Chapter 37: Raging Sea and Hidden Sand: The Withered Hand (Revised)

Ghost ships have been discovered all over the world, some dating back to very ancient times. All the legends share the same beginning: at sea, a perfectly intact ship is found, but there is not a single person on board.

On some of these ships, there are even half-eaten dinners laid out, but the people who were eating have vanished forever and never reappear.

What did they encounter while they were eating? Where did they go? These are always the favorite subjects for mystery novelists. A Ning held up a storm lantern, shining it on the serial number on the oxygen tank, which was printed in black ink: K5-883.

I felt like I had seen that number somewhere before, but I couldn't recall where.

A Ning explained, "This is the boat number of the ship your third uncle chartered. Our company's regulations require that all survey equipment numbers match the ship's number."

My mind clicked: "Ah, right, I saw this number when I was reading your report on the plane. But strange, how did Third Uncle's ship drift all the way here?"

A Ning said that wasn't strange. In a storm, the flow of water might seem chaotic, but it actually follows a certain pattern. We probably happened to fall into the same current as that ship and were drifting in the same direction.

It might seem like an incredible coincidence that this ship drifted here and encountered us in the water, but in a way, it was inevitable.

The wind outside grew louder and louder, and huge waves kept crashing against the hull, making the whole ship sound like it was about to tear apart. Who knew how long this damn storm would last?

We found a dry spot in the cargo hold and sat down, lighting a portable stove to warm ourselves. I sneezed several times in a row. A Ning smiled and shook her head at me, then took out a few bottles of liquor from a wooden crate and told me to drink.

I noticed she seemed very familiar with the ship—she knew exactly where everything was stored and what was where. I found it strange.

She told me that foreign exploration mechanisms were very systematic, from the procurement of large instruments down to the stacking order of goods in the cargo hold. There were regulations for everything. These rules might seem pointless in ordinary times, but in an emergency, they prove their worth. Look at us now—without such regulations, we probably wouldn't be able to find anything.

I sighed inwardly. Foreign explorers had strong wilderness survival skills precisely because they paid meticulous attention to detail. This was definitely something worth learning from back home.

Our diving suits hadn't been zipped up before we fell into the water, and after being dried by the stove, the seawater inside the suits turned into a layer of white powder, which was very uncomfortable. A Ning took out spare diving suits and, holding the storm lantern, went behind a pile of cargo to change. She had grown up abroad and was quite open. Watching her graceful silhouette outlined by the lantern light, my mind began to wander.

Halfway through changing, A Ning suddenly yelped, poked her head out, and called to me, "Mr. Wu, come here quick."

I was drooling over her shadow, and when she called me, I was startled. I asked what was wrong. She quickly pulled her full upper body into the diving suit, came out, and said to me, "I think there's something in the cargo pile."

I walked over, raised the storm lantern, and shone it. Sure enough, in the gap between the cargo boxes and the ship's wall, there was a dark mass hiding in the shadow of the crevice. If I hadn't used the lantern, it would have been hard to spot. It was curled up, and at first glance, I thought it was a human head. No wonder A Ning was startled.

I reached out and touched it. It turned out to be a backpack, a very ordinary kind. For some reason, it had been hidden there.

A Ning relaxed when she saw it was just a bag. I wondered if there was something important inside. Had someone on the ship hidden the bag? Was it related to the disappearance of the people on board?

Without being polite, I opened the bag and dumped everything out. There was a pile of documents and some changes of clothes. I picked up the clothes and found underneath them an old waterproof pouch with cracked rubber. Inside the pouch was a notebook that was almost falling apart. I looked at the cover; there were a few words written on it:

"Xisha Wan Reef Archaeological Record, July 1984. Chen Wenjin presents to Wu Sansheng."

I never expected this bag to belong to Third Uncle. I was stunned.

This notebook was probably issued to the experts during their Xisha Wan Reef archaeological survey back then. Third Uncle must have kept it as a souvenir until now. I wondered if it contained anything I didn't know about.

Curious, I started flipping through it.

Third Uncle wasn't highly educated, but he was a very meticulous person. He recorded each day in the same format, laid out clearly. I saw that the first page was the day they set out, July 15. It listed a roster, with the team leader being Wu Sansheng. That poker-faced guy—what was his name? I recalled Third Uncle mentioning he seemed to be surnamed Zhang. I looked, and sure enough, there was a person named Zhang Qiling. Could it be him?

The main content at the beginning was a detailed account of how they located and confirmed the position of the sea tomb. It was so detailed it bordered on verbose—even the types of rope and the reasoning process were written out. I already knew this stuff, so there was no need to read it again. I sped through and skipped to the last few pages.

The final entries caught my attention.

"July 21. We are preparing to enter the underwater tomb for the first time. I have found the entrance. After figuring it out, this ancient tomb isn't that complicated."

"July 24. We went in once. Inside, we discovered a strange phenomenon. It seems this ancient tomb isn't 'clean.'"

Reading these two lines, I was stunned. What did this mean? Had Third Uncle secretly entered the tomb once during the survey?

Could the thing he said he would "take to the grave" refer to the fact that during the survey, he entered that theoretically inaccessible ancient tomb without anyone knowing?

And what did he encounter once he got in? He wrote: "discovered a strange phenomenon." What strange phenomenon? What did he mean by the tomb not being "clean"? Those two short sentences raised more questions in my mind than the waves crashing outside. I felt like countless question marks were about to burst my brain.

I flipped through the notebook several more times, hoping to find more clues, but the pages after that were all blank.

