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墨書 Inktalez
When I saw the Underwater Light start to flicker, I felt as if I had been electrocuted. For a moment, I couldn't even move; my greatest fear had come true.
I glanced at the others. Everyone's gaze was fixed on the Underwater Light in my hand. Li Xin's face turned pale, and from her eyes, I could see the terror reflected back at me. The others were not faring much better; the atmosphere became eerily tense, and it seemed everyone was on edge.
I looked over at Jiao Ba, who shook his head slightly, signaling me not to worry, that everything was fine. Mai Lao remained calm; there was no fear in his eyes, only a sense of tranquility.
But Li Xin was starting to panic, gesturing frantically, asking, "What’s happening again?"
Before I could respond, Mai Lao gestured for us to ignore it and keep moving.
Just as we were about to proceed to the second level, suddenly, the Underwater Lights in everyone else's hands began to flicker as well. It was almost identical to what had happened before—the lights flickered violently and rapidly, making it hard for our eyes to adjust.
Since we couldn't speak underwater, the scene quickly descended into chaos. Li Xin and the other sailors looked bewildered, each holding their Spear and patrolling back and forth. My heart raced; the flickering lights created an illusion that someone might suddenly appear before me. My greatest fear was seeing that female corpse's face again; she was driving me to madness.
Seeing that everyone was losing control, Mai Lao quickly swam to the side and pulled each sailor back toward us, urging us to stay together. As long as we remained united, our fear would be somewhat diminished.
At that moment, Jiao Ba swam quickly in front of us, waving his arms vigorously. His message seemed clear: close your eyes; this is all an illusion. The lights were flickering too intensely for me to fully grasp his gestures. If what Jiao Ba said was true—that this was caused by some toxin—then what we were experiencing should be classified as hallucinations. But where did this toxin come from?
Just as I was lost in thought, I suddenly heard a strange sound—like a sharp laughter echoing through the Passage, sometimes drawing closer and then fading away.
My heart trembled at the sound. Then I saw it again—the previous scene replaying itself before my eyes. Shadows flitted back and forth in the Passage; soon it felt like it was filled with people. A swarm of figures darted between the ship's cabins at high speed. I still couldn't make out their faces; they remained indistinct and blurry.
Even though I had experienced this once before, when it reappeared, my internal fear surged uncontrollably. The blood in my veins felt like it was freezing over. I stared wide-eyed at everything happening before me; the Underwater Light continued to flicker, making the entire cabin feel as cold as hell. Those shadows moved like ghosts, accompanied by eerie laughter as they traversed every corner of the Passage.
I didn't know how the others were faring; I couldn't focus on them anymore. All I knew was that my mind was nearing its breaking point. I even forgot Jiao Ba's earlier words when suddenly a woman with disheveled hair appeared not far in front of me. My first instinct told me this had to be that Coffin Corpse again.
At that moment, every hair on my body stood on end, and cold sweat instantly drenched me. A chilling breeze swept across my back, and my breathing quickened again. I couldn't see the woman's face; her figure flickered in and out of the light, but I knew deep down that she was slowly approaching me.
Her features gradually became clearer, revealing those blood-red eyes. In extreme fear, a person can become frantic and enraged, and that was exactly what I was—completely unhinged.
I glared with fiery eyes and raised my Spear, but just as I was about to launch it, darkness suddenly engulfed me. I could see nothing; someone behind me had covered my diving mask with their hand. Instinctively, I wanted to resist, but those hands firmly pressed against my face.
I recalled what Jiao Ba had said—that this might all be an illusion. So I stopped struggling. No matter who was behind me, they had to be one of us. I let them cover my diving mask, and everything before me faded away—no more ghostly figures or the woman's corpse. My panicked mind began to calm down a bit.
After about five minutes, the hands covering my eyes finally moved away. The Passage returned to its original state, still eerily silent. The Underwater Light in my hand no longer flickered; everything that had just happened vanished in an instant, like a mirage or a dream.
I turned around to look; Jiao Ba was standing behind me, nodding slightly. I glanced at the others—Li Xin and Shunzi had also regained their composure. It seemed everyone had made it through this ordeal. Li Xin looked at me with a strange expression that I couldn't quite describe.
