With the merchant ship sent back to its original place, they had gone around in a circle and are once again face to face with those pale faces.
The helmsman was thrown away by the sudden change in movement and almost kissed one of those faces. He screamed and fearfully scrambled away.
"Everyone into the cabins!" The captain stood on a post used for securing ropes and shouted this order.
The wind from the wall of faces was so fierce, he couldn't open his eyes.
After shouting this order, he was pulled down. All the crew members jumped into the cabin as they were trained.
As most of the people fled in panic, You Huo on the other hand moved closer.
He took a few steps towards the white wall of faces and seemed to want to check something....
"Stop looking! You don't want to live anymore?!" The first officer shouted in Chinese and roughly yanked him away: "Hurry and get in!"
In a blink of an eye, the decks of the three merchant ships were emptied. Everyone had entered the ships' cabins.
A crew member immediately slammed the trapdoor shut and tied it shut with a rope before collapsing onto the stairs, his face void of colour.
The first officer leaned against the rope and panted for a while. He had yet recovered from the terror.
"What was that?" He asked: "It was too chaotic earlier. I was too busy pushing people in and didn't have the chance to look closely."
Di Li was also leaning on the same rope. He said breathlessly: "Your angel. Probably here to see you off."
First officer: "...."
He finally began to doubt the authenticity of the legend. He angrily shouted: "Captain——–"
The captain was almost out of air from shouting earlier. At this moment, he was fanning himself with his hat. He also looked like he was quite frightened by those faces and wasn't in a very good state.
"What's wrong?" The captain asked.
The first officer said: "Where on earth did you hear a legend like that? It's quite different from reality?"
The captain snorted. He didn't have a good expression: "Do legends need to be verified first so that they can be considered legends?"
Di Li didn't understand their language, but he could guess based on their expressions.
He pondered and asked the first officer: "Can you ask your captain if the legend also mentioned anything else? Anything more detailed?"
He knew very well that the clues these NPCs held were probably not accurate and probably came with the guise of legends, notes, maps, last words and the like.
It didn't matter if it was a little inaccurate. Just having information was enough.
Di Li desperately clung to this hopeful thought of his.
The first officer asked before turning around and explaining in Chinese: "I asked. There's nothing else. The legend was from a long time ago, so the content is a little vague now. It was just those same sentences. The captain already told you everything that he knew."
Di Li sighed. He scratched his head in frustration.
The first officer said: "I'm really sorry. I made you happy for no reason."
Not only the examinees, this was true to the crew members too.
They had fully believed that they could leave this deserted island, and they didn't expect to be sent back again at such a critical moment.
The mood inside the cabin was down. A cloud of gloom covered the heads of everyone there.
Di Li calculated in disbelief with his fingers: "All three merchant ships were repaired."
"The precious goods were also counted, and we have confirmed that nothing was missing."
"Food; that's tied up to the ship and it can even regenerate itself so it should last all three ships for a long time."
"As for wood used for heating, there's plenty of that too. If they used it sparingly, it can last a while."
"...….What else are we missing? We're not missing anything."
Wu Li's white coat was actually very thin. She huddled together with Shu Xue to keep warm.
She sat on the steps and rubbed her arms for a while before rummaging through her pocket and pulling out a recording pen.
"You even carry this around with you?" Shu Xue was a little surprised.
"I have meetings often. Work requirement." Wu Li fiddled with the recording pen and played a short recording.
[Winter of 1597. Three Dutch ships were trapped in the frozen sea as it tried to reach Russia, so they temporarily docked on a nameless island and waited for the long winter to pass. This is currently the eighth month of their stay here. There are still 15 days until the end of winter and the ice melting. Please help all the crew members safely sail off.]
Everyone froze for a moment.
This was the original question played by the system on their first day here.
Hearing it again, it sounded a little unfamiliar.
Human memories are very strange; it would always subconsciously grasp the key point. And the key point here that they've grasped onto was "helping the merchant ship sail off".
Other words and descriptors were considered as minor details and automatically ignored.
Now that they were listening to it again, Brother Li's occupational disease played up and he immediately remarked: "All the crew members..."
He placed emphasis on the word "all".
Di Li moved his neck off the rope: "Oh yeah.....That's right! All! Strictly speaking, the crew here can't be considered as 'all'. We still need to include the eight who have died!"
As they became excited, the pale faces outside seemed to also be excited.
The wind shook the ship around violently.
Everyone shrank back and lowered their voices back down.
"Then what do we do?"
"Hide out here for a bit first. When the angels are gone, we'll go find the rest of the crew."
They previously feared when night came to this deserted island because, every night, someone would be sent to become the octopus's dinner.
