…Or maybe it was just an illusion.
Xia Yun wiped the rain off her face, and the faint illusion disappeared. "Mu Anqi, are you okay?"
"…I'm fine." Mu Anqi clenched the talisman that no longer glowed or burned and put it back into her storage ring. "Just now that shark—"
"Boom!—" Waves splashed violently, and two tall figures broke through the sea and leapt directly onto the deck. These humanoid creatures wore demon masks, with sharp fins growing from their backs, and the same on their arms. When they opened their mouths, rows of sharp teeth were revealed—they were fishmen!
"Foolish mortals, how dare you set foot in forbidden territory, coveting treasures you cannot have. Here, you shall meet your end!"
What the hell kind of plot is this! Honestly, if it were an ordinary player, they might be drawn in, thinking that the people on this ghost ship were not innocent in this voyage. Those maps, the mysteriously vanished tragedies, the ghostly figures and footsteps that appeared but never returned… all of it, in the end, was for treasure?!
But, this line was just way too cheesy. Combined with the fishmen's appearance, it gave Mu Anqi the illusion that she was watching a live-action anime.
Mu Anqi was too lazy to investigate further. The rain was cold and painful on her body—better to deal with this quickly and go back inside to rest. "Wishing you longevity, smooth success in your career, may all things go your way, and may you achieve fame and fortune!"
One fishman, two blessings—fairly distributed. She loaded the demon bullet and fired! Xia Yun also controlled her destined sword to form a sword array, trapping the two merfolk within, and then struck the one that hadn't attacked Mu Anqi with a powerful blow.
According to the script, there should have been a bit of a struggle here, and then a large group of ghosts would float out from the cabins. But this wasn't something that could be drawn out at will—between being controlled and taking multiple hits, the entire sequence probably didn't even last half a minute! And what made it worse? Just now, when the talisman created the barrier, the burst of yin energy in that instant made the ghost horde falter. Even the external reinforcements hired with huge sums couldn't help but shiver. What the hell… doesn't the Ghost King play fair?
Just being startled for a moment caused their movements to hesitate briefly. It wasn't until the planning ghost shouted at them that they forced themselves to charge forward—after all, that talisman was just a prop and couldn't be used too often!
Dozens of black shadows crawled out from various cabins and under the deck, and some ghosts even came out of the kitchen cabin, though those were blocked by Fang Yunjiu.
As the ghost horde appeared, dark silhouettes gathered on the deck, with the stormy, thunderous sea as a backdrop, creating an incredibly shocking scene! Especially… combined with the two shark demons from the Underworld collapsing limply, blood spilling everywhere, their fates unknown, it was even more thrilling.
Ordinary shadow ghosts didn't dare to be the first to rush in, especially after seeing the two shark demons handled so quickly. They froze hesitantly, waiting for the barrier-breaking ghosts to strike first.
"Greed beyond measure shall be buried in the sea!" The lead barrier-breaking ghost suddenly radiated dense yin energy, the thick black mist spreading across the entire deck, like a massive beast baring its fangs behind it. Meanwhile, the other barrier-breaking ghost stomped once, and countless eerie ghostly hands and blood-red tentacles shot up from the mist, lunging violently toward Mu Anqi and the others.
Xia Yun stepped back several paces and immediately formed a sword array in front of her for defense, while Mu Anqi hurled a "man-made little sun" and then used smoke grenades to block the ghosts' vision. While doing this, she rapidly recited blessings: "Wishing you fortune as vast as the East Sea and longevity as enduring as the Southern Mountains! Wishing you peace year after year and abundance in all seasons! Wishing you a bright future with daily gains! Wishing you smooth fortune and prosperous wealth…" The blessings were segmented and recited with a strong rhythm.
The moment the blessings were cast, Mu Anqi charged forward. Under the black mist and smoke grenades, aiming was impossible, so she had to fight in close combat. The paper substitute was clenched in her palm, and the dagger twirled in her fingertips almost like a performance. In the cold glint of the blade, she cut off every ghostly hand and tentacle that approached her. Reciting blessings while moving at high speed, she broke through the mist and closed in on the tentacle-growing ghost, lightly tracing his neck with the dagger before plunging it into his heart, causing his yin energy to dissipate and vanish without a trace.
…If only she were holding a greatsword now—it would be so satisfying to slice through ghosts. Strangely, this thought popped into Mu Anqi's mind. But she quickly remembered that her dagger and staff techniques weren't fully mastered yet. She didn't have the extra energy to play with a big sword. A greatsword required broad, powerful swings, and without strength, it couldn't be wielded.
"Thank you, you're a good person!"
"A good person!—"
Fang Xunjiu's voice faintly came through the black mist. Just as Mu Anqi thought she was imagining it, she suddenly heard a compassionate, "Good person, see it through." Just at that moment, the black mist actually dispersed.
The blessed ghosts continued to move and act in various ways, but their expressions were completely "neither happy nor sad," as if they had taken everything lightly. They had no fighting spirit, no sense of duty, and their abilities… naturally returned.
