Chapter 56: The First Place
The whole place fell quiet.
Everybody had been chitchatting heatedly, but they were all rendered silent by the score.
The teachers and the staff were dumbfounded, and so was the villager leader, the headmaster, and Wang Jie.
Only Tang Ge was smiling. Han Fei scratched his head. The situation was getting awkward.
“It’s impossible! He cheated!”
Hu Kun grew excited. He was truly shocked by the number, which was ten times higher than his. The only possibility he could think of was that Han Fei cheated. How else could he have acquired such a high score?
Squinting, Han Fei looked at him and said, “Young man, you are responsible for what you’re saying.”
The village leader stood out and said, “Young man, what proof do you have to accuse Han Fei of cheating?”
Of course Hu Kun had no proof, but he suddenly had an idea. “It must be Tang Ge. Han Fei and Tang Ge are good brothers. Tang Ge must’ve given his points to Han Fei. Why else could he have acquired such a high score?”
“Humph...”
Tang Ge stood out and said, “Hu Kun, stop slandering. I did not give Han Fei a single point. He won his points on his own.”
Hu Kun said excitedly, “You’re lying! He was only a level-two fisher two months ago, but after a month, he got more than ten thousand points in the Fishing Trial. Can you believe that?”
The village leader and other people looked at Han Fei, wondering if he was a level-two fisher a month ago. He certainly did not look like one right now.
Han Fei was not bothered. “Hu Kun, everybody has their own lucky moments. Shouldn’t I have mine after all the life-and-death experiences? You, on the other hand, can’t make it to the top ten anyway with your thousand points. So why are you attacking me? Is it because you are jealous of me?”
Some parents shouted, “Young man, tell us how you got the points!”
“That’s right. It’s not a problem to explain the source of the points, is it?”
“How many people did you rob to get so many points?”
Many people were shouting. Some were truly interested, and some were merely enjoying the drama.
The village leader scolded, “Silence! The calculation is not over yet!”
Finally, when the noises died down, the village leader looked at Han Fei and hesitated. “Han Fei, you can talk about it if you want. I guarantee that nobody will ask for your trouble.”
Han Fei asked, “Village leader, can I hold you to your word?”
The village leader said, “Of course! Just spill it out. Nobody will ask for your trouble.”
Han Fei said, “This is what happened. I was not interested in robbery at all, but many people came to rob me, including Li Hu, Xia Wushuang, and other students that I did not know. So, I robbed them instead.”
Han Fei finally bared his fangs at this moment. The Heavenly Talents in the village were nothing at all for the big shots. How could he rise to higher places if he couldn’t compare to the Heavenly Talents? So, he thought it was time for him to reveal his abilities.
“What? You robbed Li Hu?”
“Huh? I saw Xia Wushuang return after being wounded. Was he robbed by Han Fei?”
“That’s impossible! Li Hu is a level-eight fisher!”
“Xia Wushuang’s Spiritual Heritage is Level Four, Low Quality. Could Han Fei defeat him?”
People whispered to each other, unconvinced.
Hu Kun scolded, “That’s poppycock. Li Hu and Xia Wushuang are both level-eight fishers. How could you have robbed them of their boats?”
Han Fei looked at him pitifully. “Is it a surprise? Because they couldn’t defeat me! Do you want them to speak for themselves?”
It was a pity that neither Li Hu nor Xia Wushuang could stand up right now.
Li Jue was clenching his fists among the parents. He could not burst into fury although his son had almost been crippled. He even needed to thank his enemy for not killing his son.
Xia Wushuang was also a proud man. His Spiritual Heritage was only second to Tang Ge’s in Heavenly Water Village, and he was supposed to be the strongest other than Tang Ge, but he was defeated by a Mr. Nobody. Why would he embarrass himself by explaining the details to the public?
Looking at the staff, Han Fei said, “Is my score certain now?”
The staff looked at the village leader and nodded. “Han Fei’s total score is 13,208 points. Whoever is not convinced is free to check it later, but you must not hinder the following calculations.”
However, Han Fei did not leave immediately. He asked the staff in a low voice, “I wonder if I could take those fish away.”
After a brief pause, the staff said, “We provide delivery service. I don’t think it’s easy to take dozens of boats away.”
Han Fei said, “It’s very easy! I’ll take them back on my own.”
The staff: “...”
...
The calculation continued. It was finished before nightfall.
Standing on a floating boat, the villager leader announced with a list in his hand.
“The first place is Han Fei. Total score: 13,208 points.”
“The second place is Tang Ge. Total score: 5,882 points.”
“The third place is Wang Baiyu. Total score: 4,982 points.”
“The fourth place is Xiang Nan. Total score: 4,356 points.”
...
“The seventh place is He Xiaoyu. Total score: 3,012 points.”
...
“The tenth place is Chen Qing. Total score: 2,222 points.”
The results after the tenth place plummeted. Eventually, Hu Kun was the 86th place. It was not a bad result, but it was not nearly as good as the top ten places.
According to the final result, the score of the thousandth place was 496 points.
Some were delighted, and some were upset. While the top thousand were happy, they were touched by what the villager leader said next.
“Dear students, I believe that you have recognized the cruelty of the Fishing Trial, which is a reflection of reality. In the level-one and level-two fisheries, such things happen on a daily basis.”
Many students and parents fell silent. In fact, some of the parents had been silent since the beginning, because they didn’t find their children.
The village leader continued, “Do you know the casualties of this Fishing Trial? According to the inspectors, 13,564 students took part in the Fishing Trial, but only 10,321 returned. Twenty percent of them are buried in this ocean.”
Everybody was touched, including Han Fei himself. He knew that there were casualties, because many boats he looted were empty in the first place. Many students who were in alliances attacked each other. That was the biggest cause of casualties.
The village leader said emotionally, “The reality is cruel. Only 2982 boats were able to finish the Fishing Trial. Five thousand people were injured in the trial, some permanently... I’m telling you this not to intimidate you, but to inform you that in order not to perish in this man-eating ocean, you have to work extra hard. There is always hope as long as you are alive.”
Han Fei fell silent after hearing the statistics. This was only a Fishing Trial of the village. What about the town and the city?
For the first time, he recognized the cruelty of this world, the cruelty of cultivation. To become a Hidden Fisher as good as Fang Ze, how many bones must one step on?
Han Fei looked at the parents at the periphery. Nobody smiled anymore. Some were weeping, and some were comforting them.
Han Fei took a deep breath. He had to compete with people and with fate.