Daomu Biji: The Southern Archives

He Jianxi was patted awake by Zhang Haiyan. It was already dark out and he was in a cabin in the ship’s hold. Instead of the previous compartment, he found that he was in a large cabin.

He and Zhang Haiyan looked at each other. There were medical herbs on his nose, which smelled very pungent. He Jianxi wanted to peel them off.

As soon as he sat up, he saw that all the crew members and sailors were on the other side of the cabin. They were squeezed into a corner and watching the two of them.

“What…what’s going on?” He Jianxi asked. Zhan Haiyan looked at the crowd that was watching them from a distance and said, “You’ve been in a coma for a day. Isn’t this the treatment that the plague god should have?”

“Are you really the plague god of the sea?” He Jianxi asked. He touched his nose and hissed in pain.

“Your nose is precious, so protect it if you can. You could even smell the subtle scent of turmeric that those scammers worked really hard on.” As Zhang Haiyan spoke, he threw He Jianxi a package. He Jianxi found out that it was his own luggage.

“Check your things. I’ve already packed everything for you except the bedding. Is there anything missing?”

He Jianxi flipped through his luggage. His things were very simple. Except for the necessities, there wasn’t anything extraneous, so he could see everything clearly at a glance. “Why did you pack my luggage?”

“Because we’re leaving.” Zhang Haiyan looked at the distant crowd. “Do you think we can still stay on this boat?”

“What do you mean, ‘we’?” He Jianxi was confused and thought to himself, if someone has to leave, shouldn’t you be the only one who can’t stay on this boat any longer?

“I’m the plague god of the sea, and you’re the plague god’s cousin. Do you know how many people will come after you? You’ll be arrested when you reach shore. They’ll dig out your little friend and force you to tell them where I am,” Zhang Haiyan said.

“But I’m not your cousin.”

“Do you think others will believe it?” Zhang Haiyan sat down and looked at the dark sea outside.

“You’re a hero who protects ordinary passengers. Why are they hiding from you? Why are they afraid of you?” He Jianxi was a little surprised.

Zhang Haiyan turned around and looked at the people on the opposite side indifferently. “A hero? I’m not a hero. I kill those who feel guilty. It’s inevitable that ordinary people will feel guilty.” Zhang Haiyan looked at He Jianxi with interest. “Are you not afraid of me? Do you have a clear conscience?”

“My conscience is clear.” He Jianxi felt as if his wound was hurting more and more, but he still tried to endure it.

“Those who have a clear conscience are either extremely kind, extremely evil, or extremely stupid. Which one are you?”

“None of those.” He Jianxi said. “Is it so difficult not to do bad things?”

Zhang Haiyan pointed to the people on the opposite side, who all flinched back. “You ask them.”

He Jianxi certainly wasn’t stupid enough to go and ask them, but he didn’t understand why Zhang Haiyan said that they were leaving. This was the place where the outer sea met the coastal waters. The blue sea was endless, and there wasn’t even a reef. Where could they possibly go?

Zhang Haiyan got closer to He Jianxi and said, “Let me ask you a question. Have you been so upright since you were young? How have you lived until now?”

“I’m an accountant,” He Jianxi said. “An accountant should always be persistent. My job requires me to be honest. If you encounter something that needs to be negotiated, there will naturally be other people to take care of it. I think I can survive because accounting jobs have been around since ancient times.”

“Chivalry.” Zhang Haiyan was somewhat surprised. Some white people cared about this, but no one in Malacca did. But there were a lot of British people in Malacca, and they might like this kid’s attitude. But when he arrived in San Francisco, Zhang Haiyan figured he’d probably only be able to work on building railways.

He Jianxi wouldn’t do well on this boat, either.

Zhang Haiyan reached a decision. He could have left He Jianxi here and gone off by himself since Zhang Haiqi had also taught them how to be heartless. He had seen several stubborn people over the years who weren’t worthy of sympathy, but for some reason, he felt that He Jianxi was different.

It was difficult to describe what it was. If Zhang Haiyan was forced to describe it, he could only say that He Jianxi was very lucky. But why was that the case? After He Jianxi got on the boat, he did countless things that were considered taboo while being out and about, but he still came out unscathed. Moreover, he had always had this kind of attitude, but was still alive even after all these years. Did this mean that he was an extremely lucky person?

Zhang Haiyan needed as much luck as he could get right now. Moreover, he didn’t want his mistakes to affect innocent people’s lives. Zhang Haiyan was fine with sacrificing others for profit, but he couldn’t accept that others were paying for his mistakes.

He looked at his watch, and found that it was almost time. Zhang Haiyan did a few stretches before saying to the people on the opposite side, “Good times always pass so fast. I’ll remember your faces, and come back at any time. I’ll know if you dare say a single bad word about me. Every bad thing that you do will be relayed to me. Tell others what you’ve seen. Everyone has to tell ten of their friends about it. Otherwise, you’ll see me every time.”

