C65 (1/2)

We walked up to the Boeing 777, a huge creature with a wingspan of more than sixty meters and a fuselage of more than seventy meters that stretched out in front of us like a specimen of a giant beast. Five of the hangars, including the cockpit, were connected to the boarding ladder, and the hatch was wide open.

The Taoist held his knees in front of the plane and gasped for breath. Then he straightened up and tried to push his eyes up the flight ladder again. This time, I reacted quickly and grabbed the straps of my backpack.

”Do you want to die?” I was so shocked by my own voice that I cringed and looked around. I lowered my voice and continued, ”There must be something strange about this plane, or why would it stop here for no reason and not announce it to the outside world? It's fine, but what if there's a malignant infectious disease virus inside? ” I remembered the classic opening episode of The Edge of the Crisis.

Stunned, the Taoist stepped back to block my hand, and fumbled for a flashlight that he pulled from the side of the backpack. He pressed the switch, and the light shot out a beam of intense milky white light.

”What are you doing!” I put my palms in front of my eyes in dissatisfaction.

”I never thought that the usually smart Chen Yuan would have a time when he acted like a fool.” The Taoist sneered and said, ”How long has this plane been missing? It had been almost half a year! ”Even if there's something strange inside, it's been long since …” The Taoist pointed to the surroundings. ”Did the weird scientist get taken away?”

I think so. Look at the layout of this place, it's like the American District 52 in the movies. Even if this plane had any viruses or anything like that, it must have been cleared countless times over. Just then, the Taoist had already climbed the flight of stairs, San Mao patted my shoulder, and followed along. Even Mao Tou walked up the flight of stairs on his short legs, as he turned his head and smiled at me, as though he was mocking me for being cowardly.

I looked around. There was no one in this empty building. It was quiet without any signs of life. The strange atmosphere made one's hair stand on end. I shook my head, trying to get those horrible associations out of my head, and took out my flashlight to climb the stairs.

The interior of the cabin was not completely dark. The portholes were all placed below, and the light from the outside shone through the four windows, painting the cabin into a ballroom of alternating light and darkness. The interior was very clean, the lid of the luggage had been opened, and there was nothing inside. The small table had been put away, and the back of the chair was covered with a bag of debris. It was clear that the magazines and the vomiting bag had all been taken away.

”What is this?” The Taoist muttered softly.

I went over to the sound and saw the Taoist leaning over a first-class seat to examine something closely. I looked closer and saw a faint stain, like the stain after a drunk vomit has dried up. The stain had obviously been washed repeatedly, leaving only a very faint mark, only faintly discernible against the white leather of the seat.

I scanned the other seats with my flashlight and saw that almost every seat in the first-class cabin had this mark on it.

Maybe it was during the plane meal that a strong current came up and knocked the food over.” I guessed.

The Taoist shrugged, indicating that he had no idea what was going on, and turned toward the cockpit. I thought about it and decided that there was no way in, so I headed the other way, in the direction of economy class.

The economy class was as clean and tidy as the others. Those ugly things sat next to each other, and their knees were touching the blue fabric of the seats in the front row. There weren't any stains on the first class cabin, but it was unknown if it was originally empty or if it was cleaned later on. I walked along the left aisle of the plane, scanning the area with my flashlight. There was nothing here that attracted attention, not even anything that was not connected to the plane.