Ghost Blows Out the Light Fanfiction Fragments of the Hidden Scriptures - Saving San Francisco

Chapter 3

The fat man said in a low voice, "Why don't we swim over and take a look at it?"

Shirley Yang quickly stopped her, saying, "Don't go over there, something seems a bit strange to me."

I looked at us; we were all exhausted, and there were two wounded among us. In this stormy weather, I didn't know how much longer we could hold on. There were no other rescue boats nearby, so we might as well just climb aboard and see what was going on.

I gritted my teeth and whispered to Shirley Yang, "We're going to die either way. We can't hold out for long in such a storm. We might as well take this opportunity to climb up and see what's going on. Maybe we'll survive and find old Robert's treasure, and maybe we can even use that to get Professor Chen back."

The fat man quickly chimed in, "Yes, Chairman Mao also taught us that everyone must die, but some deaths are heavier than Mount Tai, while others are lighter than a feather. We must rise to the challenge, defeat this paper tiger of imperialism, Lao Luo, and trample him underfoot so that he can never rise again."

Shirley Yang smiled and said to me, "You still can't change your impatient temper. Fine, let's go and take a look quietly, but be careful."

I chuckled and said, "I can't change it unless someone keeps an eye on me."

We changed direction and stealthily made our way towards the cargo ship. The waves gradually subsided, but moving forward was still quite difficult. We all struggled to paddle with one hand, our hearts pounding, afraid that we might make a sound and disturb the spirits aboard the ship.

The three of us rowed together for a while, thinking we'd reach the boat soon. But when we looked up, it was still so far away. We looked at each other, unable to believe our eyes. Fatty and Shirley Yang both stared at me, so I whispered, "Maybe we misjudged the distance in the dark. Let's keep rowing."

We paddled on for a while longer, but when we looked up, the ship was still drifting a few dozen meters ahead of us. Could it be that the wind and waves were pushing the cargo ship, drifting in the same direction and at the same speed? Or were we just paddling without making any progress?

I told Shirley Yang to keep her eyes glued to the cargo ship ahead, not to look away. Fatty and I worked together, paddling with all our might. After a while, Shirley Yang whispered, "Stop paddling, we can't see it moving, but it's still so far away."

The fat man stopped working dejectedly and said, "Damn it, even getting a ride is so hard. That old man is really stingy."

The storm gradually subsided. I looked up and saw the cargo ship quietly floating on the sea, its waterline quite deep; it couldn't have been drifting that fast. Suddenly, a thought struck me, and I looked down at Shirley Yang and said, "Do you remember the Ghost Tomb?"

Shirley Yang nodded. The Ghost Tomb was discovered in a Tang Dynasty tomb. It was originally a Warring States period tomb that no longer existed. Because the burial site was replaced by a later Tang Dynasty tomb, it existed in a state of being in an alternate dimension that appeared and disappeared. It was later lured out by the live goose offerings that Fatty and I brought when we went down into the tomb, which almost caused us to perish in the ancient tomb (for the exciting story, please refer to the book "Ghost Blows Out the Light" by Ba Chang Tianxia).

I gestured for Fatty Wang to be quiet and whispered, "Listen to this, is there anything wrong with it?"

The surroundings were deathly silent.

The fat man listened for a moment and said, "There's nothing wrong with it. Old Hu, stop being so mysterious and just tell me."

Shirley Yang noticed something, looked at the cargo ship, and said, "That's not right. With such large sails swaying in the wind, you can't hear a sound of the wind at all."

“That’s right,” I said smugly, “so I think it’s just an illusion, or you could say a phantom.”

The fat man stared in astonishment, his mouth agape. "No way! We're so close, we can see it so clearly, and you're saying it's just a shadow?"

I said, "If you don't believe me, shine a wolf-eye flashlight on it. It will disappear when the sun comes out tomorrow."

The fat man took out a wolf-eye flashlight from the package in the middle of the inflatable bag and shone it on the cargo ship. The beam of light met no resistance and went straight through the ship.

"It seems that simple things can cause unnecessary panic when placed in a complex environment. Medically, this is called subconscious obsessive-compulsive disorder," I said. "As for how this illusion was formed, it may be a material refraction similar to a mirage. Another more fashionable explanation is that, according to the ancients, all things have a spirit. It may also be a time-space memory left behind by this cargo ship when it was shipwrecked, also called a time-space video. It's like a piece of electromagnetic wave. When it encounters a suitable magnetic field, it will appear in a specific situation."

