The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 26: A Bite at Last

He pinched the head off a shrimp, baited the hook with the tail, and carefully cast his line. The key was to land the bait right at the water's edge, preferably near rocks or other places fish could hide.
Chu Mingcheng and Zhang Wei set up about ten meters apart, giving each other plenty of space.
His goby skill was still at Level 0, and it wasn't their peak feeding time yet. After the first cast, Chu Mingcheng waited five or six minutes without a single bite. But after several days of fishing, he’d learned patience and wasn't the least bit flustered.
Suddenly, he felt a pull on the rod. A bite!
But the feel of it was strange. Gobies were a lot like sleeper gobies (
padihu
)—they looked similar, and they should have a similar way of taking the bait. They tended to swallow it whole, meaning the hook would set deep, and there was little risk of them getting away.
This, however, felt different. There was no frantic thrashing. Instead, it felt like a dead weight, as if he were having a tug-of-war with something on the bottom. It felt like a snag.
Did the hook get caught in a crevice?
The water was moving, so it wouldn't be surprising if the current had pushed the hook into a crack in the rocks.
Chu Mingcheng gave a gentle tug and found he could pull it, but the resistance grew tighter the more he pulled. He tried slackening the line for a moment and then pulling again. It moved.
Surprised that the technique was working, he began a rhythm of loosening and pulling, slowly reeling in his line.
Soon, the hook broke the surface, bringing with it... a snake's head?
Chu Mingcheng was so startled he almost threw his rod, but a closer look turned his shock into delight. It was a moray eel.
The moray eel didn't put up much of a fight. Once it was out of its crevice, it was like a lamb to the slaughter, and he easily pulled it to the bank. Its yellow-patterned, snake-like body was tangled around the fishing line. Zhang Wei, noticing the commotion, turned to look. "What the hell?!" he yelped, goosebumps breaking out all over his skin.
A moment later, his shock turned to envy.
That was a wild moray eel. They weren't cheap at the market, and this one looked to be a decent size, probably half a meter long.
Chu Mingcheng, however, was looking at the fierce creature with a troubled expression. This thing looked vicious. How was he supposed to get the hook out? He didn't have any anti-slip gloves, and when he tried to grab the eel, its body was too slick to get a grip on.
With a sigh, he had no choice but to take his scissors, snip the leader line, and tie on a new hook. The hook in the eel's stomach would have to stay for now. If worse came to worst, he'd just have to lose it. Thankfully, he'd brought plenty of spares.
His Aquatic Codex experience ticked up to 10 points. Only 40 more to level up. It looked like while he was making money, he also needed to focus on unlocking some new species.
He baited his new hook with another shrimp and switched spots. A moray eel had been there, and no matter how tough a goby was, it was no match for an eel. There was no way any gobies were hanging around that area.
This time, he got a bite after five or six minutes as well, but judging by the feel of the rod, it wasn't a goby. It felt just like before—like he was snagged on the bottom.
A strange look crossed Chu Mingcheng's face.
Did I stumble into a moray eel nest today or something?
Using the same technique, he soon pulled the creature from the water. It was a large mud crab. As it came out of the water, one of its massive claws was clamped tightly around the shrimp bait, refusing to let go. Seeing this, Chu Mingcheng quickly swung it toward the bank, terrified it would let go mid-air.
Sure enough, it released its claw while still in the air, but it was too late. The momentum from his swing sent it flying onto the bank instead of back into the water. The mud crab landed on its back, legs flailing. It struggled for a moment before using its claws to flip itself over. Sensing someone approaching, it raised its pincers in a threatening display. Its legs scuttled sideways until it was pressed against the bucket, as if the solid object offered it a sense of security.
Chu Mingcheng scooped up a glob of soft mud and slapped it onto the crab’s back, effectively immobilizing it. Then, he reached down and grabbed it. A quick check of its underbelly revealed it was a female, and a plump one at that, judging by its full abdominal flap.
He was very pleased. His luck was great today. Even though he hadn't caught a goby, a moray eel, and a mud crab were both excellent catches. He pulled some seaweed from the bank, placed it in the bucket, and then tossed the crab in. This was to keep it from snapping at any other fish he might catch.
As for the hook and shrimp bait, the crab had been holding on? Another loss. Most of the bait had fallen off when he swung the crab, and the hook had been bent out of shape by its powerful claw.
Time to change it again.
Without realizing it, half an hour had passed.
Zhang Wei let out a triumphant "Haha!" as he felt a bite and lifted his rod. A small, dark brown fish was pulled from the water, thrashing wildly. It was his fifth goby. His luck had been pretty good, too. Three of the five were a respectable three
liang
, and the other two were at least two
liang
—all big enough to sell.
He was about to show off to Chu Mingcheng when he realized his friend had somehow wandered fifty meters away. And hanging from the tip of his raised rod was another moray eel, tangled in the line.
"This is insane. How can there be so many moray eels here?"
Chu Mingcheng thought it was ridiculous, too. He was here to catch gobies, but in the time he'd been here, he'd changed spots five times and caught three moray eels and two sea bass, each weighing between eight
liang
and a
jin
. He checked his Aquatic Codex again and again, but there was no special buff. His moray eel level was still at 0. Why was he having such a run-in with them?
Unable to figure it out, Chu Mingcheng decided to just keep fishing. He snipped the leader line and tossed the eel into his bucket. It was a good thing he had plenty of hooks. He’d bought a whole box, with fifty hooks of each size, and had happened to bring them all in the car. Otherwise, he would have run out by now.
This time, Chu Mingcheng found a spot with a lot of seaweed and dropped his bait right into a gap. At this point, he didn't care about gobies anymore. As long as something was biting, he was happy.
But sometimes, that's just how it goes. When you want something, it never shows up. The moment you stop caring, it appears.
After two or three minutes, he felt a slight twitch on his rod. Something was nibbling at his bait. A moment later, the movement stopped. He lifted his rod to check the hook. Sure enough, the shrimp was gone. The little thing underwater was pretty smart.
Chu Mingcheng's interest was piqued. The cat back home had stolen his fish, and now it belonged to him. This fish had stolen his bait—
did it think it could get away?
He re-baited the hook and dropped it back into the same gap in the seaweed. Having already gotten a taste, the little creature let its guard down. The bait had barely been down for ten seconds when the tip of the rod started twitching again. This time, it went for it, swallowing the bait in one gulp.
As it swallowed the shrimp, the hook sank deep into its mouth. The tip of the rod vibrated nonstop. A sly grin spread across Chu Mingcheng's face. He lifted his rod, and a dark brown goby was pulled from the water, its tail whipping back and forth as it struggled in the air.
He reached out and grabbed the goby, then carefully removed the hook, along with the half-eaten shrimp.
You want to eat a second bait off me? In your dreams.