Reborn at 80: From Village Scoundrel to Billionaire

"What?"

Liu Bei's face darkened. "Ha'er, don't be hasty, tell me slowly, what exactly happened on the other side of the lake?"

Fan Ha'er, bent over and panting heavily, said intermittently, "A few children from the village ran... ran to swim in the lake. At first, everything was fine, but suddenly... suddenly something popped up from the bottom of the water!"

"What is it?"

"I heard that thing looks like a monkey! It was all wet! It pulled Wei Hua's son into the water in an instant!"

The other children were terrified and desperately scrambled ashore to run back to the village to call for help.

By this time, almost everyone in the village had rushed over.

Wei Hua's sister-in-law...cried herself unconscious. Wei Hua's brother was frantic with worry. The village secretary said, "You're the best swimmer in the whole village, so you need to go help right away!"

"Looks like a monkey? And it's all wet? Could it be... a water ghost?" Upon hearing this, Lin Wanqiu's expression suddenly changed.

"My sister-in-law is right, it's...it's a water ghost!!!"

"Huh? It's...it really is a water ghost? Those things eat people!!!" Lin Wanqiu raised her eyebrows.

Liu Bei felt a chill run down his spine.

Water ghosts are actually water monkeys, a type of monster that lurks in the water in folk legends. They are said to be the resentful spirits of ghosts who drowned themselves in rivers, and once you are entangled by one, you will be eaten.

In his previous life, he had seen on television that some experts had said that this thing was actually an otter.

Otters are not large, but they are very strong in the water, especially adept at dragging prey to the bottom.

A seven or eight-year-old child is no match for it in the water.

How long has the child been in the water?

"It must have been more than twenty minutes!"

"So long?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei said, "Let's go take a look!"

"Liu Bei!"

Lin Wanqiu grabbed his arm, her lips pressed tightly together, her eyes filled with worry, "That's a water ghost, it eats people, let's not go!!!"

Liu Bei stroked Lin Wanqiu's face and smiled slightly: "Don't worry. Your man is perfectly capable. Listen to me, quickly take Panpan and the others home first. Ha'er and I will go check on them. Everything will be alright!"

"Then...then you...be careful."

"rest assured."

Liu Bei nodded to her and then ran away.

Fan Ha'er followed closely behind, and the two disappeared one after the other on the dirt road at the entrance of the village.

Lin Wanqiu stood there, her fingers still gripping the hem of her clothes tightly.

Panpan looked up and asked, "Mom, where did Dad go to do?"

"Your father went to rescue someone." Lin Wanqiu took a deep breath, took Panpan's hand, and said, "Come on, let's go home."

……

When Liu Bei and Fan Ha'er arrived, the lake shore was packed with people.

The women in the village stood in twos and threes, discussing amongst themselves.

"What a tragedy... Wei Hua's child is only seven years old."

"That's right, I heard that he was pulled down by a water ghost and didn't even have time to scream."

"Weihua's wife was crying so hard she couldn't breathe, and she fainted. Sigh... if we can't find her..."

"Stop talking, stop talking, it's even more unbearable for a mother to hear that."

Several children stood on tiptoe, craning their necks to look at the lake, only to be slapped back by their mothers: "What are you looking at! Get lost! If anyone dares to swim in the lake again, I'll break your legs!"

The old men squatted on the rocks by the shore, each with a furrowed brow, puffing away on their pipes, and no one uttered a sound.

"Xiao Bei! You've finally arrived!"

Fan Sanyuan spotted Liu Bei at a glance, strode over, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him toward the lake.

"How's the situation?" Liu Bei asked as he walked.

"This is bad." Fan Sanyuan shook his head. "We've searched for ages, but haven't even found a trace of them."

Liu Bei looked out over the lake.

Two bamboo rafts and a small wooden boat are scattered on the lake.

Fan Xibei stood on the foremost bamboo raft, holding a long bamboo pole and poking it into the water.

Zhao Liuzhi squatted down beside him, constantly watching the water.

The other able-bodied men also rowed their rafts around the area, searching back and forth.

But none of them went into the water; they all stayed on the surface.

