Chapter 41: They’re Coming For Wu Xie, What’s It Got To Do With Me, Lin Yan?
Wu Yong was fine, so naturally the others were even more fine, except for Professor Gu who was jolted so hard that his three souls and seven spirits were nearly flying out.
During this rare breathing space, the Ship Captain had them all change into waterproof coveralls—to prevent that if such a situation happened again later and someone accidentally slipped into the water, they could hold out a bit longer waiting for rescue.
Wu Xie and Lin Yan were both wearing the thing for the first time. Wu Xie asked Wu Yong while putting it on: “Big Brother Wu, do you often run into this kind of thing?”
Wu Yong’s hands were still shaking a bit, but excitement shone in his eyes: “Not really. I’ve gone down to the sea twice before, but not with them—it was another project. The weather was much better than now back then, the wind wasn’t this strong, and there were hardly any waves, so it was naturally much easier for us to go down. This is my first time encountering a storm this big. We should have gone straight back, but going back would waste too much time. Miss A Ning said we had to get there at the fastest speed possible, so I had no choice but to have them change course and go around.”
Wu Xie looked thoughtful. The tight timeline was probably because of this storm—he looked up at the still overcast sky, thinking to himself that he didn’t know how many days this storm would last or if they could find a window to go down and rescue his Third Uncle during this time.
While Wu Xie was getting chummy with Wu Yong, Lin Yan was getting chummy with the Ship Captain, trying every way to ask about the Ghost Ship and Sea Monkey matters. Now, though he wasn’t sure if the Ghost Ship would still come after Wu Xie, it was better to be prepared. What if the Ghost Ship came in a bit? Small things might change, but the main story line probably wouldn’t change much—as could be seen from this storm that came early.
“Ship Captain, when you go out to sea, besides the sacrifice to the Dragon King, are there any other taboos?”
The Ship Captain had a good impression of this young man who took the initiative to ask him. With nothing much on his hands, chatting with Lin Yan was fine.
“Nothing too big. Sometimes with talking and movements, you have to be careful. You all too. When eating, you can’t put the chopsticks on top; unlucky words, you can’t say.”
The Ship Captain’s Mandarin wasn’t very standard, but Lin Yan could understand about seventy to eighty percent by half-guessing.
“Then when you go out to sea, have you encountered any special things?”
“Lots, lots. I’ve been going out to sea for many years. Encountered lots of things.”
Lin Yan was burning with anxiety and wished he could ask directly, but he was afraid of arousing the Ship Captain’s suspicions: “Have you fished up any strange fish? Any things floating on the sea? Like ships? I heard that people used to leave ships on the sea and come back themselves.”
The Ship Captain laughed: “Lots of strange fish, all deep-sea fish. They look strange, but very ordinary.”
He was silent for a moment, then asked Lin Yan: “Why are you interested in ships?”
Lin Yan was stunned for a moment: “I came here because a ship went missing. I want to find it.”
The Ship Captain shook his head: “A missing ship, wanting to find it—impossible, relies on luck.”
Lin Yan was very puzzled: “Why impossible, and why rely on luck?”
The Ship Captain explained: “This kind of ship, the Dragon King has taken it. It drifts on the sea level, satellites can’t find it, you can only bump into it by luck. Everyone above is dead, no living ones.”
Lin Yan frowned: “You mean, you can only bump into it by luck after who knows how long to see the ship? Ship Captain, have you seen it? What does that kind of ship look like?”
The Ship Captain gave a wry smile and shook his head: “Only seen it once, too terrifying. The ship was all rusted, no people, no corpse bones, only.”
He shivered, and Lin Yan hurriedly followed up: “Only what things?”
The Ship Captain glanced at him, hesitated to speak, sighed, and finally said: “Not people, things people turn into.”
Lin Yan was overjoyed inside—definitely Sea Monkey! This Ship Captain really knew about Sea Monkey, so he definitely knew how to deal with Sea Monkey too!
“Then what things?”
The Ship Captain pulled out a cigarette, wanted to light it but found it already damp, so he simply put it in his mouth and chewed: “Shape like people, no thinking, charging over yelling—” He made a gesture: “Dug out my brother’s guts. And things with human faces, with hands, big human heads, human-faced carp.”
How did a human-faced carp come out of this too? Just how many strange things are there in this sea?
Lin Yan hurriedly asked: “Then Ship Captain, do you know how to deal with them?”
The Ship Captain nodded, then shook his head: “Human-faced carp, you can force them back with cow hair. Sea Monkey” He shook his head: “Can’t beat them, just die!”
That word “die” was said through gritted teeth, carrying a murderous aura of blood and gore coming right at him.
Lin Yan fell silent. Besides the traditions passed down by word of mouth among fishermen, the Ship Captain must have encountered something, dealt with these things. And the result… definitely came at the cost of human lives.
He couldn’t help thinking whether it was worth risking danger to go to the Ghost Ship for a notebook.
Though he didn’t remember what price Wu Xie’s group paid in the original story, they surely weren’t all unscathed. And now on the fishing boat, besides the Ship Captain and the boat hands, they were employed by A Ning’s company, but at best they’d lend a hand when they could— if there was real danger to life, they’d definitely run first. Then looking at Wu Yong’s group, though they seemed aligned with them for now, and aside from Wu Yong they were all old, weak, sick, and disabled. After all, not their own people—if it really came to it, it’d definitely just be the two of them going up.
But with just the two of them, could they retreat from the Ghost Ship in one piece?
He didn’t know.
The Ship Captain looked at him strangely: “You’re so interested in these?”
Lin Yan was immersed in his own thoughts and casually replied: “I’m afraid we’ll need it later”
As soon as these words came out, the Ship Captain’s face changed. He spat out the cigarette from his mouth and said darkly to Lin Yan: “Shut up! Don’t say these!” Then he began doing some unknown prayer at the bow of the ship—no need to look to know it was begging the Dragon King for protection.
Lin Yan was yelled at but wasn’t really angry. He knew people who went to sea had taboos about this, just like people who believed in ghosts wouldn’t say “ghost” at night, afraid of the Crow’s Mouth summoning one.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t the Crow’s Mouth—this ship was basically summoned by Wu Xie, had nothing to do with him.
The peaceful time didn’t last long. After just over an hour, a sailor loudly called the Ship Captain. The Ship Captain was stunned for a few seconds after hearing the news, then immediately directed the boat hands to start operating.
Wu Yong looked at the horizon, felt it was no different from before, and just wanted to ask the Ship Captain when he was grabbed and lectured.
When he came back, he told Wu Xie and the others: “The Ship Captain says his crew spotted with binoculars that the storm is chasing toward us again. He wants us all in the cabin, don’t go out casually.”
He shrugged: “I was planning to observe it up close again!”
Old Master Gu had just recovered a bit and feebly scolded him: “You just behave yourself! Don’t throw away your little life— the company won’t take responsibility!”
It seemed Old Master Gu still had some prestige. Wu Yong smiled and said nothing.
The group didn’t seem nervous, perhaps having mental preparation from the first storm. Only Lin Yan’s heart was pounding like a drum. Whether the Ghost Ship was coming for Wu Xie would probably be seen from this next storm.
He quietly gave Wu Xie a look: Remember what I said before?
Wu Xie gave him a questioning look: If there’s movement, go out to check?
Lin Yan: Do you trust me?
Wu Xie was stunned for a moment, then nodded heavily: Of course I trust you!
Seeing Wu Xie had so much confidence in him, Lin Yan steeled his resolve: Good! Later follow me! I’ll take you to find clues!
PS: Begging for recommendation votes!
