Daomu Biji: The Southern Archives

In the late fifteenth century, something called the “ship of fools” appeared in Germany. Each city gave all their lunatics to passing sailors, who gathered them onto ships and wandered from town to town.

There were many philosophers and poets among these lunatics, and the sailors would sometimes take them into the wilderness between towns and banish them there. As a result, a group of lunatics would gather and stare into space in the wilderness.

But things weren’t so romantic afterwards. Leprosy began to spread in large numbers, and those afflicted with it were also sent to the “ships of fools”. But in those cases, they were left on isolated islands to fend for themselves. These kinds of ships were famously called “leper ships”.

Coincidentally, a plague was running rampant around the end of the Ming Dynasty, and someone had a similar idea. People sent their critically ill relatives to ships that set off from Dongying. There were a total of sixty-seven ships that sailed along the eastern coast, heading for the South Sea.

At that time, everyone knew that once the ships were in open water, the South Sea sailors might throw the afflicted into the sea to drown, but they still sent them anyways. The plague had ravaged northern China for so long that everyone just hoped that this disaster would come to an end.

Based on the historical records, the prevalent plague at that time was probably the bubonic plague. County records and documents mentioned that the rats’ behavior was very strange, and they were seen crossing the river one right after another.

But there were also various plagues called “big head plague” and “green line plague”, and it was even said that there were dozens of other plagues breaking out at once. At that time, a few people were standing around talking when they suddenly shook their heads and died. Everyone else scattered, leaving thousands of corpses on display as they rotted in the streets. The smell was unbearable.

These kinds of ships that set off from Dongying were called “plague ships”, and each one held more than a hundred patients. The patients were all crammed into the cargo hold, and forced to endure the rotting corpses of those who died alongside them until they could be thrown into the sea a few days later. But historical records stated that many plague ships didn’t abandon the sick and actually sailed to the South Sea and landed ashore. Some of them even recovered from their illness and settled in the South Sea.

It made sense that the people here were looking for a plague ship. If a ship from that time went to the South China Sea, ran aground, and sank here, then the entire ship would be buried under hundreds of years’ worth of coral reefs.

There were many hidden reefs here, so it was easy to see how it would take them ten years if they were searching one reef after another. And based on the scene Zhang Haiyan and Zhang Haixia had witnessed just now, those people might have found it.

The officer seemed to be dead, and Zhang Haiyan could hear footsteps coming from outside. He used the officer’s clothes to wipe the blood from his hands and said to Zhang Haixia, “Keep reading. Try to find something interesting for me.” With that said, he pulled three golden needles from his belt and jabbed them into his throat.

He coughed a few times after the golden needles pierced his throat, and then his voice changed. He tried to say something in a low voice, but had to adjust the position of the golden needles before he sounded like the officer.

Zhang Haixia continued, “Look at this. An ancient book is quoted here. A doctor in Dongying recorded a plague that came from the south. It was called wudou disease, and it spread very quickly. After they discovered the first case, it only took a month before everyone in the village died. Could it be that the plague ship the people here are looking for had patients with wudou disease on it?”

Zhang Haiyan touched his neck and then took the information, while Zhang Haixia went to hide in the corner. Zhang Haiyan put on the officer’s clothes, went to stand behind a table so that his pants would hide the corpse, and then turned his back to the door.

At that moment, the sentry above who had heard the gunshot came in and asked, “Why was there a gunshot, Lieutenant?”

“Someone came in just now, but they already ran away.” Zhang Haiyan turned his back to the sentry, seemingly focused on flipping through the papers in front of him. His voice was almost the same as the officer’s. “Gather a team to search the whole ship. We have to speed up. What's the situation right now?”

The sentry immediately gave the other soldiers a look and continued to report, “We’re about to reach the bottom. We’re being more careful now for fear that the things inside will come out.”

Zhang Haiyan’s was racing as he thought to himself, what things might come out? He turned his head slightly and looked at Zhang Haixia’s face in the dark. Zhang Haixia also seemed very interested in this new piece of information.

Zhang Haiyan continued to question the sentry, “Let me give you a test. If you’re worried that those things will come out, what should you do to prepare?”

“You said that we should make those laborers do the work. As long as we put the concoction on our bodies, we’ll be fine. Isn’t that enough? You’ve tested it on those people who have died these past few years and sealed them with salt. We thought that was enough.”

Zhang Haiyan didn't understand, but his mind was still racing. He knew it wasn’t good to stall anymore, so he waved his hand. “Tell them that no matter what method they use, they have to reach the bottom tonight. Zhang Qishan’s people are already here.”

The sentry was relieved and immediately left. As Zhang Haiyan flipped through the papers for real this time, he found it odd that they didn’t mention what was in the plague ship. If something would come out, and the ship had lain there on the seabed for hundreds of years, then what kind of monsters could possibly survive inside?