Chapter 12: The Ghost Clouds disperse, the Ghost Wilderness world

Of the six people from the 705 Laboratory, aside from Han Qin, who held a shotgun, and the middle-aged woman wearing glasses, the other four were all slightly advanced in age.

They were still in the same place as before.

Seeing Qi Shanshan, Li Youyi, and Gao Huan returning from the direction of the nine-story ship tower, Director Yang hurried to meet them, saying apologetically: "Thank heavens, it’s great to see you back. I forgot to tell you earlier that there is unfathomable danger at the stern; whatever you do, don't let curiosity get the better of you and run over there."

"This is very likely a funeral ship!"

"The ancient-style garden at the stern may not be the ship owner's sleeping quarters, but rather their tomb."

He could forget something like that?

Li Youyi and Gao Huan no longer had any favorable impression of Director Yang and responded with perfunctory and polite words.

Qi Shanshan, however, put on a different face in front of Director Yang, smiling as she said: "Many thanks for the warning, Director! These two boys, even if they had the heart, wouldn't have the guts. Just looking at those rows of human figurines by the nine-story ship tower is enough to make one’s skin crawl. Eh! Haven't the immortal items on these skeletal humans all been taken by everyone? Director, what are you still researching?"

Director Yang said: "Researching their cause of death! Moreover, I believe the most important treasures on them aren't those immortal items at all, but these armors and weapons. It’s a pity they are too heavy; no one can lift them."

"They are likely the legendary heavenly soldiers and generals. These armors and weapons must be divine implements; how could we mortals possibly use them?" Qi Shanshan said.

Li Youyi looked at the ancient spear on the ground, a full zhang in length. It was pitch black as ink, and although the shaft was covered in rust, the spear tip remained sharp, its cold light fully exposed.

If not for the many eyes present, he really would have liked to lift it to test what level of strength he had reached after cultivating the extraordinary.

He should be able to lift it.

After Qi Shanshan and Director Yang exchanged pleasantries, the three returned to the medical tent at the bow.

Li Youyi couldn't help but ask: "Doctor Qi, what exactly are these 'immortal items' you mentioned earlier?"

Qi Shanshan, hands in her pockets, didn't turn her head: "They are just some accessories, clothing, and the like on those skeletal humans—dragon-patterned thumb rings, three-headed snake bracelets, cross pendants, scripture belts, silver-thread gloves, and so on. They haven't decayed after a thousand years, so they must not be ordinary objects."

"The moment those skeletal humans were discovered, everyone scrambled to take them all. Since then, everyone has hidden them away tightly; no one knows exactly how many good things they have."

"What I mentioned just now are only the few items discussed most often these past few days, which many people have seen."

"It is said that when Xie Tianshu took off the dragon-patterned thumb ring, there was a faint sound of a dragon’s roar; it was very miraculous. There are also claims that after Kong Fan obtained the two silver-thread gloves, his arm strength increased greatly, allowing him to lift objects weighing three or four hundred jin."

Li Youyi said: "Kong Fan? Chef Kong? With his build, he can lift three or four hundred jin?"

Qi Shanshan nodded slightly, her beautiful eyes filled with envy, and she sighed: "Now you know why everyone is so desperate to find the Buddha’s sarira and why they are targeting you so much? No matter how good these treasures are, they are far inferior to the Buddha’s sarira."

"Slap!"

Gao Huan slapped his thigh and cried out: "Oh no, what have I missed? So many thousand-year-old immortal treasures, and I haven't managed to get a single one. Li, we shouldn't have gotten injured!"

Li Youyi remained calm and said: "An innocent man is guilty of his own treasure. Whether it is a blessing or a curse, who can say?"

The Ghost Bear Emperor was still alive and could return at any moment.

On the bronze ship, human hearts were no longer what they once were. People worried about the impending shortage of food and water while coveting the treasures in each other's hands, making conflicts increasingly sharp.

Furthermore, many felt that Li Youyi had swallowed the Buddha’s sarira and were eyeing him like tigers.

This was the fifth day since they fell onto the bronze ship!

From here on, with each passing day, the possibility of conflict and danger would increase by another fraction.

Driven by survival, greed, jealousy, and desire, there were surely many people secretly building up strength and plotting. Li Youyi had only walked around once and could clearly feel the dangerous atmosphere.

It would only take a single spark to ignite everything.

While Li Youyi remained on high alert, he mobilized the scorching current to nourish the injury on his left arm with all his might.

Two days later.

The seventh day since everyone fell onto the bronze ship.

At nine in the morning, outside the medical tent, bursts of exclamations rang out, creating a chaotic scene filled with the sound of running footsteps.

"The sky is brightening, the Ghost Clouds are gradually dissipating."

"Great, are we about to reach land?"

Everyone in the medical tent was awakened.

Li Youyi was also filled with joy. After tidying up slightly, he quickly got out of bed and went to the deck.

The outside was already packed with people.

The thick, pitch-black Ghost Clouds in the sky had indeed become thin, drifting like gauze, and the starlight above could be vaguely seen.

"The sea, I see the sea!"

A young scientific researcher leaned against the railing, pointing at the bottom of the ship, cheering wildly.

After everyone crowded around, they indeed saw the sea surface more than a hundred meters below, with waves layered upon waves. But because the Ghost Clouds hadn't completely dissipated, they could only see a vague outline.

It was already enough to be exciting.

It was like a blind person regaining their sight, or like the dawn arriving after an eternal night, bringing infinite hope and longing.

"What is that? A steep mountain peak standing in the sea?"

