Strange Tale: Night Fishing for Ghost Fish / I'm Sorry I Couldn't Make Lord Wu Song Use His Full Strength

"Little Lin, do you want to come take a look at the big fish I caught too?"

Uncle Chen's words seemed to possess a kind of magic, brimming with temptation:

"Come on! Get closer and look. Isn't this fish beautiful?"

Lin Chen couldn't stop himself from moving closer, intending to get a good look at the big fish.

But the closer he got, the more he smelled a familiar stench of decay.

It was clearly a fish with scales as silver-white as the moon, but when Lin Chen leaned in and opened his eyes, what he saw was—

A completely rotten dead fish, its organs foul and filthy, its body crawling with maggots and flies!

The next second, Lin Chen jolted awake from the nightmare.

"This isn't right. Something must have gone wrong somewhere!"

He turned his gaze toward Uncle Chen's house. That increasingly intense stench of decay was coming from inside!

The author has brought Uncle Chen along to beg for votes and follows!

This is extremely important for the future popularity of this book!

Uncle Chen's words seemed to possess a kind of magic, brimming with temptation:

"Come on! Follow the book! Isn't this story beautiful?"

Chapter 12: Anomaly: Night Fishing for a Haunted Fish

My name is Qin Shengfang. I'm a resident of Building 4 in Xin'an Residential Area, H City. I'm forty-two this year, and I usually love going fishing.

Yesterday, the lockdown notice for our residential area came down. For the next half a month, we wouldn't be allowed to go out fishing.

My heart itched terribly, but there was nothing I could do.

Who would have thought that, of all things, I'd hear that Old Chen from our building had caught a huge silver carp weighing over fifty kilograms just before the lockdown!

I couldn't accept this. I knew Old Chen's fishing skills. He was a professional fishless angler, far worse than me!

I'd never caught a fish this big before. How could he have managed it?

Unwilling to believe it, I went to take a look—and it was true!

A silver-white silver carp over half a meter long was hanging in Old Chen's living room.

The fish was still alive, opening and closing its mouth as its fish eyes spun around. It was so big, so beautiful!

The neighbors and fishing buddies I often went fishing with and I were all spellbound. We simply couldn't bear to leave.

It wasn't until mealtime that I had no choice but to return home. On the way back, I thought resentfully, How did a fish this big end up being caught by him instead of me?

Even that night, I kept muttering about the fish at Old Chen's house. The more I thought about it, the less I could sleep.

I always felt that when I'd left, the fish's eyes had been fixed on me, as if it didn't want me to go. It felt as though it wanted to take me as its master!

No, I had to go confirm it again. I had to go take another good look at it!

Its curves and scales were simply too beautiful.

I couldn't hold myself back any longer!

In the dead of night, I arrived at Old Chen's door. It was actually ajar, not fully closed.

I immediately wanted to push it open. I knew that once I did, I would be able to see the big fish I had dreamed of!

That magnificent fish, with silver scales whiter than snow, plump and robust!

But for some reason, I glanced at the strange portrait of two people posted beside the entrance to Little Lin's house, and hesitated.

I felt that going to Old Chen's house in the middle of the night seemed somehow wrong.

As for what was wrong, exactly? I couldn't say. But it was such a fine fish. It was only right for me to come take a look. Who could stop me?

So I pushed open Old Chen's door and was about to walk inside.

But I suddenly saw that Old Chen's living room was packed with people!

They were all neighbors and fishing buddies I knew!

Their eyes were wide open as they stared fixedly at the big fish hanging in the middle of the living room, that beautiful...

Huh?!

Th-this fish... how did it change?

This fish was nothing like what I had seen during the day!

It was actually a dead fish that had been rotting for a long time, reeking of fishy stench and covered in buzzing flies!

Why weren't the others reacting? Couldn't they see it?! Or had I seen it wrong?

No, wait—the fish wasn't dead yet!

Its eyes could still swivel like those of a living person.

It... it was looking at me!

H-help!

At that moment, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder...

Lin Chen placed a hand on Uncle Qin's shoulder, then yanked him out.

After having that nightmare about the Rotting Fish Corpse, Lin Chen knew something was wrong. Clearly, his spiritual senses had issued a warning.

Moreover, the Guardian Door Gods—Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong—on that card had been restless without pause.

If Lin Chen did nothing, he even felt as though they were about to summon themselves.

It seemed that an anomaly had infiltrated the residential area!

It was very likely related to the big fish Uncle Chen had caught yesterday.

So Lin Chen made his way to Uncle Chen's house. When he saw Uncle Qin sitting upstairs, scared witless, he immediately pulled him out first.

