Chapter 66: The strange man on the boat

Many questions came to mind, and for a moment I thought that the black ship heading towards me might just be an illusion.

But the black ship was approaching me at a different speed from before, it was very fast, so in the blink of an eye, it was already quite close to me.

I subconsciously turned my head to look at the huge platform. The praying people were still praying, and the people in the stands didn’t react much. As for what was happening on the altar, I couldn’t see it at all… But this didn’t prevent me from sensing a huge amount of energy rushing behind the mountains in the back of the bay.

Isn’t the altar supposed to be a channel to the heavens? I was a little stunned, because prayers of this scale should be directed towards the heavens. Why… I thought of the strange cinnabar, and I always felt that there were more weird things that I couldn’t figure out in this matter.

At the same time, my heart also became alert, and I felt that there was a conspiracy behind all of this. Even Xiao Chengqian was also being “played” at the same time. Otherwise, how could I board the ship so smoothly?

However, time did not give me much time to think. The water suddenly became turbulent. It turned out that the black ship had stopped less than five meters away from me. There was a black-clad man on the ship wearing a Hanfu-like outfit and a conical hat on his head, standing on the edge of the ship, staring at me.

There was a silent moment between them, and then the black-clad man suddenly threw down a bundle of rope ladders, signaling me to board the boat.

Even if I suspected a conspiracy, I had no choice. It was because of Xiao Chengqian’s words that my master was in Guidaowan.

So, I swam quickly over, clung to the hull, grabbed the rope ladder, and was ready to climb onto this strange black ship.

However, the moment I got close to the ship and grabbed the rope ladder, I almost vomited because the black ship had a strong smell of blood that suddenly rushed into my nose, causing me to react instinctively.

Why was there such a strong smell of blood? I turned my head and inhaled two breaths of the cold wind blowing from the northwest before I felt a little better about the discomfort in my stomach.

Then, with the smell still in my nose, I grabbed the rope ladder and started to climb up to the deck. When I finally reached the deck and stood still, I realized that my black clothes had been stained with a layer of dark red. I couldn’t tell the difference, after all, it was black…

I subconsciously twisted my finger in the fabric, and it was indeed stained with a color, a dull red, like dried blood, no, it should be blood.

I looked down at the deck below me, which was also a dark color, and after discovering this detail, I realized that it was not pure black at all, but rather a dark red, a purple-black… Such an exaggerated thing made the color of the ship look like black.

How much blood would it take to stain the hull of the ship this color? This thought really shocked me, and I was a little frightened. I looked up and saw the man in black, but he didn’t seem to care about me. He just stood at the bow of the ship, looking at his hands, not knowing what was in them.

“If you don’t want to die, go to the cabin. Although going to the cabin may not necessarily survive, it is better than standing on the deck.” It seems that he sensed that I was looking at him, and the black-robed man said this sentence. His voice was very calm, with a little vicissitudes of life, but it was not like the people in the holy village who wore straw hats. They had an indescribable “deadly smell” when they spoke, and it felt like their vocal cords were dry.

I somehow didn’t feel any ill will towards this black-robed man. Although I was full of curiosity and wanted to stand on this deck and see how the ship sailed from a normal place into Guidaowan, the one-in-ten thousand responsibility on my shoulders made me realize that I’d better not get involved and that I should “cherish my life.”

So I was silent for a moment, and then silently walked into the cabin.

The faint smell of blood still lingered in my nostrils, but it was much better to be in the cabin of this bloody ship (I should call it a bloody ship now) than to be standing on the deck, because there was a kind of incense burning in the cabin that I didn’t know what it was, and it was emitting a kind of very pleasant, not strong aroma that diluted the smell of blood.

It even made people feel more and more addicted to it.

The entire cabin didn’t look like a cabin at all. The floor was covered with straw mats similar to those often used in Japan today, but I also knew that this was the style of the Tang Dynasty in China. On top of the straw mats were also placed furniture with a distinct Tang Dynasty style. The magical incense was on the low table, rising up through a delicate incense burner.

