Chapter 9: Shipboard Strange Tales

For the next two days, Li Weiyi stayed in bed, feigning illness. In reality, he was fully immersed in exploring the transcendent realm, and the silver meridians within his body had increased to thirteen. This meant he now had thirteen pathways for circulating qi.

Despite numerous subsequent attempts, he couldn't find a way to further increase the number of silver meridians. Fortunately, the thirteen meridians already largely covered his entire body. Using them as conduits for the scorching qi flow to nourish his flesh, blood, and bones, Li Weiyi had completely transformed in just two days. His hearing and sight were sharp, his five senses were heightened, and his physical capabilities had improved to an astonishing degree.

He felt an inexhaustible strength within him, as if he could kill an ox with a single punch.

The recovery speed of his left arm injury was incredible. The wound had already scabbed over and begun to heal, allowing for simple lifting and gripping. As long as he didn't exert too much force, there was no pain. Such a rate of self-healing was completely beyond normal comprehension and utterly baffling. Li Weiyi estimated that with the nourishment of the scorching qi flow, he would fully recover in another two or three days.

If it weren't to conceal his abilities, lest anyone suspect he had truly swallowed the Buddha's sarira, Li Weiyi would have immediately gone outside to test his current physical capabilities. He felt his current speed and strength would likely even astound himself.

However, these past two days he had been getting hungry very quickly. His appetite was voracious, and he could never feel full. This was in stark contrast to Professor Xu on the adjacent bed, who had no appetite. Consequently, most of the food brought to Professor Xu by his students ended up in Li Weiyi's stomach.

"Since I can't open any more silver meridians, I'll pause my transcendent exploration for now," he thought. "I'll go outside and see what the situation is like on the bronze vessel... and grab some food while I'm at it."

For the past two days, he had only heard people talk about the immense size of the bronze vessel, sometimes getting lost in the fog, the eerie grave forest with its occasional strange sounds, and the gigantic Golden Crow corpse, shining brightly in the darkness and radiating heat against the biting cold. However, he had no real concept of it in his mind.

With his injuries almost healed and transcendent power at his disposal, Li Weiyi felt a newfound confidence. The confusion and anxiety of two days prior were gone.

True confidence stems from a strong foundation, whether it's ample resources, superior strength, or solid support, rather than simply being instilled by empty words of encouragement.

Knowing that the tallest tree catches the most wind, Li Weiyi didn't want to draw attention to himself or be pushed into the limelight by being too unique. So he continued to act like a normal injured person, feigning difficulty as he sat up and slowly placed his feet on the ground.

"Little Brother Li, what are you doing out of bed? Do you need any help?"

Gao Huan's injuries weren't too severe; his twisted neck had recovered, though his broken right arm was still splinted and bandaged. He had also just gotten up, preparing to relieve himself.

Li Weiyi and Gao Huan walked out of the medical tent together.

When he saw the scene on the bronze deck outside, even though he was mentally prepared, Li Weiyi was still greatly shocked. A chill shot up his spine to his head. Before him, it was like the underworld, filled with tombstones, grave mounds, ghost flags, and prayer flags. Ominous mist swirled, severely limiting visibility. Above, dark, eerie clouds hung low, seemingly pressing down on them, creating an intensely oppressive and heavy atmosphere.

They had said before that only three or four rows of grave mounds were visible within sight, and entering the grave forest was like being in a labyrinth. Li Weiyi's eyes, having been nourished by the scorching qi flow, could see much further. Seven or eight rows of grave mounds were visible to him, and within a hundred meters, the mist did not obscure his vision. However, even with the deck being five hundred meters wide, there was still a sense of mysterious profundity, like being "deep in the mountains, clouds obscuring where one is," instilling a feeling of awe.

The only light source was the Golden Crow corpse, as described by many expedition members. It was said to be incredibly stunning when viewed up close, having been dead for countless ages, yet its feathers still radiated immense heat and brilliant light. But from a distance, through the ominous mist, Li Weiyi could only see a large expanse of dark red light. It resembled a dark red mountain, without any clear outline or details of the corpse.

"At first, there wasn't this much fog on the bronze vessel at all," Gao Huan whispered. "The ominous mist only grew thicker after we set sail."

