Chapter 14: Escaping the Ghost Ship (I)
Fortunately, the English journal was still inside the box, and although many areas were drenched by the rain, at least Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan had arrived before the journal could get any worse.
“How about it? Can you read it?”
Luo Jian put the soaked notebook into Feng Yu Lan’s hands then led him to the great cabin to shield themselves from the rain. Feng Yu Lan sat in a chair and squinted his eyes as he studied the notebook in his hands. He frowned and remarked, “Luckily, even though most of the writings have been washed away and blurred by the water, the important parts are still there.”
“What was mainly written?”
“The owner of this notebook was Christian.” Feng Yu Lan noted, “The first sentence on the first page is a well-known verse in the Holy Bible: ‘resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.’ ‘For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one,’ that is the actual verse in the King James Bible.”1
“How do you know so much about this?”
“I used to work at a foreign company and I met a Christian American. He always carried a bible, and I occasionally took a peek. Not to mention, I also did some online research for work purposes.” Feng Yu Lan winked and chuckled. “It’s quite strange though. Isn’t this a pirate ship? How can there possibly be someone who believes in Christ on board?”
“God loves the world2. Perhaps this believer thought he could influence a group of pirates, lead them to the path of redemption.” Luo Jian conjectured, tapping his chin.
“But he was the first one to be killed.” Feng Yu Lan looked at the journal, then shook his head in regret. “Whatever’s written in this journal is too chaotic and jumbled. It’s like he saw something important but didn’t have enough time to write everything, so he only scribbled down a few lines. The handwriting is a mess.”
“Can you make out any other important points?”
Feng Yu Lan shuffled through the notebook and, without lifting his head, said, “Give me some time.”
Luo Jian nodded. He then retrieved his silver pocket watch from his pocket and glanced at the time: 14:12.
Two hours had already passed.
The rain outside seemed to have stopped for a while, but it soon started again. The crashing sound from heavy downpour dispelled the tranquil silence; the light from the lamp on the desk was dimming. Feng Yu Lan was struggling to read.
“The oil is almost gone.” Luo Jian stated, standing up from his chair, “This is the captain’s cabin, so there should be some lamp oil. I’ll go look for some; you just continue translating.”
Feng Yu Lan soundlessly nodded and continued to decipher the disorganized text in the journal. Luo Jian searched around the great cabin for a long time and eventually found a spare oil lamp. It seemed that he didn’t need to change the oil in the lamp anymore.
Luo Jian lit the spare lamp, and at this moment, Feng Yu Lan suddenly announced, “Most of the contents in this journal seem unimportant.”
Hearing Feng Yu Lan’s words, Luo Jian helplessly heaved a sigh and asked, “Guess we can’t find any clues from it, right?”
“No, not necessarily.” Feng Yu Lan’s frown deepened. All of a sudden, he looked up at Luo Jian and inquired, “Ah Jian, do you know cryptography?”
“Huh? Don’t joke around. Of course I don’t know any.” Luo Jian spread out his palms, then questioned, “Do you mean to say that the contents in this journal are all encrypted writings?”
“It’s possible.” Feng Yu Lan flipped through a few more pages in the journal, then accidentally came across the old photograph that was wedged inside the notebook; however, Ah Lan wasn’t interested in the photo. He pointed to a sentence in the notebook and said to Luo Jian, “All of the words in this phrase are randomly arranged. And though the words are scribbled and somewhat messy, they’re still very neat. I can understand each separate word clearly, but they make no sense when they’re combined. What I mean to say is, all of the following sentences aren’t as readable and organized like the first one.”
“So, the famous Bible verse written at the beginning is the only coherent sentence in this entire journal.” Luo Jian narrowed his eyes and contemplated for a moment. “It seems that the owner of this journal didn’t want to reveal his secrets so easily. Oh well, I guess we can’t do anything about it.”
“What should we do? How about trying to decrypt it?” Feng Yu Lan was still quite interested in the ciphertext and what it meant.
“No, no need.” Luo Jian rejected his suggestion. “We’re both terrible at cryptography, and this journal is written in English. If you really wanted to decrypt it, then I pretty much wouldn’t be doing anything to help. The chambers wouldn’t arrange such a scenario where the both of us are powerless and can’t do anything. So that can only mean—”
“This notebook is actually worthless to us?” Feng Yu Lan interjected.
“It’s not like that. It might have another purpose that we just don’t know of yet.” Luo Jian got up and told Feng Yu Lan, “Take the journal with you. Let’s think about the other clues.”
“But what other clues are there?”
Luo Jian smiled mysteriously then took out two slips of paper from his pocket, placed them on the table, and said, “The tips that we should follow.”
Feng Yu Lan looked at Luo Jian’s note, at the hints and additional comments, then wrinkled his brows and puzzled over it. “I can’t make out anything from this. It just says I can’t jump into the sea…of course, I wouldn’t want to jump either way. What’s it mean by the sky is the shortcut?”
“Compared to today, the science and technology of the sixteenth century was far from developed. There were neither good testing equipment nor telescopes and such. At the time, the ship’s mast was practically an observation deck, of course, it does still apply to some ships today; a watchman stood on the platform and kept lookout, and this was the highest position one could be located at on the whole ship. That being said, this location just might be the nearest to the sky.”
