INHA Chapter 30

The crew on the boat saw Xu Dongyou sitting there silently, his large hat covering most of his face, making him seem even more mysterious and awe-inspiring.

Cautiously, one crew member asked, “Um, are you alright?”

Xu Dongyou turned his head slowly, took a while, and then nodded.

He was just a bit dazed from the stench, but otherwise, he was fine.

The crew member became even more reserved, awkwardly laughing, “That’s good, that’s good.”

Everyone on the boat fell into a silent, respectful hush.

People on the cruise ship watched the immobile strange fish from a distance, the vast lake surface littered with fragments of flesh and innards, piled up like a mountain of corpses and blood.

It was a terrifying sight.

Coupled with the overwhelming stench, many couldn’t help but cover their noses and retreat to the cabin, fearing they might faint if they stayed any longer.

However, many still braved it on the deck, wanting to confirm whether the strange fish was really dead.

Those with good eyesight caught a quick glimpse as the spotlight passed over and hesitated, saying, “That creature should be dead, right? The lake is full of innards and meat; it must be completely dead.”

“It should be, right?”

“Not necessarily. This creature looks a bit like a fish. Maybe, like fish, its nerves are still active even if its innards are out.”

Everyone discussed it but none dared to verify if the fish was truly dead. They all decided to wait for the people on the small boat to return.

At this moment, Zhao Ang’s livestream was explosively popular.

The number of viewers had reached the site’s highest, nearly eight million. While some of these might be fake accounts provided by the site, the barrage of comments was so intense that new viewers experienced several seconds of lag upon entering.

The comment refresh rate was so fast that many viewers couldn’t keep up, leading to a surge of paying viewers using colored comments, each costing a thousand live-streaming coins, equivalent to a hundred yuan.

These comments scrolled slowly across the screen, but with the sheer number of viewers, even the paying viewers were numerous, turning the screen into a rainbow mess, forcing many to disable the comments.

A flood of donations poured in, one after another, leaving Zhao Ang extremely excited. Someone even donated three million live-streaming coins, equivalent to three hundred thousand yuan.

Zhao Ang’s excitement peaked, his face turning red, and his voice trembling, “Thank you so much for the donation! This is the first time I’ve received such a large donation; I’m so thrilled.”

【It’s not for nothing. You can’t film anything from that far away. This three hundred thousand is for you to get closer to that creature.】

Zhao Ang hesitated for a few seconds, and that viewer donated another hundred thousand, asking, 【Is this enough?】

Zhao Ang quickly nodded, saying it was enough. He glanced at the completely immobile strange fish on the lake, thinking it was probably really dead. After a few seconds of hesitation, he decided to move closer.

It wasn’t just for the four hundred thousand yuan but for even more viewers and traffic.

Even at this point, many viewers still thought it was fake. However, no livestream team could stage such a large-scale scene, so they continued watching, enjoying the spectacle.

Some viewers, however, tried to dissuade Zhao Ang from getting too close, warning him that the strange fish might not be completely dead.

Holding his phone, Zhao Ang walked toward the edge of the deck and spoke to his audience, “Rest assured, viewers, this strange fish hasn’t moved at all. It’s definitely dead. I’m going over to show you its details.”

The passengers on the cruise ship, hearing Zhao Ang’s words, wanted to dissuade him but recalled his previous aggressive behavior when live streaming and decided to stay quiet.

The youngest crew member, mindful of his responsibility as a cruise ship staff, immediately stepped forward and called out to Zhao Ang, “Sir, please don’t get too close to the edge. It’s very dangerous!”

Other passengers, seeing a crew member trying to stop him, also offered their concerned advice.

“Don’t go over; it’s too dangerous.”

“Are you crazy? Do you want to die just to get famous?”

Facing the passengers’ well-meaning advice, Zhao Ang felt humiliated and snapped back, “Mind your own business!”

People grumbled a few complaints but stopped trying to dissuade him, feeling unappreciated for their concern.

The young crew member, still holding his crossbow, quickly ran over to pull Zhao Ang back. “This is really too dangerous.”

By this time, Zhao Ang was sitting on the railing of the ship, shouting at the strange fish. He then turned to the approaching crew member and said, “See? I’m shouting, and the fish isn’t moving.”

From afar, the mysterious man on the small boat seemed to sense something and suddenly stood up, shouting at Zhao Ang on the cruise ship, “Run!”

But it was too late.

A massive splash erupted as the supposedly dead strange fish suddenly leaped from the lake, clamping its jaws around Zhao Ang, who had half his body over the edge. With a crunch, Zhao Ang’s legs twitched once and then went still.

The scene happened so suddenly.

For several seconds, the people on the ship were frozen, then they started screaming and ran desperately towards the cabin.

The young crew member quickly fired his crossbow at the strange fish, shooting several times until he ran out of arrows. Others, realizing what was happening and gathering their courage, began throwing heavy objects at the creature.

The strange fish remained motionless, half of its body hanging over the ship. Without its internal organs and chunks of flesh, it didn’t weigh the ship down as it had before.

