Chapter 84: The Strange Beast—The Gu Eagle

Huasheng approached, raising his voice. “Hey! Get back to your cabin now—it’s too dangerous here! You’ll fall into the sea!”

The two trembling women turned at the sound of his voice.

At the sight of them, a chill ran up Huasheng’s spine. One woman was supporting the other, whose eyes were bleeding, a deep crimson stream trickling from her eye sockets down her cheeks, drop by drop staining her white dress a ghastly red. Against the darkness of the deck, this scene was especially eerie, sending shivers down his back.

“What happened? What’s wrong with your eyes?” Huasheng asked in shock.

“That thing is on the ship! It took my sister’s eyes! Please, save us!” the woman cried.

What on earth had happened to this ship? Who was gouging out people’s eyes?

“What’s on the ship?” Huasheng felt plunged into icy water.

It was deep into the night.

The pitch-black surface of the sea roiled ceaselessly.

Life is unpredictable. Most people drift through existence as if it were plain water, never knowing what the next moment will bring. The wheel of fate can hurl a person from peaceful days straight into the frying pan, forced to scramble in panic, not choosing their path so much as fleeing from the lash. What determines one’s choices is a mix of innate character and the experiences shaped by it.

Now, Huasheng found himself in such a predicament. He should have been lounging by a swimming pool, hair still wet, basking in the sun and gazing at the endless union of sky and sea, perhaps with a perfectly chilled glass of cola at hand. Instead, he stood chilled to the bone on a storm-lashed deck, facing a bizarre situation and two helpless sisters.

As Huasheng’s thoughts spun in chaos, he realized the cruise ship, once teeming with “ants in a hot pot,” had fallen into a deathly silence.

There was something on this ship. Something had gouged out a woman’s eyes—Huasheng’s only clue. Steeling himself, he asked, “What exactly is on this ship?”

The blinded girl trembled. “It’s... it’s a Gu Diao!”

Huasheng had never heard the term. “Gu Diao? Is that an animal?”

“Gu Diao is a kind of monstrous beast. It’s ferocious, vicious, and eats people,” the other woman replied.

“How do you know its name?” Huasheng pressed.

“I’ve loved reading about the supernatural since I was a child. I know the illustrations in those books by heart. I’ve never seen one, but I recognized it immediately,” she said.

“But this ship left from a big city. How could there be a monster on board?”

“We don’t know. Maybe someone brought it aboard,” the blind girl said, reaching for her sister. “Xiaomei, where are you?”

“I’m here, Sister Xiaoqing.” So the younger one was Xiaomei, the blind sister Xiaoqing.

“We have to hide somewhere! We can’t let it find us again. It will kill us!” Xiaoqing urged.

“My name is Huasheng. Stay with me—I’ll call for help. There’s safety in numbers,” he tried to reassure them.

Suddenly, Xiaoqing remembered something. “We need to get back to our room. There’s a bag there—something very important inside.”

“Which room is yours? What number?” Huasheng asked.

“Thirty-two... Room 3255,” Xiaoqing answered, her voice still trembling.

Huasheng perked up immediately—just as he’d suspected, these two were Brother Xu’s sisters. “Are you Xu’s sisters? His name is Xu Xiaocheng!”

The sisters startled. Xiaomei asked, “How do you know him?”

“I’m a friend of your brother’s. I boarded this ship to find you—he asked me to deliver a message,” Huasheng explained.

“I’m Xu Xiaomei, this is my sister Xu Xiaoqing. Xu Xiaocheng is our brother,” Xiaomei confirmed.

“Understood. Let’s get back to your room and talk there—it’s not far,” Huasheng said.

Xiaoqing groped for her sister’s hand, pleading, “Don’t leave me behind. I’m scared...”

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay with you,” Huasheng assured her, gently squeezing her hand. “I won’t leave you. Don’t be afraid.” He wanted to promise they'd find a hospital to heal her eyes once this was over, but if her eyes had been gouged out, there was no hope of restoring her sight. The thought of her pale face and bloodstained eyes filled him with sorrow—a young woman robbed of her sight, trapped on a ship between life and death.

If, as they claimed, there was a monster called Gu Diao aboard, how could Huasheng, himself barely safe, hope to protect anyone else?

“Earlier, we ran all over the ship and I lost my bearings. Where is Room 3255?” Xiaomei asked, still shaken.

“I’ll lead the way. We’ll be there in two or three minutes,” Huasheng replied.

