Ch61 - New Client

The speedboat was blown by the wind in the opposite direction of the cruise ship. Seeing a vast expanse of fog float over in front of them, the people on the boat couldn’t help but enter a state of panic.

The legends of Devil’s Bay they had once only taken as mere stories resurfaced in their minds. Someone said despairingly, “We’re not going to die here, right?”

“What to do, the wind and waves are too big, if the boat capsizes we’re done for.”

Jiang Aida was also afraid, but as the person in charge, she took a deep breath and began placating the others. “Don’t panic. The skipper will try to contact the rescue team again. Even though we might not have a signal right now, when they discover that we’re missing they’ll definitely come search for us. What we need to do right now is remain calm like nothing is happening.”

As the only woman on the boat, Jiang Aida was more than calm enough.

The others saw her like this and felt like they couldn’t say anything else.

Ever since Ji Xiunian saw the suddenly appearing dead spirits in the ocean, he knew that this event definitely had something to do with them.

The speedboat was being blown by the wind towards the area of ghosts; the closer they got, the more he realised that the spirits were numerous, packed densely together, looking ghastly.

Ji Xiunian subconsciously looked towards Lu Xu before discovering that Lu Xu was looking at that pile of dead spirits in thought.

The boat was full of people panicking, but only Lu Xu’s expression was normal. The more frantic the others around him became, the more Lu Xu’s actions stood out.

He obviously could also see those things, but he didn’t look afraid in the slightest. As he looked out in thought, there was even a hint of a smile within his eyes.

Smile?

Ji Xiunian blinked, startled. By the time he opened his eyes again, he saw that Lu Xu had withdrawn his gaze and was warmly comforting the Jiang Aida sitting next to him.

So, he probably saw wrong just now.

In this kind of situation, normal people probably wouldn’t smile.

Ji Xiunian’s mind was left in a frenzy, only feeling that he had been affected by those dead spirits and was going crazy.

This was also the first time the photographer had met with such a sudden situation. He immediately took out his camera and began taking photos all around. Many classic photography works were of natural wonders. If he could stay alive and return, then the photos of this scene would definitely be priceless.

He first shot the distant cruise ship, then their surroundings, the waves within the fog.

When his lenses were accurately pointed at the patch of fog, the photographer was stunned, his heart rate increasing rapidly.

He returned to his senses with much difficulty, before hurriedly beckoning for the others to come over. “You guys hurry and look at this…”

“What is it?” Jiang Aida was nearby and immediately looked over. She almost couldn’t remain standing afterwards. “Oh my god, what the hell is this?”

Ji Xiunian and Lu Xu looked at each other. The two of them both guessed from each other’s gaze, but neither of them spoke out loud.

The photographer used night vision and it made the things in the dark especially clear.

It was just that in the ocean not too far in front of them, many black shadows crowded together. At first glance, they looked a little like human shadows.

Everyone was already very panicked from suddenly floating off into the sea. Their minds couldn’t help but leap to a terrifying horror story when they saw this photo.

The shadows floated quietly over the ocean. They stared fixedly towards their side as if waiting for something.

No matter how grounded in science, someone might be, seeing this kind of scene in this kind of situation would make one very frightened.

The people on the boat were already very nervous. After seeing this, even if their boat didn’t capsize, it would be a problem if their hearts gave out.

Ji Xiunian thought of this and was getting ready to tell them that it wasn’t a big deal when the Lu Xu next to him made his move first.

“It’s just the light reflecting off of the surface of the ocean and scattering.” After saying this, he passed the camera back to the photographer, his countenance relaxed as if nothing was going on.

Speaking of which, Lu Xu really had this special quality that completely influenced other people.

Seeing that he was acting as normal, everyone’s original nervousness relaxed a bit.

Jiang Aida really had been frightened by the photo, but when she saw Lu Xu’s tranquil actions, she recovered. Instead of listening to the waves and thinking straying thoughts, it was better to find a way to distract themselves.

After Jiang Aida thought of this, she turned up the volume on her phone to its max and played Lu Xu’s rendition of ‘The Ballad of Death’.

“You’re the ray of light in the darkness, guiding me gladly towards my death…”

Lu Xu looked at the nearing spirits and began singing along. “I’m willing to go with you, to fall into the endlessness of death, wandering…”

His voice was as stable and clear as ever, warming and soothing their hearts.

The emotions of everyone on the speedboat slowly calmed down. Some of them couldn’t resist singing along with Lu Xu to this beloved song, singing about death.

On the other side, the spirits that had been tranquil the entire time without moving much suddenly had a reaction.

They uniformly turned towards their direction, beseeching the people on the boat. “Hurry and come, hurry and come over here…”

They seemed to lack the individuality of ghosts, repeating the two phrases over and over again. After a while, it only made people’s ears feel muffled and their moods complicated.

As Ji Xiunian listened, he felt like he was falling into a trance. He felt like the ocean had something calling for him.

He walked slowly to the side of the speedboat, staring at the waters in a trance.

“Nian ge!”

“Hm?” Lu Xu’s voice suddenly rang out. Ji Xiunian violently returned to his senses before realising that his hand was already draped across the side of the boat, seemingly about to jump over the boat.

This was too terrifying.

Ji Xiunian was covered in sweat and he turned around, wanting to thank Lu Xu.

It was at this time that the waves on the surface of the ocean suddenly became big and the wind blew rapidly, rocking the speedboat back and forth. There was the danger of capsizing at any moment. No matter humans or boat, they all seemed infinitely small in the face of the dark tides of the vast ocean. Using their best efforts to secure themselves, the people on the boat clung to each other, in the fear that they would fall into the sea if they weren’t careful.

