Courtyard House: First, kill the hypocrites, leave none alive.

The agreed time was 11:30.

They arrived nearby twenty minutes early and lay in wait behind a pile of discarded rubber tires for ten minutes.

Apart from the sound of the waves and the wind, there was no sign of human presence.

11 points.

Chen Feng pulled Xiao Yu out from behind the tire and walked towards the deepest shadow at the stern of the "Bohai" ship.

The road surface underfoot was even more broken, mixed with gravel and shell fragments, making a soft crunching sound when stepped on.

The smell of rotting seaweed and engine oil in the air was even stronger.

Just as they approached the huge shadow at the stern, almost touching the cold, damp, barnacle-covered hull—

"Who?"

A hoarse, deep voice, as if it had been soaked in seawater countless times, came out without warning from a narrow gap between the ship and the breakwater.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the silence, carrying a chilling alertness.

Chen Feng and Xiao Yu stopped at the same time. Chen Feng leaned forward slightly, shielding Xiao Yu behind him, and his right hand moved subtly towards his waist.

His gaze sharpened as he turned toward the source of the sound.

The shadow shifted, and a short, lean figure, almost blending into the darkness, slowly "flowed" out from the gap.

He was a man whose exact age was hard to discern. He was short, probably only reaching Chen Feng's chest, but his body was exceptionally sturdy, like a reef that had been polished by the waves for thousands of years.

His skin was dark and rough, covered with deep wrinkles and sunspots. He wore an old, tight-fitting sailor uniform whose original color was no longer discernible. It clung to his body, damp and exuding a strong smell of the sea and sweat.

His eyes were small, but they gleamed with a faint light in the darkness, like those of some nocturnal animal.

What is most striking is his ears—the auricles appear to be injured, their shape somewhat strange, and he seems to be constantly moving his ears slightly and rhythmically, as if receiving sound waves in the air that are impossible for ordinary people to detect.

This is the "water ghost".

"Old Ghost sent me," Chen Feng said in a low voice, giving his name as agreed, while cautiously observing his opponent and the surroundings.

The two eerie lights of the "water ghost" swept back and forth between Chen Feng and Xiao Yu several times, lingering for a moment on Chen Feng's bulging tool bag and the slightly protruding area at his waist, and then on Xiao Yu's overly low-hanging hat brim and slender figure.

"How many people?" The water ghost's voice was still hoarse and dry.

"Two, my brother and me," Chen Feng replied, squeezing Xiaoyu's hand slightly to reassure her.

"Where's the money?" the water ghost asked directly, without beating around the bush.

Chen Feng took out the small package, which was wrapped separately in oil paper, from his pocket and handed it over.

Inside are the remaining three small yellow croakers.

The water ghost took it, but didn't look at it. He just held it in his hand, weighed it in his hand, and then brought it to his nose to smell it—not the money, but as if he was trying to identify some kind of scent.

Then, he quickly stuffed the small bag into the inner pocket of his equally wet sailor uniform.

"Follow me." Without another word, the water ghost turned around and, like a nimble fish, silently glided deeper into the stern of the boat.

There, between the ship's hull and the breakwater, was a narrow gap, half-covered by tattered fishing nets and debris, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways.

Behind the crevice was an even deeper darkness and a strong stench of rust, silt, and decay.

The water ghost was the first to dive in, its figure instantly swallowed by the darkness.

Chen Feng did not follow immediately.

He quickly scanned his surroundings again to make sure there was nothing unusual, then leaned down and whispered to Xiaoyu, "Stay close to me and don't make a sound."

Xiaoyu nodded vigorously, her little hands gripping tightly in return.

Chen Feng turned to the side, first stuffing the tool bag into the gap, then protecting Xiao Yu as she crawled in first, followed closely by himself.

The gap was very short, only two or three meters wide, but it was extremely narrow and damp, and the clothes were immediately covered with slippery dirt.

Passing through the gap, a bright and clear view suddenly appeared before us—it was a small, hidden recess located below the stern of the "Bohai" ship, naturally formed by the hull and the embankment!

The entrance was cleverly concealed by tattered ship planks and debris, making it almost impossible to spot from the outside.

A small sampan was already waiting in the hollow.

The sampan was small and dilapidated, with the oars tied to it with ropes.

The water ghost had already jumped onto the sampan and was squatting at the bow. The two eerie lights looked at them, urging them on silently.

Chen Feng first helped Xiao Yu onto the swaying sampan, letting her sit in the middle, then jumped on himself and sat at the stern, placing his toolbox at his feet.

The sampan immediately sank.

The water ghost untied the rope that was tied to a protruding rock on the shore, picked up the oar, and instead of rowing immediately, it listened carefully to the surrounding sounds for a while.

Only the sound of waves could be heard.

Only then did he begin to row.

With extremely skillful movements, the small sampan, like a light leaf, silently slid out of the hole, brushing against the huge and rusted hull of the "Bohai" ship, heading towards the deeper and darker open sea of ​​the harbor.

There was no moon, and the starlight was dim.

The sea surface resembled a boundless, gently undulating black ribbon.

The distant port lights became a small cluster of blurry dots, quickly obscured by the ship's hull and the darkness.

The sampan moved forward in the darkness, with only the faint sound of oars cutting through the water and the heavy, even breathing of the water ghosts.

Chen Feng and Xiao Yu remained silent, gripping the gunwale tightly, feeling the coldness and rocking of the seawater beneath them.

Chen Feng's gaze remained fixed on the water ghost's back and the ever-deepening darkness ahead.

He didn't know how long it would take to row this sampan, nor did he know where the so-called "Smooth Sailing" cargo ship was.

About twenty minutes later, just as Xiaoyu began to shiver slightly from the cold and nervousness, a much larger, still black shadow vaguely appeared on the dark sea ahead.

The dark shape was smaller than the "Bohai" ship, but its outline was complete, and the silhouettes of the mast and the smokestack could be vaguely seen.

Without navigation lights on, only a very few portholes emitted an extremely faint, dim yellow light, covered by thick cloth, like the half-open eyes of a sleeping giant in the night.

"We've arrived," the water ghost's hoarse voice rang out, and he stopped paddling.

The small sampan, propelled by its momentum, slowly approached the stern of the large ship. As it drew closer, it became clear that the hull was also covered in rust and signs of repair, and the waterline at the stern was overgrown with thick, dark seaweed and barnacles. The ship's name was obscured by a thick layer of paint, but part of the word "Fast Wind" was faintly visible.

Near the water's surface at the stern, there was an inconspicuous little hatch, which was slightly ajar, letting in a sliver of light.

The water ghost tapped the hull of the boat a few times with the oar, three long taps and two short ones.

After a while, the small cabin door was pulled open a crack from the inside, and a man who was also lean, dark-skinned, and dressed in oil-stained work clothes poked his head out, his eyes scanning the three people on the sampan warily.