Chapter 115: So Many Fish! So Many Big Fish!!!

Ming Dai was so frightened that she burst into tears, her whole body trembling uncontrollably!

The moment Zhou Sinian heard her scream, he rushed back at full speed. With a fierce slap, he struck the head wolf’s skull, slamming it straight onto the icy ground.

“Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!”

“Whimper! Whimper! Whimper! Whimper! Whimper!”

After five heavy slaps, the wolf pack retreated and lay back down in place. In fact, to show submission, the head wolf even exposed its belly and wagged its tail enthusiastically.

Only after disciplining the wolves did Zhou Sinian turn to look at Ming Dai, who was still sitting on the ground. Just as he was about to help her up, he was startled by the tears streaming down her face.

Feeling helpless, he wanted to wipe her tears away, but when his fingers touched her icy cold cheeks, he instinctively withdrew his hand, as if burned by the heat of her sorrow.

Ming Dai was truly terrified.

In both of her lifetimes, she had never been this close to a wild beast. The closest she had ever been was watching wolves bask in the sun at a zoo.

Even though Zhou Sinian had initially given her a terrifying, beast-like aura, she still knew he was human. That made all the difference.

But now, faced with a pack of wolves that had intended to attack her, she couldn’t even think—only raw fear remained.

Zhou Sinian paced around her in circles, at a loss for what to do.

Suddenly, an idea struck him.

He remembered seeing something at the old man’s house—when the little rascal, Goudan, fell and started crying, Aunt Huang had picked him up and comforted him.

Ming Dai was crying too. If he picked her up and comforted her, wouldn’t that work?

With that thought in mind, he immediately took action!

Stretching out his strong, slender arms, he scooped up the soft and trembling Ming Dai.

Holding her in the same way one would carry a child, he recalled Aunt Huang’s movements and even gave her a little bounce.

That bounce startled Ming Dai so much that her fleeing soul seemed to snap back into her body.

Ming Dai had no time to feel embarrassed. She buried her face in Zhou Sinian’s neck and sobbed.

Her cries grew louder, and the tears rolling down into his collar became hotter.

Zhou Sinian held her awkwardly, his panic increasing. A strange sensation spread through his heart, seeping into every part of his body.

Why… Why does my heart hurt more and more?

The pain made him unconsciously tighten his arms around Ming Dai.

After crying for a while and letting out all her emotions, Ming Dai started to regret it.

First, their current position was beyond embarrassing—she was practically sitting on Zhou Sinian’s arm like a child.

Second, she had drenched his neck in tears and snot, and her body was still trembling with leftover sobs.

This was mortifying!

She forced herself to calm down and glared at Zhou Sinian, who was holding her even tighter. “Are you trying to strangle me?!”

Zhou Sinian, still tense and anxious, immediately loosened his grip at her words—causing Ming Dai to drop straight down.

“Ahhh!”

“Ahh—!”

The first scream came from Ming Dai, who was startled all over again. The second yelp came from Zhou Sinian, who reacted just in time to catch her again.

Ming Dai was so shocked that a snot bubble formed at her nose—then popped with a soft plop.

Zhou Sinian stared at her with concern before slowly setting her down.

Expressionless, Ming Dai pulled out a tissue from her storage space and wiped her nose.

If Zhou Sinian weren’t so emotionally unstable right now—if she weren’t worried that leaving him alone on the ice might lead to disaster—she would have hidden inside her space and never come out again.

This was so damn humiliating! Waaahhh!

Once she finally hiccupped the last of her tears away, Ming Dai narrowed her slightly reddened eyes and pointed at the wolves on the ground. “So this is the ‘dog’ you said you won in a fight?! This is a dog?!”

Zhou Sinian averted his gaze, avoiding her eyes as he muttered under his breath, “It’s a dog…”

Ming Dai looked at Zhou Sinian, who was stubbornly refusing to admit the truth, and sneered. “Then make it bark. Let me hear it!”

Zhou Sinian’s eyes lit up. He walked over to the head wolf, glaring at it threateningly. “Hurry up, bark!”

The head wolf squinted its eyes, lowered its ears, and gave a fawning smile. It rubbed against Zhou Sinian’s pants before finally letting out a sound.

“Awoo… woof woof woof!”

Ming Dai was utterly dumbfounded. Zhou Sinian, on the other hand, was smug and triumphant!

He had trained them in advance during the journey!

“Ming Dai, listen! It’s a dog!”

Ming Dai was so furious that she didn’t even know what to say. “Why is your ‘dog’s’ tail tucked between its legs? The village dogs all have their tails raised high!”

At her words, Zhou Sinian immediately shot a glare at the head wolf. The wolf let out a pitiful whimper before hesitantly raising its tail.

Ming Dai: …

She felt utterly exhausted.

Standing on the ice, she silently glared at Zhou Sinian, her scarf fluttering wildly in the wind.

Zhou Sinian knew he couldn’t fool her anymore. Lowering his head, he admitted his mistake. “Ming Dai, I was wrong. This is a wolf, not a dog. I was afraid you wouldn’t let me use them to pull the sled, so I lied to you.”

He anxiously explained, “I didn’t know they would disobey and try to bite you! I trained them on the way—I told them they couldn’t bite Ming Dai! They just didn’t listen!”

The wolves: You never told us who Ming Dai was!!

After speaking, Zhou Sinian suddenly turned around, his expression fierce as he drew his military dagger. “Ming Dai, I’ll kill them all to avenge you!!”

The wolf pack, seeing his actions, immediately dropped to the ground in terror. They didn’t even dare to run—only whimpered frantically, looking completely different from the aggressive predators they had been moments ago.

Ming Dai quickly stopped him and took his dagger away.

“Enough! Stop messing around!”

