IWBL: Chapter 74

Xiao Li held the pile of white bones in his arms while holding one with his hand, attentively studying it.

He was the centre while the surrounding reincarnators opened the distance with him. However, the corridor was small and they didn’t dare separate, so they had to walk slightly sideways.

Xie Zeqing was close to Xiao Li. He repeatedly looked back at the bones lying in the same place. He wanted to stop and say something but ended up looking at Xiao Li again. “You… are you going to carry these things the whole way?”

Xie Zeqing wasn’t ignorant of the world. He had experienced many instances and there were many people who sacrificed others to live or who took the limbs of their dead teammates to survive. However, those people were either nervous, crazy or calm. Few people would be so enthusiastically absorbed in studying these things.

Xiao Li observed the arm bone. He didn’t know if it was due to supernatural power but these bones were different from human bones dried after a long time by the wind. It was very shiny porcelain.

He listened to Xie Zeqing’s words and thought for a moment. “It’s okay not to take it with me. I will see if it can keep up.”

Xiao Li threw the bone in his hand at his feet. Then he turned and knocked on the wall twice. His eyes were shining and he seemed to want to see if the skeleton ghost could move through the ghost ship.

Xie Zeqing, “……”

Did this person think the skeleton ghost was a dog that crawled along after the bones? Did he want to shout, “Skeleton, stand up!”?

There were minor movements from the place where the ghost was located, as if it was really chasing after its bones, but there were no signs of the ghost.

Every time Xiao Li walked, he would drop another bone like a guide. It wasn’t until there was only one left in his hand that the entire ship suddenly shook! It was as if something had been hit. The hull tilted to one side and there was the constant sense of vibration. This movement—

Qi Xiaoxiao’s expression changed. “There is something on board!”

She immediately looked at Xie Zeqing. Xie Zeqing didn’t wait for her to ask and said, “There is a very subtle ghost aura. It is very small and I can hardly feel it. However, there is a large number of them and I can perceive it when they gather together.

There was the sound of footsteps from the deck above their heads. The owner of these footsteps scattered and their movements were soon lost.

The people in the cabin stood still. Everyone held their breaths and were afraid of making any noise, for fear of attracting the attention of the creatures on the deck. The sun outside the window gradually fell and alternated with the bright moonlight.

After the strange creatures got on the ship, they ceased to exist except for the initial noise.

Wei Lige was the first to relax. He slightly bent his back and raised himself from his waiting posture. Perhaps it was just an illusion, the story of the ghost ship repeating. This was the script that ordinary reincarnators wanted to see most. There was no danger in an illusion and there would be clues hidden. This was much better than looking around like a headless fly.

Qi Xiaoxiao and the others didn’t relax. They still maintained their original standing posture against the wall. Just as Wei Lige couldn’t stand it anymore and wanted to poke the corner of Qi Xiaoxiao’s clothes, Luo Shan reached out to stop him.

She might be a plot character following the reincarnators for the first time but Luo Shan’s experience from small to large gave her calm. She carefully untied the crystal from around her wrist, held the crystal’s silk threads against her forehead and meditated in her heart. “They have left. There is no danger here.”

Luo Shan repeated three times. The crystal pendant spun counterclockwise and moved in a large arc to the top right. This direction was—

Luo Shan looked in the direction of the crystal like she was seeing a nightmare. There was a gap in the deck and the gap showed a pair of eyes watching her. The eyes were full of cruelty and didn’t seem to be human. There was no nose, only two holes, and lips thin enough to see the bulging gums.

It resembled a type of deep sea fish head/human creature. It was unknown how long it had been there but the eyes hadn’t been discovered because of the dim lighting.

The eyes had no eyelids and protruded outward like a frog. It discovered that Luo Shan had detected it and slammed a webbed hand down. It directly fell through the deck and grabbed at the reincarnators!

The person closest to it was Luo Shan. Her mind went blank in the face of this disaster. She could only subconsciously grasp the crystal in her hand and didn’t even remember the playing card that protected her last time.

Xiao Li stood beside her and moved. He directly through the last bone in his hand into the face of the fish creature, creating a deep hole.

The white bone fell to the feet of the fish creature. It covered its face and green blood dripped from its wounds. It emitted a silent hissing and more similar creatures showed up at its call. They surrounded the reincarnators.

The ghost on Xie Zeqing’s arm had already turned solid and he said very quickly, “They aren’t ghosts. They are creatures controlled by the ghost—”

Before he could finish his sentence, a fish creature opened his mouth and bit at him, interrupting Xie Zeqing’s words.

