Chapter 11: Beneath the Nine-Story Ship Tower

The deck area of the bronze ship was very long.

The two walked along the side wall in the ghostly mist for nearly a kilometer before the Jin Wu corpse gradually became clear.

One of the corpse’s wings covered the tomb forest area of the deck, and the other rested on the nine-story ship tower. Compared to it, a giant beast like the Nine-Infant seemed slightly petite.

It had been dead here for who knows how many years, but the corpse was not cold; it was golden, with firelight flowing.

Standing a hundred meters away, one could feel waves of heat surging from the direction of the corpse.

Every feather of the Jin Wu corpse was dozens of times larger than an adult’s body, brilliant and colorful; one dared not imagine how dazzling it was when it was still alive.

Could it really be like in the myths and legends, capable of turning into a sun patrolling the heavens?

The fatal wound on its body was located on its head, pierced by an unknown sharp weapon, forming a terrifying blood hole three meters long.

The Jin Wu blood used for planting was fetched from a blood pool with a diameter of more than twenty meters below the blood hole. When it was just fetched up, the temperature of the blood in the bucket was close to boiling water, and it needed special treatment to cool down.

Li Youyi stood by the blood pool to observe; the Jin Wu’s blood had a faint golden glow in its bright red.

The blood smell was very strong, but not pungent.

Instead, there was a fragrance of blood that made one’s mouth water.

If it weren't for the Jin Wu’s bad reputation as the "Bird of Destruction," which made people feel awe, the research team members would have long since drunk it without any scruples.

"No wonder they all want to drink it. Drinking Jin Wu blood must be as delicious as eating roast meat. And there is a possibility of immortality; it’s truly maddening."

Gao Huan couldn't help but swallow his saliva, and said again: "If this were on Earth, a drop of Jin Wu blood would make all the rich people spend thousands of gold for it, and we have a whole pool here. You hurry up and use your handsome man trick to ask Dr. Cai, right? Doesn't our university have that saying, if a junior wants a senior to love him, he must be either rich or handsome."

"Full of doggerel, do you want to take... a PhD exam?" Li Youyi smiled.

Perhaps it was because he had just cultivated the mystery of the extraordinary, and his body was in urgent need of high-level substance supplementation, the appetite he gave birth to was even stronger than Gao Huan’s.

Even the scorching Qi flow in the sole of his right foot uncontrollably and actively surged out, flowing through the thirteen trace veins, as if urging him to drink the Jin Wu blood quickly.

"The greater the temptation, the more dangerous it is."

Li Youyi suppressed the scorching Qi flow in his body and hurried away from the blood pool.

On the other side, the Black Jiao was cut into two sections by a sharp weapon, and the corpse was very thick, much taller than Li Youyi’s body.

The scales, like thick iron sheets the size of a palm-leaf fan, emitted a cold aura.

At the cut of the Jiao body, the blood had frozen into purple-red ice crystals, which needed to be chiseled down with an axe and then heated to melt.

Near the Black Jiao corpse, many white-boned humans wearing armor lay in a mess.

The six people from Laboratory 705 were surrounding one of the more special white-boned humans, studying it, drawing structural diagrams, and recording the inscriptions and patterns on the armor.

This white-boned human was special in that its bones emitted a faint glow like night-luminescent stone, had already become metallic, felt very smooth to the touch, and when knocked, it sounded like knocking on an iron block.

Hearing footsteps, the six people from Laboratory 705 looked at Li Youyi and Gao Huan in unison.

Gao Huan was very familiar, asking with a smile: "Director Yang, any discoveries?"

Among the six, the burly man holding the shotgun, with a crew cut, nearly two meters tall, tightened his hands, his eyes quite vigilant. Only when he saw that they were two injured people out for a walk did he relax a little.

Clearly, all parties felt that the atmosphere on the bronze ship was wrong, and they no longer trusted each other as they once did.

Director Yang was still quite kind, smiling: "Those who died on the bronze ship were clearly not ordinary creatures, and science is hard to explain. These human bones on the ground, the armor they wear, weigh at least a thousand catties, and even the six of us together can't move them."

"The weapons are also very heavy; the lightest spear actually requires two people to barely lift it. The density is very high, and I don't know what kind of material it is."

Li Youyi really wanted to try to see if he could pick up the ancient spear that was a zhang long on the ground, but after his fingers touched it, he gave up this idea and asked: "How did they all die? It’s too strange, who killed them?"

