The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 251 Displaying Power (3k)

The man bowed with his hands clasped in a respectful posture and spoke in a solemn tone.

"That's my senior sister."

He paused briefly, as if considering whether to tell anyone, before finally adding softly:

"Our eldest sister has already passed away due to her calamity."

These words were like a boulder thrown from a high mountain into stagnant water. The old beggar, who had just been too lazy to pay attention to the man, suddenly narrowed his cloudy eyes, his Adam's apple bobbed, and his expression dimmed.

Then, with a hint of bitterness that even he himself didn't realize, he said:

"That little girl went too?"

He still remembers that child clearly—back in the forbidden area of ​​Da Que, the girl was only twelve or thirteen years old, with pigtails.

Hearing him casually ridicule her mentor, the little girl grabbed a wooden bow that was hardly a child's trick and shot it at his wine gourd.

It was a complete failure; the arrow fell to the ground before it even got close, not even touching the hem of his clothes.

But which of the cultivators present wasn't a well-established figure? Yet only this half-grown child dared to hold a broken bow and challenge this "disrespectful old monster."

Because of that arrow, she was nearly beaten black on the buttocks by her terrified teacher. And because of that arrow, he still remembers it to this day.

He even thought that perhaps in a few years, this girl would actually be able to shoot down his wine gourd with an arrow.

"Yes, when the great calamity came, the eldest sister refused to back down. She said that our generation is full of unparalleled talents that are rare even once in a thousand years."

"This was supposed to be a destiny and responsibility of being born to face calamity and then departing to overcome it. But looking across the heavens, among her many peers, all were cowards who avoided the calamity. Only one person stepped forward with a sword. Therefore, she refused to live; she wanted to follow that person."

"Go and atone for her unfulfilled sin."

The old beggar sighed even more deeply:
"I knew she was like that. Sooner or later, she would suffer a great calamity. A great calamity is the karma owed by countless generations of cultivators. How could it fall on the shoulders of a bunch of children?"

"No matter how talented they are, the great calamity won't wait for them!"

He waved his hand, his tone impatient yet tinged with weariness:
"Enough, enough, why waste time saying such useless things? What is it that you sought me out today?"

The man carefully considered his words before speaking:
"Senior, you also want that sword?"

Since learning that the little girl was truly gone, the old beggar had been silently drinking from his gourd, gulping down wine one mouthful after another. Hearing this, he glanced sideways at the man and said:
"For the sake of that little girl, I answered your ancestor's question. Yes! This old beggar will fight for it. But what I'm fighting for isn't the sword, it's that word!"

He paused, then his tone suddenly turned sharp:
"Remember to tell your ancestor that if he doesn't even have the courage to personally take the field, he should give up on the idea as soon as possible and go back to being a coward!"

These words immediately darkened the man's face, and his brows furrowed, clearly indicating that he was angered.

But after a moment of silence, he finally suppressed his emotions, bowed his head, and said:

"I will inform the ancestor of everything."

The old beggar looked at him, shook his head, and said with a tone full of regret:

"So she is your senior sister, while you can only always lag behind her, watching her leave everyone else in the dust. You are far inferior to her in character!"

Finally, she gave him a direct and poignant remark:
"Clearly, judging solely by talent, you are far superior to her."

The man fell completely silent. After a long while, he cupped his hands in a gesture of respect as if fleeing in disarray.

The old beggar didn't even bother to look at the man; he simply gazed serenely at the Sweetwater River before him.

But a moment later, as a fishing boat came into view and he saw the movement on board, he couldn't help but twitch his lips and eyes, muttering to himself:
'What kind of person is that kid?'

But after muttering to himself, he stared at the water below for a long time before finally grinning and saying:
"Good heavens, what a mess you've gotten yourself into? Ugh, I don't know whether to say you old devils are just unlucky, or that kid was just waiting for you!"
-
On that small boat, an old man and a young man were arguing incessantly.

The old man, holding the wooden sign in his hand, blew on it and glared at it, saying:

"How much? How much do you think this thing costs?"

The man said with a smug look:

"It only cost fifty coins! Father, let me tell you, this plaque was just copied from some precious calligraphy book and then carved."

"Such a treasure, and it's only fifty coins? Dad, we've hit the jackpot!"

"Good luck my foot!"

The old man kicked the man to the ground, cursing as he did so.

"That's almost half a month's worth of food money! You spendthrift!"

The old man wanted to go up and kick it a few more times, but he was worried about being on a boat, so he gave up and then casually threw the broken things in his hand into the river.

Seeing this, the man disregarded the pain and jumped down as well.

After struggling in the water for a long time, the man finally swam back after finding the wooden sign. Before leaving, he said to the old man:
"Dad, this is a real treasure!"

The old man was so angry at this scene that he almost vomited blood.

But what can he do?

