Ghost Ship (1)
A short while later, the infiltration team had all descended below deck.
The space under the deck was pitch-black darkness, without a single ray of light penetrating it.
Only the area right in front of the torch allowed them to barely make out the outlines of objects; turn the torch elsewhere, and thick blackness immediately swallowed everything.
"All the ship's keys are kept in the command room. We need to head there first."
At Mo Hyeok Gwang's words, Wang Yi Sam tilted his head and asked back.
"Wasn't the command room locked from the deck? How can we get the keys if we can't even enter?"
"There's a hole in the floor of the captain's cabin that connects below."
Yang So So explained.
"It's an emergency exit for escaping if the ship catches fire or wrecks."
"Hmph, convenient design."
Wang Yi Sam nodded in agreement.
But this time, Seo Baek spoke up.
"What if the emergency exit is locked from the inside like a door?"
Mo Hyeok Gwang and Yang So So exchanged glances at the unexpected question. Mo Hyeok Gwang shrugged and replied.
"Then we'll have to smash it open."
The two underlings took the torches and led the way.
The corridor's ceiling was so low that even tall Yu So Un nearly brushed his head against it. Its width was narrow enough that four adults walking abreast would have their shoulders touching.
"From outside, it looked huge, but why's it so cramped in here?"
"Ships are like that. Gotta divide the space efficiently."
When Wang Yi Sam grumbled, Yu So Un chuckled softly and explained.
"The exterior grows, but the interior stays compact. They expand cabins and holds to fit more people and cargo. The corridors are probably a maze too."
"You ain't no sailor, but you know a lot, huh?"
"While you roamed the Central Plains, I crossed a few rivers."
"Tch, sure you did."
Yu So Un was right. The corridors below deck branched repeatedly, with holes and ladders leading even further down at every turn.
"Man, even in broad daylight, you'd get lost down here."
"Told you it's a maze."
As Wang Yi Sam and Yu So Un bantered, Seo Baek was silently memorizing the sequence and number of corridor branches in his head.
—Never say you didn't know because it was your first time. Even the King of Hell won't listen to excuses from the dead.
His master's words were always right. No one cared about the pleas of the deceased. Preparation was the only path to survival.
The leaders ahead veered left midway, then right again.
Ultimately, straight ahead.
'Around the central mast.'
The path bent midway due to the mast anchored deep below deck.
Moments later, they reached a dead end. The two underlings halted.
"We're here."
The underling pressed the torch to the wall, revealing wooden blocks aligned in a row— a built-in ladder.
He climbed it and pushed the square hatch cover. It didn't open but rattled up and down, not locked.
"Something's blocking it from above."
"Break the hinges and open it."
The underling wedged an iron bar into the gap and yanked. The hooked end twisted, shattering the hinges.
Crack.
"Opening it now."
He shoved the hatch toward the broken hinges. The cover, doubling as the cabin floor, flipped upward.
At that instant, something atop the hatch crashed squarely onto the raised head of the underling below.
Thwack. Thud thud roll.
"Gah!"
His forehead smashed, the underling tumbled off the ladder, rolling on the floor.
The unidentified object bounced off his forehead and rolled down the corridor. Round and sizable.
"Damn it! What the hell?"
The underling thrust the torch toward it. He nearly bit his tongue in shock.
Rolling down the corridor was a severed human head.
It appeared to have belonged to an underling of the Long River Three Gorges Waterway Gang in life, wearing the same blue turban as the others.
Sure enough, the underling recognized it and shouted.
"That's Hyun Seung-ji from the captain's ship!"
"You sure?"
"Yes. Seung-ji and I were from Guangdong, close mates. He was thrilled just yesterday about boarding the captain's ship..."
Mo Hyeok Gwang examined the head closely with the torch, then reported to Yang So So.
"It's him. I've seen his face a few times."
"Got it. But why's an underling's severed head blocking the command room's emergency exit?"
"We'll... investigate once we're up in the command room."
Wang Yi Sam whispered to Seo Baek as Mo Hyeok Gwang unusually hedged.
"Think it's a revenant?"
"Could be."
"Then we gotta lop the head—wait, it's already off?"
Wang Yi Sam's whisper rose unintentionally. Everyone stared at him.
"Uh, I mean... Junior, what now?"
"Severing the head doesn't kill a revenant unless you cut the blood thread worm's heart meridian."
Seo Baek inspected the head's stump and addressed the group.
"It's been severed a while; the flesh has shriveled badly. No sign of the blood thread worm in the spine. Let's leave it for now."
"Wise choice."
Yang So So nodded in agreement.
At Mo Hyeok Gwang's signal, the two underlings gulped and climbed the ladder one by one.
One peered through with a torch.
"...All clear."
His relieved sigh echoed below.
