The Mountain-Moving Daoists possess the art of "Drifting Melon to Catch Fish." Following tradition, they must first offer sacrifices to the "Melon God" and the "Fish Lord." While this is a somewhat optional formality, we adhered to the steps, not minding the extra effort, lest some unforeseen hitch lead to later regret. In days past, when fishermen or egg collectors caught a large sea creature, they customarily paid tribute to the Fish Lord; in the eyes of these sea-farers, the huge fish of the ocean were all descendants of dragons, and the so-called "Fish Lord" was none other than the Dragon King of the South Sea. In truth, some sea fish weighed thousands of pounds, their sheer bulk inspiring awe. To kill such a massive creature required considerable mental fortitude, so perhaps this worship of the Fish Lord was merely an excuse to find some psychological comfort.

The boat captain, Ruan Hei, led everyone in finishing the incense burning. He then took a jar of aged fine wine from the cabin and poured it into the sea—this served as the offering to the Fish Lord Dragon King. Previously, when egg collectors entered the sea, their only means of subsistence were a few handfuls of sand, a stone-sliver water-parting dagger, and a pig's bladder used for breathing. Before descending, they would drench their entire bodies in cold water, trying to mask the heat signature of a living person to avoid attack by vicious fish. They were essentially trading their very lives for Southern Pearls.

The Mountain-Moving Daoists are interested in every kind of pearl, whether held in the mouths of the dead or naturally formed underwater, yet to be harvested; they seek ways to acquire them through their arts. They approached the South Sea egg harvesting method from a unique angle, with their most skilled members specializing in Qimen Fangji—mastery over various esoteric and secret formulas. Though most of these folk remedies were not recorded in orthodox classics, they possessed remarkable efficacy. Before setting out, we had stocked the cargo ship with large quantities of semi-ripe watermelons and several large sacks of quicklime, all of which were now put to use.

We set up a stove on the bow, used buckets to draw water, and dissolved the quicklime to create a semi-boiling mixture. We cut fist-sized openings into the watermelons, scooped out the flesh, poured in the lime water, and then sealed the melon rinds back in place. The seams of the rinds were plugged with a viscous adhesive made by boiling mudskippers mixed with marsh grass. Then, one by one, we tossed the quicklime-filled melons into the sea.

The melons, filled with boiling lime water, floated on the surface, bobbing between sinking and floating. Just as they were about to submerge, the water erupted, and a fish nearly ten meters long parted the waves, swallowing the lime-filled watermelon whole. The fish’s body used the momentum to leap high into the air, pausing briefly before crashing back down onto the water with a heavy thud, sending spray flying everywhere.

Any aquatic creature attracted by the luminous essence within the giant clams is sensitive to the Yin essence of the moon's radiance, possessing an innate aversion to Yang. Upon encountering the round watermelons bobbing in the sea, bearing the Yin essence of the mudskippers, they scrambled to devour them. Suddenly, the sea surface erupted with a flurry of activity as various large fish breached the water to gulp down the melons. Though the watermelons cooled from the seawater contact, they remained intensely hot inside, and the lime within boiled even more vigorously upon contact with water. Once swallowed, the melon rind instantly split, and the intense heat generated by the quicklime reacting with water easily burned through the fish's belly, causing several dead fish to float belly-up almost immediately.

As we threw more and more melons, any sea fish that consumed one was doomed. Dead fish constantly surfaced, churning the ocean. These large fish were naturally ferocious and hideous; the sight of them being burned to death internally by the lime was agonizing. Moreover, their eyes were naturally wide open, making them look as if they died without finding peace. We stood on the deck, utterly shocked. We had been psychologically prepared, but we never imagined that the secret technique of the "Mountain-Moving Daoists" for killing fish would be so swift and ruthless.

I waved to Ruan Hei, signaling for them to prepare to dive. Captain Ruan Hei and Duoling immediately changed into their diving gear, taking their rebreathers, goggles, and egg-collecting instruments, waiting for the signal in the small boat lowered off the ship's side. Fatty and the others continued tossing melons into the sea. The lurking aquatic life in this area seemed endless; as soon as one school died, another emerged, convulsing on the surface while fighting over the dead bait. Fatty cried out that things looked bad; their prior estimation was insufficient—if this continued, they would run out of both watermelons and quicklime.

I instructed Fatty and the others not to throw the watermelons too quickly, ensuring that one fish didn't swallow two melons—they had to be used sparingly, making every toss count as eliminating one enemy. If the vicious fish surrounding the giant clam were not entirely cleared out, descending to collect eggs would invite disaster. Even if they didn't bite, a solid ram from one of them on the seabed would leave a diver severely incapacitated. There was no turning back now; it was either victory or total failure. If they exhausted all the watermelons and still couldn't eliminate the large fish near the coral tree, they would have to return home and wait for another day. However, securing such perfectly suitable weather and tidal conditions might require waiting an unknown amount of time to revisit the Coral Spiral.

At this point, Shirley Yang’s face paled slightly, witnessing such a heavy slaughter—nearly two hundred massive sea fish had died in less than the time it takes to eat a meal. But it was too late for regret. I advised her that since the killing had already begun, she absolutely could not afford to go soft; stopping now would mean the deaths were in vain. After all, if a ship went down, the crew and egg collectors who fell into the water would all end up as fish food anyway. Although class liquidation wasn't exactly fashionable now, we could treat this as vengeance for the egg collectors.

Frankly, I didn't care much about the dead fish; failing to eliminate them all meant diving down would be feeding them. I was only worried internally about the endless killing, fearing we might return empty-handed. Fortunately, just as they were down to about thirty melons, no more dead fish surfaced from the sea. I presumed these large fish with thick scales and gaping maws were all annihilated. Due to limitations imposed by the underwater currents, sea creatures rarely crossed boundaries. However, a few aggressive fish, lured by the essence of the clam pearls, lingered around the coral forest. Once they were all eliminated, there would be no further worries when diving for the eggs, and other aquatic life would not rashly enter this vacuum zone in the short term.

Captain Ruan Hei, who had always risked his life as an egg collector, watched this "Drifting Melon to Catch Fish" technique prove so devastating—clearing out all the large fish lurking near the coral tree in under half an hour—and was utterly dumbfounded by its ruthless efficiency. I called out to him several times before he snapped out of his trance. He pressed his thumb down, making the signal for us to dive, and then he and his half-breed apprentice, Duoling, adjusted their diving gear and leaned backward over the edge of the small boat, tumbling into the water.

Seeing the team enter the water, Shirley Yang called to me and Uncle Ming, "The team needs to get to the bottom hold and prepare to descend." Although many aggressive predatory fish had been cleared, the underwater situation remained unpredictable, and the peace might not last long. Time was limited, so our three-person team also needed to get into the water quickly.