," Wang Dinghai exclaimed, "A Casting Net can also catch a lot of fish, but a physically strong fisherman can only cast around 100 nets in a day before exhausting themselves. However, this new tool doesn't require much physical effort, nor does it require skill, and two fishermen can take turns working 12 hours a day, making it much safer, especially since the riverbank is less dangerous than the middle of the river."

"That's not all, you're also overlooking another advantage - its reproducibility," Wang Shoujie added, beaming with joy, "Sixth Uncle, you should find some skilled craftsmen from your family tomorrow to refine this simple device, and then gradually promote it, taking advantage of this year's fishing season to make a fortune."

"The most important thing is to keep it secret," Gong Sunhui added from the side, "Sixth Uncle, don't blindly expand your workforce, try to find reliable helpers from within your family."

Everyone was chattering and adding their thoughts.

Suddenly!

A loud "Boom!" sounded, followed by a massive splash.

Wang Gou Dan shouted from the other side, "Grandpa, come quickly!"

The three of them turned to look, and saw that the Dredge net had caught a massive, snake-like creature, its explosive power extremely fierce. Even with two adult fishermen holding down the Dredge net frame, the creature was still struggling wildly in the net, shaking the entire frame.

"It's a Red Scaled Eel!" Wang Dinghai's face lit up with excitement, but soon turned anxious, "No, it's going to break the net!"

The Red Scaled Eel's sharp teeth had bitten into the net holes, its body twisting and turning wildly, and in an instant, it had torn a large hole in the net, trying to squeeze out through the gap.

Without hesitation, Wang Dinghai dove into the water, swimming rapidly towards the net. Just as the Red Scaled Eel was about to escape, he stretched out his hand to grab its neck, and with his right hand, he drew out a Water-Parting Stab from his waist and stabbed it fiercely into the creature's brain, stirring it left and right.

Even so, the Red Scaled Eel still wrapped itself around him, struggling desperately, clearly having extremely strong vitality. It took another full incense stick's worth of time before the creature finally died.

Wang Dinghai dragged it onto the shore, laying it out on a simple dock, its body over two meters long, with a girth as thick as a thigh at its thickest point, covered in red scales all over.

"A first-class aquatic beast, the Red Scaled Eel, Sixth Uncle, this should be a mature Red Scaled Eel, weighing at least 100 pounds?" Wang Shoujie and Gong Sunhui were also curiously surrounding it.

"Haha, not just that, this one weighs at least 150 pounds, worth at least 30-50 gold coins," Wang Dinghai sat down on the ground, panting, his eyes shining with excitement, "If this beast had escaped into the water, Sixth Uncle might not have been able to handle it. But this Red Scaled Eel is a treasure from head to toe, Master, today's luck is all thanks to you, haha, we'll take it to Dingpu Ferry Terminal tomorrow to show it off."

[Heartfelt thankyou for the support! SlaySaga]