“Run forward!” Qi Xiaoxiao shouted. “The corridor will only allow more of them to surround us. We should enter the room!”

The group began to run forward. The entire corridor became crowded under the attack of the fish creatures and the floor groaned. If it became a bit more intense, the ghost ship would probably collapse.

Xie Zeqing was at the forefront. The ghost he controlled wasn’t strong but it was more than enough to deal with such creatures. In the melee, Qi Xiaoxiao’s Buddha beads also had a miraculous effect. Only Wei Lige and Luo Shan were relatively stretched.

Wei Lige was in danger as his arm was caught by a fish creature. He had previously used his life-saving item when he met the water ghost. This item could only be used once in a world and now Wei Lige had no life-saving items. In this life and death crisis, he brought out the playing card that Luo Shan had mentioned.

A faint yellow glow emerged from the playing card and fell on the man, forming a small shield that bounced away the fish creatures.

Wei Lige exclaimed excitedly, “Really useful!”

Luo Shan saw this and followed with her own playing card. The light from her card was weak. It seemed that because it had been used before, the strength contained in it gradually weakened.

On Xiao Li’s side, the hair that belonged to the doll spread out from his pocket. Tan Li tied them up like a string of mutton. Xiao Li looked at the pile of prepared ingredients and shook his head. They were too ugly and didn’t qualify as reserve grain. Tan Li used her hair to throw the fish creatures into the sea.

In the front, Xie Zeqing turned a corner and saw a door. He rushed to open the door and entered the room, following closely by QI Xiaoxiao, Xiao Li, Wei Lige and Luo Shan.

Once everyone entered the room, Xie Zeqing leaned against the door. The fish creatures continuously extended their arms through the cracks in the door to catch them. Hundreds of creatures were crowded against the door and trying to enter. Xie Zeqing couldn’t endure it and was going to be pushed away! Luo Shan stood close and stretched out her hands to contribute her strength to closing the door.

However, the outside strength was growing. The length of a fish creature’s arm was the longest and it directly grasped Luo Shan’s neck. Then a slender hand blocked her front. Xiao Li used his index and middle finger to hold the joker card he had drawn and handed it to the fish creature.

At the appearance of the joker card, the noise outside the door suddenly disappeared. The fish creature closest to the door slowly retracted its hand like it was going to leave. As it retracted its clawed hands, Xiao Li suddenly grabbed its claws.

The fish creature, “???”

It turned back, arm stuck in the crack of the door as it stared at the human with no understanding.

Xiao Li pointed to his own card. “You aren’t taking it away?”

It was unknown if the fish creature understood. It looked at Xiao Li hesitantly, rubbed its head, took back its arm and left. They came at a fast speed and their speed of leaving was also very fast. They disappeared into the sea in the blink of an eye. The ghost ship regained its silence.

“You used that card…” Xie Zeqing released his tired arms, shook them and sat directly on the ground. In the first melee, he and Qi Xiaoxiao didn’t use the playing cards. They paid a price for it but as senior reincarnators, hey knew that it was better not to use these unknown things.

Xiao Li looked at the card that remained in his hand. “Yes, I used it.”

Luo Shan stood up. She knew the meaning of Xie Zeqing’s words and told Xiao Li, “Mr Moriarty, thank you. I… I’ll repay you if I get the chance.”

The girl spoke sincerely.

Xiao Li waved his hand. “I wasn’t trying to save you. I just… wanted to try it out.”

He had just finished speaking when he slightly opened the door and looked out. Just now, Xiao Li seemed to hear some movements that shouldn’t be there.

Everyone immediately looked at the corridor outside. There was no sound but the hazy moonlight showed the shadow of some type of creature on the wall. It had a pair of pointed ears, a full face, a strange mouth, a long neck and four feet. It completely turned the corner and appeared in the eyes of the reincarnators.

It was a cat. A beautiful kitten with a piece of chocolate in his mouth. The little wagged his tail at the sight of Xiao Li, squeezed through the door, put down the chocolate and arched towards Xiao Li.

He cried out seriously, “Meow.”

Little yellow book: 【 Eat on time. 】


The author has something to say:

Little yellow book: You might be completing the task but you have to eat. What to do if you become hungry?

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flabbergasted
flabbergasted
5 months ago

ngl the description scared me I thought it was gonna some disgusting deformed monster or something like that, never expected it was gonna be our ml lol 🤣