Chapter 27
The young man was completely dumbfounded, and so were the viewers in the live stream.
"...You mean, my dad was actually still alive when he was buried?" The young man was dazed, and then the next second, he suddenly jumped up from the stool and exclaimed, "But, but I've already sent my dad up the mountain!"
Because of their custom of burying elders in the mountains, the burial is also called "sending people up the mountain." His father has not only been buried, but the grave mound is also very high.
The man took a breath, forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, and asked Xu Gui, "So, is my dad dead now?"
Xu Gui: "It seems he's still alive for now, but that might not be the case after some time."
The young man listened, initially relieved, then tense again. His mind was blank, his hands and feet trembling, unsure what to do. Finally, after pacing around in place twice, he suddenly looked at Xu Gui and asked her:
"Master, what should I do?"
Xu Gui: ?
Xu Gui sighed, then raised his head and said loudly and clearly, "Of course, we should call your hometown first and ask them to dig up the grave!"
The young man suddenly realized, "Oh, oh." He hurriedly went to make a phone call.
As for Xu Gui, after thinking about it, she decided to call the police as a precaution—anyway, if anything happens, calling the police is always the right thing to do; this was a principle she learned in the orphanage that had become ingrained in her bones.
But who would have thought she would ask the police for so many favors? Less than 24 hours after her last call, she dialed the police again.
*
The police arrived quickly, while the young man was still desperately talking to his family back home on the other end of the phone.
"...My dad is really not dead! You guys go and dig up his grave! If he stays in there any longer, he'll really die!" the young man shouted. "I got a call from him this morning. He asked me to save him. He's definitely not dead."
The person on the other end of the phone said, "...Nonsense, your dad is worried about you and can't rest in peace. I told you to hold a memorial service for him before he leaves."
Hu Tu: "..."
Confused?
Confused.
Xu Gui couldn't help but take a second look at the young man—this name really wasn't a bad choice.
“…That’s what happened,” Xu Gui said, looking at the police officer. She had already briefly explained the situation. “His father was very likely buried alive, and his condition is very dangerous now!”
The police officer pondered, seemingly trying to determine the truth of the matter, while over there, Hu Tu suddenly shouted, "This really isn't a dream! Look, I even have call records here. This one is from my dad!"
He held up his phone to show Xu Gui and the others. In the call log, there was a call from someone whose contact name was "Dad" at 04:35:23.
Looking at this, Hu Tu seemed to have grasped some crucial evidence and shouted into the phone, "I'm not dreaming! My dad is really alive! Mom, hurry up and go find Uncle and the others. Before my dad dies, go and dig up his grave!"
After a few seconds of silence, Hu's mother on the other end of the phone said, "It seems your father really died with his eyes open. Should I find a Taoist priest to perform a ritual for him? Son, I can't talk to you anymore. I need to find someone to perform a ritual for your father so he won't keep bothering you and Miaomiao!"
Before the call ended, everyone heard the person on the other end mutter something like, "That damn bastard, he was a troublemaker for the kids while he was alive, and he can't even rest in peace now that he's dead. He's infuriating!"
beep!
As the phone call ended, the muttering on the other end also stopped.
Hutu: ?
Xu Gui and the others: "..."
Hu Tu felt like her head was about to explode. She turned to look at Xu Gui again, but this time, before she could speak, Xu Gui had already turned to look at the two policemen standing next to her.
"Officers, I can only ask you for a favor!" she said.
Hu Tu's mother firmly believed that Hu Tu and his sister were possessed by an evil spirit, haunted by the spirit of their deceased father. It seemed that she couldn't be expected to find someone to dig up the grave. As for the other people in Hu Tu's hometown, most of them felt that digging up other people's graves was against the natural order, so this matter could probably only be handled by contacting the local fire brigade.
Fortunately, Xu Gui and his group called the police, and with their help, they wouldn't have been able to contact the local officials for a while.
