Dead Fish Mouth

The key looked somewhat like the style from the era before the game descended, but the ancient aura it radiated added a touch of mystery to it.

Li Hanyi poured her demonic power into it. Surrounded by a faint purple glow, the stone shell around the key slowly peeled away. Before they could make out its full appearance, it turned into a streak of light and shot into the sky.

A black hole a hundred meters wide formed. Before Cao Xiaochun and Li Hanyi could react, their vision went dark. When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves beside a pond.

Perhaps because of the dungeon environment, it was already deep night inside. Cao Xiaochun seemed to be in the outskirts. Aside from a few large trees, grass soaked in moisture, and a pond several hundred meters wide, there was nothing else.

Under the moonlight, silver ripples glimmered across the water. Other than those few especially conspicuous features, the place could be seen through at a glance. Endless darkness surrounded the area, and there seemed to be no way out.

"The scene we're in should be a memory from when the dungeon's owner was alive. We need to examine these surroundings and find the corresponding method to solve it before we can enter the next scene."

Li Hanyi adjusted her glasses and spoke with certainty.

The homework she had done over the past three days had come in handy the moment they entered.

It seemed this was a standard bizarre dungeon, condensed from its owner's memories. They could only search for clues within those memories and solve them one by one. In the end, they would have to resolve the owner's obsession. Only by dispelling it would the dungeon disappear and allow them to receive their reward.

"Then let's look around."

Hearing Li Hanyi's words, Cao Xiaochun nodded casually. Since this thing had been born from obsession, he felt the simplest method would be to find whatever lay behind it, drag it out, and beat it into nothingness.

Still, that carried some uncertainty. If he really dispersed it, what happened afterward might become difficult to predict.

Since Li Hanyi knew so much about dungeons, he might as well listen to her for now. If they couldn't solve it, then they would break the rules!

The two first took a rough look through the grass, but found nothing worth noting. When they reached the pond and searched carefully, Cao Xiaochun found two fishing rods, while Li Hanyi found a small bucket, a landing net, half a bag of bait, and two little stools.

"Don't tell me it wants us to fish here?"

Looking at the neatly arranged set of equipment, Cao Xiaochun's mouth twitched. Fishermen were an interesting bunch. They knew astronomy above and geography below, capable of anything—except catching fish.

If that was really the case, then the owner's obsession ran pretty deep.

"From the looks of it, that's exactly what we need to do. The bucket isn't very big. If things go smoothly, catching five or six fish should complete the task."

Li Hanyi carefully inspected the equipment in her hands and spoke with certainty.

In her view, this task was actually quite simple. Although fishing required patience, carp occasionally leaped from the pond's surface, so there should be plenty of fish in it.

"Fine, we'll do as you say. Let's find a spot and bait the water first."

Cao Xiaochun yawned. Since they had decided to follow the rules for the moment, they might as well sit here for a while.

They found a spot with a relatively open view that looked like it had plenty of fish, scattered a third of the bait into the water, then cast their lines and sat down side by side.

When it came to baiting a fishing spot, the best material was still one's own mother.

There was a saying in fishing circles: "Use your mom as bait, and you'll catch more and more."

Of course, it sounded a little awkward, but those people really were talented.

Second by second, time passed. Cao Xiaochun rested with his eyes closed, while Li Hanyi's initial anticipation gradually turned into impatience. In particular, the sight of several crucian carp constantly swimming about right in front of her made her feel that the fish were showing her a serious lack of respect!

Just as Li Hanyi considered using the landing net to scoop them up directly, her fishing rod suddenly dipped. The movement filled her with delight.

She quickly stood and reeled in the line frantically. Although whatever was underwater struggled constantly, it was naturally useless against the brute strength of a classed professional.

After two minutes of deadlock, a corpse covered in algae floated to the surface. It had likely drowned, and its entire body had swollen grotesquely. It also gave off an intense fishy stench!

Li Hanyi's eye twitched. She had thought she had hooked a fish, only to reel in this disgusting thing.

Just as she was wondering how to deal with it, Cao Xiaochun slowly opened his eyes.

"Throw it aside first. Don't spook the fishing spot, or it'll be even harder to get a bite later."

With a casual wave, he summoned the Three-Headed Demon Tiger and had it toss the corpse to a spot nearby. The lake surface seemed to return to its previous calm.

Another hour passed before both their rods suddenly dipped at once. They quickly reeled in their lines, only to find two carp weighing roughly five or six pounds before them.

But strangely, the hooks seemed to have pierced through the carp's outer lips. Their eyes had rolled white, their mouths hung open, and they seemed to have been dead for quite some time. It did not look as though they had bitten the bait, but rather as if something had hooked them onto the lines.

"A dead fish hooked through the mouth means reel in and leave. Looks like we've been played from the start."

Cao Xiaochun kicked the two dead fish away. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the water, seemingly deep in thought.

From the corpse at the beginning to the dead fish now, it was clear that this task could not be completed at all. Continuing like this would be nothing but a waste of time.

"Then what do we do now?"

Li Hanyi was frustrated to the extreme. The passing time and the repeated mockery alike were testing her patience.

"According to the old saying, when you hook a dead fish through the mouth, you should reel in your rod and get far away from this place."

Cao Xiaochun paused.

"But there's another line to that saying."

"A dead fish hooked through the mouth means reel in and leave. Change into a Daoist robe, then get in the water and beat the hell out of it!"

"So fucking beat it!"

Cao Xiaochun threw the fishing rod in his hand down heavily, his tone gradually turning cold.

Who cared what was down there? Once he hooked up the high-voltage current, even if it was the Dragon King himself, he would make him jump!

Li Hanyi nodded hard at those words. She had originally wanted to get along with it as an ordinary challenger, but all she got in return was cold treatment. Fine, no more pretending. If it refused to submit, she would beat it until it did!

With that thought, Li Hanyi directly summoned the Three-Headed Demon Tiger and was about to command it into the water!

"Wait. How long would it take to find it that way? Force it out first!"

As he spoke, Cao Xiaochun lightly brushed his left hand, and a pure white pearl appeared in his palm. It was the Thunder Pearl he had obtained after killing Keno!