Chapter 44: That Notebook Is At The End Of The Lanterns’ Dim Light
Facts proved that some things could only be found by the protagonist.
Lin Yan, who had rummaged through the cargo piles with no gains, returned to the hanging stove with a dark expression and said to Wu Xie, “I can’t find it. Why don’t you give it a try?”
Wu Xie didn’t understand what the difference was between them. He had been watching from behind when Lin Yan was searching just now, and it had already been very thorough. “You’ve already searched so carefully and still couldn’t find anything. It would be the same if I went. I won’t search again to save energy. I’m already a bit hungry.”
Don’t mention it, he hadn’t felt hungry in the water, but once they came up, he started to feel hungry. The equipment on the ship was complete, but there was no food or drink at all.
Wu Yong looked around again front and back, then came out of the cabin and shook his head at them. “There’s really no food.”
“Sigh!”
The three sighed together and could only wait silently by the hanging stove for the fishing boat to come rescue them.
“Wait, there’s still one place!”
After being silent for an unknown amount of time, Wu Xie suddenly raised his head and beckoned Lin Yan to walk toward the back of the cargo hold.
“Haven’t we searched everywhere? What other place could there be? The engine?”
Lin Yan followed Wu Xie to the dark area at the back of the cargo hold not illuminated by light and fell silent.
Who told him why there was still a door here?! What was it doing hidden in the small corner, acting like a secret room? With a hidden room too?
While shining the wind lantern on the door, Wu Xie explained, “When we came aboard earlier, I glanced and saw some crew members walk to the back of the cargo hold and then disappear. There should be another place specifically for them. I thought since the structures of these two ships are similar, this ship might have one too, but I overlooked it earlier because this spot wasn’t lit by lights. Now that we’ve come over, it’s indeed there.”
Lin Yan racked his brains but still couldn’t remember seeing any crew members go to the back of the cargo hold. So this was the protagonist? Noticing all kinds of details when he hadn’t noticed anything, then finding the answer in another space?
Did he have to show off like this?
Wu Xie put his hand on the handle and twisted it, opening the door. It looked like a sailor’s lounge.
The two looked around; they were all very ordinary daily items, no food in sight, so they walked toward the end. Sure enough, there was another door at the end.
This door was different from the other doors on the ship; it was an oval steel door with a rotating combination lock on it. The steel door seemed to be iron around the edges, welded to the wall, so without dynamite, entering would rely solely on the code.
Suddenly, the sound of rushing water and scratching came from behind the door. Wu Xie got startled and grabbed Lin Yan to run back.
Lin Yan ran a few steps with him, thinking something was wrong. Shouldn’t there be a sea monkey inside? Since the sea monkey had appeared, where was the notebook? Could it be…
He turned back to look at the steel door. Could the notebook be with the sea monkey? Did they have to kill the sea monkey first to get the notebook? Good grief, was this a Pokémon gym battle? But how could two weaklings like them kill a sea monkey?
But the notebook…
For a moment, Lin Yan was in a dilemma, one side the must-have clue, the other side the deadly monster.
What to do?
He looked at Wu Xie. In case of uncertainty, ask the protagonist? The protagonist wouldn’t die anyway? But if they encountered the sea monkey, would Wu Xie really not die?
For one notebook, was it really necessary to risk his life?
He stopped, and conveniently pulled Wu Xie to a stop too.
“What’s wrong?” Wu Xie was panting from running and looked at him in surprise.
Lin Yan bit his lip and still handed the choice to him. “Now there’s a choice for you to make. One, go to the door to get the clue, but you might lose your life; two, we go back first, this thing is blocked by the door and can’t come out, we give up the clue directly. Which do you choose?”
Wu Xie opened his mouth to speak, but seeing Lin Yan’s expression, he swallowed it back. He thought for a moment and asked in return, “Is the thing inside very dangerous?”
Lin Yan nodded. “I asked the ship captain earlier; inside should be the legendary sea monkey, extremely fast and extremely strong, the kind that guts people directly.”
