Having received a boon from the Dragon King, she naturally had to pay a price. Zhao Nuanyue understood this perfectly.
"Then what can I do to repay you?" Zhao Nuanyue asked seriously. 'This Dragon King definitely didn't call me here just to say a few words. He must have something for me to do.'
The Dragon King nodded, appreciating Zhao Nuanyue's shrewdness. "Before I depart, I will leave the Dragon Scale to you. I hope you will protect the people of this land in my stead."
Zhao Nuanyue considered it for a moment. 'I need this kind of power to protect myself and those around me. It's essentially an equal exchange with the Dragon King.' She was willing to agree. Nodding, she said, "Alright, Grandpa Dragon King. I will protect these people for you, but I'll be leaving here eventually. I can't stay here forever."
"That's fine. I only need you to stand guard for five years; you don't need to stay here for a lifetime," the Old Dragon King said. "Now, I don't have much time left. I will give you the Dragon Scale. It holds great power, but also many restrictions. You'll have to discover them for yourself. I will say no more."
With that, a dazzling, egg-sized scale floated out from the statue. It flew toward Zhao Nuanyue and entered her body, leaving a silver-white, oval-shaped mark on her arm.
Zhao Nuanyue felt warm and weightless. When she opened her eyes again, the eyes of the Dragon King Statue were no longer glowing. It was just an ordinary stone statue, with nothing remarkable about it.
At the same time, Zhao Nuanyue discovered something even more shocking.
Previously, she had only been a wisp of consciousness in the water, but now her entire body had appeared there.
Zhao Nuanyue couldn't believe it. She reached out to touch her own body, only to find it was just an illusory image, without any substance.
Even so, Zhao Nuanyue was still utterly astounded.
Just then, a vividly colored little red carp emerged from behind the Dragon King Statue. It circled Zhao Nuanyue, its tail swaying joyfully.
Seeing the fish, Zhao Nuanyue felt a rare sense of whimsy. "Hey, little guy," she said, "you'd better work hard. Maybe one day you'll be able to leap over the Dragon Gate."
Zhao Nuanyue was only joking to lighten the mood and ease the tension from her shock, but then another unbelievable thing happened. The little red carp said, "I will work hard. I'll do my best to leap over the Dragon Gate one day."
"Huh?" Zhao Nuanyue froze. "You... you can talk?"
Startled by Zhao Nuanyue's cry, the Little Red Carp quickly backed away. "You... you... my master could talk, so why can't I?"
"You're saying Grandpa Dragon King was your master?" This wasn't the first strange thing Zhao Nuanyue had encountered, so there was really no need to overreact.
"Yes, yes, that's right." The Little Red Carp nodded its head repeatedly. "Master gave you the Dragon Scale before he left, so from now on, you're my new master."
'Perfect. Zhao Nuanyue had no idea what the Dragon Scale did. This red fish must know a thing or two after being with the Old Dragon King for so many years.'
"Alright, you're so cute, I like you. From now on, we'll work hard together and leap over the Dragon Gate together." Zhao Nuanyue accepted the situation cheerfully. "My name is Zhao Nuanyue. What's yours?"
"Master, you can just call me Little Red Carp," it said, its lively and talkative nature returning.
Zhao Nuanyue was delighted to have gained a sidekick.
Here in Nianqiao Village, she was finally no longer fighting a war on her own. She had a helper now—and a talking little carp, no less.
"Little Red Carp, what exactly does this Dragon Scale do?" Zhao Nuanyue asked. "Grandpa Dragon King told me to bring fortune to the people of this land for five years, but I'm just an ordinary girl. I don't know how!"
The Little Red Carp answered nonchalantly, "It's fine. As long as you stay alive, the Dragon Ball is here and will manage things automatically. You don't need to worry. If you want to learn some unknown abilities, though, you'll have to figure that out yourself through the Dragon Scale. I can't help you there."
Hearing it was that simple, Zhao Nuanyue finally felt relieved.
"Little Red Carp, where can I find you?" Zhao Nuanyue asked. "I'm having trouble in the village. Someone is trying to harm my companions. Can you help me?"
The Little Red Carp "scratched its head" and thought for a moment. "I can help you with anything in the water," it said, "but I'm useless on land."
Although its help wasn't as all-powerful as she might have hoped, Zhao Nuanyue was still satisfied. 'Perhaps I could arrange for Wang Dadan to fall into the water and drown?'
"Okay, thank you. From now on, we'll protect this land together. By the way, after I leave this place, how do I contact you?" Zhao Nuanyue asked. 'I'm a complete novice at this; it's better to ask more questions.'
"Just call my name," the Little Red Carp said sweetly. "You can ask me if there's anything you don't understand."
Zhao Nuanyue nodded. "Alright, I'm heading back now. I've been here a long time, and it'll be dawn soon."
"Okay, goodbye, Young Mistress." The Little Red Carp waved a fin, just like a child waving goodbye.
After Zhao Nuanyue left, the fish's innocent expression turned serious and solemn. 'I wonder if this Zhao Nuanyue will be able to handle it.'
'Still, she is the one the old master chose. I'll just have to give her my full cooperation.'
When Zhao Nuanyue's consciousness returned, she didn't wake up immediately but slept straight through until dawn. She only stirred when she heard Zhao Nuan Yang getting out of bed in the other room.
'My god, what a bizarre, fantastical dream!'
'But it wasn't a dream. It was my actual consciousness.' She now had much more confidence in her future.
Zhao Nuanyue discovered her power had grown immensely. Before, her consciousness could only create tiny splashes in the water, like ripples from a light breeze. Now, she could create waves nearly a foot high.
The village's small fishing boats would rock precariously in waves like that. Anyone not accustomed to the water wouldn't dare to stand up in one.
Liu Lanhua was in line ahead of Wang Yuan and Li Qiong to turn in her fish. She even helped them with theirs. But when it was Zhao Nuanyue's turn, Liu Lanhua's enthusiasm vanished.
After Wang Yuan and Li Qiong finished, they felt too awkward to just leave, so they stayed to help Zhao Nuanyue.
'Even though Wang Yuan and Li Qiong are being deceived by that woman, I know Liu Lanhua's true nature and her real goal. I can only help them from the shadows and make sure that bastard Wang Dadan doesn't get what he wants!'
This was the fourth time in just ten days that Wang Yuan and Li Qiong had gone to Liu Lanhua's house for dinner.
They were going again tonight, and even Yang Guanghui was starting to think Liu Lanhua was being a little too solicitous.
"Wang Yuan, Li Qiong, I know Aunt Liu seems nice and all, but don't you think she's laying it on a bit thick?" Seeing them dressed and ready to go to Liu Lanhua's house again, Yang Guanghui couldn't help but voice his concern.