novelraw Chapter 21 : Chapter 21
Chapter 21 : Chapter 21
Chapter 21: The Secret of the Stern
The celestial glow emanated from the ancient buildings at the stern, mingling with the mist.
A ten-meter-high wall blocked the view, revealing only the tops of the structures—red-gold glazed tiles, radiant divine wood beams. Pavilions, halls, and ancient towers stood in orderly array.
Between the towering wall, like a city rampart, and the nine-story tower was a hundred-meter-wide open deck.
Xie Jin, stripped of his earlier arrogance, sat on the first step of the stone stairs leading to the bronze gate, clutching a steel pipe, glancing nervously toward the tower passage.
He was a startled bird, seeing threats everywhere.
Behind him, dozens of stone steps led to the grand bronze gate, three meters tall. The left door bore carvings of countless household lights, the right a starry river like the underworld, from an unknown cosmos.
“Dr. Qi, what’s the situation?”
Seeing Qi Shanshan emerge from the passage, Xie Jin grasped at hope, his spirit lifting, hurrying to ask anxiously.
Qi Shanshan brought good news: “Relax, Li Weiyi and Lab 705’s people fought to a standstill— no one’s coming for you yet.”
“Great!”
Xie Jin’s mind raced: “Let’s plan. You poison the food, I’ll ambush. We’ll take out Li Weiyi, that murderous thug, and Lab 705 together.”
“Good, I was thinking the same.”
Qi Shanshan handed him a bag of food: “You haven’t eaten all day, must be starving. It’s a bit cold— make do.”
Famished, Xie Jin devoured it, mumbling, “Li Weiyi must’ve swallowed the relic to get so strong. But he’s still flesh— poison, strong poison, will kill him… then… ah… the food…”
Pain twisted his gut, like knives inside. He couldn’t stand, staring at Qi Shanshan in disbelief.
She stepped back three paces, hands in pockets, voice cold: “You said it— poison in the food, deadly poison, made with Black Dragon blood.”
“You wretch! We lost so badly… it’s because of you, you’re with that pretty boy… ugh…”
Xie Jin lunged but collapsed after three steps.
Twitching, he spat blood foam.
His skin blackened, rotting visibly.
Qi Shanshan kicked him lightly, confirming death, muttering scornfully, “You’re half right. I wasn’t with him before— I was helping you. Now…”
She allied with Xie Tianshu’s group because it seemed the only way to survive.
But she disdained their character and ability.
After Liu Ying’s fate, she was glad for Li Weiyi’s emergence— strong, handsome, loyal, decisive, compassionate to the weak, ruthless to enemies.
She didn’t want to be just his ally.
She wanted more.
But she’d missed her chance. Had she foreseen today, she’d have snatched that fish soup from Cai Yutong.
Shaking off regret, Qi Shanshan dragged Xie Jin’s body to the hull.
If she erased the traces, keeping me unaware, she’d cut ties with her past. She’d have ways to win me over.
No matter how exceptional, I was still a young man full of vigor.
“Xie Jin never dreamed the ship’s most terrifying person wasn’t me, but you.”
Hearing my voice, Qi Shanshan, despite her composure, was startled.
But in the brief moment of fixing her disheveled hair, she composed herself, asking calmly, “How long have you been here?”
“When Xie Jin fell.”
My tone was even, standing tall in the tower passage.
We were twenty meters apart.
“So you watched me drag a corpse like a clumsy penguin?” Qi Shanshan teased, pouting, as if unaware of my anger, disappointment, and pain.
I frowned, not in the mood for her flirtation.
This wasn’t something a few witty words could gloss over.
I stepped into the glow-lit deck area, spotting four team members’ corpses, chemical equipment, and drugs.
In a corner, the bear-like creature’s massive body lay, its abdominal wound rotting, reeking.
It died the day we fell onto the ship, too injured.
The Yellow Dragon Sword!
Its wounds, even on an extraordinary creature, couldn’t heal, festering faster.
The four team members’ corpses were grim.
Some had burst skin, leaving flesh and bone; some were half-scaled, half-rotted; one had antennae but a crushed skull.
I said, “So the rumored four who explored the stern and never returned were used for live experiments! You spread that story and left the bear’s blood near the tower to scare people away.”
“That day by the tower, you scolded Gao Huan and me to keep us from discovering your secret at the stern, right?”
“Xie Tianshu dared drink dragon blood because you gave him confirmed results.”
“The breakfast that knocked everyone out— you gave Kong Fan the drugs.”
Staring into Qi Shanshan’s eyes: “You’re terrifying, a flawless liar. I almost fell for it!”
