CHAPTER 35: 35. I CAN FLY

Evening time.

Yang Fan carried a bucket and briskly entered the Yue Bay District.

The day’s harvest was fairly decent.

Besides clearing out a pond full of mosquito eggs, he found two smaller gathering spots, collecting another 2.2 Spiritual Source Points.

As he stepped into the stairwell.

Yang Fan heard a cheerful voice.

"Hello, brother!"

He looked towards the sound and saw two familiar faces.

It was the sibling duo who lived on the eighth floor—Zhao Xiaoying and Zhao Xiaolong.

The long-legged sister glanced at the big bucket and flashed a lovely smile, "How was today’s haul?"

Zhao Xiaolong immediately moved over, eagerly peering at the bucket, clearly curious as well.

In fact, it wasn’t just the siblings.

The whole family had a strong impression of the fishmonger; they’d often chatted about him.

Yang Fan pointed to the bucket and smiled, "You can take a look inside."

Zhao Xiaolong didn’t stand on ceremony and lifted the lid directly.

The next moment.

The kid yelped, "Oh mom!" and stumbled back a few steps, his face turning pale with fright.

Zhao Xiaoying glanced into the bucket, her pretty face instantly changing, "Why are there so many snakes?"

Although she wasn’t timid, few women aren’t afraid of snakes.

Seeing so many snakes in the bucket suddenly, the long-legged sister had a strong urge to run away.

Too terrifying!

Yang Fan was momentarily stunned, then chuckled helplessly, "These aren’t snakes!"

Zhao Xiaoying swallowed hard, "Then what are they?"

Yang Fan retorted, "Haven’t you guys seen eels in the Tintera Kingdom?"

Zhao Xiaoying shook her head, "No."

She glanced at the bucket skeptically, "How can fish look like this?"

Zhao Xiaolong nodded in agreement, "These are definitely snakes!"

Yang Fan felt exasperated, thinking to himself, "Two clueless foreign bumpkins!"

Just then.

An old man walked in from outside.

He took a look at the bucket and exclaimed in surprise, "So many eels? They seem to be wild eels!"

The siblings exchanged a glance and finally believed the fishmonger wasn’t lying; the bucket really contained eels.

The old man sized up Yang Fan and praised, "With the cold weather now, wild eels are hard to come by. You’re impressive, young man!"

He racked his brains trying to pull some strings, hoping to buy a few eels.

Wild eels were always sought after, and with the current disaster, their value would only increase.

If he could get some at a low price, he could make a decent profit reselling them.

Yang Fan reacted quickly, lifting the bucket, "These are eels reserved by someone else. I’ll take them back to keep in water first."

After speaking, he walked briskly towards the stairwell.

With the district experiencing power cuts, the elevator was out, so he had to take the stairs.

The old man opened his mouth but had no chance to speak, only able to watch Yang Fan disappear.

He was dissatisfied, letting out a heavy "hmmph."

The old man glanced at the siblings and deliberately sighed, "Being neighbors, does this young man have to be so aloof?"

Zhao Xiaoying wanted to laugh.

He probably didn’t even know the fishmonger’s name, yet kept talking about being "neighbors". Ridiculous, isn’t it?

But she said nothing, remaining silent.

The old man, feeling awkward, walked away on his own.

Zhao Xiaolong whispered, "Sis, are we still going to buy fish?"

Zhao Xiaoying hesitated for a moment, then shook her head, "Forget it."

Zhao Xiaolong grumbled in dissatisfaction, "Then why did you rush downstairs pulling me along, pretending to bump into the fishmonger?"

Zhao Xiaoying, embarrassed and angry, said, "What do you mean by ’pretending to bump into’? What nonsense are you talking?"

Zhao Xiaolong, emboldened, couldn’t help but ask, "Sis, have you taken a liking to Yang Fan?"

Zhao Xiaoying narrowed her beautiful eyes, "I dare you to say that again."

Zhao Xiaolong shivered nervously, forcing a smile, "I was thinking nonsense just now, don’t mind me, sis."

However, in his heart, he was quite sure—she most likely did like him.

Zhao Xiaolong went home and whispered with his mother for a while.

Zhao Aixia thought for a moment and brought a plate of small cakes from the kitchen, pointing downstairs.

Zhao Xiaolong understood, nodded, and went downstairs to knock on the door.

"Knock! Knock!"

Yang Fan heard the sound and opened the door.

Zhao Xiaolong showed a flattering smile, "Hello, brother. Thanks for the fish last time, my mom asked me to bring you some cake."

Yang Fan didn’t refuse, "Alright, I’ll take the cake. You take two eels home."

Zhao Xiaolong, somewhat afraid of snakes, wanted to decline.

