Chapter 138: Humpback Grouper

Yun Jiao climbed onto the boat and pulled the little sea turtle up after her.

Uncle Yun and the others pulled the large one aboard.

"Another sea turtle, and such a huge lobster."

The lobster was an impressive size. Yun Linhai quickly had it moved into the cabin. It couldn’t be allowed to die; he was counting on selling it for a good price.

"This turtle..."

Yun Chendong crouched in front of the little sea turtle and stroked its shell.

"I think it’s a hawksbill."

"A what?"

Hearing the word "hawksbill," Yun Linhe immediately rushed over. He picked up the little sea turtle and examined it from every angle.

"It really does look like a hawksbill!"

Yun Jiao tilted her head. ’A hawksbill? Is there something wrong with that?’

"Let me tell you, a hawksbill’s shell is incredibly valuable—just like precious jewels. Your grandpa used to say that nobles in the old days loved them. They’d pay a fortune to have hawksbill sea turtles caught, which is why they’re so rare now. We’ve never seen one around here before."

Yun Jiao stroked the little sea turtle.

"We’re not selling it."

Yun Linhe pinched her chubby little cheek. "I didn’t say we should sell it, either. What’s the point of selling one so small? Besides, we wouldn’t do something so shameless."

"Still, I’d only ever heard stories about them. Now that I’m lucky enough to see one in person... this hawksbill’s shell really is much prettier than a regular sea turtle’s, isn’t it?"

Comparing the two turtles they had now, the hawksbill was the clear winner.

The two sea turtles were set aside, and Yun Jiao got some small fish to feed them.

"The haul from casting our nets here isn’t great. Let’s head over to the island and take a look."

It was the same island where they had shucked oysters before.

Yun Linhe and the others set their longlines. Even if they didn’t catch any rare fish today, they could at least gather some oysters to take home.

Yun Jiao wanted to go back into the sea.

"Father, I’m going into the sea with the turtle to take a look."

She looked up at the three men on the boat with pleading eyes.

It was a look that made you want to agree to her every demand.

Yun Linhe nearly gave in without thinking.

Just as Yun Linhai was steeling himself to refuse, Yun Jiao suddenly let out a cheer.

"Father, it’s the Whale Shark!"

Following her pointing finger, they saw it was indeed the same Whale Shark Yun Jiao had "caught" before.

The enormous Whale Shark seemed to have spotted them as well and began to swim over unhurriedly.

Even though they had seen it once before, the sight was still just as breathtaking for Yun Linhai and the others.

To say nothing of Yun Chendong, who was seeing the Whale Shark for the first time.

When Yun Linhai snapped out of his daze, he saw Yun Jiao already perched on the gunwale, her body halfway over the side as she prepared to jump into the sea.

"Jiaojiao!"

SPLASH...

"Father, I fell in the sea again! Don’t worry about me, I’m fine."

The splash was accompanied by Yun Jiao’s terrible acting.

Yun Linhai and the others laughed in exasperation.

"You..."

The little sea turtle was now bumping against the side of the boat.

It wanted to get in the water too, demanding to be let down.

Clearly, it wanted to follow Yun Jiao.

Seeing this, Yun Chendong picked up the little sea turtle and tossed it into the sea.

The little creature immediately began to circle Yun Jiao happily.

The Whale Shark approached and slipped underneath their boat.

Its massive form was like a behemoth gliding beneath their keel.

If the Whale Shark had any ill intentions, a single nudge would have been enough to capsize their small wooden boat.

The three men on the boat tensed up as they watched.

Fortunately, the Whale Shark passed smoothly under the boat and came to Yun Jiao’s side, showing no intention of flipping them over.

"We meet again."

Yun Jiao patted the Whale Shark’s big head.

’Want... to eat...’

"You want more oysters? We don’t have any right now. You’ll have to wait a while."

Yun Jiao shouted up to the boat, "Father, Little Uncle, Brother, when you go to the island to shuck oysters, open up some extra ones to feed it."

Then, after a moment’s thought, she added...

"The killer whales might show up later too, so get plenty ready."

"We know. You be careful."

The moment Yun Jiao heard that, she knew her father had given her permission to stay in the sea.

’Hehe, if the killer whales don’t show, there’s still the Whale Shark. That’s me, all right! I’ve got a pretty good network of friends in the sea.’

’Maybe I should develop a few more?’ Yun Jiao thought to herself. ’Then Father and the others will worry even less when we’re out at sea.’

"Father, toss me the net bag."

Moments after she spoke, a net bag was tossed down from the boat.

"The big turtle, too!"

The turtle was to be the beast of burden, helping her drag the net bag.

’I don’t wanna work!’ the turtle silently protested.

But its protest was futile; Uncle Yun and the others mercilessly tossed it into the sea.

Yun Jiao giggled and tied the net bag to its shell.

The large sea turtle looked as if it had lost the will to live.

"Thanks for your hard work, Turtle."

"Alright, let’s go down."

After patting the Whale Shark and the little sea turtle, Yun Jiao led the way, diving toward the seabed.

The three sea creatures followed close behind.

The three men on the boat only snapped out of their trance after Yun Jiao and the sea creatures had completely vanished from sight.

Yun Chendong said, "Jiaojiao must be a fairy of the sea."

Otherwise, what normal kid could command so many sea creatures?

Yun Linhai said, "Just watch what Jiaojiao does. Don’t speak a word of it to anyone."

Yun Chendong nodded to show he understood.

They steered the boat to the small island and made a beeline for the oyster beds.

Meanwhile, Yun Jiao followed the island’s underwater slope downward and soon discovered a school of fish she’d never seen before.

They were quite large, with an appearance somewhat similar to carp.

Yun Jiao had the Whale Shark and the two sea turtles wait off to the side while she approached soundlessly.

When she was close enough, she shot forward and snatched one.

The moment it was caught, it began to struggle violently. Without a second thought, Yun Jiao gave it a couple of punches.

That quieted it down, and she tossed it into the net.

Although she hadn’t been foraging with her father and the others for very long, Yun Jiao had a vague sense of which fish were edible and which were not.

The one she just caught was definitely edible.

Having caught the fish, Yun Jiao continued to dive deeper. She then spotted a flash of bright red in a reef area.

It was a red snapper.

And there wasn’t just one.

Red snappers of all sizes were gathered together. Yun Jiao set her sights on the largest one.

This fish wasn’t cheap, either. It could be considered a rare delicacy from the sea.

She swam over.

These fish on the seabed had probably never been hooked before, nor had anyone ever dived this deep to catch them, so they were somewhat unguarded around Yun Jiao.

After all, among their natural predators, they had never seen anything that looked like Yun Jiao.

So, as Yun Jiao slowly approached, the school of clueless red snappers didn’t even know to flee.

With a final burst of speed, she caught the largest red snapper fair and square.

Even though she was no longer one of the Merfolk and her body was now small, her hunting experience from a past life in the deep sea remained. Catching fish like this, even bare-handed, was easy for her.

Another two quick punches stilled the struggling red snapper.

She hadn’t been down here for long at all and had already caught two fish.

’Not bad at all.’

Yun Jiao nodded with satisfaction and continued to search for prey.

She found some Little Green Dragons, but ignored any that were too small.

Only the largest ones were worthy of her attention.

After passing over several Little Green Dragons, she finally found one worthy of her notice. Just as Yun Jiao stuffed it into her net bag, she spotted another fish hiding under a reef.

A humpback grouper.

This type of fish sold for a very high price, and it was beautiful to look at.

She had caught one before, but it wasn’t as big as this one.