"Could there be some unknown danger on this bronze ship?" Gao Huan said.

Director Yang said: "We have used microscopes to observe this bronze ship for many years, and the conclusion is that the Jin Wu, the Black Jiao, and these armored humans are all intruders, mostly wanting to seek treasure, explore, and occupy. There must be some dangerous power on the ship that we cannot understand!"

Gao Huan asked curiously: "Aren't we also intruders? Why haven't we been killed?"

The six people from Laboratory 705 were all heavy-hearted.

Not being killed now doesn't mean they won't be in the future.

Li Youyi guessed: "Perhaps we are too weak, or perhaps we haven't violated any taboos, so the danger hasn't descended."

Director Yang clearly hoped that this was the case, and suddenly thought of something, pointing forward: "You have seen that nine-story ship tower, right? Passing through the narrow passage between the ship tower and the side railing is the stern of the ship, where there is an ancient-style garden, distributed with pavilions, halls, high towers, and corridors... it should be the place where the ship owner lived."

Gao Huan said: "Director thinks they were killed by the ship owner?"

"I can only say that this is a guess with a high possibility." Director Yang said.

Li Youyi looked toward the ship tower; it was very magnificent, each floor was three or four zhang high, and under the brilliance emitted by the Jin Wu corpse, the whole body was dark red.

What was strange was that a large number of human-shaped stone figurines were placed by the railings outside each floor of the ship tower.

The cabin doors were closed one by one, and he didn't know what kind of mystery was hidden inside.

Tomb forest, grave mounds, ghost flags, human figurines...

Does this look like a normal ship?

Gao Huan said: "They have been dead for at least a thousand years, maybe even longer. Even if it was really the owner of the bronze ship who killed them, this owner must have passed away."

Director Yang smiled: "That’s right, if the existence that could kill the Jin Wu and the Black Jiao were still alive, how could the bronze ship be stranded on the Buddha’s sarira for thousands of years?"

"But Director, the bronze ship has set sail again now!" a middle-aged woman with glasses from Laboratory 705 reminded.

After Li Youyi said goodbye to the people from Laboratory 705, he walked toward the nine-story ship tower.

Without getting close, from a distance of more than ten meters, he looked toward the narrow passage leading to the stern of the ship.

The passage was filled with ghostly mist, standing full of stone figurines with various expressions and postures. A timid person seeing such a scene would have long since been hair-raising and stayed away.

The passage was very dark, and he couldn't see the stern of the ship.

"The celestial brilliance I saw should have been emitted from the ancient-style garden mentioned by Director Yang. What kind of place is that?" Li Youyi’s curiosity was aroused, but he instinctively felt that something was wrong.

Gao Huan followed up and said excitedly: "The owner of the bronze ship is definitely not simple. In his place of residence, there might be some immortal pills and divine medicine. Li, shall we two go and explore quietly?"

Li Youyi discovered something, took two steps forward, and then squatted down.

There was a pool of dry black blood on the ground.

He stretched out his finger, wiped it on the bloodstain, and put it to the tip of his nose to sniff.

Li Youyi suddenly looked up, then looked at the deep passage ahead, his eyes becoming extremely vigilant and heavy, and asked: "After we fell onto the bronze ship, have we seen that bear-like creature?"

"Are you talking about the Ghost Bear Emperor? Why ask this suddenly?" Gao Huan said.

Li Youyi said: "The entire research team, including the Longji, all fell onto the bronze ship. The bear-like... that is the Ghost Bear Emperor you mentioned, how could it be an exception?"

"That’s true, it’s a bit strange... However, if it fell onto the ship, it’s been five days, how could it not come out to forage?" Gao Huan said.

"It might be on the ship."

Li Youyi pointed to the dry black bloodstain on the ground: "This is its blood! It should be seriously injured, which is why it is hiding for the time being."

"How do you know this is the bloodstain it left behind?"

Gao Huan was both curious and puzzled, and a little panicked.

Li Youyi didn't know how to explain, because it was only after he cultivated the mystery of the extraordinary that his sense of smell greatly increased, and he could distinguish the blood scent of the Ghost Bear Emperor.

From far away, a familiar voice came: "Are you two looking for death? What are you doing running here?"

"Dr. Qi, we are taking a walk... hehe."

