novelEscaping the Ghost Ship (V)
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Chapter 18: Escaping the Ghost Ship (V)
The time displayed on the pocket watch was 15:45.
Feng Yu Lan had sharp eyes so he immediately found a purple patterned note caught on the lace of the dead woman's gown. He merrily reached for it, but just when his fingers touched the corner of the note, an abrupt noise resounded, startling them.
Before they knew it, the door to this narrow room had slammed shut! The door creaked ever so faintly as it closed gradually—then, without warning, there was a tremendous bang! The moss-covered door was locked tight, practically cemented to the wall. It seemed like it couldn't ever be opened again.
Both Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan were shell-shocked by this unexpected change. In this desolate room, the rickety door groaned and slammed itself shut; it was unconditionally freakish to say the least. Luo Jian tightened his brows and quickly walked over to the door to open it. He tried turning the doorknob, only to discover he couldn't open it no matter how hard he twisted the knob; it was secured shut. This wooden door that was crafted out of a deep red material reminded Luo Jian of the door to the enclosed room in his very first chamber experience.
"We're trapped in."
Luo Jian declared this one sentence; he huffed in irritation and smashed his fist against the wooden board. The following sound echoed in this quiet room. Feng Yu Lan jumped in fright from his actions, but he didn't ask any questions. Glowering at the door, Luo Jian muttered, "Sure enough, it's as expected."
"What's up? What's as expected?"
"Watch..." Luo Jain pointed to the wooden door, took out his dagger, and then slashed at the door with his knife. But something strange happened. Luo Jian clearly cut down on this door, which was shabby and fragile-looking, but not a single scratch or blade mark was left behind. The wood was still smooth; there was only moss sticking to it like gum.
"Woah! Amazing! It's magic!" Completely awe-struck, Feng Yu Lan darted over and leaned in curiously, his eyes filled with sparkles of interest. He stretched his fingers, stroked the surface of the door, then exclaimed, "Luo Jian, how'd you do that?! It looked like such a powerful slash, but there aren't any cuts in the end!"
Luo Jian was struck dumb by his words. He had demonstrated for a long time over here, but this boy actually thought he was performing a magic trick! Stunned speechless, Luo Jian just had to relentlessly knock his knuckles against on Ah Lan's brainless skull. He then placed his knife into the other's hands and let him try out the door for himself.
Feng Yu Lan wasn't sure as to what he was supposed to do upon receiving this knife. Gripping onto Luo Jian's dagger, he hesitantly scratched lightly at the door since there was nothing else he could do; there weren't any traces left on the wooden block. Feng Yu Lan became irate at once. He attacked the door in a violent frenzy.
Confounded, he suddenly turned his head around and met Luo Jian eyes, "What is this? Aren't we going to leave yet?"
"Well, let me give you some basic knowledge on the chamber." Luo Jian gazed at the wooden door and explained to Feng Yu Lan, "The chamber will always place some special items around—most commonly, items that 'can never be destroyed no matter what'—like this door. As a result, we can only comply with specific conditions, such as finding the key to this door or even killing the person who trapped us here!"
Feng Yu Lan grasped Luo Jian's explanation quite easily. He looked at the door, then looked back at the female corpse hanging from the ceiling of this small room. He pondered, "Maybe we can find some clues on her body."
Luo Jian grabbed the note from the woman's dress and held it near the oil lamp. Feng Yu Lan joined in, and together, they read the following text:
【Congratulations to our two brave adventurers!】
【If you are reading this message at present time, that means that your adventure is coming to an end. Nevertheless, you mustn't relax your guard, for you will soon be facing unprecedented difficulties. 】
【Do you wish to know the exact location of 'the final door'? Then confer with this charming madam before your eyes!】
【Regards, I wish you two the best of luck!】
Luo Jian promptly flipped the note over, and, naturally, there was a phrase written down on the back. It was one blood-curdling sentence:
【My soul will never rest in peace. - Julia】
This single phrase glared at Luo Jian, and he wasn't able to resist rereading it aloud. But reading it out loud the second time gave him a spine-chilling feeling; Luo Jian couldn't help but quiver from this. Feng Yu Lan's reaction was even worse. He felt a piercing chill crawling up his spine, and, shivering miserably, he anxiously clung to Luo Jian clothes and shrunk into Luo Jian's back.