Now that the octopus had become their food, the threatening existence was gone. Staying another night was no longer a problem.
While they rejoiced, You Huo didn't join in.
He had borrowed the pocket watch from the captain and was looking at the portrait inside.
This pocket watch was actually something he brought back.
He had picked it up in the cabin were the octopuses were and gave it to the first officer because he thought the design was similar to the one he had. Unexpectedly, it had ended up in the captain's possession.
But he wasn't concerned about this. He was concerned about the man in the portrait.
It was a half-body portrait of a man with long hair. With thick eyebrows, a high nose bridge and his lips slightly arched downwards, he looked a little serious.
In particular, this man had a small mole just above his lips, right in the centre. There was also a similar one above his left eyebrow.
Lifelike portraits like these could be somewhat different from reality, but these two moles wouldn't be.
The moment he saw him, You Huo was reminded of someone.
No, to be more precise, it was a face——-
It was the first face he saw under the ice when he and Qin Jiu first toured the island.
That pale face looked up at him for a very long time and he clearly remembered that the face had moles in the exact same position. With the face also quite similar to the portrait here, he felt that it was probably the same person.
You Huo asked the captain: "Who is this?"
The captain's usual cheerful expression disappeared. He lowered his eyes as he received the pocket watch and he rubbed his thumb over the portrait.
After a moment, he looked back up and returned to his usual relaxed expression: "Mijn vader"
You Huo: "...….."
He turned around and called the first officer over.
The first officer translated: "This is the captain's father, and also the captain of the previous merchant fleet."
His words attracted the attention of the other examinees.
After he was done speaking, everyone learnt that there had been many captains before this over the past century. Barentz's father was also one of them.
He had joined the fleet at 18 years of age and, because of his skills and strict personality, he became the captain of a fleet at 23 years of age. Travelling back and forth through various heavy storms and difficult environments, he managed to successfully deliver countless goods.
At the age of 29, he and his fleet encountered a storm and died at sea.
At that time, Captain Barentz had just turned 4.
The blood of a sailor was still in Barentz's bones. He was fated to also go out to sea when he turned of age.
The year he became a captain, he was also 23 years old, just like his father.
Over all these years, he would sometimes think that perhaps one day he could find traces left by his father at sea.
But he never found it. It was like this until today, until just now...…
When he boarded the ship, he saw the metal box and the pocket watch amongst their belongings. It resembled the ones in in his memory.
After thirty years, he finally achieved his wish.
***
Despite knowing that these people are only subjects of the question, the examinees still felt a little emotional.
They quietly digested this information and suddenly noticed a problem.
"So those fa——" Di Li smacked his lips and changed his words: "Those outside…..they're the crew members who had died out here in the past? They're all from the merchant ships?"
"It should be....."
"Then those bones in that ship?"
Everyone looked at each other.
"Probably belonged to crew members and previous examinees."
Over all these years, batches after batches of crew members were stranded on this deserted island.
Those three octopuses would eat examinees when there were examinees and if they didn't have examinees, they would eat the crew members. This continued day after day and the pile of bones in the old cabin gradually grew larger and larger.
No wonder those pale faces were so angry when they saw those octopuses....
Their lives were taken by them.
If they were still alive, they would be someone's parents, someone's child, someone's lover, someone's home...….
***
You Huo looked around.
There was someone missing in the cabin. It actually felt a little strange.
Taking advantage of the confusion, he opened the trap door.
The wind formed by the human faces were filled with water vapour. It shrouded the merchant ship like a large mass of fog.
And before them stood the person You Huo was looking for.
The trap door creaked.
Qin Jiu looked back.
"You didn't enter the cabin?" You Huo hopped onto the deck.
Qin Jiu froze for a moment before squinting his eyes: "You specially came out to find me?"
"No." You Huo walked over to the bow of the ship and said, "Suddenly thought of something. Came to confirm it."
"What is it?"
"Confirming their aggressiveness." You Huo pointed at the pale faces.
Since those small pale faces used to be crew members and examinees, then perhaps.....they are not malicious.
Legend has it that they would appear when the ice melts. Perhaps it was just their way of reminding those leaving not to forget them, not to leave them behind.....
You Huo had intended on confirming this but unexpectedly Qin Jiu was a step ahead of him.
But this Mr. 001 didn't hear about the story behind the pale faces.
He said: "I was just curious. If I tried to force my way through, how much harm could they cause? So I stayed behind."
You Huo remained silent. He wasn't surprised.
Qin Jiu raised his left hand. There was a small cut on his palm. It was long, but not deep.
"At first it was quite fierce, but now it has calmed down."
"Why?"
"I could almost guess their intentions so I said to them that we would take them away once they stop."
