Chapter 36: Raging Sea: Ghost Ship

We battled the raging waves for nearly four hours before getting a chance to catch our breath. By then, the work on deck was basically finished. All the supplies that needed to be secured were firmly tied with nylon rope nets to iron rings nailed into the deck. Those that couldn't be secured in time had all been washed into the sea, becoming offerings to the Dragon King of the Sea.

Baldy Zhang wanted to use an iron hook to retrieve some of the floating cargo that had been thrown overboard, but the boat captain disagreed. He said the fishermen of Xisha had their own rules: anything that fell into the sea belonged to the Dragon King of the Sea, and it absolutely could not be fished up before paying homage to Mazu.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. We had no choice but to watch helplessly as those goods disappeared beneath the churning surface.

The southeast wind grew stronger with each gust, and the waves reached nearly seven meters high. The boat captain shouted for us to go back to the cabin. Even the sailors had to tie ropes around their waists before going out to work.

I was about to head back to the cabin when, in a flash, a massive wave as high as a seven-story building slammed into the ship, lifting it into the air. I heard a scream and turned around to see a person thrown over the railing. A Ning and Baldy Zhang were grabbing his clothes, preventing him from falling into the sea.

I rushed over to help. The three of us scrambled to pull him up. When I turned his face to look, damn! It was Wu Yong again. This son of a bitch never learns. We already don't blame you for your lousy balance, but why do you keep running onto the deck for no reason? Aren't you just asking for trouble? Wu Yong's face was pale with fear, and he kept saying thank you. Baldy Zhang told him, "Get back to the cabin quickly. Don't come out again no matter what. The deck is very dangerous."

He pointed shakily at the sea, seeming to want to say something else, when suddenly the boat captain shouted, "Get down!"

Before we even processed the words, a huge wave crashed against the gunwale. The hull let out a painful groan. A wave crest over twice a man's height swept over the ship. Though we followed the captain's order and crouched down to reduce the impact, we couldn't withstand the force. Our bodies were swept into the waves. Our vision went white, and with a roar in our ears, we fell into the sea.

I treading water and surfaced, seeing the ship had drifted several dozen meters away. Baldy Zhang was swimming and shouting to me, "I'll chase the ship and have them turn around! You go find the other two!"

The waves and undercurrents churned violently, and everywhere I looked there were whitecaps from colliding waves. I kicked my feet desperately, looking around. Apart from Baldy Zhang, who was swimming away, the others were nowhere to be seen.

Just now a big wave hit, and the situation was chaotic. I didn't even see how many people were knocked overboard. Now I didn't know how to start looking.

Just as I was at a loss, a head suddenly emerged from the wave on my left, called out to me, and then was immediately pushed under by another wave.

I saw it was A Ning. I quickly dove down, grabbed her, and lifted her out of the water.

A Ning was coughing from swallowing seawater. She had just recovered her breath and couldn't speak. She gasped for air while making gestures to me.

I looked in the direction she was pointing. I saw a small dot bobbing up and down far away, and I didn't know what it was.

At that moment, A Ning finally managed to speak. She shouted, "That... that's Wu Yong! Hurry and save him!"

I thought, this is bad. That guy can't swim. Falling into such raging waves, a few splashes would either drown him or scare him to death.

Just as I was about to swim over to save him, a big wave rolled in and pushed us underwater. When I surfaced again, that small dot was gone.

A Ning and I anxiously searched, but that small dot never reappeared. We didn't know if it had been swept farther away or had sunk.

The situation was critical now, no time to worry about others. We were in the middle of the ocean under the influence of a tropical storm. Though there was no immediate danger, the waves were too big. With our physical strength, we didn't know how long we could hold out. Whether Baldy Zhang could catch the ship, and whether the ship could come back and find us, were all unknowns.

Wave after wave pressed down on us, colliding and forming many rapid whirlpools. Various forces converged underwater, interacting and creating numerous unpredictable currents.

Although I had no reference point, I could feel the movement underwater. We were being forcibly pushed in one direction, gradually drifting away from our ship's course. While fighting the waves, I called to A Ning to swim back. If we just drifted like this, the current would carry us farther away, and by the time the ship came back for us, we might have been swept to the Malay Archipelago.

Swimming in the waves was incredibly exhausting. I didn't even know how long I had been swimming. I felt my hands gradually losing sensation, and the scene before me began to blur. I felt a bit of despair—at this rate, neither of us could hold on much longer.

Just when I was at my wit's end, A Ning suddenly stopped and pointed into the distance, shouting.

I followed her finger and saw, amidst the towering waves, a huge and blurry black shadow approaching us quickly. I squinted to look carefully, but the light was too dim; I couldn't make out anything at all.

At that moment, there was no time to overthink. I gritted my teeth and, pulling A Ning along, swam toward that black shadow.

The black shadow arrived in front of us in an instant. It was a fishing boat very similar to the one we had been on. The hull was painted dark green, and there were no signal lights or cabin lights on the bow. The whole ship was pitch black.

I felt something was off. Even if a ship had no power, there should still be kerosene lanterns lit in the cabin. For it to be so dark—could it be that there was no one on board? Wasn't that a ghost ship? We moved our nearly numb arms and used all our remaining strength to approach it. The ship slid past about five or six yards away from us, didn't stop, and drifted behind us in an instant.

I thought, this is bad. This ship was our only hope for survival. If we missed it, we were done for.

The situation didn't allow me to think too much. I gritted my teeth and followed. A Ning had already grabbed the ship's railing and climbed onto the deck. She threw me a life ring with a rope attached and shouted, "Catch this!"

The life ring landed right beside me. I quickly hugged it and pulled myself along the rope bit by bit toward the ship. Only when my hand grabbed the iron ring on the railing did I finally breathe a sigh of relief.

A Ning pulled me up onto the railing. I was completely exhausted and fell heavily onto the deck. The deck beneath me could barely bear the weight and immediately let out a harsh creak.

We had both barely escaped death, and our faces were unnaturally pale—whether from seawater or fear, I didn't know. We caught our breath. A Ning noticed a storm lantern hanging outside the cabin. She lit it and gestured for us to check inside the cabin.

Though the cabin door was closed, a lot of seawater had splashed in through the gaps. Wherever the lantern light fell, everything was wet.

The structure of this ship was very similar to ours—an old fishing boat from the 1970s or 1980s, with an iron hull and spacious cabins. Past the cabin was the cargo hold, which was also pitch black. We called out a couple of times, but there was no response except the creaking of the deck.

I felt something strange. This was undoubtedly a crewless ship sailing at sea. Where had the people gone? Had they all abandoned ship when the storm came?

The cargo hold was piled with many things. I spotted a portable stove and quickly lit it to warm up. At that moment, if I could have a cup of hot coffee, I'd be willing to die.

A Ning pulled back the waterproof tarp covering the cargo and found it was all diving equipment, mostly oxygen tanks. The tanks had numbers on them.

We picked one up and examined it carefully.

Suddenly, A Ning screamed in surprise, startling me. I asked her what was wrong. Trembling, she said, "This ship is the K5-883!"