Things in the pond

Chapter 23

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Chapter Thirty-Two

One early morning, the reeds were lush and the dew was like frost. The catfish came ashore early in the morning and did gymnastics in the thin mist.

"Old catfish, what are you doing?" the crab poked its head out and asked.

"Three circles to the left, three circles to the right, twist your neck, wiggle your butt, go to bed early and get up early, let's do some exercise..." the catfish sang as it jumped.

The blackfish and carp were awakened by the strange singing and complained, "Old catfish, you're so noisy! You're usually the laziest, why are you doing exercise today?"

The catfish shook its finger and said, "Young man, you don't understand, do you? Today is the Double Ninth Festival, and according to custom, we should go hiking. Of course, we need to exercise before climbing a mountain!"

"Double Ninth Festival?" Chi asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Today is the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. Nine is the first day of Yang, and two nines make it the Double Ninth Festival. Today is a good day..." The catfish stroked its whiskers and smiled.

"Oh, I know, I know! We learned it in school: 'Alone in a foreign land, I am a stranger; on every festive occasion, I miss my family all the more. I know my brothers are climbing the heights, wearing dogwood, but one is missing.'" Crab immediately chimed in, "That's about the Double Ninth Festival, isn't it..."

“That’s right~” the catfish replied with a smile.

Chi suddenly felt a little lost, "The dogwood is planted everywhere, but one person is missing... I wonder where the river shrimp is now, I miss it so much..."

"Alas, I know my sisters have eloped, and though dogwood is everywhere, one shrimp is missing," the carp sighed.

The blackfish exclaimed admiringly, "Carp, you can even write poetry!"

"Not at all~" the carp said modestly, striking a solemn pose.

"Carp, you truly are my good brother!"

"Heizi!"

"Carp!"

"Heizi!"

...

Just as the pond was bustling with activity, a wild goose swooped down, came to a sudden stop, and called out loudly, "Hey everyone, I'm the Wild Goose from the Clouds, I'm back again!"

The blackfish and carp cried out in surprise and swam over.

"Brother Yan...you're finally back!" the blackfish and the carp exclaimed in unison.

Chi blinked, "Brother Yan?"

"It's a wild goose, it comes here to spend the winter every year around this time," the crab replied.

The goose nodded. "Correct answer, little crab!" It preened its feathers. "Brother catfish, how have you been?"

The catfish clasped its hands in a fist salute, saying, "Thanks to you."

"Brother Yan, what's the latest gossip... I mean, news?" Carp leaned closer and asked.

"Yes!" the wild goose nodded. "It's quite chaotic on the border lately, with autumn harvest preparations in progress."

The carp immediately lost interest and swam away.

The wild goose continued talking to itself, "I knew it! The emperor was really stupid. Why not just send a beautiful woman to marry him off? Why bother with war? Back in the day, that emperor of Han, what was he? He was so clever!"

"Huh? What is a marriage alliance?" Chi asked.

The goose glanced at it and asked, "Who is this?"

"She's the water official of our pond, you idiot sister," the crab replied.

"Oh~ I've heard so much about you~" After greeting them, the wild goose continued its topic, "A marriage alliance is when the emperor marries his daughter, or some other beautiful woman, to someone from another country. Hmm, speaking of which, many years ago, during the reign of that Han emperor, I saw a marriage alliance for the first time. I found it very interesting, so I flew down to take a look. Unexpectedly, I was misunderstood as someone who coveted the girl's beauty. It was a great disgrace to me as a fairy."

"Oh!" The carp, who hadn't been very interested before, suddenly perked up. "Is that girl's surname Wang?"

"Yes, yes. Sigh, actually she wasn't that beautiful. Back then, I wasn't very skilled, and I couldn't tell the difference between beauty and ugliness, so I was misunderstood for so long. Now that I think about it, there are plenty of beauties among us fairies. Who cares?" the wild goose said disdainfully.

“Yes, yes,” the blackfish and the carp nodded.

"Hmm? Speaking of which, where did the River Shrimp Girl go?" Wild Goose looked around and asked.

"We eloped!" the crab replied.

The wild goose plunged headfirst into the pond. "My goodness! Elopement? With whom?" it cried as it climbed out of the pond.

“Brother Yinming!” the crab continued to answer honestly.

"Who?" the wild goose asked nervously.

“He’s the young master of the General’s Mansion,” Black Fish replied.

"My goodness! It's actually a human! River Shrimp Girl, how could you betray my heart like this?!" the wild goose cried out in anguish.

The catfish spoke softly, "Don't be surprised, everyone. It has had a crush on the river shrimp for many years, but it has never dared to confess."

