[There's a weapon!]
A loud voice rang out.
The teenagers stood in the corridor with oil lamps lit. I stood in the middle of the corridor, holding the corpse whose throat had been pierced by the battle knife. For a moment, no one moved, and no one made a sound.
The remaining nine people…were missing Hughie and the hungarian girl.
It was a German teenager who had shouted just now. He was tall and strong at the age of fourteen, and his body was close to that of an adult. He was trembling with anger.| Trembling.
The young man grabbed the hand behind the girl who had arrived last and forcefully twisted it forward.
I couldn't help but shout,
[Stop!]
[…Look! There were weapons here. This woman is carrying a weapon!"
A threatening German accent rang out in the corridor.
Everyone gasped when they saw what he took out.
For some reason, Li was holding a small knife in her hand…a small knife that was as streamlined as an ivory, coldly reflecting the light of the oil lamp.
The young man said in a disgusted tone,
"It's her! She was the one who killed him!"
Li tried to break free from his hand, but the knife fell from her hand. The German teenager continued to grab her hand and pick up the knife.
Li kept shaking her head, indicating that this was not the case. She looked like she was about to cry. Yang stepped forward.
[Stop!]
[Who are you to order me around!]
[What…!?]
Another youth quickly blocked the furious Yang.
It was a tall and muscular teenager who had been with the German teenager since the beginning. He had a similar temperament to the German teenager. His nationality was Austria. He joined the German youngster and grabbed Li's other hand."
[As long as we get rid of her, we won't be in danger, right? She was the one who had hidden the weapon! Damn it, stop pretending that you don't understand!」
[No, she really doesn't understand!]」
I shouted, but they didn't even look at me. The German suddenly started beating up the immobile Li. Li Xiaoxiao's head swayed from side to side, her long black hair dancing in the air. Yang hurriedly stopped them. The rest of the young men were stiff and could only watch from the side.
[Right! When Xiu Yi died just now, he was also alone with the two of them. You want to trap us all here and kill us one by one!」
"I won't let you do this! We'll kill you first!」
After the two tall teenagers made their decision, they beat Li up even more vigorously.
…Things had already deviated from the norm.
Perhaps it was because they were trapped on the ship and saw a corpse in front of them. Was his mood shaken? Yang shouted," Stop!" He pounced forward to stop the two of them, but the difference in physique between the two strong youths was too great. He was pushed away in just two moves.
Then…
The German teenager shouted and raised his knife.
Everyone screamed!
The knife was aimed at Li's heart, and when it swung down hard, Yang used all his strength to slam into the teenager to stop him. The young men around him also stopped the German youngster in unison.
Because of Yang's obstruction, the knife deviated from its original target, the heart. The strength of the German youth's whole body did not penetrate| Instead, it gently brushed past the side of her abdomen and landed on the red carpet on the floor. The floor made a "click" sound.
The seemingly sharp knife left a shallow wound on the side of her abdomen. Bright red blood spurted out, and the skin that was cut was dyed red like a flower of blood.
Everyone's body stiffened.
Li let out a small cry, and then…she fainted.
「……!?」
The Austrian teenager finally came back to his senses after seeing the blood and suddenly let go of Li. However, the German teenager opened his bloodshot eyes and waved the knife again.
I immediately dropped the corpse in my hand and opened the drawer of the antique cabinet to take out a small pistol.
Clenching his hands tightly, he shouted,
[Release Li immediately! Otherwise, I'll shoot!"
The German youth turned around and stopped as if he had seen something unbelievable. Then, he quietly raised his hands in surrender.
The other young men also looked at me in shock.
The corridor was filled with silence.
I know that my hands that hold the gun keep shaking| I didn't know if I was doing the right thing, but I just wanted to save Li.
Even though we don't speak the same language, I know she's a gentle and good girl.
Yang said in a calm voice,"
[Alex…calm down.]
[Hmm…]
[Why is there a pistol?]
[Put it here.]
I pointed at the cabinet. Everyone's eyes were fixed on it.
