Chapter 20: 20: Escaping the Ghost Ship (VII)

Chapter 20: Escaping the Ghost Ship (VII)

Luo Jian eventually found Feng Yu Lan in the lounge. But while he was searching for him, Feng Yu Lan had been caught in a disastrous situation. He was unfortunate enough to have encountered that feline creature again. The skinless monster growled at him and slowly crept towards Feng Yu Lan, ready to pounce on him. Feng Yu Lan picked up a stick and tried stabbing at the creature with all his might, but from the looks of it, he wasn’t going to make it. Just in that moment, the Stalker kicked the door open, and he steadily marched into the lounge while carrying Luo Jian.

As soon as the Stalker appeared, the monster immediately shifted targets and roared at the Stalker. The Stalker’s expression didn’t change at all. He dropped Luo Jian, who was in his arms, directly onto the floor, raised his leg, and then mercilessly kicked the poor monster, flinging it high into the air. But the monster was still frustratingly difficult to deal with. Just as it was flung into the air, it took advantage of surrounding terrain. With frightfully agile movements, it bounced off the walls, leaping towards the Stalker, rushing straight at…no, wait, it shifted its target again! This time, it bolted towards Luo Jian who sat on the ground, rubbing his sore bottom!

Luo Jian was instantly struck dumb. His weapon had long been taken away by the Stalker and shoved into the other’s pocket. Without his weapon’s special passive abilities, Luo Jian had suddenly transformed from Superman back into an ordinary civilian! He could only stare on helplessly as the monster charged straight at him! Feng Yu Lan technically had no time to save him, but even the Stalker just stood in place, completely motionless, without the slightest intention of lending him a hand.

Nevertheless, Luo Jian also didn’t want others to try to save him. As someone who was inclined to depend entirely upon his own strength, he was destined for greatness. In that split second, Luo Jian did his best to conjure that feeling of being manipulated by his own weapon, he tried controlling himself like a marionette. He abandoned his morals and broke free from his mind’s constraints. Engulfed by beastly instincts, he fought!

Luo Jian had succeeded. He found that he was faintly able to recall that sensation of being manipulated. His body was in complete sync with his instincts; he leaned sideways, braced his hand against the floor, and executed a magnificent backflip, nimbly avoiding the creature’s attack. The monster obviously didn’t know that Luo Jian’s reaction time could be this fast. It flew straight passed Luo Jian and crashed to the ground. It sprawled its body across the floor then turned its head; it wanted to get back up and fight again! But at last, the Stalker had sprung into action.

The Stalker quickly pulled out Luo Jian’s tactical knife from his pocket. He performed a standard slashing motion in front of Luo Jian; this one action was swift and fluid. Then, he strode directly up to the monster and, while this disgusting creature still hadn’t reacted, he struck it with the knife! It didn’t even have time to yelp before its head was cleanly separated from its body, decapitated!

He handled the blade flawlessly and accurately grasped the enemy’s blind spots and weaknesses. He was like an assassin who preyed in the dark, striking a fatal blow at the most critical and unsuspecting time, allowing others to experience this valor, to feel this tremendous fear!

Luo Jian’s body was tense; he stared intently at the Stalker’s movements. He realized that he should try to learn how to fight from the Stalker’s own combat style; after all, they both used the same type of weapon. They were exactly the same. If it weren’t for Luo Jian’s special connection with his weapon, Luo Jian wouldn’t be able to recognize that the knife held in the Stalker’s hand was his own.

The Stalker also seemed to expect Luo Jian to learn from him, so he demonstrated a few different styles of attack on the carcass, completely dismembering the poor, little monster. This entire mess of a scene was gruesome, appalling, and disturbing. The Stalker’s face was expressionless as he continued hacking the corpse to pieces, chopping and chopping, until the butchered creature became a pulverized pile of bloody meat.

Luo Jian stood at the side and carefully watched the scene, earnestly studying every movement. With a deathly pale face, Feng Yu Lan shrunk into Luo Jian’s side and then constantly tugged on the hem of Luo Jian’s shirt; he was trembling violently, shivering in fear…

“Ah Jian, why’d the Stalker come here? Aren’t we going to run away?” The pitiful Feng Yu Lan was restless. His eyes were spinning with misery and anxiety. At first, he gripped onto the corner of Luo Jian’s shirt but he soon grabbed tightly onto Luo Jian’s hand. Luo Jian grabbed his hand back and lightly touched his head.

“Don’t worry. I, your elder brother, will definitely protect you!”

