Book 1: Chapter 55: Take a Vote

Book 1: Chapter 55: Take a Vote

"Lets take a vote," I whispered. "Theres skin up here. Do you want me to take it down so you can have a look?"

"Is there a note on it that says: dont take it off?" Fatty asked me.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

When I said of course not, Fatty asked, "Are there any kinds of precious stones, gold, or silver jewelry on that skin?" When I said no, Fatty said, "Then it depends. If you like it, you can even use it as an apron."

"But this skin looks like it doesnt want me to take it." It was covered in a layer of fine, moldy hair and looked very delicate to the touch. There were a lot of holes in it and I couldnt figure out where the face was. It was almost like the whole thing was covered in faces, and the expressions were very creepy. I didnt know if it was from the pain of death or from being skinned.

I reached out for my Kukri, wanting Fatty to pass it to me so that I could poke the skin a few times. Fatty gave me a high five instead and I realized that my favorite knife had been sacrificed earlier. I poked the skin with my cell phone and found that it was as dry as dried tofu. Fatty lifted up the equipment belt at this time, so I threw it up, hooked a protrusion on the piece of skin, and pulled it out of the boat bit by bit.

After moving the skin, I saw that there were a lot of ceramic little people under it, which must have been used as decorations for the boat.

Human skin couldnt be preserved as well as stone, so there were many moth-eaten holes and traces of artificial damage to it. Despite all this, I could see that this human skin boat was very exquisite and must have been a relatively large boat at the time. Many places on it were decorated with shells, and there were clusters of gold thread, light pearls, corals, cinnabar sandstone, and fragments of blue ocean rocks. There were carvings on the boat's railing and scull, and the ceramic little people appeared to be sailors.

The keel of the ship under the skin was probably bronze, and there was a total of six bronze chains on both sides. At that time, this thing was definitely regarded as top-grade craftsmanship. It might have lacked precious gems such as tourmaline, ruby, and jadeite, but it was priceless among the local Xu peoples culture.

"Go fuck yourself!" I was furious when I heard him spouting such crap. The logic didnt even make any sense. This lump of skin was wearing clothes from the 1980s, so the person it belonged to was obviously the one who had died. The skin was all here, so it was impossible to mix in with the team again.

Fatty let out an exclamation as if he had also discovered this.

Poker-Face said from off to the side, "This isnt human skin, its a shuikao (1). It was probably up there because the tomb was flooded before. When they came in, this human skin boat was the only thing above the water. If the water level was high that year, maybe the entire drainage system and tomb chamber were filled with water."

I thought about it and knew he was right. This was the only way they could have transported such a large stone coffin out. But that also meant they had been blasting underwater. Such remarkable workmanship really needed to be recorded.

Fatty stepped forward and took a closer look, "But theres a face on it. Are you trying to tell me shuikao also cover the face? Little Brother, youre bullying me because Im younger, right?"

"Look carefully, it's not like that," Poker-Face said. "Some of what you said just now may be correct." I looked carefully and saw that it really was a shuikao. It only looked like skin because white spots had appeared where the rubber had faded and rotted. But there really did seem to be something dead inside the shuikao.

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TN Notes:

(1) Mentioned in the Snake Ancestor extra ("Fantasy" Extra 2). Its a one-piece diving suit made by the ancients with fish skin, sea scorpion skin, or shark skin.