Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Flaw
Separated by the red veil, the female paper figure on the bed had, unbeknownst to her, twisted its head to stare at her, and what was more terrifying was that the paper figure now bore a face exactly like hers.
Its body was still that of a paper figure, only the face had changed. Su Tingting was so shocked that she nearly jumped, but when she turned to look at the paper figure again, the face had disappeared.
Not just the face, but all anomalies had vanished, including the haunting feeling of being watched, which had also dissipated without a trace. The female paper figure lay quietly on the bed, motionless, as if everything before had been an illusion.
Gathering her courage, Su Tingting turned around once more, only daring to glance at the copper mirror out of the corner of her eye. This time, the image in the mirror had changed; the female paper figure was still lying obediently on the bed, no different from when she had first boarded the ship.
Even so, Su Tingting knew full well that what had just happened was no illusion. Yang Xiao had warned her that in the process of blowing on the incense, something terrible might occur, and now it seemed his words were true. Thinking back, the breaking sound she had heard was probably the sound of the female paper figure’s neck being snapped.
For some reason, perhaps because she had been through a lot, or maybe because she had lost hope of survival, Su Tingting was now becoming gradually calmer. She remembered what Yang Xiao had said and slowly crouched down in front of the incense burner, continuing to blow on the incense stick on the far left.
She had to create a situation where the three incense sticks burned down to two shorts and one long, even if she couldn’t survive, she needed to create a chance for Yang Xiao outside.
The paper lantern she had brought on board was at her feet. If the final situation became irredeemable, she would burn the ship and perish together with these ghostly entities.
After blowing another breath, the incense sticks on both sides started to burn faster, but following that, the familiar cold gaze returned.
Unable to suppress a shiver, Su Tingting glanced at the mirror out of the corner of her eye once more, but strangely, the female paper figure on the bed had not changed this time.
Was it not her?
The situation had changed again. Su Tingting turned around and started searching within the small confines of the cabin, but after looking around, she found nothing out of the ordinary.
Not giving up, she looked at the copper mirror again, checking every corner of the cabin by adjusting angles, until the mirror swept over the male paper figure behind the cabin door.
For just an instant, Su Tingting froze. The reflection showed the male paper figure sitting cross-legged on the ground motionless, with a red bridal veil on its head, but she felt something was strangely off.
A moment later, Su Tingting finally spotted the problem. There was a large bulge at the back of the male paper figure’s head under the red cover, and those protruding angles... clearly formed a face!
Just like the female paper figure before, the male paper figure had silently turned its head around and was now silently staring at her.
At that moment, a gust of cold wind blew through, instantly dimming the candlelight. The shadow cast by the male paper figure on the wall flickered like drifting smoke, and the next second, under the horrified gaze of Su Tingting, the shadow seemed to break free from the paper figure’s bonds and staggeringly stood up.
...
At this moment, Yang Xiao was unaware of the situation inside the cabin; he had no spare attention to afford it. He was closely following behind the Paper Person Boat.
The Paper Person Boats had Kuang Hongyi completely surrounded. Fortunately, these things seemed somewhat fearful of the Hebo Xi Ship in the center and did not dare to get too close, which gave Kuang Hongyi the room to maneuver his boat. Otherwise, he would have already been swarmed and torn to shreds.
Even so, Kuang Hongyi was clearly not going to hold on for much longer. Several Paper Person Boats were slowly closing in on him, and the rest were restless.
Yang Xiao knew that these things were waiting, waiting for the Ghost Child to emerge from Su Tingting’s belly, waiting for the fourth round of drumming. Once that happened, the situation would be irretrievable.
His teammates had taken on tremendous pressure for him, and he couldn’t let everyone down. During this time, Yang Xiao had been observing—observing the Paper Person Boats and also searching for Shi Dali’s whereabouts. Tonight, finding this bastard was their only chance of survival.
From his observations, he noticed something very interesting: these Paper Person Boats looked different from the front and the back.
From the front, most of these boats were obscured by the Ghostly Fog, making it nearly impossible to discern the boundary between the boat and the water’s surface, as if they were in the underworld. From the back, although there was still mist swirling around, it was much clearer, and the waterline was visible at least.
And it was this distinction that allowed Yang Xiao to discover something odd: the boats carrying the paper figures had very shallow drafts, practically skimming the surface of the water.
But that made sense when he thought about it; after all, they carried paper figures—how much could they weigh? Paper figures have no weight, but how could a living person not? Yang Xiao immediately realized the flaw: the boat carrying Shi Dali must have the deepest draft!
Having clarified his thoughts, the next step was action. Yang Xiao gently paddled the boat, moving slowly behind these Paper Person Boats, carefully observing the draft depth of every vessel.
Before long, he indeed found a clue. Among the shrouded fog, a gray-black boat carrying four paper figures had a significantly deeper draft than the surrounding boats.
But before Yang Xiao could feel elated, he quickly noticed something odd. It wasn’t just one boat; he found another nearby with a deep draft, and by the end, he had located a total of four such boats.
These four boats were not far from each other, and the arrangement of the paper figures on them, as well as the structure and condition of the boats, were almost identical. If not for their different positions, it would be very difficult to distinguish them.
Cursing silently, Yang Xiao saw through the Feng Family’s cunning. It seemed they knew that the boat’s draft would give them away, so they had arranged four boats in a row. The real Shi Dali was hidden among the paper figures on one boat, and the other three had additional weights.
However, now that he had a rough direction, Yang Xiao decided to start with the paper figures on these boats. There were four figures on each vessel, sixteen in total. To maintain the balance of the boats, Shi Dali could not be standing at the bow or stern; he had to be hidden in the middle, so another eight figures were eliminated, leaving the last eight paper figures.
Yet, what was sly was that these last eight paper figures were all sitting down, and were fixed in place with some inconspicuous wooden frames. This way they wouldn’t move in the wind, and Shi Dali, hiding among them, could sit comfortably and not tire easily in a short period.
"To hell with the Feng Family, all their skill used in devious ways," Yang Xiao cursed under his breath, his gaze wandering continuously over the eight paper figures in the middle, knowing he didn’t have much time left.
The situation on Kuang Hongyi’s side was becoming increasingly dire. Some Paper Person Boats could no longer resist the temptation and began to move in on him. At this moment, Kuang Hongyi had no way out; he was less than 5 meters away from the Hebo Xi Ship. If they closed in a little more, he would have no choice but to climb aboard the Hebo Xi Ship.
Since Su Tingting boarded the ship, Kuang Hongyi hadn’t heard her voice again. The ship was dead silent, and it was still uncertain whether they were dead or alive.
