Night. Thick, dark clouds clustered in the sky.
The autumn moon was hidden, only occasionally managing to struggle free and cast a few slivers of ghastly white light, which made the river's surface ripple with an icy gleam.
A cold wind swept across the Black Water River, rolling through the vast reed beds with a RUSTLE, RUSTLE sound.
From the depths of the darkness, a GRIND... GRIND... sound echoed intermittently, as if something were forcefully grinding its teeth.
Not far away, Su Yu sat on a slick, green rock, his head bobbing as he dozed off.
In his slumber, a faint voice from behind him wormed its way into his ears.
"Su Yu, there's a fish! Pull up the net!"
"Hurry, pull it up!"
Su Yu groggily awoke to the sight of a river as still and black as ink. It was pitch-dark, so black he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.
'A fish?'
The thought had barely formed when a loud SPLASH erupted from the water, sending a spray of droplets high into the air. It seemed the gillnet had really snagged something big.
Though still groggy, his instincts took over. He immediately tightened his grip on the fishing line and heaved backward with all his might.
But after a few tugs, the gillnet wouldn't budge. A dead, immense weight pulled from the other end of the line, as if he hadn't caught a fish, but snagged an underwater reef.
'Did I catch a big one?'
He rubbed his eyes and stared, but he couldn't see what lay beneath the inky surface of the water.
He wrapped the line around his fingers twice and pulled again. The line bit into his flesh until his knuckles turned white, but the gillnet didn't move an inch.
'A fish this big?'
'Something's not right!'
Doubt surged in Su Yu's mind. 'Judging by the force, it feels more like I've snagged the bottom!'
But the Black Water River was hundreds of feet deep, and his gillnet was only a few feet long. How could it have possibly snagged the bottom?
Just as he was filled with bewildered uncertainty, the voice behind him spoke up again.
"It's a treasure fish! Get in the water, quick!"
"Get in the water! It's going to get away..."
'Treasure fish?'
Those two words were like a spark, instantly setting Su Yu's heart ablaze. A single treasure fish was worth at least tens of taels of silver; he couldn't let it escape.
He subconsciously gripped the line and took one step after another toward the riverbank.
A gust of night wind blew past, and the reeds rustled as if in celebration.
Just as his foot was about to dip into the icy water, a thought suddenly struck Su Yu.
'Wait... Didn't I come here to fish alone tonight?'
WHOOSH! A chill shot up his spine, from his tailbone to the crown of his head. Every hair on Su Yu's body stood on end, and he froze in place.
'Then... who was that speaking behind me just now?'
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
His heart hammered wildly, as if it were about to burst from his chest.
As he stopped walking, a bone-chilling coldness pressed in from the darkness behind him. It felt tangible—slick and frigid, like a venomous snake slithering across his back.
'Did I run into... something unclean?'
Su Yu bit down hard, splitting his lip. The sharp pain brought a sliver of clarity back to his chaotic mind.
"Hhhh... hhhh..."
From behind him came a faint, wheezing gasp, like the sound of a broken-down bellows—stifled and heavy.
Su Yu wanted to turn his head, but a warning from an old fisherman in Qingxi Village suddenly exploded in his mind!
"When you're fishing at night, if you hear someone call your name from behind, don't turn around!"
At that moment, Su Yu forced himself to resist the urge!
Because in this world, there were ghouls!
Fear washed over him like a tide, and he began to frantically recite the protective charms from his past life in his mind.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but the eerie gasping seemed to have stopped.
But just then, SPLASH! With a great noise, the line in the water was pulled taut. It began to tremble violently, splashing water everywhere, exactly like a giant fish in its final throes.
Su Yu's face was ashen. He stared at the pitch-black surface of the water, having no idea what lurked beneath. Even if there really was a treasure fish down there, he wouldn't dare go in now.
"Hhhh... hhhh..."
That barely audible sound came from behind him again, and the hairs on Su Yu's arms stood on end once more.
'That unclean thing is still here!'
'Calm down, calm down. I'm okay for now, which means not turning around was the right call.'
He tried taking a few steps back, moving away from the water's edge. Then, he bent down slightly, his right hand groping until it found and tightly gripped the small wood-chopping hatchet by his feet.
The cold iron in his hand offered a sliver of security, slightly calming his pounding heart.
His mind raced as he recalled the lore passed down among the old fishermen.
"When you run into one of those unclean things, you can't let it see you're afraid!"
