Chapter 417: Boarding the Ghost Ship

Translator: Tim Editor: GlobeGlotter

Ning Qingxue saw a silver plum tree leaf pattern under the bird's neck and had a sudden idea. "I'll give you a name," she said. "I'll call you Silver Plum Leaf. Hmm, that's a bit long; I'll just call you Silver."

The bird seemingly understood and chirped happily—a sound different from its earlier yowling. She knew it didn't really understand the name, after all, it was just a bird.

Animals often sense danger. Silver's premonition meant the volcano was about to erupt.

Although Silver was with her, it was still just a bird. Approaching the ship, Ning Qingxue's gun-holding hand sweated profusely. The unknown was the most terrifying. Facing a lion or tiger wouldn't have scared her as much; at least those were visible.

Closer to the ship, an uneasy feeling washed over her. She couldn't charge in like the primitive people had.

Her surroundings were eerily silent. Except for clustered footprints, she wouldn't have known they'd all boarded the ship.

Jumping aboard, a bleak wind attacked her. The necklace on her chest emitted a light barrier, pushing the wind away. Ning Qingxue faintly heard a scream.

Silver flew to the boat's top, its expression mirroring her worry.

Ning Qingxue looked at the necklace; it had saved her again. Subconsciously glancing back at Silver, she felt reassured. "Stay behind me," she told Silver.

Silver immediately jumped down and followed closely. The ship was empty.

Stopping on deck, Ning Qingxue used her spirit sense to scan the interior. It was the same as yesterday: a table of food and wine, mostly cooked, but no one was there.

Suddenly, her spirit sense detected a black shadow, but it vanished, seeming to go into the bottom bunker.

Goosebumps erupted on her skin. She hadn't expected her spirit sense to detect that shadow—it could see things her eyes couldn't. She feared the unseen, not the seen. Ning Qingxue entered the ship's compartments.

There were two levels: the surface and the bottom bunker.

Remembering the shadow's disappearance, her spirit sense found it charging at her. Ning Qingxue subconsciously moved and fired her gun.

Bang bang bang! The shots were exceptionally clear in the silent boat, but the black shadow retreated unscathed. Her gun had no effect.

It was a ghost. Ning Qingxue's hands shook. If Silver hadn't chirped occasionally, she would have gone mad, alone on a spooky boat in the vast ocean.

She remembered the shriek in the Heaven Pit at Shen Nong Jia. If Ye Mo hadn't left her a protection charm, she would have died.

But this ghoul seemed stronger. Ye Mo had said they weren't afraid of bullets. If he hadn't given her the necklace, she would have ended up like the primitive men.

This thought made her tremble. Were all the people on board killed by the ghoul like the primitive people? Why was it doing this? When it charged, she felt it trying to devour her soul. Did these ghouls devour souls? She wouldn't have believed it before cultivation, but many things in this world defied scientific explanation.

Looking at Silver, following closely, she felt relieved. She holstered her gun, took out a fireball charm, and walked into the bottom bunker. The gun was useless.

It was a pity Ye Mo wasn't there. He would have recognized the ghoul as similar to the one he'd annihilated at Chun An, purposely raised by the red-robed woman from the Nine Moon Sect.

Normally, spirits disappear naturally after death. Some spirits condensing and not dissolving must be due to special reasons.

Keeping her spirit sense open, she found the black shadow hiding. With her power, she only saw a black figure. Ye Mo would have seen its solid, not mist-like, form and realized a ghost keeper was behind it, like the red-robed woman.

Seeing the ghoul, fear battled her courage. She took two steps, then stopped, changing direction.

She remembered the ghoul's speed. It could see her if she walked straight; an ambush was impossible.

As Ning Qingxue changed direction, the black figure stopped.

Food and water splashed as Ning Qingxue avoided them and neared the shadow.

Three meters away, she threw the fireball charm, yelling, "Lin!"

The black shadow was unprepared. In an instant, it was consumed by the fireball.

A loud shriek echoed, then the fireball and shadow vanished.

Ning Qingxue breathed a sigh of relief. The ghoul was annihilated. The fireball charm was stronger than a submachine gun, but it wasn't stronger, it was simply more effective against ghosts.

Searching again, she found nothing strange. She was incredibly lucky. This ghoul had escaped after Ye Mo killed the red-robed woman, somehow ending up in America and on the Bema. The pirates' captives had strengthened it, but its master was dead. It acted on instinct. Without the necklace, Ning Qingxue would have died countless times. Even with the necklace, if the red-robed woman were still alive, escape would have been impossible.

As if sensing the ghoul's annihilation, Silver chirped in celebration.

Ning Qingxue wiped sweat from her forehead and waved to Silver. They ascended to the surface. She didn't want to stay in that bleak bunker.

She guessed the entire ship's crew was gone because of the ghoul, so she had no desire to remain in the dark bunker.

Returning to the top, she remembered something important: she didn't know how to sail.

Ning Qingxue smiled bitterly and walked to the bow. She was dazed. The ship had been next to the island; she hadn't touched the sails. Now, it was far from the island.