Death

By evening, Master Qin had finished instructing Shen Wu. He called out several names and told them to go spar fists with the Wu Family in half a month.

"Zhang Chi... where did Zhang Chi go?"

Master Qin called twice, yet Zhang Chi was nowhere to be seen.

Someone replied, "Zhang Chi went out yesterday and still hasn't come back. No one knows where he went."

"When he returns, tell him about this."

After giving that instruction, Master Qin rose and left.

Wei Luo turned to look toward Shen Wu's side. Luo Sanhu, that lackey, was nowhere to be seen either.

He swept his gaze around again and discovered that more than half the new crewmen, including Bighead, were gone.

Meanwhile, in a tributary downstream of the Hun River.

Jagged rocks rose on both sides, while hidden reefs jutted out above the water along the banks.

This was clearly a treacherous stretch of water. Under normal circumstances, fishermen would never enter such a tributary.

Yet today, a small sailboat was swaying amid the rushing current.

"The anchor's down, Brother Chi! Time to catch treasure fish!"

Luo Sanhu shouted excitedly toward the cabin, and Bighead and the others were there as well.

Yesterday, Zhang Chi had taken them out on the boat and deep into the Hun River.

They had not rested for a day and a night, yet excitement outweighed exhaustion on everyone's faces.

They had already caught two or three treasure fish. After sharing them, they could clearly feel the qi and blood in their bodies growing stronger.

And in waters like these, there were plenty of valuable fish besides treasure fish!

Though they were not even a tenth as effective as treasure fish, they could still strengthen one's qi and blood a little.

They had been constantly casting nets and catching fish these past few days. The cabin had long since been piled full of valuable fish, and now they simply threw ordinary fish away.

If they sold these fish, earning dozens of taels of silver would be easy.

Before long, Zhang Chi emerged from the cabin.

He carried a wooden bucket in his hand. Whatever was inside was incredibly sticky and gave off an extremely pungent stench.

"This is the last of the bait. Who's willing to bleed this time?"

Zhang Chi held out a knife and looked at the others.

The moment they heard this, everyone hesitated. Zhang Chi's bait could lure in treasure fish, but it only worked after the blood of martial artists had been added—and each time, they had to let out nearly half a bucket.

"Whoever bleeds gets an extra half share if we catch treasure fish."

The moment Zhang Chi finished speaking, Luo Sanhu snatched the dagger from his hand.

In the end, Luo Sanhu and another man named Qi Yang bled together.

"This water is deep. There are definitely treasure fish here. Keep your eyes open."

Once the two had finished bleeding, Zhang Chi carried the bucket to the sides of the boat and poured half into the water on each side.

Not long after the bait entered the water, fish scales flashed beneath the surface. Some fish even leaped out of the water.

At the sight, delight appeared at the corner of Zhang Chi's lips, and he silently prayed that he could haul in a big catch.

The others aboard were rubbing their fists and palms together as well. But at that moment, one person approached Zhang Chi with worry written across his face.

"Brother Chi, I have a bad feeling about this. Could we lure over those strange fish from last time?"

When Bighead mentioned "strange fish," deep terror appeared on his face.

Treacherous waters were not dangerous merely because of wind and waves. There were other things within them too, but Zhang Chi had never told the others about those dangers.

Zhang Chi's expression froze for a second. He glanced around, and only after seeing that no one was paying attention did he curse in a low voice.

"What nonsense are you spouting? We were just unlucky last time. Besides, if you hadn't eaten that strange fish, how could you have broken through the first qi-and-blood threshold?"

"But... last time we were in normal waters. I heard that even martial artists at the third level have to be careful in waters like these."

Zhang Chi's explanation did not ease Bighead's fears. Instead, it made him even more uneasy.

Seeing this, Zhang Chi's face turned grim again.

"Then what do you want to do? Pull up anchor and leave now?

We're all in the same boat. Go ask them whether they're willing!"

Zhang Chi pointed at the others nearby. By now, people on the boat had already begun casting their nets. Everyone was scrambling to be first, their faces filled with excitement.

Bighead opened his mouth, then stopped himself. He knew that even if everyone's own fathers came, they would have a hard time persuading them now.

Yet that nameless sense of unease in his heart would not go away.

