Douluo Continent: What should I do if I don't have a cheat system?

Chapter 238 Food Shortage Leads to People Going to the River to Fish

"Is sharpening it enough? Give me the stick, and I'll sharpen it for you!"

The butcher saw that the stick wasn't thick and would be easy to whittle; he could do it in a few strokes, so he asked Jerry to give it to him to whittle.

When Jerry heard the butcher say he would cut it for him, he handed over the stick without hesitation.

The butcher took the stick Jerry handed him, sat down on the ground, and started slicing.

"How old are you? You don't look very old. You must come from a wealthy family. You eat well and are tall!" the butcher said to Jerry while whittling wood.

"Uncle, I'm 15 years old. My family isn't wealthy. My dad was the village schoolteacher, and I've been studying since I was little. This year there was a drought and famine, and my dad passed away. There's no one left at home, so I had to flee." Jerry tried to force an expression on his face as he spoke, but he couldn't manage it after several attempts.

I can't help but think that I might not be fully integrated with this body yet, because I can't even make an expression.

Perhaps the soul of the previous incarnation hasn't completely dissipated yet!

Jerry thought to himself: "Predecessor, don't worry, I will live well and gradually integrate into this world. Your father wants you to go to the capital to make a name for yourself, and I will continue to do so. Go with peace of mind!"

However, the situation described in the novel did not occur. The soul-transmigrator stated that he would fulfill the wishes of his predecessor, and then the predecessor would leave, allowing the soul-transmigrator to fully integrate with the body.

This won't work. It seems I still need to adapt to this body.

Jerry's current body is the result of him mastering numerous rules, directly extracting the energy from his body, and then allowing it to return to its original state, thus transforming it into a flesh-and-blood body.

Because his energy was drained, Jerry felt uncomfortable all over when he first woke up, leading him to mistakenly believe that his predecessor's body couldn't take it anymore and that's why he died.

Later, he gradually recovered his physical strength, but as for his soul power, that was impossible to recover.

In order to make the world fully technological, Jerry improved the Spirit Suppression Array, which can suppress not only plant souls but also animal souls.

Afterwards, Jerry became a little worried and directly isolated the nine basic elements in this world. Therefore, it was completely impossible to cultivate in this world, and one could only honestly pursue the path of technology.

Jerry's feeling of physical discomfort was actually a side effect of his body feeling empty and unable to recover after the energy was extracted. However, it wasn't very serious, and he would get used to it after a while.

After hearing Jerry's words, the butcher spoke up.

"So you're a scholar after all. No wonder, such a refined scholar! Studying is truly wonderful! But these days, even studying doesn't guarantee you enough to eat!" The butcher shook his head and sighed.

"Who says otherwise? That's why I want to go to the capital. There are many scholars there, so it's easier to find a way out. Staying in the village, there's nothing." Jerry sighed. In these times, being able to eat something hot is already the greatest blessing from heaven.

"You're a scholar, do you even know how to catch fish? Fish aren't so easy to catch," the butcher said, whittling his stick.

"Uncle, don't let my appearance fool you. I'm a scholar, not very strong, but I grew up in the village. Going down into the river and climbing trees are just basic skills for me."

Jerry wanted to say this with an air of confidence, but he remained expressionless.

Could it be that its predecessor was a person with facial paralysis? It doesn't react at all.

"Alright, then be careful. Don't lose your life instead of catching a fish."

"Don't worry, uncle, I can swim. I'm young, and after resting for a while, I've already regained my strength."

"Just keep that in mind. We've been fleeing for our lives, everyone's exhausted. You think you're young and don't pay attention? It's all peeled, take a look!"

After the butcher finished speaking, he handed over the whittled stick. Jerry took a look and thought it was very good and could be used.

"Thank you, uncle. I'll bring you one to eat when I catch a fish."

After saying that, Jerry grabbed the stick and ran towards the river.

"This kid, oh dear!"

The butcher sighed as he watched Jerry run away, then twirled his butcher knife and tucked it into his belt.

But Jerry didn't see that this move, regardless of whether it was useful or not, was a skill that had been practiced for a long time.

When Jerry arrived at the riverbank, he observed for a while and found a spot that wasn't deep, about knee-deep, where fish were constantly swimming by.

