Chapter 78 Midnight Horror
That night, the boat rocked and swayed with the waves. Fan Xiaoxiao felt as if something in her stomach was also swaying, and she groped her way up in the dark.
"Hmm? Um, sister, are you going out?" In her drowsy state, Madam Fan sensed the movement of the person beside her and subconsciously raised her head to get up and go out with her.
"Sis, you go to sleep. I'm just not feeling well, and I feel a bit dizzy lying down. I'm going out for some fresh air."
"Hmm...really you don't need me to stay with you?" Madam Fan was about to get up, and her movements were a bit loud, making the little baby sleeping in the middle look like he was about to wake up.
"Hmm... Mother..." Madam Fan was startled and immediately coaxed Xiao Bao back to sleep.
Fan Xiaoxiao finished dressing and gently opened the door.
"Sister, you don't need to stay with me. I'll just get some fresh air on the deck. You go to sleep; Xiao Bao can't be without you."
"Okay, remember to call me if you need anything." Exhausted from the day's work, Madam Fan closed her eyes and fell asleep again. Fan Xiaoxiao gently closed the door and walked towards the deck.
The moonlight bathed the boat in a silvery glow, making everything around it crystal clear. Fan Xiaoxiao looked up, mesmerized. The moon seemed so close, pressed against the river's surface, as if she could reach out and touch it.
The sound of flowing water soothed her nerves and her stomach. Stepping onto the deck, the view opened up. The moon was reflected in the river, like two silver plates. This was a sight she could never see in the real world.
"So beautiful..."
"I didn't expect that you, Miss Fan, are also a woman who enjoys romance." A lighthearted voice sounded behind Fan Xiaoxiao, startling her. Turning around, she saw it was Lady Ye.
She stared blankly at the other person standing in the shadows. Huh? No wheelchair?
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Lady Ye slowly emerged from the shadows along the ship's side. The moonlight shone on her face, as if bathing her in a glow.
"Ah, no. I...I just think it looks nice."
Fan Xiaoxiao turned her head, not daring to look at that captivating beauty any longer. She stared at the moon on the water, at the shimmering light reflected in that silver disc.
"Ha, romance and beauty are all illusions, what's so interesting about them? Why not look at me instead?"
Ye Niangzi's voice sounded somewhat androgynous, with a husky, magnetic quality. Fan Xiaoxiao felt a chill run down her spine. Was this guy seriously ill?! She was still just a young girl in this era! Besides, they were all women!
"Hehe, Madam Ye, you're really joking. I...I...I..."
"Oh? Miss Fan thinks I'm joking?" A gentle touch pressed against Fan Xiaoxiao's back; it was Lady Ye's hand. Her hands were large, somewhat unlike a woman's.
Fan Xiaoxiao felt her tailbone go numb. She trembled and dared not turn around, her heart pounding uncontrollably.
"No...no, no, I...I...you..." She was clearly terrified, and like a quail, she couldn't squeeze out a word for a long time.
A soft laugh escaped from the lips of the person behind her, and Fan Xiaoxiao shuddered again.
Lady Ye seemed amused by her words and slowly walked in front of Fan Xiaoxiao.
"Do you want to look into my eyes?"
Fan Xiaoxiao was slightly taken aback. What kind of request was this? She raised her head in confusion, and the person in front of her was raising his hand to untie the Su Mu Zhe.
"No..." Fan Xiaoxiao's intuition made her feel scared; everything was a bit strange.
But it was too late to stop her; the Su Mu Zhe was removed, and the stunning beauty before them slowly opened her eyes.
Fan Xiaoxiao felt like she was about to stop breathing; those eyes were green!
"ah!"
Fan Xiaoxiao suddenly sat up in bed, as if she had been pulled out of the water.
"Hmm? Sister... what's wrong?" Madam Fan squinted her sleepy eyes and looked at Fan Xiaoxiao with some confusion.
"Uh, no...it's nothing, just a nightmare. You can go back to sleep, sister."
"Hmm..." Fan responded as if in a dream, and then went back to sleep.
Looking at her older sister's sleeping face and listening to Uncle Wang's snoring from the other side of the screen, Fan Xiaoxiao breathed a sigh of relief—it was a dream.
A sudden urge to urinate struck, and Fan Xiaoxiao felt too embarrassed to use the chamber pot in her room. After thinking for a moment, she remembered there seemed to be a communal, makeshift outhouse in the middle cabin.
After hesitating for a moment, she got up. It's nothing, it was just a dream. What a coincidence!
Muttering a self-comforting phrase to herself, Fan Xiaoxiao quietly pushed open the door. The moon tonight was exactly the same as in her dream. This made her feel uneasy, and she subconsciously glanced towards the deck. It was empty, except for the two ship's crew members on guard duty.
She breathed a sigh of relief and, not daring to delay, quickly found the communal outhouse to relieve herself. Just as she finished tidying her clothes, washed her hands, and was about to return to her room, the boat seemed to have hit something and came to a stop with a "thud."
"Huh? What's going on?" Fan Xiaoxiao wiped her hands in confusion and groped her way out of the middle cabin in the dark.
"Knock knock knock".
A rapid drumbeat came from the bow of the boat, followed by several boatmen carrying torches running quickly from the front. Seeing their hurried expressions, Fan Xiaoxiao uneasily stopped the last boatman.
"Big brother, what's going on??? What happened?!"
"Hey!? It's you, young lady!" Coincidentally, the person Fan Xiaoxiao stopped was the young man next to Old Zhang's stall.
"Young lady, hurry back and hide! There's a hidden compartment in the bottom of the ship! Don't come out! Boss Long is here!"
After saying that, he didn't care whether Fan Xiaoxiao understood or not, and hurriedly followed his companions to inform the people resting in the rooms one by one.
Without hesitation, Fan Xiaoxiao rushed towards the room where the Fan family lived. In her haste, she seemed to bump into a wooden stick leaning against the wall, which fell down with a thud. She dared not linger, for she could already hear the men's foul language and curses coming from not far behind her.
"Damn it! Hand over all the women on your boat!"
"Yes! Our boss is getting married!"
"Hey? I just heard some noise behind us! Let's go check it out!"
Noisy footsteps approached Fan Xiaoxiao's direction; the people were moving very fast, and she could even see the flames.
There was no time to go back. Fan Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth, pushed open the door of a room, and hid inside.
Outside the door, the shadows of several burly men were cast into the room by the firelight.
"Huh? What the hell? I clearly heard some noise over here just now!"
Fan Xiaoxiao felt as if her heart was about to jump out of her chest. She covered her mouth tightly, not daring to make a sound.
The man outside didn't seem to intend to enter the room for the time being. After searching around, Fan Xiaoxiao heard the rough, hoarse voice snort coldly: "Hmph, nothing there! Alright, go check ahead! This boat captain paid protection money, let's give him some face and not go into the room."
"knew!"
...The footsteps gradually faded away, and Fan Xiaoxiao finally let go of her hand covering her mouth. Her legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, trying to calm her heart, which had almost jumped out of her chest.
Just as Fan Xiaoxiao had finally caught her breath, a cold glint flashed before her eyes. Before she could react, a cold dagger was already pressed against her slender neck.
"Ugh!" Fan Xiaoxiao felt like her heart was about to explode, and her whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.
"I...I...I just came in to hide here for a while, I didn't mean anything by it."
The man holding her hostage with a dagger seemed surprised by her timidity. He loosened his grip, and a soft laugh, exactly like the one in Fan Xiaoxiao's dream, rang in her ear.
"Heh, Miss Fan."
(End of this chapter)
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