Volume 13 - CH 6

Chapter 6: The Night of the Awakened Sea

Location: Taiwan Time: 6:17 AM

In reality, nothing happened at all later that night.

After seeing the awakened sea people, I was rushed back to the room by Senior. Because it was too cold, I took a shower before going to bed. I was a bit worried about the ship, but the only thing I remember after my consciousness became fuzzy was that the clock showed that the time was three.

After sleeping for three hours or so, I woke up again.

When I came to, there was not a single person in the room, but after I got off the bed, I immediately changed my opinion. There’s no people, but—-

“Chirp.”

There was a white ballfish rolling around on our room’s floor.

Why did you come up here again!?

I grabbed that ballfish and was about to open the balcony and throw it out, when I realized that the outside seems to have been altered. If I throw him out now, he might run back here again or run off to somewhere else. Looking at the still-chirping ballfish, I sighed: “Never mind, I’ll let you stay here for now, but tomorrow I’m going home. You’ll then have to get off the ship yourself.”

“Chirp chirp chirp——-”

Forget it, I have no idea how to communicate with this sort of thing at all.

After filling up the sink in the bathroom with water, I cleaned it more or less and put the ballfish in the bathroom before going out of the room.

Whether it was because I woke up rather early, the whole corridor was empty and I didn’t see anyone at all. After staying in the ship for several days, I could probably figure out the schedule of the people on this floor. Since there are so many clubs and performances, those onboard probably return to their rooms very late at night, and you’ll only see their figures appearing after seven in the morning.

“We meet again.”

Just when I wanted to go down and find Yuli and them first, a voice suddenly came behind me. Because it was too unexpected, it almost scared my heart out of my mouth.

Turning my head, sure enough, it was that strange-enough-to-make-me-not-want-to-approach-him-at-all Ashis. He smilingly stood a small distance away: “Good, good morning.” You didn’t have anything better to do than to come outside so early just to detain me?

For some reason, I suddenly had this feeling.

“Are you free? I want to talk to you.” He told me like this, and I suddenly remembered that someone seemed to have said something similar before, but I couldn’t think of it all of a sudden, “There’s less than two days remaining. That senior of yours threatened me not to come near you, so I had no choice but to come when he isn’t around.”

Senior has threatened him not to come near me?

I suddenly remembered that I saw Senior with him that night, and that Senior had also spoken to me about the same thing.

Since Senior warned him and me, then that means this person really is a problem. It’s better if I don’t get too close to him: “I’m sorry, I have something to take care of right now…thank you.”

“You…” Just when it seemed like he was going to say something, I suddenly felt an ice-cold aura.

Who?

A gust of wind swept over.

“Hey! You…”

Before I even realized it, Yǔ lǐ who was supposed to be downstairs and wouldn’t have appeared here, was abruptly standing beside me. Just opening his mouth to say two words, he immediately showed his sharp fangs: “Who were you with just now!?”

Scared by his suddenly fierce look, I quickly took two steps back: “Please put your fangs away first.” They’re so sharp, I’m going to get scared, and do you really need to ask whom I’m with? He’s standing right…

Turning my head, that person called Ashis was already gone.

“That person is hostile to me.” Yǔ lǐ withdrew his fangs and told me.

“Eh?” Could it be that he knows he’s a village guardian? But why would he be hostile to village guardians? I honestly can’t figure out how they could be connected, so I decided to put this matter aside first: “Are you looking for me for something?”

Yǔ lǐ clapped once and his green eyes blinked: “That’s right, I almost forgot. Come with me.” Saying that, without asking me whether or not I want to go, he straightforwardly grabbed my clothes and dragged me outside.

…Why do I always meet a bunch of guys who don’t care about my own wishes!?

In the early morning, I’m still very afraid of encountering someone by accident in fact. But that guy with white hair, green eyes and absolutely no understanding of disguises didn’t have this concern at all, very smoothly pulling me down a floor.

Our destination didn’t seem to be that room, because Yǔ lǐ abruptly changed direction on an intermediate floor, directly pushing me toward an open-air balcony.

