"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"

Lan Mei Ru's deafening screams vibrated through the halls. Her leg buckled and she fell onto the floor crawling backwards before running out only to trip from fright and sprain her ankle.

"Nnng! It hurts Heuk! Heuk! " Tears were pooling out of her sockets, ruining her beautiful face. She wanted to please her mother-in-law to make sure that they were still in good terms, secretly. Never did she knew that she would be the first to witness the cold-soaked corpse inside a bloody bathtub, eyes wide soullessly staring back at her.

"UGH! UEGGHH! BLEEEEEEHH!" She vomited on the floor.

Her screaming jolted them all awake.

Lan Mei Ru crawled closer and grabbed Professor Sun's leg who appeared first, looking up expressing the fright she experienced, sobbing and wailing like a child.

"P-p-professor! PROFESSOR! M-m-m-mother-in-law. . . MOTHER-IN-LAW!"

The people from Deck 4 including Ming Yu who now resided on Xu Wan Zhe's room swiftly arrived. Her scream was so loud that it penetrated through the Deck 4's floor.

Fan Han moved his head to stare at entrance of the room. 

Walking inside, he saw his mother's corpse, bloodied and soaked with a knife piercing her heart. His eyes widened but quickly turned to slits, his face looking uncomfortable.

He knew what his worth was in his mother's heart and had long settled his feelings straight. There were no parental feelings between them, still, the image of her dying made him feel conflicted.

No. . . discontent?

She was never a mother to him and simply dying like this. . .

"..."

The others barged in out of curiosity.

"W-WHAT THE HELL!!!!"

"AHHHHHHHH!!!"

"HEEEEEE!!!" Secretary Luo rushed backwards knocking a picture down which only made him jump.

They all had different reactions but everyone felt the same.

FEAR.

OVERBEARING. DREADFUL SENSE OF FEAR. THE FEAR OF DEATH.

Xu Wan Zhe gestured Ming Yu to stay outside.

Inside, he inquisitively stared at everything in detail.

Strangled marks on her neck, hair afloat like seaweeds and a knife stabbed onto her chest.

MURDER.

It was a clear conclusion.

He walked out embracing Ming Yu by the hip and whispered to him what he saw. Ming Yu could only frown.

[Admin: You're not going in to see?]

No.

[Admin: I-I want to see. . . I can only see what's around you and I can't see through walls.]

I thought you were scared.

[Admin: I'm just curious. . .]

I'm not.

[Admin: Ugh. . . (￣ヘ￣)]

"T-this is a joke! Must be a prank! This cannot be happening! haha!" Hong Bing showed signs of hysteria.

"You! Whoever you guys are! you can come out now! COME OUT! WE HAD ENOUGH FUN WITH THIS SICK EVENT YOUR MESSING US WITH!" He shouted like a madman.

But no matter how much they tried denying it, the facts were clear.

The old woman was dead. And she was clearly killed!

KILLED. MURDERED. KILLER.

KILLER?

SHIVER.

A sudden chill was passed on everyone and each stared at the others. Somebody killed her, someone. . . someone of us.

"W-w-who. . . was last seen with the Chairwoman. . ." Bea Yu felt unwell but she desperately tried to get a grip of herself and snap out of panic. She knew that panic won't solve anything.

"L-LAN MEI RU!" Secretary Luo was badly shaken up and was gripping on his hair, leaning on the wall.

"H-HUH!? IT WASN'T ME! IT WASN'T ME! I DIDN'T DO IT! I DIDN'T!" Hearing her name being mentioned freaked her out.

"Did anyone left their rooms last night?" The professor asked.

"N-No."

"No."

"I didn't."

"No."

Everyone answered the same but really though, at this point would anyone even admit it?

"H-Hey guys. . ." Secretary Luo who was closest to the tiny window noticed something big.

"THE SHIP IS MOVING."

"WHAT!" Hong Bing reacted first and shoved him away to look outside. It was moving! The ship was clearly cruising! Someone was steering the ship!

Hong Bing ran impatiently pushing the button to summon the elevator and go up to Deck 7. Everyone else had a slower response and waited for the elevator to go back down. Lan Mei Ru was limping and it was only Professor Sun who helped her up. 

Arriving there, they saw Hong Bing stupidly hitting the heavy metal doors leading to the bridge as if doing so would magically pry it open.

"I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!!! OPEN THE FUCK UP AND LET ME KILL YOU!!!" Blinded by rage, he threatened from the other side.

