"Uncle Zheng is here!"
Someone in the crowd shouted, and the islanders who were singing and dancing around us stepped aside and made way for a passage.
But we saw an old man with white hair, holding a cane, slowly walking towards us.
This old man has a stooped body and dense wrinkles on his face. He is at least seventy or eighty years old, but he walks very vigorously and looks energetic.
Behind him, there were two young and strong men with solemn expressions.
"Guests from afar, welcome to Paradise Island."
When he came to us, the old man smiled and said: "I am the person in charge of this island, Zheng Dongguo. If you need anything, you can just ask me."
I bowed my hands and said solemnly: "We encountered a shipwreck on the ocean. Thanks to the ferry sent by Guidao, we were able to save a life. I am really grateful!"
On the surface, I wanted to express my gratitude, but in fact, I wanted to find out the relationship between the ghost ship and Paradise Island.
From the time the ghost ship appeared to when it took us to Paradise Island, its purpose was very clear. Although no one could be seen on it, there was obviously a mysterious force controlling the ghost ship.
If this force comes from Paradise Island, then they must have some purpose. We must be careful and not be fooled by the simple and innocent appearance of these islanders.
"Oh, you mean the Orient?"
Zheng Dongguo did not deny it, he just stroked his beard and smiled.
"After all, today also happens to be the day when the Oriental sails to sea. What a coincidence. It is God's will that you all come to my paradise island."
What Uncle Zheng said made us confused and confused as to what he meant. I was about to continue asking, but Uncle Zheng waved his hand directly.
"Okay, this is not a place for small talk. Please move to the meeting hall and have a chat. How about that?"
The old man was so hospitable and seemed to want to tell us some details. Lonnie and I looked at each other and agreed to the old man's request.
"Thank you very much, Uncle Zheng."
Immediately, Zheng Dongguo turned around and led us through the main road of the town to an empty square.
Around the square, there is a wall built with rocks, which is four to five meters high.
Outside the main entrance, there is a stone statue seven or eight meters high.
The stone statue was dressed in a robe, with its hands behind its back, looking into the distance, giving people the impression of an immortal. Judging from the attire, it seemed to be a practitioner from China.
Inside the wall, several wooden buildings rise from the ground and are connected together, covering an area of at least thousands of square meters.
Passing through the main entrance of the wall, Zheng Dongguo took us into the main hall of the wooden building in the middle.
"Everyone, please take a seat. This is the meeting hall of our Paradise Island."
Standing in the middle of the extremely empty hall, Zheng Dongguo pointed to the wooden chairs placed on both sides and said with a smile.
"Uncle Zheng, is that Dongfang really sent by your Paradise Island?"
After sitting down, I went straight to the topic without too much politeness and asked the question I was most concerned about.
"How can a mere mortal like me control an abandoned ship?"
Zheng Dongguo said with a smile: "This is controlled by divine will."
"Okay, I know what I said may be a little confusing for you, so let me start from the beginning."
Seeing the doubts on our faces, Zheng Dongguo smiled faintly and began to tell his story.
"More than fifty years ago, a ferry departed from Shanghai for an inspection visit to America, and I was the first mate of the Orient at that time."
I was stunned. I didn’t expect that Zheng Dongguo was the first mate of the missing ferry. He spanned fifty years and became the person in charge of Paradise Island.
Thinking about it, after so many years, he must have known many secrets that others did not know, and maybe he could find out the secrets about overseas fairy islands from his mouth.
Thinking of this, I suppressed my curiosity and listened patiently to what he continued.
"At that time, there were nearly a thousand people on the entire ferry. Many of them were going to sea for the first time. They were very excited and it was very lively every day."
"However, the good times did not last long. When sailing to the middle of the Pacific, a huge storm swept through, shrouding the Vostok in a violent storm."
"In order to avoid being swallowed up by the storm, we tried our best to sail away from the storm range, but as a result, we also deviated from the route and lost contact with the outside world."
"While everyone was still in shock, a terrifying sea monster suddenly appeared, putting the Oriental into complete disaster!"
"The sea monster is as big as a mountain, with a pair of giant eyes like laser lights, and its body is covered with tentacles. Many people were swept into the sea by the sea monster before they had time to escape..."
Listening to Zheng Dongguo's story, I couldn't help but narrow my eyes.
Judging from his description of the sea monster's appearance, the sea monster that caused the sinking of the Orient seemed to be the same one we encountered!
If these two are really the same one, then I really have to refresh my understanding of this sea monster.
More than fifty years ago, it had grown to the size of a mountain and was making waves in the ocean. Its age should be far beyond our understanding.
Such a sea monster might be an ancient creature, perhaps from the same era as the immortals.
"After devouring hundreds of people, the sea monster entangled the Orient again, intending to pull the entire ship into the seabed..."
While I was immersed in my thoughts, Zheng Dongguo continued his story.
"In order to escape for their lives, many people jumped into the sea without hesitation and were quickly swallowed by the waves. But because of fear, I just held on to the guardrail tightly and did not dare to let go for a moment, quietly waiting for the moment of death."
"It seemed that the Oriental was about to sink completely, but at this moment, where the sea and the sky met in the distance, a golden light suddenly flashed and shot towards where we were."
"The strong light was piercing my ears and eyes. I could only lower my head and couldn't look at him. After a while, when I opened my eyes again, I saw an immortal standing above me!"
My pupils shrank: "Immortal? Are you sure?"
"That's right, it's an immortal!"
Zheng Dongguo said firmly: "At that time, the immortal was wearing a white robe, with golden light emitting from the top of his head, and the whole person was floating quietly in the air. What is he if he is not an immortal?"
I didn't ask further, but let him continue.
"The immortal flicked his fingers and shot out a ray of golden light, which went straight into the body of the sea monster. The sea monster immediately let out a scream, let go of the tentacles wrapped around the Dongfang, and slowly sank into the deep sea."
"In this way, I and the remaining hundreds of crew members and passengers escaped death and saved a life."
