Volume 2Chapter 11: The deck

The deck had been overwhelmed by the corrosion of the sea for many years. When my 80 kg weight was pressed on it, it immediately creaked and seemed to be about to break. But I didn’t care about that and hurried to see how the woman was doing.

Half of her body had already been dragged into the dark cabin. I was anxious to see what had happened to her. I had no lighting equipment on me, and no sharp tools in my hands. If I was dragged in, it would be really hard to tell whether I would live or die.

I rolled over and grabbed her leg, using all my strength to pull a few times. I found that the woman was completely still, and the diving suit she was wearing was tight-fitting. Not only was there no place to pull, but it was also extremely slippery when it touched the seawater. I could only use 80% of my strength.

I saw that if things went on like this, the woman would definitely be finished. I couldn’t think of a good solution for a while, and when I got anxious, I threw myself at the woman and hugged her waist. The two of us together weighed at least 130 kilograms, so I didn’t see how I could pull her out with these two wax-like hands.

I didn’t expect that the deck was already at the critical point. As soon as I stepped on it, it collapsed with a loud crash. In a matter of seconds, I fell into the cabin along with a large number of decaying and damp wood chips. Fortunately, the bottom of the boat was still strong, otherwise we would have fallen directly into the sea.

I sat up unsteadily and couldn’t help but smile bitterly. I had just been desperately trying not to get into the cabin, but now I had come in so easily. At this time, I heard the woman calling from below: “Get away, you’re squashing me to death!”

I found myself sitting on her buttocks, so I quickly got out of the way. I thought to myself, “This is good. In the past, when I watched idol dramas, it was always the woman sitting on the man, but now it’s the other way around. The woman sat up with difficulty, her hands on her shoulders were gone. I was shocked and asked, “Where did those two ghost hands go?”

She touched her shoulders and said in surprise, “I don’t know either. I was confused when I fell into the boat and I don’t know when they disappeared. Didn’t you see them?”

I shook my head: “It was too chaotic when it fell just now, I didn’t notice it either, but those two hands could drag a living person away, so it must not be an illusion, it’s something real, it can’t just disappear into thin air, it must have been knocked off when it fell just now, look under you to see if it’s there.”

As soon as I said this, the woman was scared and her face turned white, and she hurriedly lifted her butt to look. Unfortunately, there was nothing under her body except pieces of wood. I said, “It may have been torn off when it fell. It was still holding onto the hatch step. When you suddenly fell down, it didn’t have time to let go, so it may still be up there.”

She nodded, thinking it made sense. She said, “I don’t know what it was trying to do by pulling me over. I think we should be more careful.”

The two of us looked around. Because there was a big hole in the deck, it was quite bright. The inner walls of the cabin were also covered in thick white sea rust, which covered almost everything inside. We peeled off some of it and could see some items used for general navigation, but basically they had all decayed to the point where only the shape remained.

Judging from the size and structure of the cabin, it should be a medium-sized fishing boat from the 1970s or 1980s. The hull is made of iron, and the cabin is very spacious. It is divided into a crew rest room, the captain’s room, and a cargo hold. We are currently in the cargo hold, but judging from the things we have peeled off, this ship definitely did not sink while carrying cargo.

The keel of this ship should not have been completely corroded, so it still had a certain endurance, otherwise it would have been washed away in such big waves.

The woman shook her head and said, “I actually know a lot about ships, but the situation of this ship is too unreasonable—with such thick sea rust, it should have been at the bottom of the sea for at least ten years.”

I asked, “Is it possible that a big storm rolled it up from the bottom of the sea?”

She replied, “This is very unlikely. A ship that has been at the bottom of the sea for decades should have sunk deep into the sand. Even if you use a crane to lift it, it would be very difficult to lift it. Moreover, its hull is very fragile, and it could be torn apart if you are not careful.”

I thought about what she said, but I still couldn’t figure it out. If the ship had sunk at the beginning, how could it still be floating on the water? Even if someone had fished it out of the water, there would still be holes in the hull from the shipwreck. Could it have repaired itself?

I couldn’t see anything here either. The two hands were gone. I calmed down a little, patted the wood off my body and stood up, beckoning the woman to walk into the warehouse. The two compartments were separated by wooden planks, which were now mostly rotten and full of holes. I wanted to kick the planks off, but the woman stopped me, saying, “The planks are covered with a deck. If you push harder, I’m afraid the whole deck will fall down.”

I thought to myself, “If the whole deck falls down, it will be nice. The light will come in, and I won’t panic.”

With the experience of the Lu Palace, I have a deeper understanding of many things, especially after several times of hovering on the edge of life and death, my ability to adapt has been greatly enhanced. So on this ghost ship, although my nerves are still very tense, I am not in a situation where my mind is so scared that I can’t think.

There was a door on the wooden partition, and I didn’t know if I should push or pull it. I tried to pull it first, and the handle was pulled out along with half of the door panel. I looked at the woman and said, “Isn’t this the same as taking down the whole board?”

She ignored me and glanced into the dark doorway. This woman must have a lot of courage, but I think after going through what just happened, she probably wouldn’t dare to go in. I said to her, “There isn’t enough light in there. If you want to go in, it would be better to open a skylight on the deck to get some light, so you don’t get hit by something when you go in.”

I knew that this would work, and sure enough, she hesitated. I snickered to myself, and then I went over and broke it off in a few tries. The cabin had a large bed frame made of iron, so it was still there. The bed frame had rotted away completely, and judging from the furnishings, it was probably where the sailors stayed. I saw an iron cupboard in the corner of the cabin, and it was still closed tightly. I went over and pulled on it, and it was a bit loose.

It is difficult to find written records on this kind of ship. Nowadays, the captain still has to write a log every day. At that time, there were not many literate people, so I didn’t expect to find anything useful. When I opened the iron cupboard, I was surprised to find an old waterproof bag inside. I opened the bag and a notebook almost falling apart fell out. I looked at it and saw a few words written on the cover: Archaeological Records of Xisha Wanzhou Reef.

I opened the front page, and there were some very delicate characters on it: “July 1984, Wu Sanxian presented to Chen Wenjin.”