If they fell in the water in such big waves, there was no way they could return alive.

“May God save us!”

There were others who took their phones out, wanting to leave their last words. But when they thought about it, they realised there was no use. After all, bodies lost here were at the mercy of the ocean’s compass; even their communications couldn’t work and there was no point in thinking of anything else.

The storm raged, throwing everything into chaos.

Everyone was in a great amount of fear, but only Lu Xu remained standing on the deck, staring closely at the opposing spirits.

“I’m begging you, help me…”

Countless spirits of the dead gathered together, moving even more than the sound of the wind and thunder.

They floated on the surface of the ocean, crying out bitterly as if they had been fettered in place. The sea was remote and it was a place they could not leave, so it was even difficult for them to be reported to the underworld.

Other ghosts could still loiter and be recorded, those who died in Devil’s Bay couldn’t even leave, they were basically calling for help but none would come.

If one looked closely, one would notice that they had a phone in their hands. It had obviously been burned for them by their family members.

But there was no signal in the ocean, and even with a mobile phone, there was no way they could enter the ghost network.

It was such a faraway part of the ocean, few people passed through here and no grim reapers came. It was also because of this that they couldn’t do anything even though they wanted to call for help.

Those of a similar plight sensed one another, and the dead who drowned in the sea gathered together, waiting for the person who would rescue them from this place to appear.

Their powerful prayers had finally attracted someone who could see them. The group of ghosts were beside themselves with emotion, their cries piercing.

“Help us!”

Lu Xu stood on the desk, unmoving no matter how the ocean wind blew.

There was the bright moon above his head. The moonlight shone on him and made him subtly look like a figure that stood on its own.

It was at this moment that Lu Xu looked like a god.

Due to the habits from their career, even though everything was in a panic, the photographer still took up their camera and recorded this moment.

Ji Xiunian’s ears were filled with the wails of departed souls. There was something clamouring in his body like his head was about to explode.

He lifted his hand to press it against his temple. He saw Lu Xu with his back towards him, standing against the wind, and unconsciously tried to call out his name.

However before he even opened his mouth, a huge wave came crashing down and the boat tilted violently to the side.

The seawater soaked everyone’s clothes and drowned out their screams.

When Ji Xiunian turned around again, Lu Xu’s silhouette had already disappeared from the deck.

“Fuck, where’s Lu Xu?”

“Oh my god, Lu Xu fell into the water!”

Everyone was beside themselves with panic and hurriedly moved to the deck to look down and find Lu Xu.

But the ocean surface only had surging waves, with no sign of Lu Xu.

Jiang Aida was dumbfounded, her heart already in her throat. “Does anyone know, does Lu Xu know how to swim?”

Everyone shook their heads, and someone said timidly, “I don’t think he does, otherwise there wouldn’t be no sign of him after he fell down…”

The words were subtle, but the meaning was clear after thinking about it.

For someone who didn’t know how to swim to have dropped into the ocean, it was extremely bad luck.

Ji Xiunian also thought about this, and the blood immediately rushed to his head.

Without a sound, he grabbed a rope from the deck and tied it around his waist, then quickly went to the side of the boat.

Someone saw his intentions and immediately tried to stop him. “Instructor Ji, that’s too dangerous! It’s better to wait and call for help.”

Ji Xiunian’s complexion was rather abnormal and he only said, “I can wait, he can’t.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he jumped into the ocean.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Instructor Ji also jumped into the water, what to do, will something happen?”

“Hurry hurry hurry, let’s pull the rope together. If he doesn’t come up later let’s drag him up together…”

Lu Xu had jumped into the sea by himself.

If he wanted to figure out what it was that was trapping those souls, then he had to go in and take a look.

He sank downwards, and after knowing that he had entered the deep waters, discovered that it was actually full of corpses.

This place was an intersection point between the seas, and the strong power of the ocean drew and sucked them in, one by one, sinking deeper and deeper.

“I’m begging you, help us… We don’t want to be trapped here…”

Death in itself was a terrifying matter, but these souls had been stuck in one place for so long and they realised that endless despair was the most terrifying thing.

Each time they recalled the scene where they drowned and died, they fell deeper into darkness and despair.

They were unable to abandon their physical bodies, so naturally, they wouldn’t be able to leave this ocean.

Over a long time, the despair accumulated, and all that remained was an endless sinking feeling in the darkness.

Lu Xu more or less glanced at the number of dead bodies and calmly opened the app to record down their information.

Grim reapers dropping by meant that death was coming, and it wasn’t a good thing.

But the souls of the departed trapped at the bottom of the sea were beyond excited, nearly crying when Lu Xu recorded down their information.

Lu Xu sank down to the very bottom and pulled out the sunken ship that was stuck there. The waves surged and swelled, and the bodies floated far away.

Surely after a while, the coastal shore would occasionally have corpses appearing on it.

After receiving such a big order, and facing the gratitude of the dead souls, Lu Xu simply raised his brows and prepared to head upward.

It was at this moment that the Grim Reaper App suddenly sent him a notification: There is a new client nearby, please confirm this client’s death and your acceptance of this order.

Lu Xu glanced at the new client’s name before discovering the three characters displayed— Ji Xiunian.

nao: award for least appropriate song choice of the year goes to jiang aida

Tofu: I’m just imagining Lu Xu on the bottom of the ocean with the light from his phone reflecting off his face