Chapter 186: Ghost Fishing for People

　　The pig entrails slowly sank into the water.

　　The blood spread in layers through the water.

　　Huzi, seeing that it was already dark, took out his flashlight and was about to turn it on, but Jing Jian stopped him by holding his hand.

　　"We can't turn on the light; with light, the big fish won't come out."

　　"There's no light at all by the lake. Without a light, we can't see anything." Huzi frowned unhappily.

　　"It's okay, there's a moon tonight." Jing Jian pointed to the sky.

　　The sky in the suburbs is always cleaner than in the city. At this moment, twinkling stars were starting to appear, and a round, disk-like moon was slanted in the sky.

　　A faint moonlight poured down, making the surroundings dimly visible.

　　Three people and a little dog, hidden by the cover of night, lay quietly by the lake, their eyes fixed on the lake without blinking.

　　Occasionally, the dark lake surface would ripple slightly.

　　The float remained still, showing no reaction at all.

　　Time passed, one minute after another.

　　The night grew darker, and a cold, damp air enveloped the three of them.

　　Not to mention Hu Zi, even Lu Fei was starting to lose patience.

　　"Brother Jing, I don't think we'll catch anything tonight. Let's come early tomorrow," Lu Fei whispered. The little black dog had already fallen asleep in his arms.

　　This little guy was very alert, and if there were any signs of trouble, he would likely react faster than the three of them.

　　"Why don't we just sleep here tonight to avoid going back and forth?" Jing Jian was very reluctant to give up.

　　"The damp and eerie atmosphere around the lake is too strong; it's not wise to stay here overnight."

　　Lu Fei shook his head and stood up with the puppy in his arms.

　　Just today, two children encountered a water ghost trying to find a substitute. Although they could handle such things, was it necessary to put themselves through this trouble?

　　"Let's go, let's go, my boss has spoken, why are you still hesitating?" Hu Zi was even more unwilling to stay overnight and kept urging Jing Jian.

　　"Okay."

　　Jing Jian reluctantly got up.

　　The three left some unimportant items behind and, turning on their flashlights, started to walk back.

　　Their footsteps faintly echoed along the long, dark lakeside.

　　However.

　　After walking for a short while, the light from the flashlight once again revealed the red cross mark that Jing Jian had drawn on the ground.

　　"How did we end up back here? We were walking straight ahead just now, we didn't make any turns." Hu Zi was startled, looking around nervously.

　　The reeds by the water swayed in the wind, like ghostly hands reaching out.

　　The things they had left behind were right there on the stone beach ahead.

　　"A little bit of ghost wall has scared you like this?" Jing Jian, his expression unchanged, drew out his peachwood sword, muttered some incantations, and waved it around.

　　Faintly, it seemed as if the cold air had dissipated.

　　"Okay, it's been broken, we can go now."

　　"Really?"

　　Huzi was half-believing and half-doubting.

　　Everyone continued to walk back, but before long, they found themselves right where they started!

　　"Jing, are you really reliable?" Huzi shouted.

　　"That can't be right. I clearly broke through the ghost wall earlier. If you don't believe me, ask Manager Lu; he must have seen it," Jing Jian said with surprise and doubt.

　　Lu Fei furrowed his brows slightly, his expression becoming wary: "This is the second ghost wall. It seems something doesn't want us to leave..."

　　Before he finished speaking.

　　Splash!

　　A clear sound of water came from the pitch-black lake.

　　The little black head in Lu Fei's arms suddenly lifted up.

　　"What is it?"

　　"Did a big fish take the bait?"

　　The three of them were startled, and cautiously approached the lakeside.

　　Under the cold moonlight.

　　Ripples began to form on the originally calm surface of the lake, and the fishing float bobbed up and down with the waves.

　　The rope on the ground, which was held down by a rock, quickly began to be pulled into the water.

　　It seemed something had taken the bait below!

　　"Really got one?"

　　Jing Jian's eyes lit up with joy, and he quickly put away his peachwood sword and grabbed the rope.

　　"Manager Lu, I'll pull it in, you keep an eye on it!"

　　Saying this, he pulled the rope back with all his might.

　　But his strength was clearly insufficient, and he was almost pulled forward, nearly stumbling into the lake.

　　"Huzi, go help him."

　　Lu Fei stuffed the little black dog into his backpack, took out the thunder-struck jujube wood stick, stepped forward a few paces, and cautiously watched the lake.

　　Huzi rushed up and grabbed the rope, pulling the object in the lake back along with Jing Jian, feeling that it was extremely heavy.

　　He felt as if he was not pulling a rope, but a mad bull.

　　Lu Fei squinted his eyes and saw a shadow beneath the rippling water, swaying violently.

　　"Pull harder, we're almost there!"

　　Huzi let out a loud roar, with his leg and arm muscles bulging. Together with Jing Jian, they used all their strength and finally managed to move the object.

　　The rope was being pulled back inch by inch. Suddenly, another splash was heard, and a sodden mass was dragged out of the water.

　　The two of them immediately felt the force loosen, their center of gravity became unsteady, and they stumbled to the ground.

　　The wet object at the end of the rope came straight at them.

　　"Be careful!"

　　Lu Fei immediately threw out a ghost-expelling character.

　　The object swayed twice and landed lightly, turning out to be a tattered, wet piece of clothing.

　　"All that effort, and all we got is this piece of junk?" Hu Zi wiped the sweat from his forehead, speechless.

　　"This clothing must belong to the water ghost... It seems that big fish isn't so easy to catch," Jing Jian was somewhat disheartened.

　　Seeing that the two were fine, Lu Fei let out a slight sigh of relief, and when he looked towards the lake again, his gaze instantly sharpened.

　　In the faint moonlight, amidst the rippling waves, there were round objects floating on the dark surface of the lake.

　　Human heads!

　　There are so many water ghosts!

　　If Hu Zi and Jing Jian didn't have enough strength, they would have been dragged into the water by these things.

　　That was close!

　　"So the sound of the water just now was intentionally made to attract us. It wasn't us fishing; it was the water ghosts fishing for us!"

　　"What?"

　　Hu Zi and Jing Jian were taken aback and looked up at the lake.

　　Seeing the human heads floating on the surface, Hu Zi's scalp tingled, and he quickly pulled out his large ghost-headed knife from his backpack.

　　No wonder the force underwater was so strong!

　　Jing Jian also gripped his peachwood sword tightly.

　　The two cautiously took a few steps forward and stood in line with Lu Fei.

　　Those pitch-black heads bobbed up and down in the lake, always facing their direction.

　　"If we don't deal with them, they won't let us go." Lu Fei's voice grew somber.

　　"How do we deal with them? The water is their territory; we absolutely cannot go in!" Jing Jian's expression turned serious and cautious.

　　As the saying goes, it's better to climb a mountain than to enter the water.

　　Once a person enters the water, they are at a disadvantage. The most troublesome thing about water ghosts is this.

　　"Since we haven't lost anything, let's head back for now. It's not hard to break through a ghost wall, even if there are multiple layers, it just takes more effort."

　　"That's not a solution. These water ghosts have already set their sights on us and won't stop until they achieve their goal. If they cause trouble again when we go fishing tomorrow, won't we be in trouble?" Lu Fei shook his head.

　　"This really is a headache! I've never seen so many water ghosts here before!" Jing Jian furrowed his brow, "Lu Fei, you have a lot of tricks. Do you have any good ideas?"

　　Lu Fei pondered, his gaze falling on the wet rope.

　　"Since they are so eager to catch people, let's give them what they want, but with a little something extra."