Chapter 20: Chapter 20 - Hunting for fishes

Chao shook his head like a wet dog flinging water everywhere. With a grin, he gazed back at him. "Want to dive deep? I spotted a few stone fish close to the cliff,"

Kui unhesitatingly nodded. He had been so scared because he did not know how to swim or hold his breath underwater, but knowing that his body could adapt to the water, he happily obeyed. It's just fishing. How hard can it be?

He took the wooden spear that he had tossed carelessly to the side and watched Chao. The young man tied the hemp rope around his hips.

Kui hurriedly copied his actions, messily tying a knot.

"Let's go," Chao jumped in and disappeared into the blue depths.

Kui took a deep breath. 'I have gills…. I won't die even if I sink in,' he mentally told himself before jumping in. his body sank in a few meters. Just like before, his eyes were fucking blurry and his chest started to heat up instantly.

He held his breath, waiting for his gills to open.

Well, the gills took their sweet time to open up. He had to hold his breath for ten minutes to fully change his body. only after he was able to breathe underwater did he follow the young man.

Chao was seen hovering close to a rocky surface, holding his spear. His whole body was stiff and taut like a hunter waiting for its prey.

He watched from the distance, keenly observing all his small moves.

The young man's gaze seems to be focused on a particular spot where there is a sea anemone.

Suddenly, Chao lifted his spear up and released it. the spear cut through the water current with a swish, spearing through the green seaweed.

'Ah did I miss something? Where is the fish?' he curiously swam a bit closer.

Upon closer look, he saw a slightly twitching green fish speared to the tip of the weapon. It was unlike any fish he had seen in his world. It had human-like big eyes and green fur that helped it camouflage into the green seaweed and anemone.

'Goodness people eat this...' he poked it. it was slightly swishy and soft.

"Tsk, the adult ones have run away. Looks like we might have to dive deep," Chao said in a resonating voice. Small bubbles flew out of his mouth.

"How can we speak underwater?" he spoke hesitantly.

"Well… we just can," Chao shrugged. "Come on, let's head deep," the young man pulled the fish off the spear and tied it to his hip skillfully with the hemp rope.

Kui wordlessly followed behind him. Chao led him a bit deep, but it was not that dark down there. It was full of colorful life. The underwater life seemed much more varied and lusher than his own world. The coral reef is homed to diverse lives of sea organisms.

He even spotted a few sea snakes. They looked plump and lush. 'I've heard snakes taste good…'

"We don't eat snakes?" he tugged at Chao's shirt.

The young man chuckled. "They are poisonous. Don't touch them. One bite and you will turn stiff like a statue."

Kui instantly let go of his idea of trying this exotic meat and hurriedly swam after Chao.

They both ended up close to a huge underwater cliff where a lot of seaweed had overgrown, hiding all the fish they had to capture.

Kui carefully swam close to the cliff and looked down. "what's down there?"

Chao, who was hunting the fishes, gazed at him peculiarly. "Move back. don't fall in."

Kui followed the institutions, but his mind was reeling with curiosity. "Why?"

"MERS," Chao said only one word as an answer and started to hunt the stone fishes.

'The Mers live down there…' his curiosity was piqued. But he did not act on it. this was an unknown world, and he did not wish to mess around carelessly. Kui stayed away from the cliff and started to hunt the fish just like Chao.

Initially, it was hard for him to spot the fishes among the greenery, but soon his trained eyes were able to notice small tail flicks amongst the green. He held up the spear slowly and tossed it. but unlike Chao's attack, his spear squiggled in its path and powerless fell to the greens. The surrounding fishes moved away from it cautiously.

"Haha, don't just throw it. you have to spear it. like this," he taught him how to use his spear. "Loosen the hemp rope. Your spear will lose momentum if you tie it too close. Make it so that the spear is tied only at the edge of the rope," Chao came close and helped him retie the rope around his waist. The young man even kindly picked up the spear for him.

"Try again,"

Kui nervously glanced at the fish again. This time, he carefully replicated every one of Chao's movements. The spear charged ahead, cutting through the water forcefully, and in the next second, it pierced a fish.

His eyes went wide.

"I did it! Did you see that I did it?!!"

"Great job," Chao patted his back cheerfully. "Just continue to do that. You will have a bountiful catch in no time," he said, so he started to move a bit away from that spot.

Kui questionably looked his way. "There are a lot more here,"

Chao just smirked. "Yeah, you can hunt them all. I want to take a look around and see if I can find a few more clusters. I'll be close don't worry. if you can't breathe go up. my dad is right up there,"

Kui gazed up. at least ten feet above them, the canoes were floating around. "Hmm…"

"Be careful of the cliff." He once again reminded him and swam off nearby.

Kui took a deep breath. 'Let's get this over with.'