Wu Jiong prepared to search for the Three-Eyed Fish, transforming into his beast form and motioning for Jian Mo to climb onto his back.
Ban Ming immediately protested loudly, “You can’t have two people together! That’s unfair!”
The giant wolf replied calmly, “I don’t need two people to win.”
Jian Mo, sitting on the wolf’s back, chuckled. “I’m just tagging along. I won’t interfere. With my skills, even if I did, I’d probably just make things worse.”
Ban Ming conceded after a moment’s thought but added, “Then I’ll follow you and make sure you’re not cheating.”
Ignoring him, the giant wolf waded into the river, sniffing for clues with Jian Mo riding along.
Chirpy, curious, followed behind them. Its massive size and heavy footsteps splashing in the water scared away any potential fish nearby.
Jian Mo waved his hand, trying to shoo it away. “Chirpy, go back! You’re not allowed to follow us.”
Chirpy stopped in the water. “Chirp.”
“Be good,” Jian Mo said firmly, waving again.
One of the young men Jian Mo had treated before, Ran Wu, noticed Chirpy lingering and walked over to pull it away. He led Chirpy back upstream, leaving Jian Mo free to continue downstream with Wu Jiong.
The giant wolf sniffed the river water as he moved, but progress seemed slow.
He walked a long way, fur damp and heavy, with even the tip of his tail dragging wetly in the water.
When they returned to the group for a break, Jian Mo slid off his back and wrung out his soaked fur with care.
Jian Mo spoke softly, “If you can’t find one, it’s fine. Hunting Arrowbone Beasts is fun too.”
Ban Ming, trailing close behind, overheard and immediately jumped in. “Exactly! If you can’t find one, Chief, you’ll just have to send me ten Arrowbone Beasts.”
Wu Jiong replied, “I’ll find one.”
Ban Ming licked his nose in mock disdain. “You better hurry. The sun’s already high in the sky and will start dipping soon.”
“I know,” said Wu Jiong.
Ban Ming prowled around them, his tail flicking lazily. “For all we know, there might not even be any Three-Eyed Fish here. You’re probably wasting your time.”
The group laughed and teased as they watched the exchange.
Seeing Ban Ming’s antics, Qing Kuo shook his head. “You reckless kid, don’t overdo it. You might lose even the hide skirt off your back.”
Ban Ming wagged the tip of his tail confidently. “Impossible. I’ve been following them the whole time, and I haven’t caught a whiff of a Three-Eyed Fish.”
Ah Hu, standing nearby, added, “Same here. The scent of a Three-Eyed Fish is too faint to detect.”
Qing Kuo smirked. “Just because you can’t smell it doesn’t mean the Chief can’t. Chief, have you picked up anything?”
Jian Mo immediately cut in, “Qing Kuo, no giving your kid inside information.”
Qing Kuo laughed. “I’m just curious.”
Wu Jiong said simply, “You’ll find out this afternoon.”
After a quick lunch and some rest, Wu Jiong carried Jian Mo further downstream.
Though the giant wolf had spent the entire morning searching with no results, his demeanor now suggested he’d found a lead.
The group, noticing the shift, followed him with growing anticipation.
After a while, Wu Jiong stopped at a spot and began digging at a riverside hole with his paw.
As soon as the hole was exposed, a fish with pale yellow patterns on its back darted out and swam right under his nose.
Wu Jiong snapped it up with precision, holding the wriggling fish firmly in his jaws as it slapped at his nose in a futile attempt to escape.
The commotion drew everyone’s attention.
De Jiang was the first to confirm, “It’s a Three-Eyed Fish!”
Qing Kuo agreed, “Definitely a Three-Eyed Fish.”
Sitting on Wu Jiong’s back, Jian Mo craned his neck to get a closer look. After some careful observation, he spotted a darker marking on the fish’s forehead, nestled between its eyes, resembling a third eye.
Ban Ming saw it too, and his ears drooped while his tail swayed weakly. “How’d he get so lucky?” he muttered.
Finding just one Three-Eyed Fish was enough to win the bet, and Ban Ming knew he’d already lost.
Qing Kuo patted Ban Ming’s thigh. “Guess you’ll be hunting Arrowbone Beasts tonight.”
Wu Jiong simply said, “Not yet.”
