Chapter 950: Sunken Ship Treasures

He Lingchuan was checking the new manager's examination papers with Ding Zuodong, not even raising his head: "What good news?" He wanted to hear something good right now.

"We found many shipwreck remains."

"Oh?" He Lingchuan finally looked up and saw Min Tianxi smiling, "After the evil energy on the Fourteenth Island was dispelled, we discovered quite a few shipwrecks around the newly opened shipping lanes. There is a bay at the northeastern end of Dragon Spine Island; we named it Shipwreck Bay. It’s like a graveyard for shipwrecks, and there are even a few ships that are intact—they probably drifted in just this year."

Whether they were blown in by the wind or lost their way and wandered deep into the archipelago, the point was that these ships had entered and never come back out.

He Lingchuan became interested. He tossed the papers to Ding Zuodong to worry about, clapped his hands, and said, "Let's go, set sail and take a look."

After installing the Punishment Dragon Pillars to collect the yin evil, he hadn't had time to patrol his territory.

At this moment, he hoisted the cloud sails to cross the vast sea, sat at the bow of the ship, and watched the bright, drifting clouds float in the sunlight; the sky was wide and the earth was vast.

That trace of restlessness and those many troubles were all blown away by the wind and washed away by the waves.

The magnificence of heaven and earth only made human worries and vexations seem ridiculous.

Along the way, they passed several fishing boats, all casting nets to catch fish. These waters had rarely been visited by anyone before, so the fish were fat and foolish, unaware of the dangers of the human heart.

Just as He Lingchuan was sighing at the peaceful scene of the fishing songs, Min Tianxi had already sent people to drive the boats away—

This was Island Master He's private water, and naturally, the fish in the water were also Island Master He's; no fishing was allowed without special permission! Entering the bay at the northeast corner of Dragon Spine Island—the Shipwreck Bay named by the pirates—He Lingchuan indeed saw all kinds of remains and floating debris.

The broken ships here were unusually crowded, one pressing against another, all piled up on the shore.

In some of the broken wooden ships, mangrove trees had even grown.

The northern shipping lane of the Yangshan Archipelago was very busy, with a large number of ships traveling back and forth every year. A very small number of them would wander deep into the archipelago due to factors like getting lost, hurricanes, or shifts in the range of yin evil, and then that was the end of it.

The wrecked ships drifted with the waves; some sank to the seabed, while others were carried by ocean currents to the islands, gradually turning into wreckage under the erosion of wind and waves.

For many years, Dragon Spine Island had been a forbidden zone at the edge of the sea, and even cultivators dared not trespass. It became a graveyard for shipwrecks, and even the yin snakes were not interested in it, until He Lingchuan sucked away the evil energy at the northeast corner of Dragon Spine Island, allowing humans to set foot here.

Qiu Hu and the archipelago guard led by Min Tianxi had already begun to lead people in searching the shipwrecks.

Min Tianxi went from being full of enthusiasm at the beginning to looking sheepish later on: these piles of wreckage, like small hills, were basically just junk.

Under the long-term infiltration of yin evil and seawater, everything—human bones, silk, pearls—had been eroded away, leaving nothing behind; coins had rusted into copper green, and even gold and silver had lost their luster.

Not to mention that magic treasures had also turned into scrap metal in this environment.

Over a hundred people rolled up their sleeves and joined in, and in no time at all, treasure hunting turned into scavenging.

Min Tianxi even felt a bit regretful. He had gone to He Lingchuan to claim credit as soon as he discovered the shipwreck graveyard; if he had known it would be like this, he should have sent people to search it first.

He Lingchuan patted his shoulder: "There are no mountains of gold or silver, but the harvest is still quite good."

More and more gold, silver, gems, and jade pendants were being found from the bottoms of the ships and the mudflats of the shipwreck graveyard. Although it wasn't the overflowing bounty Min Tianxi had imagined, the quantity was steadily increasing.