And so...….those pale faces stopped in mid-air, and became a large, floating cloud.
***
It didn't take long for the other examinees and crew members to notice this. They slowly pulled open the trap door and stuck their heads out before letting out a long sigh of relief.
Although they knew the problem, solving it was another issue.
Led by the first officer, they ran across the deserted island in search of the eight buried crew members. They then spend another night melting them away from the ice and removing the old ship filled with bones from the reef.
Year after year, all the bones had mixed together. One could no longer tell which belonged to who.
But at least, they were all there. Not a single one was lost.
The crew threw down a long rope. Everyone tied the old ship tightly behind the merchant ship.
The sky in the distance began to brighten. Everything was ready.
The more experienced crew members looked in the distance for a moment and said: "It's a rare sunny day. We can depart any time."
Everyone was excited. They all quickly climbed onto the deck.
But after a while, they all became depressed…..
"The system personally said that the ice wouldn't melt in the near future. The near future is too general. How would we know how long it would take...." Di Li had become a little braver and was now able to complain and curse out the system.
After he cursed a few times, Qin Jiu interrupted: "It's not impossible if we want to leave now."
Di Li's eyes brightened: "Huh???"
You Huo glanced at him and asked: "I don't mind but are you sure you can continue playing around like this? Any more and they will no longer let you off."
Qin Jiu laughed. He didn't care.
Di Li watched them speak in riddles. He was utterly confused.
After a while You Huo and Qin Jiu undid the rope around the octopus's tentacles, leaving only the part tied around their faces.
With the tentacles regaining freedom, it immediately started to dance around wildly. Several times, it almost hit the sails, startling the people present.
But the two great masters were very satisfied.
They then borrowed a quill from the captain....
Di Li walked over carefully and saw You Huo randomly pick up a clean wooden board and write four numbers onto it.
922 154 021 078
***
In the small white invigilator's ship, four examinees suddenly received a request for help from an examinee.
078 almost died from suffocation the moment he saw the name.
021 was the complete opposite, but she didn't show it.
922's expression was very strange.
Only 154 said: "He's actually asking for help?"
078 suddenly remembered something: "Oh right! Wasn't there a message from the system before? They have missed the melting period and are probably in a difficult position?"
You Huo's in a difficult position!
This sentence made the invigilators pleased.
Without a word, 078 turned the ship and headed for the deserted island.
Twenty minutes later, the small white ship could be seen in the distance.
It was still a few dozens of metres away from the island. All four invigilators were standing on the deck.
They rearranged their clothes and intended to reaffirm their authority but when they looked out, they were met with the sight of countless tentacles flying around in front of the three merchant ships.
"...…."
What the hell is this?!
The invigilators instantly turned their heels and rushed back into the cabin without looking back.
078 rushed to the wheel and sharply turned it around.
Unfortunately, no matter how fast his reaction was, there was still some delay.
The invigilator's small white ship continued forward a few dozens of meters and gently brushed against the shore. Any place the ship touched; the frozen ice automatically melted.
On the merchant ship, the captain shouted his commands and the helmsman immediately turned wheel of the ship.
Taking advantage of the wind from the pale faces, the sails instantly billowed out.
The strong wind blew. The sea water swelled.
Three merchant ships carrying dancing octopus tentacles chased after the invigilator's ship.
Wherever the invigilator's ship passed, nothing obstructed its path.
***
Seeing You Huo and Qin Jiu on the deck, the first officer called the captain.
"You're here? Give me your address. I don't know about you, but I now regard you two as friends. If there is a chance, I'll write you a letter."
Said the captain.
At that moment, he looked nothing like an NPC. Instead, he looked just like a living human.
A living human who lived in a certain country, in a certain town like everyone else.
You Huo took the pen, raised his hand and wrote an N. He froze.
He had lived in many places but none of them started with an N. For some reason, he had subconsciously written that.
"What's wrong?" The first officer asked: "It's fine if you're not willing."
You Huo shook his head. He crossed out the N character and wrote Yu Wen's address: "Send it here."
The first officer then gave the pen to Qin Jiu.
Qin Jiu didn't accept it.
He looked down at You Huo's writing and said: "I can't receive it."
Even You Huo was stunned for a moment.
Qin Jiu then laughed. He pointed at You Huo and said to the first officer: "When I can someday, I'll get your address from him."
The captain and first officer nodded in understanding.
...…..
Behind them, an old soggy ship followed.
It had been stranded for many years and was tattered beyond repair. Now, with its cabin filled with bones, it once again rode the waves.
At long last, the sun filtering down ahead directed its way as it was forcibly pulled along.
White fog closely followed. The angels return home.
KK has something to say:
The angels return home.