I didn't have time to engage with her; what I wanted to know most was where this toxin that could induce hallucinations was hidden in the Wreck.
Seeing that everyone was fine, Mai Lao finally felt reassured after this false alarm. He gestured for us to continue exploring. The seven of us moved up to the second level and began another round of investigation. This second level was slightly different from the first; the Passage here was narrower.
We spread out again to survey the second level's cabins as quickly as possible. I continued toward the depths of the Passage, heading for the last cabin. The Large Wooden Box from earlier kept popping into my mind; it felt odd that there were no Wooden Boxes in any of the cabins on the first level except for this last one. What did that signify? What was so special about this Wooden Box?
I couldn't wrap my head around it. To prove I wasn't being overly suspicious, I decided to directly investigate the last cabin on the second level. Following my usual routine, I opened the Hatch and quickly retreated, aiming my Spear at the entrance and waiting a moment before confirming it was safe to enter.
As I scanned the area with my Underwater Light, I finally found a different cabin—a Rest Cabin. Inside were beds, some decayed bedding and clothing, several cabinets, and small boxes scattered across the floor. It was clear that this cabin had been rummaged through; everything inside lay in disarray, resembling a dilapidated warehouse.
I searched for quite a while but found nothing valuable—no jewels or gold or silver—just useless junk scattered everywhere. Not even a single piece of porcelain or any Bones of people.
Not wanting to waste more time, I quickly exited this cabin and moved on to the next one. After inspecting three more cabins in succession, I started feeling impatient; all three were Rest Cabins as well. These Rest Cabins were incredibly simplistic—almost identical to each other—with no distinction from the first Rest Cabin I'd examined.
Aside from all the junk, there was nothing else. Logically speaking, Rest Cabins should have been occupied; aside from gold and jewels, where were all the people? Where did everyone go? This Wreck was far too bizarre; it looked like an ordinary cargo ship on the outside but was anything but ordinary inside. The simplicity of these Rest Cabins was almost beyond comprehension.
Now, I could only place my hopes on others, hoping that Mai Lao and the others could find something valuable. I quickly exited the cabin, and one by one, the others returned. We hurriedly exchanged information, and it turned out to be the same as what I had seen—no discoveries at all.
The entire second level of the ship was filled with Rest Cabins, all laid out in exactly the same way, without any variation. Just this alone was eerie enough, and there were no Bones or any precious items in any of the cabins. Besides the tattered bedding and clothing corroded by seawater, there were only those broken furnishings left.
How could there be nothing at all? Everyone felt a bit disheartened. We had been at sea for so many days, thinking that finding this Wreck would lead us to the treasure we had longed for. But now, not only was there no treasure, there wasn't even a broken bottle or bowl; this was nothing but a derelict ship.
Mai Lao looked at us with a somewhat grim expression. Li Xin and Shunzi exchanged glances, each filled with confusion about this Wreck, yet they couldn't find any clues. That was the most frustrating part.
Suddenly, Jiao Ba gestured, "No, it shouldn't be that simple."
I shot him a glance. Of course I knew it wasn't that simple, but the facts were right in front of us—what could we do? We had searched both levels of cabins and found nothing. Unless there was another level of cabins.
At this thought, I was suddenly struck with realization. Yes, there should be another layer! How did I not think of that? Perhaps beneath the first level, there might be a hidden layer. The image of that Large Wooden Box flashed in my mind; maybe the answer lay within that Wooden Box.
I quickly signaled everyone to follow me as I made my way back to the first level, heading straight for the last cabin. We swam into the cabin where the Large Wooden Box still stood at the Hatch entrance. I motioned for a few people to come help move the Wooden Box. Although it was empty, it was incredibly heavy. After much effort from several of us, we finally managed to shift it aside.
Once the Wooden Box was moved, I hurriedly used an Underwater Light to carefully examine below. After searching for a moment, my eyes lit up—I discovered a metal handle in a very inconspicuous spot next to the Hatch entrance.
I stepped forward and grabbed hold of the handle, took a deep breath, and pulled upward with all my strength. After two strong tugs, I indeed lifted up the wooden board beneath it, revealing what looked like an underground chamber right before our eyes...
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