Chapter 33: Raging Sea: Uninvited Guest

Over the next few days, I found a local guide and toured various places in Jinan, but coming from Hangzhou, I had already seen too many cultural sights, and the more I saw, the less interest I had. Eventually, I just went to a fishing spot and fished.

This decadent life went on for another week or so, only to be interrupted by two unexpected visitors.

That day, as usual, I returned from the fishing spot. As soon as I entered the hotel, a receptionist approached and said, "Mr. Wu, there are two people looking for you."

I was taken aback. The only person who knew I was at this hotel was Third Uncle. Could he be back? No, Third Uncle had his own key; if he had returned, he would have gone straight to the room, not waited for me in the lobby. Curious, I asked her where they were. She pointed to the hotel lobby lounge.

I followed her over and saw a man and a woman sitting there, both with completely unfamiliar faces.

When they saw me approaching, they both stood up. The man extended his hand and shook mine, asking, "Mr. Wu?"

I nodded and sized him up. He was a slightly chubby man in his thirties, a bit bald on top, but very neatly dressed, making it hard to guess his profession. The woman was wearing a lace shirt unbuttoned all the way to her chest, creating quite a cleavage. I didn't dare look too closely, so I asked them, "And you two are…?"

The man handed me a business card. I looked at it: International Marine Resource Development Company.

I looked at it and felt a bit puzzled. So-called marine resource development essentially involves analyzing existing shipping route information and historical records to infer the locations of certain shipwrecks and salvage their cargo.

This kind of business has existed since ancient times, but the real boom came after the reform and opening-up. Back then, while so-called "southbound looters and northbound diggers," large numbers of grave robbers rushed to the northwest tombs, on the Maritime Silk Road in the South China Sea, a large number of foreign artifact pirates also gathered. Over the years, they nearly looted all the shipwrecks in China's coastal waters.

Compared to the "earth masters," these people posed an even greater threat to archaeology as a whole. Because of the large cargo capacity of ships, there has always been saying that "one ship equals ten tombs." An ordinary medium-sized merchant ship could carry more than 100,000 pieces of porcelain, and the profit from a single salvage operation was astronomical. Compared to them, even a tomb-raiding master like Third Uncle was just small-time.

What I found very strange was that I never had dealings with such people. Why were they coming to me? And since only Third Uncle knew I was here, how did they find me?

Seeing that I just stared at him without speaking, the man seemed a bit uncomfortable and gave an awkward laugh. "You probably think it's a bit… abrupt for us to come find you like this, but once you hear our purpose, you'll understand."

I still didn't speak, just looked at him noncommittally. Having no choice, he had to steel himself and continue: "Actually, it's quite simple. Two weeks ago, a man named Wu Sansheng contacted us…"

I let out an "Oh" and suddenly understood. It was obvious: the only person who knew my whereabouts here was Third Uncle, so their coming to me must be related to him.

Seeing that I reacted, his expression relaxed a bit. He continued, "Mr. Wu Sansheng is a very close friend of our boss. After they met, they had a detailed conversation. I was present at the time. Mr. Wu Sansheng told us a very interesting story about a possible… ancient underwater tomb. I don't know if you know anything about this, Mr. Wu?"

I found his hesitant manner rather annoying, so I made a gesture and said, "Never mind how much I know. Please just tell me the situation simply."

He glanced at the woman beside him, as if seeking approval. She nodded, and then he said, "Alright, I'll keep it as simple as I can. Mr. Wu Sansheng proposed that we jointly develop this underwater site. Because the clues he provided were very convincing, our board agreed. Our company, in the form of layered guarantees, lent him some idle equipment and personnel to search the waters near North Reef. Everything went smoothly at first, until 5 PM the day before yesterday, when their ship suddenly disappeared from the satellite positioning system. It hasn't reappeared since."

His Mandarin had a heavy Cantonese accent, so I didn't catch everything clearly, but I got the gist of it. It seemed Third Uncle had gone to the Xisha Islands. Since he had no seafaring experience, he had arranged a boat and equipment through this International Marine Resource Development Company. As a result, the ship had disappeared after setting sail.

I had a rough idea now, but since it was sudden, I wasn't particularly worried. I asked the bald man, "Could it be a problem with the instruments on board? Causing the satellite signal to be lost?"

He patiently explained, "No, it can't be a malfunction. This kind of instrument is very complex—it's hard to explain clearly. But think of it this way: this satellite positioning system is essentially the ship's black box. Unless it suffers very severe damage, it won't easily break. So this situation is very abnormal. Something must have happened on the ship."

