The passenger ship had only been out of port for four hours.
Technically, they hadn’t even left Donghuang’s territorial waters yet.
But everyone on board was already on edge, as if Black Sam lurked just behind the next wave.
“We’ve entered his territory. He could show up at any time.” The captain tried to persuade the group of songmaidens on board. “You’d best hide yourselves.”
The lead singer clutched a book to her chest, her every gesture full of youthful righteousness and fearlessness.
“Don’t worry, Captain.” Her smile was confident and pure. “Songmaidens are protected by the ‘Maritime Freedom Accord.’ No one is allowed to harm members of the Songmaiden Association under any circumstances. Not Black Sam. Not Drake.”
“You silly girl. To those animals, a treaty only matters when a knife’s at their throat. If no one punishes them, an accord is just toilet paper.” The captain gave a bitter laugh. “Black Sam’s gone completely mad lately. No one knows what he might do.”
“Since when do pirates go after passenger ships?” Wu Yi leaned against the rail, speaking lazily.
“They didn’t used to. But lately, Black Sam’s lost it.”
“Black Sam? Wasn’t that guy supposed to be a self-proclaimed righteous thief? Steals things but doesn’t kill?”
“He doesn’t kill. Not with his own hands. But falling into his hands is worse than death.”
The old captain made it sound sinister.
But the lead singer didn’t seem afraid at all.
She stood bravely at the bow, facing the setting sun in the distance.
“No matter who they are, if they dare lay a hand on a songmaiden, the president will blacklist them. After that, no one will treat their illnesses or injuries ever again. Do they think they’ll never get sick or hurt in this lifetime?”
“Alright, alright, I get it.”
The old captain knew he couldn’t talk sense into these youngsters.
Young people were always so stubborn, always thinking the world was as ideal as they imagined.
“But could you at least go inside and get some rest?”
“No! I refuse to bow to evil!” The girl pouted and hugged her book tightly. “It’s almost dark. Between these crashing waves and the setting sun, it’s the perfect time to seek inspiration.”
The captain was exasperated. “You girls…”
“You should go back,” Wu Yi said with a soft laugh, shaking her head and standing beside the girl. She gestured lightly to the captain. “You won’t be able to convince someone this full of spirit. Leave it to me. Go check the heading… it looks a bit off.”
Off? How could you possibly tell the heading is off?
If you’re going to bluff, at least make it believable. What are you, a human sextant with a built-in magnetic compass?
The captain took it as a graceful excuse from someone unfamiliar with sailing, twitched his mustache, and turned back into the captain’s cabin.
……
“How did you become a songmaiden?”
The little lead singer stared blankly at Wu Yi’s face, so lost in thought she didn’t even hear the question.
When she snapped out of it, her cheeks turned bright red.
She had never seen such a charismatic, commanding woman— one eye covered stylishly with a black cloth, brushing aside messy strands of hair, and that remaining eye had a devilish allure that seemed to pull you in.
Just standing near Wu Yi had made her heart race unconsciously… Unbelievable! She’d never felt this way toward any woman— heck, not even a man!
Like a dark queen of the night, combining danger and nobility into one, her presence stirred the hearts of boys and left even girls powerless to resist.
“Wake up,” Wu Yi blew a puff of smoke into her face.
The fragrance jolted the girl back to her senses.
She quickly looked down in panic, pressing her hand against her wildly pounding heart. “Y-You said what?”
“How did you become a songmaiden?”
“Back then, the God-King was still alive. The president came with Lord Wu Yi to Donghuang to subjugate a divine scourge… That’s when Lord Wu Yi and the president saved me,” she said with a gentle smile. “The president said I had the talent to be a songmaiden and sent me to a training tent— back then it was just a tent, not even called a school.”
“Oh!”
A scene flickered through Wu Yi’s mind.
Now she remembered. That really did happen.
The little girl had grown up so much.
She hadn’t recognized her at all.
Well, it had been thirteen years, after all.
“Why are you going to Pingyuan Prefecture?”
“To enter next month’s competition!” The lead singer gave her trademark sweet smile. “I’m in the blessing category, and the effectiveness of our blessings scales with the sweetness of our voice… That’s why the president holds a qualifying competition every year.”
“I see.”
Sen Shabeiya’s really going all out— turning it into some kind of talent show.
Looks like she’s living quite the life. Much better off than Wu Ma.
“You all keep practicing. Sounds lovely. Don’t worry— no one will dare touch you.”
That bit of reassurance and encouragement made several of the girls blush deeply.
And just then, the captain returned from the helm— only to catch Wu Yi’s comment, which was like pouring oil on the fire.
His beard practically stood on end with fury. “You girls are going to get yourselves into trouble! And… how did you know the ship was off course?”
It was uncanny.
That woman had been spot-on.
When he’d gone back to check the helm, the ship’s direction had indeed drifted five degrees to the right.
It might not sound like much, just five degrees.
But on a long voyage like this, even the slightest deviation could take you wildly off course.
If they’d kept sailing on that same deviated course, by tomorrow morning they would’ve crashed straight into Black Sam’s main stronghold!
The thought sent cold sweat pouring down the captain’s back.
He still hadn’t recovered— his entire body was soaked, as if he’d just been pulled from the ocean.
“What’s that?”
Before the captain could collect himself from the panic,
a small black speck silently appeared on the sunlit sea.
He raised his spyglass to take a look.
Clack—
The spyglass slipped from his frozen fingers and hit the deck with a loud thud.
“What is it?”
The little lead singer picked up the spyglass out of curiosity and looked into the distance.
“Ah—!”
A terrified scream rang out, drawing all the passengers to the deck.
It wasn’t Black Sam.
But perhaps it was something even more unsettling.
It was a pitch-black coffin, floating on the sea.
If that were all, it might not have been so bad.
But—
On the horizon—
One after another, more pitch-black coffins began rising from the water.
As the last light of the sunset faded, they creaked and groaned, emerging in swarms, endless and uncountable…
Closing in from every direction.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.