Not long after, the two policemen hung up the phone and looked at Hu Tu: "...The staff over there said that they would send someone to the mountain to dig up the grave immediately."
They actually felt a bit strange – they were doing a good deed, but the words "digging up graves" just sounded so improper.
Upon hearing this, Hu Tu felt a sense of relief and thanked them profusely, saying, "Thank you, thank you! Thank you so much! Should I go back now?"
Xu Gui: Are you asking me?
“…I think you really should go back,” she said. At least you should be able to see your father being dug out of his grave with your own eyes, right?
Upon hearing her words, Hu Tu immediately seemed to realize something and nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, I'll go back now."
Just as he finished speaking and was about to leave, he suddenly stopped, turned around and looked at Xu Gui, saying, "Master, can you come back with me? I, I'm a little scared."
He spoke his last sentence in a low voice.
Xu Gui looked at him blankly.
Hu Tu whispered, "If my dad were still alive, that would be the best, but if he really is dead and is just a ghost, I wouldn't be so scared if you were here, Master."
Xu Gui: "..."
She suddenly realized that this foolish king had only half-believed what she said, and hadn't completely believed it at all. In other words, he still felt that his father might not be at peace after death, and that his ghost was haunting him and his sister.
Hu Tu: "Master, please help me! I'm too scared to go back alone!!"
*
At this time, Xu Gui's live stream had over a million viewers, and what's rare is that almost all of them were real people, with no fake viewers. Looking at the scene now, who would remember that when she first started broadcasting, she only had a few thousand viewers?
At this moment, over a million netizens were enthusiastically discussing the Hu Tu family matter in the live stream, with the chat box filled with dense comments:
[Is the streamer's prediction accurate? If it's true that someone buried their own father alive, that man would be traumatized, right?]
[Those who question the streamer's fortune-telling abilities are clearly new viewers. Long-time fans know that Xu Gui's fortune-telling is incredibly accurate; she hasn't made a single mistake so far, has she?]
I have a bad feeling. Hu Tu's dad was buried alive for at least 24 hours. Is it even possible for him to survive?
[It's true that spending too much time online allows you to see all sorts of things; I've even seen reports of people being buried alive.]
Donate *1, Donate *2, Donate *N...
The high school student remained silent, only quietly giving a tip.
...
Despite Hu Tu's fervent anticipation, Xu Gui finally agreed to go on this trip with him.
The two police officers knew the seriousness of the situation and offered to take them there. The police car sped towards Hu Tu's hometown with its siren blaring. By this time, twenty hours had passed since Hu Tu's father was buried alive.
Just as Xu Gui and his group got into the police car and headed towards Hu Tu's hometown, at this time, on the outskirts of City A, a group of fishermen were skillfully clearing the bushes around a wild pond, preparing to fish.
This group of people was naturally Mr. Wu and his fellow fishing enthusiasts.
"…Old He, are you sure there are fish here?" one angler asked doubtfully. "This pond doesn't look very big… Come to think of it, how come there's a wild pond up in the mountains?"
The man called Lao He said with certainty, "Absolutely."
He then replied, "A couple of years ago, spring water fish were all the rage, so many people started opening ponds in the mountains to raise fish, using the gimmick of raising fish with spring water. But the fish were only popular for two years and then disappeared. Those fish farmers gradually abandoned the ponds in the mountains."
This is how the wild pond they are seeing came to be.
“There’s more than just this one wild pond here. Look around, there are several…” Old He continued, “Someone caught fish here before. Don’t underestimate this small pond; the fish here are truly ‘mountain spring fish.’ Look over there, isn’t there a mountain stream flowing down? Fish raised in this kind of flowing water are delicious.”
"It's precisely because of these wild ponds that you never know what kind of fish you might catch; the anticipation and mystery are off the charts."
Wang Chengde, who was at odds with Old Wu, glanced at Old Wu and said arrogantly, "Enough talk, everyone start baiting and fishing. Don't forget our bet: whoever catches the most special thing is the winner!"
