Another 5 days passed on the high seas, but the weather did not get any better. Instead, it got colder and colder with each passing day. An icy wind was blowing. Due to the cold, the spray rain formed a thick layer of ice on the ship, which had to be knocked off again and again by crew members. Again and again, dense fog formed, making it almost impossible for them to make any progress.

The passengers were no longer allowed to go outside onto the deck, because it was too dangerous with the icy rain. The stokers were busy around the clock in the engine room pouring coal into the heating stoves to keep the engines running and to keep it warm inside the ship.

More and more passengers were demanding that the captain and the ship's owner tell them where they were. But neither could answer the passengers' questions. The ship's owner would not leave his cabin, and the captain ordered several crew members to stand guard in front of the bridge so that the passengers could not get to him.

And finally, in the middle of the night, exactly what Lan Zhan had feared all along happened. The ship got stuck in the thick pack ice! Since all the passengers, including Lan Zhan, Wei Ying, Youn and Ali were asleep, they didn't notice the ship had stopped moving until morning. One look out the window of the cabin had been enough for the four of them to realize why the ship had stopped moving.

Furious, Lan Zhan wanted to gain access to the bridge and the captain, even by force if necessary. But just as he was about to leave the cabin, Youn, who was still standing at the window with Ali, said: "Lan Zhan! Stay here and look at this. There's a big ship!"

Lan Zhan and Wei Ying rushed to the window and looked out. But they couldn't see much. So they left the cabin and broke open the door to the outer deck. They stood at the railing and looked over at the ship. It was almost as big as their ship. The ship's sides and sails were black. It had no flag. And there were no people to be seen either.

"Dead ship." Ali muttered.

"Excuse me?" Asked Lan Zhan.

"He said dead ship." Answered Wei Ying instead of Ali.

"What does that mean? Does it mean they have dead people on board? Do they collect them on the sea or what?" Youn wanted to know.

Lan Zhan, Youn and Ali looked at Wei Ying. They were waiting for him to explain to them why this ship is called "dead ship". But Wei Ying just stood there staring at the eerie other ship until Lan Zhan touched him on the shoulder. Wei Ying jerked back in fright as Lan Zhan touched him. Then he looked at the three, one by one, and said, "There are no more than 5 people in this dead ship."

"So what does that mean for us now?" Youn asked impatiently.

"It means that there is something else living on the ship. Five people alone can't operate such a big ship by themselves." Wei Ying replied.

"Does that mean there are vampires on board?" Asked Lan Zhan.

"Probably yes."

"But why is it called a dead ship?"

"Mhhh, let's think about how the story was. There were buccaneers once. They were the pirates of today. They had permission via letters of marque to attack and rob enemy ships. Once British buccaneers pursued a black ship of the Spaniards. However, the black ship was faster and more agile, which is why they kept escaping the English buccaneers. At least until the English buccaneers spotted the ship near an island. They waited for the right moment from a hiding place. And then in the night and fog they entered the ship. They were surprised to see no crew members on the deck. They assumed that the Spanish sailors felt too safe. So they wanted to surprise them while they slept. They opened the door that led to the interior of the ship and a bestial stench met them. Nevertheless, they went on. But instead of gold, silver and jewels, they found only corpses. The dead looked as if they had died of some disease. Diseases that rotted body parts. The English buccaneers wanted to leave the ship immediately so as not to get infected. But suddenly some kind of creatures appeared among the dead. They attacked the English buccaneers and killed one after the other. They drank their blood and ate their body parts. One young buccaneer, he was only 13 years old at the time, was able to hide and secretly managed to leave the black ship of the dead. He hid on the island and waited there until another ship docked at the island. It was a Spanish ship. They captured the young buccaneer and did not believe a word he said about the creatures on the dead ship. The Spaniards entered the dead ship and none of them came back. The young English buccaneers managed to leave the island in a small rowboat and was found days later by another English ship. He also told them what had happened. But they did not believe him either. They searched for the black ship, sent half of the crew to the dead ship. For a short moment only their screams could be heard, then it was silent and no one came back. The English ship returned to England, where the young buccaneer told his story everywhere. Of course, no one wanted to believe him. But soon after, other surviving sailors also reported about the black ship of the dead."

"And you say it is the dead ship from your story?" Asked Lan Zhan.

"I didn't say it was. I just mean that it fits the description to a tee. However, it should be a few centuries old by then. I also don't know how believable the story is. However, I do know that there are only five people on that ship."