"What should we do?" Feng Yu Lan glanced at the female corpse that was hanging. This corpse wouldn't suddenly get up and ferociously attack them like the ones back then, right? Even so, it was a dead body! How on earth were they supposed to get answers on the whereabouts of the 'door' from a corpse's mouth?!
"We'll follow according to the note! We'll do whatever it said!" Luo Jian licked his dry lips, swallowed hard, and dragged Feng Yu Lan to stand in front of the dead woman. They raised their heads and fixed their eyes on that woman's face. She was all bones, and the areas where her eyes should've been were dark as the abyss. Luo Jian's and Feng Yu Lan's heartbeat pounded in their ears as they stared into those two endless black holes.
This corpse was similar to that dead body that was in the box outside. It had a few pieces of rotten flesh hanging from it, and it exuded a peculiar odor, but Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan couldn't identify what it exactly smelled like. Luo Jian loosened his tongue then clumsily questioned the corpse in broken English.
"Ehem...Mrs. Julia? Can you tell me where...the exit to leave this ship is?"
Luo Jian's question, naturally, wasn't answered. Feng Yu Lan thought this was perfectly normal. After all, how could a corpse reply? Even if this dead body ended up moving like the ones before, it was decomposed down to its very bones. It had no throat and no vocal cords; it was impossible for it to speak!
However, Luo Jian persisted and unremittingly questioned it, raising his voice with every repeated sentence. Feng Yu Lan thought it was strange to talk to a dead body, but he couldn't help but gawk at the dead woman. The room fell into silence. Just when Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan believed that they weren't progressing enough, something strange happened!
The female's dead body suddenly twitched! She twisted her neck and slightly tilted her head to the side. Her two dark eyes penetrated Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan! Could you even imagine how it felt when a skull shrewdly scrutinized you with its cold-as-death stare?! In any case, Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan's bodies instantly turned stiff; they were paralyzed by fear! Feng Yu Lan nearly screamed his head off!
What was even more frightening was that the female corpse actually opened its mouth and responded to Luo Jian's question, her ghostly voice broke the oppressive silence. Her voice was eerie, breathy, devoid of all emotion, like an empty soul...nothing like the voice of a human.
"This ship has no exit." The dead woman croaked, then repeated, "This ship has no exit."
Although he didn't understand why the other had to express it twice, Luo Jian decided to ask it once more, this time, changing his question. He pulled out the key that he'd suffered so much for trying to retrieve it from the observation deck, and he held it up in the light, politely inquiring again, "Then do you know which door this key fits into?"
The female corpse was mute for a long time. Because she took too long in answering, Luo Jian thought she wouldn't speak again, but just at that moment, she revealed, "This is my husband's key—it is only he who knows which door that key unlocks."
Once the dead woman finished conveying this sentence, Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan glanced at each other, grimacing. Dread marked their faces. Their hearts were filled with an inexplicable sense of horror. They were utterly appalled. Wasn't this woman's husband dead from the start? It couldn't be that they had to run back up to the deck and question the corpse that was laying on the deck?
All of a sudden, an abysmal conjecture popped into Luo Jian's mind. It was because of this dismaying thought that he probed the deceased lady for more answers, "I want to ask you again, Mrs. Julia, is your husband still alive?"
Julia...this dead lady suddenly burst into ghastly cackles. Her jaw chattered, a harsh noise came from her teeth knocking against each other. Those awful giggles reverberated throughout the room; the more they listened, the more it seeped deeper into the two's bones, and it soon overwhelmed them with sheer terror. Luo Jian was on edge, his whole back was tense. Feng Yu Lan pathetically draped his entire body over Luo Jian's and clung to him in a ridiculous manner. But immediately after, they heard the dead woman's reply.
"My husband? Of course he's still alive. He was the one who hung me up here." This answer left Luo Jian even more perturbed. He was so disturbed that he even forgot his manners and disconcertingly shouted, "Isn't that thing on the deck your husband?!"
"You mean that pitiful chap who was shoved inside the box on deck? Oh...Of course not. He's simply a pathetic stowaway. He was merely a substitute for my darling. Everyone thought that my husband was the one crammed inside the box on deck."
