novelraw Chapter 14 : Chapter 14
Chapter 14 : Chapter 14
Chapter 14: Chaos
The hair was too thick, too dense, everywhere.
Like tens of thousands of threads, it wrapped around me, dragging me inch by inch into the grave soil with irresistible force.
I couldn’t breathe.
My mouth and nose were clogged with dirt and hair.
As I neared suffocation, the inner airflow from my right foot’s sole surged. My bursting lungs found relief, miraculously entering a profound state of sustained inner breath.
“This airflow can replace breathing. Does that mean I can hold my breath indefinitely now?”
The excitement lasted a moment before I snapped back to the terrifying reality. I struggled with all my strength, only to exhaust myself, unable to resist the hair.
Gradually.
I sank deeper, the soil heavier on my back.
At a certain moment.
A piercing chill hit me from below. Through strands of hair, I saw an ice coffin glowing with blinding white light.
Inside lay a slender skeleton in a red dress, hands clasped at its abdomen, serene and composed.
Its bones were like immortal jade, with vivid red blood threads flowing… blood preserved, vibrant with extraordinary vitality.
All the hair grew from the skeleton’s head, seeping through the coffin’s seams.
“It’s really risen! How? It’s just bones—how did it wake?”
“The ice… it’s melting…”
As the coffin melted, I became drenched.
The coffin lid grew thinner.
My sense of danger intensified. It wasn’t pulling me down for company in loneliness, was it? If I didn’t escape before the ice fully melted, I might turn to bones too.
Right, the Tao Ancestor Tai Chi Fish.
The Chan Sect’s treasure was still in my hand.
Its two fish eyes, with their immense origins, could surely subdue this red-clothed immortal maiden… no! Not an immortal maiden—a bone demon.
It had activated before, likely from my blood, releasing green and red radiance.
No time to think—treat a dead horse as a live one.
As the coffin lid melted to near transparency, I gathered strength, fighting the hair on my arm, pulling my right hand, clutching the Tai Chi Fish, back.
My wrist scraped the uneven, melting coffin lid’s edge.
“Thud!”
As I fell into the coffin, my wrist sliced open on the sharp edge, blood gushing, flowing down my arm to my palm.
This bone demon was too jagged—no flesh at all.
Falling onto her, I was pained all over. The hair bound me so tightly I couldn’t move, forced into contact.
My eyes nearly sank into her hollow sockets.
My nose pressed into her nasal cavity.
Her white teeth pushed against my lips.
The hair tightened…
My body felt crushed. Where it pressed hardest—lips, cheeks, shoulders, hips—skin broke, blood seeping.
Eerily, her bones absorbed my blood, drawing it in.
“She’s trying to devour all my flesh and blood? Is she trying to come back to life?”
Squeezed by hair and bones, my consciousness blurred, the scorching airflow retreating.
Worse, a chilling force from her forehead seeped into my brow, sending a shiver through me.
“Splash!”
As I neared death, the Tao Ancestor Tai Chi Fish finally reacted, bursting with green and red radiance.
The hair binding me, like straw meeting fire, retreated in panic.
Freed, I sat up, slapping her hair-covered skull, making it turn. She’d bullied me too much—I had to vent.
The Tai Chi Fish glowed briefly, then dimmed.
Terrified, I fled—how could I keep provoking her?
Climbing the grave, I found the Yellow Dragon Sword.
As I jumped down, the tombstone’s chimes rang again. Black hair surged like a dark cloud of snakes from the pit, rushing toward me.
In a five-meter radius, hair flew everywhere.
Unsure if my blood activated the Tai Chi Fish, I feared being dragged back into the coffin with no escape.
“Swish! Swish! Swish…”
Dodging swiftly, I swung the Yellow Dragon Sword.
As the scorching airflow from my right foot flowed to my right hand, a faint yellow glow coated the blade.
A horizontal slash.
The arc gleamed like a moon, dazzling.
The hair, struck, turned to wisps of smoke, dissipating. The sword became a demon-slaying blade, feared by evil.
…
Near the medical shack’s deck.
Dozens of men, women, young, and old sat or lay bound under the hull, hands tied behind.
Having eaten drugged breakfast, some were still unconscious. Awake team members’ faces burned with anger, cursing Chen Hong, Kong Fan, and others nearby.
Kong Fan, the head chef, was short and stout, around forty, his white chef’s coat stained with oil and fresh blood.
Three other kitchen staff dragged the injured from the medical shack.
