HDRDTH -Chapter 117 I Am You, You Are Me.

On the bank of the mist-shrouded Wei River.

The old man looked at Yu Xian’s expression of sheer disbelief and burst into loud laughter.

The sound shook the reeds nearby into a frenzy.

He stroked his white beard thoughtfully.

“My original surname is Jiang, my clan is Lü, my given name is Shang, and my courtesy name is Ziya.”

The laughter stopped abruptly.

His gaze turned sharp—like a bone-scraping blade—piercing straight into Yu Xian’s eyes.

“But no matter what name you call me by… I am you. And you are me.”

Yu Xian slid off the green stone slab and landed hard in the soft grass by the riverbank.

“Hold on a second.”

He grabbed his hair frantically with both hands, feeling his once rock-solid materialist worldview being smashed apart like it was under a hammer.

“Before my rebirth, I was an investment capitalist. After rebirth, I’m a lazy stepfather with two burdens. And now you’re telling me I’m the reincarnation of Jiang Ziya?!”

His face was full of breakdown.

“That’s too big a genre jump! From urban rebirth story straight into mythological Investiture of the Gods?! What kind of low-tier web novel fusion nonsense is this?!”

Jiang Ziya watched his meltdown without surprise.

“This isn’t cultivation. Nor mythology.”

He shook his head and rested the bamboo rod on his knee.

“You’ve fished before. You know this—when the fishing line is pulled to its tightest, nothing is visible on the surface. But beneath the water, every fish within dozens of meters feels it.”

“Humans are the same. There are certain fates in this world that are like that line—born stretched to its limit. Quiet most of the time… but when it moves, the world shakes.”

“Call it a breaker of fate, or a handler of the rod. Names don’t matter.”

He pointed at himself.

“Three thousand years ago, King Zhou of Shang turned the world into chaos. That line tightened on me. I sat here by the Wei River for ten years and fished out Ji Chang, cleaning up that mess.”

His finger then turned toward Yu Xian.

“Now, that box of destruction energy you broke… and that bronze beast head tied to the earth veins—you crushed them both.”

“The black smoke you absorbed wasn’t just smoke. It was ancient memory lingering in the earth veins.”

“You are that line.”

Yu Xian rolled his eyes so hard it looked painful.

“Bullshit.”

He stood up, brushing grass off his butt.

“I just want to live a quiet life and fish with a 9.9-yuan fiberglass rod at Wild Boar Ditch catching carp. Fate breaker my ass. Whoever wants it can take it!”

“Too late.”

Jiang Ziya smiled faintly, like an old fox.

“You severed the formation core of Jiangcheng’s water veins and broke a foreign nation’s karmic chain. Now the things hiding in the shadows will come for you like sharks smelling blood.”

“Your cheap fishing rod won’t handle it anymore.”

He stood up and handed over a bamboo rod with no fishing line.

“Take it.”

“This rod will help you calm the fire in your heart. One day, when you can fish out the world’s karma like I do—no bait, no line—then your lazy life will finally be stable.”

Yu Xian instinctively stepped back.

But his hand slowly rose on its own.

His fingertips touched the rough bamboo rod.

BOOM!

At the moment of contact—

The Wei River, the mist, the stone slab, and Jiang Ziya himself shattered like glass, covered in cracks.

“Remember.”

Jiang Ziya’s voice echoed as he faded away.

“Fishing is about catching yourself. The world… is beneath your straight hook.”

CRACK—

Everything shattered into white light.

……

“Dad! Dad, wake up!”

Yu Xian suddenly opened his eyes.

He was lying on the leather sofa in Jinshui Bay Villa, drenched in cold sweat.

Wang Dafu’s panicked fat face hovered in front of him.

Yu Xian gasped heavily.

He instinctively clenched his right hand.

Empty.

No rod.

But his palm still carried a rough sensation, as if he had just held something.

He flipped his hand over—

A thin dark-red vertical line had appeared in the center of his palm.

“…Damn it, just a dream. That was way too ridiculous.”

He wiped sweat off his forehead and sat up cursing.

At that moment—

Rapid military boots sounded outside.

BANG!

The bronze door swung open.

Chufeng stormed in, followed by two fully armed soldiers carrying a silver case.

His eyes were bloodshot, filled with fanatic respect.

“Mr. Yu! You’re finally awake!”

He marched up and saluted sharply.

“You forcibly suppressed the Huangquan nuclear explosion for Jiangcheng citizens, causing severe mental exhaustion and deep coma. Elder Li was heartbroken upon hearing this!”

Yu Xian rubbed his temples.

“What now?”

Chufeng signaled the soldiers.

The case opened with a hydraulic hiss.

Inside, on shock-absorbing velvet, lay a 1.2-meter dark gray metal rod.

Seamless. No buttons. No joints.

Cold, industrial, and utterly alien.

Chufeng lifted it with both hands and presented it solemnly.

“Mr. Yu! Elder Li knows you enjoy fishing.”

“This is a conceptual prototype of a magnetic-fluid spiritual amplification device developed by the Huaxia Military Research Institute!”

“It has no physical wiring—driven entirely by high-dimensional neural resonance!”

“No fishing line. No hook. Just strong enough mental power, and it generates an invisible underwater field net through magnetic convergence!”

His voice grew more excited.

“Elder Li said your realm is too high for ordinary fishing rods. This wireless rod is a modest token of gratitude from the military for protecting the city!”

Yu Xian stared at it blankly.

No line.

No hook.

Wireless rod.

Three seconds later—

The dark-red line in his palm suddenly burned hot.

A faint buzzing echoed in his head, like that old man’s shameless laughter from the dream.

Coincidence?

If this is a coincidence, he’ll eat that rod.

He took it.

The moment his hands touched it—

A sharp, electric numbness surged from his palm to the back of his head.

Yu Xian exhaled deeply.

“…Damn it.”

He stood up slowly.

“Dafu.”

“Go dig up some earthworms.”

Chufeng froze.

“Mr. Yu? This device doesn’t need bait…”

Yu Xian walked toward the yard dragging the metal rod.

“If I don’t use earthworms, am I supposed to use this thing to plow the yard?”

Behind him, Chufeng silently raised his hand and saluted.

Yu Xian stepped into the yard and stuck the metal rod into the soil.

The moment it touched the ground—

The air trembled slightly.

Maybe it was an illusion.

Maybe not.

He looked up at the night sky and sighed.

“Old Jiang… you really got me.”

At that moment—

The phone on the coffee table inside the villa vibrated.

A message appeared.

No sender.

The content was scrambled code, writhing like something alive.

Yu Xian turned back and frowned.

The things Jiang Ziya said… the sharks that smelled blood—

They were already coming.