Zhang Chi reined in his anger and patted Bighead on the shoulder.

"Relax. Nothing will happen. Once we're done here, we'll head back. Don't worry."

Just then, someone shouted.

"Treasure fish! I caught a treasure fish!"

Zhang Chi immediately perked up and turned to look.

In Luo Sanhu's net was an eel-like fish with small bumps on its head.

Beside him, Wang Zhu had just hauled up his own net.

All sorts of plump fish flopped across the deck. Among them was a fist-sized, round yellow fish.

"Another treasure fish!"

This sent everyone into a frenzy.

They had agreed beforehand with Zhang Chi that, since he provided the bait, he would take sixty percent, while they would divide the remaining forty percent.

But even forty percent would be enough to greatly increase their qi and blood.

"Quick, quick, don't just stand there! There must be a school of treasure fish here. Haul them up!"

Zhang Chi cried out excitedly. At once, everyone grinned so widely their mouths nearly split open. They sped up their movements, readied their nets, and cast them again.

At that moment, Bighead came to the side of the boat. He held his net and was just about to cast it when the corner of his eye caught sight of a bruised human hand. Beneath the water was a woman's corpse, swollen and pale from soaking.

Bighead's pupils shrank. Cold sweat instantly broke out all over his body, and he screamed in terror.

"A ghost! There's a ghost! We have to run! If we don't leave, we'll die here!"

The person beside Bighead immediately laughed.

"Hahaha, Bighead really is a coward. It's just a dead fish, and he's scared half to death."

A burst of laughter rose from the boat.

Bighead steadied himself and looked beneath the water again. There, he saw only a half-meter-long dead fish bobbing up and down in the waves.

Bighead could scarcely believe his own eyes.

"But just now, I clearly..."

"You must be hallucinating. Don't talk nonsense on the boat."

Zhang Chi threw an arm around Bighead's neck, threat written across his face as he stopped Bighead from saying any more.

But the unease in Bighead's heart only grew stronger. His breathing became more and more hurried, as though someone had clamped a hand around his throat.

"No... something's wrong! There has to be something wrong! I clearly saw a corpse just now!"

Bighead suddenly howled.

When he looked back at Zhang Chi, Zhang Chi had fallen silent.

Not only was he silent, he could not even move.

He stood there ramrod straight, his eyes fixed on Bighead like those of a dead fish.

In an instant, overwhelming terror engulfed Bighead, and he collapsed to the ground.

He looked around.

The others were just like Zhang Chi, strange lights glimmering in their eyes...

Thud! Thud!

Thud! Thud!

Violent pounding came from the entrance to the fish hold, making the wooden boards shake fiercely.

Inside the fish hold, half-dead fish floated across the water's surface. Among them were several faces twisted hideously by terror.

"We're done for. Even hiding here isn't safe. Bighead and the others found us after all!"

Luo Sanhu's voice trembled as he looked toward Zhang Chi beside him.

Zhang Chi's face was filled with resentment, and he could not help cursing.

"Damn it, that idiot Bighead!"

Luo Sanhu caught something in his words and hurriedly asked, "Zhang Chi, what exactly is going on? How did he suddenly go crazy?

He wasn't even afraid of knives. If I hadn't run fast enough, they probably would've torn me to pieces."

A fierce glint flashed through Zhang Chi's eyes. At this point, there was nothing left to hide.

"There are more than just treasure fish in the Hun River. There are plenty of other strange things too. Bighead must have eaten something unclean behind my back."

They had originally been preparing to return, but for some reason, Bighead had suddenly gone mad. He had bitten through two people's throats alive and then attacked the others.

Stabbing him with knives did nothing. Even Zhang Chi had nearly had his arm twisted off when he fought him.

When the others in the fish hold heard this, their faces immediately turned ugly.

When Zhang Chi had first recruited them, he had never mentioned anything like this.

At that moment, the pounding outside the fish hold grew even fiercer. The wooden boards clanged nonstop, clearly about to break apart.

"What do we do now? If he gets in, we won't even have a chance to run!"

Qi Yang asked in panic.

A cold gleam flashed through Zhang Chi's eyes. He called over Wang Zhu and Luo Sanhu, the two weakest among them.

"Come on. You two, block the door with me. If we hold out until dawn, we should be fine."