Daomu Biji: The Southern Archives

The sailor was obviously very annoyed. It was extremely busy when there were a lot of guests on the deck, and then this Chinese man got sick within three seconds of getting on the ship. It wasn’t a good sign. Moreover, they all knew that a plague was running rampant in Malacca.

The word “disease” put a lot of pressure on the ship’s crew, but due to his relationship with Steven and the professionalism of the first-class service, the sailor still held Zhang Haiyan up.

This was exactly what Zhang Haiyan wanted. It would take a while for the ship to leave port, so if he moved fast now, it might be possible to complete the investigation before the ship officially entered open waters.

Zhang Haixia had been taken away by others, and no matter how Zhang Haiyan thought about it, he felt that things might go wrong if he left Malacca and then returned in a few months.

The last time Nan’an had docked at a port was when it sailed from Xiamen to France. The ship went to four ports along the Malacca route. People who disembarked from the ship carried the plague and spread it all over Malacca. It was just that the areas outside Penang were controlled by Zhang Ruipu so that the plague didn’t spread any further.

Judging from the situation on the ship, there hadn’t been an outbreak on the ship itself. If someone on board had contracted the disease, something would’ve gone wrong on the ship a long time ago. So why did the Nan’an keep spreading the plague, but nothing happened to her?

This meant that the people who spread the plague were on the ship. They must’ve had the means to control the plague, and the development of things was nothing more than the following:

1. Those people were infected on the ship, but someone controlled the situation so they didn’t get sick until they got off the ship.

2. Whoever spread the plague had the ability to make people get sick when they disembarked and left.

Those who got sick lived in villages that were in different areas, so that meant they had been carefully selected. These people were low-level businessmen, so they all stayed on the lower deck. That meant that the person spreading the plague should be hiding in the lower compartments, and should be someone who was good at talking and becoming familiar with others.

It was a simple deduction. Even if there wasn’t a plague on this kind of ship, the spread of diarrhea and dysentery in the bottom compartments was also a common occurrence.

The ship’s doctor would regularly give the guests pills and concoctions, which could easily control the time at which they would get sick. In addition, a ship’s doctor would glean a lot of information from them because people respected them. Based on all this, the ship’s doctor was the first suspect, so Zhang Haiyan had to go to the infirmary as quickly as possible.

But the sailor didn’t immediately send him to the infirmary. Zhang Haiyan put his best efforts into his performance and even worked up a sweat on his neck, but the sailor looked to the other side instead. Just as Zhang Haiyan was feeling puzzled, he looked up and saw Steven walking back.

The sailor said, “Mr. Steven, your friend isn’t feeling well. You’re a doctor. Do you think he should be sent to your room or to the infirmary?”

Steven looked at Zhang Haiyan, annoyed. It was as if he was trying to help an old woman cross the road, and the old woman turned out to be a swindler. But he still checked Zhang Haiyan’s pupils and counted his heartbeats with a strange expression.

“Get him to my room.” Steven sighed.

Zhang Haiyan knew the situation wasn’t good. He didn’t expect this accommodating white man to be a doctor.

He wanted to immediately stand up and say he was fine, but felt like that would look too deliberate, so he decided to recover gradually on his way to Steven’s room. Once he entered the room and sat down, he would act like he was completely recovered, show his gratitude, and then leave.

But as soon as they entered the ship’s hull, they turned a corner and reached Steven’s room. He was just about to act like he had made a quick recovery, but was completely shocked when he saw the room.

Steven’s room was very large, and could be considered the VIP of VIP rooms. It even had a balcony, where the sun shone in from the outside. The interior had been completely done in a European-style. His suitcases seemed to have been sent up earlier, for they were all open and looked to be stuffed full of books and papers.

Zhang Haiyan was still clutching his chest as he was placed on the green velvet sofa. When he sat down, the springs made a soft creaking sound. The velvet cushions molded to his body, making him feel as if the devil himself was embracing him.

He had been in and out of the rainforests and sea for years, sleeping on tree branches and ships’ decks. He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d slept in a soft bed with springs, and involuntarily let out a groan.

