Ordinary people can also be extraordinary

(After thousands of years of struggle, the prehistoric continent gradually formed four major tribes: the human race, the insect race, the beast race, and the sea race. They fought endlessly, and wars broke out one after another. Because they were too tragic, the four tribes reached a consensus after a long period of discussion. After the last war, they stopped fighting each other. Each tribe entered a recuperation period and no longer provoked war. The two sides demarcated the border area and set up a buffer zone to restrict the entry of both sides. Except for some minor conflicts in some bordering areas, there has been peace for nearly a hundred years.)

There is a village more than 200 miles outside the border, Bamianshan Village. As the name suggests, it is named after the eight mountains around it. In a green valley, there are more than a dozen wooden houses standing in a row. Behind the houses is a terraced field with a small river passing through the terraced field. At this time, the seedlings in the field are growing vigorously. The people in this village have been farming and hunting for generations. It should be the busy farming season, but no one is seen working in the fields in the village. Every family is packing their bags, and it looks like they are moving.

Zhang Chen's family has been farmers for generations. His parents worked in the fields. His grandparents passed away shortly after Zhang Chen was born. Although the family was not rich, they could afford to eat and wear clothes.

"Lao Zhang, Lao Qian next door said that something happened in Shanghe Village yesterday. I heard that everyone in the village died." A woman in her thirties was busy in the kitchen and said to the man next to her.

A middle-aged man who was packing his luggage nearby raised his head. He was in his forties, with a dark complexion and wrinkles all over his face from years of wind and sun. His back was slightly hunched from the frequent work.

"Yes, I heard that everyone in the village died tragically! It seemed like they were attacked by a group of wild beasts, and even their bodies were eaten."

"Old Li's daughter has just been married for less than a month. Old Li's family only has that one daughter, and they're counting on her to take care of them in their old age. It's really a sin." Zhang Chen's mother sighed.

"Let's move away quickly today. Shanghe Village is less than 80 miles away from us. I heard about this situation in the neighboring town a few days ago, but I didn't expect to reach Shanghe Village so soon. The cows behaved a little abnormally when I was feeding them last night. Chen'er, don't run around the mountains today. Pack up your things and move to the town." The middle-aged man said to the young man next to him.

"Okay, father. Several families near us moved to town yesterday!"

The boy looked at the side and answered! He looked about fifteen or sixteen years old! He was already taller than his father.

He looked at the middle-aged man again and asked, "Father, where do those beasts come from?

"They should have come from the border, right? Otherwise, why would there suddenly be so many wild animals in this mountain?" Zhang Chen's father guessed.

"The teacher at the academy said that the border is dangerous and that there are bad things in it? Are they all man-eating beasts?" Zhang Chen asked.

Zhang Chen's father looked outside and said, "Maybe. No one dares to go in. Who knows what terrible things are there?"

"What if we move to the town and those wild beasts still chase us?" Zhang Chen asked worriedly.

Zhang Chen's father also showed worry when he heard this. He comforted Zhang Chen and said, "There should be troops in the town. They will stop the beasts."

"Why don't the troops just stop the beasts so we don't have to move." Zhang Chen asked puzzledly.

"How could ordinary people like us know this?" Zhang Chen's father said helplessly.

"If only there were the immortals who can fly and hide in the ground as the teacher often talks about, they would be able to kill all those wild beasts and we wouldn't have to move." Zhang Chen said to himself.

When Zhang Chen was in private school, the teacher always talked about immortals and monsters. When he talked about these, the naughty kids would sit quietly at the table and listen. This was the teacher's secret of teaching. He taught them knowledge first, and when they performed well, he would tell them stories about immortals slaying monsters.

After dinner, the family began to pack up their things, big and small bags. The family also had two cows, so they made a ox cart to put all the things on it. The neighbors were also packing up their things, and they all decided to move to the town today.

"Dad, I'm going to go to Xiaodong's house to see how they are cleaning up." Zhang Chen said to his father while looking at the family not far away.

"Okay, be careful and don't run around. We will pack up and leave in the afternoon at the latest. Otherwise, it will not be safe to go to town at night," Zhang Chen's father said loudly to his back.