Professor Xu, both legs broken, was pulled by one arm from the shack by a young cook, his face contorted in pain, wailing: “Animals revert to instincts… sensing danger, they attack and kill. Without food, they eat their own. Unrestrained, human evil unleashes—rampant… desire… madness…”
“Old man, you’ve eaten the most lately, and you’re still howling? Looks like all your strength went to your mouth!”
Kong Fan held a grudge against Professor Xu, whose large appetite meant his students made frequent, bothersome trips to the kitchen.
Of course, neither he nor the students knew most of Xu’s food went to the patient next to him—me.
Kong Fan kicked Xu’s head twice, drawing blood from his mouth, silencing him.
“Bang! Bang… Bang…”
Gunshots rang out.
Moments later, Xie Tianshu emerged from the mist, stern-faced, a dragon-patterned ring on his left thumb, a handgun in his right.
Four security members followed, carrying two corpses, tossing them before the crowd.
Seeing Captain Gao Xin’s and another crew member’s bodies, the angry curses turned to screams and sobs. Some, terrified, trembled, barely breathing.
“You killed them! How did Gao Xin offend you? You’re lawless!” Professor Xu roared.
Xie Tianshu, usually calm, explained patiently: “Professor, we’re in a ghost world with no land in sight. Where’s the law? Where’s the sky? The captain was a good man, but good men can’t survive harsh conditions—they’re the first eliminated.”
“As a biology professor, you should know survival is the universe’s first law.”
“When conditions worsen, creatures grow restless and aggressive, clearing out competitors. Those who don’t act are doomed.”
“Survival of the fittest—you say it all the time. Only by removing those draining food and water can the superior survive.”
“Sigh, without foresight, trouble looms. We can’t wait until food’s gone, everyone too weak, then resort to cannibalism. That’s ugly—we’re civilized.”
“The captain couldn’t be ruthless, so I had to be the villain.”
He crouched before Zhao Meng, eyeing his twisted legs, displeased: “Your legs are wrecked—too harsh! Brother Meng, does it hurt? It must. Tell you what, hand over the Buddha’s relic, and I’ll make it quick. I swear on heaven, I’ll keep my word.”
Zhao Meng, pale as paper, opened his eyes, giving him a cold glance.
Xie Tianshu’s gaze chilled, asking, “Found Li Weiyi yet?”
A security member said, “Not yet.”
“The deck’s only so big—where could he hide? Search every inch, dig up every grave mound to find him. Where’s Xie Jin?” Xie Tianshu said.
“He took people to the planting area—hasn’t returned,” the member replied.
Xie Tianshu knew Xie Jin was after Cai Yutong.
“Brother Meng, know why I’m sure the relic’s with you or your junior brother?”
Xie Tianshu smiled, continuing, “When the Dragon Pole sank, I saw green and red light burst from Li Weiyi. The more you deny, the more it confirms the relic’s here. Speak now, save yourself pain.”
Zhao Meng remained silent.
Gao Huan, hands bound behind, face pressed to the cold ground, slowly woke. His shoulders and wrists ached, head throbbing, vision and hearing clearing.
Seeing his situation, his gaze fell on the corpses, pupils shrinking.
Struggling to sit, he stared at Gao Xin’s body, crying out, “Dad!”
He stood, rushing forward.
Losing balance, he fell headfirst beside the corpse.
“Dad… who killed my dad… who did this… ah… sob…”
Gao Huan’s voice was hoarse, heart wrenching, tears mixing with the corpse’s blood.
Chen Hong was surprised: “So the captain’s son was on board—well hidden.”
“Another connection hire,” Kong Fan sneered. A mere research vessel, stuffed with so many.
A security member whispered to Xie Tianshu: “This kid’s close to Li Weiyi, always together lately. He must know where he’s hiding.”
Xie Tianshu comforted, “Little Huan, the dead can’t return—grieve and move on. Tell me, where’s Li Weiyi?”
Seeing his father’s handgun in Xie Tianshu’s hand, Gao Huan knew the killer.
“I’ll kill you!”
Biting down, he lunged headfirst.
Xie Tianshu stepped back swiftly.
Gao Huan hit the ground, and before he could rise, Chen Hong stomped his neck, his ear bleeding under the hard sole.
Chen Hong said, “Don’t toast and refuse the penalty—can’t you see the situation?”
“I see… your… mom…” Gao Huan roared.
Chen Hong’s eyes darkened, kicking him, nearly knocking him out, silencing him.
From the mist came chaotic footsteps and curses.
Xie Jin and three others returned, bringing five students from the planting area.
Seeing the grim scene on the deck.
The once-furious students fell silent, trembling. Two girls lowered their heads, legs shaking.