The more Lao He acted this way, the more grateful the Chen family became to him. While others would rush to help in times of emergency, Lao He would refuse to treat even a dying person, but he would go to their house without hesitation. Although he asked for a very high price, relatively speaking, it was worth it to save his son's life at that price.
Zhou Xuan has been staying at home rather obediently during this period and hasn't gone out. Instead, Fu Tianlai accompanied his father and Zhou Cangsong and his wife to visit scenic spots in New York and enjoy themselves.
Zhou Xuan would prepare a pot of nourishing soup for the bodyguards every morning to improve their martial arts skills. However, there was a limit to how much this could be done. After a week, it would basically stop, and further supplementation would be useless. Once the limit was reached, it meant they had reached another bottleneck. To break through this bottleneck, it depended on their own comprehension and destiny; no medicine could help them anymore.
That day, Zhou Xuan was alone in the living room again. Even Fu Ying had gone to the supermarket with her family. As usual, Zhou Xuan took fish food to feed the fish in the fish tank. Except for that strange fish, all the other fish rushed over to grab the food, but the strange fish remained at the bottom of the corner, ignoring it completely.
Zhou Xuan was still a little worried. This strange fish hadn't eaten anything since it was caught. Would it starve to death?
What exactly does it want to eat? Zhou Xuan couldn't figure it out. During this time, he had tried feeding it small fish and shrimp, all sorts of fish food, but nothing had attracted its attention.
Zhou Xuan was at his wit's end. He thought that if it still wouldn't eat or drink in a few more days, he would send it back to the sea. Although he hadn't figured out its secret yet, it was better than imprisoning it here and letting it die.
Perhaps it really is just a fish. Although I don't know for sure, and my supernatural abilities can't detect it, it doesn't mean that it is a fish made of extraterrestrial matter. If I don't understand, I should release it back into the sea and let it live freely.
I went to the yard and picked a thousand-year-old ginseng. I'll take it to Lao He later. I feel a little embarrassed about postponing the cooperation with Lao He, so I'll give him a thousand-year-old ginseng as compensation.
Zhou Xuan placed the ginseng on the coffee table and then looked for a box to pack it. But after taking the box into the living room, he suddenly noticed that the strange fish had swum to the edge of the glass tank and was staring at the thousand-year-old ginseng with its eyes. Zhou Xuan was stunned for a moment, and after looking at it more closely, he realized that the strange fish really did seem to be looking at the ginseng.
Zhou Xuan had an idea. He immediately plucked a root from the ginseng and put it in the pond. The ginseng root floated on the surface of the water, and the strange fish quickly swam up, took the root into its mouth, and swallowed it whole.
After eating it, the strange fish's eyes seemed to brighten a bit. Zhou Xuan quickly plucked a few more whiskers and threw them into the pond. Without exception, the strange fish ate them all. Occasionally, other fish would swim over, but the strange fish would flick its head and freeze them into a block of ice, killing them instantly.
This strange fish had never attacked any other fish before. It was the first time Zhou Xuan had ever seen such an aggressive behavior. He was both curious and surprised, but he still fed it. He fed it an entire ginseng root before the strange fish seemed to be full and then slithered back into the corner to sleep.
Of course, this was just Zhou Xuan's impression, because the fish didn't have eyelids, so even if it was sleeping, it wouldn't be noticeable.
After consuming the thousand-year-old ginseng, Zhou Xuan looked at the strange fish again. Although it did not move, its white scales, black horns, and golden whiskers seemed to be brighter and more vibrant, indicating that it was indeed effective.
However, Zhou Xuan found it strange. If the strange fish ate ginseng, then where in the ocean would there be ginseng?
Perhaps it's because that strange fish is picky about what it eats, and it only eats things of high value in the sea. If we're talking about things with extremely high medicinal value, the sea is no less than the land, and may even have more. It's just that they are harder to obtain in the sea, making them seem more mysterious. On land, there are some things that humans can reach, no matter how dangerous, so they might be able to obtain them. For example, ginseng, lingzhi, he shou wu, or even tiger bone, bear paws, and bear gallbladders. They are difficult to obtain, but not impossible.
As for the things in the ocean, such as the deepest parts of the seabed, human technology is currently unable to reach them. Even if there are some good things there, it is impossible to obtain them. Therefore, humans may not know about the precious substances in the ocean.
If this strange fish is picky about food, it might not have a problem in the ocean. However, if it were to eat a thousand-year-old ginseng a day, even Zhou Xuan probably couldn't afford it. It's not that Zhou Xuan lacks the financial means, but rather that he doesn't have the seeds. If he had the seeds, Zhou Xuan could cultivate them and feed the strange fish one a day.
There are only two ginseng roots, three he shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum) roots, and three ling zhi (Ganoderma lucidum) roots in the yard. The ginseng roots are the smallest, followed by the ling zhi, and the he shou wu is the largest. I wonder if that strange fish eats the he shou wu and ling zhi.
If it eats both of these, Zhou Xuan can conclude that this strange fish only eats spiritual substances, rather than ginseng. In that case, he can go to Old He's place to get more seeds. If he cultivates them with his special abilities, he can reach this level in a day, and he won't lack food for the time being.
Moreover, it's possible that this strange fish has been starving for so long. It's been many days since we caught it. Even a person would be starving. It might not eat so much anymore, and it might only eat once every few days.
Zhou Xuan didn't go to pick any more Ganoderma lucidum and Polygonum multiflorum to feed the strange fish. He figured the fish was full, so he would pick some more tomorrow to try and not overfeed it. He also wondered if he should find an archaeologist or biologist to identify what kind of fish it was.
