While Lan Zhan and Wei Ying were preparing for their little evening excursion, Youn and Ali watched from the outside deck as the ship's crew, using only shovels and axes, tried to free the ship from the pack ice. Whereby all of the ship's crew were lightly dressed black slaves, urged by some white men.

Seeing how the men treated the slaves was hard for Youn to bear. Even before they helped and took Ali in, he was against slavery. And now that Ali is like a brother to him, it is even harder for him to watch the slaves being abused and mistreated. Gritting his teeth and clenching his hands into fists, he asked, "Who gives them the right to treat them like this? Just because they have a different skin color and speak a different language doesn't make them less valuable than white people!"

Ali put a hand on Youn's shoulder and said in a gentle voice, "Hopefully someday all people will think like you, Lan Zhan or Wei Ying."

"I hope so too Ali. A human being is a human being no matter where he comes from, what language he speaks or what color his skin is."

"You are right about that my friend."

"Ali, I swear to you, as long as I live, I will try to help all people."

"So will I." Replied Ali. Ever since Lan Zhan and Youn rescued him and he was able to experience freedom for the first time since he was born, he has decided to fight to give that freedom to other slaves as well. Even if he doesn't know how yet.

They did not continue their conversation when they saw four crew members going to the dead ship with 6 slaves on the captain's orders. They circled the ship looking for a way to get on the ship. After half an hour they came back and saw that the slaves were scared. "What do you think they saw?" Youn asked.

Ali listened to the quiet conversations of the slaves standing just below them on the ship and replied, "They call it Vaisseau de la mort."

"That's French, isn't it? What does that mean?"

"Yes, French. It means ship of the dead. They say it smells of death from the ship. They're scared."

"Okay, so there's a possibility that it really is the death ship Wei Ying told us about."

"Yes, there is a possibility. But... um, it could be another ship. They're trapped in the pack ice like we are. We don't know how long it's been. Maybe the men on board died and their bodies are now rotting on the ship."

"Maybe you're right Ali. But do you believe that?"

"No, honestly I don't. My mother told me a lot about the ship of the dead. She always said if I ever saw that black ship with the black sails I should hide or run away."

"Good advice. And maybe we should take it to heart."

"Sure. But Lan Zhan and Wei Ying will still go on the ship or?"

"I think so Ali. They want to be sure. And knowing Lan Zhan, he'll want to save the people on board. Wei Ying said there are 5 people on board the black ship. So Lan Zhan will do everything he can to save them if they are trapped there."

"Youn? Do you also think like Lan Zhan and Wei Ying that the captain of our ship and the ship owner have planned all this?"

"It looks that way, at least. And I suspect if it is, those two aren't the only ones involved. I'm sure more crew members know about it."

"They're criminals! They should be punished."

"Yes, they should, Ali. But first they should tell what their motives were. And how they found out about all this."

"Well, let's grab one of the crew and question him."

"We should discuss this with Lan Zhan and Wei Ying first. For now, though, let's keep watching. Hopefully it will get dark soon. I'm going to freeze my ass off here!"

"Haha, freezing your ass off. Youn you often say funny things."

"That was just a fact." Replied Youn with a laugh. Half an hour later, the two went back to Lan Zhan and Wei Ying as the daylight began to fade. They told them what they had observed and went to eat afterwards. Meanwhile, Lan Zhan and Wei Ying snuck onto the outside deck and prepared to leave the ship.

Dressed completely in black, Lan Zhan and Wei Ying crept through the corridors of the ship. Every now and then they had to stop briefly and hide. They could not risk being seen. As Asians dressed like that and armed with swords, they looked more like assassins than harmless and supposedly wealthy passengers.

When they finally made it to the outer deck unseen, they went to the stern of the ship and climbed onto the railing. They climbed down a rope hanging over the railing and had to pause when suddenly someone was up on the deck trying to shine down with a torch. And he wasn't alone. "I'm sure I saw someone. Damn! I can't make anything out in this darkness." He grumbled.

"Well give it a rest. If there was someone here, we would have seen them by now." Replied the other.

"Wait a minute. Now that we're out here alone, I want to know from you what you think about all this shit? How could the captain steer the ship so far off the planned route? I knew he was no good from the start."

"I agree with you on that. And the fact that he wants the slaves to free the ship from the pack ice, I think is totally crazy. They're only knocking the pack ice on one side. What if that causes the ship to go into a tilt?"

"I tried to make that clear to the captain. I told him this morning that it wasn't a good idea. But he wouldn't hear anything about it. And it bugs me that he's using the slaves to do it. Did you see how thin they were dressed? I know they're just slaves. But I really feel sorry for them."

"I feel sorry for them too. Hey that reminds me. We have these Asians on board. They have a black guy with them, too. But they don't treat him like a slave. They even teach him their language."

"Not just the language. I've seen the Asian boy teach the black boy how to read and write."