In just these two hours, the wealth recovered was worth about two hundred taels. After a little polishing and processing back home, they would be the gold and silver ingots that everyone loved.

With such a large shipwreck beach, it would probably take two or three months to finish excavating.

Besides this, there were large quantities of jade seals, stamps, and personal items among the shipwrecks.

Just then, a whistle came from afar, and a pirate standing on an intact large ship waved and shouted: "There's a trick here!"

Wang Fubao asked curiously: "Wasn't that ship already searched before?"

The few intact ships were definitely the first to be searched.

Min Tianxi chuckled and said: "Ships often have secret rooms and compartments. Some are hidden quite cleverly; you have to listen carefully when tapping the ship's planks." People without experience wouldn't be able to discover them.

These Rongshan people had explosive combat power, but when it came to looting and searching ships, they were still far behind experts like them.

Everyone boarded the ship to take a look and found that this ship had a secret room next to the cargo hold, with the door opening set quite covertly.

Before the door was even opened, Min Tianxi turned his knife handle around and tapped everywhere to listen to the sound. "This secret room isn't stingy at all; I reckon it's at least five feet square."

The ship itself was large, with three levels.

Wang Fubao pointed at the lock and said: "Won't we know the size once we open it?"

"Hehe, how could it be that simple?" Min Tianxi gestured to a subordinate, "Everyone step back, don't stand opposite the keyhole. Guizai, come over and pick the lock!"

The team member called Guizai fished a small gadget out of his bosom, carefully inserted it into the keyhole, and retreated to the side.

The lock-picking tool looked like a winch, with two long metal rods. Guizai was a foot away from the door, pulling and twisting the winch to try to pick the lock.

Dozens of people were squeezed into the narrow corridor, watching him slowly operate the lock-picking tool.

Three turns left, three turns right—not right.

Do it again.

No one knew how many turns the lock-picking tool had made, but the air quickly became stuffy; besides, the smell inside the shipwreck was already bad. Wang Fubao couldn't help but say: "Hey, how much longer?"

As soon as he finished speaking, with a click, the lock opened.

Xiang Lian patted Wang Fubao's head: "Why didn't you ask sooner? The sooner you ask, the sooner it opens."

The two were joking when two small holes suddenly collapsed above the keyhole, and with two *whoosh* sounds, two steel nails shot out, embedding themselves in the wooden board opposite.

They were embedded deep into the wood, the force quite powerful.

Fortunately, no one was standing in front of the keyhole, otherwise, there would be two more holes in someone's body.

"There's a mechanism on the door. Once it's opened by force or in an abnormal way, there are hidden arrows to hurt people." Min Tianxi took a pair of short pliers to pull out the nails and looked at them for a moment, "The nail heads are even poisoned."

Magic arrays would be eroded by yin evil, but the mechanical traps remained.

No one went to open the door. Wang Fubao really wanted to ask how much they had suffered in the past to become so cautious.

After five or six breaths, a puff of green smoke sprayed out from the door opening.

Poisonous smoke, the second stage of the mechanism activated.

Everyone was standing far away, so no one was sprayed, but they still subconsciously held their breath. Xiang Lian casually pinched a Wind-Dancing Technique, letting the wind carry the poisonous smoke away in a wave.

Min Tianxi cursed: "These dead ghosts, they were quite cautious."

Cautious or not, didn't they all die here? If Heaven wants one to perish, one must perish! After waiting for a long time, the secret door didn't cause any more trouble, so Guizai used a long stick to push the door open.

Everyone was full of anticipation.

The more sinister the mechanism, the more valuable the things in the secret room were.

It truly lived up to expectations; as soon as the door opened, there was a flash of pearls and jewels! The pirates—no, the guard soldiers—all started howling.

The secret room inside was about four or five square meters, piled with three large chests and three small chests. Originally, the chests were all covered and tied with ropes, but no one knew what had happened before the ship lost control; one large chest had overturned, the rope had come off, and the gold and silver jewelry inside was scattered all over the floor.