That's my own son. I can't just drown him over a few dozen coins, can I?
So all he could do was point at the man and yell:

"Fine, fine, you think you're all grown up now, huh? Get back here, I'll teach you a lesson when we get back!"

The man also said indignantly:
"When I get back, I'll call all the neighbors over and see who's really being unreasonable!"

The old man and the young man remained silent, simply heading forward. It was already dark, but the Sweetwater River was home to a local specialty: blue crabs, which loved to emerge at this time of day.

So, in order to earn some money for their grandson's education, they went out in the dark.

At the same time, because quite a few people knew this, they deliberately went to even more distant places.

The purpose was to avoid competitors.

As night deepened, they slowly made their way to the location.

The two remained silent, but worked in perfect unison to paddle toward the shore and begin preparing to catch crabs.

The old man and the man were both startled when the fishing boat had only drifted a few feet.

Something's wrong in the water!

Although it was night and the water was difficult to see, both of them had been working on the water for countless years.

Whether something is right or wrong, you can tell immediately!
For example, right now, they all feel as if they've plunged headfirst into deep silt when they try to pole forward, and they can't move an inch.

But the two didn't think much of it. They simply changed positions and wondered if they had hit the wrong spot with their pole.

But no matter how they changed direction, they were still stuck in the deep mud.

"Dad, something's wrong!"

The man's voice finally betrayed his panic; the slight estrangement he had felt earlier vanished in the face of this strange occurrence.

The old man gripped the bamboo pole tightly, shaking his head repeatedly: "That's definitely not right. Let's light a torch and see what's going on underwater."

Soon, a torch was lit, and by its light, the two of them kept talking as they looked down into the water.

But what could you possibly see from that little firelight, especially in the dead of night?
So after looking around for a long time, there was nothing there.

"That's strange."

The man was still clutching the wooden sign, about to suggest that he throw it down.

But suddenly, with sharp eyes, he pointed ahead and said:

"Dad, it looks like something is about to come out of the water!"

The old man immediately looked in the direction the man was pointing and sure enough, he saw a large string of bubbles suddenly appear two or three steps in front of the fishing boat.

The next moment, a catfish almost the same size as their fishing boat emerged and crashed straight into it.

Fortunately, fishing boats are the lifeblood of fishermen, and no fisherman dares to skimp on materials. Therefore, even though the impact was extremely violent, the fishing boat did not fall apart, but the two people on board suffered greatly.

The water was swaying and rocking. If they hadn't noticed early on and lowered their bodies, they would have both fallen into the water upon impact.

The thought of the old man resembling a giant fish sent chills down my spine.

Just as he was breaking out in a cold sweat, the man cried out again:
"Dad, that monstrous thing is here again!"

The old man turned deathly pale with fright, but at that moment, he grabbed a harpoon and stabbed it into the monster's forehead.

With such a sudden thrust, the old man was certain that even though he was old, he should be able to pierce through the thick wooden board.

If we deal with this fish head, we're sure to draw blood!

To his surprise, the harpoon not only failed to penetrate the flesh after it pierced the flesh, but also flew off to the side, sending sparks flying.

If the man behind him hadn't reacted quickly and grabbed him...

He'd probably just fall right into the water.

Looking at the cracked tiger's mouth, the old man's mind was filled with thoughts of:
"Oh no, a monster! We've run into a monster!"

If you're not even afraid of this, what are you if not a monster?
No sooner had he finished speaking than the catfish seemed to be enraged by the old man's harpoon. It leaped out of the water with a somersault and crashed onto the fishing boat. It opened its blood-red mouth and was about to swallow the old man in front of it whole!

Just then, behind the terrified old man, the man finally pulled out a wooden plaque from his pocket and hurled it straight at the monster.

Strangely enough, the monster, which couldn't be harmed at all by the harpoon that had been thrust down with all its might, was sent flying backwards as if it were made of paper when hit by this wooden sign!
The wooden sign didn't even bounce away; instead, it remained firmly attached to the fish's head until it fell into the water.

They even pushed it directly into the deep water, and the two of them even heard a muffled sound from the bottom of the river.

The speed of the process was so fast that it was decided almost in the blink of an eye!

Watching the river surface return to calm in an instant, both the old man and the young man stood there stunned, at a loss for what to do.

After a long while, the old man finally came to his senses and asked:

"So, how much did that precious baby cost?"

"Father, fifty coins!"

"It's worth it, absolutely worth it!"

"Let's not talk about that now, Dad. Let's see if we can escape!"

These words were like a wake-up call. The old man and the young man hurriedly picked up their bamboo poles again to test the water. Seeing that it was normal, they rowed directly to the shore, then, with torches in hand, fled towards the county along the mountain path without looking back!

Down in that sweet water river, the catfish was not only crushed to death by the wooden sign, but its body was also buried under it, with no chance of ever turning over!
Only the four large characters "No Disturbance to the Ferry" on the wooden sign shone brightly!
(End of this chapter)