The Undead Captain Takes No Living - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

There was no wind in the Sea of No Return.

No waves, either.

The water lay flat as a black mirror.

After the Ghost Ship sailed in, the Ghost Port behind us began to scatter bit by bit.

Stalls turned into foam.

Lanterns turned into pinpricks of starlight.

The theater collapsed into a sheet of red paper, and the red paper dissolved into ash.

The lost souls who had followed the ship stood on the surface of the sea.

Their faces slowly grew clear.

Some were old men.

Some were children.

Some wore Navy armor.

Others wore short dockworkers’ clothes.

They no longer crowded together. They no longer cried out that they were hungry.

One by one, they followed the white waterway deeper in.

Victor stood at the stern, watching the soldiers of the Sea Patrol Navy.

At the very front, the skeleton returned to the form of a middle-aged general.

He saluted Victor.

Victor’s eyes reddened.

He saluted back.

“Return to port.”

The general smiled, then led the soldiers behind him into the mist.

Gloria sat at the edge of the deck.

The Red-clad Woman was gone.

All that remained in her hand was a piece of red cloth.

I walked over.

“Where is she?”

Gloria lowered her head and looked at the red cloth.

“Gone.”

“Are you sad?”

She thought about it.

“A little.”

“Do you hate her?”

“A little of that, too.”

She looked up at me.

“Can a person hate someone and feel sad at the same time?”

I sat down beside her.

“Yes.”

She let out a breath of relief.

“Then I’m normal.”

“Very normal.”

Cedric was still at the helm.

His body had become very faint.

The moment I saw it, my heart sank.

Leon saw it too.

He rushed over and grabbed the wheel.

“What is happening to you?”

Cedric said, “The Sea of No Return does not keep a Captain.”

Leon cursed.

“You’re doing this again?”

I ran over.

When Cedric saw the look on my face, he actually tried to hide his hand in his sleeve.

I was so angry I grabbed his hand.

His hand had already gone a little transparent.

“Didn’t you say you could come back?”

He looked toward Sunken Bell Reef.

The white waterway was still there.

“You can.”

“Cedric.”

“Mm.”

My tears fell.

“Do you think I’m that easy to fool?”

He fell silent.

“No.”

“Then why did you lie to me again?”

He looked as if he wanted to explain.

But when the words reached his lips, only one sentence was left.

“I’m sorry.”

I hated him most when he was like this.

I really did.

When he put on a cold face, I could argue with him.

When he talked about rules, I could talk back.

But when he lowered his voice and said he was sorry, it was like punching into water. There was nowhere for my anger to land.

Leon was frantically flipping through the ledger.

“There has to be another way.”

Victor came over to help as well.

Gloria dumped all the copper bells onto the deck and searched through them one by one.

But I suddenly remembered what my father had said.

House Melowen ferried souls not by relying on death.

But by remembering the way.

I looked at the Red Cord around Cedric’s wrist.

Seven years ago, I was afraid he would get lost, so I tied a red thread around him.

Later, he really did get lost.

But the red thread was still there.

I tore a strip of cloth from my own sleeve and tied it together with that old Red Cord.

Cedric looked at me.

“It won’t work.”

“And you know that how?”

“A Captain cannot go ashore.”

“You are not the Captain anymore.”

He froze.

I pointed at Gloria.

“Gloria, is the Ghost Ship still here?”

Gloria stared blankly for a second, then immediately understood.

She grabbed the largest copper bell and rang it with all her strength.

The sound of the copper bell swept through the entire ship.

The hull let out a creaking groan.

Those old Shroud Sail sheets slowly lowered.

The Ghost Lantern at the bow went out.

Gloria shouted, “The Ghost Ship’s ferrying is complete! The Old Covenant is annulled!”

Leon picked it up at once.

“Captain Cedric is relieved of duty!”

Victor glanced at him.

“That works?”

Leon said, “The rules are already shattered to pieces. What’s wrong with trying?”

I tightened my grip on the Red Cord.

“Cedric.”

He looked at me.

I said, “Come home with me.”

His gaze trembled.

This might have been the first time I had ever seen such obvious emotion on his face.

Wind suddenly rose over the Sea of No Return.

It was not the cold, eerie wind of ghosts.

It was the wind of the living world, carrying the smell of fish, sun-dried salt, and the clamor of South Seven Pier.

The Red Cord lit up.

My father’s voice came from beneath the Sunken Bell.

“Pull him.”

I yanked Cedric with all my strength.

Leon grabbed my belt.

Victor grabbed Leon.

Gloria grabbed Victor.

I dragged Cedric away from the wheel, inch by inch.

His transparent hand became clear again.

Behind us, the Ghost Ship collapsed.

The black wood shattered into flakes of light.

Cedric fell into my arms.

The impact knocked me backward, and Leon, Victor, Gloria, and I all went down in a heap.

Leon, at the very bottom, screamed miserably.

“My shoulder!”

Victor said calmly, “You’re crushing my bow.”

Gloria cursed, “Who’s stepping on my hair?”

I ignored them.

I only looked at Cedric.

He was leaning against my shoulder.

His breathing was very faint.

But it was there.

I reached out and touched the back of his neck.

Warm.

Not the cold of the dead.

Cedric slowly opened his eyes.

He looked at me, as if he still had not realized what had happened.

My nose stung.

“Does it hurt?”

He paused.

Then he said very seriously, “It hurts.”

I laughed through my tears.

“Good. It’s supposed to.”

The Sunken Bell rang again.

The Sea of No Return receded.

A burst of white light swept us up.

In the last glimpse I had, I saw my father standing beneath the bell.

He waved at me.

He did not say goodbye.

He only said one thing.

“Come home for dinner.”