Shirley Yang nodded and said, "Based on your deduction, it can be determined that the cargo ship sank most likely on a stormy night, and in the nearby waters."

Not to be outdone, Fatty Wang retorted, "According to your explanation of mirages, this ship is right beneath our feet in the deep sea, which is why it's reflected on the water's surface."

I smiled and nodded. "You're a quick learner. Fatty, let's get some sleep first, and you can go down into the water and take a look as soon as it's light tomorrow."

After swimming for most of the night, everyone was indeed tired. The inflatable bladder prepared by the old foreigner was quite large and sturdy. I helped Shirley Yang, the female comrade, onto the bladder to rest, while Fatty and I clung to the bladder, secured with ropes, and took a nap.

I don't know how much time passed, but the sun was blindingly bright. I stretched, and my stomach rumbled, waking me up from hunger. I felt sore and achy all over during my sleep, and I even slipped and fell down to drink water, and I kept having nightmares.

Shirley Yang woke up too. She carefully peeled off a small piece of flesh that was still stuck on the fat man's shoulder with her Swiss Army knife, wrapped it in gloves, and looked at it in the sunlight. Under the sunlight, the flesh was almost transparent, soft and boneless, like it was made of white fat. It was almost impossible to tell the difference between skin and flesh. The only noticeable thing was a few small pimples.

Shirley Yang said it was probably the tentacles of a deep-sea poison jellyfish. It's a pity we didn't see them, otherwise we could have identified the species of jellyfish by the patterns on its bell-shaped body.

Jellyfish are a type of primitive coelenterate, belonging to the phylum Cnidaria and class Scyphozoa in taxonomy. However, they should not be underestimated. According to the American magazine *World Wildlife*, the most venomous creature on Earth is the box jellyfish, which lives in the ocean. Also known as the sea wasp, the adult box jellyfish is mushroom-shaped and nearly transparent. A single adult box jellyfish has billions of venom sacs and stingers on its tentacles, enough to kill 20 people, demonstrating its extreme venom. Its venom primarily damages the heart. When the box jellyfish's venom enters a person's heart, it disrupts the rhythm of the body's cells, preventing the heart from pumping blood properly and leading to rapid death. The tentacles are both its digestive organs and its weapons. Covered with stinging cells, like venomous threads, they can inject venom; once stung, the prey is quickly paralyzed and dies. The tentacles tightly grasp these prey, then retract and suck them in with the polyps under the umbrella-shaped body. Each polyp can secrete enzymes that quickly break down the proteins inside the prey.

I was stunned. Last night was truly fortunate, but the jellyfish that could hold off a submarine must be enormous. It must be at least the oldest ancestor of all jellyfish, or perhaps a group attacking in swarms. I heard they are typical four generations living together.

As soon as the fat man woke up, he cried out that he was starving.

Volume 1, Cape Tomb, Chapter 10: Escape (3)

I looked around; all was silent. The ghost ship had vanished without a trace. Only the sun, like a large round pancake, rose close to the horizon, its rays shining brightly on us in the sea. I couldn't help but recite aloud the lines from Bai Juyi's poem: "A ray of morning sun spreads across the water, half the river shimmering green, half red."

The fat man shook his head and replied, "Poor old Hu's affair, all night the fat man soaked pancakes in water." He then laughed loudly, pointing at me and Shirley Yang. I looked down and realized that, without realizing it, I was tightly gripping Shirley Yang's hand... (500 words omitted here)

Shirley Yang checked the package; there was leftover food from last night, a can of braised pork, and two packs of compressed biscuits. We ate them separately; after escaping overnight, the food tasted better than ever before. The biggest obstacle to survival was the lack of fresh water; there was no way to deal with it, so we just had to endure it.

The sun rose higher, its heat making skin feel tight, and the sea salt stung, causing a sharp pain all over. The previous poetic mood was completely gone. The fat man groaned incessantly, trying to shrink himself into the water, saying he was practically dried fish. I teased him, saying he should learn from Shirley Yang, who is incredibly wealthy and has delicate skin, yet she doesn't complain. What's with his whining?

The conversation dwindled as everyone grew increasingly hot from the sun. The blazing sun high in the sky made everyone parched and incredibly thirsty. The fat man couldn't resist any longer; he took a sip of seawater, but before he could even swallow, he vomited it out, yelling that he was choking. I wanted to laugh, but I couldn't; I was so thirsty I was almost losing consciousness. I glanced at Shirley Yang; her face was pale, and she was panting heavily. She was probably struggling too.

