Chapter 172: 172

The stench in the cabin was awful . Zhang Heng saw that everything was covered in a layer of green, slimy algae . He had to tear off a part of his shirt to mask his mouth and nose . As he made his way to the captain’s quarters, he noticed that the doors of all the cabins were ajar, and the place was in complete disarray . Tables and chairs were all over the floor, with a couple of old rags strewn around the place as well .

Considering that the ship had been adrift for a long while, everything he just witnessed wasn’t surprising . He noticed something peculiar, though . It looked as if the crew had left in a hurry . Let alone people that were still alive, he saw no rotting corpses or bones . He also noticed that all the windows had been boarded up by wooden planks .

That explained why the ship’s interior was so stuffy . Zhang Heng drew his sword and punched holes into the boards, allowing fresh air to flood into the ship . Thankfully, the putrid stench soon became more bearable . As he continued on, he found three gold coins stuck between the boards on the floor . It puzzled him as to why the owner would leave such valuable items there .

Zhang Heng did not linger around for too long . Soon, he arrived at the captain’s quarters located at the end of the hallway . It was the only cabin along the corridor that had its doors closed . Zhang Heng attempted to push the door . To his surprise, it didn’t budge, seeming as if something was jamming the door from the inside . So, Zhang Heng took a few steps back and gave the door a kick . After three continuous bootings, the door finally flew open . At the same time, he saw what was blocking the door . It was a chair, now broken, thanks to Zhang Heng’s brute force .

Instantly, he proceeded to explore the room . The captain’s quarters were less humid than the other parts of the ship as it was sealed off well—moldy books sprawled all over the floor . Surprisingly, the table was still in its original position . Just like the other cabins, there was no one here as well, and the windows were tightly sealed . After going ahead to hang his oil lamp on the hook, he carried on looking around the room . He found a pearl necklace, a ring, and some coins in the drawer .

With the gold coins that he found earlier, Zhang Heng could confirm that this ship hadn’t been looted by any pirates . Something else must have happened to them . He then found a couple of the captain’s diaries on the table, but they were illegible to him . Based on all the languages that he knew, he could confirm that it was neither English nor French . There were a ton of languages spoken in the continent of Europe, and Zhang Heng couldn’t figure the language that the captain used . In the end, he decided to bring all the diaries with him, telling himself that he would look into them later .

After that, he spent another 15 minutes searching the quarters but found nothing worthy of taking . Just as he was about to leave, he noticed something and stopped in his tracks . For the previous cabins that he visited, Zhang Heng could see evidence of people fleeing in a hurry . However, the captain’s quarters were in a completely different state . The windows were sealed, and there was a chair blocking the door as well . How did the person leave this room considering it was locked from the inside?

A chill ran down Zhang Heng’s spine . Knowing that this ship had been adrift for a very long time, there was a small chance that the chair was sent to the door by the rocking boat . Still, he could not explain why they would seal the windows . The valuable necklace, ring, and gold coins were strong evidence that the crew left without even looking back . Were they trying to hide from something?

Suddenly, Zhang Heng heard someone walking towards him . Immediately, he turned around and drew out his saber, only to find that it was Anne .

“Why are you here?”

“I just checked out the cargo hold . I quickly came up after I heard someone kicking the doors . This is so weird! I don’t see anyone on this ship . In fact, the goods are still intact in the cargo hold . Unfortunately, the humidity had damaged the entire stock of nylon . It’s impossible to sell them off . By the way, why do you look so nervous?”

1“There’s something very wrong with this ship . Let’s leave since we can’t find anything valuable . Where’s Billy and the rest?”

“He’s gone to check the lowest deck with Monte . Should I inform them that we are leaving?”

“Let’s go together . ”

Zhang Heng had a bad feeling about Anne walking alone on this ship . He quickly collected the diaries and unhooked his oil lamp . As usual, Anne led the way . Soon, the two arrived at the stairs that led to the lower decks . Strangely, the guardrails were gone . It looked as if someone destroyed them on purpose .

“Billy said that this ship is about 100 years old . Is that true?”

“Judging by its fitting and structure, she sure doesn’t look like something that belongs to this era . ”

“Where are all the people?”

“I would love to know the answer to this question as well . I’m pretty sure that no pirates looted this vessel . I found no trace of fighting in the captain’s quarters as well . The possibility of the sailors retaliating against something are relatively low as well . We should have seen some skeletons lying around if a deadly disease hit them . Something horrifying must have forced the entire crew to abandon ship . ”

Suddenly, Zhang Heng heard Billy’s voice .

“Both of you better come here! I found something interesting . ”

At that, Zhang Heng and Anne sped up and descended to the lowest deck . Billy and the two pirates with him lifted their heads and looked at the ceiling . Everything else around them seemed normal .

“What’s going on?”

Billy lifted his oil lamp, and a series of claw marks were presented to Zhang Heng and Anne .

“Are those… caused by rats?” asked Anne .

“I have never seen any rat capable of inflicting such damage to a ship . How about you guys? Have you found anything interesting?” asked Billy .

“Everything looks normal in the cargo hold,” replied Anne .

“There is a large amount of smoked meat left in the kitchen . I don’t think there was a food shortage around . We also found two boxes of silverware . ”

Only the last pair of pirates brought them some good news . Still, none of them could figure out how the sailors disappeared from this ship . At least, they did not return empty-handed .

They soon left the derelict vessel after moving the silverware to their boats; rowing back to the Jackdaw . As the small boats were approaching the Jackdaw, Zhang Heng turned around and gave the mysterious ship another look . He thought he saw a line of ghostly black shadows standing at the gunwale watching over them . When he took another good look, all he could see were the shadows of the masts .