The catch inspired my entry: Persistence will eventually lead to invincibility.

Xu Hu used to be a fisherman. Later, when the imperial court established the Water Supervision Bureau, the town officials, who were paid but didn't do their jobs, delegated their own water supervision duties to him, much like outsourcing in his previous life. Whether he did a good job or not is unknown, but relying on this status, he and his group lived comfortably. The officials in the town's Water Supervision Bureau turned a blind eye; after all, they were all lowly households, and besides, money was going into their pockets.

Before long, Chen Shi arrived at Xu Hu's residence.

"Brother Tiger, Chen Shi's wife is quite beautiful. Since he won't be able to pay his share tomorrow anyway, we should have taken care of her just now!"

"What do you know? This kind of quality can fetch a good price. If you guys ruin it, we'll lose a fortune!"

"..."

Hearing the foul language coming from inside, Chen Shi clenched his fists.

He's a man; he can't remain calm when he hears someone insulting his wife.

But now, he cannot reveal his murderous intent.

Chen Shi took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his chest, and then put on a fawning posture, knocking on the door.

"Thump—thump—thump—"

"Which bastard is outside the door?"

A furious shout rang out, and the wooden door was slowly pulled open, revealing several familiar faces.

"Hey, isn't this Chen Shi? What, are you planning to sell your woman?" The speaker was one of Xu Hu's henchmen.

Chen really wanted to punch him in the face, but he couldn't. The other side outnumbered him and were on land; he was no match for them. The only chance of revenge was to lure them into the water.

Chen used a humble tone to explain the cause and effect, a reason he had prepared long ago.

"A treasure fish?!"

After hearing Chen Shi's account, Xu Hu and the others were all shocked.

What followed was boundless joy.

You see, although Xu Hu's rule was that any treasure fish caught had to be handed over, to this day, none of the dozen or so households in the village had ever seen one. Now, Chen Shi actually claimed to have caught a treasure fish in his net—how could Xu Hu not be excited?

"If I hand this precious fish over to those big shots in the Water Management Bureau, I might be able to completely shake off this lowly status," Xu Hu thought to himself. "If I secretly take it and sell it, I can make a lot of money. Even if I eat it myself, the benefits will be endless."

"Lead the way quickly! If that treasure fish gets away, we'll sell you off too!" Xu Hu shouted.

Chen Shi nodded repeatedly and led the group to the shore. Just as he was about to step onto the sampan, Xu Hu called out to him, "Don't try anything funny, you're in the same boat as me."

Xu Hu still had some concerns, so he chose to ride in the same sampan as Chen Shi, so that he could take him down with him if something went wrong.

"Brother Xu Hu, how could I dare?" Chen Shi said with a pitiful expression, like an honest man. "I really can't pull that treasure fish, and I even want to use it as part of my catch."

"I doubt you have the guts," Xu Hu said confidently.

He then steered his sampan toward the waters Chen Shi had described, with the other two following closely behind in their own sampans.

A boat sails on the water, across a vast marshland, amidst the distant sampans.

Before long, the group arrived at a secluded body of water.

Chen Shi sat at the stern of the boat, his heart pounding like a drum.

Xu Hu was more cautious than expected; he had prepared all three sampans himself. But there weren't any major problems, and they eventually arrived at the familiar location.

"Where is the treasure fish?" Xu Hu asked impatiently.

"Right there!" Chen Shi pointed to a fishing net.

He just put this down this morning, there's no way it could contain any precious fish.

Xu Hu, of course, was blinded by the joy of catching the treasure fish. He paddled his small sampan over and grabbed the fishing net. He stood up and kept pulling the net back, seemingly without any effort, as if the entire net were empty.

But soon, a dragging force came from the fishing net.

"A treasure fish!" Xu Hu exclaimed in surprise.

This sudden change made him completely lower his guard.

He naively thought that the fish was struggling because he had startled it, but little did he know that Chen Shi behind him was using [Water Control] to drag the fishing net downwards, engaging in a struggle in the water.

"A person like you who commits all sorts of evil deeds deserves to die."

Chen Shi thought to himself, took out the fish knife hidden on his body, and as he released the [Water Control], he gripped the short knife tightly and stabbed it into Xu Hu's waist and neck respectively.

"Aaaaaah!"

A mournful wail, like that of a pig being slaughtered, echoed across the lake.

