However, although the cooking method is simple, it can most highlight the delicious taste of river fish.
Xu Qing's nostrils flared, his lips and tongue nearly secreting corpse fluids!
"This fish is absolutely delicious, it's a pity Xuan Yu isn't here."
Xu Qing was not bothered by the heat and gobbled down the fish meat with broth and gravy, then took out some silver coins to ask the boatman to make another pot.
"Unfortunately, guest, this old man only caught one fresh fish today. If you aren't in a hurry, allow me to catch another one, though it might delay a bit of time."
Upon hearing this, Xu Qing casually said, "I know a bit about fishing. May I borrow your fishing rod, old man?"
Taking the fishing rod, Xu Qing waded along the riverbank until he reached a spot out of the boatman's sight. Then he put away the rod and jumped directly into the river.
Upon entering the water, Xu Qing initially tried to use the Water Technique to control the water, but when the river water enveloped him, he discovered he no longer needed the Water Technique for assistance.
At that moment, he felt more comfortable underwater than on land.
The Black Corpse is aquatically inclined; rivers, lakes, and seas are its domain. In the water, Xu Qing's magical power was inexhaustible, making it an excellent place for combat if needed.
Xu Qing glided like a fish, freely swimming in the vast Baisha River.
Only then did he truly appreciate the feeling of a fish leaping in the ocean.
When his enthusiasm slightly diminished, Xu Qing subtly manipulated his thoughts and controlled the surrounding ten miles of water without using Water Control.
Casually catching several Spirit Fish, upon surfacing, Xu Qing took out the Box Garden, storing most of the fish inside and leaving two for cooking, the rest to take back to Xuan Yu.
With the Box Garden stored away, Xu Qing turned around intending to return to shore when suddenly he caught a strong scent of blood from afar.
"Hmm? What blood is this, so sweetly fragrant?"
Zombies prefer blood, especially human blood, Xu Qing knew the smell of human blood, but this fragrance was certainly not human.
Besides the strange blood fragrance, he distinguished among ten or more types of other blood odors in the air.
Xu Qing followed the scent about twenty miles, seeing several large fish in the middle of the river fighting each other.
A fish swallowed a blue-gold scale the size of a bowl mouth, then other large fish swarmed, tearing it into pieces to consume.
Xu Qing closely analyzed the density differences in the air's blood scent, discovering the unusual fragrance came from the blue-gold scale the fish were fighting over.
Controlling the water flow to summon the scale, once it fell into his hand, Xu Qing stored it in the Mountain and River Map.
Some rudimentary fish demons approached to contest, but Xu Qing extended his foot-long sharp claws, slicing them into chunks of fish meat.
After a short tea time's search, Xu Qing gathered six strange scales.
When he could no longer smell similar scents in the water, Xu Qing returned to shore.
The boatman waited for a long time; upon seeing the Spirit Fish, the old man was visibly stunned.
"Young master, you have great luck. If this old man isn't mistaken, these should be rare Spirit Fish. If you sell them at the dock's fish market, they could fetch at least a hundred silver coins."
"Are you sure you want to eat this fish?"
Xu Qing smiled and replied, "Eat!"
"This..." The boatman hesitated and said, "This old man only has some ginger chunks and salt on board, no other seasonings, it might spoil such a Treasure Fish for you."
"No worries, I only want the fresh taste. If other flavors overshadow the freshness, it wouldn't be good."
Truly delicious to the point of corpse shivers!
Having not had a proper meal in nearly two years, Xu Qing for the first time felt the taste only the living could experience.
"A zombie's life is thus, what more can one ask for."