Ghost Ship

"Why are you here?" Chu Xiaoxiao finally reacted, asking in disbelief.

"Compared to that question, I think it would be better if we left this place first, don't you think?" Nie Yun blinked and smiled.

Beside the "shipwreck," the leader approached cautiously. He swept his flashlight around, but finding nothing unusual, he called out, "Third! Are you there?"

Dead silence.

"Third, if you're there, say something!" He shouted again, but there was still no response.

The leader cursed under his breath. The only satellite phone was with Third, and there was no cell signal here at all, so he had no choice but to go inside and explore!

He held his pistol in his right hand, crouched slightly, and carefully stepped into the shipwreck.

However, just then, a gunshot in the distance startled him.

His heart skipped a beat. He took two steps toward the edge of the ship to look at the tents, but he didn't see Second. He was suddenly gripped by anxiety, having no idea what had happened.

He looked back at the pitch-black cabin, then toward the tents, and made a decision.

"Damn it!" The leader cursed as he rushed toward the tents.

But he had only made it halfway when a scene that made his blood boil appeared.

"Put-put-put!" Someone had started their speedboat!

Then, before the leader's eyes, which were wide with rage, the speedboat reversed rapidly into the sea, spun around, and sped away.

"Second! You backstabbing traitor!" The leader was absolutely furious!

In his mind, it must have been Second who took the opportunity to kidnap Chu Xiaoxiao, intending to keep the 10 million for himself. He had guarded against everything, but he never expected the betrayal to come from within his own ranks!

By the time he ran to the tents, the speedboat was already a hundred meters out, well beyond the range of his pistol.

"Bastard! Second, don't let me get my hands on you! One day, I'm going to tear you limb from limb!" The leader roared.

As he was cursing, he suddenly smelled the scent of blood carried by the sea breeze. He froze, looking to the side. There, at the edge of the flashlight's beam, the shadow of an outdoor boot was visible.

The leader felt the style of the boot looked familiar. He shone his light on it and immediately saw a corpse lying in a pool of blood—it was none other than Second!

"What... is going on?" The leader was completely bewildered. He whipped his head toward the speedboat; the person driving it wasn't Second!

Could it be...

A chill ran through the leader's heart. The image of Third's honest, simple face surfaced in his mind.

He intentionally made a noise to lure me away, then snuck back to finish off Second, and then took Chu Xiaoxiao and fled by boat! Could such a meticulous plan really have been conceived by that loyal, incredibly dull-witted Third?

"Third, I never expected that you would be the one hiding the deepest!"

For a moment, grief welled up in the leader's heart. Being betrayed by the person he trusted most left him feeling despondent. Could years of brotherhood really be worth less than a measly 10 million?

He slumped to the ground, staring blankly at the dark sea, feeling as though he didn't want to move a muscle.

After a long while, footsteps suddenly echoed from the darkness nearby.

The leader stiffly turned his head and saw Third emerging from the shadows, revealing a large, pleasantly surprised face. He was holding his pants up with one hand and clutching his head with the other. He looked ridiculous, but the leader couldn't bring himself to laugh; his brain was currently in a complete fog.

What... is this situation?

When Third saw the leader, he acted as if he had seen a long-lost relative, exclaiming, "Boss! I finally found you! Let me tell you, I think I just had a terrible nightmare! There was a ghost ship in the dream, and the anchor on it, it..."

Before Third could finish, the leader hugged him tightly, choking out, "Third! Thank goodness! It wasn't you! It really wasn't you!"

Third was completely confused, and then he suddenly realized their current state. Goosebumps broke out all over his body as he was being hugged. He pushed his boss away, gripped his waistband tightly with both hands, and said tremblingly, "Boss, I... I'm not that kind of person..."

The leader was instantly covered in black lines...

Not long after, the two brothers recounted their experiences and realized something was wrong.

"Let's go, we're going to check that ship!" The leader said, grabbing his pistol fiercely.

The two walked to the original location of the "shipwreck," but to their renewed astonishment, there was no "shipwreck" left—it was empty, not even a trace remained.

"Bo... Boss, do... do you think we might have encountered a... a ghost ship..." Third finished, shivering.

"Don't talk nonsense! Could a ghost shoot and kill Second?"

"But a ghost knocked me out! The bump on my head hasn't even gone down yet. By the way, when I woke up, I found the button on my waistband had popped off. Boss, do you think... I wasn't... by a ghost..."

"Thwack!" The leader gave Third a smack on the head. "Which ghost would be blind enough to take a fancy to a big oaf like you!"

In truth, the leader was also feeling a bit spooked, so he immediately turned and walked quickly away from this haunted place.

"Maybe it was a female ghost? Actually, I'm quite well-endowed... Hey, Boss, wait for me!" Third muttered, then hurried to catch up; he didn't want to be left here alone.

In the darkness, the conversation between the two brothers drifted by.

"Boss, are we still waiting for the employer here? Without the boat, we can't leave."

"Thwack!" Another smack on the head.

"Are you stupid? The people are gone! If we stay here and the employer's group decides to take their anger out on us and silence us, who are we going to complain to!"

"Then... then what do we do!"

"Let's go back and grab our things, then hide deep in the island. Once they leave, we'll figure out a way to call for help and catch a boat back to the mainland!"

Not long after, a medium-sized speedboat returned to the beach.

A middle-aged man with a sinister face stepped off the boat and frowned, "What is going on? We haven't even found the meeting spot yet. What exactly are the scouts doing?"

One of his subordinates was drenched in sweat, "Feng Ge, there was clearly a shipwreck here; I was just here two days ago! But... I don't know what happened, the wreck is gone. Plus, we found a body here. It's the second man from Pinming Sanlang. He was shot in the chest and is already dead!"

"Dead? Have you made contact with the other two?" Feng Ge's brow furrowed even tighter, and a murderous aura began to radiate from his body.

The subordinate replied nervously, "Reporting to Feng Ge, I haven't been able to reach them. I'm wondering if... they turned on each other?"

Feng Ge let out a cold snort, "Hmph! A bunch of trash, a rabble! I knew hiring professional mercenaries would have been more reliable! Let's go!"

The group followed behind Feng Ge, preparing to board the boat, when suddenly Feng Ge stopped in his tracks. He glanced sideways at the subordinate who had just reported to him, "Who... told you to get on the boat?"

Feng Ge didn't linger after speaking and turned to leave.

The subordinate panicked, "Feng Ge, give me one more..."

"Bang!" Another man nearby had already drawn his pistol. After the gunshot, the man could no longer finish his sentence.

Behind a rock not far from the beach, the third man wiped the sweat from his forehead, terrified, "The boss is truly sharp. These people really don't blink when they kill; we were almost silenced!"

The boss watched the speedboat depart with a gloomy expression, as if he were watching 10 million fly away just like that...