There was no reaction from outside the door.
By all rights, if it were Song Bing, he wouldn't have knocked. Could it be Old Yuan?
With that thought, I stood up, walked over, and opened the door, only to find no one there.
I poked my head out and looked left and right, finding the corridor also empty.
"Who knocked?" I called out.
Besides a faint echo, there was no other sound.
"Bizarre!"
I closed the door, and before I could even return to my chair, the knocking started again.
Without a moment's hesitation, I yanked the door open, and outside was still completely empty!
This time, I was a bit baffled.
From the moment I heard the knock to when I immediately opened the door, it was at most two seconds. In such a short time, if someone were outside, I would have definitely caught them.
But…
I gritted my teeth and decided to go out and look around.
The cabin corridor was narrow, as this wasn't a cruise ship, and space was limited.
As long as someone was there, they would be visible almost at a glance.
Could I have misheard?
I began to doubt if the sound I heard earlier was actually a knock.
With that thought, as I was about to head back to my room, there was a noise from Bai Hanyan's former room.
I hesitated, walked over, and pushed the door open. The room was empty, with nothing inside.
Thinking of what I had seen in the mirror earlier, I took a deep breath and walked in.
The moment I entered, I glanced at the bathroom with my peripheral vision.
The door was open, making it easy to see everything inside.
The bathroom was empty, with nothing in it.
Then I looked out, and everything was within sight.
If someone wanted to hide in this small room, I didn't think it would be a wise choice, as there were no hiding places here.
The bed in the room was a solid unit, so the space under the bed was also thick wooden boards. As for the cabinet next to it, even fitting some daily necessities would feel cramped, let alone hiding inside.
Therefore, it was impossible for anyone to be hiding in this room.
I thought I was overthinking things, and just as I was about to turn and leave, I saw something thrown at me.
Before I could react, my vision went black, and I lost consciousness.
When I woke up again, I was lying on my own bed. Bai Hanyan was sitting beside me, and Song Bing had also returned.
I shook my dizzy head and looked at them, "I… what happened…"
"I was going to ask you what happened," Bai Hanyan said. "When I woke up, you were gone. I went out to look for you and found you lying on the floor in my room."
Hearing this, I finally understood. I recounted what had happened earlier.
Bai Hanyan was taken aback, "You're saying someone knocked you out?"
I sat up and nodded, "Yes."
"Who could it be?"
"I don't know…"
I rubbed my still aching head and found a bump. Looking at Song Bing, who sat silently beside me, I asked, "Did you find anything?"
Song Bing shook his head, "I still feel something is strange…"
"What's strange?" I asked.
"Why is it such a coincidence?"
"Coincidence?"
Song Bing nodded, "Ever since we got on the ship, things have been happening one after another. Don't you think it's too coincidental?"
I couldn't help but ponder, feeling that he had a point.
Since we boarded, there had been no peace.
One thing followed another, leaving no room to breathe.
Could it be that our luck was just that bad?
"What's coincidental about it?" Bai Hanyan said. "What I want now is to get back to shore as soon as possible. Xiang Fei, can you go ask that Yang Hanxue if we can go back early?"
I gave a wry smile, "What do you think? If we could go back, he would have already…"
Before I could finish, Song Bing's eyes lit up, "I know!"
I looked at him, puzzled, "You know what?"
"I can't confirm it yet, I need to confirm it again," Song Bing said. "It's almost time for dinner, let's go eat first."
Seeing his enthusiasm for eating was a first.
I wanted to ask him what he had found out, but looking at his expression, I knew that he wouldn't tell me until he had "confirmed" it.
What kind of thing needed to be confirmed before it could be spoken of?
Bai Hanyan also looked at me with confusion.
We went to the dining room and found that the cook wasn't preparing meals. There were many loaves of bread on the counter.
Those who came to the dining room voluntarily took their bread and left.
The three of us sat at a table. Song Bing ate his bread absentmindedly, his eyes constantly scanning the crew members entering and exiting.
I didn't know what he was doing, but I vaguely heard him counting.
I deliberately moved my chair closer and found that he was indeed counting: "Three… Five… Six…"
"What are you counting?" I asked.
Song Bing glanced at me and said in a low voice, "It seems my thoughts are correct."
He looked relieved and sighed.
"Little brother Xiang…" Old Yuan's voice came from the doorway. He waved at me.
I stood up and walked over, "Brother Yuan, what's wrong?"
"Captain wants me to call you over to his place."
"Why is Captain Yang looking for me?"
"I don't know, you go over and see first."
I glanced back at Song Bing. Seeing that his expression was normal, I thought about it and followed Old Yuan.
Yang Hanxue's accommodation was similar in layout to our room, but he was living next to the storage room.
When I arrived, he was sitting inside, looking at a sea chart.
"Captain Yang."
"Brother Xiang is here?"
He waved me over, gesturing for me to sit.
I walked to the table and glanced at the sea chart on it, asking, "What are you looking at?"
"I apologize for the fright you've experienced these past few days," he said without answering my question. "In three more days, we will arrive at our destination."
I said, "It's not really fright… it's just when will this fog dissipate?"
Yang Hanxue pondered for a moment, "It should be soon… Sea fog usually lasts at most one or two days. Plus, the ship hasn't stopped, and once we pass through this area, we should see the sun."
He paused, then added, "I have a humble request, and I hope Brother Xiang will agree."
"Please, Captain Yang, just say it. If it's within my capabilities, I will certainly agree."
I didn't understand what Captain Yang meant by this.
"Tonight, I hope you and your people will stay in your room. No matter what happens outside, you don't need to concern yourselves…"
As he said this, his tone was very low, and there was a hint of command in it.
"Tonight…"
Before I could say more, he gave me a look that conveyed "no need to ask further."
Seeing this, I had no choice but to stop talking.
"Brother Xiang, go back and get some good rest. If nothing unexpected happens, the fog should clear by tomorrow morning, and then it will be a clear path ahead…"