With that said, he handed He Jianxi his luggage. He Jianxi still didn’t react, so Zhang Haiyan grabbed him and threw him over the side of the boat. As He Jianxi fell directly into the sea, everyone on board screamed.

Zhang Haiyan stood on the side of the boat, flipped over backwards, and jumped into the sea.

When He Jianxi popped his head out of the water, he saw Zhang Haiyan falling down as well. “What are you doing?!” He scolded. “Why do you, the plague god, always have to do unexpected things? We’re going to drown!”

Zhang Haiyan floated along the waves and looked into the distance. There was a small spot of light on the distant sea. It was the Nan’an. This was exactly what he had calculated.

“We’re not going to drown.”

“I’m going to San Francisco! I don’t want to die here!”

“You aren’t going to die here.”

Zhang Haiyan threw out a rope, and He Jianxi grabbed it. “My bedding!”

Zhang Haiyan pulled the rope and started swimming towards that spot of light, telling himself that he only needed one more day. Just one more day. After he got on the ship, he could get the evidence, catch the criminals, and learn the truth behind the plague. Then he could steal a lifeboat and go back to save Zhang Haixia.

For He Jianxi, the four hours in the sea were like hell. The sea was cold at night, and although it wasn’t the kind of bitter cold that could take people’s lives, his feet were still spasming.

But it was as if this plague god could breathe underwater. When he couldn’t swim anymore, Zhang Haiyan would swim with one hand and pull him forward with the other without decreasing his speed at all. When he was having cramps, Zhang Haiyan would hold his chin above the water so that he could take a break.

Even so, four hours was still too long. He Jianxi’s consciousness immediately became blurred and he couldn’t remember how he got on the Nan’an. He only remembered that a huge palace was sailing towards them on the sea. It was so huge, and the lights were so beautiful that it was just like a fairyland. He even thought that he was dead and had sank into the Crystal Palace (1).

After that, his back met a solid deck. This was the first time he had felt at ease lying against a hard surface. And the most amazing thing was that the deck was still warm.

Since the water was too cold, even the deck felt warm.

It was only when Zhang Haiyan dragged him to a corner and made him drink from a finger-sized bottle of spirits that He Jianxi slowly recovered.

His whole body was weak, and it felt as if all of his bones had been removed. Even his muscles hurt, like they’d been pricked with needles.

“Where are we?” He asked weakly.

“We’re on the Nan’an. It’s a steamship heading to Xiamen.”

“Why Xiamen? I’m going to San Francisco. Big Brother, what are you doing exactly?”

“I’m saving your life.”

Zhang Haiyan felt that this kid was truly lucky if such a difficult plan had succeeded so smoothly. “Kid, there may be a reason why you’ve been able to survive even though you’re so stubborn. Your ancestors must have saved a lot of people in their previous lives.”

Would I have encountered you if my ancestors had done so many good things? He Jianxi thought dazedly.

The ship was very quiet. The Nan’an wasn’t a warship, so no one was patrolling on deck. Zhang Haiyan was extremely tired and also drank a bottle of spirits as he began to observe their surroundings.

He Jianxi slowly came back to his senses and suddenly understood what Zhang Haiyan had said. He grabbed Zhang Haiyan, “You bastard. I’m going to San Francisco. I don’t want to go to Xiamen as a stowaway. My cousin is still waiting for me.”

Zhang Haiyan covered his mouth. “Shut up, or you can swim back.”

He Jianxi became enraged. “I’m going to report you. I’m going to report you!”

Zhang Haiyan patted him. “Don’t worry. No one believes that anyone can sneak aboard a ship in this area. There aren’t any bad sailors or crooks on this ship, so don’t be afraid. After arriving in Xiamen, I’ll let you go to San Francisco. You’re just taking a detour. That’s it. You can go to my room first while I go handle something else. I’ll explain it to you in detail when I come back. Just behave for now.” With that said, he helped He Jianxi up and gave him the key to his room.

But He Jianxi didn’t have the strength to stand up at all. He tried for a few seconds, but ended up collapsing on the ground. He looked up at Zhang Haiyan and asked, “Who are you exactly?”

Zhang Haiyan calculated the time. If he was going to use the lifeboat to return to Malacca, he couldn’t wait any longer. When the ship got into the outer ocean currents, he might end up in Borneo if his hands slipped while he was heading for shore.

He looked around and realized that he couldn’t just leave He Jianxi on the deck, so he helped him up and said, “Alright. I’ll take you to the restaurant first.”

The two of them walked towards the passage below the first-class cabin. It was already very late, so the restaurant was closed. The room was dark as Zhang Haiyan pushed the door open and went inside.

