I glanced at my watch and realized I had been standing for five minutes, only to find nothing but my own reflection in the mirror.
I let out a sigh, convinced I must have been mistaken.
Returning to the adjacent room, I found Bai Hanyan sitting on my bed, clearly still shaken.
"There was nothing in your room," I said.
"Did you check the restroom too?" she asked.
I nodded. "I did, and there was nothing. You must have been mistaken; don't scare yourself."
"No, I couldn't have been mistaken…"
I sighed and sat down on a chair. "Fine, then. You sleep on my bed, and Song Ge and I will stay with you. Is that alright?"
Bai Hanyan said, "I can't sleep right now…"
"Isn't your family a Feng Shui family? How come you…"
She glared at me unhappily. "Does knowing Feng Shui mean you can catch ghosts?"
"It's not about catching ghosts," I said with a chuckle. "It's just that people who practice Feng Shui are afraid of ghosts?"
"Why wouldn't we be?"
"If there really were ghosts, think about how they come to be. Aren't they all former humans? Even if you really saw Niu Gang just now and he scared you to death, you'd just become a ghost yourself, and then you could go settle the score with him properly."
Bai Hanyan ignored me, lying down on my bed and curling up under the covers with her back turned.
I shook my head helplessly. Song Bing asked if I was tired and offered me his bed if I was.
I said I wasn't, as I had already slept quite a bit.
It was past four in the morning. With just a few hours until dawn, I figured we could just tough it out.
"How about this," Song Bing suggested, "I'll sleep in Miss Bai's room, and you sleep in mine."
Hearing him say that, for some reason, I felt it wasn't appropriate.
It wasn't just because Bai Hanyan and I, an unmarried man and woman, were in the same room, but because I had seen a ghostly face in the mirror just moments ago. Although it was only for an instant, I felt there was something strange about that restroom.
While I couldn't be certain if it was a ghost, we were now a united front of three people. If something were to happen to Song Bing, Bai Hanyan and I would have no means of self-preservation.
With that in mind, I said, "Song Ge, it's alright. I'm really not tired. Why don't we just chat? It'll be dawn soon anyway."
"Alright."
…
Around seven in the morning, I yawned and stood up from the chair, stretching my limbs.
For the past three hours, Song Bing and I had been discussing antiques.
I must say, Song Bing knew quite a bit about antiques, and we had a very engaging conversation.
Bai Hanyan, likely due to being frightened, hadn't slept much either.
Although she hadn't spoken, I knew she had been listening while we chatted.
"Let's go, we should get something to eat at the mess hall," I said.
Song Bing nodded. "Okay."
As we were about to leave, Bai Hanyan feigned getting up from the bed. "I'll go too…"
As we exited the cabin, the fog on the deck had not only not dispersed but had thickened.
Everything was shrouded in a gray haze, rendering everything unclear.
Following the stairs outside, we arrived at the mess hall. When we went in, there were only a few people.
We got some congee and steamed buns, found a table, and began our breakfast.
"What do we do now?"
I overheard two sailors whispering not far away, so I leaned back slightly, trying to catch what they were saying.
"Who knows what to do? We shouldn't have set sail on the ninth day of the ninth month!"
"What choice do we have? The captain has important business. Aren't you going to listen?"
"Now look, we've run into ghost fog… I don't know if we can make it through…"
"I saw you praying to Mazu last night?"
"Wouldn't you? I'm just hoping Mazu protects us now, hoping nothing happens…"
"Let's hope so…"
I knew of Mazu; anyone who made a living at sea would worship her.
It was just that I was still puzzled about what they meant by "ghost fog."
Fog at sea was a normal occurrence, usually called sea fog. Why were they calling it ghost fog?
Was there some specific meaning behind it? Or was it just a different term?
After breakfast, we returned to the cabin.
Given the fog outside, it wasn't advisable to wander around.
Around nine o'clock, Old Yuan came to our room. Seeing that we were all there, he brought us some fruit.
He said that at sea, it was important to replenish vitamins to avoid getting sick.
"Brother Yuan, are you alright now?" I asked.
He replied, "I'm fine, why?"
"Then sit here for a while and chat with us."
He chuckled. "What? Do you want to hear more stories about the old captain?"
I said, "I wanted to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"What is ghost fog?"
Upon hearing my question, his expression visibly stiffened. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Ghost fog is also called Yin fog. You only encounter it when setting sail on the ninth day of the ninth month each year… Legend has it that any ship encountering ghost fog will experience many strange occurrences…"
He then smiled. "Of course, these are just folk legends; they can't be taken too seriously."
I nodded and asked, "Why shouldn't we set sail on the ninth day of the ninth month?"
"The third day of the third month and the ninth day of the ninth month, deities do not walk on the water… This means that during these seasons, there is more rain at sea, making it unsafe to sail."
"I see."
"But don't worry, this fog will dissipate before long," Old Yuan said. "We've encountered all sorts of things over the years sailing. It's nothing. As long as you conduct yourself properly, what is there to fear?"
I smiled. "Indeed. Do no evil, fear no ghosts knocking at your door."
We chatted in the room until noon, and then Old Yuan led us to the dining hall for lunch. To our surprise, when we arrived, some people were fighting.
Tables and chairs were overturned everywhere, and many people stood by watching, making no move to intervene.
"What are you doing?"
Old Yuan roared, and the two men stopped fighting.
One of them was tall and the other short, with dark skin, likely from spending so much time at sea.
The taller one said, "He stole my protective charm!"
"I didn't!" the shorter one retorted.
"Still denying it? You bastard, you went to pray to Mazu last night out of fear and quietly took my protective charm. Don't think I don't know."
"You're talking nonsense! I did go to pray to Mazu, but I didn't take your charm!"
Hearing the cause of their fight, I found it somewhat amusing and disheartening.
Were sailors this superstitious?
Old Yuan walked over and said, "It's just a protective charm, isn't it? Is it worth fighting over?"
"My girlfriend asked for it for me!" the taller one said.
Old Yuan sighed and looked at the shorter man. "Did you take it or not? If you did, give it back to him."
"I didn't take it. What use would I have for your broken charm?"
"Who are you calling a broken charm?!"
Seeing that the two were about to start fighting again, Old Yuan kicked them both. "Damn it! You two dare to fight again and see what happens!"