On the tenth day of the desert journey, deep into the night.
On the velvet bed, EeDechi lay sprawled out like a starfish, sleeping soundly.
Plop. A drop of water landed on EeDechi's nose. Instinctively, she raised a hand to wipe it away.
A thick, metallic stench of blood shot straight up her nostrils. EeDechi's eyes snapped open, jolting her awake from her dream.
She twisted the wick of the oil lamp with her fingers, igniting a flame the size of a soybean. With the faint light, EeDechi saw the liquid on her hand clearly: deep crimson, with a sharp, pungent smell—it was blood, no doubt.
Plop. Another drop of blood fell onto EeDechi's palm.
EeDechi looked up and saw a large pool of blood red seeping through the cracks in the wooden ceiling planks, spreading like a grotesque, vibrant blood flower.
No question about it—something was wrong. EeDechi thought for a moment. She was staying in her personal suite on the first deck of the ship cabin. The second deck above the ceiling should be the ordinary crew quarters. Up there, someone's blood was gushing out in pools, and they were on the brink of death.
Without hesitation, EeDechi flipped out of bed, threw on her clothes in two seconds, kicked open the room door, and charged straight to the second deck of the ship cabin.
Stepping onto the creaking wooden stairs and passing through the long corridor, EeDechi thought she heard eerie whispers murmuring from the shadows.
EeDechi felt no fear in her heart. She reached the door of the bleeding room and shattered the oak door with a single palm strike.
The wooden door burst into fragments, wood chips flying everywhere. In an instant, the bloody stench surged out like a gale, whipping EeDechi's robes with a fierce flutter. She fixed her gaze inside the room, and in that moment, she thought she was looking at hell itself.
Blood! Fresh red blood was everywhere, splashed across the floor, ceiling, and walls like red paint thrown in a frenzy.
The bed was soaked through with blood in the cotton quilt, scattered with mangled limbs, a head gnawed with tooth marks, shriveled eyeballs, fingers pierced by exposed bones... It was a scene straight out of a bloody slaughterhouse!
And on the blood-drenched bed, a humanoid creature that looked like a toddler was crouched over the mangled corpse, gnawing on the flesh.
It heard the commotion of EeDechi bursting through the door and, from the bed, twisted its head around in an inhuman 180 degrees, its two scarlet eyes glaring straight at EeDechi.
"What the hell is that!" EeDechi exploded with rage, charging into the room and stepping right into the sticky pool of blood.
A vicious whip kick came blasting straight at EeDechi's face—there was a second monster in the room! It had been lurking by the door, ambushing her!
EeDechi raised her hand to block, then ducked low to slip inside. The monster pulled back its leg and threw a punch, a brutal and lightning-fast straight shot aimed at EeDechi's temple. EeDechi snatched the fist in a backhand grip, her fingers digging in like eagle talons into the monster's hand, her palm slick with the greasy feel of blood.
The monster was locked in EeDechi's powerful vise, trying to swing around for a second punch. EeDechi twisted with the motion and snapped its arm, the CRACK of bone breaking loud and clear, but the monster took the agony of the broken limb without so much as a grunt.
EeDechi clenched her fist and drove a heavy punch clean through the monster's chest. A gaping hole punched right through its torso, letting her see straight to the toddler-like monster behind it. Hit that hard, the monster finally staggered and collapsed.
EeDechi stepped over the monster's corpse, ready to take on the little one on the bed that was gnawing on the mangled limbs.
"Living flesh, offer up your blood and meat!" The monster on the ground sprang up like a zombie, letting out a freakish screech as it lunged with jaws wide, biting at EeDechi's calf.
EeDechi dropped low and slammed a knee strike, the raw power hammering the monster's head into shards, splattering red-and-white brain matter all over the floor.
"Disgusting!" EeDechi couldn't help but cover her nose.
Lights flickered on one after another in the corridor, chaotic footsteps pounding toward the room where EeDechi stood. Barrett was at the front, sword in one hand and a crystal searchlight in the other. He dashed up behind EeDechi, and the beam from the searchlight flooded into the room.
The brilliant white glow lit up the bloody chamber like daylight. Seeing the hellish scene in front of him, Barrett couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.
"Eww! So gross!" The dark room was lit up, the light blazing bright, making the bloody scene even more glaring. EeDechi quickly jumped back a step, ducking behind Barrett.
More and more people rushed to the scene—the captain, the first mate, and the other night-shift crew members all hurried over. Everyone was stunned speechless by the horrific hellish sight, and a few young ones puked right there on the spot.
The floor was strewn with mangled corpses, severed limbs, skulls with their faces gnawed off, and on the scarlet bed, a monster the size of an infant was crawling on all fours.
The infant monster spotted the crowd watching it. Its seemingly frail limbs suddenly burst with power, and it leaped toward the group at a speed no slower than a mantis pouncing on its prey.
Barrett flipped his hand and hurled a throwing axe, the sharp blade cleaving the infant monster's head in two mid-air. With the danger eliminated, Barrett stepped back expressionlessly, letting the ship's crew handle the bloody cleanup.
...
Two hours later, the room was finally cleaned up, the bloodstains barely wiped away. At the same time, an open gilded box was placed in front of EeDechi and Barrett.
"It's this damn thing that drove the crew member berserk, turning him into a blood demon on a ghost hunt," Captain Steve said, his face pale as death.
"What is this thing?" EeDechi asked.
"Box of Bewilderment, a weird product from the Eight Greed Kings era, born from experiments with blood corpse magic. When you open the box, infernal spirits crawl out from it, devouring the opener's flesh and soul. Then, based on the person's inner evil desires, it turns them into servants for the Box of Bewilderment's owner."
Steve pulled out his pipe and sucked hard on it a few times, completely oblivious that it wasn't lit. He continued: "Among the treasures we found in the city ruins, there were a few Box of Bewilderment.But we didn't notice it back then and handed them out to the crew. Ophit Kri accidentally opened the Box of Bewilderment, which led to this whole mess. As for that infant monster,"
Steve sighed deeply. "Ophit Kri had always been secretly lusting after Mary. After he opened the box and turned into a blood demon, he raped and killed Mary in the other room, and she got pregnant and gave birth to this infant abomination. Now, the other Boxes of Bewilderment have all been sorted out and tossed into the desert."
"Throw this opened box away too." EeDechi looked at the small square box with gilded patterns on the table, still speckled with bloodstains.
"Makes sense—better not keep something this creepy around." First Mate Bill, sitting nearby, reached out and grabbed the box, ready to chuck it out the window.
Steve suddenly blocked him, shouting: "No, this box has already been opened, its magic is gone, we can sell it for cash. It's at least an artifact from the Eight Greed Kings era, and a magical relic left by the Eight Greed Kings. Plenty of folks in the City Alliance would buy it. Sell it, and it might cover one or two crew members' death benefits."
"Even now, you're thinking about turning a profit, Captain. I gotta hand it to you." First Mate Bill shook his head, struck a match, and lit the pipe dangling from Steve's mouth.
Steve took a hard drag on the pipe, steadying his nerves, then looked at EeDechi with eyes brimming with sincerity. "This time, we owe it all to you. You're like a godsend. If it weren't for you, that nasty, terrifying monster would've caused real chaos. If you're open to it, our merchant caravan wants to hire you and your adventurer team for good—name your price."
EeDechi shook her head. "We've got our own business to handle. You're headed to Vast Stellar Gate, while we're going deep into the Eight Greed Kings desert. We'll be getting off at some point."
Disappointment flashed across Steve's face, impossible to hide. He puffed hard on the pipe a few times, his eyes shifting around, but he stayed silent.