Li Xu carefully broke off a fingernail-sized piece from a chunk of Ah Wei that was air-drying in the shade.
It wasn’t completely dry, still holding a bit of moisture inside.
But since it was being used as bait to catch loaches, not for dicine, the effect was the sa.
In fact, the moisture would even help the strong, peculiar scent spread more easily in the water.
Snar was also quick to act.
He ran ho and, before long, returned lugging three cylindrical bamboo cages woven from bamboo strips, each with a narrow entrance and a wide belly.
This was the traditional tool local people used to catch small fish and shrimp.
The two of them returned to the riverbend.
They didn’t go anywhere else, choosing the spot right next to the sa mudflat where they had dug up the Yabulu that morning.
Li Xu guessed that the abundance of loaches in this riverbend wasn’t just because the silt here was fertile.
It was more likely that these aquatic creatures, with their keen sense of sll, had long been drawn by the unique fragrance of the Ah Wei buried deep in the mud, instinctively gathering here.
This place was their very own ’promised land’.
Li Xu divided the small piece of Ah Wei into three portions, then used thin hemp cords to tie each one to the innermost bamboo strips of the three cages.
With all preparations complete, the operation to catch the loaches officially began.
Both of them knew how to set the cages.
Li Xu took one of the cages but didn’t just toss it randomly into the water.
Instead, he first carefully observed the direction of the current and the terrain of the riverbed.
He chose a shallow area where the current was relatively gentle and the water was just deep enough to cover his ankles.
The silt here was soft and deep underfoot—exactly the kind of place loaches loved to inhabit.
He placed the first bamboo cage into the water at an angle.
The opening of the cage faced against the current.
This way, the scent of the Ah Wei would be carried farther downstream by the current.
This would attract loaches from downstream, encouraging them to swim upstream to forage.
When placing it, he also had to make sure the lower half of the cage was pushed deep into the silt, leaving only the upper half and the opening above the water.
This would both secure the cage so it wouldn’t be washed away by the current and mimic a natural "cave" that loaches could enter to hide.
Snar took the other two cages and, following the sa thod, set them up one by one in nearby spots.
After all this was done, the two retreated to the bank, found a large, clean rock to sit on, and waited quietly for their prey to walk right into the trap.
...
While the two were chatting and waiting,
a familiar figure appeared, wandering dejectedly along the riverbank from upstream with an empty dicine basket on his back.
It was none other than Ye Mushen, who had been out gathering herbs.
When he saw Li Xu and Snar sitting by the river, he looked startled for a mont, then an embarrassed expression crossed his face.
He had headed out after lunch to try his luck.
After wandering around for half the day, he hadn’t found a single decent herb, let alone any Yabulu.
He asked curiously, "Li, Snar, what are you two doing here? Is there sothing good here too?"
Li Xu smiled and pointed at the three bamboo cages in the water. "Ye Mushen, we’re catching loaches."
Ye Mushen’s gaze fell on Snar.
Seeing Snar’s blushing face, he instantly understood.
Although he was just a local doctor, he knew what loaches were used for.
He chuckled and said, "Loaches... they’re good stuff, all right. They boost virility and strengthen the kidneys. It’s just a sha they’re so slippery and hard to catch around here."
Just then, the bamboo cages Li Xu and Snar had placed in the river started to move.
With a loud SPLASH, the cage closest to them began to thrash about violently in the water!
The whole cage even began to rock back and forth in the silt from the intense tremors inside.
"It’s moving! It’s moving! Sothing’s inside!" Snar was so excited he leaped up from the rock.
He looked at Li Xu expectantly.
Li Xu was also a little surprised. ’I didn’t expect the Ah Wei to be so overwhelmingly effective.’
He nodded, signaling for Snar to go check it.
Snar couldn’t hold back any longer. He rolled up his pant legs, waded through the silt, and rushed to the cage in just a few quick strides.
He bent down and gripped the cage’s opening with both hands.
The mont he touched it, he felt sothing was off.
The bamboo cage had beco incredibly heavy, as if it were filled not with a few small fish, but with a large rock.
With a powerful heave, he slowly lifted the cage out of the silt.
The mont the cage completely cleared the water’s surface, the sight that greeted them made all three gasp in astonishnt.
Whoa!
Incredible!
The small bamboo cage was packed to the brim with writhing, wriggling loaches.
Each loach was as thick as a chopstick and twenty to thirty centiters long.
They were squeezed together, twisting and tumbling frantically.
The entire cage was stuffed so full there was barely a gap to be seen.
Most of the loaches were the common, dark-black variety.
But mixed in among them were several loaches of an extrely unusual color—a brilliant, shimring gold all over.
In the sunlight, the golden loaches glittered as if they were made of gold.
They stood out conspicuously among their black counterparts.
Completely different!
"My god... this... the effect of this Ah Wei is... it’s just too... too terrifying, isn’t it?"
Ye Mushen was dumbfounded.
He already knew that Li Xu was using Ah Wei to catch the loaches.
Li Xu walked closer, carefully examining the few golden loaches.
He discovered that not only were these loaches golden, but their sides were also covered in round, dark-brown spots, just like a leopard’s.
’I feel like I’ve seen this sowhere before...’
Li Xu frowned.
Soon, he rembered.
It was an extrely rare and precious freshwater fish—the Golden Leopard-Striped Loach.
This type of loach was not an ornantal species bred in captivity, but an incredibly rare genetic mutation found among wild loaches. Not only was its coloring magnificent, but its at was also far more delicious and tender than that of an ordinary loach, with a nutritional value several tis higher.
Because they are extrely rare, the Golden Leopard-Striped Loach commanded a sky-high price in so high-end food markets.
Li Xu had seen a news report about one being sold in a market in England for 5,000 yuan apiece.
To think that they had caught several of them at once in this remote riverbend.
Ye Mushen and Snar were also clucking their tongues in amazent. They had lived here their whole lives but had never seen such beautiful, glittering golden loaches.
When Snar heard from Li Xu just how valuable these golden loaches were, his eyes instantly lit up.
He carefully picked the few Golden Leopard-Striped Loaches out of the cage, placed them in a separate bucket, and gazed at them as if they were precious treasures.
He didn’t want to eat them anymore.
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