This is the true immortal of the Taoist sect.

The little boy stopped the wooden boat and looked back at the lake shore behind him; it wasn't far.

At this moment, the lake was calm and still, without any ripples.

The little boy breathed a slight sigh of relief, and then began to cast his line.

Five fishing lines, each with a dozen or so hooks, each hooked with earthworms he had specially dug up.

Once you put it in, if you're lucky, you'll always catch a few small fish.

This Tianshui Marshland is rich in fish and shrimp, and the fishermen on the shore almost always have a good harvest.

Two years ago, a strange beast appeared out of nowhere in Tianshui Marsh and frequently injured people.

Later, fishermen rarely went to the lake to fish anymore.

No one would dare take this risk unless there was absolutely no other way.

The little boy stared intently at the five lines cast into the water, his mind completely focused. There was an eerie sense of oppression on the vast lake.

"If we can catch a five-pound fish, we'll have money to buy medicine for my mother."

The little boy seemed to be encouraging himself as he muttered to himself.

After waiting for about half an hour, the little boy figured it should be about time.

So they started reeling in the line.

The boy's face lit up with joy as soon as he got his hands on the first thread.

"There's a fish...and it's quite big..."

The heavy feel of the fishing line and the swaying motion made him 100% certain that he had caught a fish.

Pulling the line up little by little, sure enough, a white-scaled salmon weighing at least two pounds was caught on the hook. This is one of the most common carnivorous fish in Tianshui Marsh.

The meat is firm, delicious, and reasonably priced.

Especially now that many people are afraid to go fishing, the price of fish is higher than before.

The boy was overjoyed and quickly took the fish off the boat and kept it in the cabin.

Besides this white-scaled salmon, there were a few small fish on the fishing line. Although they wouldn't fetch a high price, at least they could be taken back to my mother to make a pot of fish soup to nourish her.

After taking this thread, the boy quickly went to get a few more.

The second line yielded only small fish, so-so.

The third line contains another white-scaled salmon, which is even larger than the first one.

Just the fact that these two fish were caught today makes it a worthwhile trip.

The fourth line yielded only average results.

Looking at the fifth line, the boy hadn't made a move yet, but his eyes were full of surprise.

Because the line was already taut, and judging by how taut it was, it definitely wasn't a small fish.

The boy reached out to pull, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Wow, a big fish..."

Judging from the feel of it, this fish is definitely bigger than the previous two.

It was so difficult to even pull it up.

The little boy was overjoyed. With this fish, he would not only have money to buy medicine for his mother, but he might also be able to add half a jar of rice to the family's rice bin.

This way, the mother and son can at least live a peaceful life for a while.

As the fishing line was slowly pulled up, the boy finally caught a glimpse of the fish through the clear water.

"How many copper coins would such a large white-scaled salmon sell for..."

The boy excitedly muttered to himself.

All attention was focused on the fish.

However, he did not realize that his boat was being pulled little by little by the fish, drifting deeper into the Tian Shui Marsh.

The boy was only ten years old and lacked the strength to quickly pull the big fish up.

Therefore, he could only adopt a strategy of attrition, intending to exhaust the fish's energy before catching it.

This is undoubtedly a long process.

About fifteen minutes later, the big fish finally ran out of energy and began to slowly rise to the surface.

Only after the fish surfaced did the boy realize just how big it was.

It is nearly one meter long and weighs at least 20 kilograms.

The little boy recalled the recent price of whitefish at the fish market; if a wealthy family took a liking to this fish, it could fetch at least two hundred coins...

"Great...I'm rich now..."

The boy quickly bent down and reached out to scoop up the big fish floating on the surface of the water.

With one hand stuffed into the big fish's mouth and the other into its gills, they struggled to drag it onto the boat.

The little boy, engrossed in his excitement, was unaware that a huge black shadow was hovering deep underwater beneath the wooden boat, seemingly gazing at him.

The boy's eyes were fixed on the big fish.

Only after he lifted the big fish onto the boat did he catch a glimpse of something underwater out of the corner of his eye.

There were two beams of light, shimmering in the clear yet unfathomably deep water.

"Huh? What's this?"

The little boy was puzzled and muttered to himself.

Suddenly, it was like a thunderclap exploding in his mind, and he realized something.

The color drained from his face almost instantly, leaving only endless fear in his eyes.

He abruptly pulled back, grabbed the oar, and began to row back. But when he looked back, he found that the lake shore had somehow become just a faint horizon.

"Oh no..."

The little boy thought to himself.

Just then, the water began to churn, and the huge black figure began to rise at an extremely fast speed.

The boy's boat hadn't gone very far when a huge wave erupted on the water.

The wooden boat was easily overturned, and the little boy fell into the water in terror.

Fortunately, he grew up by the lake and was quite a good swimmer.

He immediately held his breath, preparing to surface.

Just then, through the lake, he saw a scene he would never forget.

A creature, entirely black with a fish tail, but at least ten feet long, was in the water not far ahead.

The boy instinctively screamed, but choked on a mouthful of water.

The threat of death spurred his potential, and the boy swam desperately upwards until he finally surfaced.

After catching his breath, he saw the wooden boat not far away.

The boy swam to the side of the wooden boat, using both his hands and feet, and placed his hands on it to catch his breath.

But the shadow of death still loomed over him.

The strange beast was not far away, its huge dorsal fin floating on the water, slowly swimming around him.

Judging from her appearance, she didn't seem to be in a hurry to swallow the boy whole, as if she was toying with him.

The boy was already in despair, facing such a terrifying beast in this bottomless lake.

Not to mention him, even those martial arts masters would probably be devoured.

"Help...help me..."

The boy was too weak to cry out, and as the monster drew ever closer, he completely lost the courage to resist.

The strange beast in the water seemed to have had enough fun, and its dorsal fin suddenly disappeared.

An extremely oppressive, deathly silence descended upon the water's surface.

The boy looked desperately into the water, where a huge dark shadow was rapidly emerging from the surface.

He could even see the menacing, sharp teeth in the beast's mouth.

"mother..."

In this life-or-death moment, all thoughts vanished, and the boy could only instinctively cry out "Mother!"

Then he closed his eyes and quietly awaited death.

Because he had his eyes closed, he didn't see a golden light descend from the sky and land right on him.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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The rating increased by 0.1, so three extra chapters were added.