The bearded Frank Grant charged to the fish hold door with two fierce sea scavengers: “Fuck your mother, who was talking about the Yaksha just now? Get out here!”

Blackie Clark had already shrunk back in fear. Frank Grant took a few steps forward and, with a sudden force, pried the fish spine off the deck: “Dare to do it but not admit it, huh? Got the guts to say it but not to own up? Blackie, was it you? Sounded like your voice?”

“No, no, no, we know each other so well, how could I break the rules?” Blackie Clark replied immediately.

Frank Grant, having just been cursed at, seemed to be holding in a bellyful of anger and shouted, “Don’t think I’m like you. What the hell are you? If you don’t break the rules, I’m afraid no one on this boat would dare to. Come on, follow me to see Lord Jiao!”

At this moment, Uncle Grant stepped forward, pointed at me, and said, “Brother A’Can, are your eyes failing you? Can’t you see the one who cursed Lord Jiao is standing right here?”

Following his finger, Frank Grant’s fierce eyes turned to me. When he saw it was me, he immediately cursed, clearly realizing I was the one who got him scolded earlier. He strode toward me, and I instinctively backed away. Annie quickly stepped in front of me, anxiously shouting, “He’s lying! He wasn’t the one who cursed!”

Blackie Clark said in a mocking tone, “If it wasn’t him, was it you?”

Annie pointed at Blackie Clark: “Stop playing the thief crying ‘stop thief’! It was clearly you who cursed Lord Jiao just now.”

Frank Grant immediately turned fiercely toward Blackie Clark, and Uncle Grant hurried to shield his nephew: “Old Zhong, don’t be stupid. Can’t you see that woman is trying to frame us?”

Frank Grant grunted, “That little woman has a grudge against you?”

Uncle Grant, ever the streetwise man, reacted quickly: “No grudge, but that brazen woman would do anything shameless to protect her lover, wouldn’t she?”

Frank Grant was about to speak when someone below deck called for him. He impatiently dug at his ear, shouted a few words down, then turned to us and said, “Everyone on this boat, listen up! This matter isn’t over yet. No matter who cursed, once I find out, I’ll make sure he regrets it so much he’ll want to crawl back into his mother’s womb!” With that, he waved his hand to lead the sea scavengers away. I called out from behind, “Big Brother Grant, please wait a moment.”

Frank Grant stopped and impatiently spat over the rail: “Fuck your mother, if you’ve got something to say, spit it out.”

Ignoring Annie’s attempts to pull me back, I raised my voice and asked, “What’s all this commotion about? Can you give us an explanation? It’s hard for everyone to feel at ease like this.”

Frank Grant suddenly roared in fury: “You son of a bitch—selling calendars out of season, tired of living, are you? Listen up! On this boat, you’re just cargo, so mind your own business!” He walked up to me, jabbing his finger into my nose: “Listen well, if I ever catch you acting up again, I’ll chop you and that brazen woman up and feed you both to the fish!”

With that, he turned and left. I broke out in a cold sweat from fear, and saw Blackie Clark and Uncle Grant standing to the side, grinning at me strangely. Looking at their smiles, I suddenly had a strange feeling, as if I’d fallen into their trap.

After Frank Grant left, Uncle Grant at the cabin door actually began to administer first aid to the man in the long gown, Edward Hill. After all, they lived by the sea and spent years out and about; they knew a thing or two about rescuing people from the water. He first put his ear to Edward Hill’s chest to listen, then checked his nose and mouth with his hand, then placed both hands on Edward Hill’s lower abdomen, gradually increasing the pressure. Before long, Edward Hill suddenly sat up straight, spewing out a mouthful of foul-smelling black water, then lay back down again.

Beside the cabin door, Blackie Clark was still forcefully pulling on Edward Hill’s woman, Linda Brooks’s arm: “You can’t go over there. The worst thing during a rescue is a woman’s yin energy. If your yin energy rushes over, the little bit of yang energy he has left will scatter, and he’ll never make it back.”

Hearing Blackie Clark’s offhand nonsense, Linda Brooks turned pale with fright and let Blackie Clark drag her off to a corner to mutter. I was anxious, thinking this was bad, but Annie held me back.

Uncle Grant pressed a few more times, and Edward Hill sat up again, vomiting another large puddle of foul black water, finally opening his confused eyes.

“Where am I?” Edward Hill wiped the water from his mouth with his long sleeve, seemed to notice the stench, and lifted his sleeve to sniff it.

Uncle Grant put on a show of hearty bravado, flipping the hem of his Western shirt back and sticking his hands in his trouser pockets, laughing loudly: “Brother, you just fell into the sea. You’d better thank me! If I hadn’t jumped in to save you right away, you’d have met the Dragon King by now.”

Edward Hill shook his head weakly: “You saved me? I think I passed out and don’t remember anything. I remember being on the sampan—how did I end up in the sea?”

“Your eyes must be on your ass, how could you see anything?” Uncle Grant slapped Edward Hill on the shoulder. “Brother, people help people, we lift each other up. I saved your life, no need for a big reward, just give me three or five silver dollars as a token.”

“Silver dollars?” Edward Hill reached for his waist, then suddenly cried out, “Where are my silver dollars? Where are my silver dollars?”