Su Huilan held a torch, its dim light illuminating her as she walked through the dark, narrow passageway of the cabin.
The route from m•hetushu. com•com was the same as last time, but the feeling was completely different. Last time there were many of them, more than a dozen people holding torches, but this time she was all alone.
For a fleeting moment, she regretted coming down. If there really was something strange or unusual on the ship, it was clearly unwise for her to disembark alone. But why had she, usually so calm, made such a decision?
Su Huilan suddenly felt that something was influencing her decision. The chaos in Ramla was not only spatial, but also mental and conscious. Here, people's thoughts and behaviors became unpredictable.
However, she was no ordinary weak woman. Now that she had come down, she wanted to check everything before she felt at ease.
Tap, tap, tap...
The footsteps were her own, echoing down the narrow passageway and reverberating in the darkness ahead.
She was surprised to find for the first time that the jungle boots under her feet could make such a loud sound on the boat deck, and the sound was strange, as if someone was stepping on her feet and landing with her.
Da (da), da (da), da (da)...
The more she listened, the more she felt that there were more footsteps than just her own, and her heart clenched, her breathing became labored.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks.
The clicking sound stopped.
The firelight cast a dim, round halo around her.
The surroundings were so quiet it was as if time had stopped; you could hear your heart pounding.
But this heartbeat seemed to have an accent, as if someone was deliberately maintaining the same heartbeat as hers.
She took a step forward.
Da (da).
She felt a chill run down her spine, vaguely sensing that there was someone behind her, also holding a torch and maintaining the same posture. When she stopped, the person stopped; when she walked, the person walked; even their heartbeats and breathing were in the same rhythm.
She turned abruptly, drew her gun, and aimed, the torch in her hand nearly being extinguished by the gust of air.
Once the firelight subsided, she saw nothing but endless darkness ahead, with only the faint outline of the hatch she had entered through.
Meow--
She heard the cat meowing and remembered that Hanran, who was standing at her feet, was looking up at her.
"Oh, I almost forgot about you!"
She picked up Hanran, placed her on her shoulder, and turned her face towards her back, which made her feel much more at ease.
Suddenly, the cat began to meow wildly, its shrill cries sending chills down the spines of everyone in the cabin.
"What's wrong, Hanran?" Su Huilan felt Hanran's claws gripping her shoulders tightly, and her body arched.
She turned around and saw only a long, dark passage.
The cat quieted down.
She continued walking forward, and the sound of her footsteps echoed again; ahead lay the soldiers' quarters.
She pushed open one of the doors, revealing three bunk beds where six naval soldiers lay neatly dressed.
Su Huilan went inside and shone a torch on the face of one of the soldiers. Just like the last time she had seen it, it was a mummified corpse. The muscles in its face had shrunk due to loss of moisture, and the skin of its entire face was stuck to the bones. Its eye sockets were sunken, and if you looked closely, you could see the eyeballs inside.
Su Huilan suddenly felt something was wrong. The eyeballs weren't covered by the eyelids, meaning the deceased died with their eyes open. But these soldiers all looked peaceful, and one could imagine the scene—they were slowly aging in Stasis Spacetime, resignedly lying on their beds in their final moments, without struggle, without pain, only deep despair.
But who dies with their eyes wide open?
Unless they were unwilling to accept their fate. But if they were unwilling, why would they have died so neatly?
Another puzzling thing is that people's lifespans vary, some die young and some die late, yet these officers and soldiers seemed to die at the same time and in the same way, which is truly bizarre.
She examined several other mummies, and they were all in similar condition; except for a few soldiers whose eyelids were covered, the rest had their eyes open.
She remembered that Mrs. Larry had examined the bodies last time and hadn't noticed this problem for some reason. Of course, it was indeed difficult to pay attention to such details in this environment, including Situ, Qingmu, and herself; they hadn't noticed it either.
She left the dormitory and randomly checked several other rooms, but found nothing else wrong.
As she walked, she always felt someone following her, like her shadow, keeping pace with her in both her footsteps and heartbeat.
Da (da), da (da), da (da)...
The firelight flickered, as if there was a breeze.
She stopped, and the wind stopped too.
She thought, "Maybe it's the wind I started."
Da (da), da (da), da (da)...
Further ahead is the captain's cabin.
The door was open. Did they close it when everyone left last time? She couldn't remember.
Ronald Cohen remained in the same position, leaning back in his chair in front of his desk. The firelight cast his shadow across his back, around his shoulders, and onto the desk. Where there had once been a stack of manuscripts and half Soul of Fire, now there was nothing left but Cohen's shadow, slightly distorted in the flickering firelight.
Su Huilan suddenly frowned. She remembered that when Cohen came in last time, his arm was on the armrest of the chair, but now it was hanging down, dangling outside the armrest, as if he hadn't had time to put it back up.
Her heart tightened suddenly.
This is the captain's cabin, also the most spacious bedroom on the warship. In addition to a bed, desk, and cabinets, it also has a sofa, a television, and a separate bathroom.
Su Huilan walked in, wanting to take a closer look to see if she had remembered it wrong, or if someone had touched Cohen's body when she came out last time.
She walked to Cohen's side and noticed that he was indeed different from last time, not only in his arms but also in his head. Cohen's head had been slightly tilted, his eyes fixed on the manuscript on the table, but now his head was tilted even more, his eyes fixed on the floor under the table.
Su Huilan wondered if this was some kind of hint. Last time, everyone discovered his posthumous manuscript; could there be something else hidden under this table?
She crouched down and shone the torch, but found nothing. However, she did see Cohen's hand hanging outside the chair at close range.
She noticed something unusual about the hand. Normally, a mummified corpse's hand should be stiff, shriveled, and like dry twigs, but this hand had a soft, thin film-like substance on its surface, like the slime of a dead frog.
She guessed that the humid air from the lake had entered the cabin and begun to corrode the bodies. However, she didn't know if there was anything special about the air here, or if the bodies had suffered some kind of radiation damage in the Stasis Space, because the corrosion didn't appear as mold spots as is common on Earth.
Fortunately, the air circulation here is slow, and the corpses are thoroughly dried, so they shouldn't rot and stink in the short term. Su Huilan has no way to deal with the corpses right now, so she can only wait for Qingmu others to return before discussing the matter.
She checked under the desk again, making sure there was nothing there, and slowly stood up, only to find her heart pounding wildly.
The sound of my heartbeat was very loud in the darkness, as if it had an accent.
Thump (thump) thump (thump), thump (thump) thump (thump), thump (thump) thump (thump)...
It felt like a breeze was blowing in, making my back feel cool.
The flame flickered and bounced again.
She turned around abruptly and saw a person sitting on the sofa opposite her, staring at her with empty eyes.