Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: One Fish, Six Mouths
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People's blood ran cold.
They all glanced suspiciously at their companions nearby. The monk and the Demonic Cult woman were retching, the Righteous faction woman was gasping for breath, and the bald man with the snake tattoo clutched at his crotch, rolling on the deck until Heuk Do-san's shout made him freeze.
"Poison Needle!"
Baldy cried out urgently.
That must have been the hunchback's nickname. Baldy rushed to the bow and scanned the sea, but it was futile.
All he could see were the black waves leaping wildly—no trace of anyone anywhere.
The monk peered down at the seawater and remarked casually.
"Oh dear, looks like he got swept away by the waves."
There wasn't a hint of regret in his voice.
Baldy grabbed a rope rolling on the deck, tied it haphazardly around his waist, and climbed onto the railing.
He was ready to dive into the sea the moment he spotted the hunchback.
"Poison Needle! Did you fall into the sea? Answer me!"
"If he's swallowed water, he won't be able to answer."
The monk scratched his chin as he spoke.
"What?"
"I know from experience."
"You're really begging to die, aren't you?"
"Hah, as if I did anything wrong, and that mangy mutt's barking at me like this. Amitabha."
"Poison Needle! Poison Needle!"
While everyone was still reeling from the shock, Heuk Do-san was watching the Demonic Cult woman.
Her prophecy from earlier that night—one person would die—had come true.
And that person was Poison Needle.
Just then, their eyes met.
'I couldn't help it.'
[I know.]
Her voice echoed clearly in his head.
It was as vivid as if she were whispering right into his ear.
'Didn't you tell me to stop it?'
[I saved five people, didn't I?]
'...?'
[What I meant was to help without distinguishing between Righteous and Demonic factions. That way, only one would have to be sacrificed.]
'What are you, exactly?'
She didn't answer. Though she looked utterly exhausted, she gave a faint nod of infinite gratitude.
She approached the railing and chanted an incantation toward the heaving sea. It must have been some Demonic Cult prayer for Poison Needle's soul.
Heuk Do-san turned and surveyed their surroundings. By some miracle, they had avoided sinking.
Not only that, but they'd unknowingly crested the red wave. The ship was still pitching wildly from the aftermath, but they'd passed the worst of it.
This was a miracle.
But it wasn't over yet.
A ship without control sways like a leaf in even the smallest waves. And these were typhoon-born swells—no need to say more.
They'd barely dodged the man-eating waves, but now, defenseless, they had to face a pack of wolves.
"If you don't want to die, everyone to the left!"
Heuk Do-san shouted.
Exhausted as they were, the others rushed to the left rail and leaned against it, trying to add their weight for balance.
Baldy, who'd been searching for Poison Needle, joined in.
"To the right!"
"To the left!"
"Right again!"
"Keep to the right!"
"Left! Right! Left! Right! Right! Left..."
Heuk Do-san and the five Righteous-Demonic survivors shuttled back and forth from port to starboard all night long.
By deepest dawn, their bodies were drained, limbs trembling uncontrollably.
Heuk Do-san's commands to shift had dwindled to the feeble rasp of a dying old man. Even the waves were starting to subside in kind.
When the eastern sky began to lighten faintly, it felt like every last ounce of strength had been wrung from their bodies.
"Aw, screw it!"
Unable to endure any longer, Heuk Do-san flopped onto the deck spread-eagled. The Righteous faction woman followed suit, lying down beside him.
"Ah, this is killing me."
So dazed was she that she didn't even notice she'd pillowed her head on his arm.
Then the bald snake-tattoo man, the Demonic Cult woman, the monk, and Baldy all collapsed roughly where they stood.
"Haa... haa. What a night."
The Righteous woman panted as she spoke.
Heuk Do-san's eyes went wide.
What a night?
What on earth did this girl make of the hell they'd just been through?
That's when something cold began falling from the sky.
"It's snow!"
* * *
Heuk Do-san woke when the sun was high in the sky. The snow had stopped, but the wind was still kicking up a fuss, sending spray crashing endlessly against the hull.