Jerry took off his shoes, which already had a hole in them, and slowly walked over. After standing still, he raised the stick, assumed a downward thrusting posture, and kept his body still while keeping his eyes fixed on the water.

Some people saw Jerry go into the river, but they didn't follow him. They just sat by the river and watched, just for fun.

One minute passed, two minutes passed, ten minutes passed.

A crucian carp, about twenty centimeters long, swam over slowly, as if it were foraging for food at the bottom of the water.

Jerry remained motionless, but his eyes were fixed on the fish.

The fish was still in the water, slowly foraging for food. As it swam, it swam into Jerry's attack range, unaware of this, and continued swimming forward.

The closer it got to Jerry, the more it swam, until it finally reached Jerry. At that moment, Jerry used his waist to thrust the sharpened stick in his hand directly into the water.

In an instant, Jerry pierced the fish through the water, then flicked his wrist and lifted the fish out of the water.

The fish was pierced through and then pulled out of the water. It started to struggle, and Jerry immediately reached in, inserted his fingers into the gills, and easily grabbed it.

Just then, the people on the riverbank saw that Jerry had actually caught a fish. They were surprised and started clapping. Several children shouted, "He caught a fish! He caught a fish!"

A crowd quickly gathered around.

The butcher and the old man also ran over.

"You're quite something, young man! You actually managed to get it in!" the old man said happily.

"Grandpa, Uncle, you're on the shore. I'll toss it to you. You can kill it and grill it first, then I'll skewer a few more." Jerry said, tossing the fish onto the shore.

Several people originally wanted to go and snatch the fish, but seeing the butcher's fierce look, they didn't dare to go forward.

The butcher picked up the fish from the ground and began to clean it by the river, while the people around him watched with envy.

Jerry continued in the fish-stabbing pose, and at this point, many people ran over to see how Jerry was stabbing the fish.

This time, he was lucky. In less than ten minutes, another big crucian carp swam up to Jerry. In the blink of an eye, Jerry thrust his sharpened stick down and flicked it out of the water.

People on the shore started cheering. Jerry tossed the fish to the old man and continued stabbing.

Jerry successfully caught two fish in a row, and some people couldn't sit still anymore, thinking that if Jerry could catch fish, so could they.

These people ran to find sticks and begged the butcher to help them cut them. The butcher did not refuse and cut them for them.

While the butcher was whittling wood, Jerry stuck four more sticks in the wood, two for each person, which should be enough to eat, and then Jerry returned to the shore.

The first one is already grilled. The old man is really good at grilling fish. Although he doesn't have much seasoning, it's grilled very well, golden brown, and there's not a single burnt spot.

The old man handed the grilled fish directly to Jerry.

"Young man, you eat first. You must be tired after skewering the fish for so long!"

Jerry didn't stand on ceremony, grunted in agreement, took the fish, and started eating it.

So fragrant!

At this moment, Jerry felt very happy. He had only eaten one sesame seed cake yesterday and had been walking all night. He was thirsty and tired.

While Jerry was eating grilled fish, the river was bustling with activity. More than twenty young men were imitating Jerry, stabbing fish with their needles.

They started by arguing, but after the old man said a few words, they parted ways.

Everyone wanted to take Jerry's spot, but there was only one spot available.

There are many fish in the river, but the methods people use to catch them are outdated, resulting in a very low success rate.

Not long after, someone caught a fish and excitedly ran off with it.

There are also some people who try many times, clearly aiming at the fish, but just can't get it in.

Those who managed to catch the fish were either lucky or had experience from previous attempts.

Those that have been inserted dozens of times without success are clearly first-timers.

Unfortunately, many people in this era haven't gone to school and don't know what refractive index is.

They were all refugees, and Jerry decided to help them.

Then he shouted to the people in the river, "When you're sticking fish in the water, stick it below the fish, don't aim it directly at the fish!"

The people in the river looked up at Jerry and saw that he was an expert who had stuck six fish in the water, so they figured what he said must be true, and then they stuck the fish in the water as Jerry had instructed.

Before long, many people had caught fish.

However, Jerry's method worked very well. They planted them when they were in a good mood, then planted one and threw it on the shore, planted another and threw it on the shore.

