Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 544: Chapter 544: The Crown

"How did it go? Find anything?"

Song Sisi handed Li Xu a bottle of water.

Li Xu took a drink, wiped the seawater from his face, and said casually, "I didn’t get many pearls, but I did find a human skeleton."

"Ah?"

Song Sisi and Lin Xiaoyu jumped in fright.

"A skeleton? Down there?" Lin Xiaoyu pointed at the calm sea, her voice trembling. "That’s terrifying, isn’t it?"

Li Xu consoled them, "Don’t be afraid. Those are ancient bones, probably hundreds of years old. They’re practically dust by now. It’s perfectly normal to find some bones on the seabed."

However, when Ding Kaifang heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Doctor Li, forget resting. Let’s hurry back down and keep digging," Ding Kaifang said excitedly. "There might be something good around here."

"Why?" Li Xu was taken aback. "Based on a single bone? You already know there’s treasure?"

Ding Kaifang smiled confidently. "Doctor Li, think about it. For the bones to be preserved this long without completely decaying means the silt here forms a relatively sealed environment. It might even be some kind of special preservative layer."

"Besides, the presence of these bones means it wasn’t just one lone person. This is very likely part of an ancient shipwreck, or the bodies were washed here after a disaster at sea."

"When ancient people went to sea, they often carried their whole lives with them. Especially on merchant ships—they were definitely loaded with cargo. Trust me, there’s absolutely a surprise waiting here."

Li Xu was a little uncertain.

’Logically, if there really was a huge treasure, shouldn’t the system’s intel have given me a hint?’

’Why did it only mention pearls and seahorses this time, and say nothing about a treasure?’

’Could it be that the system’s detection range is limited?’

’Or is the treasure buried too deep?’

’Or maybe it didn’t give a hint because it’s not related to medicine.’

But seeing how adamant Ding Kaifang was, Li Xu didn’t have the heart to spoil his enthusiasm.

"Alright, let’s go down and check again. We’re not in a rush to head back anyway."

Song Sisi and Lin Xiaoyu were a little scared, so they decided to stay on the boat and provide surface support.

Li Xu and Ding Kaifang changed into fresh air tanks and dove back into the ocean.

The two of them went straight to the collapsed cave from before.

Ding Kaifang was clearly more experienced. He directed Li Xu, and the two of them worked together to clear away the surrounding coral and silt.

As they expanded the excavation area, just as Ding Kaifang had predicted, more bone fragments began to appear scattered in the surrounding mud and sand.

But this didn’t deter them. Instead, it made them even more certain of their assessment.

Li Xu, holding an entrenching tool, continued to dig deeper.

After digging to a depth of about a meter, the shovel suddenly hit something hard.

"THUD."

A muffled impact rang out.

Li Xu’s heart leaped, and he began to dig faster.

Soon, a rectangular object was revealed.

It was a mahogany chest, its surface heavily damaged and covered in barnacles and seaweed!

Although the wood was decayed, you could still make out its former exquisite craftsmanship.

Li Xu excitedly made a gesture to Ding Kaifang.

Ding Kaifang swam over like a shark. When he saw the chest, even someone as experienced as him, who had seen it all, was instantly stunned.

Peering through a large, broken hole in its side, the beam of his headlamp revealed a dazzling golden glint from within.

It was a trove of gold and silver jewelry, jade, and precious stones, and...

And resting on the very top was a magnificent golden crown, inlaid with over forty enormous pearls.

"This... This is a treasure trove."

Ding Kaifang needed no further prompting; the realization hit him instantly.

He tried to lift the treasure chest, but it was too heavy and stuck in the silt as if it had grown roots.

However, just as he was trying to move the chest, the silt next to it loosened from the force, revealing the corner of another chest.

"There are more."

Ding Kaifang looked at Li Xu, gesturing excitedly.

Li Xu nodded, and the two of them, like tireless excavators, dug out several more chests in succession.

But the more they dug, the more they found that the chests buried around them seemed endless.

Only when their air tank alarms went off again did the two reluctantly surface.

"We’re rich! We’re rich!"

The moment Ding Kaifang’s head broke the surface, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "There’s a huge treasure buried down there! It’s all chests!"

Li Xu took off his mask and took a deep breath, unable to hide the excitement on his face. "It looks massive. There must be a lot of good stuff in there."

When Song Sisi and Lin Xiaoyu heard this, they immediately perked up.

Any fear they had felt earlier was long forgotten.

Pearls were valuable, but they were just raw materials, after all.

But sunken treasure... that was the stuff of movies and legends.

This wasn’t just about money; it was the ultimate romantic thrill of witnessing history and embarking on a treasure hunt.

"Take us down to see! Quick, take us down!"

The two of them couldn’t sit still, and they clamored to get in the water.

"Alright, alright, we’ll all go down together," Li Xu laughed.

The four of them descended again.

The scene on the seabed was breathtaking.

The area that Li Xu and Ding Kaifang had cleared now looked like an open-air museum.

A dozen or so chests were half-buried in the mud and sand, some intact, some damaged.

The intact chests were all locked and covered in rust, their insides impossible to see.

But the first broken chest they found was like a Pandora’s box, its tempting entrance wide open.

Ding Kaifang swam over and reached into the broken hole.

He pulled out a handful of glittering gold jewelry.

There were gold hairpins, jade bracelets, and gemstone necklaces... Though the style was ancient, their exquisite craftsmanship and substantial feel made it clear at a glance that they were no ordinary objects.

But what truly drove him wild was the crown.

He carefully lifted the crown out of the chest with both hands.

Even after being submerged in seawater for centuries, the crown still emanated a breathtaking radiance.

The golden base was carved with intricate dragon and phoenix patterns, with over forty thumb-sized pearls embedded in it.

Although some had lost their luster, its majesty was still undeniable.

"Ah... this..."

As if in a trance, Ding Kaifang started to ascend, clutching the crown.

"Quick, quick! I’ll save this first! You guys get that broken chest onto the boat, and don’t let anything spill out!"

He roared indistinctly as he swam upwards.

Seeing this, the others didn’t dare to dawdle.

The broken chest was heavy, but thanks to the water’s buoyancy, the four of them working together could just about manage to move it.

In the end, they worked for over two hours, going back and forth like ants moving house, and managed to bring a total of eleven chests to the surface.

"Phew... I’m dead tired..."

The three of them collapsed on the deck, panting heavily.

But Ding Kaifang, as if tireless, was holding a hairdryer and a soft cloth, meticulously cleaning and drying the crown.

"President Ding, just how much is this thing worth?" Lin Xiaoyu asked curiously. "A hundred million? Or two hundred million?"

Without looking up, Ding Kaifang’s tone was as serious as if he were discussing matters of state: "Priceless. This crown is priceless."

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