The Righteous and Demonic folk were still locked in standoff, their eyes hollow and bloodshot under a crust of snow.
From the looks of their sunken sockets, they clearly hadn't slept a wink through the night amid all the chaos.
They must have feared their enemies would toss them overboard while they slept.
"You lot really crazy?"
"Amitabha. How could we sleep trusting a mangy mutt?"
"Hmph, says you."
Heuk Do-san clicked his tongue at their bloodshot glares.
"Tsk tsk tsk. Fools."
Since it had only snowed during the early hours, it hadn't piled up much.
Just about a finger's depth? Heuk Do-san scooped up a handful of snow and crunched it down. After a full day without water, his mind sharpened instantly.
"Ah, now I feel alive."
He gathered a couple more handfuls to quench his thirst, then pulled out the spyglass and scanned the sea.
Still nothing in sight today. This was turning into a race against time. Best to tackle the immediate problems first.
'Stockpile drinking water for now?'
Heuk Do-san started packing snow again. This time, he compressed it rock-hard.
He rolled it along the deck, gradually building it up, pausing now and then to pack it firm.
The mast lay spanning from rail to rail across the center of the hull. Despite yesterday's monstrous typhoon, the mast itself remained intact—probably tangled in all those ropes.
Using the mast as a line, the two Righteous faction members faced off against the three Demonic Cultists, each about a zhang apart.
In other words, the central strip of deck about a zhang wide served as a buffer zone. Heuk Do-san roamed it freely, rolling his snowballs.
"What crazy stunt are you up to now?"
Baldy asked indifferently.
"Can't you see? Rolling snow."
"Making a snowman or something?"
Ugh, no use talking.
"Judging by the sunlight's strength, it'll all melt by afternoon. Who knows when it'll snow again? Better stock up on water now."
"......!"
"......!"
Everyone startled.
They'd been relieved the snow solved their water issue, but hadn't thought that far ahead.
Heuk Do-san whipped up three snowballs in no time and lined them neatly in the shade under the railing before heading to the cabin.
As expected, water had risen to knee level. Deck leaks and waves surging through the stern hole had filled it up.
"Damn it!"
He grabbed the gourd ladle and started bailing again. His toes ached like they might snap off.
How much did he bail? The higher bow and stern began showing dry deck first, until only a small puddle remained in the lowest central section.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Heuk Do-san's eyes bulged. In the middle of the puddle, a flat fish was flopping wildly.
Must've gotten swept in through the stern hole during last night's typhoon storm—some deranged fish swept up in the madness.
Or maybe Old Man Mu, sorry for hogging all the treasure, tossed it as a parting gift for the afterlife.
"Thanks for the meal."
When he returned to deck, the snow was cleared away.
The ship was narrow at the bow and wide at the stern, so the Righteous pair had made two snowballs, the Demonic trio three.
Oddly matching their headcount. Like Heuk Do-san, they'd placed them neatly in the shade under the rail.
Then they resumed their standoff as if nothing happened.
'Worked hard not to die, huh.'
All five pairs of eyes zeroed in on the fish in Heuk Do-san's hand, faces twisting in disbelief.
First the spyglass and axe, now a fish.
How did this guy keep finding useful stuff every time he went below? Always exactly what they desperately needed.
"Damn, that guy's sharp."
Heuk Do-san slammed the still-flopping fish onto the deck with a smack, stunning it.
He wandered about, gathering dry plank scraps and piling them high.
Next, he sliced a bit of sailcloth, wedged it between the scraps, and removed the convex lens from the spyglass to focus sunlight.
The moment the sun's rays converged to a bean-sized point on the frayed sail, smoking faintly, the others witnessed something unbelievable.
"Fire."
The Righteous woman murmured like a groan.
Smoke rose in fine threads from the sailcloth.
Heuk Do-san blew on it gently several times, and in a flash, a respectable blaze crackled to life.
A spyglass was rare enough for ordinary folk.
But using its lens to spark a fire? Unheard of.
Everyone gaped.
Heuk Do-san skewered the fish and roasted it gleefully over the flames.