"Well, let's assume it's the ship of the dead. Then there can't be vampires, can there? I mean, we don't eat body parts. By the way, I had heard similar stories from other sailors during my time on the high seas. I always thought they were just sailor's yarns, though."

"Lan Zhan, if you're at sea for weeks and starving, you won't just drink blood to get full either. These vampires, well, they're a little different than you. They are wild and have not been socialized. They're like hungry animals. So, assuming it's the ship of the dead and the stories are true."

"Okay, so let's recap. We are trapped on this ship with 400-500 people on a ship stuck in pack ice. Ahead of us, about 100 meters away, is a completely black and admittedly scary ship that, if the rumors are true, is home to wild vampires who know only one thing, eating! To make matters worse, we have not exactly been discreet over the past few days. Which means we can't just disappear either."

"Why can't we disappear? We could have left the ship and not come back, couldn't we?" Youn opined.

"It's simple Youn. There is nothing here, except for that other ship, that would give us reason to leave our ship. Besides, our names are on the passenger list. That means, if our ship should manage to reach its destination, it would be reported that we are missing. So we couldn't just show up in the village." Lan Zhan explained.

"What if Wei Ying took us to another ship in the harbor? Then it would look like we arrived by that ship."

"Youn, then they would still report us missing from this ship as soon as they arrive in the harbor. And what do you think would happen if they suddenly said that we had already arrived with another ship? So I wouldn't know how to logically explain that we left off one ship, suddenly disappeared and then two or three weeks before this ship arrived in the harbor, left off another ship?"

"Okay yes well you are right Lan Zhan. So what are we going to do now? I certainly don't want to find out if the rumors about the dead ship are true."

"Now you and Ali go back to your cabin for now. Wei Ying and I will have a discussion. Maybe we can come up with a solution."

"All right. I'm getting pretty cold out here anyway. And the hairs on the back of my neck stand up just looking at the other ship. Please come soon." Said Youn. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying nodded, then Youn and Ali went back to their cabin.

Lan Zhan turned to Wei Ying after Youn and Ali went back inside and asked him, "What's wrong? You're so quiet."

"I don't know myself. But somehow I have a strange feeling."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you think it's a strange coincidence that we took a different route that took us so far north and they didn't change it, even though they knew we were way too far off course? And then we get stuck here in the pack ice, of all places, where there's a ship that's been widely rumored."

"So what you're trying to say is that the captain and the ship owner didn't choose this route by accident?"

"Well, there's at least a possibility that it's not coincidence. And who knows, maybe that's why the old vampire Nagib was on board of the ship. If all this was planned, maybe it was because Nagib wanted to get to that ship. Because someone has to control the people on the dead ship, and the vampires, too. Maybe Nagib was one of them. And maybe the ship's owner and captain made a deal with him. Immortality in exchange for fresh flesh and blood for the vampire brood."

"And I suppose 400-500 humans would satiate the vampire brood for a while?"

"Exactly. Probably even until their ship is cleared of pack ice and they can enter the nearest port. They'll find everything they need on our ship. Blood and flesh, and coal for the engines."

"Well Wei Ying, then we should really think of something."

"The only question is what? We can't get all those people off the ship. And certainly not with my way. We can't just disappear either."

"What if we set fire to the ship of the dead?"

"Without knowing if it's really the ship of the dead?"

"Do you think it isn't?"

"I don't know. We'd have to get closer to the ship. Then we could sense if there are vampires."

"Can't you do that from here? You can sense the humans over there, too, can't you?"

"I don't sense them, I hear their hearts. And as quiet as their hearts are beating, I assume they're sleeping right now."

"Then we need to check it out Wei Ying."

"Alright. But for now, let's go back to our cabin. It would attract attention if we leave here. Because we're not the only ones out here anymore." Said Wei Ying, pointing at a few smaller groups of people who were standing on the deck, equally confused and frightened, looking over at the other ship.

They went back to their cabin where Youn and Ali were already waiting for them. They talked again about the possibility that the black ship could be the infamous death ship and also that the ship owner and captain planned all this and that the changed route could be a trap.

Lan Zhan and Wei Ying, together with Youn and Ali, planned how they could leave the ship unseen to find out if the other ship was really the death ship "Eliza Dora" as Wei Ying finally remembered the name of the death ship.

They decided to wait until nightfall and then secretly leave the ship. Youn and Ali would make sure that their absence would not be noticed. Whereby they were least worried about that. Because it is a large ship and it can easily happen that someone is not seen for a few days. Rather, they worried that the ship and the passengers might be attacked during their absence.