Chapter 284 Kuru Disease

The benefactor and the rescued seemed to have completely switched places here. We were the rescued, but in the end it was Qi Houzi who was happy and excited. Instead, we all looked worried.

Qi Houzi was completely unaware of this, and smiled like a salesperson who deceived consumers into buying an unfinished building. He went to help the old one-eyed man pick up things with great enthusiasm.

Maybe his enthusiasm really made Lao Bai a little nervous, so Lao Bai took advantage of the fact that no one was around and came up to talk to my master. As a result, my master just raised his hand slightly and said that he knew what was going on, and Lao Bai swallowed his words back.

Qi Houzi was very skillful, and we really didn't have much stuff, just some rations and tools left, so we quickly picked it up and were carried onto the rescue boat in no time. However, because there were so many people, they had to board the Dagu in two batches.

My master and I, together with Wushuang, Old Man Li, and Old Bai, were the first group of people to board the Dagu quickly with the rescue boat.

According to Qi Houzi, there are still 20 crew members left on the Dagu now, excluding the three of them.

Not all of these 20 people were the old people who followed Luo Songyuan back then. When they entered the whirlpool, they were attacked by mermaids and suffered heavy losses. 80% of the people died, and only a dozen people were left. Before arriving at the mysterious island, several more people died of injuries. In fact, there were less than 10 people in the original team, and the rest were all supplemented by the mysterious island.

Now, these 20 people have been waiting on the deck for a long time.

Seeing the situation of these 20 people, I sneered at Qi Houzi's statement of a paradise! !

We fought bloody battles and went through countless hardships to get here. Even my master, who always loves cleanliness, was covered in blood. Not to mention the others, they were very dirty. Lao Bai was filled with the smell of stinky feet. But compared with the crew on the deck, we can really be said to be well-dressed! !

This is a group of beggars! !

Each of them is skinny, working hard, and even leaning on crutches. They are trembling when standing there. Some people are even dull and sluggish. They really have an A4 waist, and their hips are protruding. They don't need a belt. The pants will definitely not fall off when they are hung up.

Qi Houzi and his two men stood in the crowd, which was the comparison between the honor guard and the big-headed soldiers in the mud puddle. They are pompous themselves. When they go out to pick people up, they must be pompous, but it is also destined that they are only a minority, and these crew members represent the majority!

Isn't it said that people in the paradise should be young and old, contented and happy? Why is it like this?

Being stared at by these crew members with dull eyes, I couldn't help but feel scared. I felt like I was with a group of zombies. If it weren't for the fact that these people's eyes would turn from time to time, proving that they were alive, and there was indeed some breath of life on their bodies, I would have rushed up with a knife and killed them!

"There is no sunlight here, and life on the sea is very stressful!"

Qi Houzi sighed, but in fact he explained all this calmly: "The crew don't like it here, but due to the rules, there is no way. We have been out for a long time this time. Look at what they have tortured us crew members into..."

I glanced at him, thinking, I don't believe you, if my master hadn't said nothing, I would have punched him in the face.

Qi Houzi didn't care whether we believed it or not, he believed it anyway, wiped his eyes, left one person to settle us, and took another person to pick up Zhang Xinya and the others.

Seeing this, the other person hurriedly guided us to the crew cabin. My master asked him his name, and he said that there was no name on the Fairy Island, and they were all followers of the gods. Just call him Fifteen, and the one who followed Qi Houzi to pick up Zhang Xinya was called Chuyi.

From beginning to end, except for food, we didn't say a word to the other crew members on the deck. These people stood there like sculptures, motionless, which was very strange.

However, leaving aside these strange things, the conditions of this ship are indeed much better than our broken fishing boat. The crew cabin is very large, and a corridor is divided into several small cabins on both sides. There are even some armors standing on both sides of the corridor as decorations. These armors look very much like tin cans in the Middle Ages in the West, and it is completely unclear what is inside.

Old Bai was like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world. He touched and knocked on the armor with his hands, and then said excitedly that these were all real stuff, but he couldn't tell which country they were from, and it was hard to determine the age. His eyes were shining, and the symbol of money was almost flashing.

Fifteen led us into one of the many cabins. It was cleaned very clean, almost spotless. The layout was a bit like a student dormitory, all with bunk beds, a total of five beds, more than enough for our group.

