231: Discovery of a shipwreck

Moray eels mainly inhabit coral reef caves and crevices.

They are nocturnal, preying primarily on fish and crustaceans.

Moray eels are aggressive; they will attack if disturbed, so extreme caution is advised if encountered.

Yang Qi also felt a chill down his spine, thinking that if he hadn't come over and, with the strength of numbers, scared off this large moray eel, it might have been preparing to attack Bai Xue.

"It seems that after we go back, I'll have to prepare some self-defense weapons for Bai Xue and me."

Yang Qi thought to himself.

Bai Xue hadn't clearly seen what that thing was just now, but she was still startled; if they hadn't been underwater, she probably would have screamed.

Fortunately, her husband was by her side; she was also flustered at this moment, tightly holding Yang Qi's hand.

Yang Qi gently stroked her head, signaling her not to be afraid.

Then, he pulled Bai Xue and swam in the direction where the large moray eel had fled.

Bai Xue was a bit puzzled; that thing had already escaped, so why were they chasing after it?

However, she still followed without hesitation, paddling her feet.

Actually, Yang Qi wasn't trying to chase the escaped large moray eel. He had simply noticed something unusual when he was using his ability to observe the moray eel earlier.

When that large moray eel escaped just now, it used its powerful tail to slap the seabed, propelling itself away.

After swimming about fifty meters, its large tail kicked up a layer of sand, and Yang Qi seemed to have discovered something.

Soon, the two arrived at the scene.

"Wood, indeed."

Yang Qi thought, and then began to observe. As the two continuously cleared away the sand with their diving daggers, more and more wooden planks became visible.

Even without revealing its full appearance, the two had already confirmed that this was undoubtedly a shipwreck.

Watching Bai Xue gesticulate excitedly, Yang Qi pointed upwards. Bai Xue nodded, and the two surfaced together.

"Husband, a shipwreck! It's a shipwreck!"

Bai Xue said excitedly in a hushed voice.

"Mm, let's get on the setting sail first and discuss how to handle it."

Yang Qi was also very excited, trying his best to calm himself down.

"You're right, let's go up first. Anyway, it's not going anywhere."

Bai Xue quickly calmed down.

After the two got on the setting sail, they first changed their clothes, as wearing a wetsuit after getting out of the water, clinging tightly to the skin, was very uncomfortable.

Bai Xue went to cook first, as long hours of work underwater are very physically demanding.

Yang Qi properly stored all the Abalone and Chinese Spiny Lobster from the net bags.

The two ate dinner while discussing how to salvage the shipwreck below.

"Hehehe, if it's really an ancient shipwreck, we'll be rich, won't we, husband?"

As Bai Xue spoke, her eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Sigh! This is still within our country's exclusive economic zone, which is a bit troublesome! Oh well! Never mind, we won't be discovered if we're sneaky, right?"

"At worst, if the value is truly too great, we'll report it then!"

Bai Xue sighed, then said through gritted teeth.

Chinese law stipulates that shipwrecks within territorial waters and exclusive economic zones, unless ownership is clearly established, belong to the state, and no one may salvage them privately.

However, this place is so far from the mainland, almost at the edge of the exclusive economic zone, so being a bit discreet should prevent them from being discovered.

After Yang Qi and Bai Xue finished eating and rested for a while, they changed back into their wetsuit and went back into the sea.

This time, they brought two entrenching tools and began to excavate near the shipwreck.

Soon, they had roughly cleared the outline of the shipwreck; it was a wooden ship about 30 meters long and 6 meters wide.

The two felt their hearts sink; it shouldn't be an ancient shipwreck, otherwise, after hundreds of years submerged in the sea, the wood should have long since rotted beyond recognition.

And this wooden ship was clearly not yet at that stage; on the deck, covered with barnacles and mussels, the broken position of the original mast could still be vaguely discerned.

There was no need to excavate carefully then. But since they had come all this way, they still needed to take a look.

There couldn't be anything valuable on the deck; even if there had been, it would have been carried away by ocean currents.

Yang Qi picked up the entrenching tool and smashed the hull a few times with a clang.

The two waited for a while but didn't see any creatures run out. Yang Qi, holding an entrenching tool in one hand and a diving light in the other, entered first. He discovered it was the ship's cargo hold.

He saw that the hull on the side leaning against the reef had a large gaping hole, which should have been the reason the ship sank.

There wasn't much inside the entire ship's cabin; several jars lay haphazardly, and a few were broken.

Most noticeable were the three small boxes in the corner, roughly 50x40 in size, with a height of about 40 centimeters.

They were covered with a lot of algae, as well as barnacles and shells, so their original color was no longer discernible.

Yang Qi immediately felt that these boxes were not simple; he quickly swam over and pushed them, finding them immovable. He tried to grasp the boxes, and the wood didn't break; the wood quality was clearly much better than that of the hull.

Leaving aside everything else, just looking at the texture, these boxes alone might be very valuable.

Yang Qi tried to lift one of the boxes and almost threw out his back.

The second one was almost as heavy, but because he was prepared this time, Yang Qi was barely able to lift it.

He tried the other box, which was noticeably lighter.

He picked up the entrenching tool and gave the hull a few "bang bang" blows, quickly creating a large hole that he could pass through.

He signaled to Bai Xue, then picked up the lighter box and, with Bai Xue, exited the shipwreck.

With Bai Xue's help, they swam to the "setting sail". The two first lifted the box onto the aft deck.

Then, after they got on board, they carried the box to the entrance of the cockpit.

"Husband, could it be some darling?"

Bai Xue asked excitedly.

Yang Qi shook his head, but the joy on his face was irrepressible:

"I don't know, we'll find out when we open it later. Let's rest for ten minutes, then get the other box up and open them together."

"Okay! I'll listen to you. I'll get you a drink first."

Bai Xue dashed off, got two Red Bulls from the refrigerator, and after they each drank one.

Yang Qi ran to get a finger-thick nylon rope, which was usually used to tie up the inflatable dinghy.

"Are you well-rested? Do you want to rest a little longer?"

Yang Qi asked Bai Xue with a smile.

"I'm ready, let's go!"

Bai Xue took the lead, put on her flippers, went to the side of the setting sail, and with a dive, plunged into the sea.

Yang Qi smiled, picked up the entrenching tool and rope, and jumped in as well.

The two arrived at the hole, one after the other. Yang Qi signaled Bai Xue to wait, then he gripped the entrenching tool and went in first.

After looking around and finding no danger, he gave Bai Xue a signal, then walked towards the two heavy boxes.