Qin Manjiang did not wait for the other man to agree before jumping onto the wooden boat himself.
Seeing Qin Manjiang board, the man said nothing. He simply began rowing at once, heading out onto the water.
The moment the boat moved, Qin Manjiang sensed what was strange about the lake.
Normally, rowing would make at least some splashing sounds, but as they rowed across Guanyin Flat Lake, there was nothing but dead silence. There was absolutely no sound!
The lake's surface was pitch-black, too, whether because the water was too deep or because it reflected the darkness of the sky above.
Just looking at it gave him the feeling that something might suddenly emerge from beneath the water. It made him afraid to look too closely or think too hard. The mere thought gave him goosebumps.
But as long as he did not explore too deeply, he probably would not draw out a dense mass of hands reaching up from beneath the lake, as Yang had.
He was only here to complete a "check-in" task. Learning as much as he could would be enough.
As they drew farther from shore, visibility grew increasingly limited. It was almost seven in the evening now, and the sky was nearly completely dark.
The mysterious fisherman had hung a lamp at the bow of the wooden boat. It swayed with his rowing, its light occasionally illuminating scattered patches of the surrounding lake.
Just then, Qin Manjiang caught sight of the fisherman's rod in the lamplight.
The rod and line were perfectly normal. The bait, however, was anything but.
Hanging where the bait should have been was a Barbie doll?
To make the Barbie doll sink, the fisherman had even attached a weight.
"What are you fishing for, mermaids?"
Looking at the bizarre bait,