Seeing that Uncle Qin was so terrified that his soul had nearly left his body, Lin Chen instructed him, "Go to my house. Close the door and don't come out."

Lin Chen's house had Door Gods enshrined inside, providing at least some protection.

Uncle Qin was completely at a loss and left in a trembling daze.

Then Lin Chen took the initiative to enter Uncle Chen's house—the source of the stench of decay.

More than a dozen neighbors with vacant gazes were kneeling before the fish corpse, clustered around it like stars surrounding the moon.

Lin Chen could see that each of those neighbors had an almost invisible fishing line on them, linking them directly to the fish corpse.

According to the "Standard for General Dangerous Anomalies" of the Card Master Association, Lin Chen judged that this Rotting Fish Corpse was at the critical point of advancing from "Anomaly Level" to "Aberrant Level."

(I: Anomaly Level

Criteria: Anomalies of this level do not display prominent mutation characteristics. They can affect humans only through indirect means such as auditory rumors or visual suggestion, and possess no capacity for physical harm.

Danger level: They cause only mild mental contamination in humans, potentially resulting in fear, anxiety, or cognitive confusion. Their influence on humans is slow and indirect, and they do not cause actual bodily injury or serious mental harm.

Control measures: One or two apprentice Card Masters should conduct routine monitoring, containment, or elimination. No large-scale resource investment is required.

II: Aberrant Level

Criteria: The anomaly has initially formed a mutated body, displaying certain abnormal characteristics and possessing the ability to inflict actual harm. Its form and abilities are not yet stable, and there is a certain probability that it will directly cause witnesses to lose their minds.

Danger level: It may cause moderate psychological effects to individuals or small groups of humans. It poses a potential physical threat, but has not reached a catastrophic level.

Control measures: Beginner Card Masters must be dispatched for monitoring and response. The specific number depends on the situation, usually a team of one to three Card Masters.

III: Fierce Ghost Level

Criteria: Anomalies of this level possess a complete physical form and stable, clearly defined supernatural abilities, enabling them to cause actual harm to Card Masters. Their ability to erode sanity is powerful and can instantly drive large numbers of humans insane.

Danger level: They can cause severe psychological and physiological harm to individual Card Masters or human groups, and may trigger localized panic or chaos.

Control measures: At least one intermediate Card Master must be dispatched to suppress or eliminate it. Usually, an elite team of three to five Card Masters is formed and equipped with specialized psionic containment card equipment.

IV: Disaster Level

Criteria: Anomalies of this level possess large-scale destructive abilities, sufficient to cause catastrophic effects across a city or an even wider area. Their abilities contain conceptual or rare traits, making them difficult to handle through conventional means. Their ability to erode sanity is extraordinarily powerful, and their contamination range is extensive; they can instantly drive intermediate Card Masters insane.

Danger level: They may trigger city-level disasters, causing mass casualties, economic devastation, or the collapse of social order.

Control measures: City-level Card Master forces must be mobilized, with at least three intermediate Card Masters dispatched for containment. Usually, a joint task force of five to twenty Card Masters is formed, supplemented by city-level strategic resources.

V: Chaos God Level

Criteria: The anomaly possesses a world-destroying level of threat. Its abilities must contain some kind of concept or authority, enabling it to overturn the laws of nature or reshape reality.

Danger level: It may cause disasters on a global scale, posing the ultimate challenge to humanity's survival.

Control measures: Card Master forces worldwide must be mobilized to establish a multinational, cross-disciplinary super task force, while every available form of psionic technology and resource is brought to bear.)—

The Rotting Fish Corpse's Mental Pollution was only enough to affect ordinary people like Uncle Chen. When it spread even slightly to Lin Chen, his warning instincts alerted him.

Compared to the anomalies Lin Chen had encountered in the Myriad Ghosts Night Parade Capital, its danger level was still somewhat lacking.

But the number of contaminated people had already exceeded ten, and it seemed likely to advance soon. It couldn't be taken lightly.

Even when a lion hunts a rabbit, it uses all its strength!

Two cards were already clamped between Lin Chen's fingertips.

In the next instant, two mighty generals in treasure armor and one hero in plain clothes appeared on the scene!

Lin Chen slowly closed the door to Uncle Chen's house.

He was preparing to shut the door and beat the anomaly!

This chapter used a change in narrative perspective, a new attempt to make the immersion of the prose richer. I wonder what all you readers think of it?

Chapter 13: I'm Very Sorry, I Couldn't Let Master Wu Song Use His Full Strength

The Rotting Fish Corpse was absorbing the neighbors' Essence, Qi, and Spirit through fishing lines.

The fish's body was growing larger and larger at a speed visible to the naked eye!