"Really great people. I wish there were more like them."

"I predict that's how it's going to be. Anyway, let's go back inside. I just hope no more weird stuff happens."

"Weird stuff?"

"Didn't you notice anything? This morning, the cook reported that three of his kitchen assistants had disappeared. And then a passenger reported that his wife and two sons were also missing."

"When was that?"

"Just before sunrise. We looked for them everywhere. But they remained missing. And then the captain and the ship owner sent 4 men over to this scary ship. But the men never came back. And it doesn't seem to matter to the captain, or the ship owner."

"Shit man. No one is going to get me to board this ship. That's the ship of the dead! I bet it is. Now come on." Said one of the two men. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying listened to their departing footsteps and climbed all the way down after they were sure the men were gone.

Once at the ground, the two cautiously crept across the pack ice. "So people have disappeared. Do you think you heard their hearts beating?" Lan Zhan wanted to know.

"I don't know. But it seems that our suspicions about the captain and the ship owner are confirmed. Moreover, I can tell you that I can't hear the hearts of the people on the dead ship beating anymore. But now we should keep quiet." Replied Wei Ying. Lan Zhan nodded.

Side by side, they slowly approached the ship. Now in darkness and completely without illumination, the ship of the dead looked even more sinister to Lan Zhan. It looked like nothing more than a giant eerie shadow with no sign of life. Lan Zhan had never felt so uncomfortable at the sight of a ship as he did at that moment.

When they reached the ship, they already noticed the foul sweet stench of decaying flesh and fecal matter from below. In his mind, Lan Zhan turned to Wei Ying and asked, "So, can you sense other vampires?"

Wei Ying turned to Lan Zhan and nodded. Also in his mind, he replied, "Plenty."

"I can sense them, too. There must be an incredible number of them."

"They have a vampire brood and they use the dead ship as their vampire stock."

"What's a vampire brood?"

"It means they infected pregnant women who were about to give birth to their babies with the vampire venom. The babies came into the world infected. Therefore, they are not like you. They are like wild dogs."

"So what now? Are we going on the ship or not?"

"No, we're not going up there. There are just too many of them. And the people who were there this morning are no longer alive."

"Then what do we do?"

"We could set the ship on fire in daylight. But I don't know if that would do any good."

"I don't know that either Wei Ying. I don't know anything about the vampire brood."

"They can't stand sunlight. That's why they always stay below deck in the ship. But there must be other vampires. Those who take care of the brood and the ship."

"Then we'll go back to our ship for now."

"All right." Replied Wei Ying and that was the end of their mind conversation.

They returned to the ship, climbed up the rope and slipped back into their cabin. Then they changed and went to the hall where Youn and Ali were enjoying the evening program. Quietly, they talked about what the two men had been talking about, what they noticed about the ship, and said that they were at a loss at the moment and didn't know how best to proceed.

And then Ali had a question that hadn't even occurred to Lan Zhan and Wei Ying. "What about the pregnant woman who was bitten by the old vampire? Is she perhaps in danger?" Hastily, the four looked around the hall for the woman and her husband, but couldn't see the two.

"We should go to the cabin of the two and see how they are doing." Suggested Youn. Lan Zhan and Wei Ying agreed.

Together, they immediately made their way to that cabin. As soon as they stepped into the hallway leading to the cabin, Lan Zhan smelled blood. He hurriedly ran to the door and knocked loudly on it. But there was no response. No one opened. Only the cabin door next door opened after the third knock. An elderly woman looked at the four of them in confusion and said, "Gentlemen, I'm afraid the young lady doesn't want to see anyone now. She had a terrible fight with her husband today. She even screamed."

"When was that?" Wei Ying asked.

"Oh when was that again? Oh yes, it was still dark outside. I heard her screaming and something clanging. I lit my candle and looked at my watch and saw that it wasn't quite 5 o'clock in the morning yet." She replied.

"And nothing was heard after that?" Lan Zhan asked.

"No. And I must say, I didn't see them all day. Neither at breakfast, nor at lunch, nor at dinner. We usually sat at the same table. But because of the argument, I thought they let someone bring them food." She explained.

"Thank you very much for the information. We'll best check it out anyway. Just in case there is something wrong with the baby." Said Youn. He and Ali hurried off to get a spare key for the room. Meanwhile, the old woman went back to her cabin and Lan Zhan waited with Wei Ying for the two boys.

When the two returned with a key they had quickly stolen from the on-board service, Lan Zhan opened the door. Icy cold hit the four of them. The window of the cabin was missing. It looked like it had been ripped out. Blood could be seen there. The belongings of the young couple were scattered everywhere. It looked like a fierce battle had taken place there.

Lan Zhan sent Youn and Ali to get the security chief. It took them a few minutes to return with him and two of his men. The security chief entered the room and it slipped out of him, "You're kidding me! This is now the sixth cabin we've found in such a condition."