New Jersey, Northwest.
Despite all the imaginations he had, Li Biqing still exclaimed in amazement when he saw the beautiful log house beside the rippling blue lake. A wooden plank trail was built by the lake, and two white wooden boats with oars were also tied at its edge. The green lawn spread behind the cabin onto the verdant forest, stretching towards the lush, boundless Kittatinny Mountain.
"This is awesome!" He couldn't help but get stunned.
"Of course, the title 'Garden State' isn't just for naught." The host said happily and settled their luggage in the pristine, pine- scented wooden house.
"I'm looking forward for the next day! What are our plans? Forest camping, hiking, or hunting?"
Li Biqing suggested enthusiastically, "Let's hunt! I've never experienced doing it in the wild. I heard that hunting bears in the United States is legal; maybe we can catch a black bear."
"It's not as simple as you think, boy, "Leo said." First, you need to apply for a hunting license and buy non-automatic guns. You can only hunt a certain kind of non-protected animals you applied for - a deer, a bear or others, in a specified area, date and time period. There are also restrictions on the quantity. In short, you can only act after approval. By the way, the state's black bear hunting season starts in December, but currently, it's only September. You can only play with hares and pigeons at most. "
"Okay..." the young man said with some disappointment, "Then I'll go fishing first - or do I also need a permit for it?"
"Yes, you need to apply for a fishing license, but don't worry, I already have one."
But before Li Biqing's face lighted up, the federal agent added, "But you have to read this 'New Jersey Fishing Regulations' in advance. If you violate it, you will be fined and the offense will be recorded in your personal files. The rules says, no electrical fishing rods; the rod itself and the wire may not exceed 4.8 meters and 19 meters in length respectively; you can only install up to two hooks, each without any barbs; earthworms, dragonflies, fish and shrimps are allowed to be used as bait; do not tear the lips of the fish when taking off it off the hook; small and pregnant female fishes must be put back into the lake ... Oh, there are also regulations regarding the size standards of small fishes - according to different species, length, weight, and even some according to waist circumference ..."
" -Stop! Stop!"Li Biqing said angrily "I don't want to go fishing anymore! Swimming! I don't need a license for swimming, do I?"
"That's not necessary."
Li Biqing immediately entered the house and changed into dark blue swimming trunks.
Before jumping onto the lake, he angrily said to Leo, "I want to complain about this travel company, as well as the newspaper! Your mother, it's all just fake advertisement!"
Leo propped his hands on the railing of the wooden trail plank as he silently watched the waves of water on the lake.
He did not expect that Li Biqing's slenderness was just an illusion. Under the conservative casual clothes, he actually had a good figure-not the kind with blocks of muscle, but it was undoubtedly strong. His clear proportions showed that he had undergone some meticulous training or exercise. At such a youthful and compelling age, every inch of texture exuded a fresh air; not to mention the waist and abdomen lines that were gathered together sexily - enough to make people hold their breaths.
--At least, Leo held his breath until the cool drops of the lake's water splashed on his face as the other's leaping body touches the lake surface - only then did he regained his normal breathing.[t/n, Leo, (º﹃º )]
I'm actually staring at another guy's half-naked body, it seems that I've become completely bent ... The dark-haired agent smiled bitterly.
Meters away on the lake, Li Biqing raised his head. He wiped back a handful of his flowing wet hair, and waved at him, "It's a very comfortable! Unfortunately, you can't go into the water yet. Don't forget what the doctor's said, You can't do any strenuous exercise before your injuries are completely healed. You better sit there and fish honestly - don't forget to take a tape measure to measure the waist of the fish!"
For that last quip, Leo smiled leniently. He could understand the other's frustration and estimated that it would take a few laps around the large lake before Li Biqing recovers his mood. It looked like he's good with water, so there's nothing to worry about and just let him swim freely.
Li Biqing plunged into the lake again, and this time, it seemed that he had dived deeper as dozens of seconds had passed and he still didn't appear on the lake surface.
Leo sat on the boardwalk. He opened the fishing gear box, and began to assemble the fishing line and hook. When he was installing the fake fly bait, he suddenly realized that within his peripheral vision, Li Biqing hadn't resurfaced again and a considerable time had passed ... It's been almost 3 minutes!
He dropped the fishing rod and stood up abruptly. He quickly scanned the lake and shouted, "Biqing!-Li Biqing!-"
There was no response nor was there any sort of movement on the calm surface of the shimmering lake.
--He is drowning! The idea, as sharp as a knife, stabbed Leo's brain; he jumped into the lake without hesitation, and swam to the area where he last saw Li Biqing.
Even with the bright sunlight, the lake water was still deep. With its deep green-ish color, especially after diving down, the visibility would be lower - only the shadow of the fishes swarming past and the outlines of sundries and other debris on the lake bottom can be seen. Leo was anxiously searching for Li Biqing's figure, and every second was like a heavy hammer pounding upon his heart. He could almost hear the ticking of the clock pointer scraping against his eardrum, constantly urging, Hurry up! Quickly! Faster!
Finally, he saw the other person's figure -the half naked body was floating amidst the ripples of the water, with a kind of secular beauty and tranquility ... death-like tranquility! Leo swam through the water with all his strength, and hooked Li Biqing under both arms. He then kicked his legs and pedaled upwards.
But just then, a certain force entangled the young man in his arms, preventing him from taking him back to the world, as if the youth had been caught by the sneering god of death. Leo looked down anxiously and found that a circle of black things was wrapped around Li Biqing's ankle. He tugged it twice with no result. He remembered the Swiss army knife given by Anthony, which he had constantly carried inside his pocket ever since he first received it. He quickly opened the Hunter's serrated sickle and cut the mass of algae.
Fortunately, although it is flexible, it is not hard, and it almost instantly broke off. Leo grabbed Li Biqing, quickly rushed up towards the lake surface and swam to the shore.
As he dragged another person's body ashore, he didn't waste any time on panic and sensational calls. He calmly kneeled on one leg and firmly placed the youth's abdomen on his raised thigh, then pressed hard on his back. The water in the other's lungs and stomach came out, but it seemed that he's still not breathing. Leo flipped him to the ground, held his jaw and pinched his nose to blow air into his mouth, then pumped his chest rhythmically, repeating the two actions in an alternate manner.
The artificial respiration lasted for more than half a minute before Li Biqing made a long hissing sound from his trachea. He spurted a few sips of water, and turned sideways in pain, coughing constantly.
When he coughed and was finally able to breathe smoothly, Leo suddenly relaxed - his legs turned soft as he sat on the mud. It wasn't until now that cold sweat poured out from the pores of his body; that he felt pain as his crumpled heart slowly unfolded.
"I was almost scared to death by you ..." He groaned and lifted the head of the young man on his calf.
"... I thought I was dead," Li Biqing said in fright, "I can't move my ankle because it was tangled with the algae in the lake." He subconsciously looked down at his right foot - a few strands of the culprit still remained around his ankles. He pulled those things off in disgust, but then paused. He rubbed it between his fingers, and his eyes stared at it in detail,
"Something's wrong-this is not like algae."
Leo also took a closer look at the object on his hands. The golden-brown strands- tangled, messy and wet -were indeed not algae, but rather ...
"-hair!" The two cried out in unison.
That's right! With such color, texture and length, nine out of ten, it's human hair!
There is a human body at the bottom of the lake!
Looking at the hair's state and color, the victim died probably not that long ago. They didn't know if it was a drowning accident or ... a murder.
Leo and Li Biqing glanced at each other and they clearly saw the decision from the bottom of each other's eyes- go back to the bottom of the lake and find out.