(To be continued)
Volume 1, Chapter 6566: Iron Man's Mind Reading Skill
Chapter 6566 Iron Man's Mind Reading Ability
After the strange fish ate the ginseng, it sank to the bottom of the water and remained motionless. Zhou Xuan tried to contact its thoughts again, but he could not feel the same way as the first time. Although Zhou Xuan had not been able to detect the thoughts in its mind last time, the lightning-like shock was still fresh in his memory.
Although it was only a fleeting moment, Zhou Xuan, amidst the icy, snowy landscape, was certain that it was the strange fish's thought at that time, but now he no longer felt that way.
Unable to detect the strange fish's communication language or thoughts, Zhou Xuan was extremely curious and wanted to know the origin of this strange fish, but he couldn't find out no matter what he did, so there was nothing he could do.
After going online that evening, Zhou Xuan saw a message. Since it was in English and he couldn't understand it, the language converter could only handle languages, not text. So Zhou Xuan called Fu Ying over and asked her to help him read it.
As Fu Ying looked at the message, she explained to him, "The message says that his name is Dane, a biologist from Florida. After seeing the pictures that Zhou Xuan posted online, he was very curious about this strange fish and wanted to talk to Zhou Xuan to find out if it was a known species."
At the end, Dane left a phone number and email address, hoping that Zhou Xuan would see it and contact him.
Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then said to Fu Ying, "Yingying, do you think it's necessary to contact him?"
Fu Ying smiled and said, "He's a biologist, he's curious about unknown species. You can contact him if you want, or not if you don't. It's nothing, it's not a big deal."
Zhou Xuan chuckled and said, "Never mind then. Strangers are too much trouble. I don't understand English, so communication won't be convenient."
Fu Ying didn't say anything and just let him be.
In fact, from a biological perspective, the discovery of a new species that has never been seen before is undoubtedly a huge event, but Zhou Xuan is not a biologist and does not have that kind of excitement. He just wants to figure out what this thing is, whether it is a new species, and what value it has for scientific research. He doesn't care at all.
The next day, Zhou Xuan took another Ganoderma lucidum, crushed it, and fed it to the strange fish. The strange fish actually ate it, eating it with great relish, and still wouldn't let other fish get close. After finishing the Ganoderma lucidum, it sank to the bottom corner of the water and went to sleep.
Zhou Xuan still couldn't communicate with it and made no progress. He fed it whole Ganoderma lucidum and ginseng at a time, while He Shou Wu, which was larger, was fed one He Shou Wu for three days. Three He Shou Wu, plus three Ganoderma lucidum and one ginseng, were all fed in less than half a month. After eating so many nourishing foods, the strange fish's scales became whiter, but its size did not increase. After each meal, it would sink to the bottom of the water to rest, not swimming or playing with other fish. Any other fish that came near would be frozen to death. Of course, only Zhou Xuan knew this secret. No one else in the family knew this secret about the strange fish and always thought it was just a strange-looking fish.
Zhou Xuan took a few photos, and then went with Fu Ying to consult the biology department at New York University. Several professors in the biology department were amazed and couldn't tell what kind of creature it was, but since it was a living creature and not a fossil, they estimated it to be a variant of arowana or goldfish.
When Zhou Xuan saw that they couldn't recognize it either and gave such an answer, he naturally didn't believe it. Only he knew the secret of this fish, and he knew that it could never be a branch of some dragon fish.
After returning, Zhou Xuan looked at the fish in the pond again and was speechless. He couldn't find out its origin or what secret it contained. However, he still didn't want to kill it and cut it open to check. The fish was so small that it couldn't compare to the arrowfish with the fire meteor knife. Even if he killed it to check, he probably wouldn't find anything in its belly. After failing to find any secret, the fish would die, which would be pointless.
Then I thought about how starting tomorrow, there would be nothing to feed it. This strange fish is too picky about food. It won't eat any fish food, but insists on eating things like Ganoderma lucidum, ginseng, and Polygonum multiflorum. These are precious medicinal materials that money can't buy. Even if people ate them, they wouldn't be willing to waste them like this. Feeding it like cabbage is something even the richest person couldn't afford.
It didn't matter to Zhou Xuan feeding it to the strange fish, because it was simple for him to create, and it didn't take much effort. He just needed seeds, and without seeds, he couldn't conjure it out of thin air.
He lacked the experience and technology to cultivate seeds on a large scale; that would be too troublesome for him to do. If he were to ask Lao He for more, it would eventually run out. This strange fish treated this precious medicinal material like food, making it really difficult to take care of.
In the following days, when Zhou Xuan fed the fish, the strange fish still refused to eat the ordinary fish food. Without food, it would stay at the bottom of the water and not come out. Strangely enough, when Zhou Xuan threw food from the surface of the pond, which was more than three meters high, it would not move. But as soon as he threw in something like Ganoderma lucidum or ginseng, it would immediately swim up.
A few days later, Zhou Xuan couldn't bear it any longer. The fish remained motionless. It wouldn't come out unless it had food, and it wouldn't let other fish near it. Although the other fish lacked intelligence, they didn't dare to approach it, showing obvious fear.
Zhou Xuan planned to give it away, or perhaps send it back to the sea. In the sea, it could find whatever it wanted to eat on its own; he was too lazy to wait on it anymore.
While browsing the internet again that evening, Zhou Xuan saw that the person named Dane had left several more messages on the forum where he had left his comments. One of the messages included several pictures. Zhou Xuan opened the pictures and was immediately stunned.
The picture also showed something resembling a strange fish, but Zhou Xuan was certain that the fish in the picture wasn't the one he had caught, because it was different from the one he had uploaded. It was impossible for an outsider to have taken and uploaded a picture of this fish. Moreover, the photo that Dane sent was very old, seemingly many years old, and the color was somewhat yellowed.