Shirley Yang smiled faintly. "Why must you bring up ancient texts for everything you say? Does it make you seem more convincing? But you are certainly right; when we are in the same boat, absolute unity and mutual trust are vital. Do you trust the boat captain, Ruan Hei?"

I had anticipated this question but paused for a moment to consider before replying, "I've only heard that Ruan Hei is a Chinese-Vietnamese man who ended up on the island as a refugee. I don't know his past, nor what he truly thinks, but character often reveals itself through actions. From our interactions these past few days, I believe he is... a seaman one can generally trust. I spent time in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution, and later in the army and in business; I've dealt with countless working people. I trust my judgment won't fail me."

Shirley Yang said, "That's excellent. Since you can trust him, you must also have tolerance. The captain must have his reasons, so you shouldn't pry into what's behind the hatch covers or violate the rules of this vessel. Although I am quite curious myself, I think we should respect the captain's advice. This is the principle of using people without suspicion, and not employing those you doubt."

Persuaded by Shirley Yang, I had to forcibly suppress my curiosity and promise not to breach this taboo unless absolutely necessary. Afterward, we returned to the cabin and started eating the meal prepared by Duoling. She handled all three meals aboard the ship, but the strict rationing of fresh water made the diet incredibly monotonous. We used the mealtime as an opportunity to gather everyone to discuss the most crucial matter: preparing for our imminent entry into the Coral Spiral. If we sailed from west to east across the current, bottomless sea trough, the seabed topography would suddenly rise. The boundary would be the crest of that underwater mountain ridge; the waters east of it would belong entirely to the Coral Spiral—an area that seemed like a submerged archipelago. Surrounded by the deep ocean, the seabed dropped dramatically, keeping the interior of the Spiral very close to the surface.

The Coral Spiral consisted of inner and outer rings of massive coral reefs, spanning about a hundred nautical miles, its exact shape completely unknown. The area between the two rings was sunken, filled with dense coral forests and abyssal trenches. Because this area was encircled by two underwater mountains, condensing sea energy for tens of thousands of years, storm clouds and electrical storms were constant year-round. Electronic equipment often malfunctioned, and there were legends of ghost lights and specters beneath the waves. Thus, for several centuries, few dared to venture in rashly. Speculative explorers and salvage ships that risked death never returned—whether they lost their bearing or met some other maritime disaster was unclear. Some seamen, driven by livelihood, dove to harvest eggs, but they dared not venture beyond the outer fringe of the Great Spiral, where the underwater ironwood trees grew, never crossing that forbidden line. Even Uncle Ming and his granduncle never ventured inside; Uncle Ming’s granduncle was lost while harvesting eggs on the outer reef, his body never recovered to rest in his homeland.

The sunken ship carrying the "Qin Wang Zhao Gu Jing" was the Mary Celeste, a private luxury yacht belonging to a wealthy tycoon from Nanyang. The ship deviated from its course in a storm, struck a reef within the Coral Spiral, and sank. The sole surviving crew member described the location of the Mary Celeste's demise: the seabed was illuminated by a glow from below the water, a sight like witnessing a floating, shimmering crystal palace beneath the waves.

The South China Sea seabed holds vast reserves of oil and gas, and active volcanoes erupt frequently beneath the crust, but oil eruptions do not possess such immense energy, nor are there any known underwater volcanoes near the Coral Spiral. The only plausible explanation was the "Dragon Fire" generated by condensed sea energy, as described in Feng Shui, combined with the light reflected from the Moon Pearls housed within giant clams nearby. Only under these conditions could the seabed be so brilliantly lit, a spectacle rarely witnessed—perhaps only once or twice a month.

In Feng Shui, the world's soil and stone are categorized into nine types, including tombs, sites, ancestral halls, ruins, and covers. Ruins are the sites where Yin energy is strongest, capable of absorbing the essence of the sun, moon, and stars. The alleged lunar correspondence of the pearls from the giant clams beneath the sea is said to harness this essential Yin energy of the ruins. With the two unique clues—the underwater Yin Fire and the Southern Pearls—the Mary Celeste must be near the 'Eye of the Sea' within the Coral Spiral. Once inside the Spiral, finding the sea-bound residual pulse of the Southern Dragon would make locating the sunken ship and the underwater forest teeming with giant clams much easier.

The greatest difficulty our salvage team now faces is how to penetrate the densely reefed Coral Spiral. Once inside, should the weather turn foul, how to navigate without a compass is another major obstacle shared by all explorers who covet the immense treasures of the South China Sea. Without overcoming these, one can only gaze longingly at the ocean.

Fortunately, we possess the profound, secret arts of ancient Chinese tomb robbers—the geomantic techniques of the Mojin Xiaowei, which offer precise discourse on the residual pulses of the Southern Dragon. While the Southern Dragon originates at Mount Emei and enters the sea near Zhejiang, its most significant residual pulse in the ocean extends to the very end of the South China Sea. The 'sea energy' mentioned in Feng Shui includes a concept concerning tidal movements, which, in modern terms, refers to the cyclical rise and fall of ocean waters caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun—a phenomenon also known as 'astronomical tide.' Although the phenomenon is the same, a distinction is drawn based on time: the daytime rise is called chao (tide), and the nighttime is xi (ebb).

Since the moon is more than twice as effective as the sun in generating tidal force due to varying distances from Earth, the magnitude and timing of tides are not fixed; they primarily change with the moon’s transit, further influenced by local seabed topology, depth, latitude, and longitude. Besides the semi-diurnal tide (rising and falling twice daily), there are diurnal tides (rising and falling once daily) and mixed tides (a combination of both). Vertically, this manifests as a change in sea level; horizontally, it causes currents to flow.

In the Coral Spiral region, where the Southern Dragon terminates, chaotic sea energy frequently generates mixed tides. Major tides occur around the first and fifteenth of every lunar month. The Mary Celeste was caught in a massive disaster during a full moon when a storm surge coincided with a major astronomical tide, sweeping the large vessel into the confines of the Coral Spiral, which ships of its size usually cannot enter.

Last night, we encountered an ascending water dragon at sea, nearly capsizing our boat. However, this voyage has been relatively lucky; due to thorough preparation, even the turbulence resulted in narrow escapes without major difficulties, and we acquired a rare ancient stone mirror coffin, exciting everyone who recognized its worth. Now, adjusting our course, we skirted the edge of the sea trough, sailing straight until dawn. The sky remained oppressive with dark clouds, hiding the sun, moon, and stars. The sea was rough with high winds, and the compass began to fail—a sure sign we were approaching the Coral Spiral. Upon receiving a message from Uncle Ming via the long-distance speaking tube, Shirley Yang and I rushed to the cockpit, retrieved a prepared wooden box and a black earthenware jar, readying ourselves to enact the secret art recorded in Banshan Tianhai. We were waiting for the opportune moment to use the morning's high tide to break through the outer reef cluster of the Coral Spiral in one sweep.