darknovel Chapter 455 Never Respond to Him
Chapter 455 Never Respond to Him
Ah Sui did not refute, but only responded gently with the box wall.
The seventh eye had already shrunk halfway into the wrecked hull, its empty eye socket staring at the afterimage beneath the unlit ship's side, its tone tinged with bloody glee.
"Mo Chengyue, are you enjoying investigating the upstream accounts?"
Mo Chengyue gripped the sword hilt with his left hand, the blood on the back of his hand bubbling away in the water.
"I'm not happy."
The Seventh Eye Smile.
"Why are you unhappy?"
"Because there are too many accounts, the boss won't hire more people."
The Seventh Eye couldn't understand his strange words, but his scarred face was deformed by the black water as the ship without lights expanded.
"You can't save them."
"I didn't say I'd save everyone."
"Then why are you blocking it?"
"Block the threshold."
"Can it be blocked?"
"It's enough to keep those people on the shore from doing anything stupid."
Old Zheng's footsteps on the shore grew closer, and amidst the clatter of the pot, the shouts and tugs of several men could be heard.
"Brother Zheng, don't go over there!"
"Let go, my uncle is calling me!"
"You can't go near the water!"
"Get out of the way, that's my uncle!"
Old Zhou's voice suddenly drew closer, followed by a crisp slap that pierced through the red mist.
The sound of the pot stopping halfway through.
Old Zhou cursed fiercely.
"Your uncle has been dead for twenty years. Are you going to rush over there now to make him harm another nephew?"
Old Zheng was beaten until he was speechless, then he gasped for breath and spoke.
"He's not dead. He just called my name."
Old Zhou's voice trembled violently, but he still suppressed his anger.
"It is the ship that calls your name, not him."
"Uncle Zhou, you heard it too, didn't you?"
Old Zhou didn't answer; there was only the dull thud of the pot stick hitting the edge of the pot again.
bang.
When Lao Zhou shouted again, his voice was hoarse and bloody.
"Keep banging, whoever stops will have their name thrown into the water!"
Old Zheng's voice lowered.
"Is my uncle really on the ship?"
Old Zhou cursed, "If he were on the boat, I definitely wouldn't let you go."
Listening to the commotion on the shore, Mo Chengyue said to Manager Hu, "Old Zhou can still hold on."
Manager Hu looked at the ship without lights.
"He recognized the signal."
"Um."
"How does he know so much?"
Mo Chengyue moved his sword horizontally to block another hand that emerged from under the ship's side.
"Those who survived at Red Maple Ferry all carried some old grievances they were unwilling to talk about."
Shopkeeper Hu didn't respond to that, but simply tucked Ah Sui's small box into his bosom.
"What about Old Zheng's uncle?"
"Zhou Ping."
"You know?"
"Old Zheng just shouted that."
Manager Hu's eyes were filled with suppressed distress.
"If he still has a reputation, can he be saved?"
Mo Chengyue looked down at the ship's side. Among the afterimages, one was clearer than the others. The face was pale from being soaked in water, and an old boatman's short jacket was hanging on his shoulder. There was a torn patch on the front of the jacket, and the edge of the patch still had the Zhou family crest.
"Let's see if Lao Zheng can protect his reputation on the shore."
"What do you mean?"
"If the people in the water call to him and he responds to the people on the boat, his own name will be dragged in."
Manager Hu felt a tightness in his throat.
"If he doesn't respond, does that mean Zhou Ping has no chance?"
Mo Chengyue took a deep breath. The blood-stained mark on his right palm was pulled by the black water from the direction of the dock. He used his left hand to wipe the blood ash onto the edge of his palm and forcibly pressed the red mark back.
"That's why I said, let's see how many of them have left."
Manager Hu gritted his teeth.
"You're such an annoying person."
"Um."
I'm serious.
"I answered truthfully too."
Manager Hu was blocked by him and looked down at the small box.
"Ah Sui, don't follow his example."
A soft tap came from inside the box.
Mo Chengyue ignored him and stared at Zhou Ping's afterimage below the ship's side. The afterimage was being carried towards the shore by the black water, and his lips were opening and closing, but he had been unable to utter a complete sentence because of the sound of the pot.
The ship without lights bulged wider and wider, the words on the ship's sign were all washed away by the black water, and dense nail marks emerged from the wet black wood grain, the nail marks spreading from the bow to the stern, each corresponding to an old grievance of a soul nail that had been transferred from the extinguished lights.
The seventh eye huddled at the bottom of the wrecked boat, its voice echoing across the water's surface.
