The sun was scorching, but the wind on the sea was just right for sailing. The pearl-diving boat, carrying about a dozen people, approached the location of the giant clam discovered yesterday at the Hidden Dragon Shoal and lowered its sail, swaying with the waves.
The dozen or so men on the boat silently watched as Wen Lan, standing at the bow of the boat, raised her arms above her head to stretch, still with an unbelieving expression on their faces.
Li Haiqiu also found it incredible.
Since last night, he had been tormented by a lingering pain in his chest and had not slept all night. Even now, the dull, throbbing pain in his heart and lungs from the depth he had dived to yesterday had not subsided. As an experienced diver, he knew very well that once his lungs reached such a depth, they had been subjected to deadly pressure and damage. Diving again today was nothing but a gamble. He was betting that the remaining pearl in the twin clam was there, and he was betting that he could hold on and resurface—there was no other way. As the leader of the village, and not wanting to see the villagers continue to die senselessly, he could only risk his own life, especially in a place where he was the only one capable of diving. Then, this morning, when he and his companions were preparing to board the ship, the young woman who had come to his house yesterday unexpectedly came and told him that he didn't have to go down, she could go in his place.
When he heard this, his first thought was that the lady of the Xie family was finding life boring and had come here for some amusement. Naturally, he declined. However, she had a serious expression, showing no signs of joking, and boarded the ship.
After confirming that she wasn't joking, Li Haiqiu still couldn't believe it. The underwater conditions at the deep Hidden Dragon Shoal were unpredictable, and even when he was young and physically strong, he couldn't guarantee smooth movement up and down there—what more this seemingly delicate young girl in front of him? He didn't dare forcefully stop her from boarding, but he thought that Xie Yuan must be unaware of her intentions and hastily sent someone to inform him.
Glancing back at the sea where he came from, Li Haiqiu finally couldn't contain himself and spoke again, "Third Madam, the water is much deeper down there than you can imagine. I am not kidding. If something were to happen to you, how can I explain it to Lord Xie?"
Wen Lan stopped and turned to look at him, saying, "Uncle Li, I'll ask you one question. Do you think with your current physical condition today, you can guarantee coming back up after diving to such a depth?"
The sea breeze blew across Li Haiqiu's face like fish scales, causing a slight expression of pain to flash across his face, but he endured it and laughed heartily, saying, "Third Lady, what you're saying, the humble servants naturally..." Before he could finish his sentence, an intense desire to cough from deep inside his throat could no longer be suppressed. He bent over, accompanied by a violent coughing fit, and fresh blood continued to gush from his mouth and nose, dripping onto the deck.
"Haiqiu uncle!"
Dongbao shouted, rushing to rub his chest with force. The remaining pearl divers also surrounded him, looking anxious and uneasy.
After the fit of coughing subsided, Li Haiqiu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and forced a smile, saying, "It's okay, I'm fine. Just need to rest for a while..."
Wenlan frowned and said, "Uncle Li, given your current condition, how can you possibly dive to such depths in the sea? At such depths, your lungs will shrink. I don't mean to curse you, but do you think your body can withstand this kind of pressure again? Even if you don't care for yourself, think about Chunfang. Yesterday, after you drove her away to accompany me, she didn't say a word on the way. When she got up this morning, her eyes were swollen like peaches. Forgive my harsh words, but how will she cope if you're gone? Diving into the sea to collect clams with bare hands is not a game. To be honest, if it weren't for Chunfang's sake, I wouldn't be here today."
Li Haiqiu looked at the woman at the bow of the boat, and saw that she had changed from her gentle appearance when they first met yesterday. With a resolute and unquestionable tone, he found himself unable to argue with her again. After a daze, he mumbled and said softly, "I understand, but I have no choice. The situation underwater is unpredictable. I am not afraid to die, but I dare not let Third Lady take such a risk..."
Wenlan's expression softened slightly, and she said, "Even ants cherish their lives, not to mention humans? I am leading a good life. If I didn't have this ability, I wouldn't have forced my way to risk my life. It's decided. Let Dongbao lead the way, and I'll go down for you." After speaking, without looking at him again, she just beckoned to Dongbao.
Dongbao, as if waking from a dream, hurried over and looked at her respectfully.
Wenlan tied the bamboo basket prepared by Li Haiqiu around her waist. After signaling with Dongbao using underwater hand signals, and seeing Li Haiqiu still hesitating, she nodded at him and said, "Don't worry. I'll be back when I come up."
Li Haiqiu knew that this woman seemed gentle, but in fact, her will was strong. He knew he could no longer stop her. Gratitude, regret, and worry churned in his heart. He tried to speak, but couldn't find the words.
"Look, there's a boat coming from behind!"
Just then, someone on the pearl ship suddenly exclaimed. Everyone turned to look, and sure enough, a fishing boat with full sails was approaching quickly. As it came closer, Dongbao shouted, "It's Sir Xie, and that official surnamed Wei!"
Li Haiqiu breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said to Wenlan, "Wait, Third Lady!"
Wenlan had already seen the people on the boat. She was surprised. Not because of Sir Xie's appearance. She knew that Li Haiqiu had already sent someone to inform him, so it wasn't a big surprise to see him coming. What surprised her was the person on the same boat as Sir Xie.
