I had just climbed onto the deck when the ghost ship let out a mournful, distorted sound, as if a huge part of it had warped. I saw that the front and back of the ship were no longer on the same level, and I thought to myself that it didn’t look good. I quickly glanced at the hold and, sure enough, the keel had broken.

Once the keel broke, the ship’s hull would inevitably crack. For a ship of this size, even a single crack could be fatal. Water rushed in almost like it was flying, and I estimated that in less than five minutes, the ship would be completely submerged.

The bald man’s tense face turned pale as he said, “Our boat is coming! We need to leave here quickly!”

I turned around and saw that the fishing boat we were on had already gotten quite close, but it hadn’t docked yet. The captain on the boat was waving his hand and shouting, “How are you doing?”

The bald man picked up the woman and waved at the fishing boat. The fishermen on board cheered, and then the engine roared to life as they moved closer to us. A few fishermen were excitedly shouting; I really couldn’t understand how they had been so terrified just moments ago. These simple fishermen were indeed different from us.

The ghost ship had slowed down due to taking on water. After our boat got closer, a few fishermen jumped over. They still looked frightened, hurriedly carrying the woman back onto their boat and quickly pulling up the anchor. The captain shouted, “Start the boat! We need to get out of this cursed place!”

The captain had us lay the woman down on the deck and gestured for me to support her, then he lifted her hair.

I had mentally prepared myself, but when I saw what was there, I still gasped. Inside her hair were two curled, withered hands. They didn’t seem very long, and the skin had already begun to petrify. The ends were buried beneath a mass of flesh, and the most disgusting part was that a small human face was faintly growing on that mass, tightly pressed against the back of the woman’s head.

The captain’s expression grew serious upon seeing this. He first bowed to the thing a few times, then pulled something from his pocket and sprinkled it on the small face. The face suddenly let out a sharp scream and twisted, and he quickly drew a knife, carefully but swiftly inserting it between the mass and the scalp, prying it up and then yanking it down with force.

The thing fell to the ground, writhing, causing those watching to step back several paces. In just a few moments, it melted into a gooey mass that flowed through the cracks on the deck. I had never seen anything like it and asked, “What is this—”

He washed the knife in the seawater and said softly, “This is a human face, a vengeful spirit from that ghost ship. You just need to sprinkle cow hair on it.”

Seeing the captain’s expression, I knew he already regretted taking on this business. He kept muttering something to himself, and after checking the woman’s hair for any other things, he signaled for his crew to head to the rear cabin. Soon, the boat started moving.

By this time, the sea had calmed down. Although the dark clouds were still present, they had broken into small pieces, and sunlight shone through the gaps between the clouds, making the sky look quite magical. It seemed that this damn storm had finally passed.

After we settled the woman down, the captain climbed up to the top of the boat. I knew he was going to look around at the sea. That sea monkey is extremely vengeful, and I didn’t know if it would follow us to find an opportunity for revenge. However, the water in Xisha is very clear, and when the light is good, the visibility can reach over forty meters. If something were following us, we would definitely see it at a glance, so I wasn’t too worried about that happening.

The others got busy and ignored me as I started to run around. I had consumed a lot of energy just now, and now that everyone was still, I felt drowsy. I found a softer spot to lean against and slept for a while. When I woke up, I noticed the sun was already setting, and our boat was sailing close to the coast of an island. I saw a beautiful white sandy beach, although the sand looked a bit coarse, which might not be comfortable to walk on. Ahead of us was a dock, and it seemed we were about to dock.

I had always thought we would head straight to the next exploration point, but I didn’t expect we would have the chance to dock. I casually asked, “Where are we going now?”

Someone next to me replied, “We’re going to Yongxing Island to pick up a few people.”

I turned my head and saw the woman sitting next to me. Her complexion had already improved, and she seemed to have just woken up as well. I had little resistance to her; seeing her looking a bit sickly was actually somewhat appealing. I smiled and asked her, “Who are we picking up?”

She pointed to a distant dock where I could vaguely see a group of people with backpacks. She said, “It’s them, a few divers, and someone who’s a consultant like you. I think you must know him.”

I strained to look and thought one of the plump guys looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn’t remember who he was. At that moment, a boatman was already standing at the bow, shouting, “Oh, come on! Get ready, we’re here!”

The plump guy turned around and cursed, “Oh, what the hell! Let me stand here and blow the northwest wind for half an hour. Don’t you guys have any sense of time?”