Chapter 4 Uninvited Guests

The man hesitated for a moment, with a strange expression and said softly: "We are wrong with this matter. I can't tell you that your third uncle got a Vietnamese salvage permit when he went to sea this time, but the salvage location was a bit different from what he estimated. In the waters of China, you should know what I was talking about."

I slapped the table, almost jumped up, and cursed: "What! You guys actually did it-"

Halfway through my words, I saw that everyone around me looked at me, and several security guards turned their heads and had to swallow the second half of the sentence, shook their heads and cursed that his third uncle was confused. His behavior was already involved in cross-border smuggling of cultural relics. He was caught and he might be shot.

The woman smiled charmingly and asked me, "How is it, Mr. Wu, we have already told us about it, what are you planning?"

I decided to bite the bullet and nodded, saying: What choice can I have? Let's set off right away.

The plane passed through the Qiongzhou Strait, and the silence was silent in the aircraft warehouse, and all the passengers were already asleep.

A few hours ago, I entrusted Pan Zi to the hospital and took a red-eye flight to Sanya with the two people who claimed to be international marine development companies.

I haven't exercised for a long time, and after some running around, I was very tired and fell asleep as soon as I got on the plane. As a result, I couldn't sleep after night.

On the way to the airport, we introduced each other. The man was named Zhang Hao (I had a very poor Chinese language and I couldn't read that word, so I had to call him Lao Zhang and secretly called him Zhang Tuzi). The woman was named Aning, and both of them were professional adventure leaders.

After getting along, Zhang Tuzi seemed to be a good person. He probably also belonged to the old cow type in the company. He spoke more plainly, and the woman was a bit cunning and didn't talk much. From the time I got on the bus to now, I have said no more than ten words to her.

The plane landed for half an hour. I looked out the window and was in a daze. The lights in the city in the distance were dotted and the colors were blurred.

Aning, who was sitting next to me, saw that I was awake, handed me a copy of information and said, "We are about to arrive. After getting off the plane, there is a car to take us to the dock directly. The staff on that side are ready. This is our schedule this time. Do you want to take a look and know the itinerary for this time?"

I came to my senses, took the document, flipped through it slightly, and couldn't understand a word, so I shook my head and returned it to her.

Aning continued to hand me the documents: "There is also a equipment table we have prepared here. Please check it out. If there are any gaps, I can get the logistics to make up for it immediately."

I took a look again. The equipment was very complete, all of which were standard equipment for sea inspections, all in English. Most of them were still not able to understand, so I had to return it to her with a wry smile.

She looked at me and smiled bitterly, thinking there was something wrong, and asked me, "How about it, what else should I prepare?"

I thought about it and asked her casually, "Can you help me get a few black donkey hooves?"

When Aning heard this, he was stunned. After a long time, he asked back: "Black donkey's hoof?"

I was confused just now and thought I was going to fight back, but I realized that I saw her expression. They were doing regular inspections, and of course I had never heard of this thing.

The situation was awkward, and I didn't know what to say, so I waved my hand and said to her, "I'm sorry, I thought I hadn't said it."

Actually, I have a little doubt. Although each black donkey hoof will bring one, no one knows whether it is useful or not. The reason is a bit unreasonable. Why do you have to have a black donkey hoof? Except for the different colors of the white donkey hoof, the other ingredients are the same.

Aning looked at me suspiciously and stopped saying anything. Then he handed over a lot of documents for me to read. I still scanned it, looked at what I could understand, and returned it to her if I couldn't understand. After the program was finished, I lay down and rested.

In a daze, I saw Aning looking at me with a very strange look. I wondered, why did this woman fall in love with me? Or, did she know what the black donkey hoof is?

The three of us got off the plane and were sent directly to the port by their company's special car.

The 7-ton fishing boat I rented was in a treacherous and had six sailors. The boss was a local named Cai Wenji, and his name was so daiya. When we arrived, the people from their company were still negotiating with him. Because of a tropical storm, the boss insisted not to go out to sea and said to us in stiff Mandarin: "Now, go out and seek death. The wind is too strong and the waves are too big. Our boat is small and it may be overturned."

After Zhang Tuzi learned about the situation, he doubled the price of the charter, and promised that once a strong wind was encountered, the boss of the ship could decide where the ship would go.

The price of twice is generally enough for a fisherman to spend a year. The boss of the boat was a little hesitant, but the sailors below him couldn't help it and advised him one after another.

Zhang Tuzi saw that the boss of the boat was a little relieved, and immediately called 50% of the price to go up, saying that he would go if he wanted to go, and there would be ships waiting if he didn't go.