Ah Lan was particularly docile, and he nodded without question.

The Stalker was even more thorough than Luo Jian when it came to mutilating the corpse. He practically minced the poor, little monster into ground meat. Perfectly satisfied with his finished work of art, the Stalker flung the fresh blood off both of his hands. His face revealed a morbid smile, and with all that blood on his face, that grin seemed even more twisted and unsightly.

Nevertheless, the Stalker appeared to be very happy. With a large smile, he gazed hopefully at Luo Jian. Under the watchful stare of those malicious, bright crimson eyes, Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan simultaneously quivered and involuntarily took a step backwards.

Ah Lan was afraid; he cringed and immediately hid behind Luo Jian’s back. Luo Jian also raised his vigilance; his eyes were firmly locked on the Stalker.

The Stalker was the enemy, this belief was deeply-rooted within Luo Jian’s mind. From the very beginning, he had no room for hesitation, as this was the only stance he’d held on the matter. Regardless of how odd the Stalker was or how he acted towards Luo Jian, doing all of those…strange things, Luo Jian was resolute; he absolutely could never regard the other as a comrade.

He couldn’t trust him, and he had to be on his guard at all times to prevent the other from stabbing him. Yes, Luo Jian had already realized that he was no match for the Stalker just based on the wide disparity in their strengths, but this was exactly why Luo Jian had to use every means and try his best to make sure he and Feng Yu Lan survived and lived.

The Stalker saw Luo Jian’s hostility, but he didn’t care. He tossed the knife that original belonged to Luo Jian back to him. Luo Jian extended his arms and safely caught the knife in his hand, easily holding onto it. He flicked his wrist and marvelously twirled the blood-stained dagger in his hand.

Surprisingly, the Stalker didn’t do anything bad to Luo Jian after that. He just turned on his heels and left the lounge. Luo Jian paused, then pulled Feng Yu Lan to follow him. The clue to the ‘door’ was on the Stalker; Luo Jian was certain that he’d be able to find the exit if he followed him.

The Stalker paced around in the hold of the ship, but Luo Jian could see that he was accustomed to this environment, almost as if he were really a crewmember who had been living on this ship. Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan always distanced themselves a few meters away as they silently trailed after the Stalker. Luo Jian was drained of his energy, but he had to keep his spirits high. On the other hand, Ah Lan’s condition was looking worse. He was soaked by cold sweat, his face was a sickly white, and his lips were dry and cracking. Luo Jian pretty much had to drag him along.

“Ah Lan, hold on a bit longer. We’ll be able to leave soon.” Luo Jian whispered to him gently, calmly encouraging him.

Feng Yu Lan turned his stiff neck and raised his head. His dull black eyes stared bleakly at Luo Jian. “Ah Jian, I was very useless, wasn’t I?”

“You’re saying that again…” Luo Jian directed a warm smile at him, although he was equally as exhausted. “I was worse than you when I first came to the chamber.”

Feng Yu Lan lowered his head again and bit his lip. He forced himself to cheer up in order to not add any extra burdens to Luo Jian. He knew that Luo Jian was comforting him. So useless… Feng Yu Lan dismally ridiculed himself; his heart was imbued with self-contempt and pessimism.

With Luo Jian following from behind, the Stalker walked all the way to the first floor of the ship’s hold—to the very bottom. They found the situation to be dire when they arrived there; the lowest floor was leaking! A stream of water endlessly flowed inside the ship through the small hole. The entire bottom level was flooded with seawater all the way up to their knees! Broken tables and chairs, as well as other debris, floated about, drifting around with the swaying of the ship’s hull.

“Look at this. It won’t even take twenty minutes before this entire floor’s completely submerged. Then ship will start sinking, I guess. If we stay on the ship for the full six hours without escaping, then the ship will definitely sink in those six hours, so no matter how you slice it, we’d end up dying.”

Luo Jian gauged the situation, then he took out the pocket watch from his trousers and glanced at the time, 16:12. There was less than an hour left.

Luo Jian carefully touched the key in his pocket.

It was still there. Nothing had happened to it; it didn’t suddenly disappear in all that chaos, meaning they didn’t have to frantically search for it again. This gave him a sense of relief, and he followed the Stalker inside the room, slowly stepping into the knee-deep water.

The seawater was freezing, the ice-cold chill seeped into his bones. Luo Jian felt as if his two legs were as heavy as lead. This chilling sensation left him numb to the point that he couldn’t even react. He looked back at Feng Yu Lan and noticed the other wasn’t faring any better; his pale face became even whiter.

