"During this time, he ate and slept, and after waking up, he ate again. In any case, these soldiers didn't mistreat them. The food was much better than what they ate at home."

"He had cautiously asked the other fishermen who had been captured before him how often the soldiers came to take people away, but no one could say for sure. It seemed there was no fixed schedule. Sometimes it was five or six days, and sometimes half a month passed without any movement."

"But what was coming would eventually come. One night, the old fisherman lay on his tattered straw mat, tossing and turning, unable to sleep, as if he had a premonition that something was about to happen."

"Suddenly, he heard the sound of a clapper, different from the usual clapper sound. This time, the sound was unusually rapid, giving the impression that something very urgent had happened. It was an alarm!"

"Then, the people lying next to him woke up, and the entire cave was filled with a sense of inexplicable fear."

"As someone walked in with ropes and strips of cloth for tying people up, the old fisherman realized that tonight was the night to take people out."

"The one leading them this time was a burly, dark-faced man with an old scar diagonally splitting his right eyebrow in two. He looked fierce and menacing."

"Without wasting words, the man held a small notebook, looked at it, and called out names one by one. Then someone would come in and take the person whose name was called out, or rather, drag them out."

"Don't be afraid. As long as you behave, nothing will happen," Shopkeeper Qian mimicked the voice of the scar-faced man from the rumors. "I need you to do something. If you do it well, not only will you be allowed to go home, but you will also be given a large reward, enough for you to buy a house and land in the city and live the rest of your lives in peace."

"The old fisherman and the others didn't believe a word of what the scar-faced man said. It would be difficult to return alive, especially since they had seen the scar-faced man and the other 'bandits' faces. They understood the principle of killing to silence witnesses."

"However, the scar-faced man didn't seem to care much about their attitude and continued to do what he had to do, bringing one person after another out."

"Because it was a matter of first come, first served, the old fisherman wasn't too worried about being called. Like the others, he quietly lowered his head and listened until the last name was called."

"The old fisherman remembered clearly that it was a person named Gou Dan, who was very young, still a half-grown child. He was diligent and knew how to take care of people, and everyone liked him."

"When the child heard his name being called, he broke down completely, hugging the wooden post and refusing to let go. He cried, saying that he had never had a father since he was a child and that he had a blind old mother at home who depended on him for everything. He wasn't afraid of dying, but if he was gone, his old mother would starve to death."

"Gou Dan cried his heart out, but no one dared to speak up. In the end, the old fisherman couldn't bear it any longer. He didn't have a son and couldn't stand such a scene. Moreover, seeing how things were, dying sooner or later was still dying. A surge of blood rushed to his head, and he didn't care about anything."

"The old fisherman rushed over, pushed away the two people pulling Gou Dan, and shouted, 'Isn't it just one person who needs to go? I'll go! Let the child go!'"

"This action was greatly appreciated by the scar-faced man, and he finally agreed."

"Gou Dan, who had survived a near-death experience, knelt down before the old fisherman with a thud and called him 'Father' more than a dozen times. The old fisherman was moved to tears and felt that he had no regrets in this life."

"So, the old fisherman was tied up together with the others who had been called out before, and they were connected in a string with ropes, making it impossible to run away."

"The group was blindfolded and led out of the cave by someone in front."

"They hadn't walked far when they stopped, and they heard a slightly shrill scolding sound, from a man with a croaking voice. From the conversation, he was scolding the scar-faced man, saying that he wasn't calling people according to the roster, taking matters into his own hands, and disrupting his plan."

"They also vaguely heard this person saying some obscure and difficult words, seemingly calculating something, like feng shui or birthdates."

"The scar-faced man was scolded without daring to say a word, only apologizing and smiling obsequiously, calling him Celestial Master every other word."

"After waiting for a while, the group continued to move forward. The old fisherman could sense that they were heading down the mountain and... and were gradually approaching the water's edge."

"Because the moisture was getting heavier and heavier, and it was getting colder and colder. This kind of coldness couldn't be felt by people who didn't spend a lot of time by the water."

"Sure enough, after a while, the group stopped, and someone took off their blindfolds. As their eyes gradually adjusted to the light, the old fisherman realized that they had arrived at the water's edge, and before them was a dark and wide lake."

"Chun Shen Lake."

Shopkeeper Qian paused here deliberately, as if giving Jiang Cheng, and himself, a moment to catch their breath.

"But at this moment, a layer of fog had risen on the lake. The fog wasn't thick, but it covered a vast area, and the further into the depths you looked, the more strange the fog appeared, as if something bizarre was hidden inside."

"What shocked the old fisherman and the others even more was that there was also a boat docked on the shore. The boat wasn't very big, but it was enough to accommodate a few of them, and he could tell at a glance that it was a good boat, very sturdy and new, probably recently built."

"You will sail this boat onto the lake in a moment, and go as far as you can into the depths of Chun Shen Lake." A man with a blank expression spoke, his voice even colder than the lake water, making them shiver violently.

Before the old fisherman could speak, an old man of similar age retorted excitedly, "No, no, that won't do. You can't sail on Chun Shen Lake at night. That's a rule that's been passed down for many years. And there's so much fog. This old man... this old man has lived for so many years, and I've never seen so much fog rising on the lake. There... there..."

"You won't go?"

"It's not that we won't go, it's that it really won't do. This lake is big and deep, and the Water Dragon King lives at the bottom of the lake. If we offend it, we'll all die, be captured by it, and never be reincarnated!" The old man said with conviction, looking terrified.

"Not going means death!" Without wasting words, the man waved his hand, and several black-clad men behind him drew their swords with a "shing!" The blades gleamed coldly in the night, sending chills down their spines.

In the end, the men had no choice but to compromise. After all, compared to the ethereal legends, the sharp blade was more real. The old fisherman had no doubt that as long as they said another word of refusal, they would immediately have an extra bloody hole in their bodies.

The men tremblingly boarded the boat, and then, under the gaze of the people on the shore, began to sail into the fog. A man who was rowing the boat said breathlessly, "I say, let's not be so stubborn. After we get out of their sight, we'll circle around, change direction, and land somewhere else."

The old fisherman looked at the people on the shore, getting further and further away through the fog. Suddenly, the people on the shore began to wave to them, seven or eight people, their movements almost identical, as if saying goodbye.