Chapter 7 of 'The Forbidden Canon: Revised' - Qingrong River

More than ten li west of Qitan Town flows a great river running unceasingly from north to south. Its width is over twenty zhang, and its depth is unfathomable. This river, named Qingrong, originates from the famous Gulan Snow Mountain located a thousand li to the north. Gulan Snow Mountain is also the source of two other major rivers in the Nanluo Kingdom, apart from the Qingrong River, forming three natural canals that nurture hundreds of millions of citizens in the Nanluo Kingdom.\ Fifty years ago, the Qingrong River was originally a border between the Nanluo Kingdom and the western neighboring Dayu Kingdom. Both countries wanted to fully claim the river as their own, turning it into an impassable defensive barrier. Thus, every few years, they would find some pretext to engage in small or large skirmishes. Eventually, in the 3559th year of the Xuanyue New Calendar, a significant war broke out in a true sense.\ After prolonged and grueling battles, which buried hundreds of thousands of loyal soldiers, the war ultimately ended with the victory of the Nanluo Kingdom.\ Dayu Kingdom's territory to the west was reduced by five hundred li, and the Qingrong River became completely the Nanluo Kingdom's third largest canal, though it was not used much.\ Today, it is already the 3610th year of the Xuanyue New Calendar.\ At high noon under the blazing sun, a few fishermen could be seen scattered along the stony eastern bank of the Qingrong River, either casting nets or arranging fish baskets. Far to the north along the eastern bank, in a relatively flat pebble-filled hollow partially hidden by jagged rocks, a little black-haired boy of about four or five was squatting on the ground, holding a thin fishing rod in his hand, with a small wooden bucket placed beside him, which was completely empty, without even a tiny fish.\ Soon, another boy appeared on a dark jagged rock, slid down the gleaming stone, patted the already worn-out pants full of holes, and ran barefoot over the hard and scorching pebbles toward the little boy who was fishing.\ “Huh? Not a single fish? Those worms I picked out with difficulty! Don't talk about little fish, even a thornback fish my size would be fine!”\ The boy shouted as he saw the empty wooden bucket beside the little boy, then plopped down on the ground and turned to the little boy, asking, “Long Qian, want me to give it a try?”"The little boy is Long Qian, who will turn five in two months. Since he is slightly older and usually very obedient and sensible, he is finally no longer tied by An'an all day, nor does he have to endure the physical and mental torment from the aunts at the vegetable and fruit markets. He can now run around the mountains like an ordinary child.\ Ever since the confinement order was lifted three months ago, Long Qian began wandering around Qitan Town, and inexplicably, he also gained a follower. This follower is Qin Shou (Meimei-chan), the son of Uncle Qin, who lives in the house opposite the Long family and makes a living by fishing and farming; his nickname is Shouzi. Originally, Long Qian was extremely unwilling to be with this messy and mischievous guy, but Shouzi persistently waited outside the Long family's fence for several days. After Long Qian learned the reason behind it, he reluctantly took Shouzi along.\ Shouzi is a year older than Long Qian, so logically Long Qian should serve as his follower. In reality, if Long Qian hadn't gained the freedom to act, Uncle Qin would never let Shouzi go out, mainly because Shouzi loves causing trouble. Of course, Uncle Qin presumably thought that if Shouzi was with the generally well-behaved Long Qian, his son might become a bit more obedient.\ Initially, Shouzi only planned to use Long Qian as a cover to avoid staying at home all day. But after following Long Qian for a few days, he was completely won over and started clinging to Long Qian all day long.\ Long Qian does not have a domineering temperament; he just happens to be somewhat stronger, faster when running, and more skillful at climbing trees and picking fruit. All of this is because over the past few years, he has been continuously using the mysterious energy circulating in his meridians to improve his physique, and he is accustomed to frequently switching between controlled and normal states. Therefore, even a slight display of his abilities astonishes Shouzi, who is just over five years old.\ Being in a controlled state gives Long Qian many extraordinary advantages. For instance, when simply running, he only needs to control the movements of his two legs, allowing him to achieve twice the speed of his normal state. However, this also depends on the terrain, particularly that he has to be in familiar places; otherwise, he would fall after running only a short distance."Long Qian had always believed that since Qitan Town was where he grew up, he had to remember every corner of it in his mind. He didn't want a day to come when he left Qitan Town and, when asked about its little details, he could only say that Qitan Town has a vegetable market, a fruit market, a tailor shop...

Qitan Town is the place where Long Qian was reborn and the place where his wishes came true. To him, it held immense significance.

Hearing Shouzi's words, Long Qian came out of his controlling state and asked without turning his head, "Can you swallow a whole pear in one bite?"

Shouzi thought about a pear that was twice the size of his head and replied directly, "I'm not a monster with a big mouth, how could I possibly swallow a whole pear in one bite?"

"Then do you think the little fish can swallow such a big worm?" Long Qian said helplessly as he picked up the fishing rod and dangled the finger-sized worm from the hook in front of Shouzi's eyes. At first, seeing such a large worm, he thought that the fish in Qingrong River all had huge mouths. But after spending more than an hour here, he realized he had actually been played by a child.

Shouzi scratched his head a little embarrassedly, then looked at Long Qian with admiration and said, "I find that what you say makes perfect sense. I understand immediately."

"You go fish, I'll go see your father fishing."

Long Qian handed the fishing rod to Shouzi and turned to walk towards the direction Shouzi came from. His small figure moved nimbly among the enormous rocks, like a monkey.

Seeing this scene, Shouzi couldn't help but show admiration again. Turning back to look at the big worm in his hand, he muttered proudly, "Long Qian is good at everything, it's just that he can't think flexibly. Doesn't he know to cut the worm into pieces?"

If Long Qian heard these words, he would probably be furious. He merely thought that the thing was disgusting, and cutting it into pieces would ruin his appetite for dinner, never imagining that a five-year-old brat would question his intelligence.

Long Qian didn't have any special purpose for coming to the Qingrong River. He just wanted to see this mother river that nurtured Qitan Town and also check out Uncle Qin and the others fishing. In his previous life, he had never encountered such primitive occupations and fishing methods.It must be said that the peculiar rocks on the east bank of the Qingrong River are unusually numerous. As Long Qian walked south along the riverbank, he saw quite a few stones with strange and bizarre shapes. If these stones had existed in the previous era, they would definitely have been highly sought after by collectors with an interest in such things.

The place where Uncle Qin fished was still some distance from the low-lying pebbly area where Long Qian was fishing. It took Long Qian several minutes to faintly make out Uncle Qin and a few townspeople. The water in that section of the river was deep, and the terrain was relatively dangerous—not a place suited for a child of four or five like him. Although it posed little threat to him, going there would definitely earn him a scolding, and there would be no good outcome when he returned home at night, so he had no choice but to stand on a large rock and watch from afar.

Few of the townspeople in Qitan Town couldn't swim. Generally speaking, a child around four or five years old would have the full ability to swim in the river like a frog, though only in areas where the current was gentle and the water fairly shallow. Uncle Qin trusted Long Qian, so he felt at ease letting him follow Long Chen to fish upstream.

After watching for a while, Long Qian grew bored, so he turned and headed upstream. He hadn't gone far when he suddenly heard a man calling from behind.

'Little guy, wait.' .... Chapter Seven - End.