Qing Kuo raised an eyebrow. “Not yet what?”
Without responding, Wu Jiong dropped the fish into their basket and continued downstream with Jian Mo on his back.
Ban Ming’s jaw dropped. “No way. Are you telling me you found another one?”
Wu Jiong didn’t answer and kept moving.
Soon, he unearthed another hole and snatched up a second Three-Eyed Fish.
He tossed it into the basket, and the group confirmed it was indeed another Three-Eyed Fish.
Still unsatisfied, Wu Jiong pressed on, digging out a third, then a fourth, fifth, and sixth Three-Eyed Fish.
By the time he reached the thirteenth fish, the group was utterly dumbfounded.
Ban Ming couldn’t take it anymore. He pounced on the giant wolf’s foreleg, clinging to it. “Chief, how are you finding so many? Did you scout this place beforehand? You already knew there were Three-Eyed Fish here, didn’t you? Meow!”
The giant wolf looked down at him and said coldly, “Why would I cheat in a bet with you?”
Ban Ming flopped dramatically onto the ground. “Then how are you catching them so easily? I can’t even smell them!”
Wu Jiong explained, “It’s true that tracking the scent of a Three-Eyed Fish is nearly impossible. But the presence of these fish creates subtle differences in the scent of an area. Once you identify a section of the river with an unusual scent, you just have to search for their holes.”
Ban Ming stared at him in disbelief. “You mean you narrowed it down by eliminating areas where they weren’t?”
Wu Jiong nodded.
Di Ya walked over and smacked Ban Ming’s leg. “Did you learn something? Tonight, you’ll use this method to find Arrowbone Beasts.”
The group erupted into laughter.
Ban Ming rolled over and lay dejectedly on the ground, refusing to move.
Having made his point, Wu Jiong shifted back into his human form and stopped searching.
He rummaged through the basket and carefully selected the female fish capable of laying eggs, releasing them back into the river.
With these fish to spawn, the river would have new Three-Eyed Fish next year.
The group spent the rest of the day catching Ambus Fish before returning to the tribe at sunset with their bounty.
Ban Ming, still remembering the bet, trudged back with drooped shoulders, defeated but wiser.
As they prepared to part ways, the giant wolf reminded Ban Ming, “Don’t forget the Arrowbone Beasts—thirteen in total. You can deliver them all at once or in batches.”
Ban Ming grumbled, “I’m not the kind of beastman who doesn’t keep his word.”
The wolf replied, “Good. Just don’t wait until winter to deliver them.”
“I’ll catch them tonight!” Ban Ming snapped.
Jian Mo waved with a smile. “We’ll be waiting.”
Back home, Jian Mo poured himself some water and couldn’t help praising Wu Jiong’s performance that day. “You were amazing! I thought everyone’s jaws were going to drop.”
Wu Jiong ruffled the back of Jian Mo’s neck. “I wouldn’t make a bet unless I was confident.”
“I could tell,” Jian Mo said, his grin widening.
The Three-Eyed Fish needed to be processed that evening; otherwise, some might die by morning, and their gallbladders would lose their potency.
Curious about the process, Jian Mo squatted nearby to watch Wu Jiong work.
Using a shell knife, Wu Jiong deftly removed the fish gallbladders.
The Three-Eyed Fish’s gallbladders were unusually large, about the size of a small lychee.
Jian Mo held one in his hand, marveling at its weight before bringing it to his nose. The sharp, fishy smell made him wince, the odor nearly overwhelming.
It was hard to believe these gallbladders were such effective medicine. Jian Mo wondered how the first person ever discovered their use.
“Put them in the dish,” Wu Jiong instructed. “I’ll set them out to dry. Go wash your hands—Three-Eyed Fish are particularly pungent. Use some leaves to scrub, or the smell will linger.”
“Not even soap works?” Jian Mo asked.
“Try it,” Wu Jiong suggested.
Jian Mo headed inside and scrubbed his hands with soap several times, but the fishy odor stubbornly clung to his skin.
Resigned, he went outside to gather some strongly scented leaves to rub on his hands.
As he stepped out, he spotted Chirpy sniffing the discarded Three-Eyed Fish. Its expression twisted into one of disgust, its nose wrinkling as if offended.