Her eyes reddened, voice trembling: “I had no choice. You saw Liu Ying’s fate. If I didn’t act, I’d be the one jumping today. Only by being valuable can you survive, have a voice.”
I said, “Dr. Qi, how many died because of you? Without your drugs, they might not have succeeded.”
Tears streamed down her face: “I’m not you— I don’t have your strength, can’t control my fate. I could only compromise. When Xie Jin held a knife to my throat, it was death or help him. Tell me, what choice did I have?”
I no longer knew whether to believe her.
She’d saved me more than once.
But she was too clever, too good at lying, at spinning tales.
Every expression, every word, seemed emotional but was calculated. Xie Tianshu and Kong Fan were likely her pawns.
She could’ve killed them like she did Xie Jin.
“You saved me, so I won’t kill you this time. But someone will hold you accountable.”
Qi Shanshan’s eyes were sorrowful: “Only once?”
I realized the danger of owing favors.
Tears falling, she said, “Yes, I deserve death, but I saved Yutong, saved you. Even if the world says I should die, you two have no right to. Tell them now, and they’ll kill me, like those security members thrown into the soul sea.”
“You don’t kill me, but I’d die because of you.”
I could overlook others’ fates— I wasn’t a judge of justice.
But Senior Brother’s state was partly her doing.
I said, “You’re still useful, so I’ll give you a chance. Help me heal my brother, and he’ll decide your fate.”
“But if he doesn’t make it, if anything happens, someone will pay with their life. Even heaven won’t get in the way!”
I searched Qi Shanshan thoroughly, ensuring no dangerous items, and asked, “Where’s Senior Sister Cai?”
Qi Shanshan hadn’t expected the sunny, kind, humble Li Weiyi to have such a terrifying gaze when it came to his brother, chilling her to the bone.
She realized offending me on matters of principle was dreadful.
If not for her few good deeds, she’d be dead.
Leading me to the second floor of the tower: “No one dares come up here— it’s safe. I hid her here, out of the chaos’ reach.”
The second floor’s passage was lined with stone statues.
Passing them, we found Cai Yutong lying on the ground.
“She’s just sedated, no harm… wait, why hasn’t she woken?” Qi Shanshan sensed something wrong.
“Senior Sister… Cai…”
I crouched, checking her.
“So hot!”
Touching her forehead, I jolted.
Her body was scalding, far beyond human temperature.
“Let me see.”
Qi Shanshan checked her temperature, then began undressing her but paused, glancing at me.
I turned away.
Channeling the scorching airflow to my ears.
Lifting her clothes, Qi Shanshan saw golden veins under Cai Yutong’s chest skin, spreading from her heart, flowing with fiery golden threads.
“You said a tenth dilution of Golden Crow blood was safe for humans. Why this sudden calamity?” Qi Shanshan muttered, puzzled, staring at the unconscious Cai Yutong.
“She drank Golden Crow blood?” I turned as her clothes were covered again.
Qi Shanshan nodded: “She thought diluting it made it safe, so she tested on herself. Her temperature’s over sixty degrees and rising fast.”
Thinking, she put the cross pendant on Cai Yutong’s neck.
The imperishable pendant was Cai Yutong’s first find.
Qi Shanshan took it after sedating her.
She thought it might suppress the Golden Crow blood’s destructive power, as Cai Yutong showed no such changes while wearing it.
Like dragon transformation needing the ring.
Without the pendant, the blood’s power unleashed, endangering her life.
Luckily, the diluted blood released slowly, or she’d be ash by now.
…
With the pendant, her temperature rose faster.
Soon, golden flames engulfed her.
I and Qi Shanshan couldn’t approach, retreating far.
“So eerie! The flames are hot, but her body’s unharmed.”
The flames were blinding, yet I saw Cai Yutong’s outline intact— unbelievable for a mortal.
“Splash!”
The flames surged, and within the sparks, a pair of meter-long radiant wing shadows emerged, like a chrysalis breaking into a butterfly.
We retreated further, holding our breath.
After about fifteen minutes, the flames receded.
The glow dimmed, revealing Cai Yutong’s body, her outer layer cracking and peeling, revealing dazzlingly fair skin.
“You… maybe go down first?” Qi Shanshan said cautiously.
I saw the issue— though not ash, her clothes had burned away.
Trusting Qi Shanshan wouldn’t harm her, I descended to the first deck, recalling her feeding me fish soup, my heart warming yet worried.
Soon.
Whispers from the two women came from the second floor.
My heart eased, a smile tugging my lips.
I didn’t go up, waiting below.
Relaxed, my gaze caught the three-meter bronze gate atop the dozens of stone steps, curiosity rising as I approached.