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墨書 Inktalez
After I finished speaking, Mai Lao quickly asked me, "Are you saying that the strange sound that scared away the sharks came from the Dark Sea Area?"
"Yes, it sounded like it," I replied, feeling frustrated as the Old Man insisted on repeating what I said.
"Brother Yi, is that dark sea area where Beard's men died last time?" Shunzi looked at me and asked.
"That's right. It was shortly after you went out to sea that I discovered that area. I believe the Wreck should be there. Mai Lao, what should we do now?" This time, I wouldn't act recklessly; life is precious! We can't just rush in blindly, or we might end up dead.
"Still the same thing: no matter what lies ahead, we need to find the Wreck. Loyalty and Righteousness, can you still go into the sea?" Mai Lao looked at me, but I knew he hoped I would go.
"No problem, I'm not injured. But Shunzi shouldn't go into the sea for now; his wounds haven't healed yet." I nodded in response.
Shunzi immediately interjected, "Brother Yi, my injuries are fine; I want to go with you."
Mai Lao waved his hand and said, "Shunzi, you should stay and recover! Jiao Ba, you'll come with us into the sea later."
"Huh?? I'm going too? But..." Jiao Ba made a face as if he had eaten something unpleasant.
"What? Do you have any objections?" Mai Lao shot him a glance. It seemed the Old Man held a grudge! Jiao Ba had embarrassed him several times; he had to regain his dignity.
Just as Jiao Ba was about to respond, I looked at him and said, "If you're told to go, then go. No more nonsense." Jiao Ba nodded helplessly; since I had spoken, he had no choice but to comply.
"Does anyone else have any suggestions? If not, we'll set off in an hour," Mai Lao scanned the room and seeing no one opposed, he concluded, "Alright, everyone go rest! We'll gather on deck in an hour."
We returned to the resting quarters. The other sailors were in high spirits and continued playing poker for entertainment. Sometimes I admired them; facing life-and-death challenges every day, they could still have so much fun. But then again, they remained unaware of the dangers; Mai Lao and Jenny never let us tell them much.
These sailors were quite pitiful, and so were we. Initially, I went to sea for money; now I sought to unravel all these mysteries. Thinking about it deeply, this might be what they call fate! Just as I sat on my bed lost in thought, Jiao Ba walked over and said, "Brother Yi, let's go out for some fresh air! Smoke a couple of cigarettes."
He gave me a knowing glance, and I immediately understood. "Alright! Let's go outside for a smoke; it's too stuffy in here."
As we walked and chatted, laughing and joking, we made our way to the deck. There was no one around at that moment. I suddenly asked quietly, "So, what did you find out?"
Jiao Ba pulled out a cigarette and tossed one to me. "Nothing. I turned every Rest Cabin upside down. I checked everyone who wrote notes, but none of them matched."
I took the cigarette, lit it, and took a few puffs before saying, "So you're implying that there are people on this ship who don't write notes?"
Jiao Ba replied calmly, "Of course there are, but only two: Jenny and Li Xin."
What? Jenny and Li Xin? If Li Xin didn't write notes, I could understand that; she had plenty of reasons to avoid it. The most important thing was that Li Xin was already my suspect, so I had considered that she wouldn't write notes.
But why wouldn't Jenny write notes? A graduate student in history like her should have the habit of taking notes! After so many days at sea and experiencing so much—several sailors had died—she had no reason not to write notes! Was it that she didn't want to write them, or was she deliberately hiding something?
"If Li Xin doesn't write notes, I can see why; that woman is always acting mysterious. She might be hiding some unspeakable secret. But why isn't Jenny writing either? I really can't figure it out," I voiced my confusion.
"I thought about that too. Maybe Li Xin is just as you said; to hide herself, she's erased all means of revealing information. But as for Jenny not writing notes, I can only think of one reason," Jiao Ba said, glancing at me intentionally.
"What reason?" I asked him.
"She simply doesn't want to write," Jiao Ba replied bluntly.
I playfully smacked him on the head and laughed while scolding him, "Come on! Do you really need to say something so ridiculous?"
Jiao Ba covered his head and chuckled. "Haha, just kidding, Brother Yi. There should be two reasons why Jenny doesn't write notes. First, she might not have the habit of taking notes. The second reason is that she carries her notes with her. After you all went into the sea, Jenny and Li Xin stayed on deck the whole time. That's why I searched through all the rest cabins. If she really wrote notes, then the only possibility is that she carries them with her."
"Think about it, Brother Yi. Since Jenny doesn't have to go into the sea, there's nothing wrong with her carrying her notes with her. This is personal; it's perfectly normal for her not to want anyone else to see them."
After listening to Jiao Ba's explanation, I felt there was some truth to it, but then another thought crossed my mind: "Jenny usually shares a room with Li Xin. If we're talking about privacy, aside from Li Xin, no one else would know. Who has the time to go back and rummage through someone else's notes? It's not a big deal. Is Jenny trying to avoid Li Xin on purpose?"
"That's a possibility, but these are just our speculations. We can't draw any conclusions about how close Jenny and Li Xin really are. Is Jenny deliberately avoiding her? We can only guess. However, this does raise some suspicions about Li Xin," Jiao Ba said, tossing away his cigarette butt and squinting his eyes.
I snorted and said, "I've suspected her for a long time. That woman deliberately puts on a poker face to keep us from noticing her, but the more she does that, the more I dislike her. It feels intentional. Let's hold off for now; I want to see what tricks Li Xin has up her sleeve."
"Yeah, that's all we can do," Jiao Ba nodded.
At that moment, I suddenly thought of someone else. "By the way, Lao Ba, have you looked at Mai Lao's notes?"
"I have. He was the first one I checked. The Old Man's handwriting is very different from that of the person who left the note; an ordinary person could tell right away. The Old Man's handwriting is quite good; he has some skill," Jiao Ba even praised Mai Lao.
I frowned in thought. A significant difference? Why such a big discrepancy? Was it intentional, or was it not even Mai Lao's writing? But how could I explain his sudden disappearance in the Wreck? What secrets did he hold? Could it really be as he said—that he was just a soldier in his early years? I doubted it; that Old Man was cunning and likely had more going on.
"Heh heh, if there's such a big difference, don't you find it strange?" I asked Jiao Ba.
"Not really! All the sailors' notes on the ship differ greatly from those left by others; what's so strange about that?" Jiao Ba asked, confused.
"Others are one thing, but he is different. However, discussing this now is pointless; we need to find solid evidence first. We'll investigate this later. Come on, Lao Ba; it's almost time to head out to sea. Let's get ready."
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