Chapter 102: Returning To Yongxing Island Again
Unable to join the conversation between Fatty and Lin Yan, and with no excuse to talk to Zhang Qiling, Wu Xie suddenly felt out of place with the entire world, so he closed his eyes, leaned against the stone wall, and began to rest with his eyes closed.
Although he had slept once before, these past few days he had been chased by sea monkeys and the Forbidden Woman, and his ribs still weren’t fully healed! He had only meant to doze off for a bit, but as Wu Xie leaned there, he actually fell straight asleep.
By the time he woke up again, the iron door had been closed, blocking out the raging storm. The air inside was much fresher than before, carrying the smell of seawater and soil from the forest.
“You’re awake? You slept nearly eight hours straight—you sure can sleep. You know, we’ve only been up a few hours ourselves.”
Seeing him awake, Lin Yan glanced at his watch and teased him. Wu Xie rubbed the back of his head, which was sore from leaning too long, and gave him a glare: “I’m still a patient, what’s wrong with sleeping a bit more?”
Lin Yan gave an awkward smile, only now remembering that Wu Xie’s injury was caused by him smashing him. This was pretty embarrassing.
At that moment, Zhang Qiling came in from outside, a bit wet on his body, probably splashed by some rain: “Let’s go. While the wind and waves are small now, head to Yongxing Island.”
Wu Xie was somewhat puzzled: “Why not go straight back to Xisha?”
Before Zhang Qiling could answer, Fatty cut in: “Then tell me, young comrade, how do you explain this boat?” Wu Xie opened his mouth, then got stuck. Yeah, just going back to Xisha like this—how would he explain this boat that should have been in the Ship Captain’s hands? They set out from there year-round, and plenty of people who knew them were around. Plus, a few days ago when they set out, several boats had seen them board this one.
If he explained that the Ship Captain and the others were killed, forget whether the people at the dock would let him off—the police wouldn’t either. Then all their grave-robbing without permits in the country would get dug up. It was all Third Uncle’s fault! If not for Third Uncle, he wouldn’t have run into all this!
“Then we won’t get questioned going to Yongxing Island?”
He argued back somewhat unconvinced, half curious and half defiant. If Xisha was the Ship Captain’s main base, then when they went on long voyages, they should resupply at Yongxing Island too, and the people on the island should recognize them! Wait, according to the earlier analysis, there should be Wang Family descendants on the island.
And with the wind and waves this big now, if the killer had left just before they boarded, Yongxing Island would actually be a good place to rest and regroup!
Thinking of this, he suddenly looked up: “Lure the snake out of its hole?”
Then he frowned: “They were able to kill all the crew. Though the island isn’t like the open sea, what if their target really is us? What if they get desperate and lash out? They probably wouldn’t be dumb enough to make a move on the island, right?”
Lin Yan thought carefully: if there were Wang Family people on the island, they probably wouldn’t let Wu Xie die? The Wang Family needed the Zhang Family to find longevity, and now Zhang Qiling needed to follow Wu Xie to recover his memories. Looking at it this way, the Wang Family people would have to protect Wu Xie?
This… could two deadly rival families like Zhang and Wang really cooperate? For some reason, Lin Yan suddenly started looking forward to whether the killer would really make a move on the island—deadly rivals teaming up wasn’t something you saw every day!
Seeing no one react, Wu Xie got a bit panicked: “No way, right? At least deny it!”
Fatty stroked his chin: “No problem, if they come, let ’em. You think our Xiaoge is a pushover? As for whether we’ll be suspected going to Yongxing Island…”
Fatty narrowed his eyes at Wu Xie: “Tell me, if you were this fishing boat, why would you go to Yongxing Island right now?” Wu Xie was baffled: “With a storm this big, obviously to shelter from the wind! Right, shelter and rest! All the nearby fishing boats are heading there—who’s in the mood to check others out! We can just find a gap and sneak in quietly.”
Fatty grinned and shook his left arm: “Besides, even without resupplying, my wound can’t hold out much longer!”
After changing clothes on the boat, Fatty’s left shoulder had been wrapped inside his clothes. Now he pulled the top open, revealing the wound wrapped only in white gauze, somewhat red and swollen, on the verge of infection. Wu Xie looked at his still somewhat immobile arm, touched his own ribs, and felt a lingering fear.
He hadn’t wandered the island before, but according to Fatty, it was very bustling, so there should be hospitals and such?
Zhang Qiling grew impatient watching them bicker, and by now they had reached the door. The few of them hurried to catch up. Though the wind outside had died down a lot, the sky was still as dark as night. Without Zhang Qiling leading the way, Wu Xie wasn’t confident, but they really might not make it out of this forest.
Trudging deep and shallow, they finally made it back to the boat. They had barely set off when Fatty started feeling seasick.
“Fatty, what’s going on with you? Weren’t you fine before?”
Lin Yan was surprised. Wu Xie was more attentive and noticed Fatty’s off-color face. He first checked the increasingly red and swollen wound, then reached to feel his forehead, his expression turning serious: “Something’s wrong—it’s not seasickness. Fatty, you’ve got a fever!”
Fatty gave a wry smile through the dizziness—unexpectedly, it had gotten infected! Fair enough; his wound had soaked in seawater for quite a while, and last night he had fallen asleep directly on the deck. Lasting this long was thanks to his good constitution! Lin Yan wasn’t in the mood for jokes anymore. Luckily, the boat had what was needed; he found two anti-inflammatory pills from where the original crew kept their things and gave them to him.
Luckily it was only a few dozen nautical miles, and soon they reached the island.
As expected, the island was in chaos, with boats docking from time to time and people hurrying ashore. They left the boat, Lin Yan carried Fatty on his back, and the two of them blended into a group, quickly mixing in.
After settling Fatty in the hospital and finding a guesthouse for themselves, Wu Xie finally breathed a sigh of relief. None of them had brought money, but luckily he was always prepared for trips and had brought his bank card from Beijing. He had thought he wouldn’t need it this time, but with all these unexpected events, it came in handy here.
He glanced at Lin Yan, who was excitedly fiddling with a laptop, and sighed inwardly. Sometimes he really suspected if Lin Yan came from primitive society—everything seemed so novel to him. But once he got his hands on it, he picked it up pretty fast. If Lin Yan knew, he’d definitely feel wronged.
Where was that not being used to advanced equipment? It was clearly not being used to how backward the equipment was, okay? When he came, mobile phones were already touchscreens. Unlike now, where phones were just the size of a watch with an electronic display, only for calls and texts—no games at all! Back at Wu Xie’s, he had been bored enough to grow mold, like early retirement. Where was that like a young person? At least there was a computer here, right?
But the next few days were tough to endure. The wind had only calmed for those few hours when they arrived—so Zhang Qiling really was impressive. If not for his suggestion to come to the island then, they might be doing a Robinson Crusoe on the island now, and who knows if the boat would get blown away.
The wind and rain grew stronger, the sky always overcast, and later even the internet cut out. Luckily, the island had decent entertainment facilities. Wu Xie could still drag Lin Yan to play Chinese chess and such. By the time Fatty finished his three-day observation at the hospital and came back, he could even pull them into a game of Fight the Landlord.
By comparison, Zhang Qiling was boring. All day he’d either stand by the window watching the rain or mysteriously disappear, nowhere to be found in the entire guesthouse, only to reappear casually after a while, who knows what he was doing.
But Lin Yan guessed he was probably going to find Wang Family people or that mysterious force. The evidence was that one night, a certain mysterious man suddenly appeared by his bed and asked for his blood. Well, what could he do? Give it. After all, wasn’t bleeding something you just got used to after a few times?
