As they carried him, Li Xian felt his already numb palms lose all sensation. The cold crept from his hands through his entire body. The other two were in much the same state, carrying the Captain's corpse through sheer willpower.
They endured the discomfort and carried the Captain to the stairs, then hauled him up. Just as Li Xian was about to push open the wooden hatch, the exit above his head opened on its own.
A hand reached down from above. Li Xian immediately went on guard and tried to back away.
"It's me."
A familiar voice reached his ears. Then the hand grabbed the Captain by the collar and hauled him straight up-
"Ji Xie!"
Li Xian cried out in delighted surprise, then immediately climbed out from below deck:
"Where did you go?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the ship, which had only just steadied, began rocking again, even more violently than before.
Li Xian pitched forward, and Ji Xie reached out to steady him. Ke Yi and Zhang Yuyao nearly fell as well, scrambling out from below deck on their hands and knees.
"Let's get moving."
Ji Xie did not answer Li Xian's question. Instead, he carried the Captain's corpse briskly toward the dark shadow.
Li Xian immediately came up behind him to help. Ji Xie glanced at his palms, already red from the cold, then turned his gaze toward Ke Yi:
"Let this guy do it."
Ke Yi clicked his tongue, but given the circumstances, he still helped lift the corpse. Seeing how efficiently the two worked, Li Xian realized he would only get in their way and quietly followed alongside them.
As they moved, Li Xian kept studying the corpse, whose eyes were tightly shut.
The Captain wore a long white burial robe, leaving