Chapter 1238: Chapter 823: The Dock
"And what else?" Yang Xiao looked at Hafeez and asked.
Hafeez was taken aback, then awkwardly glanced at Adila on the side. Seeing that Adila had no reaction, Hafeez had to speak truthfully under Yang Xiao’s gaze, "That’s it."
Indeed, that’s all he knew, and it was all done under Adila’s lead.
"That’s it?" Yang Xiao’s expression was somewhat incredulous, "I remember we had discussed these a long time ago and already had a conclusion."
The clues he had painstakingly gathered were completely denied by Yang Xiao. Hafeez’s face burned with embarrassment, his heart grew cold, and his expression became unconfident.
Yang Xiao had no ill intentions towards him, and this wasn’t directed at him, but rather meant for Adila to hear.
Adila had taken matters into his own hands, left the team, and took Hafeez with him. Anyone unaware might have thought he made some significant discovery, but in the end, this was it?
Maria also stepped forward and said a few lukewarm words. Although they seemed to criticize Hafeez, the newcomer, all the words were actually targeted at Adila.
Adila, being someone with self-control, did not rebut the insinuations from the two and accepted them with a smile.
Now that some time had passed since they left the monastery, the four of them found a small restaurant on the way back and used the silver that the townspeople had gifted them to order quite a bit of food.
They were full now so they could save their rations for their teammates for the midday meal.
Previously, some people had considered secretly bringing food back for the ones who went out, but this was stopped by a few experienced players, preferring to avoid unnecessary trouble.
The monks had strictly forbidden this when they first arrived at the monastery.
After eating and drinking their fill, they rested for a bit.
Returning to the monastery was pointless at this time, so at Yang Xiao’s suggestion, the group of four headed out of town, their destination being the lakeside where they "released" the Ghost Ship.
Until now, they hadn’t visited the lakeside during the day.
After a not-so-short journey, the four of them finally arrived at the lakeside following the road they remembered. Gazing at the surrounding scenery, Maria marveled that the daytime view was completely different from that at night.
Behind them were layers of mountains, and in front was a misty lake view, which was anything but terrifying—in fact, it was quite scenic and pleasant.
White mist floated over the lake’s surface, appearing like a layer of thin fog from afar, yet the visibility was still decent.
Standing on their tiptoes, they looked out into the lake, but couldn’t see any islands or similar places. In the memory where "Ghost Island" was supposed to be, there was only mist-covered lake water.
"Is it over there?" Noticing everyone looking in the same direction, Hafeez reached out and pointed.
"Smack!"
Hafeez pulled back his hand in pain after Maria, showing no mercy, slapped his outstretched hand to the side.
"Don’t point!" Maria glared at him fiercely, "Are you looking for trouble?!"
Covering the back of his hand, Hafeez pursed his lips tightly, feeling an uncontrollable grievance in his heart. Adila looked down on him, Maria disdained him, and not long ago even the kind-hearted Yang Xiao publicly questioned him, making it unbearable to stay. These days couldn’t go on like this.
Among the newcomers, only he and Sopa were still around, but Sopa clearly had it better, as the burly Datou took good care of her.
"Hmm?"
Adila, who was observing by the lakeside, seemed to have suddenly discovered something and immediately stepped forward into the lake water.
Yang Xiao and the three others immediately followed. Moments later, they witnessed a horrifying scene as Adila waded deeper, yet his body wasn’t submerged by the lake water, but stayed around the mid-thigh, with his upper body completely exposed above the water.
Yang Xiao immediately realized there was something beneath the water supporting him.
"Stay here," Yang Xiao said to Hafeez, then stepped into the lake water with Maria, following behind Adila.
After a few steps, Yang Xiao’s feet landed on a reasonably solid surface. The lake water wasn’t particularly clear; when he looked down, he noticed this part of the water was darker than the surrounding area.
The dark area stretched forward, and Yang Xiao even found several almost entirely submerged wooden stakes.
It was clear these wooden stakes had been soaking in the water for a long time, and Yang Xiao now understood what this shadow was.
This was a wooden pier, having existed for some years but submerged as the lake’s water level rose.
After Adila waded into the lake water for a distance, he didn’t dare proceed further; the lake water in front had changed color, signifying the end of this path.
Yang Xiao, Adila, and Maria stood side by side at the furthest point, gazing at the distant lake surface. At this moment, a strange feeling lingered in their hearts, as if standing here brought them much closer to the sunken "Ghost Village."
A few thick wooden stakes were half-submerged in water, and Yang Xiao quickly noticed that the middle one had loops of hemp rope tied around it.
The other end of the rope submerged in the water, pulled taut as though holding something heavy in the waves, barely moving.
He immediately understood that the end of this rope must be tied to something,—something very heavy.
This was an abandoned pier; what could be tied here and submerged in the lake? Yang Xiao’s first thought was a sunken ship.
He called Adila and Maria, intending to pull the rope to bring whatever was below up to see, but before they could act, Hafeez started shouting at them from the shore, waving his hands vigorously.
Thinking it was the sound of the waves, they couldn’t hear clearly what Hafeez was shouting.
"Retreat, retreat now!"
Yang Xiao felt something wasn’t right here and immediately chose to withdraw. As they waded back to the shore, Hafeez retrieved an item he had been holding—it was a piece of torn cloth stained with blood.
"Where did you find it?" Yang Xiao pressed him.
Hafeez immediately turned around and led them back a dozen meters to a chaotic pile of rocks, showing them a stone with clear bloodstains on it.
"I found it here," Hafeez quickly explained.
Seeing the pile of stones, Yang Xiao’s mind suddenly recalled the events of the previous night, giving him a familiar sensation. The next second, he realized.
But before he could speak, Adila spoke first, confirming it was the place where they had seen the Ghost Ship last night, where they stumbled upon a pile of chaotic rocks running away.
Fixing his gaze on the chaotic stone pile beneath his feet, and then turning to look at the shadow in the lake, a bold hypothesis formed in Yang Xiao’s mind: could it be that the position from which the Ghost Ship sailed each time was fixed?
Was it always from this submerged abandoned pier?
But... why?
What was different about this place, or was there something different attracting those ghosts?
Thinking along these lines, Yang Xiao promptly thought of the taut rope, more precisely, of what the rope connected to beneath the water.
"Go back; there may be something under the water," Yang Xiao concluded.
Although aware of the danger, it was daytime, and this was crucial.
The three of them waded back, reaching the wooden stake with the rope tied around it in nearly waist-deep water, standing in a line.
Adila and Yang Xiao were responsible for pulling the rope, while Maria, who stood behind them, kept an eye on their surroundings.
Yang Xiao pulled on the rope, furrowing his brows as whatever was below felt heavy. But fortunately, it wasn’t immovable—not a ship-size mass.
As the two exerted force together, murky black mud began to rise below; whatever this was lay sunken at the bottom of the lake.
After about half a minute, the object was pulled up.
