Daomu Biji: The Southern Archives

When He Jianxi woke up for the third time, 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 and sailors were on the other side of the cabin. They were squeezed into a corner and watching the two of them.

It was such a big cabin, but the room was divided into two sides. Two people were on one side, while everyone else was on the other side.

“What…what’s going on?” He Jianxi asked. Zhan Haiyan looked at the crowd that was keeping far away from them 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 without a care. “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 the wound hurt 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 kind 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 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 asked, “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 those British people 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 good 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, thinking to himself, goodbye, door panel bed.Spring bed, here I come.