The young crew member exchanged glances with others and cautiously approached the fish. Someone, though it wasn’t clear who, took an iron rod and prodded the fish’s eye, eventually pushing it in with force.

The fish’s eye was similar to that of a regular fish but had many disgusting tumors around its edges. With a squish, the eye burst, oozing black pus, yet the fish stayed still, its mouth still clamped around Zhao Ang’s upper body.

“Dead! It’s really dead this time!” someone shouted.

The young crew member finally reacted, rushing over to try to pry open the fish’s mouth. Others quickly joined in, but the fish was so large that opening its jaws was extremely difficult. It took many passengers to finally open a small gap and pull Zhao Ang out.

Though Zhao Ang’s body was intact, his chest had been pierced by the fish’s teeth, and he showed no signs of life.

The live-streaming phone remained attached to Zhao Ang, continuing to broadcast.

The viewers were still in shock from the sight of the fish’s gaping maw lunging at the camera.

When they regained their composure, they noticed the screen had gone dark, the image frozen.

Meanwhile, Zhao Ang’s voice was nowhere to be heard.

A sense of foreboding began to spread among the viewers.

【Can’t be, right? Can’t be?】

【Did the streamer… get eaten by the monster fish?】

【Isn’t this all fake, scripted? But it’s the first time I’ve seen a streamer die in the script—are they trying to create a buzz?】

【Can you stop speculating maliciously?】

Suddenly, the phone’s screen started to move, accompanied by the sounds of people talking. The screen brightened after some shaking.

Then the live stream showed the ship’s lights and briefly the face of a crew member.

【Why does the crew member look so grim? Where’s the streamer? Why isn’t he talking?】

【I think the streamer’s probably gone.】

【I said not to go near it! Who knew if the monster was really dead? If something really happened, those who paid to make the streamer go are accomplices!】

【That’s ridiculous. If the streamer wanted fame and money, who’s to blame? It’s not like anyone forced him.】

The wealthy viewer who had thrown money at Zhao Ang was nowhere to be seen in the chat. Someone checked their profile and found the avatar had gone dark.

【How hateful! The moment things went wrong, they went offline.】

【But can we really blame the rich guy? If the streamer didn’t want to go, could anyone have forced him? Not only the viewers, but people on the ship also tried to warn him, didn’t they? He was ready to hit people!】

【When an avalanche occurs, not a single snowflake feels responsible. This goes for everyone here.】

The chat grew increasingly heated until an official notice popped up: 【Due to an incident in the live stream, the broadcast has been forcibly closed.】

Then the livestream went completely black.

The viewers stayed in the chat room, continuing to argue non-stop.

The live-streaming company’s boss wiped his sweat and said to the middle-aged man in front of him, “I’ve shut down the livestream.”

The middle-aged man raised his head and, smiling, pushed a contract across the table. “You know what to do, right?”

The boss nodded quickly and replied, “Yes, I know. Rest assured, I will promptly help you set up an official streaming server that can accommodate at least five thousand viewers without lag, and transfer all the highest privileges and permissions to the officials.”

Satisfied, the middle-aged man nodded. The boss felt a wave of relief wash over him as he saw the man off. Despite this, curiosity gnawed at him.

So, the monstrous fish from the stream and the person with special abilities, a cultivator or perhaps a superhuman—were they real?

Whatever the case, he keenly sensed that his live-streaming company was about to undergo significant changes.

News of the incident quickly trended on social media, spawning multiple hot topics.

#Mystery Surrounds Streamer’s Death: Is the Monster Fish Real?#
#First Time Seeing a Streamer Fake Their Death for Drama—Impressed Yet? [Sarcasm]#
#Cultivator or Superhuman?#
#Please Teach Me to Cultivate, Brother!#

Chen Yao, who habitually checked Weibo for the latest buzz after work, felt his spirit breaking from the day’s stress.

Opening the search page, he was greeted with several trending topics that left him puzzled.

What on earth is this?

Chen Yao clicked on the first topic, #Mystery Surrounds Streamer’s Death: Is the Monster Fish Real?#

—Tonight at around nine, a streamer on a certain platform suddenly started a live broadcast. The content was incredibly shocking, terrifying, and bloody. If you’re faint-hearted, do not click!!!

Without hesitation, Chen Yao clicked the video. Immediately, a very blurry and dark scene appeared, seemingly on a ship, with everyone looking terrified as if they had encountered something horrific.

Chen Yao felt his own tension rising.

Then the screen shook, revealing the streamer’s face. He spoke hoarsely to the camera, “Hello everyone, I’m Zhao Ang. Today, while taking a boat to a small island, we were attacked by a monster.”

Subtitles were thoughtfully added for viewer convenience.

Chen Yao’s tension dissipated instantly. Such an absurd and obviously fake situation had to be a gimmick or a scripted performance.

No wonder the second trending topic mentioned the streamer faking his death. It was probably all connected.

He instinctively moved to close the video, but then the screen shook violently again, the sound of water splashing suggesting a large creature was approaching.

Chen Yao’s hand hesitated, and he continued watching.

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