Techniques and Dao

Chapter 84 Sisters in White Dresses
Hanamori had never seen the sea so closely before. The sea's unfamiliar yet familiar embrace brought a profound sense of awe. Some encounters you've never had before feel like long-awaited reunions. It's as if the sea has become part of the rhythm of life, something you can never forget.

As evening fell, the fiery colors of the distant sunset bathed the entire cruise ship in a shimmering rose gold. A gentle sea breeze caressed Hua Sheng's face as she gazed at the breathtaking view where the sea and sky met, as if the ocean had never experienced a storm before, and everything was so peaceful and calm.

There were several tourists taking photos on the deck, like families or couples. Hanamori walked alone through the crowd, looking somewhat out of place. After being stopped several times to help take group photos, he listlessly walked back into his cabin.

As the last rays of the setting sun faded, the final glow of the sunset painted the sky a bluish-purple. Sometime during the night, the moon had crept into the sky, and were it not for the mirror-like moonlight, you wouldn't have noticed when it magically leaped above the sea. The bright moon reflected on the horizon, and compared to the vibrant sunset just moments before, the scene now exuded a unique, profound, and elusive allure.

Hua Sheng stopped in front of a third-class cabin and checked the room number with the one Officer Zhang had given her: 3255.

That's right. He rang the doorbell, but no one answered.

Hua Sheng knocked on the door again: "Hello, is this Miss Xu? I'm Xu Xiaocheng's friend. He asked me to deliver a message to you."

There was still no sound from inside the room.

Perhaps the sisters had gone to the deck or the entertainment hall; it was lunchtime, so they might have gone to the restaurant. Just as Hanamori was about to leave, she suddenly realized that her room wasn't locked. The door was ajar, and with a slight rocking from the waves, it creaked open.

A strong unease, seemingly from nowhere, coursed through Hanamori's body like an electric current. In movie stories, discovering an unlocked door almost always means something bad is about to happen.

But there are two people living in the house, it's impossible for something to happen to them at the same time, right? People come and go on the boat, if something happened, it shouldn't have gone unnoticed.

Hua Sheng wanted to find the ship's police officer, but decided to go inside first. He peeked out and knocked on the open door.

Is anyone inside?

It remained completely silent. Hanamori stepped into the room. The third-class room was small, and although there was a window, it was already dark outside, so no light penetrated into the room. By the light from the corridor, Hanamori could vaguely make out the outline of a large bed, and there was a wardrobe on the right side of the room.

Hua Sheng reached out and groped around on the wall for a few moments before finding the switch and turning on the light.

The fluorescent light flickered a few times, then the room lit up, revealing it to be empty. He looked around; there were no other rooms. The bathroom door was already open, and the room wasn't large enough to hide anyone. The entire guest room was completely exposed.

There were two suitcases, each about 24 inches in size, in the room, indicating that someone had checked in. Women's clothes and personal belongings were scattered around, everything seemed quite ordinary.

Perhaps he forgot to lock the door when he went out. It would be embarrassing if he suddenly came back and was suspected of being a thief or a pervert. Thinking of this, Hua Sheng planned to return to the corridor as soon as possible. Just as he turned off the room light, he suddenly heard two "ding" sounds behind him.

The sound came from two different angles, one on the left and one on the right. The sound was very familiar, as if I had heard it somewhere before.

Oh right, it's the sound of my phone alarm!
Hua Sheng turned around, and two faint lights emanated from the dark room. One was on the bed, and the other was in front of the dressing table. Hua Sheng instantly recognized them as the screens of two mobile phones that had been turned on.

Something unusual must have happened!
Hua Sheng suddenly realized that in this day and age, it's almost impossible for two women to go out without their phones at the same time. Phones are practically an extension of people's bodies, and for women who love taking photos, the only possibility for two people to go out without their phones at the same time is that they have to urgently escape the room for some reason.

He hurried to the bedside; a message appeared on his phone screen. The font was simple, containing only two words:
"Set up the formation".

He then glanced at another phone on the dressing table. Although the colors and models were different, the content displayed was exactly the same.

What kind of nonsense is this? Hua Sheng couldn't understand this hint at all. When it comes to battle formations, he only remembered them being mentioned in historical novels where two armies clashed, or in martial arts novels where sword formations often appeared.

What does this mean? Where did the two sisters go again?
Just then, the giant cruise ship suddenly shook violently, so much so that Hanamori couldn't support her body at all. The furniture on the ship was fixed to the floor, but the cups and lamps placed on them began to fall over one after another, the sound of breaking like a sharp knife slicing through the silent skin.

Immediately afterwards, screams came from outside, rising and falling from the corridor as they approached.

Hua Sheng dashed out of the room as fast as he could. In the instant he stepped out, he caught a glimpse of a paper package on the floor. Four characters were written on the outside of the package in bold ink with a brush:
"The Academy of Arts and Crafts." The Bedland cruise ship was rocking violently. Despite the thick steel plates, the roar of the seawater hitting the iron plates was still clearly audible to the people inside the cabin, making them uneasy.