When the matter was about this, the boss of the ship couldn't refuse any more, so he had to agree.

The sailors brought supplies on board the boat. The boss set up an altar at the bow of the boat alone to sacrifice to Ma Jian, praying for some success this time. I also gave each sailor a cigarette according to the customs of my hometown, which was considered as giving their lives to them.

In addition to me, Zhang Tuzi and Aning, there were four people directly involved in the inspection on the ship. The person in charge of cultural relics identification was an old professor named Gu, Mu Ziqi, technician in charge of instruments, and Wu Yong, a young engineer in charge of computers. There was also a big nose foreigner, who was a medical officer on the ship.

In addition, we had to go to Yongxing Island halfway, where we met with their other Frogman team, and then turned to Huaguang Reef.

In the afternoon of that day, we set off from Qinglan Port. The first flight was very compact. If the weather was normal, it was expected to be completed in twelve hours. This was the ultimate speed this ship could reach. I was very excited when I first went out of the sea. Looking out at the bow of the boat, the mainland gradually moved away. In front of me was the most mysterious ocean in the South China Sea. Since ancient times, there have been countless secrets buried under this vast blue. This time, we have been traveling hastily. I wonder if I can explore this confusing situation.

The fishing boats were walking with the wind, and the weather seemed to be good. I don’t know how long it could last. The boatmen came into contact with the inspection team for the first time and were very curious about us mysterious strangers. They whispered there from time to time, guessing the purpose of our trip to sea.

The monotonous scenery in the sea, what impressed me was the gem-like blue, the vast and boundless dark blue connected with the distant sky, like a slowly rising blue continent, shining with the light of glass like ancient times.

In the first few nautical areas, we passed by many very small islands, most of which were bare, with a few short shrubs on them, which seemed to be showing off the arrogance of life. Aning told me that the islands that can be seen on the water surface are only a small part of the island chain here. The large coral reefs were originally underwater. After thousands of years of accumulation of coral polyps to create reefs, they gradually exposed to the water surface. However, the reef-making process continues, so there are still many reef beaches, with dark sand underwater or hidden in the water.

After leaving the port area, we couldn't see anything related to land for a long time, and even the seabirds disappeared. Occasionally, several fishing boats similar to us appeared on the sea level, telling us that we were still driving within the range of human activities. However, this slight excitement would soon disappear at the end of the vast world.

Only then did I understand why the mysterious tomb owner chose to place his tomb in the sea, with almost infinitely vast sea surface and no identifiable characteristics. In the absence of any satellite positioning and navigation records back then, tomb robbers had to find traces hidden under the sea level with their eyes, which was almost a night pool in the sky.

However, although we have accurate route records and advanced equipment this time, I am not sure if we have to look at the clear sea water more than 30 meters deep through here in just four or five hours to find the ancient tomb hidden in the sandy layer of the seabed in just four or five hours.

A young fisherman at the bow of the boat suddenly sang the famous Hainan fishing song. The song full of rural atmosphere echoed on the empty sea. I don’t know whether it was the song that reflected the tranquility and vastness of the scenery in front of me, or the scenery here made the song more ethereal and distant, and my irritability gradually calmed down.

The sea breeze began to make a big fuss four hours after driving the boat. The boat swayed even more violently, and the deck friction made a rhythmic "squeak". I had been exhausted for more than ten hours of hard work and seasickness. With this wave, my tiredness came and I gradually fell asleep.

I don’t know how long I slept in this sleep. When I woke up, I was confused and felt the light was a little obscure. I thought I had been sleeping until the evening, but when I turned around, I found that the weather had changed.

It happened that the boss of the boat hurriedly passed by me, looking a little uneasy, I called him and asked, "Master, look at the sky, is it going to be a strong wind?"

The boss of the ship sighed, pointed to the distance, and said to me in very stiff Mandarin: "Yes, there is a storm, the earth is coming."

I looked along his fingers and saw a strange black line on the sea level in the distance, dividing the originally connected world into two halves.

I asked him, "What should I do? Are we still rushing?"

He shook his head and said, "It's not enough to go on the road. It's strong wind, so you need to find a reef to shelter."

I saw that he had a serious expression and knew that this was not an exaggeration, so I felt anxious.

I walked into the boat warehouse to discuss with Zhang Tuzi. He also learned the news and said to me with a sad face: "According to the boss of the boat, there is now an air pressure mass in front of me. You must immediately change the direction and take shelter from the nearest reef. Otherwise, our small fishing boat with only two engines will definitely be swept into the inside of the storm circle, and the consequences will be unimaginable. But in this way, the time we arrive at Huaguang Reef must be delayed for several hours."
Chapter completed!