When Steven had the sailor leave, Zhang Haiyan reacted immediately and started to act as if he had recovered. In the end, Steven poured a glass of whiskey, took a sip, and said directly, “Stop pretending. Don’t you know your heart is on the other side?”

Zhang Haiyan froze for a moment and then looked down at his hand. It was only then that he remembered he was different from others, and his heart was on the opposite side. A doctor had told him about it during their adult physical examinations, but he hadn't cared.

Why didn’t he care? Because all the children like them had hearts on their right side. It even seemed to be the reason why they had been chosen.

“Dextrocardia isn’t an illness. You don’t need to be afraid.” Steven said. “But what are you trying to do? Friend, I thought you were just dressed frugally and looked down upon by others, but now it seems that you do have an ulterior motive for getting on this ship.”

Zhang Haiyan was still clutching his chest, and realized that he had really made a mistake this time. He sighed and told himself he was getting rusty. If he had known this would happen, he would’ve pretended to have a stomachache.

He looked at Steven and thought that the whole thing was troublesome. If others knew about his investigation, that would double the difficulty. Not to mention the fact that the Southern Archives was an obscure department. Even if these foreigners believed that he was here on business to investigate the plague, the news that the person responsible for spreading it was still on the ship would be enough to cause mass panic and ruin their journey.

He had to make up a story.

Zhang Haiyan’s mind was racing as he thought, I was fine when I boarded the ship alone. My ticket was real. But why did I pretend to be sick?

Got it!

“The person I like works as a doctor on this ship. I miss her very much.” Zhang Haiyan said. “I'm sorry that I bothered you. I’m a little too childish.”

“In the past, ships usually only had one or two general practitioners on board. But because of the plague in Malacca, Nan’an has three doctors and four nurses. As far as I know, the doctors are all men. The person you like is a man?” Steven frowned.

How do you know everything?! Zhang Haiyan thought to himself.

He didn’t dare spout anymore nonsense for a while, and was still wondering how best to keep lying, when Steven said, “Stop pretending. You got on the ship because of me, right? Where did you learn about us?”

Zhang Haiyan was still perfecting his next lie, so when Steven suddenly said something like this, he was dumbfounded. Huh? What? What’s going on with you? He thought to himself.

Steven turned around, opened his suitcase, and said, “Say it. How much money will it take for you to get off the ship?”

Zhang Haiyan reared back and thought to himself, weird. Is this a gift from heaven, or the awakening of the earth? It seems this ship is full of stories. He was so touched, he shed a few tears in his heart.

This Steven had some sort of secret, and he thought Zhang Haiyan was here to reveal it.

Zhang Haiyan tried to speak up twice, but didn’t know how to explain it. He suddenly found that there was something wrong with Steven’s hand movements, but just when he wanted to get a closer look, Steven suddenly turned around with a revolver in his hand.

He raised the gun and fired, but Zhang Haiyan immediately dodged it. The bullet hit the sofa behind him, sending the springs and cotton flying.

Zhang Haiyan kept moving around as Steven unhesitatingly fired all the bullets at once. They hit the mahogany furniture and bedding in the room, causing sawdust and cotton to fill the air.

Normal people wouldn’t shoot so frequently, but Steven’s hand was very steady as he fired all seven rounds in an instant. He spun the revolver’s chamber, dropped the spent casings onto the ground, and already started reloading.

Zhang Haiyan wanted to approach him, but before he could even take two steps, Steven had already raised the gun again and fired. Zhang Haiyan dodged again, fully understanding how strong this opponent was.

This guy was clearly an expert gunman.

Zhang Haiyan rolled to dodge the second shot and jumped out onto the balcony, where he stepped onto the ship’s railing and leaped into the sea. Steven shot the remaining bullets into the sea, returned to the room, and then picked up the phone. “Notify Mr. Warner that the whole ship is under martial law. Someone jumped into the water on the left side of the ship. He must be captured.”

Meanwhile, Zhang Haiyan’s head popped out of the water. When he saw his cap floating next to him, he grabbed it and looked towards the shore. The police had gotten onto a boat and were rowing towards him.