The ship’s infirmary was just below the corridor at the other end of the restaurant, so he could reach it within three minutes.

I’ll find a booth and put him there, Zhang Haiyan thought to himself. If anyone discovers him, they’ll just think he’s drunk.

They walked into the pitch-black restaurant, where Zhang Haiyan put He Jianxi down. Once he was settled, Zhang Haiyan tried to make himself walk calmly towards the infirmary.

The medical staff consisted of ten people—three doctors and seven nurses—and whoever was spreading the plague on the ship was among them. At least four people were involved in this matter, and they all slept in the infirmary’s cabin. But based on the current time, they hadn’t fallen asleep just yet.

Their equipment had to be in the infirmary, because it was the only place where people wouldn’t be suspicious upon seeing those kinds of things.

“Take one and kill the other three,” Zhang Haiyan showed a vicious smile. He planned to grab someone and then take some bread and wine from the restaurant’s bread box and head straight for the deck where he would lower a lifeboat down to the sea. If everything went well, he would see the shore by this time tomorrow.

The lights in the infirmary's corridor were very dim, so Zhang Haiyan moved very lightly and cautiously.

He found that the infirmary was completely dark, which didn’t make any sense since hospitals never turned off their lights.

He opened the door and swiftly moved into the infirmary. He had only taken two steps before he noticed that the chairs and beds looked very strange under the light shining in from the doorway.

He took a closer look and felt his heart thump. There were people sitting on the chairs or lying on the infirmary beds.

They were all motionless, but he couldn’t see what was going on since the lights weren’t turned on.

Zhang Haiyan immediately calmed himself down and tried to listen for the sound of heartbeats, but didn’t hear anything.

Shit, he thought to himself. He carefully approached and saw that there were more than a dozen corpses piled up further in the room. They were all the ship’s medics. Their throats had been pierced, their mouths were wide open, and they were all lying in the dark.

At that moment, Zhang Haiyan saw a corpse among them that wasn’t a ship's medic. It was the sailor who had showed him around the ship before. His mouth was also wide open, and there was an envelope placed on his body.

Zhang Haiyan looked around the area and realized that this was a trap.

He immediately turned around to leave, but suddenly heard a hissing sound as poison gas started pouring out of the corpses’ mouths.

Zhang Haiyan immediately covered his mouth and rushed back to the door. He looked through the door’s small glass window and saw three men wearing gas masks standing outside. They waved at him under the dim light.

As those men continued to watch him, he slammed the door with all his strength, but it remained motionless.

Zhang Haiyan rushed back to the medical room and checked the ventilation ducts, but found that they were all locked. There were no windows, and anything that could provide a way out had been blocked.

He rushed back to the door and looked at those people, suddenly understanding what was going on. All the strange things he had felt during his investigation were answered in this moment.

But it was too late. He was going to die.

He let out a yell and used all his strength to slam against the door, but the lock held firm. As the people outside looked at him amusedly, all his anger exploded. He shattered the small window with a punch and then grabbed one of the men’s clothes.

The man didn’t struggle, but looked at Zhang Haiyan with a sneer and slowly grabbed his hand. Zhang Haiyan realized that he couldn’t use any of his strength at all.

At this time, they heard footsteps at the entrance of the corridor, and then He Jianxi shouted, “That’s him!”

The man with the gas mask immediately turned around and saw several police officers rushing down from the entrance. The police officers immediately drew their guns upon seeing the scene, “What are you doing?!”

At this moment, Zhang Haiyan took advantage of that quarter of a second when the man who grabbed him wasn’t paying attention. With the last bit of his strength, he immediately grabbed the person’s neck.

The person also reacted very quickly and inserted his fingers between Zhang Haiyan’s palm and his own throat as Zhang Haiyan tried to snap his neck.

At almost the exact same time, the other two men rushed towards He Jianxi and the police officers.

Zhang Haiyan grinned evilly and flexed, crushing both the man’s fingers and his throat. He then pulled the man’s head toward the window so that he could take the gas mask and put it on himself.

On the other side, the two men immediately launched their attack. They threw daggers at the policemen, killing them before they even had time to react.

He Jianxi was pressed up against the wall and watching it all in surprise when he suddenly saw the two people coming right at him.

Zhang Haiyan put on the mask and took a few deep breaths before he finally felt better. He then dislocated his shoulder and elbow joints before sticking his hand out of the window again. His outstretched hand reached the door handle, but found that an iron rod had been jammed through it. He pulled the iron rod away and finally opened the door.

Zhang Haiyan rushed out of the infirmary full of poison gas and tore off the gas mask.

The two killers were just about to reach He Jianxi when they heard someone behind them say coldly, “Come to daddy. Daddy will love you properly.”

****

TN Notes:

(1) A cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More info here