Horror

No matter how much Wen Yan pressed him for answers, Su Jibai remained silent. Wen Yan's heart sank, and she lost interest in the lavish banquet, so she simply left early and went back to her room.

What else does Su Jibai know?

Unable to get an answer, Wen Yan felt a surge of panic. He tried calling out to the system, but the mechanical voice didn't sound, and the system disappeared silently again.

The system had said that 168 people had failed before him, and he could become the 169th. Perhaps the failure rate of playing "Wenyan" was too high, so the system turned its attention to "Su Jibai," and the "Su Jibai" from before might be the next host.

Wen Yan looked as if she had fallen into an ice cave, her walking posture as stiff as a marionette.

"Boss, the thing you asked me to do..." A deep male voice came from afar.

Wen Yan stopped and leaned against the corner, tilting her head. Two men were standing on the deck. One, a tall man in a black suit, had his head down, seemingly giving a report, blocking most of the other man's view. Wen Yan could only see that the man was wearing a Patek Philippe watch with a black strap and blue dial on his left wrist, which stood out conspicuously in the darkness.

The howling sea breeze and the sound of waves crashing against the ship drowned out their conversation.

"What are you doing?" The voice behind her was like a thunderclap, startling Wen Yan.

Wen Yan's hair stood on end. She turned her head and saw Su Jibai. His contorted face relaxed. "You scared me to death."

Su Jibai looked over there and asked, "Why were you eavesdropping on their conversation?"

"What do you mean by eavesdropping!" Wen Yan glanced over there and whispered, "It's so loud outside, I didn't hear anything."

Su Jibai: "You're acting suspiciously, aren't you trying to eavesdrop?"

"I can't be bothered to talk to you." Wen Yan walked past him and left, with Su Jibai following behind.

A shadow that didn't belong to him followed him relentlessly. Wen Yan gritted his teeth, "Why are you following me!" This person is really strange. He dropped a bomb on him and then left without a word. Now he still has the nerve to follow him.

Su Jibai: "My room is next to yours."

Wen Yan was furious and quickly left Su Jibai far behind.

The room was neat and clean. The blankets that Wenyan had messed up were now folded up. The scented candles on the bedside table were emitting white smoke and smelled sweet. The milk in the glass was steaming hot.

The customer service was so attentive, and they even provided hot milk, but Yan had eaten too much for dinner and couldn't drink any more.

After washing up, Lin Jiapeng asked Wen Yan if he wanted to play games, but Wen Yan hesitated for a moment and declined, telling him to get some rest. Lin Jiapeng had been out socializing all night and was exhausted, and Wen Yan wasn't in the mood for games either because of Su Jibai's situation.

Wen Yan lay in bed lost in thought for a while, then, smelling the incense on her bedside table, she drifted off to sleep.

In another room, Su Jibai came out of the bathroom, dried his hair, and changed into clothes that were easy to move in. He opened the backpack on the sofa, checked the items inside—medicine and some tightly packaged instant food—and then took a quick-drying jacket from the closet and stuffed it in. The backpack was bulging and could not hold anything else.

After doing all this, he turned off the light and stood in front of the window gazing at the distant sea.

At 3 a.m., a man in black paced back and forth in the ocean-view cabin. After confirming that there were no lights or sounds in the room, he took out his phone and sent a message.

The speeding cruise ship suddenly emitted a dull thud, and part of the hull broke off with a crash before slowly sinking into the sea.

The captain was terrified. After sounding the alarm in the command room, he sternly ordered the crew to wake everyone up, while he himself ran to the lifeboat at the stern.

The crew pounded on the doors of each room, their voices booming, and simply told them that the cruise ship had struck a reef and that they should hurry to the stern to board the lifeboats and escape.

Screams and cries filled the entire cruise ship. People ran frantically, stumbling and scrambling, without even having time to put on their shoes, to the lifeboats.

Upon learning that the cruise ship had run aground, Lin Jiapeng and the butler quickly directed the passengers in the cabins to evacuate. However, Wen Yan's room remained silent, and no matter how much Lin Jiapeng patted it, there was no response.

The cruise ship was slowly sinking, and it was too late to get the keys. Lin Jiapeng was extremely anxious and tried to kick the door open.

Su Jibai handed the bag to Long Chen, telling Long Chen and Liu Xirou to go first. He said he could find Wen Yan by himself; too many people would only cause chaos.

He took out the key he had taken from the command room that afternoon, and Lin Jiapeng, whose face was ashen, straightened up and immediately made way for him.

Su Jibai: "You should go to the lifeboat first; they need you more there."

Apart from a few of them, most of the people on the cruise ship had boarded the lifeboats, and the butler alone was not enough to calm the panicked crowd.

"Thanks, I'll leave Wenyan to you." Lin Jiapeng glanced deeply into the depths of the room, then turned and ran towards the stern of the boat.

