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"Having said that," Jiao Ba calmly remarked, "it's not impossible. This deserted island shouldn't be far from where we set sail. The weather was quite severe at the time, and because of the storm, we couldn't see this little island. However, I'm not entirely sure if this is our next stop."
Jenny immediately disagreed, "How could this possibly be our next stop? It's just a deserted island. I still don't believe it. I think we should find a way to leave here instead."
Jiao Ba nodded with a smile and said, "That's just my guess. What about you, Li Xin? What do you think?"
Li Xin coldly replied, "I don't know; I haven't thought about that."
At that moment, Changshan suddenly interjected, "I think Jiao Ba has a point. After experiencing so many strange events, we can't rely on common sense to make deductions. If we were to analyze it logically, after being pulled into that cave, we should have all died inside with no chance of survival. But look at us now?"
"Exactly! We all managed to survive. Lao Chang is right; we can't analyze things based on normal circumstances," Big Guy chimed in, nodding with a smirk. In truth, he was the least thoughtful among us and rarely pondered anything.
"I don't see what there is to consider; we should just hurry up and leave," Mantou added coldly, his emotions currently very unstable.
Mai Lao gestured for everyone to calm down. "Even if we want to leave now, it's not that easy. Without a boat, we can't escape this deserted island."
"We can build our own boat," I said while looking at Mai Lao.
"Build a boat? How do we do that?" Jenny's eyes lit up as if she had found hope again.
Ignoring her question, I addressed everyone, "Let's make a decision now: should we stay or leave? The majority will decide." Since some wanted to leave and others wanted to stay, this seemed the fairest approach—democracy at work.
"I'm for leaving," Jenny was the first to speak up.
"I'm on Jenny's side," Mai Lao surprisingly agreed, which caught me off guard.
In the end, everyone expressed their opinions. There were eleven of us in total: Jenny, Mai Lao, Mantou, along with Old Wang and Repairman Tiger; these five agreed on leaving.
After discussing with Jiao Ba, Shunzi, and three others, we agreed to stay. This decision came after Jiao Ba and I exchanged thoughts secretly, as it seemed he had noticed something.
But now we were still missing one person: Li Xin. She had remained silent, and I couldn't tell what she was thinking. "Li Xin, it's up to you now. You alone can decide whether we stay or go," I said, looking into her eyes. We were at a stalemate; her vote was crucial.
"Li Xin, let's leave," Jenny pleaded.
Li Xin took a deep breath, as if she were making a difficult decision. Everyone waited for her response. After about a minute, she suddenly spoke up, "Let's go."
"That's great! Thank you, Li Xin!" Jenny exclaimed as she hugged Li Xin tightly.
Jiao Ba and I exchanged glances. I felt a bit helpless, but Jiao Ba leaned in and whispered to me, "It's not that easy to leave here."
I felt a jolt of unease at his words; what did he mean? Would something bad happen? Jiao Ba avoided my gaze as if nothing had happened.
Mai Lao spoke up, "Since we've decided to leave, we need to figure out how. Loyalty and Righteousness, you mentioned you could build a boat—was that true?"
I surveyed our surroundings and replied, "Yes, we should be able to construct a larger raft. There are plenty of trees here that we can use."
"Huh? A raft? Will that work?" Old Wang surprisingly chimed in; he hadn't said much during our journey.
"We have no other options. We can only build a raft and hope for the best. If we encounter any ships or drift to land, we'll be safe. But if we don't see any ships, we might drift at sea for a while and could face storms again. Whether we survive or not will depend on our luck. Everyone needs to be prepared for that," I laid out all the potential downsides. A raft at sea could easily fall apart; it would be a gamble.
Upon hearing this, everyone started to stir restlessly; after all, it was a risky venture. "Do you think you can actually build a raft?" Jenny asked me.
I hesitated before answering, "I should... be able to manage it."
"Then it's settled! As long as there's a glimmer of hope, we have to try. We can't spend the rest of our lives on this deserted island," Jenny insisted resolutely.
"I also insist on Jenny's viewpoint; we must leave this damn place," Mantou cursed again, clearly feeling very suppressed inside.
"Alright, it's settled then. Tomorrow morning, I'll make arrangements, and we'll get to work."
