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Upon arriving at Jenny's rest cabin, we all sat down, and Mai Lao asked, "Loyalty and Righteousness, what exactly happened with Heizi? How... how could such a thing occur?"
Jenny, looking anxious, added, "Yes, Loyalty and Righteousness, what really happened? Heizi's death was too tragic."
"Right! What on earth is going on?" This time, Sailor Gate was no longer noisy; instead, they appeared anxious, even Li Xin, who usually said little, wore a worried expression.
I raised my hand to signal everyone to quiet down. Then I asked Jiao Ba for a cigarette, lit it, and took a few deep puffs to calm myself. Although I had only known Heizi for less than a month, witnessing his death right before my eyes left me with a sense of helplessness. Especially when I saw him turn into that green skeleton; I wasn't afraid but felt utterly powerless because I couldn't save him.
Shunzi handed me a towel to wipe off the rainwater from my body. After taking another drag from my cigarette, I said, "I don't even know what I encountered. It was something I found in the deep sea..."
As I recalled everything that had just happened, I slowly began to narrate. The bizarre entity still lingered in my mind. By the time I finished detailing the events, the expressions on the others' faces were strange—some looked terrified, others were dazed, and some seemed at a loss.
"Loyalty and Righteousness, are you sure you’re not feverish? Is there really such a thing in this world?" Jenny questioned skeptically, clearly doubting everything I had said.
"I don't believe it either; how could there be such a thing in the sea? You must have been scared silly," Li Xin chimed in coldly from behind. This woman was so indifferent that I didn't feel like engaging with her.
What? Scared silly? I wanted to curse her out. If she had seen that thing, she would have lost her mind: "Believe it or not, what I'm saying is the truth. Stop asking; this is the answer." I was too tired to explain further; saying more would make it seem like I was fabricating nonsense.
Jenny glanced at Mai Lao, hoping this Marine Biologist could provide an accurate answer. Unfortunately, this Old Man shook his head with a sigh; he had no idea what that thing was either.
"Could it be the Human-Faced Flower?" Jiao Ba's sudden remark broke the silence.
"What's... what kind of flower?" I asked.
"Based on your description, I think what you encountered is the Human-Faced Flower," Jiao Ba said seriously.
"Human-Faced Flower?" The rest of us looked at each other with blank expressions. I had never heard of such a flower in my life; what the hell was that?
"Actually... I've never seen this flower myself. I've only heard my grandfather mention it. He said that when a person dies and is buried underground, the flower absorbs the essence of the earth and the power of moonlight. After a hundred years, a small cluster of flowers will grow at the grave, and that flower is the beginning of the Human-Faced Flower," Jiao Ba continued to explain.
I thought about it carefully; Jiao Ba did have a point. I had seen flowers blooming in front of ancestral graves before, but they were very small! "Lao Ba, I've seen those flowers too, but they were tiny! They didn't look anything like what I saw today."
"I just said that was only the initial stage of the Human-Faced Flower. According to my grandfather, this thing is very evil and belongs to malevolent spirits. To grow fully, it needs more than just moonlight and nutrients from the earth; it also requires blood to nourish it. Moreover, it takes a hundred years to grow one stage, so for the Human-Faced Flower to fully mature, it would need several hundred years."
"And during those hundreds of years, there must be enough blood to sustain it. The Human-Faced Flower poses no danger before it matures, but once it does, it becomes deadly. Its appearance is indistinguishable from ordinary flowers—just larger—but inside the flower is a human face. The face's appearance depends on how the deceased looked; whatever they looked like in life is how the Human-Faced Flower will grow."
"Anyone who comes into contact with it is almost certainly doomed. It releases a powerful toxin that feeds on human flesh and souls. It's a terrifying creature, an abnormal one; it belongs to the realm of shadows. However... I've never heard of such a creature existing in the depths of the sea, which puzzles me," Jiao Ba said, furrowing his brow as he analyzed.
"It's simple; there are dead bodies in the sea! Since there are wrecks, there must be dead people. The Ming Dynasty was hundreds of years ago; people were buried at sea after they died. After hundreds of years, it's inevitable that so-called Human-Faced Flowers would grow. The ocean's creatures engage in slaughter every day; there's no shortage of fresh blood here. The only thing missing is moonlight," I replied to Jiao Ba.
"Moonlight isn't actually that important; as long as there is blood and the essence of the earth, that's enough. It seems that the wreck should be nearby," Jiao Ba said to everyone.
After hearing Jiao Ba's words, everyone exchanged glances, seemingly skeptical of his claims. However, given our current situation, they had no better explanation and could only temporarily accept it. But Shunzi and I believed wholeheartedly; I had encountered it, and Shunzi completely trusted me—he knew I had no reason to lie.
Jenny also asked skeptically, "Jiao Ba, are you sure about all this?"
"I can't be sure either, after all, I've never seen a fully grown Human-Faced Flower. This is all based on what my grandfather told me. But according to Brother Yi's description, there's a ninety percent chance that it's this thing. I never expected we would encounter something so rare," Jiao Ba said casually.
"That's nonsense, pure alarmism," Li Xin suddenly interjected. Sometimes this woman could be quite annoying; her looks seemed to be in stark contrast to her intelligence. There are so many things in this world that science cannot explain, yet she insists on getting stuck in her own narrow viewpoint.
"You'll know whether it's alarmism or not in the future, Lao Ba. No need to explain further. Let's just go back and rest," I said as I stood up, feeling completely exhausted and eager to get some rest.
As we stepped out of their lounge, Mai Lao suddenly grabbed my arm and said, "Loyalty and Righteousness, I believe what you said because I've encountered some things at sea before that science couldn't explain."
I nodded and smiled at him. Mai Lao continued, "Let's take a two-day break first, then we'll head back out to sea. I have a feeling the Wreck is not far from here."
Jiao Ba chimed in, "It should be in the waters near the Human-Faced Flower; it won't be too far."
"Just let me know when we're going back out to sea. I need to get some rest now. Sorry about that, Mai Lao."
I stopped talking and hurried back to the Rest Cabin to sleep. If I didn't rest soon, I felt like I would fall apart. Lying on the bed, I drifted off into a light sleep. In my dreams, I saw the terrifying image of the Human-Faced Flower again and heard Heizi's dying screams...
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