"Got it, the boy's voice came from far away"

In front of a two-story wooden house, Zhang Chen walked into the yard and called out to the house, "Xiaodong, Xiaodong."

"Brother Chen, are you done packing?" A boy about fourteen or fifteen years old poked his head out of the door. He was about 1 meters tall, fair and clean, with delicate skin and tender flesh. It was obvious that he had never done farm work.

"Not yet, how are you guys cleaning up?"

"It will probably take a long time, and I can't help you. Let's go to the back mountain to play. I'll show you something that I accidentally discovered yesterday." After saying that, he ran towards Zhang Chen.

Xiaodong's family is surnamed Wang. They grew up together as playmates. They are the best friends in the village and often play together. Wang Dong has several uncles who do business in the town and the city. They bring gifts to their family during festivals, so their family doesn't do much farm work, but they live a very good life.

"Xiaodong, don't run too far, we'll be leaving soon." Xiaodong's mother advised.

"understood."

Wang Dong replied and took Zhang Chen to a pond in the back mountain!

"Brother Chen, there is a big fish in this pond. I saw it when I passed by here yesterday. I tried several times but couldn't catch it. You are the smartest one. Can you catch it?"

"Fishing? What you said you were looking at was a fish." Zhang Chen was a little disappointed. He thought it was something strange.

"That fish is very big, bigger than my head! You have definitely never seen it." Xiaodong said while gesturing with his hands on his head.

"Really? There are fish that big in this pond?" Zhang Chen became interested. The fish in their valleys were at most the size of a finger. He had never seen such a big one.

"I saw it with my own eyes. It jumped up and caught a dragonfly. I was so scared that I was stunned." Wang Dong described the scene vividly.

"Then I'll go and see if I can catch it." Zhang Chen said.

After a while, they dug up a few loaches from the field, found a bamboo pole, tied a hemp rope to it, hung a fish hook made of nails, and used the fish hook to pierce the loach so that it would not die and could swim around.

"Brother Chen, you come here. I tried it before, but every time the earthworms were eaten and I couldn't catch them. I was so angry that I wanted to jump in and catch them." Wang Dong said as he handed the fishing rod to Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen took the fishing rod and said to Wang Dong: "I tell you, the bigger the fish is, the more cunning it is. You need to be patient and get a feel for it."

As he was talking, he had already put the hook into the pond. Zhang Chen slowly moved the rod with his hands, feeling the waves in the water and letting the loach swim in the water. After a while, he suddenly felt the hemp rope under the water tighten.

"It's coming. I feel it wandering nearby. It just touched the loach and the loach was frightened and struggling hard. It came so quickly. It must be hungry! Now we have to test our patience with it." Zhang Chen said to Wang Dong.

Zhang Chen held the fishing rod tightly and waited patiently. After a while, the fishing rod moved again. Zhang Chen felt that the loach underwater was motionless. He pulled up the fishing hook and saw that the head and tail of the loach had been eaten, leaving only the body with the hook in the middle motionless.

Zhang Chen took off half of the loach and replaced it with another one. After a while, Zhang Chen pulled it up and saw the same scene. The head and tail were eaten, leaving only the bare body.

"How cunning!" Zhang Chen looked at the half-eaten loach in his hand.

"Right. This fish is not easy to catch at all. It's very smart." Wang Dong also said.

"Let's try a different hook this time." Zhang Chen took out a nail and started making it.

The hooks he made were very small. He made three of them, one at the head, middle, and tail of the loach, and the three hooks were connected to each other. Zhang Chen connected the middle hook with a hemp rope and put it in the water.

After waiting for a while, Zhang Chen felt that the loach was bitten and then spit out. He did not pull the rod in a hurry, but carefully felt the movement of the loach.

About an hour passed, during which the fish bit the hook four or five times and then spit it out, but Zhang Chen did not pull the rod! Wang Dong was bored and dozed off. Suddenly, the fishing rod moved violently. Zhang Chen pulled the fishing rod hard, and the veins on his wrist bulged.

"It's hooked, Xiaodong, come and help catch it!" Zhang Chen shouted hurriedly!

Wang Dong quickly jumped up and excitedly grabbed the bamboo pole and pulled it up with Zhang Chen.