Wait a minute! It can’t be that he wants to silence me, and throw me into the sea along the way!

A bit nervous, I backtracked a little: “What are you trying to do!?” If you want to throw away my corpse, at least let me call for help first!

“I’m not trying to kill you. Look outside.” He ignored my struggling and directly pushed me outside.

The sky outside was still black.

That’s strange, shouldn’t it already have started to brighten up at six o’clock?

I glanced at my watch. The hand was pointing to the six thirty-five area.

“Look over there.”

Yǔ lǐ gripped my head and turned it to the side hard. I felt like my head was almost forcibly twisted off by him.

For an instant, I think I saw my grandma waving to me again…After a few seconds of blurry vision, I came to, and saw the direction that guy who wants to kill people pointed out.

It was the black sea. The waves looked very agitated, slapping the ship’s hull nonstop, and many of them splashed up on the open-air balcony.

A lot of faint halos appeared at that place he pointed to. It was exactly the same as the situation Senior and I saw the night before, but at that time I only saw one, and now there were several.

The wind suddenly became strong.

“What’s going on here?” I think Yǔ lǐ wouldn’t have me come over to see this for no reason. There must be more he wanted to say.

Green eyes stared at me for half a second: “Yuli wanted me to tell you: for some reason, the sea people below have all simultaneously awakened. It seems like someone purposely woke them up, and now the sea is very dangerous.”

Simultaneously awakened?

Someone woke them up?

I took two steps back. Goosebumps broke out all over my body, and my scalp became numb too.

Who would want to do such a thing?

My mind was full of confusion for a short time, and I suddenly didn’t know what to think. And since this is the sea, where can I tell the other people to escape to?

“Yang~! Are you downstairs!?” Just when I didn’t know what to do, a very familiar shout came from the entrance of the stairs behind us. I have probably never been so happy to hear this guy shouting at me. Soon after shouting, he ran over here: “We’ve just confirmed that there are members of the Ghost Tribe waking up the sea people. Hurry up to the deck.”

Even the five-colored rooster head’s hair color returned to normal, grabbing my arm as he ran toward the corridor.

“Ghost Tribe?” I tried my best but still wasn’t able to keep up with his pace, so I might as well let him drag me along; behind us, Yǔ lǐcaught up, turning into that very fox-like thing and running beside us fast as lightning, “Why would there be?”

“Who knows! They suddenly popped up in the morning. Didn’t you notice that the sky turned black?”

I did notice that the sky turned black, but my feet hurt so much now!

The five-colored rooster head, who was dragging me as he ran, simply didn’t pay attention to whether or not my feet were running along with him, pulling me around with brute force and causing my feet to continuously crash and knock into the stairs.

Could it be my feet’s going to be mush by the time I arrive on the deck?

Probably seeing my dilemma, Yǔ lǐ suddenly leaped over from beside us, directly pulling me out of the five-colored rooster head’s hand and swiftly running forward with me on top of his back.

“Hey! You’re not allowed to run faster than this uncle!” The five-colored rooster head roared while surpassing him.

Less than two seconds later, Yǔ lǐ increased his speed—-

Please pay attention to the safety of the passenger, alright!

I held onto the fur on his back, lying down on it completely. I was afraid that I would crash into the bottom of the stairs or the ceiling when he leaped up and down.

Don’t feel sorry for yourself if you get a hair pulled out by me!

As the speed increased, I didn’t dare to look anymore.

Even if you guys wanted to act out of spite, you didn’t have to choose a time like this! Isn’t it the legendary “critical moment” right now? Shouldn’t everyone be joining forces to reach the peak!?

A chicken and a fox, don’t choose to do a stair race at a time like this!

Before I could call out, Yǔ lǐ made a big leap and suddenly stopped. Then on top of him, I almost flew out because of the emergency braking. My hands were still holding onto his fur, so I only slid halfway off, half hanging on him.

After shaking my head to clear my vision, I saw the five-colored rooster head standing a bit further ahead on the deck, before he arrogantly made the “V” sign: “Ha! This uncle won! You want to win against one of my strengths, running on the stairs!? Go climb a skyscraper a couple of times before you come back to challenge me again!”