The ship rocked continuously, though the rain seemed to have lessened. Huasheng gripped the rail as he led them forward. He glanced out over the sea—there was no sign of the dark, winged creature that had circled the ship. Was that the Gu Diao they spoke of?

“I saw something flying around the ship earlier—dozens of meters long. How big is this Gu Diao? Was that it?”

“The one that attacked us was about five meters long,” Xiaomei said. “It moves extremely fast. Its teeth and claws are razor sharp. My sister’s eyes were taken by its claws.”

The creature Huasheng had glimpsed had been far larger—so there was more than one kind of beast. This realization slowed his steps. With only the three of them, any encounter with a monster would likely be fatal. They needed more allies—and weapons.

“What do you need from your room?” he asked.

“There’s a bag with something that can save us—something to fight the Gu Diao,” Xiaoqing said.

“What is it? A weapon?”

“A spirit talisman,” Xiaoqing replied. “Our brother gave it to us.”

“A talisman? Like those used by Taoist exorcists? Do those even work?” Huasheng was skeptical.

“Our brother said that spirit talismans can repel evil things,” Xiaomei insisted.

Huasheng’s doubts grew. “Xu gave you those? What’s going on?” If he hadn’t seen these horrors with his own eyes, he would never have believed in such things. But now, with victims before him and the inexplicable all around, doubt gnawed at him.

“Xu said it could save our lives, so we always carry the paper packet with us,” Xiaoqing said.

“So is the Gu Diao an animal or a demon?” Huasheng asked.

“It’s not an ordinary animal. It’s a kind of spiritual beast, so the talisman can suppress it,” Xiaoqing explained.

“I see. The room’s just ahead—” Huasheng was about to point out their destination when Xiaomei suddenly seized his arm, her fingernails digging into his skin.

Terror was etched on Xiaomei’s face.

Huasheng turned, certain she’d seen something. Ahead, under the emergency lights, the corridor glowed red and dim. Nothing living was in sight. He rubbed his eyes; the hallway remained empty.

The ship rocked, the only sounds the sea battering the hull and the groan of twisting steel—nothing else, no other movement.

Huasheng lowered his voice. “What is it?”

“Listen.” Xiaomei put a finger to her lips, then clamped her hand over her mouth, trembling.

Xiaoqing, too, began to shake, clutching her sister’s arm in terror.

A chill crawled up Huasheng’s spine. Dread gripped him, though he could neither see nor hear anything. Then, faint beneath the storm and waves, he caught another sound.

He strained to listen, watching the terrified sisters. There was something off about this noise. It wasn’t a beast’s roar; it was a sound he recognized, one that sometimes surfaced in daily life.

A baby’s cry.

Yes, it was the wail of a newborn.

“A baby crying?” Huasheng muttered. “I have to check—why is there a baby here?” He started forward, but Xiaoqing, groping blindly, grabbed his arm in a panic.

“Don’t go! Please, don’t go!” she begged.

She drew him close, whispering in his ear, “That’s the Gu Diao’s call!”

Night. Torrential rain. A cruise ship. In the dim corridor, a baby’s cries echoed, growing clearer and sharper.

It sounded just like an infant.

Goosebumps prickled Huasheng’s skin. But doubt tugged at him—if it really was a baby, where were the adults? He remembered the chaos from earlier—screams, people running everywhere. Yet now, barely twenty minutes later, the ship was deserted.

He could scarcely restrain himself. If a baby had truly been abandoned, it would be in grave danger.

He turned to the sisters. “Hide in the corner. I have to look.”

“Don’t go!” Xiaoqing gasped, breathless. “It’s too dangerous! Don’t leave us!”

“I’ll be careful. Just hide for now—I’ll be back in half a minute. Besides, Room 3255 is right there. If it’s not a baby, I’ll sneak in, grab the bag, and we’ll leave together.”

Hearing this, Xiaoqing calmed a little. “It’s a paper packet, with the words ‘Academy of the Mystic Arts’ written in brush on the outside.”

That jogged Huasheng’s memory—he’d seen it before and remembered where it was in the room.

“When I was looking for you, the door was open. I know where it is,” he said. “Hide well. I’ll be right back.”

The sisters nodded.

“Be careful!” Xiaomei urged. “The Gu Diao’s claws and jaws are deadly sharp—don’t let it find you!”

Huasheng patted their shoulders, then crept cautiously toward Room 3255.