Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 10 Shocking Discovery of a Secret, Great Explosion of South Pearls

When Wang Cheng returned to the Zhang Fushun ship with Zhang Wen, he immediately grabbed a salted plum from the kitchen and ate it, which helped him break free from the side effects of the parrot-beaked green skin and allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.

"We were lucky enough to catch a good fish today. I tasted it beforehand and it was delicious. Everyone got a share of the rest."

"Zhang Wu, brothers, take this and cook a pot of fish porridge."

Without hesitation, he tossed the fish bones and head, still with half a piece of meat attached, to Zhang Wu, who came to greet him.

"Scholar, you are truly magnanimous!"

We must savor the fish you caught yourself, and perhaps even absorb some of your refined taste.

These young Tanka people had never caught a fish in their entire lives, let alone a fish with a beak that had already been removed. They had no idea how precious the fish was.

Zhang Wu, who couldn't stand not working for a moment, didn't stand on ceremony and immediately started cooking with the parrot-beaked woman in the green coat.

Only then did Wang Cheng have time to ask Zhang Wen:
"Was that girl named A-Xiao? I haven't seen her a few days ago."

His inquiry about the girl wasn't out of lust, but purely out of curiosity—why had he been rejected by her despite his own perceived worthlessness?

After the latter became familiar with him, he gradually revealed his lively nature, giving him a teasing and mischievous smile:
"Isn't Sister Axiao beautiful? It's a pity that the imperial court has decreed that the Tanka people are not allowed to intermarry with the mainland people, so you, a military household in Yuegang, have no hope."

Only when Wang Cheng glared at him with a clenched fist did he quickly straighten his expression and honestly answer the question:
"Sister Ah Xiao is the only divine official in our Tanka tribe, the Pearl Diver. This profession is rare even among the thirty-six officials of the Water Stream."

These past few days she has been making a spirit tablet and statue of Prince Jing at the boat temple in preparation for a sacrificial ceremony.

Of course, you won't see her outside anymore.

"I see."

Wang Cheng knew that the Tanka people lived in large scattered settlements and small clusters. Each small settlement needed at least one official to be in charge, otherwise their ability to withstand risks at sea would be too poor.

This set of "water-collecting talismans," essential for the Tanka people when they went out to sea, was clearly made by this pearl-diving woman, A-Xiao.

She held a very important position in the clan.

As Zhang Wen recounted the story, Wang Cheng unexpectedly discovered that this pearl diver was not from this Tanka ethnic group, but an outsider.

“Scholar, I heard from the elders in my family that when Sister Axiao was young, she was a pearl diver kept by a powerful family in Qiongzhou in the south. She was a runaway slave.”

Wang Cheng knew that pearls were classified into four grades: East, West, South, and North. West pearls were inferior to East pearls, East pearls were inferior to South pearls, and South pearls, which came from the South China Sea, were of the highest quality.

Zhang Wen continued to recount the stories he had heard from the older generation:

“In the South China Sea there are three major pearl pools: Mei, Qing, and Ying. These pools were monopolized and controlled by the powerful nobles and royal family of the Great Zhao Dynasty. They captured many Tanka people who were naturally good at swimming and trained them to become pearl diving slaves to dive for pearls in the sea.”

They tied stones to the feet of the pearl divers, sending them 700 feet into the ocean to retrieve pearls from the lurking sharks. Anyone who suffered even the slightest wound and bled was doomed to never come back up alive.

Pearl divers were a hundred times more miserable than ordinary Tanka people like us!
About six or seven years ago, the governments of Leizhou, Qiongzhou, and Lianzhou jointly launched a large-scale pearl harvest.

A total of 800 official ships were mobilized, and more than 10,000 Tanka people were conscripted. In the end, a total of 28,000 taels of pearls were harvested.

What outsiders don't know is that on the very first day of this massive operation, 87 sailboats in the fleet were damaged by the wind and waves, 600 naval officers and soldiers drowned, and more than 30 ships became empty vessels.

Among the officials of the Earthly Rank, those who practiced the Golden Point Method, such as the "Five Senses Spirit Platform Master," the "Feng Shui Master," and the "Mouth Gold Master," died suddenly one after another.

In the days that followed, the Tanka people who went into the water encountered something strange, and more than half of them drowned without their knowledge.

On the tenth night, countless corpses climbed onto the official ship and plucked the eyes from many of the living people on board.

For every pearl they collect, they lose one; if they don't have enough, they take their heads too.

That night, many people on board saw a black dragon's shadow swimming across the seabed.

Wang Cheng felt a chill run down his spine and back.

"Drowning while diving for pearls and encountering sea monsters such as giant fish, sea snakes, jellyfish, sharks, and alligators are all within the normal range."

Encountering evil spirits in the sea is a near-certain death.

Even without crossing the 'Mountain and Sea Curse' to enter the distant sea, one can still inevitably encounter various incomprehensible and bizarre dangers.

