If it happened once or twice, it could be dismissed as coincidence, but when it kept happening every single time, even the fishing man himself had to admit something was off.
"But are you sure they're all fish kings? Can the Donggang Reservoir really support two giant fish?" In
"The Jiujiang waterway network is incredibly complex. The upper reaches of the Donggang Reservoir connect to tributaries of several other major rivers. When they were building it, workers even discovered an underground river beneath Donggang. Food shouldn't be a problem." The man hesitated for a moment. "A long time ago, Donggang was one of the most notorious mass burial grounds on the eastern outskirts. The poor people in the area couldn't afford proper burials, so they'd just send their dead into the rivers. That's why this place not only has a lot of big fish, but they're vicious too — attacks on people used to happen all the time."
"They ate people…?"
"That was a long time ago. Things are much better now." The man picked up his fishing rod and casually placed the lid back on the large red bucket beside him.
"What's in there?"
"Bait. My own special mix. Getting a big fish to bite is all thanks to it." The man stood next to the bucket and pulled out a flashlight, shining it across the water's surface. "A fish king is smart. After being scared like that today, it probably won't bite for the next few weeks at least. What a waste."
As the man spoke, Chen Ge kept staring at the bucket. The bait the man was using was a custom blend, not live bait, and it gave off a strange, peculiar smell.
The man folded up his camp stool, packed his gear, and started walking toward a small building near the reservoir.
"What are you going to do?" Chen Ge followed behind. He felt he could still wring more useful leads out of this man.
"See that little light on the water? The glow-in-the-dark float didn't get dragged to the bottom by the fish king. I'm going to retrieve it — those glowing floats aren't cheap." The man knocked on the iron door of the small cabin, and after a short while, a man who looked rather simple and honest opened the door.
This was the person who had been standing behind the fishing man earlier. He wasn't tall — just over 1.6 meters — and his skin was deeply tanned, probably from working outdoors in the sun all the time.
"Packing it in already? That's early for you. Don't you usually fish until two or three in the morning?" The man's work badge bore his name. He was a staff member of the reservoir, called Zhang Dapo.
The fishing man wanted to show off, so he deliberately lowered his voice and made a dramatic gesture. "You missed out. You'd barely left when the fish king bit the hook. Don't believe me? Ask this young man right here — I was *this* close to landing the fish king."
"The fish king took the bait?" The man looked genuinely shocked.
"He really did. I was right there when it happened." Chen Ge stepped forward to back up the fishing man's story.
"If the fish king had already taken the hook, how did you let it get away again?" Zhang Dapo turned to the fishing man. "What went wrong this time?"
"The line got snapped. I was just discussing it with this young man, and we think there might be more than one big fish in the reservoir."
"More than one? In that case, I need to report this to my superiors." Zhang Dapo was even more alarmed. He was responsible for looking after the reservoir, and sometimes when trash floated on the surface, he'd take his own boat out to clean it up. So the moment he learned there was a fish king in the reservoir, his first concern was his own safety.
Donggang Reservoir had grown increasingly desolate over the years — you could hardly ever spot another soul around. It was perfectly natural for someone guarding it alone to feel afraid.
"And what good would reporting do? It's not like they can drain the entire reservoir. Unless there's clear evidence that the fish king has killed someone, the higher-ups aren't going to care." The fishing man put on an air of indifference. "Enough chitchat — lend me your boat. I need to go retrieve my float."