Chapter 203: Crisis at South Lake, The Giant Bass!

South Lake was the filming location for Yearning 6.

At this moment, the show's guests were busy boarding their boats.

The wooden boats looked stable, but they actually wobbled back and forth. If one didn't immediately find their balance after stepping aboard, they could easily take a tumble.

The group wobbled onto the boats and hurriedly sat down, letting out a few panicked shrieks along the way.

Aside from Zhang Ruoyun and Tang Yixin, who snuggled close and showed off their affection, everyone else looked quite flustered.

Seeing the contrast, the netizens realized just how impressive the Temple Master really was.

Not only did he remain standing on his wooden boat, but he also punted with a bamboo pole in perfect balance. It was as if he knew Light Kung Fu, remaining completely unaffected by the swaying of the hull.

Now that was true kung fu.

"Is riding a wooden boat really that hard? These celebrities are exaggerating," a netizen in the live-stream room questioned.

"Don't judge them so harshly. This is exactly how any normal person feels the first time they board a small wooden boat."

"A wooden boat isn't like a regular ship, and there's no one punting for them. An ordinary person definitely wouldn't be able to stand steady on their first try."

"Seeing how relaxed and comfortable the Temple Master is, I thought it'd be easy."

"The Temple Master is obviously a veteran."

People in Ning Fei's Live-stream Room were also discussing the situation.

Ning Fei offered an explanation.

"The hull will definitely sway, but once you have enough experience, you won't even notice it," he said.

"People who make their living on the water hold one belief: you must follow the current and respect nature. Once you master the rhythm of the water, punting a boat across the river becomes a very simple matter."

As he spoke, Ning Fei's fishing bobber suddenly jerked.

"A bite!"

Pleased, Ning Fei quickly pulled up the rod.

Soon, a massive, thrashing fish was hauled out of the water.

The fish whipped its body wildly in the air, splashing water everywhere.

"So fierce?"

The sheer force of the large fish's movements left Ning Fei a bit surprised. However, his hands were quick. He swiftly grabbed the fish, unhooked it, and tossed it into his bucket.

"The fish here are so strong!" an experienced angler immediately commented.

"Every region's fish have their own characteristics. Some areas have smaller fish, while others have more large ones, but they're mostly just ordinary fish. This is my first time seeing one this aggressive."

"Indeed. The meat is definitely going to be plump and delicious."

"These kinds of fish are very hard to catch."

Ning Fei looked at the fish in the bucket, deep in thought.

"Logically speaking, South Lake is a calm, small lake. The fish inside should be quite docile."

"Yet this one is so irritable, and it's on the larger side too."

"Something isn't right."

Meanwhile, over at the Yearning 6 Production Crew.

The seven guests were divided into three groups: Zhang Ruoyun and Tang Yixin in one group; Peng Xiaochang, Huang Sanshi, and Li Xiaoqin in another; and He Rihuo and Zhang Xiaofeng in the last.

Sitting in their wooden boats, they each took a side and paddled forward with their oars.

Their task was to catch fish. The director's team had provided them with various tools, including fishing nets, fishing rods, and casting nets.

"This is easy. Our two boats can each hold one side of the net, spread it out, and do a lap. We'll definitely catch some fish!"

Huang Sanshi, being the cleverer one, made the suggestion.

"Alright, let's do it!"

Teacher He's group agreed as well.

Working together, they spread the fishing net out and paddled their boats forward.

Rowing with oars was relatively slow. They could only rely on the resistance between the oars and the lake water to propel the wooden boats, which was nowhere near as fast as punting.

They slowly inched ahead.

"Pengpeng, row a bit slower! We can't keep up over here," Teacher He called out helplessly from the other boat, seeing how forcefully Peng Xiaochang was rowing.

Peng Xiaochang was Mushroom House's sole designated "hard laborer." Whenever he started working, he truly gave it his all.

The constant stream of comedic moments along the way thoroughly amused the netizens.

Not far away, Ning Fei was still quietly fishing.

Huang Sanshi and his group periodically pulled up their net to check, only to find it completely empty. They were exasperated.

"There can't be no fish in this lake, right? I haven't even seen a shadow of one," Huang Sanshi grumbled.

"I just saw the Temple Master catch one," Zhang Xiaofeng replied softly.

Hearing this, Huang Sanshi could only sigh in defeat.

He looked toward Ning Fei's direction, just in time to see Ning Fei reeling in yet another large fish.

"He really is amazing," Huang Sanshi praised.

Ning Fei looked at the bass in front of him, his brow furrowing slightly.

This bass was also somewhat abnormal. It looked significantly larger and was full of aggression.

"What's going on with the fish here? Could there be pollution causing mutations?" a seasoned angler couldn't help but ask upon seeing the dark fish.

