Strange Fish

Han Sen lowered his head and saw a fat goldfish swimming towards him.

The goldfish was around the size of a hand, with a tail that was reminiscent of a butterfly wing. Its head was peculiar, almost like a lionhead goldfish.

As it swam towards Han Sen, its tail wagged and fluttered behind it merrily.

He scanned the creature and could not detect the presence of a strong lifeforce. If he didn't know any better, it could have very well been an average fish.

Han Sen backed away from it, but it followed him across the pool.

Although he was wise to exercise caution, he knew the fish wasn't aggressive. If it had been, it would have bitten him already.

The goldfish swam behind Han Sen and circled the Phoenix Sword he was carrying on his back.

"There is more to this goldfish than meets the eye. It is here, of all places, and in a pool formed by the tears of a phoenix. And what's more, it is showing interest in my Phoenix Sword. The feather of its composition might actually have belonged to one of those phoenix's, too." Han Sen had a lot to think about lately.

The lionhead-like fish continued to swim around and around the sword with keen interest.

Han Sen decided to tap the goldfish with his finger to see how it would respond. His finger prodded the creature, but it didn't pay any mind. It continued to circle the sword, showing no fear at his presence or attention.

Han Sen decided to grab the whole goldfish and see if he could detect a lifeforce by bringing it out the water. He did this, but could not detect anything. Queer behavior aside, it really did seem like an ordinary goldfish.

"Can a run-of-the-mill goldfish really live in a place like this?" Han Sen wondered.

Bao'er decided to jump back into the water and swam over to Han Sen with haste. She had seen the goldfish in Han Sen's hand, and she wanted to touch it herself.

Watching the playful baby approach, the fish wriggled its way out of Han Sen's hand, hopped back into the water, and swam behind him for cover.

Bao'er looked angry after seeing its behavior, and so she tried to swim around and grab it. Fortunately for the fish, Han Sen stopped her.

"Go play someplace else." Han Sen pushed Bao'er away.

The fish was an interesting little thing, and so Han Sen didn't want her to kill it. If there was a benefit or purpose to this fish, he'd rather discover what it was before it died. A needless death would be a waste.

Bao'er gave a stern look to the goldfish and then swam away.

Han Sen scooped the fish back up in his hand to give it another look. He couldn't espy anything special about it, and he didn't think it was a sacred-blood creature in disguise, either.

But appearances were often misleading, so Han Sen's wasn't so quick to believe it was just an average goldfish.

Han Sen placed the fish down just outside the pool. In a weird display, the fish did not simply flop around like he suspected it would. Instead, it transformed into a little red bird.

Han Sen's eyes opened wide, for this was the first time he had seen something like this. It most certainly caught him off-guard.

Han Sen picked up the bird and returned it to the water. When submerged, it transformed into a fish again.

"Wow, that is very weird." Han Sen watched in disbelief as the lionhead goldfish-bird-thing returned to swim around his sword.

Han Sen turned to look at Xie Qing King and noticed his eyes were still closed. It seemed as if he was still unaware of what was going on.

Han Sen decided to take the goldfish back out of the water. Like before, it transformed into a bird. But strangely, it did not fly. He suspected that the bird was too plump for proper flight, as all it did was take a strong hop up onto his shoulder. When there, it pecked the Phoenix Sword on his back.

"This thing must be special. I wonder if I can bring it with me?" A streak of greed flashed across Han Sen's eyes.

The bird seemed resistant this time, as if it did not want to leave the shoulder nearest his sword.

Remaining in the pool for seven hours would take a long time, and while he did not mind waiting, he didn't want Xie Qing King to find out about the goldfish-bird he had discovered.

But suddenly, a sharp cry echoed across the sky.

Han Sen raised his head in response, and when looking up, he saw a raven circling the skies above them.

"So noisy," Xie Qing King said, before the raven exploded in a messy puff of feathers. A weird spectacle, considering the spirit did not even move.

Han Sen thought that would be it, but more ravens came.

The bodies of these ravens were on fire.

Han Sen's Dongxuan Aura had mostly recovered by now, and he was able to feel them approach before they actually did.

He could also tell that these ravens were mostly mutant class, but were stronger than the sheep he had encountered earlier. Furthermore, there were at least a thousand of these black, fiery birds.

Xie Qing King looked annoyed by the raucous cawing of the ravens that had suddenly appeared overhead. He stepped out of the lake and flew up into the skies in a rage to begin murdering the murder.

He pummeled them into oblivion, and blood and feathers rained down around him.

The strange situation only became stranger. When the blood and feathers reached the water, an invisible force pushed the mess away, to avoid polluting the place. Nothing spoiled the tears of the lake.

Han Sen donned his armor and flew up as well, to aid Xie Qing King in killing the birds.

As he had expected, the announcement confirmed that they were indeed mutant creatures. Their official name was "Fire Raven," and like the other creatures he had killed in this weird location, they were inedible.

Han Sen suddenly heard the cry of another raven. This screech was different from the others he had heard, so he looked around to see which bird had made the noise. And when he turned around, the sky was ablaze with a fierce red fire.