Recalling Third Uncle's attitude on this matter, there were so many strange things about it, completely at odds with his previous personality. There must be some unimaginable inside story behind all this. But I had no idea when these secrets would ever be unraveled.

As I was lost in wild thoughts, A Ning snatched the notebook from my hand and began to read it carefully. I didn't mind her seeing this stuff, since the contents didn't touch the core of the issue at all. The more she read, the more confused she'd get. We ate a little something, then boiled some water, wet a towel, and wrapped it around our numb, aching hands.

After all this fuss, our physical conditions improved rapidly. Though the wind was still raging outside, I no longer felt tense.

After eating, I told A Ning to rest first while I looked around. I had already slept on the ship, so I had more energy than her. Even if I wanted to sleep, I couldn't.

I moved the stove and hot water to the outer hold so they wouldn't fall and burn anyone later. After that, I lit a cigarette, sat down in the pilot's cabin, and stared at the turbulent sea ahead while pondering what to do next.

I had no idea if this ship could still be started. Drifting like this, there wouldn't be any major danger in the short term, but if we drifted into a reef cluster, we might hit one and sink.

Humans are truly insignificant compared to the ocean. No matter how smart the two of us are, we can't contend with the forces of nature. We were lucky to be rescued today, but how long can such good luck last?

I was lost in thought, I don't know how long passed, when several waves crashed against the front window of the cockpit, making the glass hum with a buzzing sound. It seemed the wind direction had changed.

Then I noticed that A Ning had woken up and was walking over, yawning, her tight-fitting suit half undone lazily. I didn't know if this was her habit or if she was intentionally trying to seduce me, but I ignored her and turned my head to look at the sea.

Although I'm not Liu Xiahui, under these circumstances, the thought of romance or pleasure was the last thing on my mind.

She greeted me, walked over to the hanging stove to warm herself, and asked if I wanted to go get some sleep too.

My mind was full of worries; sleep was probably impossible, and half-asleep would be even more exhausting. I shook my head and said no, telling her to continue resting.

She smiled, sat down next to me, lit a menthol cigarette, and stared blankly at the sea as well.

There was something I didn't quite understand, so I asked her: "Back when Third Uncle came to you, just based on a few words he said, how did your company believe in this matter and even put up money and effort? As far as I know, your kind of company has very strict investigation procedures, and the credibility of information has to go through discussion by expert panels. Third Uncle's words had no basis at all. According to normal practice, your expert panel should have unhesitatingly killed this project. How did it actually get approved?"

A Ning nodded and said, "I found it strange too. I heard that at first it didn't pass, but then your Third Uncle showed the expert panel something, and somehow it succeeded. As for the specifics, someone at my low level couldn't know."

I thought to myself that Third Uncle really had skills; to convince those shrewd Americans, it must have been something very critical.

A Ning said to me, "Your Third Uncle seems like a very strange person, both rustic and cosmopolitan. He looks rough, but is very meticulous. The plan he gave us was extremely detailed, almost all-encompassing. Even the matter of us coming to find you was planned in advance by him—in the contingency handling section, the first person to replace him was you. I think in some ways, this plan book is almost a prophecy; many of the things he listed actually happened."

Hearing this, I vaguely felt something was off. Third Uncle hates planning the most; he's lived a chaotic life for most of it. Why would his temperament change so suddenly?

I asked her if she could recall any particularly special content in Third Uncle's plan. A Ning thought for a moment: "I didn't pay much attention to that, but one thing was indeed strange. He required all equipment to be prepared in duplicate, with one set kept at the port as backup. That's precisely why we were able to set off so quickly this time."

At that moment, she said to me that she seemed to hear some noise coming from the aft cargo hold, and asked me to go check it out together.

I thought to myself it was probably just a rat, so I grabbed a stainless steel pipe nearby and followed her.

Passing through the cargo hold, we reached the crew's rest area; beyond that should be the bow. I raised the storm lantern and saw that the bow area was actually separated by an iron wall. The partition was welded to the hull all around, with an oval steel door on it. The door had a rotating sealing lock like a car steering wheel.

A Ning went up and turned it a few times, but the lock didn't budge.

I looked and saw that between the door and the frame, there was a layer of rubber, completely isolating the space inside from outside.

Such doors are usually used on large ships to seal rooms in case of an accident to keep out seawater, but installed here, I had no idea what its purpose was.

Just as I was puzzled, suddenly from inside the iron door came the sound of fingernails scratching. It was very clear, as if someone was scratching the iron door from inside.

I gasped. Could it be that all the missing people were locked inside? That would be terrible. A Ning shouted, "Quick! Those people might all be in there! Hurry and open the lock!"

I raised the steel pipe in my hand, inserted it into the disk of the rotating seal lock to make a simple lever, and then pulled hard. With a crack, the lock core began to turn.

Once this type of lock started turning, it was very easy to open. I turned it eleven times in a row, and a series of clicking sounds came from inside the door. Then the rotating seal lock's disk began to spin on its own.

I pulled A Ning back a few steps. Before we could prepare ourselves, there was a loud bang, and a large amount of water rushed out of the door. We were instantly knocked to the ground, swept along with the current straight into the cargo hold. I grabbed a pile of canvas to stop myself.

The steel door swung back and forth from the water impact, making creaking sounds.

I sat up straight and saw the storm lantern fallen by the door, soaked in water. The flame inside flickered continuously, as if it was about to go out. I wanted to retrieve the lantern, but suddenly A Ning grabbed my hand and stopped me from going over.

I looked up and saw that, I didn't know when, a huge scaly face had emerged from behind the steel door. Two green eyes stared at me silently, like a ghost.