Ning Fei shook his head. "There are no factories or chemical products in the mountains. The water flows down from the peak, so it can't be polluted."

"Plus, looking at the eyes of these two fish, they are very clear, which means they grew naturally."

"Bass are already quite fierce by nature. For them to grow like this, it must have something to do with the environment here."

"There are many species of bass. Wild bass can live for seven to ten years, making them relatively long-lived fish. The largest bass discovered so far was over two meters long."

Even so, a surge of curiosity welled up in Ning Fei's heart.

Fish wouldn't turn out like this for no reason.

Because there had been no human interference for a long time, the wild fish here were generally larger. Bass themselves had fierce temperaments; as carnivorous fish, they were the overlords in a freshwater lake like this.

"This must be a subspecies of bass." Ning Fei used his skill, Encyclopedia, to read the bass's information and got his answer.

"Snakehead bass, a subspecies of bass. Because they face no interference from natural predators, their bodies are much larger than ordinary bass, and they are highly aggressive."

"Snakehead bass!"

Ning Fei's expression shifted slightly.

As a subspecies, snakehead bass were few in number, but their physical size was quite large.

"Good stuff. Meat from a fish like this is definitely going to be delicious."

Then, Ning Fei began to chuckle.

Although bass sat near the top of the food chain in freshwater territories, in front of humans, they were still nothing more than food.

"No wonder they couldn't catch any fish. It turns out the hooks are too small, so only the smaller bass will bite."

Ning Fei finally realized where he had made his mistake. It wasn't easy to catch large fish with small hooks; that was just common sense.

At that moment, the Production Crew was drawing closer to Ning Fei.

"Temple Master Ning, what a coincidence," Teacher He called out first in greeting, and the others all waved at him.

"It is," Ning Fei replied with a smile.

The two sides were still quite far apart—about a dozen meters or so—so they could only shout to be heard.

On the live-stream screen, the sight of them exchanging greetings from their converging small boats gave off the distinct, charming vibe of a fishing village.

Just then, Li Xiaoqin seemed to notice some movement next to her boat. She leaned her face out close to the surface of the lake, peering down curiously.

She was already quite striking, with a gentle and graceful aura. Her beautiful face was instantly reflected on the water's surface.

And just beneath that beautiful reflection was a dark shadow.

"Ah!"

Li Xiaoqin let out a sharp cry. All the color drained from her face, and her voice trembled.

"What's wrong?" Huang Sanshi, who was beside her, hurriedly asked.

Peng Xiaochang also looked over.

"There's something down there!"

Li Xiaoqin said in a slight panic. She was a girl who appeared rather delicate and didn't have much courage.

Huang Sanshi stood up, leaning out to take a look.

His glance would have been fine, but at that exact moment, the dark shadow broke straight out of the lake.

It was a snakehead bass, and a fully grown adult one at that!

The bass looked to be about 1.3 or 1.4 meters long. Its massive body leaping out of the lake made it look like a terrifying monster.

In that moment, everyone was stunned.

That included the netizens in the live-stream room.

It was their first time seeing such a large fish, let alone one that looked so frightening!

Huang Sanshi was startled by the sudden appearance of the dark bass and instinctively stepped back. The space on the wooden boat was already cramped; with this step back, he immediately lost his footing and fell backward onto his bottom.

His weight caused the already flimsy wooden boat to sway violently.

Li Xiaoqin was light, so she couldn't withstand such intense rocking. Her entire body was thrown straight into the lake water.

Li Xiaoqin had fallen into the water.

For a moment, the scene descended into chaos.

No one could have imagined that such a massive danger was hidden beneath this seemingly tranquil lake!

What had just been a picturesque scene of peaceful country fishing boats had instantly turned into a perilous struggle for wilderness survival!

Unlike everyone else's panic, Ning Fei appeared much calmer.

He knew that the snakehead bass wouldn't make any aggressive moves toward a human; bass only ate small fish.

In other words, while the situation looked dangerous, all that had actually happened was Huang Sanshi's fall rocking the boat and throwing the already panicked Li Xiaoqin into the water.

There was no real danger at all.

However, since celebrities had never experienced something like this, it was normal for them to panic.

Ning Fei shook his head, grabbed his bamboo pole, and gave a forceful push.

At that moment, the distance between the two boats was less than ten meters. With Ning Fei's current physical condition, he could have jumped over directly if he used all his strength.

Instead, he chose to plant the bamboo pole down and use the leverage to vault himself over like a pole vaulter.

The celebrities were still caught up in the chaos and didn't notice, but the netizens in the live-stream room saw it clear as day.

They watched as Ning Fei leapt from his wooden boat onto Huang Sanshi's, landing steadily. He then reached out and pulled the floundering Li Xiaoqin straight out of the water with a single haul.