The Stalker up ahead was completely oblivious to this. It was like the icy sea didn’t affect his mobility. Luo Jian questioned the Stalker’s strength. Just how powerful was it? Was it powerful enough to break through the limitations on life? To ignore the existence of the laws of nature and science?

But, of course, the Stalker wouldn’t answer Luo Jian’s uncertainties. He simply led Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan to the innermost area of the floor, passed through a dark corridor overflowing with the freezing water, and eventually stopped directly in front of a door.

Luo Jian lifted his head and held the oil lamp up to the door. Incidentally, Luo Jian had ascertained that all doors with the property of ‘forever being indestructible’ were made of a dark crimson material. The crimson color was so dark that it could’ve been mistaken as black, and it was smooth and flawless, without any traces of marks.

The Stalker stood motionless near the door, then turned around to face Luo Jian. Luo Jian instinctively knew what he was trying to convey. He stepped forward, retrieved the key from his pocket, inserted it into the keyhole, and twisted it. He heard a click, and the door opened.

Luo Jian heart raced in anticipation, as did Feng Yu Lan’s. Both of them were hopeful, excited. Together, they took hurried steps and approached the doorway, drawing even closer to the door. Luo Jian then turned the knob and swung the door open. He automatically lifted his foot to walk inside only to discover this wasn’t an exit in the first place.

The door just opened to narrow, enclosed room.

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An empty and pitch-black room submerged in freezing water.

Luo Jian’s mind went blank. Then, he instantly recalled the words that the dead woman had repeated—this ship has no exit.

He tried to turn back to see the Stalker who stood behind him and Feng Yu Lan, but he suddenly heard Ah Lan cry out loud. The Stalker lifted his foot and kicked Luo Jian and Ah Lan into the confined room. He move fast and swiftly shut the door; the clicking sound of the bolt locking them inside followed immediately after.

Luo Jian waded in the waters, splashing around. The oil lamp fell from his hand and drifted in the water, but fortunately, the oil lamp had a glass case, so the light didn’t go out. Luo Jian climbed up from the seawater and slammed his body against the door! This dark red color was the nightmare of Luo Jian’s life; it seemed to always deprive him of all hope and fling him into the desolate abyss in an instant! Luo Jian opened his mouth to call out to the Stalker, but as soon as he parted his lips, he realized he didn’t know the Stalker’s name! They never even exchanged a single word with each other!

“Are we trapped inside?” Feng Yu Lan was drenched and freezing, and his teeth chattered. Horror was clearly written all over his face. He fearfully swept his eyes around his surroundings with were sealed-off. This was one of those more oppressive chambers, where there were no other windows or openings besides the door. The water steadily poured inside, submerging them up to their knees; it most likely flowed from the narrow crack at the bottom of the entrance.

Luo Jian banged hard against the indestructible door, generating a loud noise. He put his ear against the wood. For some inexplicable reason, he just knew that the Stalker was still standing outside of the doorway.

“W-we…we have to leave. The water levels are rising…and soon, the place will be flooded. And, we’ll drown before the ship sinks.” Luo Jian was now shivering from the cold temperature; he stuttered and couldn’t speak coherently. The water levels were gradually rising above his waist.

“I-I-I…feel like…before we drown…we’ll…freeze to death.” Feng Yu Lan heaved his body up and dragged himself towards Luo Jian’s side. The two people huddled together, trying to warm themselves with their body heat, but it was hopeless. The water was too cold. Overwhelming. It compelled them to close their eyes forever. Never to wake again.

The Stalker abruptly pounded his hand against the door, knocking harshly and forcefully. Luo Jian was frozen stiff, his thoughts were frozen, and his brain wasn’t functioning. He couldn’t comprehend the meaning behind the Stalker’s actions. He couldn’t do anything but lean his head against the door and listen to that constant tapping sound.

It was interestingly strange. It was so obvious that the Stalker deliberately pushed him. The other person evidently intended to kill him and Ah Lan. However, Luo Jian couldn’t feel any hatred at this moment. He wasn’t even angry. The only emotion in him was a slight disappointment.

An enemy…sure enough, he was nothing but an enemy, huh?

“Ah Jian…we…are we really going to die?” Feng Yu Lan asked through his shuddering teeth. His lips were purple, his face was void of any color. He already resembled a stiff corpse.

Luo Jian knew that his face didn’t look any better than Feng Yu Lan’s. They couldn’t escape. His heart was filled with sorrow and despair, “I guess…we will…die…”

The Stalker was still standing outside, knocking and banging on the door without stopping.