The surging sea kept swallowing the cruise ship with its waves. Liu Xirou and Long Chen looked towards the cabin and hesitated to board the lifeboat.

A strong sense of unease welled up inside Liu Xirou, her brows furrowing for a long time as she nervously gripped Long Chen's hand. Long Chen's gaze was deep, his heart equally anxious. He reassured her, "They'll be here soon."

Inside the lifeboat, the stifling air intensified the unease among the passengers. Many shouted at the captain, asking why the boat hadn't set sail yet. The captain wiped the sweat from his face. "Everyone isn't here yet, we can't set sail."

"The cruise ship is sinking, so what if a few fewer people are lost? Do you want us to die here?" A man suddenly stood up, his face flushed red and veins bulging on his neck.

The captain was drenched in sweat. "This isn't something I can decide?"

"If you can't decide, then who can?" A woman glared fiercely at the captain, then suddenly exclaimed, "Lin Jiapeng! Get the captain to set sail! What exactly is your Lin family trying to do? We came to this party to give your Lin family face, and now that something's happened, you're hiding like cowards?"

Butler Zhang had just finished calming down the people at the top when he came downstairs and saw this excited scene. He quickly went up to them with a smile and greeted them one by one.

The captain gave a wry smile. "Steward Zhang, everyone's here. Are the upper deck crew seated? We're about to set sail."

Butler Zhang scanned the crowd, trying to find Wen Yan, but some people were standing and some were sitting, so he couldn't see anyone's face clearly. "Is everyone here?"

"Yes, a rather handsome young man just came down," the captain said.

Resentful voices rose and fell, and angry gazes pierced the butler like needles. The butler nodded, not even having time to confirm the faces, "Yes, we're just missing one boy."

This place is full of powerful and influential people. If we don't set sail, we'll offend them, and the Lin family's reputation and business will suffer great losses.

The butler cleared his throat. "Everyone, please calm down, sit down and fasten your seatbelts. We're about to set sail."

After saying that, he ran upstairs. "Young Master, Wenyan has arrived. Please take a seat. The ship is about to depart."

A smile appeared on Lin Jiapeng's tired face. "I'll go down and check on him."

"Don't worry, young master, I've already seen him. Hurry up and get ready." The butler had no choice but to lie, pressing him into his seat and fastening his seatbelt. "I'm going down now, young master. Please sit here."

“Okay.” Lin Jiapeng trusted the butler who had raised him since he was a child, and he also knew that now was not the time to be willful. “You should also be careful.”

"Okay, sure."

The butler went down to the lower level and said, "The boat can set sail now."

The captain gripped the steering wheel tightly, his temples throbbing. After the butler was seated, he steeled himself, pressed the start button, and said, "Hold on tight, let's go!"

A loud rumble, as if waves were crashing against the door, making a "splashing" sound, seemed to say, "Wenyan, get up quickly!"

His brain felt like it was filled with glue, hazy and confused. He managed to open his eyes, but only managed to lift them slightly before quickly closing them again. A heavy drowsiness swept over his brain, rendering him unable to move.

It was the sound of machinery. His tightly closed eyes were suddenly filled with bright yellow light. His body was shaken rapidly, and his consciousness gradually returned.

He was finally able to open his eyes.

Yan asked, confused, "What's wrong?"

"The cruise ship sank."

Su Jibai carried Wenyan to the stern of the ship, where he saw the lifeboat speeding across the sea, leaving only its orange tail visible. The cruise ship was in grave danger, and water slowly crept up to Su Jibai's ankles.

"Come here quickly!" Long Chen and Liu Xirou were both wearing life jackets and standing on the life raft.

Su Jibai ran to the edge of the cruise ship and squatted down. Long Chen and Liu Xirou took Wenyan from his back. Liu Xirou shook Wenyan's body and, seeing that he was still dazed, quickly put a life jacket on him and asked worriedly, "What's wrong with Ayan?"

Long Chen squatted down to check on his condition, and with a flick of his finger, he lifted his eyelids, revealing that both pupils were dilated.

"I've been drugged."

Su Jibai put on his life jacket, jumped onto the life raft, untied the thin rope binding the cruise ship, and rowed vigorously with Long Chen toward the distant island.

If the cruise ship hadn't sunk, they would have reached Island C by morning.

The wind howled, the sea surged and danced, waves flew up, and the icy seawater splashed onto Wen Yan's face, finally bringing him to his senses.

Liu Xirou exclaimed with delight, "Ayan, you're finally awake!"

The deafening roar of the wind and waves made it impossible for the two rowers to hear Liu Xirou's words. They used all their strength to steer the life raft toward Island C.

Wen Yan slowly sat up, staring blankly at the surging sea before her.

Why am I here?

Fragments of memory played out in his mind one by one. Wen Yan's eyes gradually cleared. The cruise ship was sinking, and they were now running for their lives. The dark seawater continued to churn, and huge waves crashed down. Three words popped into his mind—it's over.