"You finally couldn't wait any longer and took the bait." Zhang Chen said with a knowing smile.

Then they pulled hard, let it go for a while, and pulled hard again. This continued for more than ten minutes, and finally they saw the fish floating up!

"Brother Chen, the fish is caught, you are so awesome. That old man Liu said you are the smartest in our school, you really have a way." Wang Dong let go of the bamboo pole and rubbed his slightly numb arm.

Zhang Chen slowly dragged the fish to the shore. The fish had been dragged so hard that it was motionless, with only its mouth opening and closing. The fish was estimated to be at least 40 kilograms, with green scales all over its body and a finger-long whisker on its mouth.

Zhang Chen said to Wang Dong unhappily, "What old man Liu? You should call him Mr."

"What's the use of calling me sir? You always slap my hands and make me stand during class." Wang Dong looked indifferent.

"If you sleep in class every day, will he beat you?" Zhang Chen said to Wang Dong after taking the fishhook out of the fish's mouth.

"Every day they say, 'One should not travel far away when parents are still alive.' A son wants to take care of his parents, but they are no longer there. What a nonsense... I feel so sleepy when I hear it." Wang Dong imitated Old Man Liu, shaking his head.

Zhang Chen shook his head and chuckled after hearing this.

"What kind of fish is this? I didn't expect it to grow so big. I've never seen such a big fish in this pond before." Zhang Chen muttered to himself.

Wang Dong also looked at the fish and said, "This fish is really good-looking."

"Let's go back." Zhang Chen carried the fish on his shoulders and walked back with Wang Dong.

Arrived at the door of the house.

"Hey, where did you catch such a big fish?"

Zhang Chen's mother was picking up the packed luggage and putting it on the ox cart. When she saw Zhang Chen coming back carrying the fish, she asked curiously.

"Xiaodong and I just went fishing in the pond in the back hill," Zhang Chen put the fish in the large water tank in front of the house, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said to his mother while panting.

“That pond in the back mountain? I’ve told you many times not to go there. The pond may not look big, but it’s actually very deep. It even leads to an underground river. If you fall in, you won’t be able to find your way back even if you look for it.” Zhang Chen’s mother said with some fear.

At this time, Zhang Chen's father came over and looked at Zhang Chen and said, "Did you catch this in the pond in the back mountain?"

"Yeah." Zhang Chen nodded.

"This looks like a green water chestnut. I've never seen one this big. It will be very valuable if sold in town. I heard that this fish lives in deep lakes, so how could there be one in that pond? Could it be that the old people's guess was right, that there is an underground lake under the big mountain behind?" Zhang Chen's father was also a little confused and began to guess.

"Father, how much can we get for this fish if we sell it in town?" Zhang Chen asked.

"I've seen one in town that was much smaller than this before, and it was sold for a hundred taels of silver." Zhang Chen's father turned his head and said.

"What? One hundred taels of silver? That's our income for five years." Zhang Chen's mother exclaimed in surprise, a little unbelievable. Her eyes on the fish became even more heated.

"Is this fish so valuable?" Zhang Chen was also surprised.

"Hurry up and pack this fish. Make sure it doesn't die. If it dies, it will be worthless. The rest has been packed almost, and we'll be ready to leave for the town." Zhang Chen's father said to Zhang Chen's mother.

"Okay." Zhang Chen's mother agreed and went to prepare.

After half an hour everything was ready and the family prepared to set off for town.

Zhang Chen's father closed the door, walked to the ox cart, looked deeply at the house, and looked around. He didn't know if he could come back. It was really hard to leave the place where he had lived for decades!

Zhang Chen's mother also wiped away her tears. It was hard to leave her hometown. The place where she lived had changed, and she felt uneasy no matter where she went.

When Zhang Chen's father was driving a ox cart past Wang Dong's house, Wang Dong's family also happened to come out driving a horse-drawn carriage.

"Brother Chen, let's go together." Wang Dong waved to Zhang Chen while standing on the carriage!

"Lao Zhang, let's go together. We will still be neighbors when we get to the town. It's really unusual to be neighbors with other people." Wang Dong's father also greeted him.

"Okay, let's take care of each other then." After Zhang Chen's father finished speaking, he looked back at the village, waved his whip, and set off for the town!