Chapter 267 - 267 One hundred twenty-four

Words : 1430 Updated : Sep 29th, 2025

267: One hundred twenty-four. Clothes, whale, and falling into water 267: One hundred twenty-four. Clothes, whale, and falling into water The wake spread out from the stern of the wooden boat, blending into the dull grey fog. The unmanned wooden boat drifted forward eerily, as Lu Li’s wrist turned, maintaining quietness as it swayed around him. Once the fog enveloped the area, the small wooden boat seemed completely isolated from the outside world. The Nikola Counter emitted a faint, slow, uninterrupted ticking sound, neither becoming faster nor disappearing. The reason for the rationality decrease seemed not to be because something appeared around, but from the fog itself. There was no sea breeze, nor the sound of waves, the whole sea area was as calm as a windless lake. The Spirit-Calling Gun was gradually drawn from its holster, but the moment it left the holster and its perception spread out, it was slid back in. For a brief instant, Lu Li sensed a barely detectable, loathsome aura around him, but nothing strange. For Lu Li, trapped on the vast ocean, this was good news. But he still couldn’t understand whether the abnormal fog came from the deep sea or from the source of the hurricane. Lu Li bit his flashlight between his teeth and picked up the oars on both sides, moving gently, rowing towards the location of the three-masted sailboat in his memory. The oar disturbed the calm of the sea surface, and ripples rang out in circles into the darkness beyond the reach of the oil lamp. Time passed noiselessly, and a few minutes later, Lu Li stopped rowing. He stood up from the boat where he had entered the water and held up the oil lamp high. The dim, yellow light of the oil lamp illuminated the sea around him for less than five meters. There was no sailboat, no sailors’ shouts, and no strange ripples. The three-masted sailboat had disappeared. There was not a single sound on the dead, dark sea surface. The sailboat couldn’t have left so quickly, had something happened, or had he deviated from the course... Tick—tick—tick— The continuously ticking Counter on his wrist suddenly shortened the intervals of the sounds. His dark pupils hardened, and Lu Li reached for his waist, vigilantly surveying his surroundings. Tick—tick—tick— The intervals of the Counter were indeed slowly shortening as if something was approaching the small wooden boat. Anything could emerge from the fog on the sea surface at any moment. Lu Li no longer hesitated, in that instant, he pulled out the Spirit-Calling Gun. A murky presence materialized in his perception, not around him, but underwater. It was rapidly rising to the surface. He immediately aimed the flashlight at the sea surface, where in the dim waters, a shadowy outline was circling around the boat. It was a piece of tattered, pale grey clothing fluttering in the water, vaguely forming the shape of a person as if an invisible presence was wearing the garment. As the flashlight shone on the eerie clothing, it startled and lunged toward the sea surface, its sleeves wrapping around the oars at the edge of the small boat. Lu Li abruptly reached out to grab the oar, his other hand gripping the Spirit-Calling Gun tightly, pointing it at the clothing beneath the water. There was no sound of gunfire. In his perception, suddenly even more murky presences emerged from the deep sea bed, moving closer to the small boat on the surface. Tick—tick—tick— The sound of the Counter started becoming more urgent. The force on the other side of the oar wasn’t strong, but as he quietly watched the clothing beneath pull on the oar, his grasp suddenly released. Without Lu Li’s restraint, the oar was pulled under by the clothing, and the other oar behind him was also dragged into the water. The group of clothing that emerged from the dark sea bed circled and, along with the two oars, sank into the abyss-like sea bed and vanished from perception. Tick—tick—tick— The rhythm of the counter normalized, and Lu Li put down the Spirit-Calling Gun, tucking it back at his waist. He had ultimately decided not to shoot. Compared to losing an oar in the deep sea a hundred nautical miles from shore, the noise of a gunshot attracting something strange would be more troublesome. On the dead silent sea surface, the sound of a gunshot could easily travel a nautical mile, or even farther. Lu Li sat back in the wooden boat, ripples briefly arising on the bottom before quickly dissipating. With no breeze on the sea surface, it was difficult to drift with the waves; a small boat without oars could not go anywhere. Now all he could do was wait for the fog to clear, waiting for the three-masted sailing ship to reappear. If it hadn’t met with an accident, if it hadn’t left. The sea around the wooden boat reflected the light and shadows on board, with the oil lamp’s light spreading across the water and distorting and breaking due to the boat’s negligible rocking. The brief calm did not last long, and after a while, Lu Li found that the surrounding fog was thinning. He lifted the oil lamp and found that it was not an illusion from becoming accustomed to the fog—the mist was receding. The ticking of the counter slowed down, the range illuminated by the oil lamp gradually became clear, the rising sea breeze whipped up the waves, and the enveloping grey fog dissipated. Lu Li held up the oil lamp, silent. Beyond the small illuminated area, the vast, rich darkness would not dissipate. In the vast deep sea, there still was only a solitary wooden boat. At some moment, a long, desolate, and muffled sound suddenly floated over from the sea surface. Lu Li turned toward the direction of the sound. That distant sound, like whale song slowed down several times, was deep and slow. The whale song in the deep sea drifted toward the distance, carrying an unconscious sadness, filled with pain and heaviness. Lu Li lifted the oil lamp above the sea surface, where a thick, huge dark shadow passed beneath the murky depths. Hiss— Not far from the sea surface, a water column rose and the water fountain-like spray fell. Lu Li donned the hood of his raincoat; the next moment, seawater fell from the sky, scattering over the wooden boat. Some dark, sticky black substances mixed within the falling rain curtain. He had no idea what it was, but it emitted an unbearable stench. Lu Li recalled the news of beached whale corpses he had seen in the newspaper a few days ago and understood why the whale’s song was filled with pain. The same black substance had also fallen onto the raincoat, kept away from his skin. Hiss— The spout once more jetted out a mist of water urgently, and the whale’s mournful cries became slower and filled with pain. Suddenly, a shape emerged on the sea surface, with water parting on both sides, and the whale surfaced. The whale had slender flippers, and within the small range illuminated by the oil lamp, Lu Li was able to distinguish that it was a humpback whale. It was covered with barnacles as big as eyeballs. But at this moment, both the body of the humpback whale and the barnacles were coated in an oil-like layer of pitch-black substance. The whale seemed to be near death, floating listlessly on the surface, with large swaths of the black substance drifting around it. Lu Li suddenly realized something, looked down into the water, and sure enough, the underside of the boat was also stained with this substance. The whale’s life was counting down; it began to uncontrollably roll over, its belly facing the water surface. As Lu Li thought about how to get away from the whale’s corpse, something unexpected happened! The dying humpback whale, belly-up, suddenly thrashed, and the rolling of the colossal creature agitated the entire water area! The small wooden boat next to it fell victim to an unfortunate accident; a fin crashed into the sea next to the boat, lifting a great splash of water, and in an instant amid the pouring ‘rain curtain,’ the boat flipped over, throwing Lu Li, his backpack, and the oil lamp into the water! The light of the oil lamp flickered upon hitting the water and then went out in an instant. The entire sea area was left with nothing but the boiling, churning sound of water.

Chapter 267 - 267 One hundred twenty-four

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