52: The legend of Baiyun Lake

Arriving at the entrance of the Ecology and Technology Company, he saw a beautiful figure standing before the main gate.

Getting closer, he could see more clearly; her eyes were like two black pearls, sparkling with intelligence and mystery.

Her straight nose symbolized her firmness and confidence. Her petal-soft lips, with a slight smile, gave people an inexplicable sense of impulse.

All her features harmonized on her face without any conflict; her delicate features, every detail, exuded confidence and charm.

Chen Xiangbei observed her very discreetly, without being noticed by anyone.

The group walked up to her, and Chen Wen introduced her to him, saying, "This is my girlfriend, her name is Xia Qi."

Then he said to Xia Qi, "This is the fishing expert I told you about, his name is Chen Xiangbei."

Chen Xiangbei was the first to extend his hand and say, "Hello, Sister-in-law. Brother Chen told me you were very beautiful a long time ago, but I didn't expect you to be so excessively beautiful, Sister-in-law!"

Girls are all auditory animals. Xia Qi secretly rejoiced at his praise, a faint blush appearing on her face, making it hard to tell if it was from the reflection of the sunset or her makeup.

Xia Qi extended her hand and shook his, saying, "I thought the fishing expert Chen Wen told me about would be a man in his thirties or forties. I didn't expect you to be so young; that's amazing!"

"Hahaha, I told you a long time ago that he's very skilled. You also heard about the previous auction; an Ornamental Fish was sold for the incredibly high price of 185,000. That was Brother Chen Xiangbei's fish," Chen Wen said with a smile.

"Ah! So you're the one who auctioned off the sky-high price Butterfly Koi! Many people at our company were talking about someone recently catching a top-grade Butterfly Koi in Baiyun Lake and selling it for an astronomical price. I didn't expect it to be you, that's incredible!" Xia Qi exclaimed in surprise.

Chen Xiangbei felt a bit embarrassed by the compliments and quickly said.

"Just luck, just luck. We're here today specifically to fish for Ornamental Fish. Sorry to trouble you, Sister-in-law."

"Oh, it's no big deal, we're all friends. People from our company often go out fishing by boat. As the supervisor here, I do have the right to take a few people out," Xia Qi said.

"Let's hurry and get ready, it's getting dark," Lu Hu urged, slightly anxious.

The group began preparing. Chen Wen and Lu Hu already knew how to fish and naturally brought fishing rods, though their technique wasn't very good.

Chen Xiangbei prepared two rods, a hand rod and a newly purchased Deep Sea No. 1 surf rod.

Someone might ask, why bring a surf rod?

Because he wanted to try and see if he could catch the "Water Monster" in Baiyun Lake.

Baiyun Lake is over a hundred meters deep. It is said that people have repeatedly seen a giant "Water Monster" in Baiyun Lake, and the news has also reported it, suspecting that a giant fish is hidden in Baiyun Lake.

Chen Xiangbei, with an attitude of wanting to try, wanted to see if the Secret Bait could attract this mysterious big guy out.

He didn't actually quite believe the idea of a "Water Monster." He thought it was at most some mutated large fish and that no unscientific species would appear.

However, he was still a little expectant. After all, the water quality of Baiyun Lake is conducive to fish mutation, so it's normal for mutated large fish to be seen by people and misunderstood.

After organizing the equipment, he took a large fish box out of the car and carried it onto the boat.

This boat was 16 meters long, 5 meters wide, and 3 stories high. It was a custom-made small scientific research vessel that could be used for fishing or conducting scientific research.

After the group brought all their equipment onto the boat, Chen Xiangbei got the boat's key and was somewhat excited, wanting to try it immediately.

However, he remained rational. He told the others not to board the boat yet; he would take it out for a spin himself to get familiar with its functions before coming back for them.

Chen Wen and the other two didn't say anything. Getting familiar with a mode of transport is a very important matter and cannot be taken lightly.

Chen Xiangbei first observed the boat's exterior, then looked at the various instrument panels in the control room, and only then inserted the key and started the vessel.

Under his operation, the boat slowly left the Fishermen's Wharf, not moving quickly. Only after ten minutes did it change direction and head towards the center of the lake.

On the lake surface, he slowly adjusted the speed, from fast to slow, then from slow to fast.

Under the subtle influence of the Advanced Driving Technique, he gradually mastered this boat. He began navigating to go back and pick them up.

Returning near the Fishermen's Wharf, he skillfully moored the boat at the Fishermen's Wharf. After the others quickly boarded, Chen Xiangbei started again and headed towards the predetermined destination.

It was still not yet 8 o'clock, and it had only recently gotten dark. He turned on all the lights around the boat, constantly watching the direction on the electronic map to avoid going off course.

Baiyun Lake is very large, round in shape, located between three cities, and has a river connecting it to the Zhu River water system which flows into the sea.

Due to its relatively special geographical location, the water in Baiyun Lake mainly comes from underground rivers and rainwater accumulation.

After driving for about 15 minutes, they arrived at the very center of Baiyun Lake. Chen Xiangbei turned off the boat's engine, letting it drift on the lake surface.

He turned on all the external lights, utilizing the phototaxis of most fish to attract nearby fish towards the boat.

Chen Xiangbei called everyone to prepare for fishing. There were fishing spots on both sides of the boat. He asked the others to go to one side and stood on the other himself, so he could focus more on fishing.

Chen Wen and the others didn't have any objections. After all, fishing requires concentration, and being disturbed can easily disrupt one's rhythm.

Chen Xiangbei took out his fishing rod, installed all the accessories, and tied on a small hook, specifically for catching Ornamental Fish.

He took out a small box containing three types of Secret Bait with different concentrations, which had been prepared in advance.

They were Standard Bait, Enhanced Chum, and Potent Chum, respectively.

Standard Bait is used for regular fishing, Enhanced Chum is for chumming, and Potent Chum was specifically prepared for the "Water Monster" today.

He planned to use the Potent Chum to lure it out; whether he succeeded or not depended on it.

He took a few handfuls of Enhanced Chum from the box. Just as he was about to turn and scatter it, he saw dense schools of fish gathered under the lights in the water.

Looking closely, it was astonishing; there were all kinds of fish, the Four Major Domestic Fish, Ornamental Fish, and small miscellaneous fish were all there.

This was quite a headache. The efficiency of catching Ornamental Fish would be very low this way. Ornamental Fish are too small and can't compete with the larger fish.

Chen Xiangbei simply decided not to chum. He found two heavy objects and threw them towards the area where the fish were gathered, scattering them again.

After scattering them, he stared intently at the fish on the lake surface with his 5.2 titanium alloy "dog eyes." As soon as he spotted an Ornamental Fish, he would cast his rod towards it for precise fishing.

Soon, he spotted a bright red Goldfish. He put the bait on the hook and, using his superb rod control technique, accurately cast the hook right next to that Goldfish.

At first, the Goldfish was startled and swam away immediately. But it hadn't swum far before an extremely enticing scent came from behind it.