Chapter 299: Found Something We Can Use

The paddle felt heavier than it had when Hanchuan tested it.

He worked from a crouch beside the rail, pulling through the water while Zeyu matched him on the other side.

Their first strokes turned the boat too sharply, and they had to pause while Shichen called directions from behind the windshield.

Hanchuan kept the ship in sight. From the seat, it had looked close enough to reach. Down beside the water, with each swell hiding part of the hull, he couldn’t tell whether they were gaining on it at all.

"Don’t try to match every stroke," Shichen told them, watching the bow. "Zeyu’s paddle is wider. Let me see what happens if he eases up a little."

They adjusted until the boat stopped swinging with each pull.

Hanchuan settled into the movement, using his back instead of asking more from his sore arms.

Water dripped from the paddle onto his trousers whenever he lifted it, soaking places that had only just begun to dry.

After a while, Jingwei touched his shoulder.

"Let me take it before you lose your grip. You can have it back when my hands start complaining," he offered.

Hanchuan passed him the paddle and stood carefully.

Zhiyi was holding the water bottle near her lap, waiting until he had found his balance before offering it. He drank, then sat beside her long enough to feel her lean against him.

"The windows are getting bigger," Zhiyi said, looking past his shoulder. "I couldn’t separate them before."

He followed her gaze. She was right. The pale block near the stern had resolved into rows of windows, with outside stairs connecting the decks. Beneath it, the dark hull rose much higher than their little boat, its paint marked by long rust stains.

Hanchuan rested his hand over hers.

"Then we’re getting somewhere," he said. "Keep watching for a way up, sweetheart. We’ll need more than a wall when we reach it."

They changed places several more times before anyone could make out the railings. Qinghe bailed between his turns with the paddle, and Zhiyi kept their loose belongings out of everyone’s way.

Once, Hanchuan caught her rubbing the heel of her hand against her eyes. She lowered it when she noticed him looking and returned her attention to the ship.

He wanted a bed for her badly enough that he had to remind himself to study the decks rather than the windows.

There were containers stacked beyond the cranes, some painted blue and others a faded red.

Farther along, pale shapes stood beneath covers secured with heavy straps. Nothing moved around them. Hanchuan searched the walkways, pausing at each dark doorway, but he saw no one watching their approach.

Jingwei noticed the smaller boat first.

It appeared beyond the freighter’s bow, little more than a narrow hull carrying three figures. One stood to look toward them, then bent over the person at the stern. Their engine started soon afterward.

Hanchuan raised one hand, hoping they might come close enough to answer a question.

The standing figure waved both arms toward the ship, then pointed away from it.

Hanchuan couldn’t tell whether he was warning them off or telling them to go around.

The small boat turned and left without coming nearer.

Zeyu watched it until the figures became indistinct.

"They’ve got enough fuel to leave," Zeyu said, shifting his grip on the paddle. He looked back at the freighter’s silent decks. "I’d like to know what made them choose that."

"So would I." Hanchuan took the paddle when Zeyu offered it. "We’ll keep our distance until we find an entrance. Nobody ties us to anything we can’t release from here."

They approached the long side of the ship at an angle, struggling whenever the wind pushed their bow away.

Up close, the freighter filled so much of Hanchuan’s view that he had to turn his head to see either end.

The waves struck its hull with hollow slaps, and their own boat rose and fell beside rust-streaked steel without reaching anything he could hold.

There were no low windows or convenient openings. He could see a ladder far above them, folded against a railing, but it might as well have been on the roof of a building.

Shichen pointed farther aft. "There’s a staircase along the side. I can’t see the bottom from here, but it’s been lowered."

Hanchuan followed the line of his arm. A narrow metal stairway sloped down from an upper deck, ending at a small platform above the water.

Cables supported it from overhead. Its lower rail had bent outward, and something hung beneath the platform, dipping into the waves.

They worked toward it slowly. By the time Hanchuan could see the hanging object clearly, his arms were trembling each time he lifted the paddle.

A rope ladder trailed from the platform. The bottom rungs were submerged.

Jingwei moved forward to examine it while Hanchuan and Zeyu kept their boat away from the hull. He caught one of the side ropes as the boat rose, pulled it toward him and checked the nearest rung.

"It reaches, but I want to see what’s holding it before anyone else climbs," Jingwei said. He looked toward the top of the staircase, then back at Hanchuan. "I’ll go as far as the deck. If there’s a problem, you’ll hear me."

Hanchuan studied the height above them. Jingwei would have a difficult climb with wet shoes and tired hands, but he was still the best choice.

"Check the stairs before you go up them. We’ll stay under the platform until you’ve had a look."

Jingwei nodded and put the knife where he could reach it.

Zhiyi caught his sleeve while he was checking his life jacket, drawing him down far enough to press a kiss against his cheek.

He turned toward her before she could pull away and kissed her mouth, one hand resting briefly at the back of her neck.

"I’ll be careful," Jingwei told her. "Stay with Hanchuan while I find somewhere for us."

Hanchuan brought Zhiyi back beside him as Jingwei stepped onto the seat. Shichen held the ladder away from their rail while Zeyu worked the paddle to keep them close.

Jingwei waited for the boat to rise, caught a higher rung and climbed.

The ladder twisted beneath his weight.

Hanchuan watched his feet, then the ropes above him, following every pause until Jingwei reached the platform. He stayed crouched there for a moment before testing the first metal step.

No one appeared at the top.

Jingwei climbed out of sight, leaving Hanchuan looking at the empty staircase.

Beside him, Zhiyi had both hands around his arm, her cheek resting against his shoulder while the boat lifted them toward the platform and lowered them again.

When Jingwei returned to the railing, he was carrying a thick rope.

"The deck’s clear as far as I can see," Jingwei called down. "Bring her to the ladder. I’ve found something we can use to help her up."