Sister Axiao and the other pearl-diving slaves escaped from the pearl-diving fleet during that time.

Of the pearl-collecting slaves who ended up in our clan, only she survived. By then, she was barely clinging to life. If it weren't for the intervention of the Heavenly Princess, Lady Yan, whom our clan worshipped, she would have been gone long ago.

After recovering, Sister Axiao stayed at Madam Yan's boat temple, taking over as the temple keeper from my grandmother, only occasionally going out.

When Zhang Wen recounted this story, the playful smile he had just worn when he teased Wang Cheng vanished, replaced by a gritted-teeth expression. Wang Cheng's face also darkened.

Perhaps ordinary people are just numbers in the eyes of the powerful and wealthy, and can be harvested one crop after another, but these Tanka people are not even considered human beings in their eyes.

They did not enjoy any of the benefits of the Great Zhao Dynasty, but were discriminated against everywhere, and were bleeding and weeping everywhere.

It’s so miserable!

At this moment, he finally understood why his father's Wufengqi Maritime Merchant Group had expanded its power so rapidly, and why he was so eager to be granted amnesty by the imperial court.

There is no harm without comparison.

The powerful and influential in Dazhao were truly inhuman. As long as the Tanka people and their descendants could live like human beings, they would risk their lives to fight for you.

Bearing the expectations and resentment of the entire Tanka people on his shoulders, it would be difficult for anyone in that position to maintain a calm mind.

Recruiting the Tanka people into the community was the right move.

"However, that Ah Xiao does seem a bit strange."

Zhang Wen said she was a fugitive slave from the South China Sea, and anyone she knew must be further south.

But when the other person was singing the fisherman's song, they were clearly looking at the Great Wall of Curses in the depths of the East China Sea. How could the object of their remembrance be a place they had never been to?

The idea had barely formed when the concept of "rare commodity" popped up again.

[Rare Goods: The Great Harvest of South Sea Pearls in the Thirty-Third Year of Shaozhi (Incomplete Information)]
Intangible and intangible information can sometimes be more valuable than tangible treasures. It may be worthless to some, but invaluable to others.

The truth behind the massive pearl harvest six or seven years ago, and the pearl diver who escaped alone, seems to conceal some unknown secret.

Value of goods: 5,000 incense money (a rare commodity, a suitable buyer needs to be found)

Wang Cheng was stunned.

His own worth as the heir of the Prince of Jinghai was only 50,000 incense money.

The story I overheard by Zhang Wen by chance was worth 0.1 Cheng!
However, Wang Cheng had no intention of getting to the bottom of this story. He was already preoccupied with his own troubles and couldn't afford to meddle in other people's business.

"Even if we continue to gather complete intelligence, there's no rush to sell it at a higher price."

Now that we've established a connection with this group of Tanka people, there will be plenty of opportunities to interact with this pearl diver in the future.

Let's put this matter aside for now.

Although he already knew that there was a formal official by his side, Wang Cheng had no intention of asking her to be his guide and help him submit a memorial to the emperor to confer ordination.

The other party may possess the lineage and teachings of the pearl divers, as well as the talismans and protective objects they have worshipped for decades.

But he had absolutely no interest in becoming a pearl diver.

Absolutely not!

In no time, Zhang Wu had cooked the fish porridge and served it on the table.

The other crew members living on the boat also came out after smelling the odor. The crew of the Zhang Fushun were all bachelors, so living on the boat was quite convenient for them.

"what?"

A group of people picked up their bowls and had just taken a sip of fish and brown rice porridge when they were all surprised to find a warm current surging in their stomachs, as if they were soaking in warm water and their whole bodies felt warm.

The occupational diseases such as rheumatism and muscle aches that I suffered from years of working at sea suddenly felt much better.

They couldn't help but rush to finish the rice porridge mixed with fish.

Zhang Wen reluctantly licked the ceramic bowl clean, a blush slowly spreading across his young but weathered face. He blurted out to Zhang Wu, who was in charge of cooking:
"Brother, did you accidentally put the medicine in your porridge?"
"We're not those boatmen on the Zhuohe River who casually serve guests noodles and wontons, brother. This is unacceptable, absolutely unacceptable!"

This is underworld slang. When a boatman takes passengers across the river, if he offers them "knife-cut noodles," it means he's going to slice them to death with a knife. If he offers them "wontons," it means the boatman doesn't need to do anything; the passenger can just jump into the middle of the river and drown.

Similar slang terms include "crane falling," "water hitting the pole," "row gun," "a plate of noodles," and so on, among many other ways to die.

Zhang Wu, equally puzzled, glanced at the scholar who was visiting on his own boat and was about to pick up a spoon and give his outspoken younger brother a good beating.

A chorus of voices had already filled my ears:
"Brother, you can't serve the guests noodles and wontons, you absolutely can't!"

(End of this chapter)