Feng Yu Lan frowned, “It seems like it wants us to hurry up and open the door…”

“He’s the one who has the key, and the door is locked from the outside. Trying to get us to open the door…it’s not like—” Luo Jian commented, then suddenly shut his mouth.

Get us to open the door?

Luo Jian immediately widened his eyes and concentrated on the noises. He proceeded to carefully listen to the continuous knocks the Stalker made from the outside. That rhythmic thumping, neither impatient nor urgent, neither irregular nor slow. The sounds rang at a fixed interval, without any long pauses in between.

One of the three hints on his purple note suddenly flashed through Luo Jian’s mind:

【In the event that you are unable to take the shortcut, then descend into silence.】

There was still a chance! It wasn’t over just yet! Luo Jian burst into laughter. He pushed Feng Yu Lan forward. The water levels reached their chests by now. The two men floated; Luo Jian hugged Feng Yu Lan tightly and yelled, “We have to sink to the bottom!”

“Whaa?!” Feng Yu Lan couldn’t understand.

“Ah Lan, carefully look at the water in this room!” Feng Yu Lan listened to Luo Jian and observed the enclosed room once again. The speed at which the water levels rose was incredibly rapid. It was as if there was a massive hole at the bottom of the ship that the water endlessly poured in from.

“There’s a hole at the bottom of the chamber!” Feng Yu Lan finally detected this point. The water originally hadn’t flowed in from the crack under the door! It was already rising from within this room!

“We have to find the source of the water! That’s the exit!”

“But I can’t swim!” Feng Yu Lan was panicking. The water levels had already reached his neck! It was too fast! Terror-stricken, Feng Yu Lan frantically waved his arms, he choked on mouthfuls of seawater. Luo Jian firmly grabbed his waist, supporting him and stabilizing him.

“Hold onto me tight! Don’t let go!” Luo Jain shouted. “Take a deep breath, hold it, and dive down with me!”

Ah Lan was very obedient. He gulped the cold air and filled his lungs. Luo Jian also inhaled deeply,clenched his teeth, then pulled Feng Yu Lan along; together, they dived down to the depths of the sea.

Luo Jian never felt so fortunate in his entire life. Thankfully, he had learned how to swim, and he could actually swim very well. He had participated in many regional swimming competitions back in high school, and won first place in both the preliminaries and the finals. In fact, his coach had even asked him to take part in the nationals, but in the end, Luo Jian gave it all up.

However, his swimming skills remained with him. Even if he were lugging a big man behind him, he would still be able to swim with ease. And if it weren’t for this freezing water, he’d be able to swim even faster.

Luo Jian soon found the source of the leakage. It was coming from a small, square door on the floor. The valve was ajar, and the seawater rapidly poured inside the room from that narrow gap.

To think mere water could have such intensity. Luo Jian struggled for a long time before he finally managed to grasp the handle of the valve. The door was heavy, and Luo Jian fought to pull it open. The clock was ticking; the time was passing quickly. The feeling of suffocation was engulfing him. Luo Jian felt that his death was swiftly approaching at any second now.

Feng Yu Lan was even worse. His eyes nearly rolled into the back of his skull. But he trusted Luo Jian with his life. His unconditional faith made him believe that Luo Jian would bring him out of this godforsaken chamber. So, Feng Yu Lan didn’t struggle; he just quietly clung onto Luo Jian. There was only one conviction that remained in his mind—hold onto Luo Jian and never let him go.

Luo Jian finally pulled the valve’s handle. After exerting all of his strength, the narrow gap grew slightly wider. But the rushing water became even fiercer, and the waves were too great for Luo Jian to defend against. The hand that he used to clutch the handle of the valve had slipped off! If was difficult to seize the handle again since he’d released his hold! The water was too cold. If he didn’t escape right now, he soon wouldn’t have enough strength to continue to swim!

However, just in the nick of time, the small snake wrapped around Luo Jian’s wrist suddenly stirred and twisted around restlessly. With half of its body still coiled around Luo Jian’s arm, its tail seized the valve’s handle, securing Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan in place.

Almost forgot about this snake! Luo Jian stared at the snake in surprise and amazement, but he didn’t forget to grab his chance. Once again, he grasped the handle, and the snake opportunely slithered back into Luo Jian’s sleeves. Luo Jian then gave it a harsh tug and the valve opened! More seawater rushed inside! Luo Jian struggled to grab the door; pulling Ah Lan along, he did everything he could to swim out of this place!

Time had stopped at this very moment.

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