Chapter 292: Chapter 289: Passing of the Decay
Jeff raised his head, looking toward where the leaf had fallen from.
It was a large tree covered in withered leaves. The island’s corrosive mist had left it in a state of decline; from a distance, it resembled a dead tree.
The leaf had drifted down from that very tree.
Jeff told Li Luo that most of the old Fishmen in the Fishman Village hadn’t made it through. They never woke up again. They didn’t see the warm sunlight; their memories were forever frozen in the darkness before the dawn.
The Great Clan Leader was slumped over his favorite table, having fallen into an eternal sleep, just as he used to when he grew tired from reading and took a nap.
The young Fishmen were all right, for the most part. Aside from getting a bit dizzy from time to time, they showed no other adverse effects.
The Fishmen were a resilient bunch, and they didn’t see this as an occasion for excessive grief.
They just sat together, discussing the stories of the old Fishmen who had passed.
Jeff rambled on as well, telling Li Luo about the Great Clan Leader’s past.
The Great Clan Leader was a very strait-laced person.
His favorite thing was to stay in the library, poring over all sorts of ancient Fishman texts. He always wore a serious expression when speaking to any of the Fishmen.
When talking with Jeff, he was the same, always with a stern face, and he was always decisive when arranging matters.
Most of the village’s rules were established by him:
No Fake Fishmen allowed in the village, maintain trade with humans, continue excavating ancient texts and parts, as well as all sorts of other strange village regulations.
Even though it was just a small Fishman Village, the Great Clan Leader had established many strict rules to manage the idle Fishmen.
Most Fishmen were quite lazy, but the Great Clan Leader’s rules forced them to get many things done.
It was precisely because of the Great Clan Leader’s rules that the otherwise aimless Fishman Village was able to function, slowly but surely.
Some Fishmen were responsible for excavation, some for finding food, some for construction, and some for trading with humans.
The Great Clan Leader had assigned a job to every single Fishman in the village.
The Fishmen didn’t know what the Great Clan Leader had seen in the ancient Fishman texts, but they obeyed his commands because his knowledge of them was incredibly profound.
Whenever they encountered a problem, the Great Clan Leader could always find a solution.
He was the only one who could steer the dilapidated ship of the Fishman Race slowly forward.
It’s just that his way of steering that dilapidated ship was a bit too rigid.
However, Jeff knew that this strait-laced Great Clan Leader also had an endearing side.
One time, Jeff went to the library and saw him holding a human book, examining it over and over.
Jeff memorized the book’s title, so during a trade with the humans, he brought it up with the captain.
"Captain, let me ask you something."
"When do you ever not ask me something? Go on, spit it out," the captain said nonchalantly, fiddling with his goods.
"Captain, have you ever heard of a book called *A Collection of Jokes*?"
The captain paused, stunned, and turned to look at Jeff with a surprised expression. "Where did you hear about that? Did one of my crewmen tell you?"
"No," Jeff said, shaking his head.
Then the captain gave his fish head a light tap.
"Don’t ask about that sort of nonsense."
’Nonsense?’
Jeff was confused. ’Was the Great Clan Leader reading nonsense?’
"What’s that book about?" Jeff was still eager to know.
The captain scratched his head, thought for a moment, and then slowly spoke.
"It’s about how to make people laugh."
The captain’s summary was very brief.
’Make people laugh? The Great Clan Leader wanted to make people laugh?’ Jeff couldn’t possibly imagine the Great Clan Leader reading something like that.
"Really?" Jeff asked in disbelief.
"Really. Jokes are for making people laugh," the captain confirmed.
It was only then that Jeff suddenly remembered. It seemed the Great Clan Leader had even tried to practice a joke from the book in person, except none of the Fishmen who heard it had laughed.
He had been one of them.
Jeff remembered the Great Clan Leader was teaching the Fishmen how to use fishing tools, but many of them were distracted. The atmosphere was very dull, so the Great Clan Leader asked a strange question.
"Do you know how fish sleep?"
None of them knew why the clan leader was asking this, and they all shook their heads.
So the Great Clan Leader picked up a freshly caught fish and viciously smashed its head with a rock—flesh and blood flying everywhere, its eyes even popping out.
The Great Clan Leader held up the dead fish and said flatly:
"Now it’s sleeping."
After saying this, he looked at the crowd expectantly.
Sure enough, the dull atmosphere instantly eased up a lot.
Everyone started to study diligently and was no longer distracted.
"Maybe... the Great Clan Leader really was just trying to liven things up back then?" Jeff said uncertainly.
...
As Jeff slowly recounted these stories about the Great Clan Leader to Li Luo, he grew more and more cheerful and even began to laugh softly.
But a moment later, as if he’d remembered something, his laughter stopped abruptly. He lowered his head and stared silently at the ground.
Just then, a rather old-looking Fishman walked over, supported by another.
Jeff hurried forward, intending to guide this Old Fishman to the library entrance.
But the Old Fishman waved his hand.
"Jeff, don’t bother. I came to find you."
"Me?" Jeff asked, confused.
"Yes. You know the position of clan leader is now vacant. The rest of us old-timers in the village have decided that you should be the next one."
"Why?" Jeff was very surprised. "There are still so many experienced Old Fishmen in the village. Why ask me to do it?"
The Old Fishman shook his head. He slowly raised a hand in front of Jeff, but just as it passed the top of his head, it fell limply.
"See? Although we were lucky enough to survive, our control over our bodies has greatly diminished. A body like this isn’t fit to bear such a heavy responsibility."
He looked at Jeff and asked gently, "Actually, you don’t need to worry so much. You just need to keep doing what you’ve been doing. The Great Clan Leader had you familiarize yourself with these matters long ago."
Jeff wanted to say more, but the Old Fishman raised a hand to cut him off.
"Say no more. The village has already decided."
"No," Jeff said, scratching his head. "I don’t mean to refuse. I wanted to ask when I take office."
Jeff said, a little embarrassed.
Hearing this, the Old Fishman actually laughed.
"Now!"
He replied, looking at Jeff with relief.
After that, the Old Fishman gave him a few more instructions, then turned to leave. But before he had fully turned, he stopped again.
"Jeff, do you know what your name means in the Fishman tongue?"
Jeff nodded quickly.
The Old Fishman smiled, muttering to himself as he turned and walked away.
Even when he was far in the distance, he was still repeating Jeff’s name:
"Hope... hope..."
The Old Fishman walked into the distance, stopped, and looked up at the withered, decaying tree in the village.
A few tender green shoots had unknowingly sprouted on its branches.
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