Liu Bei withdrew his gaze and looked at the grassy bank.

A young woman lay on her back on the ground, her face pale, while two women beside her were pinching her philtrum.

The young woman was Fan Weihua's wife from the village.

Fan Weihua was squatting not far away, clutching his hair tightly with both hands, curled up in a ball, repeatedly muttering the same sentence: "My son... my son is still in the water..."

Liu Bei glanced at them, then turned to Fan Sanyuan and asked, "Why aren't they going into the water?"

Fan Sanyuan's eyes widened: "Go into the water? Those are water ghosts! Ghosts of the water! They're experts in swimming and have incredible strength. Who would dare to go down there rashly? That's practically suicide! Let's be safe, first use a bamboo pole to probe, then use a net to scoop them up—"

"Party branch secretary".

Before Fan Sanyuan could finish speaking, Liu Bei interrupted him.

"The child has been in the water for almost half an hour. If we keep poking with a bamboo pole, the child will be long gone by the time we find them. We should go into the water and search!"

After saying that, Liu Bei quickly took off his shirt and cloth shoes, leaving him only in a pair of shorts.

"Xiao Bei, what are you doing?" Fan Sanyuan asked hurriedly upon seeing this.

"Of course we'll look at the bottom of the lake!"

After saying that, Liu Bei plunged headfirst into the water.

"Thump—"

Water splashed everywhere.

"Liu Bei, don't be reckless, come up here!" Fan Sanyuan stamped his feet anxiously, shouting at the lake, "Don't be impulsive! Come up here first! Let's talk this over properly!!"

However, only a ripple remained on the water's surface, which quickly spread and then returned to calm.

In an instant, Liu Bei had vanished without a trace.

"Brother Bei! Wait for me! Me too—"

Seeing this, Fan Ha'er frantically tried to pull at his clothes.

"You stop right there!!!"

Chen Qiaolan suddenly rushed over and grabbed Fan Ha'er by the back of his collar, holding on tightly.

"Mother! Brother Bei will go down alone—"

"With your dog-paddle skills, you can't even get three zhang (approximately 10 meters) far, and you think you can go down there to save someone? You're not going to save someone, you're going to your death! Stay put right here! You're not going anywhere!!"

"..."

Fan Ha'er opened his mouth, anxiously pacing around, but unfortunately he really wasn't good at swimming, so he could only worry helplessly.

"Dazhuang. Tan Si!"

On the rocks by the shore, Old Tan tapped his pipe against the sole of his shoe.

"You should go too."

Li Dazhuang and Tan Si exchanged a glance.

Li Dazhuang grinned, took off his jacket without saying a word, took two steps to run up, and jumped down.

Tan Si followed suit and plunged into the water.

Soon, two bursts of water exploded one after the other.

The crowd on the shore stirred; some cheered, some sighed, and some murmured, "May the Bodhisattva protect us."

The bamboo rafts swayed gently on the lake.

Fan Xibei leaned on his bamboo pole, his lips twitching as he looked in the direction where Liu Bei and the other two had disappeared.

Zhao Liuzhi leaned closer and said, "Brother Northwest, he really went down."

"That's a water ghost! In the water ghost's territory, he didn't use a boat or a raft, he just went shirtless and dived into the lake... Trying to steal food from the water ghost in their own den, isn't that just asking for death?"

"Hehe~"

Fan Xibei sneered:

"Then... let's see if he's tough enough."

"That's true. Hehe..."

Zhao Liuzhi rolled his eyes and chuckled twice.

On the shore, the crowd fell silent. Everyone stared at the lake.

one second.

two seconds.

ten seconds.

Thirty seconds.

The water was so calm that there wasn't a ripple.

People in the crowd started whispering among themselves.

"Why haven't they come up yet?"

"Could it be... that they've also been held back by the water ghosts?"

Fan Weihua, who was squatting on the ground, suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes staring intently at the lake, his whole body trembling like a leaf.

Chen Qiaolan gripped Fan Ha'er's collar tighter and tighter.

Fan Sanyuan stood on the shore with his hands on his hips, his face growing increasingly grim.

A minute passed.

There was no movement on the lake.