Free Web NovelChapter 32: Chapter 32: Hebo Xi Ship
What was terrifying was that the entire ship was painted a bright red from top to bottom, floating in the mist, looking just like a blood-red coffin.
As they drew closer, Yang Xiao could see that the blood-red color wasn’t blood, but paint that had been applied, which now was peeling off badly, revealing the original wood color in many places.
The ship’s deck was covered with mud, silt, and weeds. The whole ship was damp, seemingly soaked in water for a long time, with some areas already rotten; cracks of various sizes covered the ship’s body, and water was still trickling along the crevices.
This was an old ship, no, to be precise, it was a sunken ship!
Su Tingting covered her mouth, her face full of horror as she looked up. Following her gaze, Yang Xiao saw the big red lantern hanging from the mast swaying in the wind, revealing the backside with a stark, pale "囍" character.
Yang Xiao was startled; this was actually a Hebo Xi Ship!
Due to his job, Yang Xiao often spent a lot of time researching and organizing materials. There was the custom of worshiping the River Deity in places close to significant rivers, with the whole village conducting grand sacrificial ceremonies on festivals, offering the three animals, making paper maids, and so on.
However, if something significant happened, such as a disaster year capable of causing starvation or the sudden disappearance of fish and shrimp in the river, the scale of the sacrifice would escalate.
At that time, the village chief or an elder in charge of rituals and with high seniority would step in, choosing one unmarried girl from the village to serve as the new bride for the River Deity, hoping to appease the River Deity’s wrath and bless the village with favorable weather and prosperity in offspring.
The girl would then be dressed up and, under the watchful eyes of the entire village, take a red boat to the river in the middle of the night, alone.
By that time, a hole had already been drilled in the bottom of the ship, and not long after reaching the center of the lake, the ship would sink—signifying the marriage was complete, and the River Deity had received his bride.
It was said that, to prevent the bride from escaping halfway, meticulous villagers would tie one of the bride’s legs with a thick rope used for securing livestock, with the other end bound tightly to a log on the ship.
Because the River Deity was often referred to locally as the River God, such bridal ships were also called Hebo Xi Ships.
However, Yang Xiao had heard another explanation: since such an event bridges the living and the dead, it was called "white xǐ," but in some dialects, "white" and "bó" sounded alike, so the ship was also called a Hebo Xi Ship.
Whichever the case, they were real relics of feudal superstition. The selected girls were always from poor families, and this so-called Hebo Xi Ship had been thoroughly cast into the dust of history. Yang Xiao never expected to encounter one here.
The most important features of a Hebo Xi Ship, according to the books, were two: the entire ship draped in red, and a red lantern hanging from the pole with a large white "囍" symbol.
The "囍" character was stuck on the back of the lantern, not for the living to see but for the River God.
Now, both characteristics perfectly matched; this was undoubtedly a Hebo Xi Ship, and at this point, Yang Xiao became even more certain of his previous speculation—Xi Yao’s death was indeed no simple matter.
"Bang!"
The sudden sound of a collision interrupted Yang Xiao’s thoughts. He saw the door of the Hebo Xi Ship’s cabin shake, and the next second, he felt numb; the books said that the bride chosen for the River God would sit in the cabin after getting dressed. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
There was no better time to slip away than now!
Yang Xiao grabbed the pole and tried to flee, but a horrifying scene unfolded: no matter how hard he rowed, he couldn’t escape, and could only watch helplessly as the two ships drew closer and closer.
Seeing this, Su Tingting also rushed to help, finding a broken oar in the cabin and desperately rowing outward.
Even with Su Tingting’s help, the two ships merely stopped getting closer; now, they remained relatively still, with only a 4 to 5-meter gap separating them.
The beating on the cabin door grew louder and more forceful until the old, rotten door finally couldn’t withstand it and broke directly at the seam, allowing a pale arm to stretch out.
Strangely enough, upon seeing this arm, the already exhausted Yang Xiao and Su Tingting instantly found renewed energy; their backs no longer ached, their arms no longer felt tired, and, filled with indefatigable strength, they bent their heads and furiously paddled.
Soon, a figure clambered awkwardly out of the ship’s cabin, completely soaked, with clothes clinging tightly to their body, hair disheveled, and strands laced with water weeds.
It was apparent that this was a man, no, it was the Third Young Master!
The Third Young Master staggered to the side of the ship with a bizarre posture, reaching out towards Yang Xiao and Su Tingting as he made a muffled plea, "Save me... please save me..."
By now, even Su Tingting sensed something was amiss. How could the Third Young Master be in this sunken ship’s hold when that was a place fit for a ghostly woman!
"It’s fake, paddle fast!" Yang Xiao whispered, not daring to pause his movements for a second.
Su Tingting focused solely on paddling, when suddenly, a sight caught in the corner of her eye nearly made her drop the oar in her hands.
In the reflection on the lake’s surface, someone was standing right behind the Third Young Master, their figure bloated, clinging closely behind him, with hands grasping the Third Young Master’s arms, manipulating his movements as if controlling a puppet.
Su Tingting finally understood why the Third Young Master’s movements looked so disjointed—it wasn’t him at all!
The next second, the figure behind the Third Young Master paused and then violently twisted its head to look through the water at Su Tingting. In that moment of eye contact, Su Tingting’s breath stopped. It was a huge, wretched, and bloated bluish-black ghost face!
The eye sockets were almost squashed into a slit by the decaying flesh, but it was through that narrow gap that Su Tingting felt a chilling, resentful glare.
Her mind began to cloud, and she felt an almost overpowering urge to plunge into the lake—"I can’t die, I don’t want to die!" Her strong will to live prompted her to bite her tongue sharply; the taste of blood exploded in her mouth, bringing a sharp pain that snapped her instantly back to her senses.
"There’s a ghost behind him, controlling the Third Young Master," Su Tingting alerted Yang Xiao immediately. "Don’t look at the lake’s surface, that ghost in the reflection can see us."
"Thank you," Yang Xiao had noticed it as well, but he was more focused on how to escape the place.
Of course, he couldn’t let Su Tingting’s kind intention go unappreciated—newcomers needed encouragement.
Finally, their efforts paid off; their boat started to move, distancing itself from the Hebo Xi Ship. After rowing about 30 meters away, an eerie singing suddenly resounded from behind them.
The singing, sounding whimsical and erratic, now distant, now close, filled with indignation and sorrow, sent chills down one’s spine. Plucking up the courage to look back, Yang Xiao witnessed a horrifying scene.
The Third Young Master stood on the deck of the ship, one hand high, one hand low, striking poses that no normal person could, stepping in small, shuffling movements, fingers pinched as if holding a flower. A rough hemp rope was tied to his left ankle, with the other end fastened to the mast below.
The shrill singing voice flowed over the misty lake, as if signaling the beginning of a grand opera.
As the singing continued, the Hebo Xi Ship slowly sank. Before long, the Third Young Master was submerged up to his waist in water.
Yet he seemed oblivious, continuing to sing, to walk, to change his poses and gestures, until the lake water enveloped him completely.
