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墨書 Inktalez
"What is it? Demon Worm Corpse?" Jiao Ba's words left me momentarily stunned. I had never heard of such a thing in my life. I only knew about zombies and the undead from movies, but what on earth was this so-called Demon Worm Corpse?
It wasn't just me; after Jiao Ba finished speaking, everyone else in the room looked equally bewildered. The only one who showed no surprise was Mai Lao, who remained calm as if he completely understood the situation. This old man was sometimes hard to read; I couldn't tell if he genuinely knew about this or was just pretending to be wise.
Shunzi, looking confused, asked, "Lao Ba, how do you make this Demon Worm Corpse?"
"Hey, if you ask me, who should I ask? If I knew how to make it, I wouldn't be out here suffering with you guys," Jiao Ba replied irritably.
Jenny, standing nearby with an awkward expression, said, "What... what is this? My goodness! Ever since we set sail, nothing has gone smoothly. Now there's a Demon Worm Corpse? Jiao Ba, you're not joking, are you?"
Before Jiao Ba could respond, Mai Lao interjected, "This is no joke. Such things did exist in ancient times. During the early Ming Dynasty, many nobles died unexpectedly. Their families would choose this method to preserve the deceased's youth by hiring sorcerers to create a Demon Worm Corpse."
I wasn't that surprised at first, but when Mike finished speaking, I was genuinely shocked. It was astonishing that this old man knew about it. How did this Marine Biologist have such knowledge of the occult?
Jiao Ba looked at Mai Lao with a surprised expression and said, "Mai Lao, you know quite a bit about this? You're right; the concept of the Demon Worm Corpse has been passed down since the early Ming Dynasty. But I'm curious—very few people know about it unless they're involved in our line of work. How do you know?"
Mai Lao chuckled lightly and replied, "I read about it in a book."
"What book? I don't recall any book mentioning this," Jiao Ba continued to probe, his eyes fixed intently on Mai Lao.
Mai Lao replied nonchalantly, "I can't remember; I saw it a long time ago. If you hadn't brought it up today, I wouldn't have thought of it at all."
After hearing that, Jiao Ba nodded skeptically. It wasn't just him; I was skeptical too. It was indeed surprising that this old man had knowledge of such things.
However, I wanted to know just how terrifying this Demon Worm Corpse really was and whether it posed a threat to our lives. "Lao Ba," I asked, "if we were to forcibly open its coffin, what would happen?"
Jiao Bayi's face turned tense as he said, "Well, I estimate you'd die a horrible death. That thing is very sinister, and the longer it exists, the stronger its energy becomes. If it's from the Ming Dynasty... well, it's been six or seven hundred years since then. Just think about how much energy that Demon Worm Corpse must have!"
"Of course! If I knew how powerful it was, why would I even ask you? Hurry up and tell me; stop dragging your feet!" I couldn't contain my impatience any longer. Ever since Jiao Ba spoke about it, images of that female corpse opening her eyes kept replaying in my mind—it was haunting and made me feel increasingly anxious.
"Oh dear Brother Yi! Do you think I'm an encyclopedia? This is my first encounter with such a thing too! How powerful it really is—I honestly don't know. But I've heard my grandfather say that even highly accomplished monks might not be able to subdue a Demon Worm Corpse. It's inherently evil! That's why I'm advising you all to give up," Jiao Ba said casually as he looked at me.
"No way, giving up is absolutely not an option, Jiao Ba. Since I came to you, you have to come up with a solution for this matter." Jenny said coldly, her expression indicating that abandoning the Wreck was out of the question.
Jiao Bayi helplessly replied, "Sister! What can I do? I've never dealt with that ghostly thing before; how am I supposed to handle it?"
At that moment, I suddenly remembered and said, "Lao Ba, what if we don't touch the coffin? We could just go straight down to the sea and salvage the Wreck. Whatever is in that coffin can stay there; we won't disturb it. Do you think that's feasible?"
"Well... that should work, right?" Jiao Ba's tone lacked confidence this time; it seemed he really knew very little about the Demon Worm Corpse.
