Demon, come and cultivate for me.

Once you leave the State of Lu, you enter the territory of the State of Chu.

The State of Chu had a vast territory, crisscrossed by rivers and mountains.

The further you go, the less flat land there is.

The group cleared paths through mountains and took boats over rivers, heading south.

On this day, a group of people came to the bank of the great river, but the surging river blocked their way.

Black waves churned on the wide river, and no boats had been seen for a long time.

Zhou Chu and his companions, not knowing the reason, had no choice but to go to nearby villages to inquire.

The group found a village called Baihutang and asked why there was no ferry on the river.

The young people in the village have all gone out to find a way to make a living, leaving only the elderly, women and children behind.

The elders say that the people in their village were originally fishermen.

They barely managed to make ends meet by relying on the aquatic products from the river.

Unfortunately, five years ago, a black fish appeared out of nowhere in the river.

That big black fish was enormous, twice the size of the largest fishing boat in the village.

If a fishing boat encounters this black fish in the river, it will inevitably capsize the boat, and the people on board will also perish in the fish's belly, with almost no survivors.

At first, the snakehead fish only appeared occasionally, and the villagers dared to risk fishing for them.

Later, the blackfish simply treated this section of water as its own territory, patrolling the river surface every day.

Upon seeing a boat approaching, they would capsize it and eat the people on board.

Forced by the tyranny of the blackfish, the villagers dared not go into the water to fish anymore. Having lost their livelihood, the villagers had no choice but to go out to make a living, leaving only the elderly and weak behind in the village.

When asked about how to cross the Yangtze River and travel south to experience the world.

The villagers said that crossing the river from this section is impossible unless the blackfish in the river can be eliminated.

But getting rid of the blackfish is as difficult as climbing to the sky.

That black fish is practically invincible in the water.

Even the best swimmer can't beat a big black fish in the water. Instead, the fish will circle around them until they are exhausted and drown in the river.

The government once sent several martial artists to fight fish in the water.

Of the five martial artists who went down, only one managed to escape alive, but he was left with a crippled leg.

Therefore, if you want to cross the river, you have to go at least a hundred miles further east, as the blackfish can't get there.

After listening to the village elders, Zhou Chu thought to himself that the big black fish had probably become a spirit, and its cultivation level had reached at least the third realm.

The monsters of the Three Realms are no different from chickens and dogs to Zhou Chu now.

Unfortunately, it's hard to say what would happen underwater.

Snakehead fish move freely underwater, able to attack or defend as they please. Humans, on the other hand, are at a complete disadvantage in the water, with no advantage whatsoever.

Going east is not an option, but that would waste a lot of time.

From where they are now, the five can cross the river and continue south, passing through Chen Xiangzi's hometown.

Chen Xiangzi needs to return to his hometown first to bury his uncle's ashes.

Further south lies the Baiyue region.

If you travel a hundred miles east to cross the river, that's a completely different route. Not only is it far, but you also have to constantly cross mountains and valleys.

More importantly, if they take the eastern route, they won't be able to reach Chen Xiangzi's hometown.

It would be best to find a way to cross the river and continue along the original planned route.

After asking their questions, the group was about to leave Baihutang Village when someone suddenly called out to them.

Looking back, they saw a one-legged man with a cane under his arm slowly walking towards them.

This man was around sixty years old, with sharp eyes, and his mental state was completely different from that of the villagers.

When the elderly people in the village saw the man, they all greeted him.

An old man whispered to Zhou Chu and the others that this man was the martial artist who went into the water to fight the black fish back then.

The four people who went with him were all his fellow disciples, and they all came from the city.

After escaping death that time, he erected cenotaphs for his four fellow disciples outside the village and settled down in the village.

The one-legged man walked over, sized up Zhou Chu and his companions, and then clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying:

"My name is Wu Yong. Do you gentlemen wish to cross the river from here?"

"Exactly," Zhou Chu replied to Wu Yong face to face.

"I can tell you are all martial artists, so I'll speak frankly." Wu Yong put down his crutches, sat on a wooden stake at the village entrance, and continued:

"If you wish to cross the river from here, you must first eliminate the black fish."

Xu Yuan stepped forward and said, "Is that even a question? The problem is how to get rid of the blackfish."

Wu Yong glanced at Xu Yuan, but wasn't annoyed by his words. He remained calm and said:

"Over the past few years, I've racked my brains and finally come up with a way to get rid of the blackfish, but..."

He looked at his crippled leg halfway through his sentence and sighed.

"What's the solution? Tell me." As a fellow martial artist, Zhou Chu naturally knew what losing a leg meant for a martial artist, and couldn't help but feel some sympathy for this person.

Wu Yong said, "There are two reasons why that blackfish is difficult to deal with:

Firstly, the blackfish has the advantage of terrain. When a person is underwater, their movements are restricted in many ways. Even if they have a lot of strength, they can only exert 20% of it at most in the water.

Secondly, the black scales on the blackfish are no ordinary material; their hardness is comparable to refined steel. Ordinary weapons cannot leave even two marks on them.

As he spoke, Wu Yong drew a sword from his waist.

The hilt was inlaid with various gems, the blade gleamed with a cold light, and the edge was extremely sharp.

At that moment, a leaf fell from the tree, struck the blade, and instantly split in two.

Zhao Ji and Chi Dingzi, being well-informed, didn't react much.

Zhou Chu was taken aback; the sword in the one-legged man's hand was probably even more significant than Xie Ning's sword.

Such divine weapons could not even leave a mark on the blackfish.

The sword on Zhou Chu's own body was even less likely to harm him in the slightest.

Everyone remained silent, waiting for Wu Yong to continue.

Wu Yong kept stroking the sword in his hand, and finally seemed to have made up his mind. He sheathed the sword and handed it to Zhou Chu.

"What is this...?" Zhou Chu looked at Wu Yong with a puzzled expression, not understanding what was going on.

What's this for? Why am I being made to take this sword and kill a blackfish?

If the five of you couldn't kill him, wouldn't I be just going to my death by myself?

Wu Yong said, "Take this sword to Lucheng, find the prefect of Lucheng, and exchange this sword for the water-repelling pearl in his possession. With the water-repelling pearl by your side, you can avoid the disadvantage of being underwater."

Zhou Chu took the sword with both hands, looked at Wu Yong and said:

"You've entrusted me with something so valuable on our first meeting? Aren't you afraid I'll run off with this precious sword?"

Wu Yong smiled and shook his head, saying:

"This sword is no longer of any use to me."

The reason I've lingered on until now is solely to avenge my fellow disciples. You are the ones who can help me fulfill this wish.

I'm certain you won't do that; I've never misjudged a person in my entire life.

Zhou Chu enjoyed the feeling of being trusted. He hung his sword at his waist, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to Wu Yong, saying:

"Thank you for your trust, senior. I will certainly live up to your expectations."

Zhou Chu left a few companions at Baihu Pond to rest, then mounted his horse, took his sword, and rode alone to Lucheng, thirty miles away.

After traveling for several days, everyone was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Now that the blackfish had blocked their way, they had a good reason to stop and take a good rest.