The demons nodded knowingly.

"Long-distance relationships are really too difficult..." The wild goose looked up at the sky, and suddenly thought of something, "Hmm? Yin Ming, this name sounds familiar... Have I seen him before?"

"Brother Yinming went to guard against the autumn harvest. Did you see Brother Dayan on the frontier?" the crab said.

The wild goose flapped its wings and exclaimed, "My goodness! I really have seen him before!" It roared, "You don't know, there have been strange things happening on the frontier lately. They say there's a general's son who rides a divine steed that can travel a thousand miles a day, and he even uses magic in battle. At midnight, they can hear a woman's angry roar coming from inside the tent, but when they go in, they only find him alone. How come I never thought of that? That handsome figure, that amazing courage, isn't that my beautiful river shrimp girl!"

"Huh?" the demons exclaimed in surprise.

"Where is justice?! How can a human be with the river shrimp girl! The river shrimp girl must have been forced, I must go save her!" the goose exclaimed, flapping its wings and taking flight.

"Brother Wild Goose, aren't you going to hibernate?" the carp called out.

"Forget about winter! I'm off to rescue a damsel in distress! Goodbye!" With a swift dash, the wild goose disappeared into the clouds.

"Indeed, a wild goose in the clouds..." Blackfish exclaimed.

"Hmm, the takeoff pose is pretty good too..." Carp added.

"Shrimp, so you are with Brother Yinming after all..." the crab nodded.

"Beware of autumn, I don't know when it will come back..." Chi said, holding its claws.

The catfish stroked its whiskers, smiled, and shook its head.

"The old catfish didn't even try to change the subject!" the carp exclaimed in surprise.

All the demons were shocked.

The catfish paused, looking around. "Uh..."

"I told you, Old Catfish must know about Shrimp! Tell us quickly, how exactly did Shrimp elope with Yinming?" Carp shouted.

“That’s right, that’s right! This time I definitely won’t let you change the subject!” Blackfish agreed.

Seeing the situation was turning against it, the catfish took off running. "I'm going hiking... It's the Double Ninth Festival... Old people should exercise more..."

"Stop!!!" The demons' shouts grew fainter and fainter.

The catfish darted into the depths of the bamboo forest, and seeing that no one was chasing it, it smiled contentedly, put its hands behind its back, and strolled away.

"Long time no see, Yue Jun."

The sudden greeting made the catfish freeze. It turned around, but there was no one around.

"Why bother with this body? What a waste of your original face," the voice said sarcastically.

"..." The catfish frowned, remaining silent.

"Let's end our reminiscing here. You must have heard that one of the Eight Steeds of Heaven has gone missing. In this vast world, only Xianqing can help it evade the heavenly soldiers' pursuit. As for our old acquaintance, I'll give you three days. If the steed does not return to Heaven after three days, I will raze this place to the ground."

After he finished speaking, a sprig of dogwood fell at the feet of the catfish.

In the bamboo grove, only the sound of the wind rustling through the bamboo leaves remained. A touch of melancholy suddenly appeared on the catfish's face…

...

...

The frog looked at the dogwood branch and sighed softly, "It must be Le Xin."

The catfish nodded. "What are you going to do?"

The frog chuckled and waved its sleeve. "What's meant to come will come. It can't get into this well, and I won't get out either. Let it go..." With that, it turned and walked away.

The catfish emerged from the well alone, glanced back, and thought, "A well..."

Who is trapped in this well...?

...

Chapter Thirty-Three

The frog blinked and looked at the group of little demons in front of it.

"Here we go again... What's it for this time?" the frog asked irritably.

The blackfish and carp said innocently, "It has nothing to do with us. It was the old catfish that told us to come here."

“Yes, yes, Old Catfish said you’re lonely all by yourself, so he asked us to come and keep you company,” Crab added.

"I'm lonely..." The frog's lips twitched.

“Yes, yes…” the demons nodded.

"That rumor-monger! Where is he? I'll find out—" The frog was furious. He looked around but didn't see the catfish. "Where is it?"

"Old Catfish said he won't be coming, so as not to upset you," the crab replied.

The frog frowned, then sighed softly.

"Never mind. You can stay..." With that, it picked up the sanxian and walked away.

The demons looked at each other in bewilderment. "Why isn't Old Catfish here?"

...

...

The catfish sneezed a few times in the pond.

The dragon kept its distance, watching it with some worry.

The catfish sniffed and said, "It's cold, so remember to wear more clothes... You little idiot, I think I've caught a cold. Don't let me infect you. You should go to the well too."

The dragon, clutching its claws, said, "I am the water official; I cannot leave the pond at will."