"The seven lamps are out, the path of sight is severed, the soul nails return to the ship, and what Red Maple Ferry owes must be repaid tonight."
Manager Hu said coldly, "They are not the ones who owe the debt."
The seventh eye laughed until his voice was hoarse.
"The accountant will admit to wrongdoing, not to injustice."
Mo Chengyue held the Yuhua Sword upright, and the talismanic ash on the sword was constantly being washed away by the black water.
"That might have been true before."
The seventh, withered face, lifted up.
"And now?"
"Now you're overfeeding the lightless boat, and it's starting to nitpick."
The Seventh Eye's laughter stopped.
Manager Hu immediately looked at him.
"Find fault?"
"The accounts are too complicated, there are too many old names. The Red Lantern Boat cut off its stern in a hurry, stuffing all the Soul Nails into the No-Lantern Boat. If it can eat it up, the Red Maple Ferry will become an empty ferry tonight. If it can't eat it up, it will change its name."
Shopkeeper Hu asked, "Can changing someone's name save them?"
"Could you separate the ship planks and the names a little?"
"How do we divide it?"
Mo Chengyue looked at the red mist on the shore.
"Let those on shore call out the living names, not the dead names, and not the ship's name."
Manager Hu immediately rushed ashore and shouted, "Old Zhou, call out the names of the people on the boat, not the people on the boat!"
Old Zhou immediately took over.
"I heard you! Call out names, the names of living people on the shore! If any family member calls from the water, do not answer!"
Old Zheng asked in a hoarse voice, "What about my uncle?"
Old Zhou yelled, "Call out your own name!"
Old Zheng fell silent.
Old Zhou shouted again, "Zheng Dewang, you stand on this dry ground!"
Old Zheng gritted his teeth and replied, "I'm standing."
"Holding soot in his hand!"
"Take it."
"Don't look at the water!"
"I won't look."
"Don't answer when your uncle calls you!"
Old Zheng didn't answer immediately this time. The sound of the pot sizzling was interrupted, and he seemed to be held down by several people, letting out heavy breathing sounds.
"I shouldn't."
Beneath the unlit ship's gunwale, Zhou Ping's afterimage heard the response from the shore. White foam welled up from his mouth, and his previously blurry face became clearer.
Shopkeeper Hu said in a low voice, "It works."
Mo Chengyue did not relax.
"Just a little."
"Then keep shouting."
"If you shout it too much, the water will learn it."
Manager Hu's words were stuck in her throat, and she immediately looked towards the shore.
"Old Zhou, don't let them shout too much."
Old Zhou should get it done quickly.
"I know, stop after three repetitions of the name, the sound of the pot keeps going."
Mo Chengyue glanced outside the door.
"Old Zhou is less troublesome than Old Zheng."
Manager Hu gave him a cold glance.
"Are you still being picky about who you hire?"
"You have to be even more careful in times of crisis, otherwise your bad teammates will sink the ship."
The Seventh Eye, hearing this from the bottom of the wrecked ship, stretched his scarred face.
"No matter how loudly you shout, Zhou Ping doesn't dare to go back to shore."
Old Zheng's voice came from the shore, indicating that he had also heard this.
"Who are you saying wouldn't dare?"
Old Zhou immediately shouted, "Don't respond to her!"
Old Zheng swallowed the rest of his sentence and pounded the pot with the stick.
Zhou Ping's afterimage under the unlit boat suddenly raised his head, bubbles rolling from his throat. This time, he didn't call out Old Zheng's name again, nor did he beg to be pulled ashore.
His voice, though intermittent, cut through the sounds of boiling pots, clearly reached the shore and the abandoned shipyard.
"Dewang, don't come any closer."
The stick in Old Zheng's hand made a muffled thud, as if it had hit the edge of the pot off course.
"uncle?"
Old Zhou shouted angrily, "Don't answer!"
Old Zheng's voice was cut off outside the red mist. Several people grabbed his clothes, and the dry earth was trampled and made a loud noise.
Zhou Ping's afterimage clung to the side of the ship, his face bearing the black marks left by water nails, his lips distorted by the black water.
"I didn't die on the ship."
Mo Chengyue tightened his left hand, and a layer of talisman ash on the Rain Flower Sword was shaken off.
Manager Hu, holding the small box, changed his expression.
"What did he say?"
Zhou Ping's afterimage raised his head, the murky water reflecting his image across the unlit boat's side, looking straight at Old Zheng on the shore.
"I was sold by people on the shore."