Hua Sheng rushed out of the Xu sisters' room, but was immediately shaken violently and thrown back into the room. He got up again and strode into the corridor, which was now filled with terrified passengers, their screams echoing everywhere.

The ship's loudspeaker began broadcasting: "Dear passengers! We regret to inform you that the cruise ship is currently experiencing rough seas. Please return to your cabins immediately! For your safety, please do not go ashore or move around on the ship to avoid any accidents! Repeat! For your safety, please do not go ashore or move around on the ship to avoid any accidents!"

Then, Hanamori saw several cruise ship staff in uniform begin evacuating passengers in the corridor, calling them back to their rooms.

Hua Sheng quickened his pace, heading towards the floor where his guest room was located. He hoped to find the sisters as soon as possible; if he couldn't find them immediately, it would be safer to stay in his room.

The ship's violent shaking must have been caused by a strong tropical storm of level 12 or higher, no, perhaps even a strong typhoon of level 16 or higher.

Hanamori instinctively felt this wasn't just ordinary rough seas. While there might be some margin of error in current meteorological data, it was unlikely that a large cruise line would be completely unaware of a strong typhoon on their route. Why did they choose this route? Or had the cruise line never received any storm warnings at all?
Hanamori reached the end of the corridor, where a door led to the outer deck corridor. A male staff member stood before him, shouting, "Go back! Go back now! Go inside; it's too windy and dangerous outside!"

As Hua Sheng hesitated, realizing this path was blocked, a massive wave crashed in, causing the entire cruise ship to rise rapidly by over a hundred meters, as if on a high-speed elevator, before plummeting almost from mid-air. Hua Sheng and the staff member were first thrown against the ceiling of the cabin, then slammed heavily onto the floor. The staff member's head hit the threshold at the edge of the cabin, instantly bleeding profusely and losing consciousness.

If the staff were left lying on the deck, they could easily slip off and fall into the sea if the ship capsized again. Hua Sheng immediately ran over and lifted the staff member up, pulling him forcefully into the cabin corridor.

At that moment, a loud clap of thunder suddenly rang out.

The sky and earth seemed to be instantly illuminated by a giant flash of light, followed by a bolt of lightning several meters wide striking the bow of the ship. The deafening roar and the force of the impact sent Hua Sheng, who had just lifted the crew member, flying several meters away. The deafening sound echoed in the darkness amidst the raging wind and rain, the corridor lights went out instantly, and the shouts and screams of people resounded throughout the entire giant ship.

Less than a minute after Hanamori struggled to his feet again, he saw flames begin to blaze at the bow of the ship. The fire grew stronger and stronger, and the sounds of crashing, flames, and screams, combined with the darkness of the corridor, transformed the cheerful cruise ship into a terrifying hell on earth in just a few minutes!

Hanamori's heart pounded, as if it would burst from his chest. But it wasn't the hellish situation that terrified him; what truly unsettled him was what he had seen in that flash of lightning.

In the brief moment the sky was illuminated, several enormous black shadows darted back and forth in the endless darkness and storm that enveloped the entire cruise ship. They were definitely not seagulls or birds; each shadow was tens of meters long, like clusters of dark clouds circling above the ship.

Although it was only for a fraction of a second, Hua Sheng was certain that this was not an illusion caused by the thick clouds. Hua Sheng clearly sensed that these flying things were alive!
He dragged the staff member into the cabin with all his might, placed him in a safe corner, and then returned to the corridor.

At this moment, the main lights in the corridor were off, with only the emergency red lights emitting a faint glow. The red light flickered intermittently, as if it might go out at any moment, plunging the corridor into cold darkness.

Hua Sheng, supporting himself against the corridor wall, braved the wind and rain to walk onto the deck. He wondered to himself if another flash of lightning would appear, so he could see clearly what had been surrounding the ship in the darkness.

The deck had become deathly silent. The torrential rain and waves pounded against the hull, making the deck wet and slippery. The water had reached up to Hua Sheng's ankles, and her clothes were completely soaked.

He didn't know how many people were injured when the ship just sank; now he could only pray that the storm would subside soon.

Just as Hua Sheng's mind went blank, he saw two women walking side by side about thirty meters to his right. The women had their backs to Hua Sheng and were struggling to move forward, holding onto the wall.

Hua Sheng shouted, "Hey! Are you alright? Don't walk on the deck! It's too dangerous, hurry back to the cabin!" But the wind and rain were too loud, drowning out his shouts.

Why weren't any staff members helping them? Hua Sheng took a step out and grabbed the ship's railing, the sea below him a vast, bottomless ocean with raging waves. He steadied himself and waded through the water towards the two women.

Both women were wearing the same white dress. By the dim light on the deck, Hanamori could see that they, like him, were soaked through with rain. He approached and saw the women's backs trembling.

Just then, Hua Sheng suddenly had a feeling that these two women, who looked like twins, might be Xu Ge's two sisters. Why did they run out of the cabin? And why didn't they run back to the corridor when the storm first started? Now they were heading in the opposite direction from the cabin they were trying to reach!

(End of this chapter)