The Second Round of Negotiations

A few minutes later, they dragged two corpses over to the cargo hatch.

The smell of blood spread through the air. From the dark hold came a faint, unsettling screech. It mingled with the sound of the corpses scraping across the planks, becoming, with a little help from the imagination, something slick and nauseating.

"I'll throw them in," Xia Lun said. "Stand back."

The priest let go as though he had been pardoned and hurried into the nearby crowd.

"Do we strike now?" The old man did not leave right away. He raised his one eye and asked in a low voice.

Xia Lun shook his head.

"Not yet."

After a moment's thought, he glanced at the old man and explained, "The monster is intelligent. If we can't kill it in one blow, it'll set the whale oil alight and take us with it. Remember, don't say anything careless later."

With that, Xia Lun gripped the gunner by the shoulder and threw his corpse down.

About a second later, a heavy thud came from the darkness. The body had landed in the lowest hold, and the skin-crawling rustle of something writhing grew suddenly louder.

Without a change in expression, Xia Lun picked up the second corpse and tossed it down.

The body fell headfirst, but before it could hit the floor, a fleshy tentacle burst through its chest and shot out!

"Xia Lun, kept promise. Commendable." One of the monster's tentacles emerged through the cargo hatch. "I, give reward."

At the sight of it, the crowd instinctively took two steps back. Xia Lun did not budge.

"Treasure. Vast treasure," the monster screeched. "Perilous Earth Island. White Bird Beach. Inside the cliffs."

"Bring me more food, and you can have more information!"

Xia Lun looked into the darkness beyond the hatch. "A deal that benefits us both," he said slowly.

"Yes. Both benefit." The monster waved its tentacle approvingly. "Destroy evil pirates. Gain wealth. That is justice."

"What if we fed you the original crew instead?" Xia Lun asked abruptly.

The tentacle stopped moving. An instant later, the monster's voice rose to a shriek. "Testing me. Don't. Foolish! Humans, pathetic!"

Xia Lun lowered his eyes. The monster's clumsy denial made him realize its reaction to the question had been far too strong.

Its attempt to explain and conceal the truth only made it more suspicious. Perhaps the monster had once been one of the ship's original crew.

An idea began to take shape in Xia Lun's mind.

If he could learn who the monster had been, he might find a way to deal with it.

"Don't worry. We're headed to the same place. Everyone wants to reach Perilous Earth Island." Xia Lun smiled, changing the subject.

The monster gave two displeased screeches, then withdrew into the dark hold. "Remember. Tomorrow, two fresh bodies again!"

Its screech echoed across the deck, but seconds later, the sound that had made their eardrums ache faded along with the dying sea breeze.

Several gulls landed on the mast. They cocked their heads and stared down at the blood-soaked deck.

As the monster appeared and retreated, horror spread through the crowd. Hearing Xia Lun claim he could speak with it was one thing. Seeing him do it was quite another.

Before, he might have been putting on an act or telling stories. Now there was no doubt he had told the truth.

The monster really was intelligent. It could communicate!

At the edge of the crowd, the priest folded his arms across his chest, worry on his face. He could no longer make sense of where things were heading.

Would Xia Lun truly fight a monster he could talk to until the end? Or had his declaration before the vote merely been a smokescreen to lull everyone else into complacency?

The thought left him restless. He gripped his Holy Emblem and was about to pray under his breath when the captured Doctor caught his eye.

The Doctor still wore his broken glasses. The whip wounds across his back had begun to fester slightly.

"A Witch Priest. Just like a Witch Priest. Xia Lun, Xia Lun..." the Doctor muttered.

The priest's interest stirred. He walked over to the Doctor. "What Witch Priest?"

As if jolted awake, the Doctor snapped his head up, revealing a pair of clouded eyes staring fixedly from behind his lenses.

"Ah, it's something I read in an ancient text." The Doctor lowered his head and bent respectfully at the waist, his explanation fawning. "The book said Witch Priests were actually people who made alliances with monsters. They offered the monsters sacrifices in exchange for peace in the coming year."

"So the key to being a Witch Priest is the sacrifice?" The priest smiled gently. "I don't mean anything by it. I'm just curious."

"No, no. The key is the alliance," the Doctor said. But then he lowered his head. "Ah, I've forgotten. Maybe the sacrifice is the key after all."

"How are the wounds on your back?" the priest asked, seizing the chance. "I still have some plantain salve. It can treat infection."

"You're a good man. The best of the pirates," the Doctor praised him. Then he paused. "Oh, that reminds me. My head isn't very clear right now, and there's something I can't work out. Could you answer a question for me?"

The priest nodded without hesitation.

"I can't understand what Xia Lun means. Is he going to surrender or not?" the Doctor asked, eyes wide. "Or is he just playing along while he uses the chance to get rid of his rivals?"

For some reason, the priest felt a sudden flicker of caution. After a pause, he replied, "I can't tell either. His position is rather unclear. You two used to serve on the same ship. Shouldn't you know him well?"

"Xia Lun... he wasn't like this before, was he..." the Doctor muttered. His words grew more fragmented and indistinct. "Was he? He wasn't like this... Is he putting on an act? I don't know either..."

After muttering for a while, he let out two nervous chuckles. "Heh, heh."

"You might need some herbs to calm your nerves," the priest said reassuringly. "I can get you some."

The Doctor blinked, and his clouded, fixed gaze seemed to clear a little. "Before I lost my freedom, I was the ship's doctor. Sedative herbs damage the nerves, just as barnacles damage a whale's flesh... No, what was I going to say?"

"Let's set that aside," the priest interrupted gently. "What was Xia Lun like before?"

The Doctor knitted his brows. "I can't quite remember. I only recall that he was the pilot. He didn't talk much, and he didn't seem very bright... Ah, I don't seem very bright now either... I think I understand... Ha... ha..."

"Of course..." he whispered to himself.

The more the priest listened, the stranger it sounded. He was about to press for an answer when Captain Geliide's voice rang out from across the deck.

"Stop standing around! Set a course for Perilous Earth Island and make full sail!" she said. "Everyone, back to work. Priest, come here. We need a quick meeting."