As evening fell, Yang Hanxue's friend invited us to have dinner on the boat.
His friend, named Zhao Zhi, was in his early thirties and was particularly talkative.
According to Zhao Zhi, he and Yang Hanxue were college classmates and had a good relationship back in school.
After graduation, Zhao Zhi returned to Bianhai to take over his family business, while Yang Hanxue stayed in Yanjing.
I chimed in and asked, "What did you study in college?"
Zhao Zhi smiled and replied, "Architecture."
"You studied architecture, but neither of you are working in related fields?" I asked.
"Many people are like that; what you study in college isn't always what you end up using after graduation," Zhao Zhi said with a smile.
After chatting for a while, I realized that Zhao Zhi didn't know why we had come.
He didn't seem to care much either. After dinner, Zhao Zhi disembarked. It was then that I understood he hadn't intended to join us at sea.
He had simply helped Yang Hanxue prepare a boat.
Standing on the deck, I asked Yang Hanxue, "Did you tell your friend anything?"
He shook his head. "There wasn't much point in telling him. I just told him I needed to retrieve something and asked for his help."
"If I hadn't come with you, would you have gone into the tomb alone?" I asked.
Yang Hanxue smiled. "I'll introduce someone to you later."
Hearing this, it seemed he had already prepared manpower, which surprised me somewhat.
I thought we wouldn't depart until the next day, but the boat set sail a little after nine in the evening.
After enjoying the salty sea breeze on the deck for a while, Yang Hanxue called me to the crew's living quarters.
As I entered, the place was filled with smoke, and seven or eight people were sitting inside, smoking and chatting.
The moment Yang Hanxue and I walked in, those people turned to look at us.
One middle-aged man, likely the leader of the group, was wearing overalls stained with oil, and his hair looked like it hadn't been washed in days, gleaming with grease.
"Yang Ba Tou."
The middle-aged man respectfully approached Yang Hanxue and greeted him.
This address caught me by surprise. "Ba Tou" was a term for a gang leader in the past.
Although Yang Hanxue appeared somewhat rugged on the outside, he was actually composed and unpretentious.
I hadn't expected him to be a gang leader; it was quite a surprise.
"Let me introduce you. This is Xiang Fei, Brother Xiang," Yang Hanxue said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "And this is First Mate Yuan."
"Just call me Old Yuan," the middle-aged man said.
I smiled and nodded at him.
"If you need anything on the boat from now on, you can find him," Yang Hanxue told me.
Leaving the crew quarters, Yang Hanxue took me to look around other parts of the ship.
The crew of this boat numbered around ten people, and they were basically all Yang Hanxue's men.
I could tell this because they were all very polite to him.
Standing on the deck, I couldn't help but ask Yang Hanxue, "Brother Yang, what exactly do you do?"
He smiled slightly. "What do you think I do?"
I gave a wry smile. "Your question has me stumped."
He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and after a long pause, slowly exhaled, saying, "What I do doesn't matter, and you don't need to worry. I've never betrayed a friend."
Hearing this, I felt somewhat lost for some reason.
What did he mean by never betraying a friend?
"It's getting late. You should go to your cabin and rest to build up your strength."
As Yang Hanxue spoke, he seemed to remember something and asked, "That Miss Bai you brought with you, how capable is her father?"
"That's hard for me to say. However, many people in Guangling have consulted her for feng shui."
Yang Hanxue nodded. "Then there shouldn't be any problems."
Song Bing and I shared a room, but when we returned, he had already gone somewhere.
Bai Hanyan seemed a bit seasick. I noticed she wasn't feeling well during dinner, and she was probably asleep now, so I didn't disturb her.
I went to the bathroom to wash up. As I lay down on the bed, preparing to sleep, Song Bing pushed the door open and walked in, his expression somewhat unusual.
"Where did you go?" I asked.
He poked his head out and looked around outside, then closed the door and locked it.
Seeing his demeanor, I felt a bit confused. "What's wrong?"
He walked over, sat on a nearby chair, and said in a low voice, "The people on this ship are not simple..."
"Oh? What makes you say that?" I asked.
He said, "I just went to look around. I found that every crew member on the boat is carrying a weapon..."
"A weapon?"
Song Bing nodded. "They're all Ma Pai Lu Zi."
"What is Ma Pai Lu Zi?"
"Yi qiang er ma san hua kou, si she wu gou zhang zui deng," Song Bing recited a rhyme before explaining it to me.
This rhyme refers to five types of firearm models, and Ma Pai Lu Zi refers to the "Er Ma," short for Browning.
What they call a "dao chuan" is a pirate ship. It's just that in the West they call them pirate ships, while in the East, they're called "dao chuan."
As for what these "dao chuan" are doing, it's quite clear now.
Combined with the way the first mate addressed Yang Hanxue earlier, I finally understood Yang Hanxue's other identity!
He might just be a pirate captain!
The thought of this possibility startled me.
"Mr. Xiang..." Song Bing looked at me, hesitating to speak.
"What do you want to say?"
"That Yang Hanxue is not simple."
I gave a wry smile. "So what? President Wu asked me to find him, and I've informed President Wu that we're sailing with him this time."
"I know, but I think we should remain vigilant on the ship."
"Are you worried they might do something to us?"
Song Bing said, "It's hard to say."
"Impossible," I rejected his idea. "First, we have no wealth on us. Second, we have no grievances with them. Third, we are here to help Yang Hanxue..."
Song Bing took a deep breath. "The situation on land and at sea is different. I'm not worried about us... I'm worried about Miss Bai."
"Bai Hanyan? Why worry about her?"
Song Bing's expression was somewhat complex. "Don't forget, she's a woman..."