Someone rushed to the very front of the bow, pointing into the distance.

"It's not a mountain peak, it looks like a stone pillar... more like a stone tablet, and there are characters carved on it."

"My god, how can such a tall square stone pillar stand in the sea? Just the part exposed above the water must be over two thousand meters."

"How is this any different from a stone peak?"

Li Youyi followed the crowd toward the bow.

The Ghost Clouds above were almost completely dispersed.

The ocean was pitch black.

Dozens of kilometers ahead of the bronze ship, the stone tablet rose like a majestic mountain peak, shooting straight up into the sky. Even from far away, one could feel its imposing aura.

In the vast, boundless ocean, it appeared extremely lonely and abrupt, and of course, because of that, even more majestic and magnificent.

Carved upon it were four vigorous and powerful, strange characters, deeply incised into the stone as if carved by a heavenly blade, extremely clear.

"What strange characters, why do they look like some kind of symbols?"

"Is this still Earth? I've never heard of any sea area on Earth having such a stone peak pillar monument."

Many people had originally held onto fantasies, believing that once the Ghost Clouds dispersed, they would see the familiar ocean and subsequently return to their motherland, their families, and their campuses.

After the fantasy was shattered.

Some scientific researchers who missed their loved ones intensely began to sob hoarsely.

Cai Yutong stood on the periphery of the crowd, looking up at the completely cleared sky, and said: "Don't you think the starry sky is a bit too low? And... it doesn't look like the Milky Way, not the starry sky we are familiar with."

No sooner had she spoken than a bizarre event occurred.

"Whoosh!"

From the starry sky, hundreds of millions of light clusters fell, like dense rain, fluttering down toward the boundless sea surface.

The light clusters nearby could be seen clearly; they seemed to be... human-shaped.

Everyone was stunned by the sudden turn of events, not knowing what was happening, feeling only a sense of horror.

The starry sky was raining people!

"Come and look, what is in the sea?" Gao Huan waved his arms vigorously, calling out to everyone.

After the Ghost Clouds vanished, the sea surface could finally be seen clearly.

In the pitch-black ocean, it was a scene of terror, with densely packed people swimming within.

Not just in front of them, but in the distance as well.

Countless.

Their bodies were semi-transparent, emitting a faint luster; there were men, women, old, and young, with the elderly being the majority. Some floated on the surface, others sank to the bottom.

They were not people of flesh and blood, but more like wandering souls.

The vast majority of the souls had dull, vacant expressions. Some, however, were extremely active, darting through the sea to prey.

"Jie jie!"

"Roar!"

One elderly man with disheveled hair and a withered face, sensing the many gazes from the ship, looked up and let out a fierce, ear-piercing shriek, leaping from the seawater toward the deck, which was over a hundred meters high.

How had anyone present ever encountered such a strange event?

In terror, they retreated one after another.

Some were so scared their legs went weak, unable to move, and were pushed and trampled.

"Swoosh!"

Just as the fierce soul of the old man approached the bronze ship, about a zhang away from the deck, it was torn apart by a trace-mark that appeared out of thin air, exploding into a cluster of light particles.

It was as if a crack in a pane of glass had appeared in space.

It appeared suddenly and vanished just as suddenly.

Other fierce souls that were eager to try all showed expressions of fear, emitting bizarre shrieks as they moved far away from the bronze ship.

"There is an unknown power protecting the bronze ship; they cannot board." Li Youyi called for everyone to stay calm, and together with Cai Yutong, he helped the two elderly professors who had been trampled up.

After the fierce soul of the old man exploded into light particles, they scattered into the sea, immediately causing many of the originally vacant souls to scramble and devour them, splashing water everywhere.

Not everyone could remain calm; at this moment, hearts were filled with panic, and many were still shaken.

Strange, bizarre, terrifying—what kind of world was this?

The joy from the earlier dissipation of the Ghost Clouds had vanished without a trace.

Director Yang couldn't help but sigh toward the sky: "In the boundless black sea, the souls of hundreds of millions of living beings swim. Under the star-filled sky, the ship of ancient mysteries sets sail. Where is the end, and where can one land on shore?"

Someone pinched their arm hard, feeling the pain, only then confirming that the scene before them was real.

"We are no longer in the Arctic, or even on Earth, but have arrived in the legendary Underworld, or perhaps the Ghost Wilderness world." Xie Tianshu’s eyes held not a shred of disappointment or sadness, but instead revealed a glow of excitement.

His eyes met those of some people in the crowd, feeling that the time was ripe; there was no need to worry about anything anymore, they could act!

The soul sea was boundless, with no known destination and no known place of return.

Li Youyi’s mood was extremely complex, and he said: "Is this the place where the souls of Earth's deceased return? But there are more than trillions of souls in the sea; where would so many deceased from Earth come from?"

"In the vast universe, the endless sea of stars, perhaps the deceased from all planets return here." Someone stared at the starry sky above, speculating thus.

Whether in the scientific community or religion, most people firmly believed that Earth was absolutely not the only life-bearing planet in the universe.

The stars in the sky were dense, and viewed amidst the soul-rain of light clusters, it was quite brilliant and dazzling.

But they were very close to the sea surface, not as unreachable as the deep universe.

They didn't look like stars, but more like "Gates of Light," "Soul Channels," or "Star Sea Wormholes."

Because the dense rain of light-cluster souls flew out from these "stars," subsequently scattering onto the pitch-black sea surface and transforming into human souls—all of this could be seen with the naked eye.

Precisely because of this, some people came up with the bold speculation that "the deceased of the universe all return here."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 13 =====