"I heard many strange things have happened," Gao Huan continued. "Some people in the grave forest encountered a ghostly camel caravan, with bells jingling, and eventually, the caravan walked into a tombstone adorned with a ghost flag and vanished."

"Others say that once while walking through the grave forest, they heard the sound of chains and a piercing scraping of claws on metal from deep underground. The interior of this ship must contain some unknown great terror, but we don't know how to get in; there's no entrance to be found."

"We've definitely fallen into the legendary Underworld," Gao Huan insisted. "Remember the giant beast, Jiuying, that overturned the research vessel? It was captured by a golden claw—I'm telling you, it was definitely the divine claw of the Kunpeng."

"How big is the Kunpeng? It's said to be thousands of miles long; Zhuangzi himself saw it when he dreamt of traveling through the Underworld."

"The Underworld is terrifying and vast," Gao Huan continued. "It invaded Earth during the Xia and Shang dynasties. Back then, the gods on Earth thought they were demons from the North Sea. No one could have possibly imagined that the Underworld was hidden within the microscopic world."

After relieving himself, Gao Huan pulled Li Weiyi along, spouting various mythological legends and his own conjectures. When asked how he knew these things, he would list obscure book titles that Li Weiyi had never heard of.

After finding some food in the kitchen tent and eating his fill, the two passed a cluster of low, fresh graves. Gao Huan sighed wistfully. "When we set out, there were a hundred and seventeen people aboard the Dragon's Reach," he said. "Only eighty-two survived, and over a dozen of those are severely injured."

There were a total of three medical tents set up on the deck. The medical tent where Li Weiyi and Gao Huan were staying was near the ship's rail and was just one of them.

"Being alive isn't necessarily a good thing," Li Weiyi mused, his heart growing heavy as he considered that in the near future, the people on the ship might erupt into conflict due to food and water shortages, gradually moving towards their demise. The microscopic world was surely different from Earth. If they couldn't reach land, they wouldn't last long with their current supplies.

Li Weiyi heard that expedition members had used ropes tied to iron buckets to try and draw water from the dark, invisible sea. They had to lower them over a hundred meters before hitting the surface. But they encountered a powerful, strange force that nearly pulled the water-drawing team members down. Multiple attempts yielded the same result. They could hear the sound of waves, but couldn't draw the water up. There were unknown dangers in the sea.

"You're absolutely right!" Gao Huan glanced around, then whispered, "I heard that to solve the food and water problem, the higher-ups decided to analyze and experiment with the blood from the Golden Crow and Black Dragon corpses. Dr. Cai is personally overseeing it, and the analysis results were out yesterday. I wonder if it's safe to drink directly."

"I also heard that Xie Tianshu suggested using the severely injured as test subjects," he continued. "If successful, the severely injured might recover, and if it fails, it would save a lot of food and water."

"But this proposal was collectively opposed by the higher-ups," Gao Huan continued. "In my opinion, it will still be implemented sooner or later. Once food and water become scarce and living conditions worsen, they'll hypocritically ask the severely injured for their consent. In reality, the severely injured will have no other choice."

"Once the severely injured are used up, it will be the turn of us, the old, weak, sick, and disabled," Gao Huan concluded. "It's always a dog-eat-dog world, with clear distinctions between social strata."

"Perhaps there's another way," Li Weiyi said.

Gao Huan was very curious and asked, "What method?"

Li Weiyi pointed towards the tall grave mounds ahead. He saw Cai Yutong leading over a dozen expedition members who were digging up the grayish-white soil from the grave mounds and spreading it into three plots, each about half an acre, on the deck near the ship's rail. Beside these plots, several bags of potato, sweet potato, and various vegetable seeds were prepared. Several buckets of blood from the Black Dragon and Golden Crow corpses had been drawn and were ready nearby.

Gao Huan burst out laughing. "Dr. Cai really has a way!" he exclaimed. "That's right, we can experiment with plants first. Plus, there's still enough water on the research vessel; we can totally grow some vegetables and fruits and become self-sufficient!"

Cai Yutong heard the laughter and looked at the two of them. Then, with a stern expression, she walked over. "Who told you to leave the medical tent?" she demanded. "The wind on deck is so cold; can your weak body handle it? You feel a little better and immediately start messing around?"

