Chapter 8: The Assault of the Fish Demon

“Eat fish…?”
The crow creature immediately asked, “Where’s the fish?”
Lu Fei replied, “In the river.”
As he spoke, he stood up, took his hatchet, and walked toward the now sparse bamboo grove nearby. After finding a sturdy, straight bamboo stalk, he cut it down.
He then set to work.
Before long, a bamboo fishing spear with two sharp prongs was ready.
Back when he relieved himself earlier, he’d seen how dense the fish were in the river. The fact that none of the mountain monsters paid them any mind had surprised and delighted Lu Fei.
Besides, with the memories of his body’s original owner, he already knew how the mountain monsters prepared their meals: usually, they would simply skin some beast, remove its entrails, chop it into chunks, throw it into a large pot to boil, and add a few wild vegetables—like wild carrots and wild onions—they used to eat as beasts.
It was enough to fill one’s belly, but as for the taste, one could only imagine.
After all, a bunch of creatures who’d only ever eaten raw flesh—even after gaining intelligence—were still far less refined in their eating than true humans.
Only when some monsters grew powerful and secure enough in their strength would they start to think and pursue more.
“What’s this… a weapon?” the crow creature asked, eyeing the bamboo spear in Lu Fei’s hand.
Lu Fei replied, “This is called a fish spear. You’ll see soon enough how useful it is.”
He cut down two more suitable bamboo stalks and began making more.
Soon, three bamboo fish spears were complete.
Lu Fei then led his two companions down to the riverbank.
In the water, schools of fish swam everywhere.
This place was rarely visited by humans, so the fish were completely unafraid of the three monsters walking by the shore.
Lu Fei watched the fish, raised his spear, and plunged it swiftly at the largest group near the bank.
His sudden movement sent the fish scattering in all directions.
Soon, as the muddy water and pebbles settled, Lu Fei saw a grass carp, not quite dead, skewered on his bamboo spear.
...
When night fell completely,
On the grassy bank by the little river,
A bonfire blazed merrily.
By the fire sat three monsters—one with the head of a white wolf, one with the head of a bird, and one with the head of a tusked boar—gathered around the flames.
Each little monster held a bamboo stick, each stick skewering a large fish being roasted over the fire.
As the scent of roasting meat filled the air,
The impatient crow creature sniffed his fish deeply, then looked at Lu Fei across the flames, asking, “White Fur, are you sure this fish… is really edible?”
Lu Fei, absorbed in roasting his fish, looked up, understanding the other’s hesitation. It was hardly surprising—these land-dwelling monsters rarely had a chance to eat fish and were not used to such things.
He replied, “Of course. But eat slowly and carefully—there are bones in the fish…”
He hadn’t even finished speaking before the crow creature, unable to wait, opened his pointed beak and took a big bite.
A second later, the crow creature’s mouth flew open and he let out a string of squawks.
“What’s wrong with him…?”
The little boar demon, Redskin, who was roasting his fish, asked Lu Fei, puzzled by the crow’s antics.
Lu Fei laughed, “He got a bone stuck in his mouth.”
“Got a bone stuck…”
Redskin was still puzzled when he saw the crow creature pull a white, sharp bone from his mouth.
The night deepened.
By the bonfire, more than a dozen large fish soon found their way into the bellies of the three monsters.
“So, how’s the fish?”
Lu Fei tossed aside the fish bones, wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth, and looked at his two companions.
“Delicious… delicious…”
“Er…”
The crow creature sucked his fingers enthusiastically, nodding rapidly and even burping.
“Delicious…”
Redskin the pig demon nodded too. “I’ve never had anything like it before.”
The crow creature sucked every last bit from his fingers and, satisfied, said, “I think I heard someone say that fish from the river are tasty, but I never tried it until now.”
Though they hadn’t been together long,
Lu Fei already understood the crow’s nature. Hearing this, he quickly warned, “You mustn’t tell anyone about this, especially that rat demon.”
“Yes…”
Redskin added, “There’s enough fish here for the three of us for a long while, but if the other monsters find out, we’ll end up hungry like before.”
Though the crow had a big mouth, he understood the importance of discretion and nodded, “I won’t tell…”
Satisfied, Lu Fei said, “Let’s stash the arrows we made today and continue tomorrow…”
Soon,
The three little monsters put out the fire,
Carefully hid the bamboo arrows they’d made,
Then reverted to their original forms and left the bamboo mountain, heading quickly toward the main peak of Wandering Mountain.
Two days later,
At noon,
The sun blazed down.
In the vast bamboo forest,
Lu Fei crouched before a large pile of bamboo arrows, counting one by one, “Sixty-five, sixty-six, sixty-seven… one hundred.”

The crow and Redskin, who were completely baffled by counting, were in charge of hauling and organizing the arrows.
After a while, fifteen neat piles of arrows were lined up in the spacious bamboo grove.
Each pile contained one hundred arrows.
Fifteen piles—exactly fifteen hundred arrows.
Just in case,
Lu Fei had made quite a few extra arrows.
“One thousand five hundred and thirty-eight…”
After a second careful count to make sure he hadn’t miscounted, Lu Fei finally confirmed the total number of arrows the three of them had made in three days.
Once he finished, the crow immediately asked, “Is that enough?”
Lu Fei nodded. “It’s plenty. Next, we need to move all the arrows back to our place…”
“But before heading back, let’s fill our bellies first…”
At that, the crow and Redskin’s eyes lit up.
Since their first taste of roasted fish with Lu Fei, they’d been eating it for three days straight.
After hiding the arrows,
Lu Fei led the two little monsters to the riverbank once more.
This time, each of them carried two fish spears.
After a round of spearing,
In no time,
A dozen or so fish of all kinds—grass carp, crucian carp, carp—large and small, were laid out on the shore.
They fell into their usual routine:
Redskin took out the fire-starter he’d brought and began building a fire nearby.
Lu Fei continued searching the riverbank for big fish with his spear.
The crow squatted by the river, cleaning the fish and removing their entrails.
Just then,
A massive black shadow, drawn by the scent of blood, moved upstream from the lower reaches of the river.
While the crow grumbled about the hot sun and cleaned fish,
Suddenly,
A black form burst from the water, seized the crow in its jaws, and dragged him into the river’s depths.
Not far upstream, Lu Fei saw it happen. There was no time to think—he gripped his spear and dove straight into the river after him.