Jian Mo burst out laughing. “You can eat all sorts of innards, but you can’t handle the smell of Three-Eyed Fish?”
Chirpy glanced up at him, then waddled over, trying to nuzzle him. “Chirp chirp!”
Jian Mo caught a whiff of the fishy odor—it seemed Chirpy’s chin had brushed against the fish blood.
“Ugh, don’t nuzzle me!” Jian Mo exclaimed, pushing Chirpy’s head away.
Thinking it was a game, Chirpy wagged its wings excitedly and tried to nuzzle him again, this time with the blood-smeared side of its face.
Jian Mo panicked and pushed harder, while Chirpy persisted. What ensued was a comical chase around the courtyard, with Jian Mo desperately avoiding Chirpy’s fishy affection.
Chirpy, huffing with exertion, flapped its wings, its eyes gleaming with excitement. Despite its round body, it darted around the small courtyard with surprising agility.
Jian Mo, while fit, was limited by the space and soon found himself out of breath.
Wu Jiong returned to the scene of chaos, calmly separating the two with a firm grip on each.
Chirpy bounced a few times in place, testing Wu Jiong’s iron grip, but eventually gave up and obediently squatted down. “Chirp.”
Wu Jiong glanced at Jian Mo, who was wiping sweat from his brow. “What was all that about?”
Jian Mo sighed. “Chirpy wanted to nuzzle me. I didn’t let it, and it thought I was playing. Then it wouldn’t stop chasing me.”
He added with exasperation, “The smell of Three-Eyed Fish is unbearable. It nearly knocked me out!”
Wu Jiong nodded in agreement. “The fish has a strong odor. It’s inedible.”
“What do we do with them, then?” Jian Mo asked.
“Usually, we’d throw them away. But Chirpy might eat them,” Wu Jiong replied.
Jian Mo glanced at Chirpy with sympathy. “I doubt it. It sniffed the fish and wrinkled its nose. I don’t think it’ll eat them.”
“Then we’ll toss them,” Wu Jiong decided.
He went to gather the cleaned Three-Eyed Fish, their gallbladders removed.
Jian Mo followed, noting the fish were quite large, each weighing five to six pounds. The nine remaining fish filled an entire basket, heavy enough to make it awkward to carry.
“Throwing all these away feels like such a waste,” Jian Mo remarked, eyeing the pile. Hunting and gathering weren’t easy, and while the fish smelled terrible, discarding them outright seemed excessive.
After a moment of thought, Jian Mo said, “Let me figure out a way to cook them.”
Wu Jiong reminded him, “Even cooked, they’ll still stink. Drying them won’t help either.”
Jian Mo was stunned. “Is the smell really that persistent?”
“Very,” Wu Jiong confirmed.
Jian Mo speculated that the intense smell was likely why people had discovered the medicinal use of their gallbladders—probably out of desperation after failing to eat them.
Wu Jiong picked up the basket. “I’ll take them to the river and toss them. Other animals will eat them.”
As he turned to leave, Jian Mo suddenly called out, “Wait! I think I’ve got an idea.”
“What is it?” Wu Jiong asked.
“Do you have a tradition here of salting fish or shrimp and letting them ferment to make a sauce for seasoning?”
Wu Jiong frowned at the thought. “You mean like fish blood?”
“No, no,” Jian Mo clarified. “We call it fish sauce. After fermentation with salt, it’s nothing like raw fish blood. Let me try making it. Otherwise, we’re short on seasonings, and something always feels missing.”
With common seasonings like oyster sauce and soy sauce unavailable, Jian Mo thought fish sauce might be a good substitute.
The more he considered it, the more feasible it seemed. “I’ll get a large jar.”
“You’re going to ferment the fish directly in the jar?” Wu Jiong asked.
“No,” Jian Mo explained. “We have to mash the fish into a paste first.”
Wu Jiong frowned. “If we mash the fish at the communal stone mortar, people will definitely complain.”
Jian Mo laughed. “Then we’ll take them to the river, mash them with rocks, and toss the rocks into the water afterward. No one will complain.”
With that plan, the two headed to the river to turn the Three-Eyed Fish into fish paste.
By the time they returned home, it was completely dark.
Jian Mo poured the fish paste into a clean jar and added salt.
“How much salt do we need?” Wu Jiong asked.