Suddenly, Shirley Yang said, "You can eat raw fish to replenish fluids." Right, I slapped my forehead; why hadn't I thought of that?

The fat man frantically rummaged through his bag, turning it over and over until he found only a black folding tool that seemed suitable. He unfolded the tool, and like an iron bar, he swung it down at the fish swimming around him, splashing water everywhere, but the fish were startled and fled. He went back and forth, hitting the fish until his arm ached, but he hadn't caught a single one. The fat man muttered, "Old Hu, this won't work. It'd be better to give you a harpoon."

I knew it wouldn't work. The iron rod creates resistance in the water, and the fish we see from the surface are refracted by the water's light, making them appear to the left and higher than their actual location. So, we're always a beat too late when we hit them. I thought for a moment, then leaned close to Fatty and said, "Don't bother catching fish. If you're really thirsty, just drink your own urine."

The fat man looked at me with surprise and muttered, "Damn it, is there really no other way? Instead of eating fresh fish, we're drinking urine?"

Shirley Yang rummaged through the package, pondered for a while, then took out a plastic bag (the outer packaging of a gas mask), punctured the opening, strung it together with a thin rope, tied it with a long cord, broke off a few glow sticks and put them into the plastic bag, filled it with water, and slowly threw it underwater, handing me the end of the rope.

I remained motionless. The glow stick emitted a soft blue-white light underwater, and slowly, small fish swooped down, circling and probing the plastic bag. After a while, a few found the opening, darted inside, and swam around the glow stick, as if they were moths dancing around a light. I pulled the rope, closing the bag and gently lifting it to the surface, successfully catching several small fish.

The fat man was overjoyed. He pulled a fish out of his bag, used a Swiss Army knife to cut the flesh, and popped it into his mouth. Juices flew everywhere as he chewed, nodding repeatedly and saying, "Old Hu, this is delicious! Fresh Hokkaido sashimi. Ah, so this is what life can be like!"

He gave Shirley Yang a thumbs up and said, "Well done, Miss Yang. From now on, I, Fatty Wang, will follow you wholeheartedly. At least I won't have to drink urine anymore..."

I laughed. This fat guy is truly carefree and easygoing, a natural optimist. With him around, it seems the road to the underworld won't be lonely. I handed Shirley Yang a peeled raw fish and ate one myself. The raw fish was initially fishy and astringent, but as I chewed it slowly, there was actually a hint of sweetness from the fresh meat.

Following the same method, we caught some more, ate them as we caught them, and didn't feel thirsty anymore.

Shirley Yang has recovered a lot, it seems the stings from the jellyfish tentacles have subsided, and I'm relieved. However, spending all day in the seawater has caused my skin to wrinkle and become unbearably itchy.

Shirley Yang glanced at the compass on her wristwatch and realized the current was carrying us eastward. The ocean was vast, and without any other instruments, we couldn't immediately discern our location or pinpoint the nearest coastline. I sighed. If even Shirley Yang couldn't figure it out, Fatty Wang and I were completely lost; we could only resign ourselves to fate.

The fat guy, unconcerned, suddenly suggested: "Since we're bored anyway, why don't we sing a military song to lift our spirits and boost our morale?" He roared "Chairman Mao's Soldiers Obey the Party's Words Most" at the sky, shouting hysterically until his voice was hoarse. Shirley Yang and I laughed so hard we almost fell over.

I said, "Don't attract sharks to come and claim kinship."

Shirley Yang pointed into the distance and said, "Look, it's attracted whales."

In the distance, a column of waves shot into the air like a fountain, splashing water droplets that were crystal clear and quite beautiful.

As we watched, a huge white shadow suddenly swam past Shirley Yang and disappeared in a flash. We immediately tensed up. I gripped my black folding knife, highly vigilant of the underwater surroundings, ready to plunge it in.

Shirley Yang grabbed me and said, "It's a dolphin." She pulled two fish out of her bag, gurgling. A moment later, a white dolphin emerged from the water, seemingly approaching affectionately. Shirley Yang tossed the fish up, and the dolphin leaped gracefully into the air, biting the fish and swallowing it whole. Shirley Yang tossed two more fish, which the dolphin caught again. The dolphin nuzzled against Shirley Yang's body, darting in and out, gurgling like a spoiled child. Shirley Yang tried to hug it, and it didn't pull away.

Wang Pangzi and I were stunned. Pangzi looked at its mouth full of sharp, broken teeth, and tentatively reached out to touch its skin. He found many small puddles on its body. Shirley Yang explained that this could form a "water shield" around the dolphin's body to avoid water resistance caused by rapid swimming.

