The old fisherman's warning was completely ineffective. Everything nearby was enveloped in this strange light. The lake water surged, actually pushing the entire lake surface upwards, as if a huge object was rising from the bottom.

The moonlight behind them grew increasingly dazzling. The old fisherman kept in mind the warning in the letter: stay away from the moon... stay away from the moon in the sky! Because there shouldn't be a moon on a night like this!

Along with the old man's excited, trembling breaths, the old fisherman heard the last sentence in his memory.

Qian Zhanggui pursed his lips nervously, lowered his body, and imitated in a low, immersive voice, "The moon... cracked! It's coming..."

Having listened to the story for so long, it was finally getting to the crucial part. Jiang Cheng couldn't wait to ask, "Who is it? Is it the Master Shui you mentioned earlier?"

Qian Zhanggui was stumped by the question, replying with a bitter face, "How would I know who it is, sir? If you ask me, some things are better left unknown. For us common folk, sometimes it's not a bad thing to be a little ignorant."

Jiang Cheng nodded. "Continue. What happened next?"

"After that, it was as I told you, the old fisherman returned home, and these things were all told by the old fisherman himself." Qian Zhanggui seemed to suddenly remember something, explaining in advance, "Sir, you don't need to ask me how he got home, because I don't know. It's just... even the old fisherman himself couldn't explain it clearly."

Qian Zhanggui extended a finger and carefully pointed to his head, lowering his voice. "Ever since he came back, there was a problem here with the old fisherman. All his memories after that moonlight appeared vanished. He doesn't remember what happened afterward, whether those people lived or died, where they went, or anything about the boat."

"Where is this person now?" This old fisherman was clearly an important clue. If he could find him, Jiang Cheng was confident he could extract some more useful information.

But then Qian Zhanggui's expression became strange, as if he had some unspeakable secret.

"What, is it inconvenient to tell me?" Jiang Cheng frowned, a hint of coldness flashing between his brows.

Seeing this, Qian Zhanggui immediately explained, "No, no, it's just... sigh, some things happened here, and I still don't understand what exactly happened."

"Don't be nervous. Speak slowly, but you must tell the truth," Jiang Cheng reminded him.

Qian Zhanggui nodded and continued, "It's like this. When they saw the old fisherman come home, his family was incredibly excited. They didn't entirely believe the old fisherman's story, after all, the old fisherman's condition was very strange at the time, as if he had lost his soul. And he... he was afraid of light. Even a small oil lamp would make him terribly nervous."

"He made his family extinguish all the oil lamps for lighting, without explaining why. He just lowered his head, shrunk into the innermost part of the bed, and muttered something very quietly. Finally, one of the younger members of his family secretly approached, listened with his ear for a while, and returned with a strange expression to tell the others that the old fisherman was saying that now those things wouldn't be able to find him."

"Because of this one sentence from the old fisherman, everyone became very nervous. The old fisherman's wife was worried that something would happen, so she told three of the younger members of the family to stay and accompany her and the old fisherman."

"Their house had two rooms, an inner and an outer room. The old fisherman and his wife lived in the inner room, and the three younger members of the family lived in the outer room. Late at night, when people are at their sleepiest, the old fisherman suddenly wrapped himself in the quilt, shivering with fear. His wife asked him what was wrong, and he stared at her and asked if she had heard any sound."

"The wife was frightened by the old fisherman's expression. His eyes were full of blood, so red that it seemed blood could drip from them, but she held her breath and listened for a long time, and heard nothing but the sound of the wind outside."

"After she told the old fisherman this, the old fisherman suddenly erupted, strangling her throat as if he were mad, squeezing out words from his throat while strangling her: How is that possible? How could you not hear it? It's the sound of water, the sound of a boat cutting through the lake!"

The old fisherman widened his eyes, his expression already crazed. "Old Wu... it's Old Wu and the others, they won't let me go, they're coming to find me in a boat!"

"They're here... they're right outside the door!"

"I hear them!"

"The sounds of struggling in the room alarmed the three young men in the outer room. The young men rushed in with oil lamps. The old fisherman's strength was frighteningly great. It took the strength of all three of them to barely control the mad old fisherman and save the woman's life."

"Worried that the old fisherman would do something rash again, the three young men discussed it briefly. They figured this person was probably possessed, so they decided to tie up the old fisherman first and find someone who understood these things to take a look the next day. Afraid that the old fisherman would bite his own tongue in his madness, one of the young men found a piece of cloth and planned to stuff it in the old fisherman's mouth. Whatever was going on, they would deal with it when daylight came."

"But the old fisherman, who had been listless, struggled violently, even standing straight up from the bed and looking down at everyone, saying: Put out the lights, don't open the door! They're outside!"

"In the middle of the night, the old fisherman made everyone panic. One of the younger men mustered his courage and tiptoed to the door, peeking out through the crack. There was nothing outside the door. The bright moonlight shone on the ground, and everything was clean. He listened for a while, and there was only the sound of wind outside."

"At this time, the remaining two younger men had also tied the old fisherman up tightly and stuffed his mouth. Perhaps they also felt that this matter was strange in every way, and no one dared to stay with him any longer. Everyone closed the door to the inner room and gathered in the outer room. Out of fear, the four of them found all the oil lamps and lit them, illuminating the room brightly."

"Unknowingly, everyone fell asleep huddled together. The next morning, they were awakened by the sound of knocking on the door."

"The knocking was loud, almost like slamming the door, and it was accompanied by anxious shouts. The woman was groggy, but she could tell that it was the voice of Fang Sao, the neighbor."

"As the door was opened, the scene before them stunned them completely. There was a small courtyard outside their house, surrounded by a low wall and a courtyard gate. But at this moment, the courtyard gate had been completely smashed open and lay on the ground, and a large part of the adjacent courtyard wall had collapsed as well, as if a large object had forcibly crashed through it."

"The ground in front of the courtyard was wet, and there were large pools of water in the depressions. It felt as if there had just been a flood, and this was the scene after the flood receded."

"The woman was stunned for a while, then her body trembled violently, and she rushed into the room."