"She's talking to you!" Li Weiyi whispered.

Gao Huan was stunned and met Cai Yutong's gaze, stammering an explanation: "I'm... I'm not that weak, and I wasn't messing around, I just came out to pee..."

"This isn't about you," Cai Yutong said, ignoring Gao Huan. Stepping closer to within a pace or two, Cai Yutong continued with a barrage of scolding and warnings, as if she could send Li Weiyi back to the medical tent with her gaze alone.

This senior student did have a somewhat strong personality. But she had given him blood and taken care of him, so Li Weiyi couldn't really be angry with her. After she had finished scolding him, Li Weiyi, as gently as possible, said, "Senior student, your emotions seem a bit unstable lately. If you're under pressure or need any help, please tell me immediately. Perhaps I can be of assistance."

Li Weiyi thought that the reason Cai Yutong was so irritable was likely because the leaders were putting too much pressure on her. Perhaps someone was already forcing her to experiment on live people.

Gao Huan clearly misunderstood and immediately added, "Drink more hot water and stay warm."

By the time Cai Yutong realized what was happening, the two had already quickly slipped away.

"That was too scary!" Gao Huan said, still shaken. "Little Brother Li, take my advice: no matter how pretty or how good her figure is, never get involved with a female doctor."

Li Weiyi laughed. "You've got it all wrong," he said. "We're just schoolmates, and we've only known each other for a few days."

"Schoolmates?" Gao Huan scoffed. "Can mere schoolmates be so concerned about you? She talks to you more than she talks to everyone else combined, and she even fed you fish soup! I have a whole bunch of classmates on this ship; do you see any of them bringing me fish soup? Let alone feeding me!"

"Senior student Cai is just cold on the outside but warm on the inside; that's just her personality," Li Weiyi replied. He looked towards the dark red patch of light in the distant mist, like a mountain or peak, unable to suppress his curiosity. "I want to go see the Black Dragon and Golden Crow corpses," he said.

In his mind, he recalled the strange sights on the bronze vessel after falling into the Arctic Ocean, as his body continuously shrunk. When it was clearest, the bronze vessel, the size of a fishing boat, appeared before his eyes. He clearly saw that two forces, divine radiance and ominous mist, enveloped the ship. The divine radiance was towards the stern, where there was a unique and magnificent ancient architectural complex, like a palace where immortals resided. What exactly was there?

"Let's go together," Gao Huan said. "I haven't seen them up close either. Those are two legendary divine beasts. How do you think they died? And why are they still glowing and radiating heat after death?"

"It's incredible," he added. "This ship must come from some magnificent, primordial grand realm, and it might be taking us there."

Gao Huan was quite excited and walked with Li Weiyi towards the dark red patch of light at the stern. He then added, "Actually, given your special relationship with Dr. Cai, you should discreetly inquire about the real situation. If the blood of the Golden Crow and Black Dragon can truly be consumed, let's both drink a few cups first. Wouldn't that be like taking an immortal elixir? Your arm might even recover completely by the next day."

"Senior student Cai and I really don't have any special relationship!" Li Weiyi retorted. "Besides, if the Golden Crow and Black Dragon blood could be consumed directly, why would she bother leading people to clear land for planting?"

Gao Huan had a different perspective. "When it comes to women," he declared, "don't listen to what they say or watch what they do. You have to make her fall madly in love with you; then she'll lose her mind and tell you the truth. Who's to say Dr. Cai hasn't secretly drunk some herself, then told everyone the Golden Crow blood isn't drinkable, and the Black Dragon blood isn't drinkable?"

"Weiyi," Gao Huan continued, "I'm a few years older than you, and I know too well the true nature of women. Normally, they'll smile and laugh with you, and act like good friends and classmates, but when you're injured and lying in bed, you won't even get fish soup."

Li Weiyi felt Gao Huan was too fixated on the fish soup and said, "Actually... about the fish soup, your injury wasn't that severe; you could have gone to the kitchen tent yourself. Our classmates are all very busy, so it's understandable they didn't get to you."

Gao Huan thought it over carefully and reluctantly accepted Li Weiyi's theory.

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