He hummed, "When the time comes, everyone will have to call this guy 'Big Brother' from the bottom of their hearts."
Old Wu could tell that Wang Chengde's words came from him, but he was too lazy to pay attention to him—he was someone who had caught the king of fish before, and he wouldn't listen to such a defeated opponent.
There are indeed many wild ponds here, scattered like stars, but many have dried up, and some are just small puddles with no fish in them, so they can't really be called ponds anymore. So, there aren't many wild ponds left that are suitable for fishing.
Everyone had found their preferred pond and were ready to start fishing. Old Wu still remembered what the master had said: "Walk about twenty meters to the left, and you'll see a place where there are fish..."
"I'll go take a look over there." He greeted the others and walked straight to his left.
Wang Chengde had been watching him closely. Seeing that he seemed to head straight for his destination in one direction as soon as he arrived, he couldn't help but frown with suspicion—how come this person seems to know which pond has fish? Could he have come here beforehand to scout the area and was trying to cheat?
The more Wang Chengde thought about it, the more suspicious he became, and the more he felt that there was something fishy about Old Wu.
He felt something was off yesterday, and he couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't understand how Wu Yongfa, with his terrible fishing skills and luck, managed to catch such big fish and so many small crucian carp yesterday. It was as if the goddess of fishing was on his side.
Wang Chengde was very dissatisfied, which is why they made this bet again today.
"I'd like to see what you're really up to, you old bastard!" Whether it was just good luck or something else entirely.
Thinking this, Wang Defa picked up his fishing gear and quickly followed Old Wu to a secluded pond some distance from the others. Watching Old Wu examine the small pond as if confirming something, Wang Defa became even more certain of his guess:
This old man Wu is definitely up to something.
Therefore, seeing that Old Wu had put down his fishing gear and looked like he was about to fish in the wild pond, Wang Defa immediately put down his fishing gear as well.
Old Wu was taken aback when he saw him, and gave him a silent look.
Wang Defa said, his tone fierce but his voice weak, "Why are you looking at me like that? There's no rule in our bet that says I can't share a pond with you, is there?"
Old Wu's lips twitched slightly, and he said, "Then do as you please."
He looked at the spot where he had just found the fish and discovered that there was more than one fish. Besides a large black-backed grass carp, there was also a group of miscellaneous small fish. He thought to himself: The master is indeed a master. He is really amazing. He can even calculate the best fishing spot.
Old Wu picked up his fishing gear, especially the bait for chumming. He could see there were quite a few fish in the pond, so he needed to prepare a good spot and catch plenty of fish.
Meanwhile, Wang Defa also noticed something strange about the pond. Why did he see so many fish in it?
Generally, in abandoned ponds like this, the fish usually hide at the bottom and are basically invisible to the naked eye. However, the fish in this pond are very active, with most of them emerging from the bottom and swimming in the water.
Wang Defa couldn't help but glance at Old Wu, and said sarcastically, "Wu Yongfa, Wu Yongfa, this isn't very interesting."
Old Wu: "?"
"Are you having an attack? Alzheimer's? Should I take you to the hospital?" He asked three questions in quick succession.
Wang De angrily retorted, "You're the one who's just having an attack of the disease! You're the one with Alzheimer's!"
Old Wu chuckled and said, "You're not sick, yet you're talking nonsense and spouting rubbish, saying things that no one can understand."
Wang Desheng angrily retorted, "Did I say something wrong? Didn't you cheat?"
"I cheated?" Old Wu asked incredulously.
Wang Defa said, "Isn't that right? If you hadn't scouted this place beforehand, why would you have gone straight to this wild pond as soon as you got up the mountain? Humph, I've seen the wild ponds on this mountain. The fish in other wild ponds are nowhere near this many or this active. They're all hiding at the bottom of the water!"
With an expression that said, "I've found evidence," he said confidently, "Only the fish in this wild pond are not only not hiding underwater, but they're all so active. What else could it be but that you deliberately put them in there? You're cheating!"
