Chapter 72: True Fishing Masters Don’t Need Bait
Fishing is an elegant yet profound sport. Many people who don't know much about it misunderstand it, believing its pleasure comes from showing off one's catch. This isn't true. Chu Hengkong once caught a whole crocodile, but that wasn't the point. He also once caught a fish so large it could sink a small boat, but that wasn't the point either.
The essence of fishing lies in the process. You drop your line by the water's edge, then sit quietly, gazing at the float, letting the waves carry your thoughts away. In other circumstances, this would be a waste of time, but with the undeniable and legitimate excuse of fishing, you don't need to worry about meaning or efficiency. You can set aside all trivial matters and empty your mind in the tranquility...
"Man, I don't know what they say on your Dust Island," said Fander, "but in my opinion, you can't catch fish without bait."
“I can fish.”
"No, no, fish are just stupid, but they're not suicide volunteers. It's better to say that no species would give up their simple lives and bite the hook!"
"Baited."
“Why?!”
The buoy suddenly sank, and the fishing line was pulled down to the surface by a tremendous force. Chu Hengkong lifted the rod with one hand and exerted a slight force. An incredibly long fish leaped out of the small fountain! The strange fish was about 20 meters long, its body smooth and scaleless, but with many short tentacles like sea anemones. Its head resembled a crocodile, with four pairs of compound eyes. It opened its mouth and bit Chu Hengkong!
Then he was knocked down to the beach by a knife.
"The incarnated demon cannot be eaten." Chu Hengkong said.
Vander took a closer look and concluded professionally, "It must be a gluttonous demon."
"How did you tell that?"
"Demons are pure spiritual beings, essentially living thoughts. We can reveal their true nature by identifying relics." Finder pointed his short tentacles at the demon's mouth. "And listen to its cry."
The greedy demon jumped around weakly, his voice barely audible: "Hungry...hungry..."
Chu Hengkong felt even hungrier, so he kicked it. The greedy demon didn't dare to scream anymore. Fander praised his kicking technique, and everyone continued to stare at the fishing rod in a daze. They weren't too surprised to catch a demon, because the place they were fishing...
It's the seaside.
Yingshi Town is a place of incredible devastation. From above, its terrain resembles a crater on the moon with a bite taken out of it. The strange mountain range encircles the town like a crescent moon, with the only missing piece facing the sea. This boundless ocean is the source of the vortex outside Huilong City, said to be the boundless "Sea of Illusions."
The waters of the Sea of Illusions are completely transparent and colorless. When the tide surges, countless illusions float by: castles, rocks, beauties, jewels. If one looks intently, the illusions become clearer, and vivid tentacles and eyes emerge from them, dragging the viewer to the depths of the sea.
This is the origin of the name of the Sea of Illusions. The phantom is actually the illusion of the devil, and the ocean is the largest devil's nest.
Chu Hengkong looked at the foam in the sea indifferently: "I saw the boss's face. The boss in heaven is smiling at me."
Vander's voice was flat and even. "Wake up! No matter which island they are on, the dead won't laugh. Look away now."
"Even the sound came out. This illusion is so real." Chu Hengkong rubbed his eyes vigorously. "'You kept things of unknown origin for the sake of small profits, which is why you fell into this situation.' It's absolutely correct... Ah, Boss!!"
Fander threw a stone into the sea, extinguishing the vivid auditory hallucination. Chu Hengkong stretched out his hands in disappointment. After a long moment, he said dully, "I saw my partner..."
"Are you done yet? Can you please increase your mental resistance a little?"
"She's having a feast... hamburgers, sandwiches, seafood porridge, fried rice, mashed potatoes..."
"Why are they all staple foods? There must be something wrong with this girl's diet! She's definitely going to get fat!"
Fander threw a second large rock, shattering the illusion. Chu Hengkong returned to his silent fishing. The gluttonous demon wanted to return to the sea, but couldn't find the opportunity to move, so he played dead. They all displayed a pathetic calm, apathy, a near-acceptance of everything. Because the moment they reached the beach, they had received the greatest shock of the day.
There was a literal "chasm" in the sea, a vast void. It was like the miracle of Moses parting the sea, replicated a thousand times, a million times, splitting the virtual sea in two in the most exaggerated form. At a certain point, the waters could no longer flow, falling along an invisible "boundary," like a waterfall at the end of the world, with only emptiness at its bottom.
There were two such waterfalls, echoing each other on either side of the hollow. They separated this shore from the other in the cruelest way. Finder therefore understood the killer's hollow expression, feeling both guilt and sympathy. The Great Hollow was like a grave, burying all hope of return. No matter where Huilong City lay within the sea, they could never return.