Jian Mo admitted, “I’m not sure. Maybe twice as much as we’d use for cured meat? Since the paste won’t be sun-dried, too little salt could lead to spoilage.”
Wu Jiong scooped up a large bowl of salt and dumped it into the jar.
Once the salt was mixed in, Jian Mo used a clean stick to stir the fish paste thoroughly before covering the surface with a thick layer of salt. He sealed the jar tightly for fermentation.
“All done.” Jian Mo straightened up and tossed the fishy stick into the stove to burn it. “Let’s move the jar to a corner. I’ll check on it in a few days to see how it’s fermenting.”
Wu Jiong carried the jar to the corner and sniffed his hands. “I’m going to take a bath before dinner.”
Jian Mo, reeking of fish as well, said, “I’ll come with you.”
With the weather warming up, bathing in the river wasn’t a problem as long as they warmed up first.
The two grabbed some soap and headed to the upper reaches of the river near the tribe for a proper wash.
Recalling how Wu Jiong had spent most of the day in his wolf form, walking through the river with his fur soaked, Jian Mo suggested cleaning his beast form thoroughly.
Wu Jiong remarked, “Bathing in my beast form is tiring.”
Jian Mo rolled up his sleeves, grinning. “That’s because you don’t know my line of work. I’ve got plenty of experience bathing cats and dogs.”
Wu Jiong, reminded of Jian Mo’s past stories, warned him, “I’m not like those little ones.”
“Still, I can apply the same principles. Come on, transform, or the mud will settle into your fur,” Jian Mo urged.
With Jian Mo’s persistent coaxing, Wu Jiong relented and transformed into his giant wolf form, lying down in the river.
Jian Mo leaped forward, hugging him. “You’re so handsome!”
The giant wolf gently nudged him with its snout. “Is this position okay?”
“Perfect! Let’s get you soaped up,” Jian Mo replied.
Despite his enormous size, Wu Jiong was incredibly cooperative, making the task easier than washing most large animals.
Jian Mo lathered him up thoroughly, scrubbing every inch before instructing him to lie on his side in the water, allowing the current to rinse away the soap suds.
The wolf complied without complaint, though his ears twitched slightly as he lay down.
Jian Mo leaned down and kissed one of his ears, a big smile spreading across his face.
After their bath, the two walked home hand in hand.
Chirpy, squatting in the courtyard and waiting for dinner, let out a soft, mournful chirp when it saw them return. Its green-glowing eyes in the darkness looked pitiful.
Jian Mo chuckled and patted its rump. “Didn’t we give you snacks before we left? Why are you still whining?”
“Chirp!” Chirpy replied plaintively.
“Alright, alright, we’ll cook now,” Jian Mo assured it.
“I’ll start stewing the Ambus Fish,” Wu Jiong said.
“Great, I’ll stir-fry a couple of dishes. It’s been days since we’ve had stir-fried food,” Jian Mo added.
The two of them worked late into the evening before finally sitting down to eat.
Thanks to the large portions, Chirpy, though it had waited a long time, was completely satisfied once served and chirped happily throughout the meal.
The haul from their fishing trip had been productive. Along with the fish gallbladders and the jar of fermenting fish, they received thirteen Arrowbone Beasts from Ban Ming.
Ban Ming and his friends had spent several nights in the wilderness, painstakingly gathering the beasts. By the time he delivered them, he sported dark circles under his eyes and slumped onto the lounge chair in Jian Mo’s courtyard.
“I’m never betting with the Chief again,” he muttered. “I’ve figured it out—he never agrees to a bet unless he’s absolutely certain he’ll win.”
Jian Mo handed him a cup of tea sweetened with Tou Tou Beast milk and sugar. “Thanks for your hard work.”
“It really was exhausting,” Ban Ming said, sipping the tea with a sigh. “By the way, how’s that fish sauce coming along? My dad told me to ask.”
Jian Mo replied, “I don’t know yet. It hasn’t spoiled, so I’m letting it ferment a while longer.”
He had only ever used fish sauce before and had never made it himself, so he wasn’t entirely sure of the process.
All he could do was wait—either the fish sauce would ferment successfully, or it would spoil completely.
Still, he had a good feeling about it. With luck, the fish sauce would become their household’s first fermented seasoning.