Yang Fan gave him a stern look, "If I say take, you take!"

Zhao Xiaolong had no choice but to obediently agree with an "Oh."

Yang Fan led the kid to the kitchen and picked out two larger eels from the bucket.

He held the eel’s head with his left hand, a small knife in his right, and with two swift cuts, an eel bone fell down.

Zhao Xiaolong was left dumbfounded.

What kind of knife skills are these?

That’s amazing!

Yang Fan roughly cleaned the two eels and wielded the kitchen knife with such speed it left afterimages.

"Clang! Clang!"

The sound was as dense as raindrops on banana leaves.

The segments of eel were all cut to the same length and neatly arranged on the plate.

Yang Fan pushed the plate over: "Take it!"

Zhao Xiaolong dumbly took the plate, just thinking the fishmonger was incredibly awesome.

The kid returned home, eagerly telling his mother and sister: "Yang Fan took less than ten seconds to handle the two eels like this."

He gestured dramatically: "Yang Fan casually swung the knife twice, and a bone that long just fell off. I could hardly believe my eyes."

Zhao Xiaoying was a bit skeptical: "Really?"

Zhao Xiaolong argued: "I saw it with my own eyes, if I’m lying then I’m a dog."

He kept praising: "So amazing, Yang Fan is really cool!"

Zhao Xiaoying seemed thoughtful.

Zhao Aixia nodded slightly: "Your dad was right, Xiaoyang is probably not an ordinary person."

*

Two in the morning.

Yang Fan once again quietly climbed to the rooftop.

Feeling the howling cold wind, he murmured: "The temperature has indeed risen."

Previously, night temperatures were below minus twenty degrees, and now they’ve risen to around minus ten degrees.

Yang Fan held the Soul Stealing Wisp, silently reciting: "Consume 2 points of Spiritual Source Value to increase the Light Spirit Superpower."

A stream of information surged: "Consuming 2 points of Spiritual Source Value can raise Evolution Level to 6%, would you like to add points?"

Yang Fan nodded: "1 point of Spiritual Source Value raises 1%, not much at all."

Especially compared to the laborious discovery, adding points was much faster.

Without hesitation, he commanded: "Add points!"

"Buzz~"

The Soul Stealing Wisp trembled slightly.

Yang Fan instantly felt a surge of heat within, followed by a lightness throughout his whole body, creating a fleeting illusion that he might be blown away by the wind.

A few seconds later.

The anomaly subsided.

He focused his mind, adding the remaining 0.2 points of Spiritual Source Points to his physical Value and Spirit Value respectively.

Today’s guaranteed points allotment completed, the physical Value and Spirit Value rose to 7.8 and 17.3 respectively.

Yang Fan issued another command: "Come over."

"Coo~ Coo~"

Accompanied by the sound of birds chirping.

Three dark figures descended from the sky.

They were three Night Owls.

Yang Fan took out three ropes, tying one end to the Night Owls’ feet and connecting the other ends together.

Tonight, he planned to conduct an important experiment—to see if he could rely on the Night Owls to fly.

If he succeeded, his range of activity would greatly increase.

Yang Fan, full of eagerness, decisively commanded: "Take off!"

"Coo!"

The three Night Owls responded in unison, forcefully flapping their wings and ascending into the sky.

The three ropes immediately straightened.

Yang Fan had a moment of inspiration, promptly activating the Light Spirit Superpower to its fullest, causing his body weight to drop by more than half instantly.

But it was still not enough.

The pull from the ropes was not overcoming gravity’s force.

Yang Fan earnestly absorbed the airflow, imagining himself merging with it.

Then.

A miraculous thing happened.

He felt his body lighten a bit more, and his feet quickly left the rooftop.

Success!

He was flying!

Yang Fan was elated to the extreme: "Light Spirit combined with Spirit Concealment, indeed it allows me to fly!"

The three Night Owls, seemingly sensing their owner’s joy, beat their wings more vigorously.

One man and three birds quickly rose to a height of two thousand meters, soaring southeast along the airflow.

*

Shangjing.

Inside the Secret Base.

Early morning.

General Lou came to the poolside.

But the pool was silent, with only a few lotuses floating quietly on the water.

The lotuses were the Mermaid’s favorite plants from Canglan Star, gathered upon her request by the people of Great Xia, who planted over ten kinds in the pool.

In the past, as soon as the Mermaid heard footsteps, she would emerge from the water within ten seconds at the latest.

Now there was no movement on the water.

General Lou smiled helplessly.

He naturally understood that yesterday he did not agree with Miss Jana’s request to bring Mr. Spirit Crows over, and now she was throwing a tantrum.

However.

General Lou had a way to handle it.

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