The elderly man leading the group didn't let the people on the shore grab things randomly at the beginning; instead, he made some arrangements.

So the people on the shore started cleaning and grilling the fish, while the people in the river kept stabbing the fish.

After eating two fish, Jerry felt finally full. Seeing everyone starting to fish together, he grabbed a stick and went down into the river.

And you know what? In this era, there are fewer people catching fish, so the fish resources in the river are really abundant.

More than 20 people stuck fish in the water for about three hours, and they stuck 84 fish in the water.

Jerry later inserted 14 strips all by himself.

Jerry felt that his body was now very strong in all aspects except for his facial expressions, which he couldn't control.

For example, after traveling all night, Jerry recovered quickly;

When stabbing fish, as long as a fish swims right in front of Jerry, he can stab it every time.

Jerry counted the people in the team. Some had left along the way, and some had joined. The current number was unknown, but there were 53 people.

Besides Jerry, the old man, and the pig butcher, there were fifty other people and eighty-four fish, which were quickly eaten up.

Although I don't know if they ate enough, they all seemed to enjoy their meal.

In the past, everyone was wary of each other, but now that everyone is well-fed, they have no guard up and just lie down on the ground to sleep.

Looking at the sun in the sky, I estimate it's only a little past two o'clock. If the team sets off, it will probably have to wait until the sun sets around six or seven o'clock.

We can still have a meal that night!

Jerry found the old man who had led the group before. Perhaps because the old man knew the way, he had been in the group the whole time, and everyone listened to him.

Jerry's intention in finding the old man was to let everyone sleep for a while, then get up and catch more fish together, grill them, and take them on the road to eat.

In the past, the old man would definitely not have agreed to Jerry's idea, since fish are hard to catch and everyone needs to travel and conserve their energy. But now it's different. Having experienced fishing, the old man agreed.

Having regained his strength, Jerry was in high spirits and not sleepy at all, so he didn't fall asleep. Seeing everyone else lying and sleeping under the shade of the trees, Jerry picked up his stick and went to the riverbank alone.

It's better when one person is shoveling the fish. At first, everyone stands in a group, and those at the top can't shove, so they run to the back, and then the people at the back can shove. Now, you don't have to wait for the people at the front.

Some people in the group carried baskets, which initially contained some clothes and food, but by the time they had come down the road, the food was almost gone.

Jerry borrowed the bamboo basket from the man carrying it.

Because Jerry had led them in fishing, the man carrying the bamboo basket was very grateful to Jerry and gave the basket to him without much hesitation.

Jerry carried a bamboo basket to the river, found a spot, and started catching fish.

More than an hour passed, and many people had rested and sat up to chat.

At this moment, the old man leading the group gave a notification, and the young men who had been fishing at noon came running to the riverbank with their sticks, shouting excitedly. It seemed they were really into fishing.

When we arrived at the riverbank, we saw Jerry alone, carrying a bamboo basket and fishing in the river.

Insert one, take it down, put it in the basket; insert one, take it down, put it in the basket.

Seeing someone approaching, Jerry stopped, carried his bamboo basket, and went to the shore.

The others peered curiously into the bamboo basket. "Wow, so many fish!"

Indeed, in just over an hour, Jerry had quite a lot to show for it, counting 23 lines, more than he had inserted before.

Jerry emptied the fish from the bamboo basket onto the bank, and the old man leading the group arranged for people to clean them up.

Then Jerry went back into the river, but this time he was in first place, and no one dared to stand in front of him.

The river is quite wide, so there's no need to worry about running out of fish.

Jerry was having a great time stabbing fish; every fish that appeared in front of him was stabbed by him.

Suddenly, a carp weighing about three pounds appeared in front of Jerry, but it was a bit far away and wouldn't swim over.

Jerry waited for a few minutes, but the fish still didn't swim over. He decided to try his luck and threw the fishing rod he was holding with all his might.

Then he ran quickly to where he had thrown the stick, grabbed the end that was above water, and lifted it up. At the tip of the stick was a carp weighing more than three pounds, struggling and thrashing its big tail.

But it was no use; Jerry caught it in one go.

When the people around saw that Jerry had stuck such a big fish in the water, they all started to applaud.