She had heard from Chunfang that besides the eunuch Lü Zhong, who came to urge the pearl collection, there was also an official from the Provincial Seven Political Court. She hadn't expected it to be the same person she had encountered halfway before, surnamed Wei. This person knew her and her surname was Wen. Now, encountering him in this way, with her identity already transformed into a Li from the Xie family. If he wanted to expose her true identity, she would be immediately revealed... Would he do that? And why was he appearing here after she arrived? Was it purely a coincidence, or did he have some other purpose?
In just a short moment, countless thoughts flashed through Wenlan's mind.
The boat gradually approached, and the two vessels were only tens of meters apart. Upon seeing Wenlan standing at the bow of the pearl collection boat, looking as if she was about to dive into the sea, Sir Xie couldn't contain his anxiety and shouted loudly, "Don't act recklessly, stop!"
Wenlan squinted her eyes against the strong sunlight, and looked towards the figure of Wei Zixing standing beside Sir Xie. He was dressed in a dazzling golden official robe, shining in the sunlight. His expression, however, was completely different from Sir Xie's, maintaining his usual composure but with a touch of indescribable excitement. As the two ships drew closer, Wenlan could see more clearly—alongside his excitement, there seemed to be a hint of anticipation in his expression.
It seemed that he wasn't about to expose her true identity.
That's good. Although she didn't know what he truly intended, at the moment, it seemed that this person didn't have any hostile intentions towards her.
Wenlan breathed a sigh of relief. After making a calming gesture at Sir Xie from a distance, she put on the diving goggles she had brought, signalled to Dongbao to be ready to breathe, and then, after picking up a stone prepared in advance, jumped into the water, immediately disappearing from view. Seeing her dive in, Dongbao, ignoring Sir Xie, also immediately followed suit, jumping into the water with a stone in hand.
Sir Xie watched in disbelief as she disappeared from his sight, the fury and shock at this moment were indescribable. As the two ships drew close, before they were even moored, he jumped onto the pearl collection boat and angrily asked, "Why didn't you stop her? This water area is as deep as a dozen fathoms, with unpredictable undercurrents. She didn't know, but didn't you know?"
Li Haiqiu had known him for many years, but it was the first time he had shown such anger in front of him. He trembled as he said, "Sir Xie, it's all my fault for not stopping Third Lady..."
A nearby pearl diver, seeing Sir Xie's anger, hurriedly said, "Sir Xie, you can't blame Uncle Haiqiu. He has been trying to stop her all along, but Third Lady said he had injured his lungs and couldn't go down again. She also said she could go to such depths in the sea..."
Sir Xie looked at the bloodstains on the deck and the few drops on Li Haiqiu's chest. He knew it was due to his coughing up blood, and understood that since the incident had already happened, further questioning would be of little use. He strongly suppressed his anger and looked out at the rippling sea, remaining silent.
"Lord Xie, you can rest assured. Your cousin, besides her prowess underwater, has many other things that you may not be aware of. She is not an ignorant child. If she wasn't fairly confident, how could she joke with her own life? You should wait with me for her to come up."
Suddenly, someone behind him said in a calm and steady manner. The one who spoke was Wei Zixing, who had followed onto the pearl boat.
Xie Yuan did not respond, just continued to gaze at the sea.
He was currently in a tumultuous state of mind, with no time to consider the implications of Wei Zixing's words. He naturally understood the reasoning behind what he said. But at a moment like this, all reasoning seemed so feeble and lacked any convincing power in the face of the deep, all-consuming sea.
He waited for a while longer, pacing nervously back and forth next to the pearl boat. Unable to tolerate it any longer, he was about to dive into the water to see what was happening, when he suddenly saw a head emerge not far ahead on the sea surface, gasping for air with big breaths. It was none other than Dongbao, who had followed Wenlan into the water.
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Wenlan, clutching the sinking stone, quickly descended. Sensing the water pressure when she was about twenty meters below, she let go of the sinking stone, adjusted her diving mask, allowing only about a third of it to be filled with water.
The diving mask was useful. Underwater, relying solely on the naked eye would result in distorted vision, but with the mask, not only could she see clearly underwater, it also protected her eyes. The reason for filling it with water was to prevent fogging underwater, and when reaching the seabed, the water inside would help balance the pressure. Once you got used to it, a little water didn't make the eyes uncomfortable.
She tilted her head slightly, waiting for Dongbao to approach her position, then, according to the prearranged sign language, gestured for him to lead the way.
Because the seawater was clear, the light at this depth was still good. But perhaps due to her highly concentrated state of mind, Dongbao did not pay much attention to her diving mask, and continued to descend.
As the depth gradually approached thirty meters, the light started to dim. At this depth, besides discomfort in the ears, as the body's oxygen was consumed, nitrogen intoxication often began to appear. The remaining air in Wenlan's lungs was enough to support her continued descent. After balancing the pressure in her ears, she glanced at Dongbao, seeing him pinching his nose constantly. She knew that he was also trying to balance the pressure but his expression showed some pain. Submerging a few more meters, a dark current suddenly surged, propelling both of them out, like kites with their strings cut.
Wenlan steadied herself and reached Dongbao, seeing his expression even more pained. Knowing he had reached his limit of breath-holding, she immediately decided to let him surface.
She treaded water to reach Dongbao, and signaled to him with a clenched fist and thumb pointing upwards - this was the sign language they agreed upon initially, to tell him to surface.
Dongbao tried to descend again, but felt the burning pain in his lungs, and could only nod to her, pointing downwards to the left, showing his inability to continue, and then quickly surfaced.
Wenlan, focusing on the direction he indicated, saw about ten meters below the surface, a sea-bottom mountain peak. The giant clam must be there. Without hesitation, she began to dive closer.
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