Tomb raiding: Today is another day I don't want to go home.

Chapter 49 A Night of Desperation at Sea

He wiped the rain off his face, and the reflection on the glass that Wu Xie saw became clear for a moment, but in the blink of an eye, the reflection disappeared!

“Fat…” Wu Xie subconsciously turned his head to look at his side, but there was no one there.

Where's the fat guy? And that Professor Zhang is gone too!

"A-Ning..." Wu Xie turned his head to the left again, only to see two hands that looked like they had no skin on A-Ning's shoulders. He was startled and subconsciously took half a step back. "You!"

However, before she could finish speaking, Ah Ning's eyes, which had seemed to be pleading for help, instantly became empty. Then, as if pulled by a huge force, she was thrown away in Wu Xie's horrified gaze.

When Wu Xie came to his senses, he only managed to reach out and grab A Ning's foot, but it wasn't very effective. His body was dragged a short distance, and then, by sheer coincidence, his head got stuck in the gap of the fishing boat's railing.

The metallic smell in his nose and the sensation of being stroked on his head told Wu Xie that his head was caught between the fishing boat and the ghost ship. If the wind and waves added fuel to the fire, his brains would surely be squeezed out...

He's like this, so what about A Ning? Holy crap, is she dead?!

"Ah Ning!?"

The sounds of rain and wind drowned out Wu Xie's shouts, but the next moment, he felt as if something was grabbing his ankle. Before he could turn his head to see clearly, a sense of weightlessness swept over him, and like A Ning, he also experienced the feeling of being thrown away.

Huh? His head is actually okay!

Wu Xie's hand was still tightly gripping A Ning's foot. He only felt a blur before his eyes, and the next second, his body was forced to crash into an open space.

A sharp pain, seemingly penetrating deep into his nerves, made Wu Xie gasp. He gritted his teeth and hugged A Ning's calf, thinking: This time it should be safe!

Just as Wu Xie was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly heard the cracking sound of aging sheet metal.

The next moment, there was nothing beneath them, and Wu Xie and A Ning fell into a shallow ditch where they couldn't see their own hands.

Fortunately, the force of their tug-of-war with Wu Xie (pulling Ah Ning) had dissipated. Although they swallowed a few mouthfuls of rusty water, they should be safe for the time being.

"Ah Ning?"

Wu Xie helped the unconscious A Ning up and tried everything – pinching her philtrum, slapping her, pinching her nose to suffocate her – but she just wouldn't wake up.

So, Wu Xie's thoughts started to run wild in strange directions. Could it be that he would need artificial respiration?

Between saving someone and losing his first kiss, which he had treasured for twenty-six years, Wu Xie firmly chose the former. Just as he was about to put his lips to hers, A Ning suddenly opened her eyes. The whites of her eyes, which were faintly tinged with black blood vessels, startled Wu Xie so much that he immediately cried out for his mother!

"Mom!"

Ah Ning's lifeless gaze fell upon Wu Xie. Then, her hands, which had grown long black nails at some unknown time, swiftly climbed up Wu Xie's neck, and then suddenly tightened...

The torrential rain lashed the deck, and the kerosene lamps on the fishing boat flickered on and off, with no one in sight.

In contrast, things were much more chaotic underwater. Just like the things that had dragged A Ning away, those dense, ghostly hands pulled everyone who was still on the fishing boat into the sea in an instant, tossing them around like cargo. Among them were Zhang Qiling and Fatty Wang.

If this keeps going, I'll either be exhausted to death or drown! This was the wail in Wang Pangzi's heart after he used his dagger to deflect a ghostly hand flying toward his handsome face.

Meanwhile, Zhang Qiling, whose human skin mask was still on his face and who had the water-repelling pearl given to him by Yan Huai in his pocket, was not restricted in his movements. However, he was wary of the Wang family members hidden in the group, so he could only pretend to be clumsy and unintentional in rescuing the person.

But those ghostly hands kept sticking to people, and before long, some people fell victim to them and slowly sank to the bottom of the sea.

Seeing this, Zhang Qiling no longer cared about revealing his identity. He took a dagger from a mercenary, cut his palm with the blade, and the blood dissolved in the seawater, instantly clearing a ten-meter radius of clean land.

Fatty Wang was still wondering why these things suddenly acted as if they had seen their ancestor. He turned around and saw that the ghostly hands around the others had also scattered with a bang.

But there was no time to worry about that now. Fatty Wang felt that if he didn't get up to catch his breath, his lungs would explode. Just as he was about to kick his way up, he caught a glimpse of Professor Zhang looking exhausted not far away. Out of a sense of revolutionary camaraderie, he reached out and helped him up. But as his hand touched Zhang Qiling's waist, he felt a hard protrusion in his palm...

Soon after, several heads popped up on the surface of the sea. The rain was still heavy outside, but it was much better than being underwater.

Everyone's eyes were drawn to the sea. Fortunately, their fishing boat was floating not far away. Although it was being attracted to the mysterious ghost ship like a magnet, it gave them a glimmer of hope.

Fatty Wang grabbed Zhang Qiling by the back of the neck and swam towards the fishing boat, but after swimming for a while, he felt something was wrong. Why did this guy seem to have gotten heavier?

Fatty Wang looked back and was nearly scared out of his wits. What was that thing hugging and biting someone?!

Several humanoid monsters with bloodshot eyes were tearing and biting at any team member who lagged behind! Before those people could even scream, they were dragged into the water, their fates unknown. One of the faster ones had even bitten the unconscious Zhang Qiling in the stomach. No wonder Fatty Wang felt it was heavy!

"Go to hell!" Fatty Wang wanted to curse. Why did this guy have to faint now of all times?!

Gripping the dagger tightly in his hand, a fierce glint flashed in Wang Pangzi's eyes. With a slight exertion of his left hand, he pulled Zhang Qiling toward him, while his right hand slashed horizontally, the tip of the dagger aimed at the humanoid monster's eyeballs.

But the monster seemed to have come to life. Wang Pangzi's dagger missed its mark. Not only that, the monster's claws also used Zhang Qiling's body for leverage, and with a sudden pounce, it leaped above Wang Pangzi's head.

Fatty Wang reacted quickly, bringing Zhang Qiling to his side. He took a deep breath and sank into the water.

The next moment, accompanied by a loud gunshot, the monster roared and crashed into the sea, splashing up a huge spray of water...

Dozens of kilometers away, beneath the stench of the sea, a massive, dark green dragon shadow flashed by. Behind it was a black deep-sea serpent torn to pieces, along with countless severed limbs of sea monkeys.

The scattered fragments quietly sank among the rocks, creating a unique snowfall for this centuries-old, tranquil deep sea...

"Host...you have violated the system rules."