“Challenge, your head!”

I saw a cloth shoe flying over, very accurately hitting the back of the five-colored rooster head’s head. With a “kou” sound, it rang loud and clear and was even accompanied by Senior’s roar: “What kind of race are you running on the ship!?”

The five-colored rooster head covered the back of his head as he was killed in action.

It must be very painful…I feel very pained just from hearing it…

That cloth shoe was kind of large and didn’t look like Senior’s size. I turned my head and saw Thomas standing barefoot on the deck. The other cloth shoe was still hanging on the iron pole beside him.

Before I could say anything, a burst of wind abruptly swept over the deck. I immediately grabbed the thick ropes nearby, almost being carried away. Then just when I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, I realized that my pants were being clutched by someone and they were even pulled halfway down: “Yǔ lǐ! Don’t take off my pants!” That guy who turned into a human was clutching my pants as if they were items fastened to the ground!

“Yang~you’re wearing plain-colored ones!” Having felt about the sides and holding onto something at some point, the five-colored rooster head, who wasn’t blown away, very pervertedly looked at my pants that were pulled halfway down.

“Why do you care what color I wear!” I instantly pulled my pants up, and Yǔ lǐ ran to the other side.

The whole deck was wet and slippery, and it was very easy to slip if a strong wind blew.

“Men should wear multicolored ones to be cool!”

The second cloth shoe flew over and still hit the center of the back of the five-colored rooster head’s head.

“Don’t discuss underwear designs here!” I could almost see veins popping out on Senior’s head, and then I noticed that Senior and Thomas were holding onto the railing on the side of the ship and looking at the situation outside.

The specks of light on the sea appeared rapidly, and several leaping shadows could be vaguely seen under the surface of the sea.

The entire sky was black. At six fifty, there was not a bit of light.

The ship began to vibrate, as if something was spreading downward. The whole ship started swaying violently, and the seawater being carried over by the fierce wind sprayed the deck without stop.

At first, I was planning to go near Senior and them, but I only took a few steps before there was a sudden tremor. My feet slipped, and I slid over to the side and hit the railing there.

“Be careful.” When I was about to completely hug it, Yǔ lǐ, who had come over at some point, grabbed my collar then picked me up, allowing me to hold onto the railing.

“Uh, thanks.”

It felt more terrifying to stand by the ship and look out. The seawater below slapped ferociously and it seemed as if the whole ship was going to be swept down soon.

So cold.

I started shivering. Adding in the ice-cold wind and the seawater, I felt cold enough to die.

The faint lights were being emitted continuously, and each and every halo represented a sea person who simultaneously awakened. Below was a dark, dense mass that made one afraid.

Then, the ship started to issue a huge warning noise.

At the beginning, it was a single person’s voice.

Then it was ten people, and afterwards, an unknown amount of people.

I stood on the deck, listening to the many panicked screams coming from below the deck.

The tremors were still continuing. The outdoor seats nearby that were originally rooted in place, after several consecutive shakings, one of them fell out of the fixed rope, falling straight down to the side, and was dented with a crash.

Yǔ lǐ held me as he approached Senior. The five-colored rooster head also ran over and seemed completely unaffected by the terrain.

“We’ve just tried to contact the Guild, but it was disrupted.” Senior’s voice reached to my ears clearly: “There must be a high-level member of the Ghost Tribe here. He incited the sea people to control the waters of this area, and now news can’t be sent out. We have to find a way to solve this first.”

He was still wearing that coat from last night and his whole body was drenched. He looked even worse than I do.

“Thomas, you go guide the people on this ship first. Don’t let them head up to the deck.” Telling this to the other robe level on site, Senior wiped off the seawater on his face.

“That’s no problem. I’ll try passing through the sea people’s barrier to send the news out.” After patting our shoulders, Thomas quickly ran off the deck.

“What do we do now? Can we start killing them!?” The five-colored rooster head revealed a very excited smile, as if he saw some kind of interesting toy: “This is the first time this uncle will get to clash face-to-face with the sea people. Come one and I’ll kill one; come two and I’ll kill a pair!”

