PFC Chapter 212 Cargo
Chapter 212 Cargo
The smell of fish mixed with the stench of sweat wafted through the air.
In this cramped space where even turning over is a struggle, the sound of thunderous snoring rises and falls in my ears.
A hairy arm swung through the air and came crashing down.
Xie Yan opened her eyes, endured for a moment, but finally couldn't hold back and pushed Zhang Dasheng, who was holding her, away.
Fortunately, the person was sleeping like a log and did not react at all after being turned over. He even turned over to find a more comfortable position and continued to sleep.
Xie Yan rubbed her nose and sighed again.
He missed Chuling a little.
Although sleeping with Chu Ling would mean being held tightly in his arms, at least the prince was a respectable person with a strong sense of self-discipline. He not only didn't have much body hair, but he also always smelled wonderful.
Xie Yan sat up and looked around. The boatmen were densely packed in every corner, lying haphazardly on the ground, using the ground as their bed, sleeping soundly.
The ship owner, that heartless boss, lives in a large room all by himself while his underlings are crammed into the hold without even a bed.
It's no wonder that some people are tempted by money and commit theft.
Xie Yan sneered, stretched her stiff body, and stood up.
The lower deck has two levels. Apart from the level where they rest, the upper level is a place specifically used for rowing and storing miscellaneous items.
Although it was late at night, not all the boatmen could rest, so Xie Yan could still faintly hear the sound of oars.
By the faint moonlight, Xie Yan walked to the steps leading to the upper level.
Standing there, if you peer out, you can see several boxes and sacks secured with ropes.
He examined the goods piled on the top shelf, but they were all everyday items such as salt, rice, and cloth, with nothing suspicious about them.
Xie Yan withdrew her gaze and looked down at the bottom floor again.
The place was full of people sleeping, and although there were some odds and ends piled up in some corners, they all looked like ordinary junk.
Xie Yan squinted, scanning the crowd carefully as she weaved through the people lying on the ground.
He moved with such lightness that each foot landed precisely in the gap beside his body, without making a sound.
After going back and forth like this several times, Xie Yan was certain that there was nothing unusual in this lower deck.
So where exactly are those "goods" they suspect hidden?
Xie Yan looked up again, gazing upwards in deep thought.
Then, as if he had thought of something, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
As if to verify her conjecture, Xie Yan quickly walked to the intersection of the stairs and carefully compared the spatial layout of the upper and lower floors.
I closed my eyes and recalled the scene when I first saw this ship.
After a moment, Xie Yan's expression finally changed.
He looked thoughtfully at the floor.
Generally, in order to strengthen the hull and prevent leaks and sinking, a waterproof layer is usually installed at the bottom of a ship for protection.
Based on Xie Yan's recollection and previous comparisons, the space occupied by the ship's waterproof layer seems to be a bit too high.
Could the secret lie here?
The most likely place leading down is—
Xie Yan's gaze moved slowly, finally settling on a corner that was currently empty and filled with miscellaneous items.
There were several sacks filled with salt, piled high in the corner.
They don't take up much space; they're just the right size to completely cover the entrance to a passageway.
Xie Yan squatted down and reached her slender fingers into the gap under the sack, feeling around inch by inch.
Soon, the corners of his mouth curved upwards almost imperceptibly.
After a day of physical labor, everyone was now fast asleep, snoring loudly, as if in a competition, each snoring louder than the last.
They successfully masked the rustling sounds of things being moved.
The burlap sacks were removed one by one until the floor that had been covered by them was completely exposed.
On that wooden board, there were four extremely fine, abruptly separated seams.
Xie Yan bent down and gently tapped the ground, and the hollow "thump-thump" sound rang out without any attempt to conceal it.
Sure enough, there was a hidden compartment!
With a creak, a dark passageway appeared before Xie Yan's eyes.
Xie Yan, holding a tinderbox, bent down and crawled inside.
There was no light below, it was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, like a bottomless vortex, which quickly swallowed Xie Yan's figure completely.
The tinderbox cast long and short shadows of Xie Yan as he leaned against the wall and walked down step by step.
There must be no ventilation in this mezzanine, so the air is not only not circulating, but also too thin.
Xie Yan didn't walk for long before she emerged from the narrow passage.
He lit the oil lamps hanging on both sides of the passageway, and the light instantly illuminated an area ahead.
By the light of the fire, Xie Yan could see the secret hidden within the layers of partitions—
The space in this mezzanine was filled with large, densely packed boxes and sacks.
Unlike the goods mentioned above, the boxes and sacks here are exceptionally large, each one looking like it could fit a person inside.
Xie Yan expressionlessly took out a dagger and, as easily as cutting tofu, sliced open the lock on a large box.
But to everyone's surprise, the moment the box was pushed open, several beams of cold light shot out from inside and flashed across Xie Yan's face.
Upon closer inspection, what was hidden there was not what he had expected, but various sharp and pointed knives, swords, and ironware.
Under the lamplight, it gleamed with a chilling light.
Xie Yan frowned sharply and opened several large boxes in quick succession.
His expression grew increasingly somber.
The contents of this place were truly beyond his expectations.
Gunpowder, ironware, armor...
Apart from certain weapons, everything else was undoubtedly a prohibited item strictly controlled by the imperial court.
Looking around, there were at least dozens of such large boxes in this mezzanine.
A rough calculation shows that these things could even arm half a well-equipped heavy army.
Did they misjudge the true purpose of this merchant ship?
Xie Yan's brows furrowed more and more, and the oil lamps on both sides had burned out their last bit of light.
Darkness descended once more, and Xie Yan immediately turned and left, intending to inform Chu Ling first.
However, just as he stepped back onto the passage, a very faint whimper suddenly rang out.
Xie Yan stopped what she was doing.
He listened intently and recognized the sound as a puppy barking.