บท 414: Under the Banyan, Beside the Pond

In a little village on the edge of the Great River Kingdom, a middle-aged man sat with a fishing rod under a banyan tree beside a little pond.

His injured eyes were tightly bandaged up, preventing him from seeing the bubbles that indicated the locations of the fish or any movement on his line. An ordinary man would have become restless and depressed in such a situation, but he looked calm and peaceful as he held the fishing rod in a firm grip.

The thin bamboo pole slightly drooped and bent into a curve. The fishing line went taut, and the sudden movement startled a nearby lizard. The sound of a tail swishing across the lake mud could be heard as it scurried away.