“You mean, we have to climb up to the top of the mast?”
Luo Jian cocked his head, “We have no choice.”
As Luo Jian stated, they, indeed, had no other options. Since they’d reached a dead end with those clues, they had to act according to the hints on the note. The two men standing at the bottom deck stared at the crow’s nest3 that was at the top of the mast, which was dozens of meters high. Feng Yu Lan swallowed hard at the terrifying sight. “Jian, I have a fear of heights.”
“Stinking brat, stop talking nonsense. You don’t think I know very well that you don’t have any fear of heights?” Luo Jian snorted, the corners of his lips twitched upwards.
“But how are we going to go up?” Feng Yu Lan looked up at the mast in worry. The sails that hung on it became tattered by the weather, leaving behind a mess of dingy rags and torn strings. The wooden mast was rotting, and moss also started growing on it because of the damp environment. This made it slippery and more difficult to climb.
“There’s a rope over there.” Luo Jian pointed to a net rope tied to the mast.
“That’s even worse. That rope looks like it’d immediately snap once it’s pulled.” Feng Yu Lan refused to use it.
The net rope was often used to climb the mast to change and modify the sails. The rope ladder looked sturdier than the sail, but this rope was exposed to the weather for a long time, so many places had been worn down and some strings had snapped off. Feng Yu Lan’s reluctance wasn’t unreasonable; just looking at the rope made one feel as if it would break.
“Then you stay down here. I’ll go up by myself.” Luo Jian looked at Feng Yu Lan’s smaller physique. The kid looked so fragile. If he really fell, he’d probably die before breathing his last breath.
“No! I don’t want to stay down here all alone!” Feng Yu Lan started to make a fuss.
“Then what do you want? There are only two choices; one is to go up with me, and the other is to stay down here alone!” Luo Jian asserted with a dour expression on his face.
Feng Yu Lan peered up at Luo Jian, misery evident in his eyes, then he looked around at the barren environment surrounding them. The deck was wet and dark. The cold rain drenched his collar, falling on his nape, and the droplets ran down his spine. Ah Lan shivered from the chill. To stay alone in such a dark, gloomy place… Feng Yu Lan finally surrendered and followed behind Luo Jian.
They seized the net rope and began to climb. Feng Yu Lan’s heart nearly stopped from hearing to the rope in his hands squeak and groan. He turned his head back to peek behind at Luo Jian who was carrying a knife in his hand. His face was impassive. Feng Yu Lan couldn’t understand how Luo Jian was able to remain so composed in this situation. He was just too calm; it was a bit different from his usual impression of Luo Jian.
During the climb, there was a minor accident. The rope Luo Jian was stepping on suddenly snapped. The startling noise scared Feng Yu Lan who was holding onto the nearby rope. He let out a panicked shout and hastily stretched out his hand to catch Luo Jian, successfully managing to grab onto Luo Jian’s arm. Yet, Luo Jian remained expressionless, seemingly unperturbed by the incident. He unhurriedly grasped another rope and continued climbing up.
The sea’s winds and waves were rough, powerful. The ship would rock violently from time to time, and the more it swayed, the more difficult climbing became. But Luo Jian was still at ease, and in the end, he effortlessly dragged Feng Yu Lan to the top of the observation deck.
The crow’s nest was a small, circular platform on the mast. There were railings enclosing it, and it could hold approximately five to six people. When Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan climbed up, they unexpectedly discovered that there was a body at the top observation deck. Ragged sails covered the cadaver, which was laying on the platform, leaning against the mast. A human shape could vaguely be seen under those sails.
“There’s a corpse here?” Feng Yu Lan curiously squatted and reached out to pull off the sails. Luo Jian was very alert; he immediately stuck out his arm and blocked Feng Yu Lan’s movement, furrowing his brows slightly.
“What’s wrong?” Confused, Feng Yu Lan turned around and looked at Luo Jian.
Luo Jian extended his hand and pointed to the mast at the platform. Feng Yu Lan followed Luo Jian’s finger and noticed there was a piece of paper with a purple design tacked to the mast.
A new note had appeared!
Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan glanced at each other. Then, Luo Jian quickly stepped forward and ripped the note off the mast. He held it near the lamp, and the two huddled together as they scanned the message on the note. The cursive writing was still so beautiful no matter how many times one laid eyes on it:
【Dear Adventurers,】
【If the both of you have arrived here, then congratulations. Your trip in escaping this chamber has been half-successful.】
【The key to the door is hidden on the corpse right before your eyes. Nevertheless, whether you will truly be able to escape from this chamber through that door is something that you both must figure out for yourselves.】
【P.S. The guardian of the key is filled with deep loathing and enmity against the both of you.】
【The aforementioned hints are over4. I wish you the best of luck!】
Feng Yu Lan hadn’t made any comments yet. Luo Jian quickly flipped the paper over, and there was another hint written on the back:
【The navigator was the last to die. Stationed at the highest platform, he stood on the lookout, gazing at the murderer’s back.】