Gao Huan quickly apologized with a smile.

"Is this a place for a walk? One with a broken right arm, one with an injured left arm, you two are disabled and incomplete, hurry up and get back to the medical tent." Qi Shanshan scolded coldly.

Li Youyi had long heard Qi Shanshan’s footsteps, so he was not surprised at all, stood up and apologized with a smile: "I heard from Director Yang that there is an ancient-style garden at the stern of the ship, and we are discussing whether there are any immortal pills and divine medicine there. Maybe if we eat one, our injuries will all be healed!"

Qi Shanshan was a woman who cared extremely about her own beauty. Even in such an environment, she still wore exquisite makeup on her face, her skin was snow-white and transparent, her cheeks were pink and her lips were red, her white doctor’s uniform was spotless, and she even wore high heels, with flesh-colored silk stockings on her legs.

She was over 1.7 meters tall, her waist was slender, her chest and hip curves were superior, and the third and fourth buttons of the light blue shirt she wore inside were stretched very tightly. In short, she was very feminine.

Therefore, it was also a cold scolding, but the voice was more charming and magnetic than Cai Yutong’s, without that aggressive pressure.

Qi Shanshan frowned: "Didn't he tell you that it’s very dangerous there? Four research team members have gone to explore one after another, but after entering the ship tower passage, they never came back."

Li Youyi and Gao Huan looked at each other, dumbfounded.

That Director Yang looked kind and friendly, who would have thought he was an old schemer?

If Li Youyi hadn't discovered the Ghost Bear Emperor’s bloodstain on the ground, and if Qi Shanshan hadn't happened to come looking for them, they might have followed in the footsteps of the four research team members.

Qi Shanshan’s full chest heaved violently, and she was so angry that she covered her forehead: "You two are really children who haven't left the school gate, and you are too simple! Li Youyi, don't you know that everyone suspects the Buddha’s sarira is on you? Director Yang even regards the sarira as more important than his own life, so he must want to use this opportunity to test you."

Gao Huan distanced himself from Li Youyi as if avoiding a plague god: "Li, I was almost implicated by you and died without knowing why."

Qi Shanshan stared at him: "You deserve to die! Li Youyi is only a freshman, without social experience, so it’s understandable to be deceived. You are already a third-year graduate student, and you don't have any vigilance? If there is really a good thing, would others kindly tell you?"

Gao Huan was not angry at all, as if being scolded by Qi Shanshan was also a happy thing. Suddenly, he smiled like a treasure: "Dr. Qi, we have a big discovery! This pool of dried bloodstains is suspected to have been left by the Ghost Bear Emperor."

Qi Shanshan rolled her eyes: "This bloodstain was discovered the day before yesterday and has been tested; it was left by that bear-like creature. The four research team members who entered the nine-story ship tower passage to investigate should have been eaten by it. Hurry up and leave here, no one knows when that bear-like creature will recover from its injuries. Once it comes out, with the few ammunition we have left... sigh, everything is up to heaven!"

Li Youyi was also very worried.

The Ghost Bear Emperor is likely also an extraordinary creature, which is why it possesses such terrifying speed and physique, and its self-healing ability should not be slower than his.

It has three more days of healing time than Li Youyi. Even if it was more seriously injured, it is probably already seven or eight out of ten better now.

Li Youyi and Gao Huan hurriedly followed Qi Shanshan back, just wanting to stay away from the nine-story ship tower as soon as possible.

Qi Shanshan’s legs were slender, and she walked with a rhythmic click-clack.

Li Youyi asked: "Since it is confirmed to be it, why not gather all the guns, ammunition, and weapons, and take advantage of its unhealed injuries to eliminate it first?"

"How powerful is that bear-like creature? When it was in the open, even with sufficient ammunition, we couldn't deal with it. Now, it is hiding in the dark, making it even harder to deal with. This is the first point!"

Qi Shanshan’s eyes were cold, and she said again: "The second point, everyone knows that facing it is a nine-death-one-life situation, how many people dare to go?"

"The third point, there are three guns on the ship, and the ammunition is limited. Everyone regards them as weapons to maintain their status and power. Without weapons, who would respect them?"

"If we die, we die together."

"But without status and power, that is more uncomfortable than death."

"In a word, people are not united, everyone has their own ghosts, and nothing can be done."

Seeking monthly tickets, seeking monthly tickets.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 32 =====