"Ah! A ghost!"
A scream echoed from the dining room.
Hearing Bai Hanyan's familiar voice, I couldn't help but smile wryly.
Yang Hanxue also chuckled, "You should go and explain things to your girlfriend properly."
"En?" I was taken aback, "She's not my girlfriend!"
Yang Hanxue smiled and said nothing.
"She's really not my girlfriend!" I emphasized again.
Yang Hanxue patted my shoulder, turned, and left the deck, leaving behind a remark: "Youth is truly wonderful..."
...
In the room, after I explained the entire situation to Bai Hanyan, she was stunned.
"So, it was all Yang Hanxue's doing?"
I nodded.
Bai Hanyan pondered for a moment and said, "From the moment we boarded the ship, I was drugged, and Niu Gang pretended to assault me. You two showed up in time to stop it. Was it all his plan?"
"En."
"Why would he do this?" Bai Hanyan asked, unable to comprehend.
I said, "Everything needs a catalyst, and Niu Gang was that catalyst."
Bai Hanyan suddenly realized, "You mean Yang Hanxue used Niu Gang to start this whole 'haunting' act?"
Speaking of which, she suddenly remembered something, "Then the face I saw in the room, with blood pouring from all seven orifices, was also Niu Gang trying to scare me? Why?"
I replied, "There's a secret passage in your room. Niu Gang could only move around the ship if he scared you away. After all, your room was the safest place. He could come out to 'haunt' at any time and then sneak back into your room unnoticed, without anyone finding him."
Bai Hanyan huffed indignantly, "No wonder! I knew there was bread on the table that night, but it disappeared later. Turns out that guy stole and ate it!"
She continued, "Yang Hanxue put on this act, doing all this, just to get rid of that guy surnamed Xue?"
I nodded.
"That guy clearly isn't a good person. Stay away from him in the future."
I chuckled, "He probably did it out of desperation."
"Desperation? I think he just did it to scare us!" Bai Hanyan said, "Only those fools would believe in a vengeful water ghost... His trick can only fool them."
I found it somewhat amusing, thinking about how she herself was so terrified that she didn't dare to return to her room.
A knock sounded at the door. Niu Gang entered, carrying some fruit, with a hint of apology on his face.
"Brother Xiang... Miss Bai... I've come to apologize." Niu Gang smiled as he placed the fruit on the table.
"Apologize for what?" I asked.
He scratched his head sheepishly, "I knocked you out earlier..."
I hadn't thought of it until he mentioned it. The moment he said it, I was about to retort angrily.
But when I saw the bandages on his hand, my anger subsided considerably.
This Niu Gang was truly loyal to Yang Hanxue, even willing to cut off his little finger to help him.
Thinking about him cutting off his little finger at the time, and how he wet his pants from fear, I felt a deep sense of emotion.
How loyal must one be to go to such lengths?
"It's all in the past, let it go," I said.
"Thank you for your understanding, Brother Xiang."
Niu Gang said, then looked at Bai Hanyan, "Miss Bai..."
"Hmph! You can leave. I will never forgive you! Pretending to be a ghost!" Bai Hanyan said unceremoniously.
Niu Gang looked embarrassed. I patted his shoulder, "It's alright, she's just unforgiving. Don't take it to heart."
"Who's unforgiving?" Bai Hanyan glared at me, "Xiang Fei, clarify what you said!"
I nudged Niu Gang, urging him to leave quickly.
He gave me a thankful glance and left the room.
"Say something!" Bai Hanyan came up to me and stared.
"Say what? You should go back to your room and stop making a fuss here."
After pushing her out, I immediately closed the door, ignoring her calls from outside.
Indeed, women are troublesome...
The next two days passed peacefully, but many people were gone from the ship.
It was then that I learned that A Jiang, who was supposedly possessed, was also Yang Hanxue's man, as was the medium Chen San.
I figured Captain Xue never would have imagined he'd be so thoroughly tricked.
The ghost mist, the possession – it was all part of Yang Hanxue's elaborate scheme.
However, there was one thing I couldn't figure out: when did he start planning all this?
After a few days of leisurely life drifting at sea, Yang Hanxue called us over, saying we had arrived.
At sea, I couldn't distinguish anything; all I could see was the sea and the sky.
On the deck, Yang Hanxue placed the "jade seeker" into a porcelain basin filled with water.
Bai Hanyan took out the small compass from around her neck, observed the water's movement in the basin, and continuously calculated with her fingers.
Song Bing stood beside me, watching the basin, looking shocked, "What is that thing in the basin?"
"The jade seeker," I explained to him.
After hearing my explanation, he found it incredibly unbelievable, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed such a thing existed in the world..."
Song Bing had explored many tombs and seen many things; there were few that could surprise him.
To be honest, the first time I saw the jade seeker, I was also extremely shocked.
However, that girl Bai Hanyan showed no reaction at all.
"It's in that direction!" Bai Hanyan pointed towards a spot not far away.
Yang Hanxue waved to Old Yuan, calling him over, "Change course!"
The ship quickly turned and headed in the direction Bai Hanyan indicated.
Upon reaching the destination, the water in the basin began to churn more violently, as if boiling, constantly tumbling.
We all gathered at the ship's edge and looked down, but saw nothing.
Yang Hanxue decided to go down and check. He put on a diving suit, tied a safety rope around himself, and without a word, plunged into the sea.
Standing on the ship, we had no idea what was happening below; we could only wait helplessly.
"Is Shen Wansan's tomb really down there?" Bai Hanyan asked.
I shrugged, "How should I know?"
"Building a tomb in the water, this is the first time I've ever heard of it," Bai Hanyan said. "According to Feng Shui, if a tomb is underwater, it completely cuts off the vital energy, severing all the fortune of future generations. Descendants would receive no blessings from their ancestors."
She paused, "Besides, how could an underground palace be built in the sea?"
"Don't ask me, I'm just like you – blind, deaf, with a stuffy nose and a silent mouth, completely clueless."
As I spoke, I walked over to a foldable chair and sat down, "Instead of guessing wildly, it's better to wait for Yang to come up and we'll know everything."
Time ticked by. After about half an hour, there was still no sign of Yang Hanxue. Old Yuan felt something was wrong and began to pull the safety rope.
However, when he pulled, he discovered the rope had snapped!