When a wave came and the ship swayed, a golden rabbit rolled to He Lingchuan's feet. He picked it up and looked at it; the ornament, over a finger long, was heavy and exquisitely carved. The rabbit fur on the round tail was clearly visible, and the rabbit's eyes were made of rubies. When held up to the light, it shone brilliantly.

The other trinkets and ornaments were of equally impressive craftsmanship.

This ship hadn't been wrecked for long and could still float on the water; otherwise, if the cabin had been soaked in water later, the treasures wouldn't be this bright.

He Lingchuan ordered people to move all the chests out and open them.

The three large chests were full of gold and silver, from ingots, small pieces, bars, to various animal shapes; He Lingchuan had never seen gold and silver in so many forms.

Anyway, no matter what shape they were, they were pleasing to the eye.

In the three small chests, two were filled with various precious utensils and jewelry, wrapped tightly and arranged neatly. Qiu Hu casually unwrapped a brocade bundle and saw a necklace inside, embedded with forty-eight equally lustrous and clear jadeites, edged with tiny diamonds—extremely elegant and luxurious.

The last small chest contained various miscellaneous items.

A small bag of plant fruits/seeds, a few bottles of red liquid, several stamps, a few pieces of ore, and so on.

Ling Guang jumped down from He Lingchuan's shoulder, picked up the seed bag, and sniffed it: "It seems to be medicinal herbs."

It accepted them without ceremony.

Min Tianxi's subordinate took out another talisman, lit it, stuffed it into a bottle filled with clear water, took a sip of the water, and sprayed it toward the items in the chest.

With a *pfft* sound, a mist of water filled the air.

Qiu Hu and the others couldn't help but step back two paces: "What is this for?"

"Checking if there's a curse on the treasure." Min Tianxi explained, "A few years ago, we encountered this kind of shipwreck treasure. A poor devil got cursed, his body rotted halfway, and he died before he could get back to shore for treatment... Hmm, these treasures are very clean, no one has tampered with them."

Looking at this unexpected wealth, everyone was grinning from ear to ear, only He Lingchuan thought for a moment and said to Min Tianxi: "Can you find the captain? Or the person with the highest status on this ship."

Min Tianxi immediately said: "I'll get right on it. This ship looks quite new; the dead person might not have been completely eroded by the evil energy yet."

Having said that, he immediately took people to search cabin by cabin.

He Lingchuan nodded secretly. Min Tianxi executed his superior's orders without asking why, which showed he was starting to adapt to his change in status.

This ship was larger and more magnificent than ordinary merchant ships, exuding an air of prestige throughout. The materials used for the ship's body and the furnishings on board were also very particular, not like the transport of an ordinary person.

If the ship's owner had status and position, their personal belongings should be even more precious.

Soon, Min Tianxi found two clothing chests in a cabin compartment. The clothes inside were exquisite and of superior quality; there was even a set of ceremonial armor, embedded with gold, pearls, and jade, designed specifically to dazzle the eyes.

There was also a mark on the chest of the ceremonial armor.

But human remains were still not found on this ship. It was a pity; ordinary creatures found it hard to survive the erosion of yin evil.

He Lingchuan had no choice but to give up and ordered people to move the chests of wealth back.

Afterward, Ding Zuodong calculated that, excluding the rewards for the guides like Min Tianxi, Shipwreck Bay had currently sent Young Master He treasures worth over thirty-seven thousand taels.

Truly, one cannot get rich without a windfall! He Lingchuan's net worth had temporarily returned to the level of over two hundred and eighty thousand taels—

Although it wouldn't last long.

I just came back from Mount Putuo yesterday.

When I made a vow to the Bodhisattva, I also prayed for peace and wealth for all of you, that is, my readers, and walked around the lotus pedestal seven times.

So, if anyone's wish comes true within the next year, remember to go to Putuo to fulfill your vow. Hehehe.

(End of chapter)