Stabbing the Fish

The moment the fish sent Fang Xian flying, he felt like Xiang Yu.

Helpless before an overwhelming defeat.

"Wh-what was that just now...?"

He Qi stammered.

Fang Xian said coldly, "A Human-Faced Fish. Did you see its human face?"

"We're taking it down tonight!"

"It's just a fish. What's it going to do, turn the world upside down?"

Xiao Jiu folded her arms across her chest and nodded in agreement. "Chirp."

Fang Xian's mind was crystal clear now.

The more formidable this urban legend was, the more reason he had to capture it!

"After it!"

Fang Xian said, "Pretend that fish is Cai Qi!"

"Tell yourself you're going to catch her!"

He Qi froze, then suddenly seemed to understand. "Right! I've got it!"

He immediately pulled out his phone and started tracking the Human-Faced Fish.

"It's heading toward the southern tributary!"

"It's not moving very fast!"

"I think you hurt it!"

He Qi's hands trembled slightly.

The night was chilly, but his blood was boiling.

Fang Xian looked at the wound on his leg. "Good. Let's go!"

"He Qi, you track it!"

"I'll handle the fighting!"

Fang Xian gripped the Fire Axe and gave it a couple of swings. He Qi felt much safer.

He couldn't help asking, "Brother Xian, are you sure you weren't an athlete?"

Fang Xian said gravely, "Quit asking questions. If I told you I was a secret agent trained by the Great Xin Council, would you believe me?"

He Qi fell silent for a moment, then nodded.

He actually believes that?

Well, never mind.

Fang Xian certainly wasn't going to let the guy helping him get hurt tonight.

He found the wooden boat from the night before.

He and He Qi climbed aboard.

"Start her up!" Fang Xian shouted.

He Qi shouted, "Set sail!"

Across the dark waters of Changzhao Reservoir,

the little boat pushed through the waves.

He Qi rowed, panting, while marveling at how different this was from his usual routine.

He had never experienced anything like it.

Maybe this is how Fang Xian landed such a beautiful girlfriend?

Ahead lay the reservoir, and beyond it was the heart of Thousand-Mountain Lake.

It had been developed into a successful tourist destination, with plenty of visitors.

If the fish had any sense, it wouldn't go there.

Sure enough.

According to the tracking chip, the Human-Faced Fish was heading toward a tributary of Changzhao Reservoir.

"It's a dead end up there!"

"The Human-Faced Fish can't escape!"

Fang Xian's voice was cold.

Just then,

[Urban Legend Alert].

[Many people hate this era. It is ruthlessly obsessed with gain and relentless competition, as though that is the only way to get ahead].

[Catch one fish, and a man could earn what a full year of honest work once paid. He would never pass up such a tempting chance].

[He left his phone on the bank and began the last dive of his life].

[While he was alive, he always thought he missed his mother's calls because he had never activated missed-call alerts].

[How pitiful he was].

--

[Urban Legend Alert].

[Adults do evil for gain].

[Children do evil with pure, innocent malice].

[Unkind children tricked adults into meeting their end in a fish's belly].

[If you ever encounter them, show them no mercy].

[How frightening they are].

The two sudden alerts delighted Fang Xian.

An Urban Legend Alert meant he had come to the right place.

And it wasn't just the Human-Faced Fish.

More importantly, the first alert mentioned Fang Xian's original target!

Activate missed-call alerts!

That was why Fang Xian had come here in the first place.

"It's just ahead!"

He Qi said excitedly, "It stopped!"

Jagged rocks loomed ahead.

The current gradually slowed to a standstill.

Everything before Fang Xian had gone pitch-black.

Only the chirping of insects carried from the banks on either side,

along with a stench of rot.

The water near the bank was shallow.

Fang Xian could clearly see a hairy human head protruding from the river.

Pallid and grotesque, it looked human, yet wasn't.

It was as though a corpse stood upright in the river.

Under the moonlight, its eyes were twisted almost beyond recognition.

"Heh heh."

Standing in the boat, Fang Xian grinned and hefted the Fire Axe.

He had no intention of hiding, even from this distance.

"Don't be scared, little fish."

"You could swim off in any direction."

"But the warmest place in the world is still Brother Xian's arms."

At the sight of Fang Xian, the head in the water gave a start.

For the first time, unease appeared in those human eyes.

Was this man the real monster?

Why had he come after it again?

The head was still bleeding. Its face looked as though it had been left to swell in a filthy ditch, and it stared fixedly at Fang Xian.

The water here was shallow.

By moonlight, Fang Xian finally saw the Human-Faced Fish for what it was.

It was black all over, with irregular dark stripes. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary fish grown far too large.

But on top of its head was a bizarre human face!

Eyes, nose, mouth—it had them all, disturbingly lifelike.

A monster with a human head and a fish's body was swaying in the waters of Changzhao Reservoir.

It was terrifying and revolting!

"Is that thing really a fish?"

He Qi nearly threw up as he rowed the boat.

What kind of radioactive mutant is that?

This is ridiculous.

"He Qi, I injured its head, but it's strong. If it charges the boat, be careful."

Fang Xian kept his eyes locked on the fish.

He Qi froze. "What about you?"

Fang Xian said gravely, "I'm going to stab that beast."

With that, Fang Xian jumped into the shallows.

He advanced on the Human-Faced Fish, step by step!

The monster didn't faze him.

He wasn't scared in the slightest!

He Qi could only stare in awe.

If Fang Xian gave up chasing girls and took up fishing, he'd make it big there too.

HRAAAGH!!!

The Human-Faced Fish let out a ragged screech.

Its mouth opened, revealing human teeth.

They were yellowed, with scraps of meat and something like paper caught between them.

"Stop struggling."

"Xiao Jiu, split its spirit!"

Without the spirit split, that damn fish would simply swim away.

Fang Xian would never catch it.

Clang!

Xiao Jiu activated her ability.

The Human-Faced Fish already looked exhausted. This time, it froze for two full seconds.

Two seconds

were enough.

Fang Xian brought the axe down hard on the Human-Faced Fish's head.

BANG!!!!

BANG!!!!

Thunderous blows rang out!

Fang Xian moved closer to the human face.

It was still dried out and decayed, grotesque to behold.

"Damn it!"

"You're ugly as hell!"

"And you dared come out and scare me!"

"You even ate my fruit platter!"

"Take this!!!"

In the darkness, the riverway killer made his grand entrance!

Three or four minutes later,

Fang Xian dragged the fish onto the bank with difficulty.

Clang.

Fang Xian tossed the Fire Axe onto the ground.

Ding-dong.

[Congratulations, Urban Legend Compendium member Fang Xian].

[Urban Legend Compendium—Urban Legends].

[Human-Faced Fish—Capture successful].