Chapter 61 You'd Better Not Go to That Place!

With the official news from Yuanshan Town spreading completely, fishing enthusiasts from both the local area and afar, as well as from abroad, all rushed in pursuit of the legendary thousand-pound giant fish.

Avid anglers are a dime a dozen, but thousand-pound giant fish are a rare sight indeed.

To a true fisherman, a thousand-pound leviathan is much like adolescent romance—miss it once, and it’s gone for a lifetime.

Bah! Comparing a thousand-pound fish to romance is an absolute insult to the fish!

You can forego romance, you can do without a woman, but that giant fish simply must be caught.

When Jiang Fan woke up and saw the messages circulating online and in the fan groups, learning that many anglers had already sprung into action, he couldn't help feeling restless himself.

However, lying right beside him was his soft, fragrant, 36D college belle wife, leaving Jiang Fan torn between engaging in the most intimate of earthly pleasures and going fishing.

After a full three seconds of intense deliberation, he chose to grab his fishing rod and head out the door.

That was a thousand-pound behemoth out there, yet he had actually hesitated—he really was no better than a beast!

"Hey, Cousin, you awake yet? Time to head out—what?! You're saying you're already there? Damn it, you little punk didn't even wake me up! That's a total violation of angler code!"

When Jiang Fan arrived at the lake from the previous night, he found several fishermen already casting their lines, among them his cousin Jiang Qi and the veteran "skunked" uncle from the night before.

Jiang Fan asked, "Don't you two ever sleep?"

Jiang Qi replied, "What's the point of sleeping when you could be fishing? Sleep half a day and fish half a day, and the joy only lasts half a day. But if you fish the whole day, the happiness lasts all day long!"

Old Uncle Skunk chuckled, "Hehe, exactly, exactly! When I got back, every time I thought about that thousand-pound monster, I couldn't sleep a wink. So, what else could I do but grab my rod and come right back out?"

Jiang Fan asked, "So, did either of you actually lay eyes on the monster?"

Both men sported heavy, panda-like dark circles under their eyes and shook their heads in unison.

"Looks like the high probability is that the behemoth escaped through the underground river networks."

As he spoke, Jiang Qi cheerfully pulled out a map and waved it at Jiang Fan. "Don't get discouraged. Yuanshan Town is a maze of subterranean waterways, but based on the intel I've gathered, there are only a few places capable of sustaining a fish of that magnitude."

Jiang Fan's gaze sharpened. "Cousin, isn't this a blueprint from the Geological Bureau? How on earth did you get your hands on this?"

Jiang Qi wore an expression of utter triumph. "Didn't you know?"

Waving a hand dismissively and claiming he would explain later, Jiang Qi pointed at the map and launched into a detailed breakdown.

"Let's try our luck here first. If nothing turns up, we can follow this branch of the lake towards the North Gate River. The giant fish is definitely hiding in one of these spots."

"Forget it, forget it. Since you're already here, let's go find it right now."

With that, Jiang Qi grabbed his rod and bucket, leading Jiang Fan away.

Seeing this, Old Uncle Skunk trotted along behind them eagerly.

"Uncle, shouldn't you be focusing on fishing instead of tagging along after us?" Jiang Qi asked.

"You've got the map, but you don't know the terrain. I happen to be quite familiar with the area around here, so I can act as your guide," Uncle Skunk chuckled, continuing to explain as they walked.

"Let me tell you, I'm not the only one—several other people actually laid eyes on that monster. I can take you to talk to those anglers."

"Who knows? We might just catch a glimpse of the beast right where they spotted it!"

Hearing this, Jiang Fan and Jiang Qi agreed to let Uncle Skunk take the lead.

Following the branching stream of the lake and bypassing mountain paths, the trio arrived at the upper reaches of the North Gate River half an hour later, only to find their path blocked by towering mountains.

Just as Jiang Fan was considering activating his [Map] ability to scout the way forward, Uncle Skunk suddenly piped up, "Isn't this old Li's place right over here?"

"Old Li? Who's that?" Jiang Fan asked curiously.

Uncle Skunk replied, "Just a fishing buddy we often bump into."

"He's the one I mentioned who saw the giant fish. We can ask him precisely where he spotted it."

The three of them walked along the upper stream and then crossed the North Gate River via an old stone bridge.

After marching for perhaps ten minutes, they spotted a nearby village, separated from the North Gate River only by a dilapidated asphalt road.

When they arrived at old Li's house to inquire about the giant fish, old Li cursed up a storm.

"You lot are better off not going anywhere near that place!"

Uncle Skunk asked, "Why's that? Didn't you use to go there all the time?"

Clenching a cigarette between his lips, old Li's weathered, wrinkled face twisted in fury. "Yeah, I did, but I wouldn't dare go now! Damn it all! Better not to bring it up, just mentioning it makes my blood boil!"

"Dammit all to hell, our village has had the worst kind of bad luck. Over the past few years, either the kids get sick or the elderly die from heavy metal poisoning. We even wondered if we'd angered the River God by catching too many fish and brought a curse upon ourselves. We brought in Taoist priests, but they couldn't find a damn thing wrong."

"Later on, a few of us fishermen from the villages crossed the mountain to fish. And guess what we found?"

"God damn it, right behind that mountain, there's a paper mill secretly dumping sewage directly into the North Gate River!"

"Turns out our village was suffering from heavy metal poisoning precisely because we ate fish from the river and used its polluted water to irrigate our crops! Damn them to hell, we are furious!"

"If ghosts were behind this, fine, but damn it, these are living people! In this day and age, people are far more terrifying than ghosts!"

"You guys going to fish over there? Might as well just drink heavy metal and drop dead right now!"

Hearing this, Jiang Qi's expression suddenly grew grave. "There's such a thing going on? Why hasn't it been reported?"

At the mention of reporting, old Li grew even more incensed. "Damn it, reported? Who knows how many times our village has reported it? Did it do any good? Not a damn bit! Later, we planned to go to the provincial capital to lodge a complaint, but a few days ago, the young man heading to the province mysteriously slipped into the water and drowned! They only fished his body out last night!"

"The official explanation they gave was that he drowned while swimming!"

"Dammit, little Wang grew up playing in the water, his swimming skills were top-notch. You expect us to believe that?"

"Besides, why would he go for a swim on his way to file a lawsuit? What kind of sick, fucking joke are you playing on us?"

"Anyone with half a brain knows what's going on! Isn't it just to shield that polluting factory?!"

"Little Wang's wife, children, and elderly parents went and knelt outside for days, and they almost got thrown into jail for it! We're just peasants, who the hell cares about us?"

Old Li took a drag from his cigarette, his eyes turning red. "Sigh, dammit all! We can't fight them, there's simply no way to fight them. The rich and the young have all fled, leaving only the elderly and the poor in the village—we have zero clout to take them on!"

"Take me, for instance, I can barely recognize a few characters, dammit!"

"It's just such a tragedy for little Wang's family. Both elderly parents are nearly in their graves, forced to watch the white-haired bury the black-haired. His wife has fainted on the way to lodge complaints more times than I can count! And the little kid cries for his daddy every single night! Damn it all! In this world, the poor aren't even treated like human beings!"

"Sigh, no use talking about it anymore. Saying more is just a waste of breath, might as well say nothing at all."

"Damn it, the three of you better turn back! Otherwise, you might end up just like little Wang—slipping and falling into the river to drown. Even if they murder you outright, they'll make sure the official cause is drowning. Damn it all, when ghosts and spirits rule, they devour men; but when corrupt men rule, they devour you down to the very bones without spitting out a single scrap!"