A Fisherman Never Goes Home Empty-Handed

"Up. Time to work."

Tang San rubbed his eyes. "What for?"

"Five kinds of rare fish."

Tang San yawned. "Can't you go by yourself?"

"You're my net man." Lin Yuan tossed him his clothes. "Less talk. Let's go."

The two made their way to the lakeshore in the dark.

Lin Yuan opened the water pouch. The Seven-Colored Glazed Fish swam out, circled twice near the bank, then swam about ten feet toward the center of the lake and stopped.

System notification: [The Seven-Colored Glazed Fish is in position. Rare fish attraction mode activated. The chance of rare Soul Beasts appearing within a hundred-foot radius has increased.]

Lin Yuan cast his line into the water.

Tang San crouched beside him, shivering inside his coat. "What time is it? The fish aren't even awake."

"Fish wake up earlier than you." Lin Yuan watched the float. "You think they sleep? Fish never sleep. Sometimes they just aren't hungry."

"How do you know everything?"

"Because I like fishing."

Tang San gave him an odd look. "Were you an old man in your last life?"

"More or less," Lin Yuan said offhandedly. Then he lowered his voice. "Quiet. Something's coming."

The float dipped lightly.

Lin Yuan lifted his rod, and a transparent fish three inches long broke the surface.

System notification:

[Ding! Ten-Year Soul Beast: Ice Crystal Silverfish. Rarity: rare. Added to the catalog.]

Lin Yuan put the Ice Crystal Silverfish into the water pouch. It bumped heads with the Seven-Colored Glazed Fish, and the two swam happily side by side.

Tang San leaned in to look. "What kind of fish is that?"

"Ice Crystal Silverfish. It's a Ten-Year Soul Beast, but its rarity is rated rare." Lin Yuan rubbed his hands together. "The system says rarity depends on the purity of the species, not its age. This one carries an ancient ice bloodline."

"How do you know everything?"

"I just do."

"What else do you know?"

Lin Yuan was about to answer when the float sank again.

A second fish came out of the water, red from head to tail.

[Ding! Ten-Year Soul Beast: Red-Flame Saberfish. Rarity: rare.]

"That's two." Lin Yuan tossed it into the water pouch, grinning from ear to ear. "This Seven-Colored Glazed Fish is incredible. I don't even need to bait a spot. Rare fish come straight to me."

Tang San stared at the three differently colored fish in the pouch. "Lin Yuan, have you thought about something?"

"What?"

"All three of your fish are Ten-Year Soul Beasts."

"Yeah."

"Ten-Year Soul Beasts aren't worth anything in the Soul Master World. Soul Masters who kill them can't even be bothered to bend down and pick them up." Tang San looked at him. "But put these three together, and they're rarer than a thousand-year Soul Beast. What does that tell you?"

Tang San went on. "There's something at the bottom of the lake."

Lin Yuan turned toward the calm water, his expression slowly growing serious.

"You mean something drove these rare fish up from the depths?"

"Or something raised them." Tang San crouched and watched the three little fish swimming in the pouch. "If there's a big fish at the bottom of this lake, one that's lived for a very, very long time, what would gather around it?"

Lin Yuan drew a sharp breath. "Descendants with rare bloodlines."

"Right. Big fish eat little fish, but they can raise them too." Tang San stood. "That giant down there might have been around for centuries."

Lin Yuan watched the lake for a long time.

"Does Grandmaster know the lake's history?"

"No. But this academy has been here a long time, and no one's ever disturbed the lake behind the mountain." Tang San paused. "Flender might know, but he might not want to tell us."

Lin Yuan reeled in his rod, secured the hook, and headed toward the academy.

"Come on. Let's find the headmaster."

Flender was drinking porridge in the dining hall. When he saw Lin Yuan come in, he instinctively covered his bowl.

"What now?"

"Headmaster." Lin Yuan sat across from him. "How much do you know about the lake behind the mountain?"

Flender's hand paused.

"How much about what?"

"How deep is it? Why has it never been opened to anyone?"

Flender set down his bowl, his expression hard to read. "Why are you asking?"

"I caught three rare fish. All Ten-Year Soul Beasts." Lin Yuan stared at him. "There's something at the bottom."

Flender was silent for a few seconds.

"I don't know what's down there." Flender leaned back in his chair.

Grandmaster pushed open the door and came in carrying a notebook. He had clearly stayed up all night again.

"Are you talking about the lake behind the mountain?"

"You know about it?" Lin Yuan turned.