"I just discovered it. I don't know why, but there are weapons on the ship. I'm sure that's how Li got the knife, though I don't know if it was for self-defense or to show it to everyone, but I think she just took the knife she found.」
[What…!]
"You two stay away from Li. Yang, please treat Li's wound..."
Yang nodded and knelt on the ground. He tore off his shirt and helped Li stop the bleeding.
I said to the two of them who had raised their hands in surrender,
"I won't shoot…I won't do such a thing. However…don't doubt your comrades anymore. Let's work together and head to the radio room quickly…"
The German youngster shouted at a deafening volume,"
[I, I refuse!]
As if to make himself proud, he grabbed the Austrian teenager who was at a loss and left together.
[Hey...]
[There are weapons here, right? Then we need to be armed too. Who would believe a woman who hid weapons?」
He glared at Li, who was lying on the ground, and then opened the cabinets in the corridor to look for weapons. He walked further and further away.
After they had walked quite a distance away!
[…Found it!]
They heard their shouts from afar.
After turning the corner of the corridor, they could no longer be seen.
The dark-skinned, long-limbed Turkish youth suddenly stood up and shouted angrily in a low voice. Although he couldn't understand them due to the language barrier, he should be saying that it was too dangerous and that they should come back quickly. He pointed at the walkway, then pointed at himself, nodded, and ran forward.
The slender body of the Turkish teenager turned the corridor and disappeared around the corner.
In the next instant…
A loud gunshot rang out. He could feel the floor, walls, and even the air in the corridor shaking. The young man who had just turned the corner seemed to have been sent flying. The scene of him falling back to the ground appeared in our vision again.
Silence.
After a moment, someone cried out in pain.
I gripped my pistol tightly and ran towards the Turkish teenager.
She wanted to help him up, but she noticed that there was a big hole in his chest. For a moment, I thought I could see the pattern of the carpet, but it was quickly dyed red by the gushing blood, and I could no longer see it.
I knew that he was shot by a powerful gun. The Turkish youth had an angry expression on his face as he died. He should have died as soon as he found out what happened to him.
I looked up and saw the retreating figures of the German and Austrian teenagers. The German youth seemed to be holding a machine gun.
Three people died. Hughie, the hungarian girl, and the turkish teenager.
I carried Li, who had lost consciousness due to the pain and bleeding, and began to move. To get to the radio room, we walked along the corridor toward the bow of the ship.
There were six people left. The Chinese Yang, the black-haired Li, myself, the tall Italian boy with a deep outline, the tall and thin American boy with curly hair that reminded me of an angel, and Jiao with a long brown braid.| Little French girl.
Everyone looked terrified and walked forward in silence.
The floor below was darker than the luxurious floor above, and there was an indescribable strangeness. The oil lamps and door handles that could be seen everywhere were also simple and practical.
[... Ah!]
The French girl at the front let out a sorrowful cry…She turned around and shook her head to show that she couldn't take it.
The corridor on this floor was also blocked by walls, making it impossible to pass through. We all walked up the stairs to the next floor.
Yang said to me,
[Alex was so brave just now.」
[No, you are…]
[Do you still have the pistol with you?」
I nodded. Yang then said,"Show it to me."」
He took the gun.
"This is a safety device. You have to turn it on before you can shoot.」
[I see.]
I nodded and suddenly thought-
[…Then, even if I pulled the trigger just now, I wouldn't be able to fire?]」
[Yes.] However, I don't think Alex will shoot.」
I looked into his eyes.
Yang narrowed his thin eyes and smiled at me.
We took the stairs and went down one floor.
The five of them walked along the corridor that was darker than before. Li was still unconscious on their back. Although he was worried that her bleeding had stopped, he could only continue walking.
He walked along the corridor, praying that he would not be blocked by the wall again.
Most of the rooms on this floor were second-class guest rooms and crew dining rooms. They were all old and shabby. The corridor was also very dark, and the originally dark red carpet looked dull and rough.