With the plans set, everyone prepared to rest. Their clothes had dried from the heat, and after changing, they gathered around the campfire and lay down. There was plenty of firewood, enough to last until tomorrow morning.
Mai Lao suggested that the men take turns keeping watch. After all, this was a deserted island, and who knew what threats might lurk in the primitive jungle? Someone had to keep guard.
Excluding Jenny and Li Xin, there were nine of us in total, divided into four groups. One group consisted of three people led by Big Guy, who was on watch with Old Wang and Little Tiger. The remaining groups paired off with two people each.
We would rotate every hour and a half, ensuring everyone's safety while also keeping the fire going by adding wood as needed.
The first watch was assigned to me and Jiao Ba. I had a purpose for this; while on guard duty, I could ask him about previous matters.
The others huddled together and fell asleep around the fire while Jiao Ba and I walked back and forth nearby. Since we were on watch, we had to take responsibility for the safety of all eleven of us.
About half an hour later, most of them were sound asleep, with faint snores audible in the air. I quietly gestured to Jiao Ba to come over. We moved away from the fire, about ten meters away where they shouldn't be able to hear us.
After glancing at the sleeping group, I whispered to Jiao Ba, "Lao Ba, do you have something to say? Also, what did you mean earlier when you said leaving isn't that easy?"
Jiao Ba's expression turned serious as he replied, "Brother Yi, I feel like things aren't as simple as they seem. The more I think about it, the more I feel something is off. Our arrival on this island shouldn't be just a coincidence."
I shot him a glance and said, "You're thinking along the same lines as me. There aren't that many coincidences in this world. What are your thoughts?"
Jiao Ba looked around before asking, "Do you know what we ate earlier?"
"Damn it, how would I know? If I did, I wouldn't have asked you! Do you know something?" I sensed that Jiao Ba might have some insider information.
Jiao Ba's face was serious as he said, "I don't know if it's true or not, because after all, it's just a legend. No one has ever seen it with their own eyes. The legend speaks of a fruit that grants immortality, called the Thousand-Year Ginseng. It resembles a human in shape and is about the size of a palm. When you peel off its skin, the inside is red, like a blood clot."
"They say that anyone who eats this Thousand-Year Ginseng not only gains immortality but also experiences a tremendous increase in strength, acquiring abilities beyond what ordinary people can imagine. However... once you consume it, it will change with the person's heart; a kind person will become increasingly benevolent, while an evil person will grow more wicked."
Once again, Jiao Ba presented something I found hard to accept. Immortality? That seemed a bit far-fetched. "Lao Ba, I could accept what you said before, but this immortality... isn't that a bit too unbelievable? You’re not trying to pull my leg, are you?"
Jiao Ba replied seriously, "I'm not joking with you. Everything I said is true. Back in the day, Emperor Qin sent Xu Fu to lead a large group across the sea in search of the elixir of life. Unfortunately, Xu Fu never returned; whether he lived or died remains unknown. Did he find the elixir? No one knows. To this day, it remains a mystery."
I scoffed at the idea. "Come on, that's just a rumor. How could anyone possibly achieve immortality? Everyone ages and dies; besides, the fruit we eat is liquid inside, not a blood clot."
Jiao Ba's expression turned slightly cold as he said, "I suspect this is an underdeveloped Thousand-Year Ginseng."
I patted his arm and said, "Lao Ba, you're overthinking it. You just said it's merely a legend and not credible. Let's not scare ourselves; there's no such thing as an elixir of immortality in this world. If there were, those emperors would have gone mad trying to find it! These are just tricks to fool people. Besides, how many people even live to be a hundred?"
Jiao Ba calmly replied, "I hope I'm just being overly worried. There's something else I need to tell you: about that underwater cave we encountered. I feel Changshan was right; it’s very likely a connecting passageway. We were thrown out from another entrance, and this passage leads to our next destination. The only problem is that the Nautical Chart is incomplete, so we can't see it."
Changshan's words were crucial; lately, he always seemed to say astonishing things and hit the nail on the head. It made sense for Jiao Ba to agree with him.
I had thought about it before too, but whether it was true or not remained unclear. Perhaps only those two men in black knew the truth about this place. However, given the current situation, it was impossible to tell who they were, so we could only take things one step at a time.
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