The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 183 - 184: Beauty Never Fades

Where there are people, there is gossip. Compared to the scandalous affair between Bi Shi and He Su, the rumors about me are the ones truly troubling the crew.

I have no doubt, if we were to reach our destination a few days late, they’d secretly knock me out and toss me into the sea.

Luckily, new troubles arose to distract them.

On the morning the fishing boat reached the target sea area, a storm kicked up at sea, and Captain Jack ordered everyone to return to the cabin. In the face of a sea storm, the fishing boat was not even comparable to a leaf.

"It must be her, summoning the storm!" a crew member whispered to a companion, casting a quick glance my way before swiftly looking away.

The crew and I were all sitting in the dining room. Captain Jack arranged it this way to reduce the crew’s fear—they were scared of being alone, and not seeing what I was up to made them nervous.

I examined myself carefully in the mirror when in my room and reflected on why they suspected no one else, but only thought I looked like a witch.

Is it just because my hair is exceptionally black, my skin is exceptionally pale, and my gaze exceptionally deep?

Using those adjectives from novels, my eyes are so deep they seem to suck people in?

That is indeed very scary, like a swamp, like a quicksand pit—no wonder they always avoid eye contact with me.

"Professor Chen, don’t young people like dark styles now? What? It’s not trendy anymore?" I also felt my face was too pale, looking unhealthy, so I got a bottle of ketchup and a bottle of chili powder from the kitchen.

"They have a psychological shadow. What are you taking?" Qinghan asked curiously when he saw me pulling two bottles from my pocket.

"Natural blush." I unscrewed the ketchup bottle, poured a bit on my finger, and then evenly applied it on my left cheek, pressing slightly with a tissue to absorb the excess moisture.

Then I opened the chili powder bottle and applied a layer on my right cheek.

"How is it? Which side looks natural and healthy?"

"The chili powder is natural but easily smudged—go with the ketchup." Bi Shi recommended after comparing seriously.

"Right? I also think ketchup looks more glossy. What do you think of it paired with this lip color?" I took out a small glass bottle filled with a bright red liquid, blood collected discreetly while the cook defrosted beef—authentic oxblood red!

Qinghan snatched the glass bottle and tossed it into the trash, pulling a red marker from his coat to hand to me, "Fresh blood oxidizes and changes color. Use this."

"You always have a way." I took the pen, used a metal tray as a mirror, and painted half my lips like in period dramas, a small cherry mouth.

Then there was the soot I scraped from the bottom of a frying pan, which I’d seen someone use as eyeshadow in a video.

After dressing up and looking in the mirror, I indeed looked more lively. I turned and smiled at a few people at the next table, and they immediately got up and moved to a place farther away from us.

However, the dining room was only so big, so even from afar, they could still see me. Outside, the wind howled fiercely, and the atmosphere in the dining room grew heavier. I heard someone whispering about throwing me out, saying I gave them the creeps.

The other crew members nodded in agreement as they whispered, and I occasionally caught words like "sea monster," "little devil," and "witch."

Captain Jack couldn’t spare the time to clear my name. He didn’t suspect I was a witch, but he did suspect I was connected to the little creature.

I have to say he’s a sensible man. Unfortunately, with their current equipment, they couldn’t trace the little creature, which was asleep, hugging my calf at the moment.

It had been playing wildly for days, its schedule turned upside down, sleeping during the day and causing trouble at night.

The fishing boat bobbed and swayed in the waves, accompanying the rise and fall of the crew’s spirits. Their eyes were filled with fear, even silencing their murmurs. I found it puzzling; they often went out to sea and, if not used to it, shouldn’t be this nervous.

From my view, the waves weren’t yet enough to capsize the boat, and Captain Jack seemed to have timed things well, comforting the crew over the intercom at just the right time.

The captain said that although the storm had appeared suddenly and without warning, its level wasn’t high, so there was no need to worry.

After the routine reassurance, he promised that it was purely a natural weather change, with nothing else mixed in.

He also mentioned the unidentified creature aboard, which had done nothing except frighten people, without any real harm, so it was almost certain it meant no harm, and there was no need for over-worrying.

Sometimes, when people get lost in a fixation, they only see what they want to see. Their hearts are full of fear, so water balloons are scary, storms are scary, and I’m scary too.

In truth, neither I, the water balloons, nor the storm outside threatened their lives.

Captain Jack knew well that fear was contagious, and if left to fester, they’d be courting destruction.

Due to the storm, their second rendezvous mission was postponed, and we had to wait on the ship until the waves subsided. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Captain Jack’s speech took effect or perhaps awakened some people. I heard someone tell their companion that he agreed with the captain—’that woman is not a witch; she’s just mentally unstable.’

Oh, I wanted to thank him, appreciating his objective judgment.

However, some remained skeptical of the captain’s words, insisting that all the strange occurrences began after I boarded the boat.

I wanted to remind him that, strictly speaking, it started after ’we’ boarded the boat. He should add a few more suspects to ensure a fair and objective conclusion.

Besides, though the events were strange, they weren’t fatal. The only injury was someone rolling off a bed and bruising their knee.

Yet, they wanted me dead, wanted the water balloon dead. Granted, it’s not possible, but such hearts were ruthless.

Qinghan pressed my shoulder, saying nothing, but his determined gaze seemed to say, "I’m here, don’t worry."

Just as Captain Jack’s broadcast took effect, there was a loud bang in the corridor, startling some crew members off their seats.

"Don’t panic; the door blew open from the wind. Damn it, who was in charge of securing the hatch?" Captain Jack’s voice came over the intercom, tinted with annoyance.

No one was guarding the deck anymore, nor was anyone in the corridors. All the crew members were gathered in the cockpit and dining room.

Captain Jack was in the cockpit, and no one there answered him, while those in the dining room had been there since early morning. Only someone leaving to use the restroom had left midway; they weren’t the ones who shut the hatch.

"Why hasn’t Lucas returned yet?"

"He gets a nervous stomach, that idiot."

"Who? Lucas? I just came out of the restroom; no one else was in there."