Chapter 34: Raging Sea: Preparation

The plane skimmed over the Qiongzhou Strait, and the cabin was silent, with all the passengers fast asleep.

A few hours earlier, I had entrusted Panzi to the hospital and, along with the two people who claimed to be from the International Marine Development Company, taken a red-eye flight overnight to Sanya.

I hadn't exercised for a long time, and after all the rushing around I was exhausted, so I fell asleep as soon as I got on the plane. But as night fell, I couldn't sleep anymore.

On the way to the airport, we introduced ourselves briefly. The man's name was Zhang Hao (my Chinese is poor, I couldn't read that character, so I just called him Old Zhang, and secretly nicknamed him Zhang the Baldy). The woman was called A Ning. Both were professional expedition leaders.

After spending some time together, Zhang the Baldy seemed like a decent guy—probably the steady, reliable type in the company, speaking in a plain and honest way. The woman was a bit more cunning and didn't talk much; from the car ride to now, I hadn't exchanged more than ten words with her.

The plane was landing in half an hour. I stared out the window, lost in thought. Far away, the city lights twinkled like scattered stars, their colors hazy and enchanting.

A Ning, sitting beside me, saw that I was awake and handed me a document. "We're about to land. After we get off, a car will take us directly to the dock. The people there are already prepared. This is our schedule for this trip. Would you like to take a look and get familiar with the itinerary?"

I snapped back to reality, took the document, flipped through it briefly, and couldn't understand a word. So I shook my head and handed it back to her.

A Ning handed me another document. "Here's also a list of the equipment we've prepared. Please take a look and let me know if anything is missing. I can have logistics make it up right away."

I took it and glanced over it. The equipment was quite comprehensive, all standard gear for marine surveys, but it was all in English, and I still couldn't understand most of it. I had no choice but to smile bitterly and hand it back to her.

Seeing my bitter smile, she thought there was a problem. "What's wrong? Is there anything else you need to prepare?" she asked.

I thought for a moment and casually asked, "Can you get me a few black donkey hooves?"

A Ning was stunned when she heard that. It took her a long while before she asked back, "Black donkey hooves?"

I was still half-asleep and had forgotten we weren't tomb-raiding. Seeing her expression, I realized this was a proper scientific expedition—of course, they'd never heard of such a thing.

The situation was awkward, and I didn't know what to say, so I just waved my hand at her and said, "Sorry, forget I said anything." Actually, I had my doubts too. Every tomb raider carries a black donkey hoof, but nobody really knows if it's useful. Logically, it doesn't make much sense either—why does it have to be a black donkey hoof? A white donkey hoof is chemically the same except for the color.

A Ning gave me a suspicious look but didn't say anything else. She then handed me several more documents to look over. I skimmed through them the same way—glancing at the parts I could understand and directly returning the ones I couldn't. After finishing the process, I lay back down to rest.

Half-asleep, I noticed A Ning staring at me with a very strange look. I thought to myself, could this woman be interested in me? Or maybe she knew what a black donkey hoof was? The three of us got off the plane and were taken by the company's private car directly to the port.

The expedition had chartered a rusty, seven-ton iron fishing boat with six crew members. The boat captain was a local named Cai Wenji—quite an elegant name. When we arrived, his company people were still negotiating with him. Because of a tropical storm, the captain insisted on not sailing. In his stiff Mandarin, he said, "Going out now is asking for death. The wind's too strong, big waves. Our boat is small; it might capsize."

After Zhang the Baldy understood the situation, he promptly doubled the charter price and promised that once at sea, if they encountered strong winds, the captain could decide the boat's course.

Double the price was generally enough to cover a fisherman's annual expenses. The captain was still hesitant, but his crew couldn't hold back anymore and urged him to accept.

Seeing that the captain was loosening up, Zhang the Baldy immediately added another 50% to the price, indicating that if they went, fine; if not, there were other boats waiting.

With things at that point, the captain had no choice but to agree.

The crew began loading supplies onto the boat. The captain set up an altar alone at the bow, performing a ritual to offer sacrifices to Ma Zu, praying for a smooth voyage. Following the customs of my hometown, I gave each crew member a cigarette, symbolically entrusting my life to their hands.

Besides myself, Zhang the Baldy, and A Ning, there were four other people directly involved in the expedition on board. In charge of artifact identification was an old professor named Gu; the technician managing the instruments was Mu Ziqi; the young engineer in charge of the computer was Wu Yong. There was also a big-nosed foreigner who served as the ship's medic.

In addition, we would make a stop midway at Yongxing Island, where we would rendezvous with another group of divers they had assembled, and then turn toward Huaguang Reef.

That afternoon, we set out from Qinglan Harbor. The first leg of the voyage was very tight. If the weather was normal, the estimated time was twelve hours—this was already the maximum speed this boat could achieve. It was my first time going out to the open sea, and I was very excited. Standing at the bow, I watched the mainland gradually recede. Ahead lay the most mysterious ocean in the world—the South China Sea. Since ancient times, countless secrets have been buried beneath this vast blue expanse. This time, we were setting out hastily; I wondered if we could uncover even a fraction of what lay beneath these murky depths.