With the black mist gone, things became much easier. Mu Anqi gracefully drew her small handgun, taking down one ghost head at a time.
Even ghosts with special abilities… weren't much different. Mu Anqi thought of Xia Fenghua, who had to follow her motions under Mu Anqi's blessings, and a bold idea arose—if she recited blessings to the General…
The General, probably wouldn't be able to avoid it either, right?
Of course, Mu Anqi knew the General had a hundred ways to kill her before she could even speak. Even uttering those four words quickly would take time. But the problem was… the General seemed completely unguarded around her.
Mu Anqi simultaneously felt daring and "spoiled by favor," while also unable to resist imagining such a scene. If the General were to dance… what would that look like?
Damn it, they hadn't even planned a hug, yet she was already fantasizing about something even more "excessive." This was really…
After dealing with the ghosts, Mu Anqi and Xia Yun could finally return to the rest cabin to take a break. Fang Yunjiu and Wu Sansheng had boiled a pot of hot water. Fang Yunjiu mixed some cold water into it in a wooden bucket and brought it into the room. Wu Sansheng stayed behind to continue boiling water. After setting down the bucket, Fang Yunjiu stepped out.
"You go first." Xia Yun quickly left the rest cabin, giving Mu Anqi some private space to wash up with the warm water and change into clean clothes. After being soaked in the rain for so long, even a player couldn't endure it.
The Nirvana Space seemed to have a privacy module, meaning key parts would be thoughtfully pixelated. Mu Anqi wasn't worried about the General seeing anything she shouldn't. Besides, she was a bit chilled, and there were people waiting in line, so she efficiently took off her clothes, used clean clothes from her storage ring as a towel to wash quickly, then wiped her wet hair, did a simple clean-up, and changed into a new set of sportswear. Dressed again, she stepped out and called Xia Yun to continue.
The rain was slowing down, and the thunder had disappeared.
Mu Anqi sat by the stove, warming herself by the fire. In front of her was a stack of wood, soaked by seawater—Fang Yunjiu thought this might help dry them out a bit.
Fang Xunjiu carried a bucket of warm water with some effort to the captain's room to wash up. He also had a change of clothes in his backpack—not completely dry, but at least clean enough to wear.
Fang Yunjiu was kneading dough nearby. She wanted to make some flatbreads, which would also be easy to store. The ship's bread was too hard to bite. After killing so many ghosts, according to the pattern, the next period should be a safe window, without any disturbances.
Mu Anqi rubbed her hands by the stove, feeling warm all over. She tilted her head, listening to the rain outside fading. "The rain's stopping."
"Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow."
Then they could not only dry their clothes but also the firewood. Wet wood produced too much smoke when burned, making it hard to open one's eyes and impossible to cook.
If only this weren't at sea—then even if it rained, they wouldn't be this miserable.
Mu Anqi let out a deep sigh, then pulled Wu Sansheng over and had her sit in the spot where she had just been warming by the fire. She peeked outside to check the rain—it was indeed almost over.
Once the rain completely stopped, they would still need to clean the deck and cargo hold, dumping all the accumulated water back into the sea.
The rain finally stopped at night.
That evening, Mu Anqi and the others had a hot meal of preserved meat and potato porridge, paired with the flatbreads Fang Sister made. It was extremely satisfying and warming. After finishing, Mu Anqi tossed the man-made little sun onto the mast, and its light illuminated the entire ship. Using this light, they worked to sweep the accumulated water into buckets and pour it back into the sea.
Fang Xunjiu held a plate in one hand and a bucket in the other, helping Fang Yunjiu clean up the layer of leaked water below. Their arms ached from all the scooping.
After cleaning most of the seawater off the ship, Wu Sansheng carried a small lantern and inspected all the ship's facilities, only relaxing once she confirmed nothing was damaged. It seemed the two shark demons hadn't intended to destroy the ship. After all, this game required them to survive for seven days—if the ship had capsized, would they have had to walk across the water to continue the plot?
This third day had clearly been extremely exhausting.
After checking the cabins, they all returned to the rest cabin. Fortunately, Mu Anqi had stored the bedding in her storage ring that morning. Using the clothes hanging on the cabin walls, they dried the water on the floor and then laid down two layers of blankets. Mu Anqi and the others still slept on the floor together, while Fang Xunjiu wrapped himself in a blanket and slept on the bed.
Mu Anqi yawned. She felt she probably wouldn't catch a cold, but the drowsy, heavy feeling in her head was unpleasant. She thought: "Please don't let it be a cold. It's probably just because today was too exhausting. After all, we killed so many ghosts and even slaughtered two ungrateful monsters…"
In a drowsy haze, the storage ring heated up again. Xia Yun poked Mu Anqi: "Your ring is glowing."
"Mm." Mu Anqi responded and took out the talisman. Holding it, warmth flowed from the talisman through her body. She curled up, clutching it in her palm, and fell into a deep sleep.