Man said it was the mountain stream somewhat far from the Small Town. They went downstream of the lake before, where the lake water flows out from the town’s big lake, continuing as a broad river, and disappearing into the desert.

Because of the water, an oasis formed.

And at a sixty-degree angle from there, there was also a long but much narrower oasis. Manbao and the others thought it was also a water outlet from the lake, but upon visiting, they realized that the water there was flowing in, not out.

Below the big lake, there is a water source. This one, just like the outlet one, originates from an unknown place, appearing in the desert and slowly flowing toward the big lake, eventually converging into it.

Man mentioned the mountain stream’s location is twenty miles away from the Small Town. Aside from sparse grass and trees by the water, other areas are all Gobi, so there are especially many rocks in the water as well.

But the water is very clear and not deep, and they can see the riverbed conditions from the shore.

However, Man didn’t dare let them go into the water themselves. He said, "Don’t think this water seems shallow; it’s actually deep. There are some other places below the river, so you need to be cautious. These few are experts at catching fish; the fish eaten at the Town Leader’s house are basically caught by them, so let them go in."

Bai Shan held back Manbao, who could only regretfully watch from the shore.

Man brought some people who rolled up their pants and ventured into the water, then gently began to overturn the rocks on the riverbed.

Manbao looked somewhat stunned, asking, "Are you looking for stone fish?"

"Yes, scaring them out makes it possible to catch them. Some stone fish are clumsy; after being scared, they can’t get out of the rock cracks in time, so they’ll hide in the cracks and play dead." The fish catchers are quite experienced; though they don’t often catch stone fish, they have often searched for them, because despite their small size, they are truly delicious.

One of the fish catchers said, "These fish are smooth; they are best for making sashimi. Adults, just wait; once we catch them, the Town Leader’s house will have someone slice the fish for you. They slice very well."

Manbao nodded repeatedly, thinking if they caught enough, they should definitely try it.

So she began guiding them, "There’s none here; over there, that’s where they are."

She was pointing to a certain spot behind them.

A few people glanced back, puzzled, and asked, "How do you know, Ma’am?"

Manbao said calmly, "I just saw one go in there."

Their suspicions weren’t raised, and they turned around, slowly walking back and then starting to search those stones, and two or three stone fish darted out of the cracks. As their tails swayed, they seemed ready to dart away, but the people quickly went to catch...

After some busy work, one of them caught a fish and immediately tossed it upward.

The fish landed on the ground, flopping, trying to get back into the water, and Manbao and the others immediately stepped forward to hold it down, muttering, "We’ll get you water soon, we’ll get you water soon..."

Bai Shan quickly grabbed a wooden bucket to fetch water, and once he brought it over, Manbao put the fish into it.

But the stone fish was very angry. This was not the river it liked. It circled the bucket wall several times, and upon realizing it couldn’t escape, it started flopping around in the water.

Manbao wiped her face and stared at it, saying, "It’s useless; you can’t escape my grasp."

Bai Shan also noticed the benefits of this mountain stream. Most places here are shallow, and although nets are not useful in the water full of stones, they can still be somewhat effective.

Thus, Manbao guided them in finding stone fish, while Bai Shan instructed on how to use the net and then search the stones again. When the stone fish darted out, they bumped into the net all at once, and the three holding the net lifted it up, with seven or eight stone fish struggling inside.

Their expressions froze for a moment; was it really this simple?

When everyone glanced back at Zhou Man and Bai Shan, there was awe in their eyes.

Manbao didn’t take them all; instead, she took three big ones, released the four smaller ones back into the water.

She eagerly pointed ahead, saying, "Let’s go, let’s charge ahead!"

The people in the water also grew excited, rolled up their sleeves, and forged ahead.

They turned over this section of the river, startling countless stone fish. Not only the fish catchers but even Man looked incredulous.

Stone fish are more difficult to catch than silver fish. They rarely catch them in a year, thinking they were scarce, yet unexpectedly, there were so many.

However, Manbao did not take too many. Initially, she let go of smaller and medium-sized ones, and as they caught more later, she estimated the number of people and released some larger ones too.

Some of the people on the side watched, hesitating to speak, considering they could sell them for money.

Manbao obviously hadn’t thought of this, joyfully saying, "These are enough; let’s go."

Upon returning, she generously gave them each a string of copper coins and two fish to take home to taste, then sent two fish to the Town Leader through Man, cheerfully stating, "Just tell him we thank him for his hospitality."

Man: ... In fact, you could give a little more.

He glanced at the fish in the bucket but didn’t voice his thoughts, taking the Town Leader’s and his own fish away.

Forget it, he got four anyway; at worst, he’d swap his for the Town Leader’s.

Manbao and Bai Shan insisted on bringing the fish into the kitchen, claiming, "We can’t eat them all. Let’s keep them for another day; if they’re delicious, we’ll have them tomorrow."

Bai Erlang and the others didn’t know how many fish were in the bucket because they also rolled up their sleeves and went into the water later. Yin Huo’s clothes remained dry, while the others’ were slightly damp, so upon returning to the courtyard, they rushed to change clothes.

Bai Shan stood blocking Manbao, who reached in and the two fish inside the bucket disappeared.

Only then did the two set the fish aside and kept them for later.

Because of this adventure, their relationship with the town’s people deepened; everyone knew this courtyard housed imperial physicians who once treated the emperor, thus some began tentatively visiting for medical advice.

Though Manbao and the others regularly ventured outside to the desert and Gobi to find all sorts of odd things, they never turned away patients and whenever someone came by, she and Zhou Liru would assist with diagnosis.

During these times, Man would come and assist.

Manbao and the others wrote prescriptions and had people fetch medicine from Man’s medicine shop.

Unfortunately, his shop had limited supplies, so the Town Leader ended up moving various medicines from his storeroom, allowing for complete prescriptions.

Of course, the Town Leader didn’t provide them for free; he wanted payment! And also needed the prescriptions from Zhou Man and Zhou Liru.

Man and the Town Leader were stunned the first time they saw someone enter the small courtyard with a prescription; these people were actually writing prescriptions, and the words on the prescriptions were recognizable! Not only were they recognizable, they allowed patients to keep them themselves!

It’s known that many doctors don’t give patients prescriptions. After a consultation, they fetch the medicine themselves, like Man, who never writes prescriptions;

Some larger doctors do write prescriptions, but only the shop’s clerks can read them. Beyond the medicine shop entrance, it’s hard for anyone to decipher them; even peers rarely recognize them.