I guessed wrong? Did I guess wrong from the very beginning?! Luo Jian was unnerved; his mind was overcome by extreme panic, and his heart was in a fluster. Distressed, he whipped out the English journal and the cross pendant from his pocket and urgently demanded, "What about these? Aren't these your husband's?!"
The woman leaned forward slightly, her bones groaned with every movement, and she snorted faintly. Then she howled with laughter, her jaw rattled. She heartily rasped, "Those are all his, yes! But they're all things he willingly discarded! He gave up on himself and decided to take another person's face, to live their life!"
"Then, can I ask you?" Luo Jian was dripping cold sweat from head to toe. His face turned ashen. By now, he was at his wits' end."Where exactly is your husband right now?"
The dead woman stopped laughing in an instant. Those dark holes on her skull gazed straight at Luo Jian."My husband...he is directly behind you right now."
This one sentence caused Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan to reflexively swivel around and look back. Behind them was the closed door, but without them noticing, the door had cracked open at some time. The door creaked as it slowly, agonizingly slowly, opened by itself...
Standing outside the doorway was a man whom Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan were very familiar with. It was precisely that Stalker.
The stunning man narrowed his beautiful crimson eyes. A faint smile played on his lips, and this smile added to his charisma, making him appear even more attractive. He wore the same clothes that he had on when Luo Jian first encountered him, a black military uniform, which seemed rather out-of-place in this environment, and his hand still gripped at a tactical knife. The style of this dagger was exactly the same as that of Luo Jian's.
Luo Jian stumbled back in horror, and Feng Yu Lan also followed with a step backwards. But they couldn't retreat. Right behind them was that tittering dead woman. She cackled nonstop and her hanging body swayed back and forth along with her fluttering dress; the dust covering her gown scattered all around, falling to the floor.
"This man is your husband?!" The sight of him scared Feng Ye Lan, and he automatically spoke in English to the woman. The dead lady was still giggling, just laughing continuously; she finally managed to give a reply between her shrill cackles, "Oh—I don't know either! He looks quite different from my husband! But he truly is my husband!"
"What do you mean?" The words of this deceased female left Feng Yu Lan in a state of bewilderment. Luo Jian interrupted him.
"This guy's not her husband. However, he is playing the role of this woman's husband."
"Playing a role?"
"Stalkers will play the role of certain characters in the chamber and will appear in front of the players." Luo Jian repeated the boss' sentence to Feng Yu Lan. He clenched his teeth, raised his weapon, and stood face-to-face with the man before him, confronting him head on.
"What's a Stalker?"
"A person who'll keep hunting us in order to kill us in the chambers."
Luo Jian briefly explained, then shoved Feng Yu Lan aside. He stressed his words.
"Ah Lan, stand far away! When you find the chance, then run! Just leave me behind!"
"But...!" Feng Yu Lan wanted to say something.
Luo Jian, once again, interrupted him and insisted, "I'll think of a way to get him to tell us where the 'door' is, but you absolutely cannot stay here! You can't deal with him! If there're any accidents, then I wouldn't be able to take care of you!"
Feng Yu Lan wasn't an indecisive person. He understood the gravity of the current situation, and so he eventually conceded, "Fine, I'll leave. But Luo Jian, you must catch up to me! I won't wait for you in the same place for ever!"
Luo Jian nodded and warned, "Ah Lan, there might be some monsters lurking about outside. You have to be careful no matter what. The most important thing is to live."
The Stalker who stood in front impatiently watched his prey chat with the other. He finally lifted his foot and strode towards Luo Jian. He seemed to have gained a lot of interest in Luo Jian. Those scarlet eyes unwaveringly stared at Luo Jian; his eyes shined bright. Luo Jian trembled in fright. He rounded the woman's corpse and took a couple of small steps backwards. The Stalker stealthily inched forward, gradually approaching him.
Luo Jian drew out the knife strapped across his chest. He mustered up all of his courage and suddenly thrusted his knife in the Stalker's direction. At the same time, Luo Jian yelled out, "Run!" Upon hearing this order, Feng Yu Lan instantly turned on his heels and almost bumped into the door, before frantically dashing out of the room!
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