"OPEN UP!!! OPEN UP!!! MOTHERF*CKERS OPEN UP!!!"

"T-t-t-t-they are not opening! They deliberately locked us up! We're gonna die! We're gonna die! DIE!" Secretary Luo could only think that the original personnel was steering the ship.

This scene was pathetic but no one had the humor to laugh. The frantic secretary Luo sprinted off and no one knew where he went, they could care less.

"W-Why aren't they opening? W-Why are we locked away?" Bea Yu's courage was waning and tears were at the brink of falling.

"Heuuukk! Heeeuuk!" Lan Mei Ru was long oppressed by shock and could only bawl, wrapping her arms around Professor Sun's chest and cry. cry. cry.

Hong Bing grabbed the fire extinguisher on the side and started hammering it down, wildly cussing in each hit that landed.

"Let's move away. It's unsightly." Xu Wan Zhe was calm for only Ming Yu mattered in his eyes.

"Are you not scared. . ." He couldn't restrain and ask.

"I've seen worse. My time as a guardian beast wasn't fleeting." In a cultivation world such as that, there were plenty of unimaginable  bloodied ways to torture people. He witnessed a lot of that. Mangled. Skinned. Ways that modern people don't and cannot do.

Ming Yu stopped and pulled him close for a hug. If only his hug could erase all the bad memories away.

"Ah Yu. . ." He lovingly said his name with a smile. A lover like this eager to protect his heart, there would never be another.

Professor Sun caught up with them since they were just standing there.

"I'm taking Lan Mei Ru to her room. What she witnessed left a scar on her mind and is now unstable. I'll keep her company. If you need me, i'm in her room." They nodded in reply.

They both stared at his fading back until the elevator doors hindered his sight.

"What should we do?" 

"Let's stay in our room for now. I'll make something to eat and bring it with us. . ."

"Ah Yu. Do you want us to search for the killer?" The answer to this was vital.

[Admin: No. Hell no.ヽ ( ꒪д꒪ )ﾉ]

But the best way to escape this place was to find the killer.

"To escape. We must. . ."

"I thought so too." Xu Wan Zhe thought about this since the day he knew.

"After eating i'll go back there and look for clues. Come with me, but stay outside. I don't want you to see it."

[Admin: Refuse! Tell him you want to see!]

"Mmn. I'll listen to you." 

[Admin: ノ￣□￣)ノ ~┻━┻]

-

Ming Yu was patiently waiting outside of the room when Bea Yu saw him and approached.

"W-what are you doing here. . ." she needed to ask.

"Searching for clues. . ."

The image of what she witnessed inside graphicly reappeared inside her head which urged her to vomit but forcefully swallowed it back down.

"H-Hong Bing said that he'll stay there and wait for someone to come out. . ." There was no way of convincing him to not do anything stupid.

Ming Yu kept his silence. Bea Yu didn't like it but also didn't know what else to say. Everything switched for the worse in one day. What as she supposed to do? What was she going to do?

"Hey. . . Catrice. . . d-do you think she's. . ." She thought about this and she deemed her conclusions were right.

Ming Yu still didn't reply her back.

She wanted to become friends with the two gay couple noticing how the two were the calmest of the lot. She needed a place that was safe not only physically but in mind too.

They heard footsteps and turned to look, it was Fan Han.

"Han-ge . . ." she spontaneously called him out like she did when they were younger.

Fan Han pulled held his hand and pulled her to the direction of the elevator.

"Where. . ." 

He gestured his fingers. 'My Room.'

"Oh. . ." She didn't expect him to voluntarily take herself with him. They hadn't contacted each other privately outside of business so for her, his intent made her happy inside. Due to his mother, she could only hide her feelings away and do her best to bury them down.

Now gone, Xu Wan Zhe walked out and held Ming Yu's hand.

"She was stabbed by a kitchen knife, other than her hair being cut there was nothing else that could be taken as a clue."

[Admin: Actually Author, I saw traces of water on the ground. I thought nothing of it since the varnished floor didn't show any footprints. . .]

Ming Yu looked down and noticed that tiny droplets of water were still on the floor but was now scattered due to them walking on it.

Do you remember where it was headed?

[Admin: The elevator you used when you went down. I saw it soon as the door opened.]

SHIVER.

[Admin: D-d-d-did he. . . used the elevator we. . . (ﾟДﾟ;)!]

"..."

[Admin: OH MY F*CKING- NO. ( ⁰д⁰)!!!]