The French girl suddenly whispered about an irrelevant topic---about the rural area where she grew up. I didn't know how to respond to such an abrupt topic.
" Our family had sheep, but because we were poor, we didn't have many... We made cheese from sheep's milk and ate it with the whole family... At that time, everyone was very healthy... We often went to the rich friends 'houses to eat.| Playing in the wine cellar! I miss it so much…"
Looking closely at the girl who was dressed in ragged clothes like a boy and had her hair tied in braids, she looked quite cute, but her face was pale and timid. The American teenager raised his voice reluctantly and echoed her topic.
[Wow! Goat's milk cheese was so stinky that it was hard to swallow!」
It was the voice of a young girl before her voice changed. The French girl was so angry that she wanted to retort.
[No way, it's obviously delicious!]
"Oh…I live in a large cornfield. Do you like corn? Back then, I drank corn soup and ate corn stew every day…I miss it so much!」
Yang also told his story in a gentle voice. When his father was still alive, the father and son often traveled around together... After becoming an orphan, they worked part-time at the port to barely make ends meet. The life of traveling around was really enjoyable…
At this moment, the Italian youth seemed bored.
[Pfft…!]
Then, he muttered to himself,
[…Is this the time to say such things? I don't want to hear it at all."
The people who were splashed with cold water could only shut their mouths tightly.
Everyone continued to walk forward in silence. At this moment, the American youth suddenly said,"
"Don't you think that there is no criminal at all?」
Everyone was shocked and stared at his face.
The American teenager tried his best to explain in a girlish voice,"
" I thought about it carefully. It seems that we are the only ones on this ship, and there are weapons hidden everywhere. However, that was not the case. I don't think we're criminals."
[... Mm!]
The French girl nodded and said happily,"
[I think so too. Besides us, the bad guys who trapped us here must be hiding somewhere. Although I don't know why, someone must have brought us to this ship, maliciously damaged the rudder, and secretly rejoiced when they saw us being beaten up. That was why he had deliberately blocked the corridor with a wall. We…didn't do this!」
Seeing the two of them nod at each other, the Italian teenager with a deep outline retorted,"
"Hey, hey! Then why did Xiu Yi die? There was no one else in that place besides us. When Yang lit up the room with his flashlight, there was no one else but Li. Also, the knife that pierced his throat…"
Perhaps it was only as he spoke that he remembered, but his voice began to tremble.
" If that hungarian girl met a stranger other than us, she would probably scream, right? However, she was killed without even saying a word…If the person who killed her was one of us…"
" Uh... this..."
The American teenager was speechless and could only lower his head.
He fell into silence.
Then, Yang looked up."
[Alex…Do you remember when we went up to the deck?」
[Yes.]
" At that time, the hungarian girl's cheek was injured... what she said..."
I recalled.
At that time, on the deck, the hungarian girl who had approached the railing to call for help had shouted loudly.
(Something grazed my face. When I stepped near here…)
That's right, she had indeed said it back then…
(When I stepped near here, something suddenly flew over and fell into the sea…)
Yang nodded."
"She stepped on something-and then an arrow or something flew over and cut her cheek. There was no one in the direction she was pointing.」
[In other words, what…?]」
The Italian youth leaned out.
Yang Yi said with a dubious expression,
"Perhaps the criminal had set up an unmanned trap on the ship from the beginning. It wasn't that someone was using a knife to attack, but it was designed to fly out as long as the knife passed by.」
[Is that possible…?]
The six of them crouched on the floor for safety, opened the door, and moved the furniture.
As soon as a door opened, arrows flew out.
The hammer that fell from another place almost hit the French girl. Yang knocked her to the ground, and the huge piece of iron fell right in front of her nose.
It was a mechanism that would trigger the hammer when one stepped on a certain spot on the floor.
Not all the rooms or corridors had traps, but he could still feel the malice and madness. It was a very scary feeling.
In order to keep each other warm and protect each other, everyone squeezed together and walked forward.