Just then, a gigantic whale suddenly leaped out of the distant sea, its lower body, the size of a locomotive, slamming out of the water. Its broad, forked tail fin slammed down with a deafening roar, sending towering waves crashing into the water. This happened repeatedly, as if in a show of force.

Shirley Yang cried out in alarm, "Oh no! That's an adult killer whale!" We could clearly see that the whale's back was jet black, its belly snow-white, and most strikingly, behind its triangular dorsal fin, about the size of a ship's oar, was a large, inverted horseshoe-shaped grayish-white patch. Killer whales are the most ferocious carnivorous whales in the ocean, extremely aggressive in nature. Their massive upper and lower jaws are filled with 40 to 50 large, conical teeth, enough to swallow an adult sea lion whole. This killer whale was at least 40 meters long, or even longer; it seemed the three of us wouldn't even be enough to fill its teeth.

As the orca drew closer, we all panicked. In the vast, desolate sea, trying to fight this mountain-sized predator was like trying to lift tofu with a horse's tail—it was impossible unless we were suicidal. Suddenly, Shirley Yang called out to the small dolphin beside her. The dolphin seemed to sense the approaching danger and began to call out back, its calls growing louder. With each call, seventy or eighty adult dolphins appeared on the surface of the sea around us, swimming back and forth, forming a dense array covering an area of several dozen meters.

Volume 1, Chapter 11: Naval Battle

The dolphins lined up and suddenly roared to the sky in unison. At the front of the formation, a colossal dolphin slowly emerged from the sea. It was almost twice the size of an ordinary dolphin, its skin was the color of a clear, lustrous gemstone, and its long snout had a deep purple scar of crimson.

According to the "Animal" section of the "Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Techniques": "All beasts with unusual appearances are extraordinary. They become spirits after a hundred years, immortals after a thousand years, and immortals after ten thousand years. In the sky they are phoenixes, on the ground they are unicorns, in the mountains they are tigers, in the abyss they are dragons, in the meadows they are cranes, and in the forests they are foxes... and so on, too numerous to mention. Those who see them should avoid them."

In other words, creatures in nature that have existed for a long time and exhibit unusual characteristics have become spirits and cannot be compared to ordinary species. If you see them, you should avoid them, otherwise you will suffer disasters and the consequences will be unpredictable.

It seems that the dolphin in front of us is at least five hundred years old and should be the king who leads all the dolphins.

The orca spewed water from its snort and pounced in the blink of an eye, opening its gaping maw, as large as a small temple, to bite the dolphin.

The king of dolphins was the first to charge, leaping dozens of feet high. The dolphins swarmed forward, all striking the orca with their long snouts. Caught off guard, the orca stumbled, but then spun around, its massive tail whipping up to strike, knocking over a dozen nearby dolphins. Simultaneously, the orca opened its jaws wide, unleashing a jet of water that struck several dolphins in front of it. Before the swirling dolphins could escape, the orca's sword-like teeth had already seized one, tearing it in half with a swift, violent thud, blood gushing forth.

Suddenly, the purple-scarred king of dolphins appeared out of nowhere, leaping forward and piercing the orca's right eyeball with lightning speed. The orca, in pain, let out a deafening roar before plunging into the sea and disappearing instantly. Only a trail of blood remained on the surface of the water, instantly staining it a dark band tens of meters long.

The King of Dolphins let out a roar, and the dolphins retreated far away, guarding the dark waters on guard. The sea was silent for a moment, save for countless floating objects. Shirley Yang gently stroked the little dolphin beside her, while Fatty and I, holding our tools, dared not utter a sound.

Suddenly, waves surged, and the orca burst forth from among the dolphins, its massive body crashing down like tons of steel, disrupting the dolphins' formation. It devoured several dolphins one after another, its bloodshot eyes half-open, its face contorted in a ferocious grimace. The dolphins retreated hastily, utterly routed.

The king of dolphins darted about, quickly swimming to the vicinity of the orca, weaving left and right with lightning speed, before attacking the orca's other good eye. The orca seemed quite wary of it, relentlessly baring its sharp teeth, chasing and intercepting the king of dolphins, giving it no opening. At first glance, it appeared as if the two sea monsters, one large and one small, were playing hide-and-seek, advancing and retreating, dodging left and right with a variety of moves. In reality, the scene was extremely dangerous; either of them could face certain death.

