Chapter 13: 13: Ghost Ship (VI)

Chapter 13: Ghost Ship (VI)

A cold shiver ran down Feng Yu Lan’s spine at Luo Jian’s comment about ghosts. He was absolutely terrified; he reached out and clutched Luo Jian’s sleeve, frightfully questioning, “Ah Jian, can we really escape?”

Would we truly be able escape? To be on board a dreadful, vacant ghost ship surrounded by the dark, vast seas that boundlessly extended past the horizons to a place where the eye couldn’t see, a home to insidious monsters that lurked in the shadows. Feng Yu Lan simply could not understand how he came to wake up in such a strange place. The only reason he could still be grateful was because Luo Jian was right beside him.

Luo Jian perceived his fear. After all, he was just as scared as he was when he first entered the chamber. He was struck by sheer panic, pure terror, and insufferable hopelessness. The only difference was that Luo Jian was extremely afraid, but he had no one there to stand at his side. But at this moment, Feng Yu Lan had Luo Jian, he had the opportunity to depend on another person. He could cling onto Luo Jian’s hand and never let go.

Luo Jian soothingly caressed Feng Yu Lan’s head. He directed a gentle smile at him, trying to reassure Ah Lan, calm his mind. However, Luo Jian didn’t realize there were still traces of dried blood stuck to his face. Regardless whether that blood was his or the monster’s, under the dim light, that blood made Luo Jian’s face appear even more ferocious; it was disturbing. Feng Yu Lan shuddered at the sight.

Thereafter, Feng Yu Lan tightened his hold on the logbook and proceeded to interpret, “On August 10th, we tried to forget about yesterday’s incident. The heavy rain continued pouring down.”

“August…”

The contents of each page in the logbook were somewhat repetitive. There were consistent records of the weather and wind direction; the navigating route as well as the crewmates’ daily lives were also written down. There seemed to be nothing new apart from that report made on August 9th, the page that was torn off. As a matter of fact, there was nothing worth mentioning. But as time passed by, and as the pirate ship remained lost in the dense fog for a full month, the contents began to change.

The captain scribbled one line at the beginning: Rowan had always mocked me.

A few days later, Rowan disappeared. The logbook started displaying records all of the different passengers who had disappeared each day. One by one, the captain rearranged the names of those who went missing on a list; his handwriting was illegible, distorted and blurry. Feng Yu Lan could even sense a hint of insanity coming from it.

The very last log was written on September 18th. At this time, the captain, the navigator, and two additional crewmates were the only people who hadn’t yet vanished from the ship. Contrary to the usual, the captain did not record the weather or wind direction on this day. He wildly scrawled a few sentences down; his cursive was sloppy, disorganized, as if he just hurried back from someplace and frantically recorded what he needed to impart:

“This fear that I’d suppressed in my heart for so long is a savage beast that has now escaped from the cage I set up. It has consumed my mind. It has devoured my very soul! My men would disappear by the day; alas, I have finally discovered the truth! All of their bodies were found in the locked storage room. Their limbs were broken; their bodies were wedged into boxes. I haven’t any time to reckon the possibilities of what might’ve occurred, for right behind me…”

This was all that was written on the log. It was obvious that the captain was unable to finish writing down his sentence. There was also a dark bloodstain on the paper, dried-up and black. The running blood had coagulated and formed a thick scab.

“It seems that I made one mistake.” Luo Jian remarked, frowning as he listened to Feng Yu Lan translate orally. “I had originally believed that the captain was the first one to provoke trouble on the ship, but it appears to have been someone else.”

“So we’ll be able to leave as long as we find the original culprit who caused all of that chaos?”

“That’s not necessarily so. But I do know that only the truth can lead us to where the exit is.” Luo Jian shook his head then looked back at Ah Lan. “Ah Lan, follow me to the deck. I just remembered that I found another corpse on the deck, and there was also a journal written in English. Maybe it’s another clue.”

The journey from the cabin to the deck wasn’t that long, but walking through such a dark area was, if anything, a test of courage. Feng Yu Lan’s guts were small. He cowered and huddled against Luo Jian’s back, repeatedly glancing over his shoulder with every small step he took. He was afraid that something would attack him from behind, but the more he glanced back, the more he afraid he became; the tremors that wracked his body grew stronger. Luo Jian was feeling helpless, so he strongly embraced Feng Yu Lan around the shoulders and drew him into his arms, “Don’t be afraid.”

Ah Lan gazed at Luo Jian with shining eyes, then, in the next second, he covered his face in shame, “Aiyo! I don’t like this! I already have a girlfriend, stop being so nice to me!”

The veins popped out of Luo Jian’s forehead; he gave Feng Yu Lan a good smack and mercilessly grinded Ah Lan’s head with his knuckles, beating the poor boy. Ah Lan then pitifully covered his head with his small hands and accusingly looked up at Luo Jian with tears in his eyes. Luo Jian’s heart melted, and he opened his mouth to say something, but before he could speak, his heart started beating wildly against his chest!

Luo Jian’s sixth sense warned him that danger was approaching from up ahead.

Luo Jian unsheathed his knife in one incredibly swift motion; he abruptly tugged Feng Yu Lan with his other hand and pinned him to the ground. Ah Lan couldn’t make any sense of what was going on right now, and he whined at Luo Jian. And just at that moment, Luo Jian sensed a dark shadow dart before his eyes; it raced straight towards Luo Jian and was planning to pounce on him!

Can’t retreat. That single thought flashed through his mind. Gripping tightly onto his knife, he swept his hand across the air in front of him; the blade dragged across flesh, slicing deeply through the body. Luo Jian widened his eyes. The bright oil lamp flickered, one moment it was bright, the next second it was dark. At the same time, the sluggish Ah Lan finally noticed something was amiss. He knew not to disturb, and so he peacefully stayed motionless on the ground. He stared up at Luo Jian with big eyes.