So, mustering his courage, Su Yu swung his hatchet menacingly toward the water a few times and cursed, "When I haul this treasure fish up, I'm gonna chop its head off with one swing and see how it squirms then!"
His voice trembled slightly with fear, but it was laced with a desperate ferocity.
"Aren't... you getting in the water? The treasure fish... is getting away..."
The voice behind him grew sharp and grating, like nails on a chalkboard, making his scalp crawl.
Su Yu suppressed the surging terror in his heart and, feigning extreme impatience, roared back, "Fuck off! I don't feel like getting in the water today!"
"Hhhh... hhhh..."
SPLASH! SPLASH! The commotion in the water grew even louder.
In the silence of the night, the sounds were exceptionally clear.
But Su Yu stood his ground, unmoving.
"Get in the water! The treasure fish is getting away! Get in the water!" The shrill voice cried out again, now urging him frantically.
But hearing its urgent cries only strengthened Su Yu's resolve.
'It's getting desperate!'
His expression became even more impatient as he brandished the hatchet and roared, "Fuck off! I said I'm not getting in, and that's final!"
"Get in the water! Get in the water!"
"Fuck off! I'm not getting in!"
"Get in the water!"
"Fuck off!"
"..."
After what felt like an eternity, Su Yu's throat was raw and hoarse, and the voice behind him finally vanished.
Still, he didn't dare move, standing like a statue as he stared intently at the river, which had returned to its deathly stillness.
It wasn't until a sliver of dawn appeared on the horizon and the first rays of morning light dispelled the darkness that Su Yu's taut muscles finally relaxed. The weight in his heart was at last lifted.
"Damn it... I'm never coming back here at night again, not even if you beat me to death..."
He panted heavily. His catch over the past few nights had been so good that he'd mocked the other villagers for their cowardice. Only now did he understand that no one who survived in this world was a fool.
Only when the sky was fully bright did Su Yu dare to pull in the gillnet again. It came up light, completely empty.
His expression flickered through several shades of dismay.
After retrieving the net and shouldering it, he turned to check behind him.
Next to the green rock where he had been sitting, two wet footprints were clearly imprinted on the ground.
The prints were large and crude, clearly not made by shoes!
The front part of them resembled sharp talons!
Su Yu took a deep breath. Not daring to linger any longer, he quickly started running back toward the village.
Only when he saw the plumes of cooking smoke rising from the village entrance and the early-rising villagers did his heart, which had been lodged in his throat, finally settle back into his chest.
With a thought, a transparent panel that only he could see slowly unfolded before his eyes.
[Su Yu]
[Breakthrough Point]: 1
[Skills]: Casting Net (Greater Achievement 998/1000)
[Remarks]: Skill levels are divided into entry-level, Skilled, Minor Achievement, Greater Achievement, and Perfection. After reaching Perfection, you can achieve Breaking Limit and gain Trait bonuses.
'Just two more points... All my intense grinding these past few months is finally about to pay off.'
Su Yu looked back, glancing at the vast Black Water River shrouded in the morning mist.
The vast expanse of the Black Water River held both treasures and crises in equal measure. Last night's ordeal had given him his most profound understanding yet of the dangers of this world.
Power!
'I have to master the power of Martial Arts as soon as possible! Otherwise, I might not be so lucky next time.'
Lost in thought, Su Yu walked all the way back to his own low-roofed wooden house.
He hung the net to dry in the yard, pushed open the CREAKING, rotten wooden door, and stepped inside.
Now that he was finally safe, a thunderous hunger rumbled in his stomach.
He first poured himself a bowl of cool, boiled water, then pulled two black rye cakes from a cloth sack next to the stove.
The cakes were made of wheat bran mixed with wild vegetables. They were dry and hard, scratching his throat painfully as he ate.
Su Yu washed them down with the cool water, methodically swallowing bite after bite until his hunger was finally suppressed.
After eating, he walked to a corner of the room, strained to lift a half-full water vat, and retrieved a few pieces of Broken Silver from underneath. He counted them carefully. Still six taels.
'Still four taels short... Once I save up a bit more, I can go to the city and find a master at a Martial Arts hall!'
'With my talent, I'll definitely make a name for myself then!'
A powerful wave of drowsiness washed over him. Su Yu lay down on the hard wooden bed with his clothes still on and fell into a deep sleep almost instantly.
...
At dusk, a series of urgent knocks, BANG! BANG!, sounded at Su Yu's door.