The aura was a carp. Not what he was looking for. There was a different spiritual energy, a much bigger one that lurked deeper into the mud. He concentrated harder, his eyebrows creasing and his lips now tense. He followed the aura as it led him further upstream into the deep, deep mud. Underneath the mud was…
"Xiaogua!" Xiu'er nudged him on the arm. "You haven't told me why you don't want others to see us."
Xiaogua opened his eyes for being startled. He cleared his throat. Of course, he hadn't told her about his strange powers yet, resulting in Xiu'er's disturbance of his concentration. If he doesn't want to scare her suddenly, he's going to have to tell her about his hidden powers now, only hoping she was different from the rest and not call him a water demon.
"Xiu'er, from what I can understand, there is some naturally cultivating qi inside my body that allows me to control water. I've had that power for as long as I can remember. I can use that power to control water, multiply water and sense fish spirits. I know I'm sounding crazy, but I'm not a water demon. I… I simply have strange powers inside of me. But what I'm going to do now won't hurt anyone. I promise you! I'm only going to use the strange power to see if I can catch the monster fish for the village man."
He looked into her eyes, searching for fear or sudden shock. He had taken a chance and risked telling the first friend he'd ever made about his strange powers. If she was to run away from him, that's fine.
Her eyes did reveal shock, but it was a different kind of shock. He was so afraid she would be shocked as her eyes went large and she sucked in a breath, but she suddenly blinked once and the shock was gone. The terror was gone. Her eyes were just emitting warmth of understanding. Her head was slightly tilted and her mouth slightly parting into the tiniest of smiles.
She looked as if she wanted to learn more about him.
When he realized this, he held back a teary eye and forced back the lump on the back of his throat. He quickly turned away from her and faced the river before she could see the loose tear slipping out and ran down his cheek. He didn't say anything. He knew he could trust her to not run away from him.
Xiaogua quickly dried his face and closed his eyes again to focus on the fish. Now that he knew it had gone upstream, he started there. Underneath the mud was indeed a very large fish, so large that it's mouth can swallow a human whole. The corner of Xiaogua's mouth curled up into a small smile. However, it's humongous mouth doesn't have teeth, its smooth body doesn't have scales and its nature is very timid. It's quite a harmless animal in fact.
The tail of the giant catfish wiggled as Xiaogua called for it. The catfish came out of its hiding spot and soon enough, appeared above the water by the bank.
The water rippled, exposing the slimy back of the catfish.
"Woah! What is that?" Xiu'er stepped back in surprise, her finger pointing to it.
Xiaogua walked to the river and ran his hand along the back of the catfish. "This is the monster fish they were trying to catch. Although it is big and scary looking, it's actually quite gentle in nature. Sometimes people prejudge and misunderstand because they judge from appearances."
She smiled and came to put a hand on his shoulder. "Appearances are deceiving indeed. Xiaogua, you're actually pretty cool. If only you can concentrate on your qi like this with the candle. How come you can't blow out the candle when you can do all this?"
Xioagua laughed. "I'm not sure either. I think it's because I've done this so many times before so it's easy for me. Villagers in my town knew me as the best fisherman around. What you have just witnessed is how I use my powers everyday."
"Is there more that you can do?" Xiu'er squat next to him and pet the catfish.
Xiaogua thought for a while before answering. "I can manipulate small amounts of water and lead it to where I want it to go. I can quantify water from small amounts. I can turn water into ice and back again. Oh, and I can also breathe underwater!"
The sparks of fascination in Xiu'er's was something Xiaogua had never seen before. Her eyes were sparking and her mouth opened in a perfect 'O'. As he was telling her about his abilities, her reaction made him excited and wanted to continue on. For the first time in his life, he felt that his power did not define him to be a water demon, but he defined his power on how to use it. Before the lump in the back of his throat pushed its way out and he started to cry again, Xiaogua changed the subject.
"Now for the hard part. We need to get him out of the water."
He turned around and grabbed the bundle of ropes. Xiu'er watched as Xiaogua's expert hands weaved the ropes into a hammock. Then he went into the water. As he fastened the net around the fish and tied the ends together, the fish made no movement of discomfort. Together, they counted and tried to heave the fish out of the water, holding onto the ends of the net. It was easier said than done.
After two tries, Xiu'er stopped and put a hand on her back. She realized how heavy the fish really was. Her arms felt like they were about to be ripped off and her back might have cracked.
No wonder Xiaogua said this is the hard part.
"A fish twice the size of a human cannot be heaved by two people,"Xiaogua thought out loud. "This requires at least 10."
"What did you say?" Xiu'er dropped her butt to the ground and leaned back on the palms of her hands. She seemed to be dizzy and drained. "I'm sorry, Xiaogua. I can't anymore." She waved her hand at him.
"Xiu'er, I think I have an idea. Can we try again? I need you to hold the rope tight and heave the fish all by yourself while I do something."
"Huh!? All by myself…?" Xui'er couldn't help but whimper a cry. She crawled to the river and washed her sweaty hands. "Ok Mister Catfish, you must cooperate with me, alright? Make the job nice and easy and I won't turn you into food, are we good?" Xiu'er stood up and wrapped the ropes around her small hands.
"I'm ready!"