There was a monster laying on the floor before them, and it was exactly the same one Luo Jian had seen before! Luo Jian was positive that it was the same only because those fatal wounds on its neck were caused by Luo Jian. But now, that injury no longer bled. The flesh at the monster’s neck was flipped inside out, exposing its white spine; its hideous face and bulging eyes, which resembled large copper bells, gave people the creeps.

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Feng Yu Lan didn’t dare scream this time. He cautiously withdrew backwards and shrank against the corner, hiding directly behind Luo Jian. Feng Yu Lan was wise. He knew that he lacked strength and that he had zero fighting skills, in fact, he was far worse than Luo Jian when it came to that department, so he would only be a hindrance.

“Ah Lan, stay right here, don’t move.” Luo Jian didn’t turn his head as he spoke to Feng Yu Lan. His eyes never left the monster.

Feng Yu Lan still nodded despite the fact that Luo Jian wouldn’t see it.

Luo Jian could only handle so much at once. Once again, the military knife in his hand burned, a searing pain penetrated his palm, his fingers became red and swollen, but Luo Jian didn’t let go. A surge of emotions overwhelmed him!

Luo Jian was extremely baffled! He was sure that he had definitely killed the monster back then! He slashed at the monster’s throat and nearly decapitated it! It was completely dead; it couldn’t possibly die again! Later, the corpse of this creature disappeared, and although Luo Jian puzzled about this for a while, he could only reason that another monster took the corpse and dragged it away. But he would never have imagined that this thing could actually come back to life!

Luo Jian automatically eyed the deep laceration on the creature’s neck. Its backbone was severely twisted, the creature’s head hung at an awkward, crooked angle, and its intestines continued dragging on the floor from the gaping hole on its stomach. But even so, this horrendous monster was so agile, and its attack was powerful.

Just what the hell was this thing?!

Luo Jian gritted his teeth; he decided to kill it again. This time, Luo Jian was the first to rush up to attack, but Luo Jian received an even greater surprise. He was aware that the monster’s speed had increased, but even its strength had improved! Luo Jian’s weapon raised his sensitivity; therefore, he could easily detect this subtle change.

The creature’s transformation made it rather difficult for Luo Jian to kill it. And if not all, the monster seemed to have gained some intelligence! It actually took advantage of the moment when Luo Jian inadvertently shifted his attention, to wheel around and charge towards Feng Yu Lan who stood at the corner!

Nevertheless, Feng Yu Lan also wasn’t a pushover1. Although he was mixed up with this inexplicable and bizarre chamber, in a sense, he was like Luo Jian; he was selected for a reason. If he was just another ordinary civilian, then he would never be able to receive Luo Jian’s invitation letter.

It was because of this that Feng Yu Lan instinctively reached into his pocket, surprisingly pulled out the thick logbook, and fiercely slammed it against the face of the monster that shot towards him! This action nearly exhausted all of the strength in his body; however, it was clear that the creature didn’t expect such a puny, weak sheep to be capable enough of packing such a powerful punch. In that instance, it was flung across the room by Feng Yu Lan’s logbook, and it soon tumbled to the ground.

Luo Jian naturally didn’t let go of this opportunity. He stepped up to the monster that dropped to the ground and sharply stabbed through its forehead with his knife. Immediately, the blood splattered all over the place, even splashing on Luo Jian’s face.

The creature let out a piercing shriek! Its body convulsed for a long time, but it gradually settled down, and remained lying on the ground, finally still.

The two people were frozen in shock after the ordeal was over. Luo Jian clutched the tactical knife in his hand; his face was expressionless. On the other hand, Feng Yu Lan’s face was as white as a sheet; he scuffled over to Luo Jian’s side, occasionally taking a glimpse at the monster’s corpse at the same time, and asked, “What exactly is this thing?”

“Who knows, but both ways, it’s not anything good.” Luo Jian retrieved the knife from the creature’s forehead and pondered for a minute. He thrusted his knife into the monster a few more times. He endured his rising nausea as he poked a few more holes into the creature’s skull. But of course, Luo Jian was still not rest assured. He immediately followed up with several fatal stabs to the monster’s heart, going along with his hand’s systematic movements.

“Isn’t it already dead?” Feng Yu Lan paled even more witnessing Luo Jian’s erratic behavior.

“I thought it was dead back then, too. I almost hacked its head off with the knife. But did it not just appear before us and start attacking us, hmm?” Luo Jian coldly hummed. To be on the safe side, he also vehemently stomped on it and gave it a couple of ruthless kicks.

“You mean to say this thing can come back to life?” Feng Yu Lan’s face suddenly turned green at the thought of this atrocious, unknown creature reviving again, and without any objection, Feng Yu Lan quickly joined the ranks of those who pummeled the corpse.

When Luo Jian finally thought it was more than enough, he pulled on Ah Lan’s arm and said, “Stop wasting time, let’s go.” Then they immediately returned to the deck.

Sure enough, this ship was assailed by the sea’s heavy rains and high winds. The tempestuous waves relentlessly crashed against its sides, and the ghost ship bobbed up and down with the undulating ocean. The sky was still dark, the distant waters were just as dark, not even the slightest ray of light could be seen.

Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan were dressed in thick coats, and they covered their heads with their hoods. Luo Jian held up an oil lamp and began searching for the broken box and the body on the deck. He prayed that the body wasn’t swept away by the sea’s winds and waves. The ship looked unstable; it seemed as if it would collapse at any given second.

Soon after, they found the body and the box at the edge of the deck. Apparently, the sea breeze was so powerful that the objects were blown away, rolling around until they settled in a corner.

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