After a while, the French girl suddenly jumped in fright and began to tremble.| Trembling.
[What's wrong?]
[…I heard the sound of water.]
Everyone pricked up their ears.
But he could not hear anything. Just as he was about to ask the French girl, Yang suddenly said,"
[Shh…!]
I swallowed the words I wanted to say.
Slowly…
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The faint sound of water could be heard.
What was going on…?
As I stood there in confusion, Yang suddenly shouted,"
[Water-!]
[It can't be?]
" Although it's only a little, the sea water is pouring in from the bottom of the boat. The ship would probably sink by morning! Move quickly! In any case, let's go to the bow first!"
When we looked at each other and nodded…
The young man's scream came from somewhere.
We ran at full speed in the direction of the sound.
After turning the corner, they arrived at the elevator lobby illuminated by light bulbs. The corridor and the rooms were dark and rough because they were going down another floor, but only this place was unusually bright and dazzling.
The voice should have come from this place, but there was no one there…
I looked around in confusion. Suddenly, a strong arm appeared out of nowhere and grabbed my hair and pulled it back.
I couldn't help but shout, and I heard the voice of the arm's owner.
[Save me!]
…It was a German accent that he had heard before.
Turning around, he saw his arm reaching out from the iron bars of the elevator.| Outside the iron fence were the German and Austrian teenagers. The tall, almost adult body kept trembling| Trembling, his arm reached out to me.
[Wh-what's wrong?!]
[Save me! The door, the door is locked…!"
I placed Li on the floor and approached the elevator. I rattled the iron fence and realized that it was locked from the outside. The teenagers gathered and asked them what had happened. They saw that the two people locked in the elevator were still in shock and began to speak incoherently.
[A ghost is running out…!]
" After snatching our guns, you left us here…"
Yang Huishou shouted,"
[Right! Alex, gun!"
I pulled out my gun and the two teenagers in the elevator screamed in horror.
[Move further away!]
I shouted, aiming at the lock on the iron fence and firing.
The intense impact spread from his arms to his shoulders, and the sound of gunfire was deafening.
The first shot missed, and the second shot was immediately fired.
Clang!
With a low sound, the broken lock fell from the iron fence.
[That's great!]
I heaved a sigh of relief from the bottom of my heart. The two people in the elevator looked relieved.
Yang immediately stretched out.| He made his move and was anxious to open the iron fence.
At this moment…
Gada!
The elevator suddenly began to descend.
The expressions of the teenagers were stiff because of fear. His eyes were so wide that they were about to fly out, and he stretched them out towards me| He stretched out his thick arms and grabbed my hair again. I couldn't help but cry out in pain. They screamed as well.
Pa, pa, pa…!
It was the sound of a lock of hair being pulled out by the roots. A pain in my scalp| There was a flash in front of his eyes.
The faces of the two teenagers on the other side of the iron fence stiffened with fear and anger. After a moment of shaking, they quickly descended along with the iron fence and fell into the bottomless abyss.
The eardrum piercing scream became more and more distant.
And then…
From the bottom of the ship, the sound of water splashing could be heard.
The elevator was damaged…Although he wanted it to come up, it didn't move.
Yang and I tried everything we could to activate the elevator, but in the end, we could only knock and cry…The American teenager gently placed his hand on my shoulder.
I cried and turned around, only to see him quietly shaking his head.
Behind him, the French girl was also sobbing silently.
"The two of them are already…dead.」
[How could this be…!]
[It's been more than ten minutes. The water had already rushed in…They should have…drowned.」
The Italian teenager roared like a beast and kept hitting the wall.
3
The boat was getting more and more flooded, and they couldn't stay in the same place forever. I carried the unconscious Li on my back and followed the rest of my companions.
As they moved forward, they carefully checked if there were any traps. He was blocked by the wall again and returned to the stairs…The next floor, the lighting was dimmer and the corridor was rougher. The sound of water was getting closer and closer.
At this time, Yang seemed to be talking to himself as he muttered,"
"…They said it was locked from the outside.」
I nodded.
