Dead Fish Bite
The story begins when villagers Zhang Mazi and Li Ergou were night fishing at Black Water Pit and unexpectedly caught a dead fish. Li Ergou, terrified, called it a ""Dead Fish Bite,"" believing it to be an ominous sign. Zhang Mazi, unfazed, continued fishing and soon hooked a silver longevity lock. Despite Li Ergou's repeated warnings, Zhang Mazi took the silver lock home. Soon after, strange incidents plagued the village: fish scales appeared under Li Ergou's pillow, Zhang Mazi's ducks died mysteriously with their mouths stuffed full of fish scales, and the villager Tian Meizi suddenly went mad, gnawing on water grass... The villagers spread rumors that Zhang Mazi had angered ""something in the pit"" by taking the silver lock, bringing disaster upon them. Under pressure, Zhang Mazi decided to uncover the truth. Through investigation, Zhang Mazi discovered that the fish scales in the ducks' mouths had been stuffed in after death, the fish heads had unnaturally clean cuts, and the shadowy figure on the river was actually a manipulated dummy—all signs that the eerie occurrences at Black Water Pit were man-made. Eventually, with the villagers' help, he set a trap at the pit and exposed the mastermind—Tailor Wang. It turned out that Tailor Wang, resentful over Zhang Mazi's failure to save his son from drowning in Black Water Pit years earlier, had orchestrated the series of ""supernatural events"" as revenge. After the truth came to light, the two men reconciled amidst grief and misunderstanding.