Chu Hengkong suddenly put down his fishing rod and stood up. Fander shuddered, thinking he had really been lured by the illusion: "Brother?"
"The situation is so bad, if I don't want to die, I have to think of more ways." Chu Hengkong was surprisingly calm. "My goal is to return to the city. What are your thoughts now?"
"You have my tentacles and manual in your hands, and you're asking me?" Vander's eyes widened. "I was just about to tell you this. Now there are beasts in front of us and demons behind us. We have nowhere to escape! At least before we escape the mountains, let's put aside our grudges and cooperate appropriately."
"Cooperation is the way to survive." Chu Hengkong nodded, "But I don't believe you."
Fander was wrongly accused: "Brother Killer! What's so suspicious about me, a beholder? I'm so harmless, and you still don't believe me?"
"Tell me what's unsuspicious about you?" Chu Hengkong picked up the large book. "For example, this book. You said it was a travel guide, but it can even identify high-quality relics. This isn't something an ordinary thing can do. Can you explain, Wander? Why is your guide so powerful?"
"I don't know." Vander blinked.
Chu Hengkong doubted his ears for a moment: "...Huh?"
"Well, I was an excellent student when I was studying, so the owner gave me this gift personally when I graduated. I don't know what level this manual is, but anyway, it must be very impressive from the owner's hand..." Vander scratched his head, "This thing is a gift I got, I don't know if you ask..."
Fander's eyes were as innocent as they could be, filled with the expression "I don't understand, I don't understand" written in them, with the clear stupidity of a college student. Chu Hengkong couldn't help but sigh deeply when he saw this: "Then why did your precious book come to my city?"
"Please don't ask." Vander collapsed. "Anyway, this has nothing to do with any conspiracy or intrigue. It's just really embarrassing. Please, please, give me some face and stop asking."
That humiliating look, that wimpy demeanor... So you threw away the graduation gift the curator made for you right after you left the building?! For a clueless college student to do this... It's truly fitting for someone like you!
Chu Hengkong felt a lump in his throat for a moment. Fander ignored his reaction and immediately started a new topic, looking like he really wanted to get over this matter. "You've asked so many questions, it's my turn! Mr. Chu, are you a cornerstone or a glimmer? I see your abilities are really bizarre. A scholar-mage, but you fight like a barbarian. What theory and formula are you using to construct your technique?"
"I'm a handyman."
Finder was astonished. "A skilled wizard! How rare! No wonder your staff is shaped like a knife... Can you tell me what the power source is?"
"muscle."
"...What?" Vander was confused. "Is this...a bio-energy technique? It doesn't look like one..."
Chu Hengkong sighed deeply, pointed at himself and said, "I am a warrior."
"Hmm?" Finder was increasingly confused. "I've never heard of this line of work. You're... using biological energy to cultivate spiritual power, and then providing blessings to the body?"
Chu Hengkong clenched his fist, causing the muscles in his arm to flex and veins to pop out on the back of his fist. He punched the beach, creating a crater with a radius of three meters!
"I learned this from the Chenjun Palace in Longquan Township." He emphasized every word, "Make good use of Longxiang boxing techniques!"
Vander stared at the pit for nearly ten seconds, shaking like a sieve.
"You, you, you, you. You're not a mage?"
nod.
"Are you a Wu-Wu monk?"
Nodded again.
Vander jumped into the pit with a wow, rolling around crying: "It's over! How could it be a muscle idiot! I studied for so many years, and in the end, my tentacles were taken away by barbarians! Please be kind and bury me, I can't live like this anymore!!"
It fluttered through the sand and buried itself in the pit. All it needed was a small wooden stick to reach the "Tomb of the Eye Demon Fande." The eyeball's despicable nature was truly astonishing. Chu Hengkong was both angry and amused. He grabbed the Eye Demon with one tentacle and shook it vigorously twice. "Have you had enough?"
Vander's eyes welled up with tears. "I, a distinguished member of the library, have fallen to the point of associating with barbarians. What else do you want?"
"Keep asking." Chu Hengkong ignored the other party's pretense and continued to press, "You said you were harmless, so how did you survive in the Senluo Secret Realm for seven months?"
Fander straightened his head, stroked his tentacles, and immediately started to boast: "State of mind is state of mind, strength is strength. As a top student, your uncle Fander has some skills, but the environment was not suitable for showing off his skills before... and now he only has one skill left and can't do anything serious..."