"Yes, and he said that it was a ghost's doing.」
[What exactly happened…?]」
[Who knows.]
Yang continued,"
" The traps we found were all unmanned traps. But it was different just now-there was someone else besides us.
They hid on this ship and waited for an opportunity to attack. No matter how he thought about it…this was the only possibility.」
We walked on down a rather dark corridor that we could barely see to our feet.
No one made a sound, only our own footsteps.
At this moment…
Li on my back:
[Sob... Mmm.]
[Li? Are you awake?"
Li opened her eyes and frowned in pain. Then, she looked at me and squeezed out a weak smile to thank me.
After waking up, Li continued to let me carry her, but she suddenly screamed and started to struggle. I hurriedly placed her on the ground.
[What happened?]
Li pointed at her own neck frantically.
[Ahhh…!]
The necklace was gone.
Heart-shaped Enamel Necklace-Li's Amulet.
After Yang noticed it, he comforted her and said,
[Now is not the time to argue over such things. He could just buy the same one. If he could go back alive, he could do whatever he wanted. Be patient!"
Tears glistened in Li's pitch-black eyes as she shook her head.
Yang ignored her and used his shirt to stop the bleeding.
It would take some time.
I suddenly recalled the gentle smile on Li's face when I woke up on the ship. I suddenly felt uneasy when I thought of the young girl who had once taken good care of me. In order to encourage me, she even grabbed my hand and touched her most precious heart-shaped pendant.
Her face was pale as she silently endured the pain.
I suddenly stood up, and Yang looked up at me with incredulity.
[What's wrong, Alex?]
"Uh, I want to... pick it up.」
[Eh…?]
"Necklace-I think it probably fell where Hughie fell. From the time they started arguing about the knife, Li's necklace had disappeared.」
[…Alex!]
Yang stopped me.
[It's too dangerous. It was better to stay! We must not get separated."
The other young men also stopped me in unison.
"That's right. It's just a necklace. You'll get it if you buy it again!」
[It's too dangerous. Let's move together."
[It's better not to act rashly now...]
I looked down at Li's pale face. I don't know if she can last until the end if this continues. I hope that I can at least find the necklace and hand it to her personally. We didn't speak the same language, so I couldn't express my gratitude to her in words.
" But it's just on the landing of the stairs. It's very close. I'll be back immediately."
I told him my decision and ran away.
I only heard Yang and the others continue to shout for me.
He climbed up the dark stairs.
He held the flashlight that Yang had taken out from the elevator and climbed up. Be especially careful not to step on anything that might be a trap. Step by step, he walked up.
Under the illumination of the torchlight, the white tiles on the stairs emitted a cold light. I suppressed my uneasiness as I moved forward.
After they separated, would they never see their companions again? Was he going to wander alone on this ship? When she thought of this, tears naturally welled up in the corners of her eyes. In order to get rid of her depressed thoughts, she continued to walk up step by step.
Just as I thought I was about to reach the spot where Hughie lay, I suddenly stepped on a round bullet.| She almost fell.
Instantly, his entire body turned cold, thinking that he had fallen into a trap. Hurriedly, he lit up his feet. It turned out that it wasn't a trap-it was a tennis ball.
How did it fall here? I found it unbelievable and picked it up.
He continued to climb the stairs-
Then…he held his breath.
The corpse disappeared.
It was clearly the place where Xiu Yi had fallen, but there was nothing there.
There wasn't even anything left to show that there was a corpse there. It had disappeared without a trace.
I sat down in surprise.
The light of the flashlight followed and found a shiny pink heart pendant at my feet. This was the precious necklace that Li was looking for. The moment he saw it, he seemed to have telepathy with Li and suddenly heaved a sigh of relief.
He picked it up and held it tightly. For some reason, tears streamed down her face.
Where did the corpse go?
Who was it, and why did they hide the body?
Other than us, is there really someone else on this ship?
(Chapter 5, okay, it's actually a copy.)）
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