Losing his grip, Xu Hu lost his balance and fell backward into the water, his blood instantly staining the surface. He struggled desperately, his eyes wide with disbelief as he looked at Chen Shi on the sampan. Chen Shi was not a strong swimmer to begin with, and now, wounded, he quickly lost consciousness after falling into the water.

The other two heard the commotion and rushed over.

They happened to witness this horrific scene and immediately drove away.

But how could Chen Shi do as he wished?

He quickly caught up with the two sampans, and using his ability to control water, he manipulated the current to capsize them. Finally, he used his short blade to swiftly end their lives.

The entire sequence of movements was fluid and smooth. Chen Shi had already rehearsed it in his mind many times on the way here, but killing someone was a ruthless thing for the first time. He was panting heavily with some fear, but when he thought about how this world revered force and treated human life like dirt, his mood calmed down a little.

"With just fifty pounds of water, I can easily defeat powerful enemies that I can't handle on land. If I could control more water, even if I faced a martial arts master, I would have ways to escape or even fight back on this vast lake."

Chen Shi sighed inwardly, then looked at the advanced path of the entry.

[Advanced route: Catch ten small whitebait.]

This condition was not difficult for him at all.

As the most common and numerous fish, it would be difficult to catch it in a fishing net.

"Unless another treasure fish comes along, I can complete the advancement requirements for the entry by tomorrow's catch," Chen Shi thought to himself, his anticipation growing stronger.

Chen Shi then re-laid the fishing net.

Before leaving, they searched the group thoroughly.

A few taels of silver, plus a hairpin; the rest were worthless items.

The hairpin wasn't made of gold or silver; it was just an ordinary wooden hairpin. It was only beautifully carved, perhaps enough to fetch some copper coins. It was originally a gift for tide Niang, but Xu Hu snatched it away, and now it had returned to Chen Shi's hands.

Chen Shi carefully put away the hairpin and silver, then sailed his small boat home.

............

As the sun moved westward, dusk fell.

tide Niang was cooking in the kitchen, but she was very anxious.

My husband hasn't come back yet, how much time has it been? Could something have really happened to him?

Just as she thought that, a figure pushed open the door and entered.

It was her beloved Shi'er brother.

"Brother Shi!" tide Niang excitedly stepped forward and hugged Chen Shi.

She looked up and asked in a worried tone, "What did they take you to do? Are you hurt?"

tide Niang cared for Chen Shi like an older sister.

"I'm fine," Chen Shi said softly. "No one will come to our house to bully you anymore."

What does this mean?

tide Niang was puzzled, but she could guess that it was related to Xu Hu and his group.

Chen Shi didn't want to talk about this topic anymore. He pointed to the treasure fish he was carrying and said, "It's a good thing that was just caught. Let's make soup and eat it quickly."

"This, this is a treasure..." tide Niang exclaimed in surprise, covering her mouth as she looked at the fish with strange scales.

Chen Shi nodded slightly and then made a shushing gesture.

tide Niang understood his meaning and immediately went to the kitchen to get busy.

By then, it was completely dark.

The precious fish on the table had been eaten down to the bones by the two of them.

Shortly after Chen Shi finished enjoying the precious fish, a scorching hot current surged from his heart, flowing through his internal organs and permeating his limbs and bones.

"The treasure fish is indeed a good thing. Just after it entered my stomach, it has greatly increased my blood and energy." Chen Shi thought to himself, feeling extremely hot inside his body.

This is precisely what comes from abundant Qi and blood.

After washing the dishes, tide Niang sat down opposite Chen Shi again.

"Brother Shi'er, what about the catch tomorrow...?"

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Chen Shi's actions.

He pulled a wooden hairpin from his pocket; it was the very one that had been stolen.

tide Niang gasped slightly, recalling what Shi'er had just said, and instantly understood what it meant. She was both surprised and delighted, and her cheeks turned as red as ripe apples.

tide Niang took the wooden hairpin and said shyly, "Brother Shi'er... I want to..."

She wasn't from a wealthy family, powerless and helpless, and couldn't help her husband in other ways. If she could make him more comfortable and satisfied in that matter, that was her way of giving back as a wife.

Chen Shi naturally understood the meaning behind it.

He blew out the lamp, then forcefully picked up tide Niang and carried her to the room.