Mai Lao suddenly interjected, "Whether it works or not, that's how we'll have to do it. Let's not touch the coffin for now. Once we salvage the Wreck, we can open it later."
It seemed we had no other choice: "When are we going down to salvage?" I asked.
"Tomorrow afternoon! Everyone should rest tonight. Jiao Ba, you need to come with us tomorrow," Mai Lao decisively concluded.
Jiao Bayi looked helpless again and said, "Huh? I have to go too?"
"Of course! How can you not go?" I gave him a light smack on the head, and then we returned to our Rest Cabin.
After we got back to the resting quarters, Shunzi lay down to prepare for sleep while Jiao Ba went out again, off who knows where.
Gangzi looked gloomy and asked me, "Brother Yi, do you think... something will go wrong during the salvage tomorrow?"
I forced a smile and replied, "It should be fine; things don't usually go wrong that easily."
"But ever since I heard Jiao Ba talk about that Demon Worm Corpse, I've been so anxious. I keep feeling like that woman's face is right in front of me. I have no confidence at all," Gangzi said. He looked tough and had always led the charge during our dives, but surprisingly, he was scared too.
Upon hearing this, Shunzi perked up and said, "Yeah, Brother Yi. Ever since we set out to sea, there hasn't been a moment of peace. Just thinking about Heizi's death makes me shiver."
I patted their shoulders and said, "Alright, alright. Stop worrying unnecessarily. It's not as terrifying as you think. Jiao Ba just loves to stir things up; don’t listen to his nonsense. It’s not that scary! Now hurry up and get some sleep! We have work to do tomorrow." Before they could respond, I lay down myself. Truth be told, I was more anxious than anyone else, but if I didn’t say something reassuring, how could I lead this team? There was no choice but to toughen up.
That night was filled with nightmares; the female corpse in the coffin appeared repeatedly in my dreams. I even saw her smiling at me with her eyes wide open. But in an instant, her face twisted into a horrific grimace. In my dream, I knew I was dreaming yet couldn't wake up no matter how hard I struggled; I couldn't escape this nightmare.
I dreamed that we were going back into the sea again. Just as we were about to bring the coffin up to the Sea Surface, the Coffin Lid suddenly exploded open. The female corpse slaughtered us like a ghostly apparition; blood filled the entire seabed. Desperately wanting to escape this place, no matter how much I swam, I could never reach the Sea Surface. The oxygen was running low; it felt like I was suffocating to death.
"Brother Yi, Brother Yi, what's wrong with you?" As I was on the brink of death, it felt as if someone was calling my name.
"Ah!" I shouted, finally waking up. I sat up abruptly, realizing that my entire body was drenched in sweat. Yet despite this, I felt no warmth; it was cold—very cold, a chill that seeped from my heart.
Shunzi sat by my bedside, a worried expression on his face. "Brother Yi, are you okay? It's the middle of the night, and I've seen you shaking all over. What's wrong? Are you sick?"
I thought he must have been the one who woke me up. Shaking my head, I replied, "It's... it's nothing. You should go back to sleep! Just a bad dream."
Shunzi nodded and said, "As long as you're fine, just call me if you need anything." He turned and went back to bed.
However, I couldn't sleep at all that night. It wasn't that I didn't want to; I was too afraid to sleep. Everything in my dream had felt too real. Lying in bed, I could only rest in a daze...
The next afternoon, we began preparing to salvage the wreck. Mai Lao was in full command as we arranged the buoys one by one and placed them into the sea—about eight to ten of them. After the buoys were in the water, we filled them with seawater so that they would sink one after another.
Jiao Ba and the other sailors changed into diving suits; this time everyone had to be involved. We connected the steel wire rope and rope clips properly and got ready to dive. The sun had already set. Although it wasn't completely dark yet, the depths underwater would surely be pitch black. Mai Lao suddenly said, "Hopefully we can salvage it smoothly."
"Why do you say that?" I asked curiously.
Jiao Ba stretched his body and replied, "You'll know soon enough. Let's go." With that, he leaped into the sea. That guy never missed a chance to show off. We followed closely behind him as we made our way underwater.
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