Soon, as the flesh browned, a savory aroma wafted like silk threads.
"Whoa, that's the stuff."
First food in two full days. They'd have gnawed rocks, so how could they resist grilled fish?
The others felt the same. Swallowing sounds echoed from all around.
"What's the fish called?"
The Righteous woman asked slyly.
"Dunno."
"You can just eat it without knowing what it is?"
"Why not?"
"Well, it might be poisonous."
"Poisonous?"
"There are seventy-seven kinds of poison in the sea. Twenty-three come from fish. Especially the blowfish—its venom's worse than childbirth pains."
"You know your poisons, huh?"
"Believe me if I said I've devoted my life to them?"
"Trained in poison arts, then."
"Something like that."
"Maybe poisons, but you're clueless about fish. This here's flounder. You know, 'eyes wide like flounder.' Common as dirt at seaside fishmongers—even dogs won't touch the scraps."
The Righteous woman stared at him flounder-eyed.
"Why say you didn't know before?"
"Struck me as ridiculous."
Then the fire collapsed, dumping the flounder into the ashes.
Heuk Do-san snatched it up, set it aside, shoved in more scraps, then tenderly replaced the fish atop the blaze.
"What if you set the deck on fire!"
Baldy snapped irritably.
"Cold sinks low, heat rises high. Plus the hull's soaked from snow—you couldn't start a fire on purpose."
"Where'd you learn all that?"
"The battlefield."
"They teach that in war?"
"There are folks who live for fighting. All they know is swinging blades, aging alongside war. Their skills are crude, but they have the wisdom of a hundred battles. In the field, a zhang of inner power can't match half a zhang of experience."
"You were a mercenary?"
"Something like that."
"How long in the wars?"
"Ten years."
"You survived a long time."
Surviving long on the battlefield meant killing a lot of enemies.
And he had. At first, out of ignorance. Then to survive. Then to avenge comrades he'd shared meals with yesterday.
Kill and kill and kill some more, until reasons became unnecessary.
"How'd you survive the battle off Shandong two days ago?"
The Righteous woman asked again.
Her gaze was icy.
"A meteor shower hit my ship. Huge boom—the bow reared up like it would flip, then something smacked my head. Next thing I know, you lot are glaring daggers at each other."
"You had rotten luck too."
"You think?"
"Not so?"
"Either way, we're alive."
"But dying."
"I know an old soldier who drifted alone at sea five times and survived. Know how he died? Stabbed by a bandit on the road home after thirty years on the battlefield. Wherever people live, it's a warzone."
"......!"
The fish was nicely done. Heuk Do-san grabbed the tail, held it upside down, and tore into it bit by bit. No need to chew—it melted in his mouth, he was so starved.
The others scowled in unison.
Everything the bastard did was infuriating. Enemies who might clash anytime, sure—but couldn't he share a bit?
The men, fine.
But the women—one Righteous, one Demonic—were drop-dead gorgeous, beyond any lowly man's dreams.
In this situation, offering some to win favor made sense, yet he devoured it alone like women didn't exist.
The arm-thick fish vanished without trace in less than half a geng.
Heuk Do-san picked a thin bone and picked his teeth, muttering.
"Calls itself fish and gets stuck in my teeth."
'That vile bastard!'
'Eat somewhere else alone!'
'Amitabha.'
Ignoring them, Heuk Do-san glanced at the Demonic woman and told Baldy.
"That woman behind you—lips blue since morning, looks bad. Tell her to come warm by the fire."
"Quite the thoughtful guy."
"Fire's plenty anyway."
"Forget it. None of your business."
"Think about it. Toes going numb by now. In another shichen, you'll amputate them. Then ankles, then knees."
He said it wasn't his business, but she was in dire straits.
The bald snake-tattoo man had pressed his palm to her back, channeling qi as a stopgap, but it wasn't helping much.
Heuk Do-san flicked away the fishbone and looked around at them.
"Anyway, since fate brought us together, let's introduce ourselves. Even if we fight, better know who kills you. Name's Heuk Do-san."