Chapter 39: Angry Sea, Hidden Sand: Yongxing Island (Revised)

I had just climbed onto the deck when the ghost ship let out a desolate, twisting groan, as if some huge part of it had deformed. I saw that the front and back of the ship were no longer on the same level. I thought to myself, this is bad, and quickly glanced at the cabin. Sure enough, the keel had snapped.

Once the keel breaks, the hull is bound to crack. For a ship like this, even a single crack is deadly. The water practically flies in; I figure in less than five minutes the ship will be completely submerged.

That Bald Zhang was so nervous his face turned pale. He said, "Our boat is here. Let's get out of here first, then talk."

I turned around and saw that the fishing boat we had taken was already very close, but hadn't pulled up alongside yet. The boat captain on board was waving his hand and shouting, "How are you people?"

Bald Zhang hoisted the woman onto his back and waved at the fishing boat. The people on the fishing boat cheered, then started the engine and came over to us. Several fishermen on board were shouting excitedly. It was hard to believe that just a moment ago they had been scared stiff like lumps of mud. These simple fishermen really were different from us.

The ghost ship had slowed down because of the water intake. After our boat came alongside, a few fishermen jumped over—their expressions still fearful—and hastily carried the woman back onto the boat. Then they quickly hauled the anchor back in. The boat captain yelled, "Set sail, set sail! Let's get out of this damn place!"

The boat captain told us to lay the woman on the deck, signaled for me to hold her, and then lifted her hair.

I had already steeled myself mentally, but when I saw that thing, I still gasped. There, coiled in her hair, were two withered hands. Now that I saw them, the hands weren't very long; the skin had already partially petrified, and their ends grew out from under a fleshy lump. The most disgusting part was that on the lump there was even a vague little human face, which, through some unknown principle, was tightly suctioned to the back of the woman's head.

The boat captain's expression turned solemn at the sight. First he kowtowed a few times to that thing, then he took a handful of something from his pocket and sprinkled it on the little face. The little face suddenly let out a sharp scream and twisted. He immediately drew a knife and carefully but quickly inserted it between the lump and the scalp, pried up the lump, then yanked it off.

That thing fell to the ground, writhing and twisting, scaring the onlookers into stepping back several paces. In a few moments, it melted into a gooey paste-like substance that seeped through the cracks in the deck planks. I had never seen such a thing before, and asked, "What was that?"

He rinsed the knife in the seawater and said softly, "It's a human-faced tumor—the vengeful spirit from that ghost ship. You just need to sprinkle cow hair on it to deal with it."

I could tell from the boat captain's expression that he was already regretting taking on this job. He kept muttering something under his breath. After checking that there was nothing else in the woman's hair, he called his men and headed to the aft cabin. Soon, the boat started moving. By then the sea had calmed. Though the black clouds still hung in the sky, they had broken into small patches. Sunlight streamed through the gaps between the clouds, making the sky look very magical. It seemed that this damn storm had finally passed.

After we settled the woman, the boat captain climbed onto the roof of the cabin. I knew he was going to keep watch on the sea around us. Those sea monkeys are extremely vindictive; I wondered if they would follow us looking for a chance to take revenge. However, the waters around Xisha are very clear—when the light is good, visibility can reach over forty meters. If something was following us, we'd definitely spot it at a glance, so I wasn't too worried about that happening.

These people got busy and started running around ignoring me. Because I had expended so much physical energy just now, now that I was still, I felt extremely drowsy. I found a relatively soft spot to lean against and slept for a while. When I woke up, I found that the sun had already set in the west. Our boat was sailing close to the coast of an island. I saw a very beautiful white sand beach, though the sand looked quite coarse and might not be comfortable to walk on. Ahead of us was a pier, and it seemed we were about to dock.

I had thought we would go directly to the next exploration site; I never expected we would have a chance to dock. I casually asked, "Where are we going now?"

Someone next to me replied, "We're going to Yongxing Island to pick up a few people."

I turned my head and saw that the woman was sitting right next to me. Her complexion had recovered, and she seemed to have just woken up as well. I have no resistance to women; seeing her sickly appearance, I found it rather charming. I smiled and asked her, "Who are we picking up?"

She pointed at the distant pier, where a group of people carrying backpacks were faintly visible, and said, "It's them. A few divers and a consultant like you. I think you must know him."

I squinted hard and also felt that one of the fat men's figures looked familiar, but I couldn't remember who it was. Just then, a boatman had already stood at the bow and called out, "Ooleilei! Get ready, we're here!"

That fat man turned around and cursed loudly, "Oo your head! You've made your Fatty wait here for half an hour in the northwest wind. Don't you have any damn sense of time?"