Grandmaster pushed up his glasses. "It's mentioned in a manuscript my teacher left behind. The lake behind the academy was originally called Fallen Star Lake. Supposedly, a meteor struck there in ancient times and formed it. Meteorite fragments remain at the bottom, and special minerals in the water can give rise to rare Soul Beasts."

Lin Yuan's eyes lit up. "So the lake is full of rare species?"

"In theory." Grandmaster opened his notebook. "But there's a problem."

"What problem?"

"The last line of the manuscript says: 'All enter. None return.'"

Tang San frowned. "What does that mean?"

"It means every Soul Beast that has entered the lake's depths has never come back out." Grandmaster looked at Lin Yuan. "The three fish you caught may be only the tip of the iceberg. The truly valuable things are in the deepest part."

Lin Yuan stood and grabbed his fishing rod.

"Where are you going?" Flender asked.

"To the lake."

"Have you lost your mind?" Flender slammed the table and sprang to his feet. "Grandmaster just said nothing comes back out!"

"I'm not getting in the water." Lin Yuan slung the rod over his shoulder and headed out. "I'm fishing."

Flender stared at him. "How are you going to fish the bottom from shore?"

"That's how you see it." Lin Yuan glanced back with a smile. "A fisherman's dictionary doesn't have the words 'out of reach.'"

At the lakeshore.

Lin Yuan took a cloth bundle from inside his clothes and opened it. Inside was a dark, lumpy mass that smelled of liquor.

Tang San leaned in for a sniff and nearly keeled over. "What's that?"

"Rice Wine Groundbait." Lin Yuan grabbed a handful and scattered it toward the center of the lake. "Millet soaked in strong liquor and fermented for three days. Made for big fish in deep water."

"When did you make it?"

"Before bed last night. I traded leftover food from the dining hall for the millet."

"Does Flender know?"

"No. He'd charge me if he did."

The Rice Wine Groundbait hit the water and spread across the surface. Lin Yuan pushed his float two feet higher up the line, added weight to the sinker, and put two corn kernels on the hook.

"Bottom fishing." He cast his line, and it landed with a plop in the distant water. "For the big ones down deep."

Tang San watched beside him and couldn't help asking, "What do you think you'll catch?"

"No idea." Lin Yuan found a rock to sit on and propped up his rod. "But anything that can sustain this many rare species can't be easy to deal with."

Half an hour passed.

The float didn't budge.

Tang San grew restless. "Maybe the groundbait isn't working?"

"We're fishing the bottom. What's the rush?" Lin Yuan kept his eyes closed. "If the thing down there bit that easily, someone would've caught it long ago."

Another half hour passed.

Tang San had fallen asleep on the grass.

Lin Yuan's eyes suddenly opened.

The float hadn't moved, but he felt the tip of the rod tremble faintly.

He gripped the rod and held his breath.

The tip trembled again. Then the float plunged, sinking fast.

Lin Yuan raised the rod.

It bent into a full moon, the taut line humming as though it might snap.

Tang San jolted awake and sprang up. "What happened?"

"Hooked a big one!"

Lin Yuan planted both feet and leaned back with all his weight. The thing underwater didn't dart or thrash. It just pulled steadily downward, with such force that it felt as if the hook had snagged the lakebed.

"This fish isn't fighting!" Lin Yuan gritted his teeth. "It's pulling straight down!"

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know, but it's no ordinary fish!"

The line grew tighter and tighter. The rod had bent as far as it could go, and Lin Yuan knew it wouldn't hold much longer.

He suddenly let out some line.

Over thirty feet of line rattled off the reel, and the rod sprang straight.

"Why are you giving it line?" Tang San cried.

"Let it run." Lin Yuan caught his breath. "If it wants to go down, let it. I'll reel it in when it's tired."

But the thing underwater didn't run.

It stopped.

Lin Yuan tried reeling in a little line.

Nothing moved.

He tried again.

Still nothing.

"Tang San."

"Yeah?"

"Give me a hand."

"What do you need?"

"Go to the dining hall and get the thickest rolling pin they have."

Tang San stared. "What for?"

"I think the thing I caught..." Lin Yuan looked at the calm lake, his face grave. "Might not be a fish."

The system's notification suddenly sounded:

[Warning! Unknown Soul Beast signal detected. Soul Power Level: cannot be measured. Assessment: Host, how about we fish somewhere else?]

Lin Yuan stared at the water.

"Somewhere else?" He grinned. "I finally got this spot baited, and you want me to leave?"

System: [...]

Lin Yuan took a deep breath, gripped the rod with both hands, and began reeling in the line.

"Tang San, forget the rolling pin."

"Then what should I get?"

"A bucket."

"How big?"

Lin Yuan thought for a moment.

"The biggest."