Chapter 71: The Ship City of the South Sea

The specks of light scattered across the sea surface were actually countless ship lanterns!

By the light of the ship lanterns, the outlines of vessels both large and small could be seen.

It was none other than a floating city of ships, assembled from countless vessels!

Tanka boats, Haicang boats, Fujian junks, and Guangzhou ships were all tangled and twisted together in chaos—some hulls had already rotted, half-submerged in the water, trampled beneath other ships.

All the vessels were twisted and wrenched together at odd angles, looking like a huge clump of rats with their tails knotted up.

And the sounds of human voices from the ship city were growing clearer by the moment.

Screams, laughter, and whistling cries interwove together, stabbing painfully at the eardrums.

Bai Qing stared at the scene before her, dazed and lost in thought.

In Tanka legend, there was a ship city on the South Sea, made up of a hundred thousand Tanka boats, and within the city dwelt the souls of all who had died at sea.

Those who met violent deaths on the ocean could not be reborn into the next life; they could only indulge in pleasure-seeking, trapped forever on the ship city.

To the Tanka people, this story was half eerie and half thrilling.

Indeed, quite a few Tanka folk had believed the tale, gone to sea in search of the ship city, and never returned.

And so rumor said they had found the ship city and been kept there forever.

These stories were a mix of truth and falsehood, and Bai Qing was half-convinced, half-doubtful.

To her, the strange fish with a lantern growing from its head seemed more credible than that.

But she never expected the ship city to be right before her eyes now.

Bai Qing felt dizzy and lightheaded—so the old folks' stories were real after all!

For a moment, Bai Qing didn't know what to do. She hid in the darkness of the night, staring blankly toward the ship city.

By the dim yellow lantern light, shadowy figures could be vaguely seen on the ship city—some had buried their heads in wine jars guzzling, while others had buried their heads between women's breasts.

The women in the city were utterly shameless as well, standing under the lanterns pressed tight against the men, screaming with all their strength.

Everyone was indulging in pleasure without the slightest restraint.

Just as Bai Qing was lost in thought, the hull was suddenly knocked. Bai Qing reflexively crouched down, drew her dagger, and looked around in every direction.

The surrounding sea was completely empty—nothing at all.

Just then, the hull was knocked again, lightly, the sound dull and muffled, coming from the planking on the left side.

Bai Qing's skin crawled and her heart pounded without cease. She slowly leaned her body out.

She saw a person lying in the seawater, face swollen, complexion deathly pale, grinning at her in a bizarre way.

Then he used his head to bump the hull again.

In that instant, Bai Qing felt as if a ghostly hand had seized her heart, making it thump violently several times.

She made no reaction at all, only staring fixedly at that person.

He maintained that stiff posture and bizarre expression, and pushed by the waves, bumped against the hull once more.

Bai Qing steeled herself and looked more carefully, discovering that this was actually a corpse. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief, though she felt her heart still pounding hard.

She put away her dagger and used the oar to move the corpse's face closer to the boat.

The corpse had been soaking for who knew how long—parts of the facial skin had begun to slough off, with some bite marks from fish and shrimp, revealing the white flesh beneath.

Bai Qing recognized this man.

He was also a pearl householder from Guangzhou, and had boarded the Santa Ana together with Bai Qing.

Because he was highly skilled, when the Fujian junk set out for Macao, he had been chosen by Lin Qian to escort the vessel—who would have thought he would die here.

Bai Qing used her oar to flip the corpse over and examine the wounds on his body.

The man was missing a finger. His hands and feet had not been bound. There were several knife wounds on his torso that had already scabbed over, plus a dozen or more fresh wounds where the blood had drained dry, leaving only curled edges of flesh.

The fatal wound was a slash across the neck that had cut through the blood vessels.

Bai Qing guessed that this man had been wounded, captured by the enemy, and brought to the ship city to be held prisoner.

After his wounds healed, he tried to escape, was discovered, hacked to death with random blades, and thrown into the water.

Bai Qing pushed the corpse away with her oar, stood up, and looked toward the ship city—her eyes no longer held fear, only blazing fury.

The hull again came a faint knocking sound.

Bai Qing looked down and saw that the corpse she had pushed away with her oar had been pushed back by the waves.

Seeing this, Bai Qing was not afraid. She crouched down and said to the floating corpse: "Second Brother Chen, rest assured. I've marked where the enemy is hiding. At dawn I'll report to the helmsman, and he will surely send men to attack. When that time comes, Bai Qing will avenge you with her own hands!

But this ship city is surrounded by hidden reefs on every side. I must escape under cover of night. If your spirit watches over me, point me a clear path!"

Whether or not his spirit was watching from above, after she finished speaking, a surge of waves rolled in and pushed the corpse somewhat away. After several more waves, the corpse vanished into the pitch-black seawater.

With the night at its thickest, she too had to get away quickly.

When she had come, she had twisted left and right among the hidden reefs and circled around the ship city—by now she could no longer remember the route she had taken.

Using the North Star, she could barely discern her direction, knowing that to return to shore she should paddle toward the northwest.

As it happened, the direction Second Brother Chen's corpse had drifted was exactly northwest.

Bai Qing stood up, cast one last look at the ship city, then paddled away, simply heading in the direction the corpse had pointed.

After paddling for a long while, a thin fog had risen over the sea at some point. She turned back through the mist and saw the ship city's lights gathered in one spot, hazy and indistinct in the fog, already impossible to make out clearly.

Bai Qing paddled ever more slowly and carefully. After who knew how much longer, the surrounding fog grew denser still, and the swells gradually grew larger.

All around her was nothing but dense fog—looking up she could not see the stars, looking down she saw only ink-black seawater.

The good news was that heavy fog at sea meant dawn was approaching, and there was no storm.

The bad news was that she couldn't see the way ahead at all—whether she went off course or struck a reef, she would die for certain.

Now all she could do was leave it to fate.

Bai Qing paddled as she prayed continuously in her heart to Third Granny, to her mother, and to Second Brother Chen for protection.

Her whole body ached now, she was hungry and thirsty, and the oar in her hands felt heavier and heavier.

Bai Qing simply withdrew the oar and lowered the sculling oar instead.

In the thick fog, with no fear of being spotted by the people of the ship-city, she simply used the sculling oar, which allowed her to move faster.

After about the time it takes to eat a meal, the dense fog around her gradually thinned, and the waves began to rise.

After much longer, only a thin mist remained around her, and a faint pale fish-belly white appeared on the sea surface behind her.

Bai Qing realized that she had unknowingly left the reef area, and her course had not been wrong.

She could not help but cry out in luck, thanking Third Granny, her mother, and Second Brother Chen in her heart one by one.

By the time the morning sun first rose, she could already see land, and fishing boats leaving port were faintly visible along the shore.

She sailed over to ask for directions, and after discerning the correct bearing, she set course for Nan'ao Island.

She had not gone far when she saw a fleet of Tanka boats sailing toward her.

Bai Qing sailed up close and saw that the leader of the fleet was none other than Bailangzai, so she hurriedly called out to him.

When Bailangzai heard his elder sister's call, he was startled at first, but upon seeing Bai Qing on the sampan, his face lit up with joy. He quickly sculled forward and brought Bai Qing aboard his own boat, asking hurriedly: "Elder Sister, why did you only come back now? You had us worried sick!"

Bai Qing shook her head: "No time to explain. Hurry back to Nan'ao Island — I need to see Brother Lin."

Yahei

Pink Round

Pen