I looked at him and said, "Your company is so big—if something happened, you should be sending a rescue. Why come to me?"

The man shook his head. "Unfortunately, we've already searched. 48 hours after they disappeared, our ship had already gone to the area where they were last seen to search. We found nothing. The ship seemed to have… vanished into thin air."

His expression was strange as he spoke, as if he didn't quite believe his own wording. He added, "Of course, a ship can't just vanish. I suppose there might have been an accident."

I smiled and said bluntly, "Please focus on the key point of my question. I don't care what you found. I care about why you came to me. Please just say it directly."

The two exchanged glances, both looking embarrassed. Finally, the man spoke: "Well, the thing is, there are indications that your Third Uncle and two others had already found the exact location of the ancient site three hours before the ship disappeared and were preparing to enter. So… according to the timeline, when the ship vanished, your Third Uncle should not have been on the boat but inside the underwater site…" My heart suddenly tightened. I understood what he meant. Third Uncle had entered that underwater site, but the surface support had suddenly vanished. Even if they managed to get out safely, they would be in a dilemma—no boat waiting on the surface.

This was really a tricky situation.

Seeing the change in my expression, the woman quickly added, "We suspect the survey vessel may have been hijacked by pirates. If the three surveyors had already entered the site at that time, they might have escaped harm. But with the loss of surface support, their situation wouldn't be good either. You know, they can't swim all the way back."

I let out another "Oh" and asked them, "After they finish their survey, they should return the same way. Couldn't your rescue vessel find them then?"

The woman hesitated for a moment and said, "Actually, in Mr. Wu Sansheng's earlier discussions, he estimated that there might be a certain amount of air inside this underwater site. If they find that the air is breathable, they might stay inside for a while to prepare for a second entry. So it's very likely that the people inside don't yet know that the surface ship has disappeared."

"You mean, Third Uncle already knew how to enter that tomb?" I asked in surprise. How was that possible? How had he solved that key problem?

The woman shook her head. "I'm not an expert in this field. I don't know what you're referring to."

I rubbed my temples. I hadn't used my brain in a while, and it was starting to ache. I sorted through the information in my mind and then asked them, "So what do you want from me? What can I do in this matter?"

The man said, "We plan to send another team down to bring the people inside out."

I thought for a moment and smiled. "Isn't that unnecessary? Once they finish their work, they'll come out on their own. All you need to do is wait for them on the surface nearby."

The man shook his head. "That's no longer possible now. A low-pressure system has suddenly formed in that area. Soon, those waters will…"

I naturally knew what happens when a low-pressure system appears at sea. If it's a small one, there will be a tropical storm in that area. If it's a bit larger, it could produce any kind of typhoon. Under such weather conditions, forget about rescue—even keeping a ship anchored there would be impossible.

The man continued, "Mr. Wu, now you understand the whole situation. We estimate we have at least three days left. The most pressing issue right now isn't the weather at sea, but the fact that we don't know where the entrance to the site is. The last GPS coordinates cover an area of three square nautical miles. We need someone to help us find the exact location of the site. Since it concerns your family, I trust you won't refuse…"

I kept my face expressionless, but inwardly I knew I had no choice but to go. Compared to others, I still had some understanding of this matter. Even if I couldn't help much, I could at least assist from the sidelines.

Still, I felt there was a hint of cunning in these two people's expressions, as if there were something they hadn't fully explained.

Out of caution, I didn't immediately respond; instead, I first smiled and asked, "Three square nautical miles isn't that big—why did you notify the coast guard?"

At my question, both of their faces turned very ugly. They exchanged glances, unsure how to answer me.

I spread my hands and looked at them, indicating that I wouldn't agree until I understood clearly.

The man hesitated slightly, his expression odd, and said in a low voice, "This is indeed our fault. I can't reveal the specifics, but I can tell you this: your Third Uncle obtained a salvage permit from Vietnam for this trip, but the salvage location deviated somewhat from his estimation—it's within Chinese waters. You should understand what that means."

I slapped the table and nearly jumped up, cursing, "What! You actually dared to—"

Halfway through my words, I noticed everyone around staring at me, including a few security guards. I had to swallow the rest of my sentence, shaking my head and silently cursing Third Uncle for his foolishness. Such actions amounted to cross-border smuggling of cultural relics. If caught, he'd face serious consequences, possibly execution.

The woman gave a charming smile and asked me, "So, Mr. Wu, we've laid all our cards on the table. What are your plans?"

Deciding to grit my teeth and go through with it, I nodded and said, "What choice do I have? Let's set off immediately."