Chapter 416: Corpse Ship
RrrRrrRrrRrr
Over two hours later, a strange noise suddenly broke the silence of the room. Ye Qing hadnt relaxed for a moment since he snapped out of the illusion, and the occurrence was so sudden that he nearly jumped on his feet. He immediately clenched his fists and channeled his energies, ready to react at first notice.
When he looked at the source of the noise, he realized that the bronze mirror had rolled off the dressing table. It was headed straight toward him.
Ye Qings nerves grew taut. If the bronze mirror came too close, he was absolutely going to send it flying with his fists, to hell with the consequences.
He didnt think he was being overly sensitive or cautious. Even now, he couldnt help but recall his experience two hours ago with trepidation and fear, and the culprit behind it all was headed straight toward him. Of course he was nervous about it.
It was then Ye Qing noticed something shocking. As the bronze mirror continued to roll toward him, the surroundings began changing drastically. The furniture aged, the floor grew tattered, the beads on the curtain turned dim and dirty. Dust and cobwebs were everywhere.
Ye Qing realized with a start that the room wasnt what it seemed to be. From the start, everything he saw was an illusion?!
Ye Qing swallowed as he did his best to wrestle his shock. He felt tense enough to break a muscle.
The bronze mirror stopped when it was about one meter away from Ye Qing. Then, it fell to the ground face up and produced a line of bloody words on its surface:
Take the mirror and head to the third floor.
Not again. Please dont tell me that Im caught in an illusion again!
Ye Qing frowned deeply as he caressed his chest. He let out a sigh of relief when he felt the Annon Sutra.
But why is it telling me to go to the third floor? Is the fog gone?
Ye Qing hesitated for a moment before poking his demonic thought out of the door. He was right. The fog had disappeared before he knew it.
As Ye Qing let out another sigh of relief, a rebellious thought suddenly entered his mind: should I try to run away from this mirror now that the coast is clear?
Unfortunately, the bronze mirror formed a new line of bloody words before he could take action. It was as if it could read his thoughts:
If you wish to live, take the mirror and head to the third floor.
Ye Qing bowed his head thoughtfully for a moment. In the end, he decided to obey the mirrors command and picked it up with his left hand.
The bronze mirror felt a little cold to touch, and it looked shiny and new like it was cleaned very often.
His thoughts were simple. One, he wanted to live very much. Two, the pipa players advice, while not entirely truthful, did help him survive a fatal crisis. He was inclined to believe that the bronze mirror wasnt asking him to leave this safe room for nothing. And three, after everything he had experienced so far, he was fairly sure the bronze mirror could kill him with ease. To reject its offer was to commit suicide.
His earlier impulse to give the bronze mirror the slip was just that, an impulse.
With that in mind, Ye Qing put away the bronze mirror and cautiously opened the door. When he looked left and right and confirmed that the fog had indeed disappeared, he let out a third sigh of relief and stepped out.
The rooms on the second floor didnt look too different from what he remembered. Most of them were locked, and not a peep could be heard just like as before.
Ye Qing didnt hurry to the third floor. Instead, he went back to the room he forced open earlier and peeked inside.
It looked like a mini war had been waged inside the room. The furniture and items were all crushed, the walls were covered in deep marks, and there were a few strands of black hair on the ground. It mustve been quite the fierce struggle.
Heh
Screw it! If this kills me, then so be it!
Throwing all caution to the wind, Ye Qing pushed the door open and stepped inside. But to his surprise, he didnt find a pink skeleton or a blue-faced ghost. What he found was a painting.
A painting that was floating in the air.
There was a woman inside the painting. She wore a white dress and held a peach flower in her hands. She was standing next to a blooming peach blossom forest where countless pink petals fell.
Her white dress looked like snow, and the peach flower fire. The blend was as phantasmal as it was beautiful.
The woman was showing only half her face. Even so, Ye Qing could tell that she was incredibly beautiful.
Please take a seat, scion! The woman in the painting offered.
Dare I ask who you are, miss? Ye Qing saluted her and asked warily.
I am Longing. Its a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Scion Ye. Longing gave him a small bow and repeated gently, Please, take a seat. I promise I will tell you everything thats happening on this ship.
This time, Ye Qing did as she requested and asked another question, You know who I am, Miss Longing?
Longing answered, Your name is known to me from the moment you set foot in the Boat of Longing, Scion Ye.
The Boat of Longing? A good name, Ye Qing paid the woman a compliment.
Thank you. Longing smiled gently. However, the Boat of Longing has a different, more notorious name. You might even recognize it.
That piqued Ye Qings curiosity. Oh? What is it?
Longing said slowly, The Corpse Ship.
The Corpse Ship? Ye Qing frowned for a second. Then, his eyes gradually widened into saucers, and disbelief colored his expression. He was so shocked that he shot to his feet and blurted, This is the Corpse Ship?
Thats correct, Longing confirmed.
Im inside the Corpse Ship?! Ye Qing repeated stupidly. That was how shocked he was.
The Corpse Ship was both a ship and an Anomaly. It was ranked pretty highly in the Pacification Bureaus case files, and it was named the Corpse Ship Incident.
The reason it was named the Corpse Ship Incident was because witnesses claimed to see a huge ship surrounded by an entourage of corpses. Often found in rivers and lakes, a huge fog would spread, and anyone who was unfortunate enough to be caught inside the fog would disappear every time it manifested. When next it reappeared, the victims could be found swimming among the sea of corpses as one of them. That was why it came to be known as the Corpse Ship.
The Corpse Ships threat level and anomaly level was extremely high. It had vanished entire towns and villages in the past. Although the Pacification Bureau spared no effort to search for the Corpse Ship and end its threat once and for all, the results were mediocre at best.
For one, the appearance of the Corpse Ship was completely random. It didnt appear at the same location either. Anywhere with a lake or a river could be visited by the Corpse Ship. Although the Corpse Ships appearance was always accompanied by a thick fog and endless bodies, it hardly helped the Pacification Bureau to narrow their search at all.
Two, the Corpse Ship was beyond dangerous. Countless Pacification Bureau elites had ventured into the Corpse Ship accidentally or intentionally, but no one had ever lived to tell the tale. It was a huge loss to say the least.
The Pacification Bureau had tried dispatching Grandmasters to resolve the case before, but when they entered the fog, they couldnt find the Corpse Ship no matter what they tried. It was almost as if the ship was intentionally hiding from them.
As a result, the strong couldnt find the ship, and the weaklings werent strong enough to solve the case. Over time, it became a cold case that not even the Pacification Bureau could do anything about.
Ye Qing was shocked because he had read about the case before. He was especially horrified learning that he had stumbled into an Anomaly that had supposedly no survivors.
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