Because the river is not still water, fish soon swim over, sometimes two or three at a time.

Jerry called to the person next to him and gave him another stick for skewering fish.

After sticking the fish in for so long, Jerry realized that he could stick the fish in with one hand. His arm strength was sufficient, and he didn't need to use both hands to stick the fish in at all.

Moreover, Jerry discovered that he could multitask while stabbing the fish.

Jerry felt that his body was really good now. Although he had also trained in his previous life, he was not as strong as this body.

At first, Jerry fantasized that since he had transmigrated, there should be a system, but after trying a few times and finding nothing, he gave up.

Then I thought about it and it made sense. I hadn't transmigrated to a cultivation world. Even if I had a system, it wouldn't give me any cultivation techniques or anything like that.

Moreover, after Jerry discovered that this person had a strong memory, a robust physique, and abundant resources, he no longer cared about whether or not there was a system.

With a strong body and a powerful memory, he won't starve in this world.

Now I've discovered that I can multitask, which is such a pleasant surprise.

Jerry used two sticks to stab the fish, and he got faster and faster.

In some remote areas, Jerry even threw sticks out to stab people, and they all hit their targets.

Therefore, I think that the ability to stab fish must have been present in one's previous life, and the body had muscle memory for it.

Two hours later, around five o'clock, the sun was already showing signs of setting.

It's the season of transition from spring to summer, and the whole country is currently experiencing drought. Daytime temperatures are high and the days are long, with darkness not falling completely until around 7 p.m.

As night fell, the temperature was a bit cold, perhaps because we were in the wild, and we needed to wear cotton-padded coats. However, since we were traveling at night, the cold was nothing.

At this moment, Jerry shouted, and everyone stopped fishing. However, this time the harvest was quite good; without counting, there should be at least two hundred.

Jerry and the group of young people had been fishing all afternoon, and most of them were tired. They stopped catching fish and went upstairs to eat grilled fish to replenish their energy.

However, this time only those who caught the fish were eating; everyone else started cleaning the fish.

And no one else had thought about having dinner.

After Jerry and the twenty-odd young men had eaten their fill, the elderly leader came over and asked Jerry how he planned to distribute the food.

Jerry said to assign two to each person first, and see how many are left.

Soon everyone had two fish in their hands and was very happy.

Labor is so good these days. After working for so long, just two fish are enough to make them happy.

Jerry counted the remaining fish; there were fifty-five left. They had just eaten quite a lot, and there were still fifty-five left. It seemed they had indeed caught over two hundred.

There were still more than twenty people who hadn't eaten, so Jerry simply took out the remaining fish and let everyone have a meal, since they had worked in the afternoon and still had to travel in the evening.

The elderly leader had no objections; he had also been cleaning fish all afternoon and was quite hungry.

The remaining fifty-four fish, of varying sizes, were actually eaten by the group of twenty-odd people.

It seems they were hungry before, but the fish were all caught by the people who went down to the river. They were also given two fish. Since the people who caught the fish didn't say anything, they didn't dare to eat the rest.

Those who fled the famine were all honest and simple people, with a pure and kind nature. They had no choice but to flee because their families could no longer make ends meet, their fields had yielded no harvest, and every household in the village was in a similar situation.

If you're lucky, you might survive fleeing famine; but if you stay in the village, you're doomed.

After everyone finished eating, the sun set, and that's when everyone set off.

However, the situation was completely different today; some people were walking and chatting at the same time.

Jerry quietly approached the elderly leader and asked him how much longer it would take for them to reach the capital.

The old man told Jerry that they had already entered the capital's territory the day before yesterday. Today, everyone had eaten their fill and had stored up food, so they could travel quickly and should arrive around noon tomorrow.

Jerry didn't know the way, nor could he verify whether the old man's claim that they would arrive by noon the next day was true or false.

Whether the old man was deliberately concealing the truth or he really would arrive tomorrow, he meant well.

This means that tomorrow is coming, giving everyone something to look forward to, so that everyone can keep going.

If you tell them directly that they won't arrive tomorrow and that they've run out of food, many people will feel desperate.

The old man's words gave them hope to persevere, and Jerry believed that the old man was not wrong in doing so.

(End of this chapter)