Wu Xie fell silent.
If it were just him alone, no matter what, he would try to break in. If it really didn’t work, grabbing the clue and running should be fine. But what about Lin Yan and the others? What if he accidentally got them killed?
After a moment, he made up his mind. “We go back.”
Lin Yan was instead a bit surprised; this wasn’t like what he had expected. This concerned his Third Uncle; shouldn’t this kid charge right in?
“Have you really thought it through? The clue might be right behind the door!”
“I’ve thought it through.” Wu Xie shook his head. “I can’t gamble with your lives. If it were just me here, I’d go. But…”
Lin Yan was a bit moved. Although he understood Wu Xie was a little unwilling—he was unwilling too—what were clues compared to their lives? They didn’t have Zhang Qiling with them now, no Wang Pangzi, no A Ning, just Wu Yong, which was just delivering food to the sea monkey?
Better to strategically retreat first and think of a way after the fishing boat arrived.
They walked back to the cargo hold with the wind lantern and sat down again by the hanging stove.
Wu Yong, who was still warming his hands, saw them return and looked up. “Did you find anything? Is there food?”
After glancing and seeing their hands empty, he skipped this topic. “There really is a door at the back? Any discoveries?”
Wu Xie and Lin Yan exchanged a glance and decided to hide the sea monkey discovery. “Nothing, just the sailor’s cabin and the bow of the ship, nothing there.”
Wu Yong nodded, and the three fell silent again.
Just as they were starting to get a bit drowsy, some sound seemed to come from the back of the cargo hold. At first it was just rustling noises, then the sounds gradually grew louder.
“Clang!”
“What sound?” Wu Yong was startled awake and stood up from the ground. Wu Xie and Lin Yan exchanged a glance, their faces looking a bit grim.
It seemed… this sea monkey wasn’t staying put.
Wu Yong grabbed a steel pipe from beside him, walking toward the back while staying alert. “You really didn’t see anything when you came from the back? Then where did this sound come from?”
Wu Xie was stunned for a moment, going forward to explain while trying to pull Wu Yong back. “Maybe something was blown onto the ship by the wind. Don’t go over, it’s safer here.”
Wu Yong shook off his hand and listened carefully. “It sounds like someone hammering on the door and scratching? Is there still someone here?”
He gave them a wary look, then moved away from them toward the bow of the ship. “Why didn’t you say there’s still someone here? Is this person the one you locked up? Why not let him out? What are you trying to hide?”
Wu Xie hurriedly went forward to stop him. “It’s not like that, there’s no person inside the door at all! If you let it out, we’ll all be in danger!”
Lin Yan advised from the side too. “Yeah, inside is the sea monkey the ship captain mentioned, the kind that can dig out people’s insides! If you let it out, there really won’t be any living people left on this ship! Besides, we came up with you, and we looked around the place together; when would we have had time to lock someone up?”
Wu Yong backed away slowly facing them. “You think I believe you? Didn’t you hear? He’s saying let him out, he’s hammering the door, he’s calling for help!”
Lin Yan and Wu Xie were stunned. You could make out this muffled roar? Or was the power of imagination really that strong?
Seeing Wu Yong already almost at the door at the bow of the ship, Wu Xie still went forward to try advising him again, while Lin Yan had already started packing things to run.
Wu Yong watched them warily while shoving the steel pipe into the combination lock to form a lever, twisting it round and round to pry open the lock. Wu Xie stood in front of the sailor’s lounge, pale-faced, not knowing how to stop him.
Lin Yan saw this, threw Wu Xie’s things to him, and pulled him to run back. “He’s seeking death himself, no need to mind him. Let’s quickly find a place to hide first!”
“But this—” Wu Xie stumbled as he was pulled, looking back three steps at a time; the sounds from inside the door grew louder.
Just as they returned to the back of the cargo hold, the door was opened. What rushed out first wasn’t the sea monkey, but briny seawater, almost knocking them to the ground; some cargo was also flushed away.
An old backpack floated in front of them.
PS: Seems a bit early still?