The eyeball monster's words reassured Chu Hengkong. If it insisted it was harmless and only relied on luck, that would be extremely suspicious. He stepped on the greedy demon, preventing it from escaping. "You've seen what I'm capable of. You, a top student, should also tell me the truth."
Fander agreed immediately: "Just stretch out your tentacles and watch!"
Chu Hengkong, confused, stretched his tentacles. Fander leaped up, high-fived him with his own extra-long tentacle. A stream of transparent mucus erupted from the tips of both tentacles, pinning the gluttonous demon to the beach like a giant pile of snot!
“…”
"This is my Lord Vander's signature trick, the slime attack." Vander was very proud.
Chu Hengkong wordlessly grabbed Fander and swatted him back and forth on the beach like a ball. The big eyeball howled, "Listen to me, and then you can read it yourself!"
Chu Hengkong glanced sideways and saw the eel-like demon trembling frantically but unable to break free from the slime. The more it struggled, the more terrified it became. Fander raised his head from the sand and protested, "Don't you have any patience? I'll use this unique skill to help you eat!"
"Tell me more."
Finder shook off the dust on his body and said proudly, "The Fantasy Demon is a purely spiritual life form. It relies entirely on possessing this fish to come ashore. And my mucus, Master Finder, can contain thoughts, and my tentacles can extract thoughts. In other words..."
"Can you pull the devil out?" Chu Hengkong was very interested.
"That's right! But now one of my tentacles is on you. If I want to pull away my thoughts, I need your cooperation." Vander said, "So, do you want to starve to death or obey me?"
Chu Hengkong tensed his tentacles and cracked a whip in the air. The greedy demon watched helplessly as a man with an extremely strange expression approached, and the four pairs of fish eyes were filled with despair.
·
Ten minutes later.
Qi Su, holding a short stick, skipped towards the coast. The town meeting was over, and everyone quickly reached a consensus and came up with a solution. They had to take care of those two fools first, and then they would have to see how lucky they were...
"Hey, squids~" Qi Su cupped his hands like a trumpet, "If you can't catch any fish, go back to town first—what are you doing?!!"
Qi Su slammed on the brakes in horror. He saw an enormous eel, suspended alive by clumps of slime, dangling between two wooden sticks as if being tortured. Its body twitched as if it were being electrocuted, and it cried out in pain, begging for mercy. The man with tentacles stood before the rack, brutally whipping the eel with his tentacles!
"You don't have to recruit." The man's eyes were vicious. "We have plenty of patience."
"Hungry! Hungry!" the eel cried miserably! Its long, soft body was beaten to pieces, covered in silver whip marks. Brown blood oozed from the wounds, sucked up by the slime like a bloodsucking worm. What a cruel torture... But the executioner showed no mercy, and the eyeball monster sitting on his head even laughed shrilly, helping the evildoer.
"Hey, Chu Hengkong, just hitting its body is too slow. You should hit its face! Come on, let me increase your concentration so you can hit it more efficiently."
Snap! "Hungry!" Snap! "Hungry!" Snap! "Hungry!" The eel's cries for mercy grew increasingly low! The slime was completely dyed brown!
"Fander, you really are experienced. I feel your efficiency has improved." Chu Hengkong was overjoyed. "Just beat it to death!"
"Stop it! You two fish-torturing perverts, get out of here!"
Qi Su was horrified and swung his stick, sending up a cloud of dust. Chu Hengkong dodged sideways, and Fander was blinded by the dust. He rolled on the ground with his eyes closed, "You little brat, are you sick? Didn't your parents teach you how to handle seafood?!"
Qi Su pointed at the eel, his face flushed. "What kind of treatment is this? This is too much! You are just venting your base desires!!"
At this moment, Chu Hengkong delivered a final lash, and the gluttonous demon made a retching sound before completely falling silent. A faint, almost phantom image floated out of the fish's body. Before it could return to the sea, it completely merged into the slime, transforming into a mass... something that looked very much like a blessing...
Fander was overjoyed when he saw this and dove into the slime: "It's coming out! Help me collect it, every drop of this is essence!"
The eel, having successfully exorcised the demon, was now a mere breath away from death. Chu Hengkong lifted the eel high, facing the illusory ocean. This simple action contained satisfaction, joy, pride... and other emotions that only belong to a victor! It was humanity's first important step in its struggle against nature!
"Food!" Chu Hengkong was overwhelmed with emotions.
Qi Su looked at the small squid with its head and face covered with brown unknown objects, and the big squid holding up an eel and shouting, and he just wanted to kick them all into the sea with his feet.
(End of this chapter)
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