The two withered hands, clearly human, had shriveled to the state of dry twigs, pressed against the woman there. Just watching this scene sent chills down my spine; I couldn’t tell what the woman was feeling, but I could feel cold sweat trickling down my back.

Those two hands made no further moves, just hanging limply as if they were mere decorations on her clothing. I wanted to see where those hands were coming from, so I followed the arms up, but her hair was too messy and fluffy, obscuring my view.

The woman was evidently terrified, trembling violently all over. If she were an ordinary woman, she would have probably fainted by now. I could see her body going limp, and I guessed she had reached her limit.

The boat captain was kneeling with his back to us, bowing repeatedly while muttering something I couldn’t understand. I didn’t speak their local dialect, but I could guess he was performing some kind of ritual, likely praying for protection from Mazu, the sea goddess. After chanting a few times, he took out two strange half-moon wooden pieces and threw them onto the deck, as if casting lots. He threw them once, looked at the result, bowed a few more times, picked them up, and threw them again. I noticed he started shaking all over, likely because the outcome wasn’t favorable.

I had never believed in such things, but seeing the captain so devout made me a bit anxious. These people took this very seriously, and if the results indicated that I was an evil spirit, they would probably throw me into the sea without hesitation.

At that moment, the woman suddenly gasped and shrank back, whether she lost her balance or was pulled by that ghostly hand, I couldn’t tell, but she flipped right into the ghost ship. This was serious; the ghost ship immediately drifted away. Realizing the danger, I didn’t think about whether to turn back or not; I turned and tried to jump over to save her. The captain rushed over from behind and grabbed me, saying, “It’s too late! Once you fall into the ghost ship, you can’t be saved! Don’t go to your death!”

The captain was very strong, and I couldn’t shake him off. The others, for some reason, seemed to be under a spell, still too afraid to turn their heads. I cursed inwardly. At that moment, a bald man I didn’t recognize suddenly appeared, grabbed the anchor on the boat, and swung it with all his might, throwing it onto the ghost ship and hooking it onto the railing. The ghost ship was moving quickly, and the anchor cable was pulled taut in an instant. Our boat shook violently as we were dragged over.

The captain was terrified, losing his wits, and drew a knife to cut the cable, but the bald man knocked him to the ground with a punch. The other crew members panicked and rushed forward, but the bald man pulled out a handgun, aimed it at the captain, and shouted, “Don’t move, or I’ll kill him!”

The crew had never seen such a scene, and with that shout, no one dared to approach. The bald man then turned to me and said, “Xiao Wu, I’ve got them under control. Hurry and save her!”

I opened my mouth in disbelief, wondering if I had heard wrong. In such turbulent waters, did he expect me to swim over? He looked at me with an air of certainty, pointed at the cable, and yelled, “Go! Young people need to be brave!”

I shook my head; this was too ridiculous. I was already weak in sports, and swimming over there would basically be like walking to my death. If I managed to climb that rope, I’d probably only have one breath left—how could I save anyone then?

At that moment, I heard the woman screaming on the ghost ship. She desperately tried to climb onto the rope, but it seemed like something was dragging her back, making it impossible for her to move forward. She could only cling tightly to the ship’s railing and shouted at me, “Mr. Wu! Save me!”

My heart jolted, and I slapped myself hard, cursing, “Wu Xie, are you still a man or not!”

I didn’t know if that slap woke me up or left me in a daze, but suddenly, adrenaline surged through me, and I gritted my teeth, shouting, “If I die, then so be it!”

I took a deep breath, put on a pair of swimming goggles, then took off my shoes and walked to the edge of the ship. Clumsily, I grabbed the taut rope, only to see the raging waves ahead, with the rope frequently dipping into the water.

The rope was about twelve meters long and definitely strong enough. If I was a bit quicker, it wouldn’t be too dangerous. The main risk was being knocked off the rope by the waves. With that thought, my heart calmed down a little.

I had never faced such a critical decision in my life. I fidgeted on the edge of the ship for a long time before finally taking my first step out. I remembered the special forces techniques I had seen on TV, hung upside down on the rope, and used all my limbs to climb while praying. But before I could even open my mouth, a wave crashed over me and plunged me into the water. When I finally surfaced, my face was turning green from holding my breath. However, this experience gave me a better understanding of the force of the waves, and I felt more confident that I could make it across.

So, I stayed still when the waves came, and when the water receded, I climbed a few steps. I didn’t know how long it took, but I was getting very close to that ghost ship. At that moment, a massive wave hit me, and I was completely submerged. I felt like I was being pushed down over a meter deep, and I was a bit dazed. Holding my breath, I opened my eyes and suddenly saw a peculiar sight: beneath the ghost ship, there was a long, rusted chain, and at the end of that chain, there was something strange that was hard to see in the deep water.

As I exhaled, preparing to take a closer look, the rope suddenly lifted, and I broke the surface. On the crest of the wave, I looked down and saw that the woman was face up, trying to crawl into the ghost ship’s hold in a strange position. I was stunned to see that what was dragging her forward were not her own hands but two dry, ghostly hands.

Seeing her motionless, as if she had lost consciousness, I had no choice but to muster my strength and crawl over. Then, I flipped and fell into the ghost ship, landing on the deck.