To be honest, I originally thought that Senior would stop him, saying something like how the sea people are ancient residents of the sea and that we should flee while we still can…

“If it endangers the ship, just kill it, no need to hold back!” His red eyes were ice-cold, a bit frightening: “Before the Ghost Tribe wanted to incite the sea people, they’ve already polluted this area of the sea. Even if we don’t kill them, the affected sea people will be distorted into becoming part of the Ghost Tribe.”

“Okay!” The five-colored rooster head swung out a beast claw and seemed to feel very happy about Senior’s straightforwardness. His eyes shone like he was very much looking forward to clashing face-to-face with them.

“Chu, you also need to prepare. We’re going to start soon.” Senior glanced at me, then pulled off the coat him. Beneath it he wore a very ordinary T-shirt and jeans, his silver hair clinging to him completely: “Have the Old Man set up a barrier on the ship right away.”

I nodded, hooking the railing with my feet, then patted the bracelet.

That black club quickly slipped out of the bracelet, then without waiting for me to speak, he turned into something like a pool of water by himself, lying on the ground; before slowly melting down and disappearing like that.

The tremors seemed to be getting smaller. Although the ship was still swaying a little, it was already very slight. And the wind and water on the deck lessened as well, as if the Old Man had instantly taken effect.

[The one who signed a contract with me, please let the attackers witness your unyielding stance.] Minas fell out, and I quickly held the derringer in my hand.

“Come on~come on, come on~” The five-colored rooster head started humming, “Big fish, big fish~big brother loves you~”

[T/N: He could be referencing the movie Big Fish & Begonia but that technically came out a few years after this volume was released. Regardless, their theme song‘s pretty good]

Don’t break the mood at such a tense moment, alright!

I suddenly thought of something.

If they say a Ghost Tribe member is here, then where would that Ghost Tribe member appear?

“He concealed his aura and for the time being, we don’t know where he is hiding.” Senior frowned, staring at the black sea outside.

…It can’t be that it’s Andellar again?

Remembering that terrifying person, I shivered unconsciously.

“It’s not him.”

Senior said very certainly in less than half a second: “It’s another one!”

Why is Senior so certain?

Red eyes looked at me for a moment, not answering.

The ship’s shaking stopped all of a sudden. I immediately looked outside and suddenly realized that the waves, light and whatnot all over the sea were all gone. The sea was so still that it was weird. There wasn’t even a ripple, only signs of the ship slowly moving forward.

I saw shadows that came in many shapes beneath the sea as smooth as a mirror. They were completely motionless like a rock that was there from the start.

“That’s the sea people.” Senior’s voice came from the side.

Swallowing, I then discovered that Yǔ lǐ had disappeared at some point.

He went back to Yuli?

Before I could think more carefully, I first saw two round glowing things appear from one of the black shadows beneath. They spun around under the sea, then stopped, facing the ship.

“They’re here.”

I saw a sea cucumber flying up…

No, let’s correct that, what I saw was a huge, black long object breaking through the surface of the sea and charging over here. That thing was completely black. The two round bright things that I saw just now were its eyes, and in the middle were crocodile-like pupils.

Immediately launching an attack was the five-colored rooster head. He directly jumped on the railing and gave that very large sea cucumber a punch, completely ignoring the huge teeth the sea cucumber showed.

“Bastard! Bring your own cucumbers to cook!” Shouting at the sea cucumber that fell back into the sea, the five-colored rooster head even crouched down on the railing to send it an enlarged version of the middle finger: “This uncle doesn’t eat raw or steamed foods!”

How can a cucumber cook a sea cucumber!?

Where did you see this sort of supernatural menu!?

“Ziray, I’ll leave this side to you.” Senior said: “Or do you want help?”

“What a joke! This uncle is known as the sword of the jianghu. An extra person would be dead weight!” That person who called himself a sword used the kind of strategy that someone who would normally definitely be driven out by security personnel would use, standing upright on the railing. Behind him was the rising black long sea cucumber as the background. In less than half a second, he instantly turned around and gave that sea cucumber another punch.

This seems like some kind of seafood-turned-monster battle.