"Up you go."
At Yang So So's order, the two underlings and Mo Hyeok Gwang ascended to the command room. Yang So So and Seo Baek's group followed.
But as the entire infiltration team climbed atop the hatch—
Flash.
The severed head on the floor snapped its eyes open. Bloodshot orbs spun wildly, glaring at the team's backs.
The infiltration team thoroughly searched every corner of the command room.
The door was locked with a padlock and barred, piled high with tables and chairs besides. No wonder it wouldn't open from the deck.
Seo Baek murmured lowly upon seeing it.
"They desperately barricaded it from inside. Means they feared those outside."
"Revenants after all?"
"Most likely."
"Damn, was hoping not."
Wang Yi Sam rubbed his arms against the chills.
A skull of unknown identity lay in the command room—intact, head still attached to the torso.
Seo Baek thought as he eyed it.
'Starved to death.'
That simplified things.
'This skeleton probably beheaded the owner of that fallen head. Then barricaded the door and holed up. If the head isn't a revenant? They mistook it for one and killed it.'
He imagined other possibilities, but no clear answers emerged yet.
The issue was whether the severed head was a revenant.
Seo Baek scanned the room but found no decisive evidence. At least not yet...
Yang So So closely examined the skeleton's height and build, then sighed in relief.
"Not my father."
Yang Gok, the gang leader likely dead. This skeleton wasn't him, so Yang So So could cling a bit longer to hope that her father lived.
She rummaged a desk and found a keyring.
"Got the keys. These open every cabin door on the captain's ship."
"Then let's move on, Captain."
"Agreed."
The team descended the ladder to the ship's bilge.
Yang So So sorted the keys and handed half to Mo Hyeok Gwang.
"Deputy Leader, take the underlings to the engine room and check the rudder's status. Report back."
"Understood."
The helm was topside, but with the captain's ship drifting the Yangtze tributary, it was obviously broken.
Thus, Yang So So ordered an inspection of the connected engine room.
If repairable, they could steer the ship free!
"I'll go with the martial artists to the captain's quarters and find the Azure Dragon Ring."
The Azure Dragon Ring was a round hoop engraved with a dragon, given to Yang Gok by the Long River Three Gorges Waterway Gang upon his independence—a token acknowledging rule over the Three Gorges. Martial sects used such sacred relics as proof of legitimacy. Even without Yang Gok, possessing it justified running the gang.
For Yang So So, a must-have item!
She split the team into two for the two most urgent tasks.
"Regroup here once done."
"Got it."
The team divided and headed opposite ways: Mo Hyeok Gwang's group to the engine room, Yang So So and Seo Baek's to the captain's quarters.
But as they moved to depart, Seo Baek halted without budging and called them back.
"One odd thing."
"Odd? What?"
"I mulled it over, but it doesn't add up."
Seo Baek pulled two bamboo tubes from his bosom.
"Command room door locked from inside. Floor hatch's hinges had to be smashed to open."
"We know. So?"
Mo Hyeok Gwang asked blankly.
Seo Baek uncapped one tube and replied.
"That head on the floor. Fell when we opened the hatch, but no body in the command room."
"...!"
The group exchanged stunned looks.
Seo Baek was right. Only one skeleton in the command room—no headless corpse anywhere.
"Sealed room, all doors locked. Only a severed head remains? One answer left."
Seo Baek tilted the tube, dousing the head in oil.
"This head is a revenant."
"A revenant? Looks just long dead."
Mo Hyeok Gwang shrugged skeptically.
As he said, the head's bluish, swollen-shut eyes screamed corpse.
"We'll see."
Seo Baek applied the other tube—a fire starter—to the head and blew. The spark ignited the oil.
Whoosh.
Instantly, the head's eyes flew open, emitting a guttural screech.
"Kwaaaagh!"
Mere head, the revenant couldn't move amid flames. It thrashed up-down, then extruded blood thread worms like a tongue.
The horrific sight left the group jaws agape in horror.
Seo Baek borrowed a hand axe from an underling and cleaved downward.
Chop. Kwaek...
Clean finish, no loose ends. Double-tap.
"Struck the nape dead-on; blood thread worm's heart meridian is severed. Whatever body's out there dies too. No worries."
Seo Baek returned the axe indifferently. The dazed underling snapped to and took it.
Turning into the darkness, Seo Baek glanced back. The others stood frozen.
"Why linger? Move."
"..."
They shook it off and proceeded.
Though paths split, Yang So So and Mo Hyeok Gwang shared the same thought.
—Their martial leader looks a boy not even twenty. But now it makes sense.
Mo Hyeok Gwang and underlings to the engine room.
Yang So So and Seo Baek's group to the captain's quarters.
The split teams vanished into the darkness opposite ways.