Zhou Sinian shot another glare at the wolves before turning back around, obediently looking at Ming Dai.

Ming Dai sighed. “Didn’t you say you won them in a fight? So what exactly happened?”

Zhou Sinian blinked and explained seriously, “I really did win them in a fight. They were fighting another pack of wolves. I was just passing by and had no intention of getting involved, but then they tried to bite me! So I beat them all up, killed several of them, and these were the ones left. They’re my spoils of war! If they disobey me, I’ll kill them too!”

Ming Dai: Oh, so that’s what he meant by winning in a fight…

Well… that worked too.

Taking a deep breath, Ming Dai said, “Let them go.”

Zhou Sinian hesitated. “Then we won’t have any dogs to pull the sled home.”

Ming Dai smiled at him. “Don’t worry. Soon, we will.”

Not daring to go against her, Zhou Sinian untied the harnesses from the wolves and waved a fist at them. “Scram!”

The head wolf led the pack, crouching low as they backed away. Only when they reached a safe distance did they turn and sprint toward the mountains.

Watching them run off, Ming Dai finally understood why the sled they had been using earlier was much faster than the ones pulled by regular village dogs!

Zhou Sinian pouted slightly as he watched the wolves disappear into the mountains—he hadn’t played with them enough yet.

But when he turned back, his face was full of excitement again as he grinned at Ming Dai. “Ming Dai! Time to catch fish!”

Ming Dai: How can he change moods so fast?!

But since they were already here—and after everything she had just been through—there was no way she wasn’t catching fish.

Today’s goal was to catch every fish in Yudai river!

Catching them all was impossible, but Ming Dai was determined to at least get a full variety.

Zhou Sinian huffed and puffed as he continued breaking the ice for a fishing hole, while Ming Dai took out her secret bait mixture.

She could find earthworms in her space, so she had Zhou Sinian dig up a whole jar. After mashing them up, she added the ultimate fish-attracting ingredient—sesame oil!

After mixing it thoroughly, she tossed it in to create a feeding spot. This was sure to attract fish from several kilometers away!

The water was freezing, and without this secret weapon, the fish might not have come at all.

Once the hole was cleared, Ming Dai handed the jar to Zhou Sinian while she activated her treasure-hunting ability, locking onto the fish schools and preparing to catch them at any moment.

As the bait slowly sank beneath the ice, its peculiar fragrance spread through the water, stirring up the fish and drawing them eagerly toward the hole.

Ming Dai kept her treasure-hunting ability active.

“They’re here!” she announced.

As soon as the first wave of fish swam into her capture range, she didn’t even wait for them to take a bite of the bait—she simply transferred them straight into the pond inside her storage space!

Zhou Sinian, thrilled, continued adding bait into the hole. More and more fish rushed in, fighting for this rare winter delicacy—only to end up being collected by Ming Dai.

Thankfully, Ming Dai could adjust the size of her pond, or else it wouldn’t have been able to hold so many fish.

She selectively captured only the big ones, leaving the smaller fish behind. Only after thoroughly sweeping the entire area of fish did she finally stop.

Holding the now-empty jar, Zhou Sinian excitedly asked, “Ming Dai, did you get them all?”

Ming Dai took the jar and stored it away. “I kept the big ones. The small ones can stay here and continue reproducing.”

Since Zhou Sinian loved eating big fish, he nodded in satisfaction.

Ming Dai checked the time—it was already past six o’clock, and people in the village were starting to wake up and move around.

Brushing the frost off her clothes, she said, “Let’s go home!”

Grinning, Zhou Sinian cheerfully brought over the sled and looked at Ming Dai. “Ming Dai, where are the dogs?!”

Ming Dai sat down on the sled and pointed at him. “There are no dogs. You pull it.”

That’s what you get for scaring me!

Zhou Sinian’s eyes widened in shock before his expression turned pitiful. He wanted to protest but, seeing the look in Ming Dai’s eyes, he knew that if he said anything, he’d only end up getting scolded.

He had no choice but to agree reluctantly, saying, “Alright.”

With a pitiful expression, he slung the rope over his shoulder and pulled the sled toward the shore.

His long legs gave him a fast stride. Though not as quick as the dogs, he was still much faster than if Ming Dai had walked on her own.

Before long, they reached the shore. Seeing Zhou Sinian pulling the sled so earnestly, Ming Dai’s mood—still lingering from the morning’s fright—significantly improved.

After walking for a while, she noticed that Zhou Sinian was starting to sweat. Only then did she call out to him.

“Zhou Sinian, stop.”

Hearing her, Zhou Sinian halted, turned around, and asked with a clueless but sincere expression, “Ming Dai, what’s wrong?”

Ming Dai stepped off the sled and, while making sure no one was around, stored it away in her space. “Let’s just walk back.”

Zhou Sinian looked at her seriously. “I can pull you. My legs are long.”

Ming Dai: Oh? So my legs are short, huh?

“There’s no need. If someone sees you pulling the sled by yourself, they’ll say you’re a fool.”

Zhou Sinian frowned. “I’m just crazy, not stupid!”

Ming Dai: …Wow, you sound oddly proud of that.

“Alright, let’s go. We need to hurry home—it’s freezing.”

Zhou Sinian happily nodded. “Let’s go home! I want to see the fish!!”

Braving the cold wind and avoiding the early risers in the village, the two of them finally made it back home.

The moment they entered her space, neither of them even bothered changing their clothes. In perfect sync, they ran straight to the pond.

Staring at what had now turned into a small lake, they both gasped in amazement.

Because of the high temperature and oxygen levels in the space, the water was teeming with life, and fish were constantly leaping out of the water.

Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian exclaimed together, “So many fish! So many big fish!!”