In the midst of the melee, the King of Dolphins lunged forward, ramming into the orca. Its long, spiky snout left a long gash on the orca's body. The orca whirled around, opening its jaws to pounce, but just as it was about to bite its opponent, the King of Dolphins leaped up and swiftly plunged into the orca's throat. The orca snapped its jaws shut and swallowed the King of Dolphins whole.

Shirley Yang asked me in surprise, "Did the orca eat the king of dolphins?!"

I shook my head. It's not that simple; things are probably not over yet.

Before the words were even finished, the orca suddenly leaped wildly, thrashing about in the water like a madman. As blood gushed forth, its belly suddenly split open, and the king of dolphins emerged from its tail. The orca struggled a few times, belly up, then finally lay still, its body gradually sinking halfway down. The dolphins surrounded their king, cheering in unison, their shouts echoing through the sky.

The fat man was about to swim over, hoping to take the opportunity to cut off a few pieces of the orca's large, fatty meat to nourish his body.

Just then, the King of Dolphins led his dolphin formation to swim up to us and surrounded us. Fatty's face changed, and he asked, "Beard, is it planning to use us as snacks?" I shook my head, also unsure of the situation.

Shirley Yang said in a low voice, "Everyone, don't move, just wait and see."

Just then, the baby dolphin swam to the king of dolphins, gurgling affectionately and rubbing against its long snout and body. Suddenly, the king of dolphins gurgled and swam forward. Before we could react, a dozen or so dolphins surged up from the water beneath us and lifted us all up. Wang Pangzi, caught off guard and too large, almost slid over. Shirley Yang exclaimed joyfully, "Don't be afraid! They're trying to carry us away! We're saved! Dolphins are renowned 'wise men' of the ocean; they'll definitely take us to safety!"

Fatty Wang and I hurriedly grabbed the fins and each climbed onto a dolphin. Before we were even properly seated, the dolphins shot forward like arrows. Shouting and yelling all the way, Fatty was incredibly proud, clinging tightly to the dolphin's back and yelling at me, "Old Hu, how does my posture compare to the old rascal riding a whale in Jin Yong's novels? Isn't it cooler?!"

I endured the stinging wind and replied, "Not at all, you're even more handsome than Li Bai, who rode a whale to immortality, it's just that you're a bit too fat."

The fat man laughed triumphantly.

I turned around and saw Shirley Yang, carrying her backpack, riding a dolphin close behind us. Beside her, the little dolphin swam and clucked happily. On a whim, I also clucked, and all the dolphins joined in…

Led by the king of dolphins, the dolphin formation surrounded the three of us, speeding eastward at forty knots per hour—a truly magnificent sight. Several hours later, as the sun slowly sank in the west, the outline of a small island appeared on the distant horizon in the golden afterglow, its silhouette vaguely revealing the silhouettes of tall palm trees growing there.

Volume 1, Ancient Tomb at the Cape, Chapter 12, The Isolated Island (1)

Chapter Twelve: The Isolated Island (1)

As the last rays of the setting sun faded, we finally approached this lonely island on the horizon.

The island is about ten miles in circumference. On our side, there is a long beach, while from a distance, the other side looks like a towering, hundred-foot-high black sea cliff.

At dusk, one can vaguely see that the beach used to be covered with dense palm trees, resembling a pristine subtropical rainforest.

We bid a reluctant farewell to our beloved dolphins and waded onto the beach.

I must say, it feels amazing to have my feet firmly on the ground.

After discussing it, we realized we knew nothing about the island and couldn't act rashly, so we decided to camp on the beach at the edge of the forest for the night.

The view from here is expansive, allowing us to prepare in advance should anything happen.

Shirley Yang packed her bags, while Fatty and I, armed with weapons and wolf-eye flashlights, went to the edge of the forest to collect many dry branches and grass. We then made a big fire.

Fatty wanted to go down to the beach to catch some fish to grill, but Shirley Yang stopped him. After all, too much had happened in the past two days, and they were new to the area with an unclear situation; it was better to be cautious. If he wanted to eat fish, they could wait until tomorrow to catch more.

We hastily ate the few remaining compressed biscuits. After drifting at sea for days, we were exhausted and tired, so we gathered some large palm leaves to lay down on the fire and quickly fell asleep.

In my sleep, I kept feeling tentative footsteps moving back and forth in the forest, as if someone was spying on us through the dense undergrowth. But I was so tired that I simply fell into a deep sleep…

I woke up to find the sun already high in the sky. I rubbed my eyes, stretched comfortably, and thought, "Another beautiful day."

Turning her head, she found the fat man still sleeping like a log, but Shirley Yang's spot was empty.