---------Admin is offline.

"..."

"What's wrong?" Xu Wan Zhe asked and his hand was suddenly held by Ming Yu, dragging him along infront of the elevator.

Ming Yu looked around it and when he walked left, he finally noticed a door behind that was hindered by the elevator itself.

There was only a single door.

The hairs on his skin raised all at once.

"Wan Zhe. . . this. . ." If you walk to the elevator and only looked straight ahead, it would be hard to notice this door behind it.

Xu Wan Zhe held the lever but it didn't open when he turned it. 

Locked.

Admin. Where does this door. . .

Ah. He left. That tiny bug.

"Let's check the other Decks."

And sure the same door existed right behind the elevators.

"The bridge. . .Which side was it again. . ." Ming Yu didn't have the time to pay attention to where was where.

"Second elevator. Facing my room, to the right would be the direction of the Bow." They were currently on Deck 6. The only accessible deck other than the kitchen and the guest rooms.

So behind these doors could possibly lead to the bridge?

SHIVER.

"Ah Yu? Are you cold?" Xu Wan Zhe never let his mind wander to far to make sure that he could catch on Ming Yu's every move, expression, anything that concerns him. He didn't want to miss a detail.

Ming Yu kept staring at the door and Xu Wan Zhe was led by this gaze. . .

SHIVER.

They couldn't take their eyes away from the peephole.

SHIVER.

There was no footstep. No sound. There was sure to be no one there. . .

Should be no one. . . right?

Ming swallowed his dry throat and was reaching out to the door handle.

No one is at the other side. . . right?

"Ah Yu."

!!!

His hand was suddenly grabbed and he flinched from fright. Xu Wan Zhe did this for him to snap out of it.

CREAK.

The door opened.

It was a laundry room filled with rags and other cleaning materials.

"Mmn. . ." Ming Yu heart was relieved.

"Nothing here, wait, there's another door." This time no matter how much he pulled and turn, it wasn't opening. Since they couldn't go further they walked out and closed the door.

"Let's call it a day and rest. You've been tense this entire time and I'm worrying." Xu Wan Zhe could only comfort him with his touch yet unable to distract him from the cause.

Ming Yu was really tired. In the inside he find himself silly. Never did he knew that what was happening would incredibly stress him out.

All of these were because of him, Xu Wan Zhe.

He was this infatuated so why did he even thought that he would feel nothing if his lover died at the present.

He was a fool.

-

"Good." Xu Wan Zhe breathed out after checking the door 5 times and blocking it with an small yet heavy shelf for security.

"Come here. . . " Ming Yu tapped the side of his bed.

Snuggling in each other's arms, Ming Yu's relaxed feeling the comforting warmth that he needed.

"Still scared?"

"Mmn. Still scared for you. . ." He acted truthful.

The room was dim because the power was still out and only the candle lights illuminated their room imitating a romantic dinner if you take out the fact of people dying.

"I'll be by your side when you wake up. I'm here. Don't worry." 

"Mmn."

"What do you want me to do to help you sleep?"

Ming Yu thought of it deeply and could only think of one thing.

"Sing."

"Uhh. . . i'm good at many things but I am rather bad at singing. . ." Xu Wan Zhe couldn't do what he couldn't haha.

"Just try. . . I want to hear. . ." He wasn't giving this opportunity up.

"I. . . don't know any lullaby."

"Anything.  Sing anything?"

"Then. . . twinkle little star?"Xu Wan Zhe really knew none of the latest hits.

"Pffft-!" And with this, Ming yu could only laugh.

He couldn't laugh long since Xu Wan Zhe was urging him to sleep and by repeatedly hearing it over and over, Ming Yu felt funny at him nagging.

After a good laugh, his eyelids started to settle and drooped down. . . He felt his big lover pull his body closer to his, closer to warmth and his happiness.

"good. . . night. . ."

"Sleep well. . ." 

For them, the night passed peacefully.

-

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

They woke up and hurriedly opened the door, sure that there was bad news.

"What's wrong?"

"P-professor Sun. He's missing." Bea Yu informed them. "T-turn on your tv!"

This was so sudden that the two of them took a while to search before eventually finding the remote control.

BEEP.

"AAAAHHH!!!" Bea Yu couldn't bare to see this image twice.

"..."

"..."

It was a picture of Professor Sun lying on top of the ship's Bow, bleeding to his death.

7 days after boarding ship. Death count: 3

Professor Sun Ji Man. DEAD.