It was more like a hall with a simple but exquisite and ancient style.

I was the only person in the cabin, and I didn’t see anyone else… Under the soothing influence of this magical incense, my emotions gradually relaxed, and I was exhausted. I didn’t care, and I just lay down on the straw mat, letting my wet clothes stick to me. Although I was wary of what this incense was, I had a feeling that no matter what it was, I was obsessed with its aroma.

The boat was sailing very smoothly, and I didn’t know how long the boat would sail, where exactly Guidaowan was, or how far away it was.

Under the soothing aroma, the pain in my whole body was relieved, and I fell into a deep sleep.

I don’t know how long it was before I was woken by a slight sound of footsteps. I was lying on the floor, so the footsteps were extra clear to me.

I opened my eyes dazedly, feeling that I had slept very comfortably, and then I fully woke up and realized that it was the man in black who had already entered the cabin and was now standing above me looking down at me.

I was embarrassed for some reason, and I subconsciously rolled over and left a somewhat dirty red and yellow mixture of wet human-shaped marks on the originally clean straw mat.

The yellow color was naturally from the loess that had rolled down the slope. After soaking in water, it turned into mud. Although it had been washed away, it could not be completely clean. As for the red color, it was naturally the unknown blood that had rubbed against the hull.

“You’ve dirtied my floor,” the black-robed man said, and as he spoke, he removed the straw hat he was wearing and walked lightly to the low table and sat down.

I could see him clearly now. He had a square face and an expression of inexpressible vicissitudes in his eyes. He was a middle-aged man, and in his hands he was constantly playing with a black wooden plaque.

He didn’t care about my appearance at all. He rubbed the black wooden plaque with his thumb, then sat behind the low table, took out the brush, ink, paper and inkstone placed on the low table, and began to practice writing one stroke at a time.

“The cabin you should stay in is down below. Don’t you know?” He said to me calmly without looking up, and then, thinking, he put down the pen in his hand and pointed to a place.

The place he was pointing to was the window of this cabin. Next to the window, which had a strong ancient flavor, hung a huge piece of calligraphy, which read: “Those who board the ship go down.”

When I looked inside the characters, there was indeed a half-hidden screen, and behind the screen was a square hole. I guessed that the hole should be the stairs going down.

This was something I had not expected. I was already feeling a bit embarrassed, so I couldn’t help but explain, “I was so tired that I didn’t notice when I came in… and besides, the incense smelled so good that I just didn’t realize…”

The middle-aged man didn’t seem to care, and picked up the incense burner on the low table and said, “Is this what you mean? It’s really a rare thing. At least you can’t find it in the world now. It must be in a special place.”

Special places? What special places don’t also exist in this world? What does this mean? However, I was really curious and couldn’t help but ask, “What exactly is this incense?”

“Ambergris, you can call it that, but this is not the kind that comes from the stomach of a whale, it is…” He frowned slightly, then put down the censer in his hand, not wanting to say any more, and I don’t know what he was thinking about.

The atmosphere between us suddenly became a little silent. He came back to his senses and couldn’t help but remind me, “You should go down.”

I thought this person was very strange, but I really had no reason to stay. I could only turn and walk towards the square hole. When I walked past the window, I accidentally saw the scenery outside. It was still a mountain of yellow earth with a vicissitudes of life atmosphere, and it looked so familiar… It must be the mountain that surrounds the bay.

This discovery made me pause, and I couldn’t help but take another look. Was it really that mountain?

Could it be that I had only slept for ten minutes? Was it the incense that made me feel so comfortable?

Although I knew it was rude, I couldn’t help but ask, “Sir, how long have I been asleep?”

The man didn’t pay any attention to me at first, but instead rubbed the wooden plaque and said to himself, “You have been dead for a long time, but I can’t help but live, and I haven’t changed at all.”

What does this mean? My brow furrowed even deeper.