Then, Fifteen brought a thermos of water and put it on the table, and then left, just telling us to rest. Today was their last day at sea. They had indeed been out for a long time, and their supplies were about to run out. It was estimated that they would return soon.

After that, he left.

Not long after, Zhang Xinya and her group rushed in, carrying large and small bags, like a group of refugees fleeing famine.

The old one-eyed man may have been busy for too long. Just when he was thirsty, he saw the thermos on the table and immediately smiled. He even said that Qi Monkey was very considerate and knew that his old brother needed this. He took the lid of the kettle as a cup and drank the water. As a result, his face changed drastically as soon as the water entered his mouth. He opened his mouth and spurted it out. He slammed the cup on the table and said angrily: "Damn, this water is smelly, just like the water from the heating pipe!"

The water has been in front of us for a while. The first few people who came in have been observing the situation in the cabin and really didn't move. The old one-eyed man was the first to eat crabs. Seeing him furious, I went forward to pick up the lid of the kettle and observe it.

The water was hot, already boiled, steaming, and at first glance there was nothing unusual, so I tasted a little bit, and in an instant a strong iron smell filled my mouth, and the water was not clear and refreshing, but a bit sticky and slippery, no longer like water, but like big snot, and there was a very strange smell, like the smell of stinky water that had been silted up on the ground for a long time in the dog days of summer and had green algae growing on it.

To be fair, although we had drunk a lot of water containing evil spirits before and barely recovered some physical strength, the lack of water for several days could not be replenished all at once. Now everyone still had some symptoms of dehydration. At this time, we were really not so picky about water, but this water was really too hard to drink, more painful than drinking poison with eyes closed, I immediately spit out the water in my mouth.

"It doesn't look like there's anything wrong."

My master picked up the thermos and frowned to observe for a moment, then said, "There's no drug in it, and there's nothing special about it. This water should be drinkable."

"Maybe this is the antique water that has been sealed and preserved for ten years?"

Brother Yaozi grinned at the old one-eyed man: "Didn't you say that this ship had just been resupplied before the accident ten years ago, and there are at least three hundred tons of fresh water reserves. It may not taste good, but at least it won't kill people!"

The old one-eyed man's face changed drastically, and he subconsciously said, "It's unlikely. Didn't Qi Houzi say that there was a village built by outsiders on the island? They have survived for so many years, which means there should be drinkable fresh water on the island. How could the water on the ship not be replaced?"

"Do you really believe in the so-called paradise?!"

Brother Yaozi sneered and winked at Wushuang, who immediately closed the door. Brother Yaozi then said, "There may be survivors from outside, but there is no paradise. If you ask me, it's a place where people eat each other!!"

I also don't believe in paradise, but this is just intuition and instinct. But looking at Brother Yaozi's expression, he obviously discovered something. I immediately asked him if he saw anything. How did he know that it was a place where people eat each other?

Brother Yaozi changed the subject and suddenly asked, "Don't you see that everyone on this ship is sick?"

I shook my head. Many crew members on the ship did look skinny and dull, but I just thought that maybe they didn't get any nutritional supplements and were tortured by the harsh environment.

Brother Yaozi shook his head: "The eyes of that monkey Qi are a little red, and so are the two people following him. The hands and feet of other crew members are trembling, and some look like idiots. I have seen such a situation. It is a terrible disease called kuru."

"Prion infection?"

Zhang Xinya's face changed drastically. After thinking carefully, she shuddered: "It would be better if you didn't say it. It seems to be true..."

Lao Bai said dissatisfiedly: "What are you talking about? What prion, what kuru, I have never heard of it."

"The old people said that in the old society, there were natural disasters, and food was cut off. Cannibalism often occurred. Those who ate people would have slightly red eyes."

Brother Yaozi sighed and said: "I don't know much about the prion that Eryatou said. I only know that if cows eat feed mixed with cow bone meal or other similar bone meal, they are very likely to get mad cow disease. It's similar for humans. Eating their own kind will be punished by heaven and get strange diseases.

I once knew someone who was trapped in a tomb. He was so hungry that he killed his companions and ate them. After he came out, he got this strange disease. His eyes were slightly red, and then his hands and feet began to tremble. Later... he became demented. He went to see a doctor, and they said it was kuru disease. "

Zhang Xinya added that strictly speaking, this prion cannot be called a virus. It is just a simple RNA or DNA. When it encounters the same type of genetic material, it will replicate itself. So, cannibalism will cause this situation.