Mr. Wu: "...I can only tell you that I did not cheat."
Wait, asking a master to calculate the fishing spot, is that considered cheating? Old Wu's gaze suddenly shifted, and he felt a little guilty—he really hadn't thought about this question before.
"Ahem!" He coughed lightly and said, "Anyway, I can tell you that the fish in this pond have nothing to do with me. I didn't put them in. If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do."
Wang Defa gritted his teeth: "You just think I have no evidence, right?"
"snort!"
He put down his own fishing gear, took out his fishing rod and bait, and said, "Let's watch and see who catches the most fish!"
Old Wu kindly reminded him: "Our bet this time was clearly about who could catch the most special thing, not about who could catch the most."
However, the word "special" is difficult to define. What kind of fish is considered special? The biggest, the most numerous, or the rarest?
Thinking about it, Old Wu asked Wang Defa a couple of questions, and Wang Defa was stunned after hearing them.
Wang Defa: "What you said makes sense. Our situation is special, but we haven't set a standard." So, what kind of fish would be considered special?
Oh well, whatever, I'll just fish first.
...
There were quite a few fish in this wild pond, and they weren't hiding under rocks or mud, so in no time, both Old Wu and Wang Defa had caught some.
After catching a few fish, Wang Defa was convinced that the fish in the pond had been dumped there by Old Wu. Wild fish that are not fed are different from artificially raised fish. The former may not be as fat, but their belly scales have a thick golden color, making them look very special and clearly distinguishable from artificially raised fish.
But if it wasn't Wu Yongfa's doing, then what's the deal with the fish in this wild pond?
Wang Defa was deep in thought when he suddenly felt the float move. He snapped out of his reverie and, after some trial and error, pulled up the fishing rod. There he saw a large turtle on his line.
Wang Defa: ?
After taking the large turtle down, he didn't immediately put it in the fishing gear. Instead, he stared at it for a while and suddenly asked, "Wu Yongfa, do you think this turtle counts as a special thing I caught?"
He looked intently at Old Wu.
Old Wu was taken aback, then thought for a moment and said, "It seems that counts. Our bet didn't say that what we caught had to be a fish."
Upon hearing this, Wang De suddenly burst into laughter, delighted. He proudly declared, "Then it seems I've definitely won this bet. Look at this giant turtle, how delicate and beautiful it is, how big it is!"
Old Wu: "..." Crazy.
Mr. Wu focused his attention on his fishing rod. Suddenly, he felt the rod become heavy. After some pulling, he started to reel in the line, and as he did so, he realized something was wrong.
"Wang Defa! It looks like I've got a big shipment here!" he exclaimed excitedly.
Wang Defa, still in a state of excitement: ?
Old Wu hurriedly said, "Please come and help me, I can't hold on much longer, this fish is so heavy!"
Wang Defa snapped out of his daze and hurriedly grabbed the net and went to Old Wu's side.
Old Wu's catch this time was clearly a big one; his fishing rod was stretched into a bow. If it weren't for the good quality of his rod, it might have broken by now.
Seeing that Old Wu was having trouble pulling the rod, Wang Defa quickly came over and helped him pull it up. The two of them used all their strength and finally managed to fish the thing up.
only……
Looking at the mud-covered object in front of them, which was clearly a suitcase, Old Wu and Wang Defa exchanged bewildered glances—they were promised a big catch, so how did they end up with such a strange thing?
"What is this? A suitcase?"
"There seems to be something inside. Shall we open it and take a look?"
...
Then, two minutes later, the sound of two people vomiting violently suddenly rang out around the pond.
*
Half an hour later, accompanied by the wailing of sirens, several police cars stopped at the foot of the mountain where Mr. Wu and his friends were fishing. Soon after, the mountain was sealed off by the police, and no one was allowed to go out.
That same evening, the topic "[Fishing man catches female corpse while fishing in wild pond?]" suddenly became a trending topic.
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