Chapter 262: Choice
“Listen to what nonsense you’re saying, would you believe it yourself?”
After hearing Yue Linhai’s tone full of uncertainty, Zhang Qian didn’t know what to say for a moment.
Clearly, both the old house owner and Yue Linhai were mysterious and powerful existences back then, so why had they turned out like this after contact?
“I can still guarantee this point.”
Yue Linhai adjusted the monocle on his face and solemnly tried to salvage the last bit of dignity for his father,
“My father’s strength might not be top-tier, but his attitude toward the supernatural absolutely wouldn’t be weaker than those people. He actually felt very guilty about this captain resurgence event. I can feel his determination; to resolve the captain, he could even disregard his own life.”
“So go ahead and do it boldly. As for whether it will succeed… I have no way to foresee the future, but I can guarantee that if certain accidents happen, my father will absolutely die before you.”
Facing an existence like the captain, even Yue Linhai couldn’t have absolute confidence in his father.
After all, Yue Linhai knew his father’s strength inside and out, while the captain’s strength had only revealed the tip of the iceberg. Yet even that exposed tip had shown a scene that could be called terror a hundred years ago.
“Don’t worry, I have no intention of fleeing at the last moment. Besides, we’ve come this far; if we don’t fight, there are no other paths left.”
Zhang Qian just wanted to complain a bit, but seeing Yue Linhai defending his father so much, his expression became a bit strange again,
“But your current appearance is much more frank than before. When I first saw you, I really thought you were some kind of fierce ghost or something.”
The Yue Linhai from back then was completely like a fun-loving person; the principle behind his actions seemed to be just for amusement, and he always pulled off operations that made people lose their intelligence.
Communicating with him was also very tiring; if you told Yue Linhai to go east, he would absolutely go west. Being able to communicate with him so peacefully now actually made Zhang Qian feel a bit unaccustomed.
“At that time, I didn’t know there was such a mess as the ghost ship…”
Yue Linhai showed a pained expression. “I originally thought that as soon as my father fell asleep, I could take that half of the strength and go out to live freely and happily. Who knew that upon his death, such a huge pit would explode out—it almost killed me.”
“And didn’t you think scaring people was fun? Seeing you all looking so on guard back then really amused me.”
“As expected of you.” Zhang Qian shook his head.
He didn’t plan to ask what would happen to Yue Linhai next, because that was already a destined ending.
It was nothing more than two situations: failing to imprison the ghost ship and everyone perishing together, or succeeding in imprisoning the ghost ship, with Yue Linhai and his father dying together at Old Luo’s hands.
In any case, no matter which possibility, Yue Linhai was destined to die.
Perhaps if he had left the old house a little later back then and run straight to the ends of the earth, there might have been a chance of survival?
As if sensing Zhang Qian’s thoughts, Yue Linhai wasn’t sad; instead, he spread his hands nonchalantly: “Don’t think I’m pitiful. Actually, my birth was a mistake to begin with. Being locked in my father’s head all the time was no different from being imprisoned. Being able to control the body and go out for some activity actually satisfied me.”
At the beginning, he could still communicate a bit with the main personality, even briefly influencing the main personality’s control over the body.
But later, those doctors’ drugs, as well as the supernatural’s influence on the main personality’s consciousness, caused Yue Linhai to completely fall into a disadvantage, not even having the qualification to come out for a breath of air.
It seemed like he had lived from the Republic of China Era to now, but in reality, probably only this short period of freedom could truly be called living.
“People always seek survival; you won’t be an exception.”
Zhang Qian touched his chin and thoughtfully looked at his fingers. “I do have an idea…”
“But saying so much now is useless. If we can resolve the captain, I’ll tell you then.”
“Actually, you can tell me now; I can probably hold on a bit longer.”
Yue Linhai complained, but didn’t stop Zhang Qian’s hand reaching toward the bookshelf.
“This thing is very convenient; just pick it up and flip it open. The process is similar to the book you read last time, but this time you’ll go with your true body, and it’s estimated that you’ll be detected by the ghost ship as soon as you go.”
Picking up that icy cold book, Zhang Qian stroked the somewhat rough cover. “I only hope your father’s reaction is fast enough; otherwise, with my build, I can’t even withstand one hit.”
After saying that, without waiting for Yue Linhai’s reply, he grabbed the front and back parts of the book with both hands and slowly exerted force.
This book gave Zhang Qian a strange feeling; it required great strength to slowly open it, as if what he was opening wasn’t a book, but a long-unused, rusted iron door.
However, this bit of obstruction was nothing to the current Zhang Qian. Accompanied by a faint hissing sound, the book finally opened completely, revealing a black-and-white painting.
This painting was very large, occupying the entire space of two pages. Some lines had faded over time, but it was still possible to see that it depicted the deck of a certain large ship.
However, Zhang Qian didn’t see this painting. The moment he opened the picture book, his whole person shattered like foam and completely disappeared from this library space.
The book in his hand also fell as a result, and just before it touched the ground, it was caught by a pale and somewhat illusory hand.
“Pa—”
The moment Yue Linhai caught the picture book, he took advantage of the momentum to close it, then slowly straightened his body and silently looked at this book that represented death to him.
He was just a sub-personality; normally speaking, if the main personality died, he absolutely wouldn’t survive.
But the existence of the supernatural could break the norm. The old house owner could excise Yue Linhai from the body, and the ghost ship isolated the connection between the two personalities.
Now, Yue Linhai had a feeling that if he stayed obediently in the library, even if the main personality died, it wouldn’t affect him.
In other words, if the action outside failed, he could survive as a true individual inside the ghost ship.
“Why did that old guy give me so much strength…”
Yue Linhai looked at his palm; though illusory, the supernatural power within could exist for at least several decades.
This time wasn’t short; it was even longer than an ordinary person’s lifespan, seeming to represent the freedom he had always dreamed of.
“He dares to test me with this; not afraid I’ll turn traitor?” Yue Linhai shook his head, but still resolutely opened that picture book.
Just as Zhang Qian said, having come this far, how could he stop here?