“Chu, we’re going downstairs, hurry up!” Pulling my collar, Senior very assuredly left the five-colored rooster head alone on the deck, then swiftly ran down.

Is it really alright to leave him above!?

What do we do if the ship gets torn apart!?

“I know where the Ghost Tribe is.” Disregarding how I think five-colored rooster head will tear the ship apart, Senior quickly ran down the flights upon flights of stairs. The corridor still had several people. Because of some confusion and staff control, we didn’t notice that a silver-haired guy ran past, “The Ghost Tribe member will definitely look for a person with power first. This ship, after subtracting us, only has one place that meets the conditions!”

Senior didn’t need to say anything and I immediately knew where he was referring to.

“Yuli!”

Before we reached the bottom floor, I first saw completely black and red flames directly leaping up from below. Furiously spinning like a hurricane, the sweltering atmosphere filled the entire stairs at once.

Pausing his steps, Senior abruptly waved his hand, and the flames pouncing over immediately disappeared from the surroundings.

It happened almost simultaneously. A tremendous explosion noise came from below, and with a boom, a buzzing sound could be heard all over the stairs, like some kind of gas explosion.

That feeling was very familiar, as if we had encountered something similar before…

Slowing down our pace, I followed behind Senior then walked down to the second floor on the bottom. The surroundings still had a bit of residual fire slowly burning. It was black everywhere. The lights had blown up, swaying as they hung above.

Then, I saw Yuli standing in the middle of the corridor.

His snake body had already become human feet. Wearing simple clothes, his long hair hung loosely behind his shoulders.

“Yuli…” Not seeing Yǔ lǐ, I opened my mouth to ask.

“Don’t come over!” Loudly shouting this, Yuli narrowed his eyes, looking icily at a small flame not far away, not very unpleasant: “Come out!”

Following his gaze over, I saw that little fire suddenly start to fiercely burn. The whole flame turned a deep black and red color, then blazed upward nonstop.

It should be a sweltering atmosphere, but instead I felt cold all over.

A foot stepped out from the flame, before the top slowly turned into a face.

It was a man’s face, twisted and a bit scary. The raging flames slowly blended into his body after he walked out. Then he opened his eyes, and they were deep black.

“One of Ghost King Bishen’s seven experts, the wildfire aristocrat, Jeres.” Senior looked at that man forming in the flames and spat out a frigid sentence: “When did the wildfire aristocrat also start coming to the sea.”

Wildfire aristocrat…

Wait a minute, this name sounds so familiar.

I suddenly remembered the car accident we encountered on the road the first day we came onboard. At that time, the person who was similarly in the flames mentioned this name too.

Turns out this guy is the one who wanted to appear but got blocked before?

Heating the sound, that person slowly turned his head, black eyes facing us: “Katherine…was killed by whose hand…” His voice was very low, so low that the whole corridor echoed.

Isn’t Katherine the Ghost Tribe member who was killed and had used explosives in the Black Dorm?

In the end, she was finished off by the five-colored rooster head.

“Me!” A voice rang out beside me. I looked at Senior with surprise, and he gave me a look, “Any members of the Ghost Tribe that breaks into the Black Hall, must prepare to die!”

The man unexpectedly laughed.

What I heard wasn’t a laugh, it was a very deep voice, buzzingly ringing out nonstop. It felt like even my eardrums were about to break.

“Shut up!” Standing at the same spot, Yuli turned, and with a flip of his right hand, a long awl appeared, directly piercing that wildfire aristocrat’s forehead. The sharp end protruded from the other side, stained with black blood.

Jumping back, Yuli watched him alertly.

The Ghost Tribe whose head was pierced by the awl stood in the same place. The scene I saw was—-

The awl embedded in his head seemed as if it was engulfed by intense heat; it actually melted slowly like an ice cube, and drop by drop, the liquid fell on the ground. It wasn’t until the entire long awl melted that his wound quickly healed.

“I am one of the seven experts of Evil Ghost King Bishen, the wildfire aristocrat Jeres. Katherine is my sister. The lowly race that killed her, I will use all the lives around you to make a funeral sacrifice!”