Of course, there seem to be other ways to be infected with prions.

However, looking at it now, there seems to be only one explanation-these people on the ship have eaten people! !

"This thing has a long incubation period..."

Zhang Xinya said: "Qi Houzi, as well as Chuyi and Shiwu, obviously developed the disease later, while other crew members developed the disease relatively early, and some people had obviously shown symptoms for many years, which led to dementia!"

"But this doesn't make sense!!"

The old one-eyed man felt goosebumps all over his body and couldn't help saying: "How can there be so many outsiders here? If there is nothing edible on that island, and they can only survive by cannibalism, ten years have passed, and people should have died out a long time ago, right? Moreover, even if they eat each other, they still have to drink water, they can't not drink water, right?"

"I don't know about that."

Brother Yaozi shook his head: "I think something must have happened to them. I'm afraid they have ulterior motives for pulling us on board!"

This is indeed unreasonable. How can people not drink water? We tried it for a few days and knew what it felt like. But according to Brother Yaozi, Qi Houzi and his men should not have had water for ten years. Otherwise, the 300 tons of water reserves on the ship would have been used up ten years ago. How could we have a chance?

"Old One-Eye, you and Da Nier go do something."

My master suddenly said, "Go find Qi Houzi and tell him that we are hungry. We only brought hard dry food, which is tasteless. Ask him if there is anything warm on the ship to give us something to eat!"

Old One-Eye's eyes lit up and he ran out happily. Not long after, he ran back in a hurry. He no longer had the close relationship with Qi Houzi. When he came in, he said that maybe Brother Yaozi was right. These grandsons were really wrong. He went to ask for food, but the other party actually said that they had been at sea for too long and the food reserves on the ship had been used up. They asked us to wait and we would arrive in half a day at most. We would be well fed by then.

"Isn't this bullshit?"

The old one-eyed man said in a low voice: "Who wouldn't leave some reserves when they are drifting on the sea? It's impossible for them to return only when they have run out of food and drink. He is fooling fools. His lies are too low-level!"

At this point, he seemed to have thought of something, his face changed, and he turned around and ran out.

Brother Yaozi grabbed him and said with a smile: "Only when you can't make up a lie and are fearless will you use low-level lies to fool fools, because he is no longer afraid of tearing his face. There is no need to go out. The hatch must have been sealed. We have been imprisoned. In other words, from the moment we boarded the ship, Qi Houzi no longer has to pretend to be nice to us."

The old one-eyed man sighed dejectedly and slapped his thigh: "Damn it, he was so happy to see an acquaintance that he neglected it and fell down."

Wushuang is a straightforward child. He didn't believe it when he heard it. He really ran out to see it. Then I heard the sound of banging on the door. After a while, he came back dejectedly and said helplessly: "The hatch has been modified. The steel plate is several tens of centimeters thick and can't be opened!"

This is interesting.

Is Qi Houzi going to lock us up in a small dark room and take us all the way to the mysterious island? What is waiting for us there?

Also, what are he and these crew members now?

No need to drink water, no need to eat food, only eat people?

No matter how you look at it, it looks like some unclean things, but we have had close contact with these people, and except for Kuru disease, we have not found any trace of evil things! !

"Mr. Zhang, please say something!"

The old one-eyed man muttered: "You are all masters. Since you have seen that there is a trick here, why don't you just do it? It would be better not to get on the boat and directly press the monkey to death?"

Old Bai teased him, saying that it involves his own life and property, so why don't you mention the friendship of childhood friends?

Da Nian'er said on the side: "What is a childhood friend? Aren't childhood friends meant to be stabbed?"

My master smiled and glanced at the old one-eyed man, and suddenly asked: "Can you find the fairy island? Your crew members are all dead. Can you, Da Nian'er, and Shunzi drive the Dagu?"

The old one-eyed man was startled, then shook his head silently, saying that he was just an ordinary gangster at the bottom, making a living on a fishing boat all his life, how could he drive a huge ship?

"In that case, if we kill them, who will take us to our destination?"

My master closed his eyes and continued to meditate as usual, without any intention or surprise, and just said lightly: "Wait, since they have evil intentions, there will always be a time when the plan is revealed. When the time comes, just kill them with a sword."