Chapter 1846: Chapter 1846: Lost in the Wilderness (3)
Brother Gao searched around, but didn’t even see a shadow of the Boat Captain.
The others gradually woke up and came out, making their way to the deck.
The first to come out were the two men from Brother Gao’s team, followed by another girl from the same group.
The girl’s face was pale with fear in her eyes.
Last night’s events wouldn’t be significant for those who often go on expeditions.
The girl probably hadn’t experienced such things and didn’t know why Brother Gao’s group brought her along.
Then out came Lan Chen with the three who were together with the original owner.
Lan Chen looked around for Chuzheng, and upon seeing her, immediately ran over: "Xiao Zheng, why did you come out so early? What if there’s danger outside?"
Chuzheng’s gaze shifted back and forth between Lan Chen and the water, her palm resting on the ship’s edge without replying.
"Xiao Zheng, you’re up so early." Li Tian and Xie Ningfeng came over together.
Xie Ningfeng was a man of few words, dutifully handing water and clothes to Li Tian.
"Why is it cold?" Li Tian complained a bit.
"There’s no hot water on the boat, just make do."
"Ugh, so annoying..." Li Tian looked around at the others: "Has the Boat Captain been found yet? He won’t just leave us here, will he!!"
Recalling last night’s storm, Li Tian felt a bit shaken.
People on Brother Gao’s side also asked, "Has anyone found him?"
"No..."
"Where could he have gone... There’s no other place to go here... Could he have fallen into the water?"
This statement reminded everyone, and they leaned over the ship’s edge to look down.
"Ah... There’s blood here!!" Suddenly someone pointed at a spot and shouted.
Everyone leaned over to look.
"There really are bloodstains. Whose blood is it? Did something happen to the Boat Captain?"
"With such strong winds last night, could it have blown the Boat Captain into the water?"
"It’s possible..."
People chattered anxiously, and the atmosphere grew heavy, with panic spreading gradually.
Brother Gao heard the commotion and came over, glanced at the spot with bloodstains, then looked strangely at Chuzheng.
This girl was watching earlier... She couldn’t have not seen it, why didn’t she say anything?
"Did you see it just now?" Brother Gao questioned. "Why didn’t you say anything if you saw it?"
Everyone’s gaze immediately focused on Chuzheng.
Did she see it?
When they came out, she seemed to already be outside, and people on Brother Gao’s side grew more cautious and suspicious.
"I didn’t see it," Chuzheng denied.
Brother Gao’s expression was serious: "When I came out, you were right here; it’s so obvious, you can’t possibly have missed it."
The location was indeed quite noticeable, visible just by looking down.
"What makes you say I saw it?" Chuzheng calmly asked back. "Just because you think I should have seen it means I did?"
"Xiao Zheng said she didn’t see it. You’d have to lean over to see that spot; maybe she just didn’t look down?" Lan Chen spoke up: "The most important thing now is to figure out where the Boat Captain went. Why are you targeting a girl?"
Brother Gao frowned, staring at Chuzheng for a long while. He couldn’t prove that Chuzheng had indeed seen it...
Given the strange circumstances, Brother Gao didn’t pursue it further.
-
Upon finding bloodstains and noticing that the Boat Captain and his son were missing, everyone discussed and concluded that the wind was too strong last night. The Boat Captain and his son were repairing the ship outside and fell into the water.
The wind and rain were so strong that those inside couldn’t hear their cries for help.
This was the only explanation that made sense.
However, it cast a shadow over the entire group.
Everyone stayed in their corners in silence until noon when the sun came up, bringing warmth that finally eased the chill on their bodies.
The water surface was calm. If not for the floating leaves and broken branches, no one would believe the storm had happened last night.
"Should we continue or return?" Without the Boat Captain, the guide couldn’t make a decision alone and asked the others present.
"We’ve come this far, going back would be giving up halfway, no?"
"But with the Boat Captain missing... I think we should return."
"I’ll follow Brother Gao’s lead."
Within Brother Gao’s team, some wanted to return, while others wanted to continue forward, but ultimately, it was decided to follow Brother Gao’s lead.
"What should we do?" Li Tian lowered her voice, "Go back?"
"Go back? We’ve already come this far, let’s keep going," Lan Chen didn’t want to turn back.
Li Tian hugged her arms uneasily, "But if the Boat Captain really died..."
"It’s not as if we killed him." Lan Chen said, though his expression was clearly anxious.
Chuzheng glanced at him, and Lan Chen immediately straightened up, "Xiao Zheng, don’t worry, I’ll protect you."
As he spoke, Lan Chen was about to put his arm around her shoulder.
Chuzheng gave him a cold stare, and Lan Chen hesitated, not daring to actually put his arm down.
"Let’s vote by a show of hands," Brother Gao’s loud voice echoed: "All those in favor of continuing, raise your hands."
Lan Chen quickly raised his hand high, masking his earlier awkwardness.
There were exactly ten people now; Uncle Min didn’t vote, and people on Brother Gao’s side gradually raised their hands, agreeing to move forward.
Whether or not Chuzheng’s group voted no longer mattered.
The minority defers to the majority.
"In that case, we’ll continue forward," Brother Gao concluded decisively.
"But how do we operate the ship?" Li Tian frowned: "Do any of you know how to steer it?"
The accident last night had halted it; no one knows if it’s been fixed now.
"I checked earlier, the ship’s fine. The Boat Captain must have repaired it last night..." At this point, Brother Gao grew solemn: "Xiao Mo, I remember you know how to steer a ship?"
"I’ve learned a bit." The man called Xiao Mo nodded.
Chuzheng rested her chin on her hand, her gaze briefly sweeping over Brother Gao before leisurely fixing on the girl sitting in the corner.
Brother Gao had the demeanor of a leader, having already assigned roles in such a short time.
-
Chuzheng reviewed the people on Brother Gao’s side. Besides Brother Gao and Gan Lu, there were two other men, one being the ship-navigating Xiao Mo, and the other Xiao Qiu.
Chuzheng didn’t know their full names, that’s just what everyone called them.
The remaining girl was Yao Qing. Gan Lu and Yao Qing didn’t seem to get along and always stayed far apart, with Gan Lu never hiding her disdain for Yao Qing.
Yao Qing was the strangest person in this group.
Chuzheng’s side was made up of amateur adventurers; it was normal to be unprofessional, and bringing along the original outsider was because Lan Chen wanted to pursue her.
But why did those other people bring along someone like Yao Qing?
Chuzheng carefully went over the original owner’s memories, but the original owner had died too soon, leaving no valuable information.
Forget it.
The ship will naturally straighten itself when it reaches the bridge.
If it sinks?
Then just switch to another one.
