The two quickly swam over and saw that it was indeed a statue, with only the decoration on its head visible, while the rest of the body was covered by mud and sand.

Feng Ye and A-Can exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and surprise in each other's eyes.

Because they recognized the ornament as the crown worn by the goddess Mazu.

Crown: The ceremonial hat worn by emperors, feudal lords, and high-ranking officials in ancient times. The emperor's crown had twelve tassels, while that of feudal lords had nine tassels.

The goddess Mazu wore a nine-tassel crown.

Feng Ye was extremely shocked. He had only guessed that there might be one nearby, but he never expected to actually find a statue of Mazu.

He was very excited.

Mazu, the guardian deity of the sea, actually appeared before them.

Feng Ye took a deep breath, nodded to A-Can, and the two of them carefully cleaned away the mud and sand around the statue.

As the mud and sand were gradually cleared away, the face of Mazu was revealed.

His face was lifelike, kind and solemn, wearing a jeweled crown, sitting on a throne, his gaze deep and distant, as if he could see into people's hearts and understand all things in the world.

It's a pity that the nine tassels on the crown are gone, and the color of the entire statue has been corroded and dimmed, but it still does not diminish His majesty and holiness.

They carefully continued clearing away the surrounding mud and sand until the entire statue was fully revealed.

Looking at the statue, Feng Ye couldn't help but feel a surge of reverence.

He knew that this statue was not just an artifact, but a symbol that carried the faith and hope of countless fishermen.

The two tried to lift it, but found it to be very heavy. With their strength, they could only lift it a little bit, and it was impossible to lift it to float up.

"Goddess Mazu, please wait a little longer."

Feng Ye muttered to himself, tugged at Ah Can, and pointed towards the sea.

Ah Can immediately understood Feng Ye's meaning, and the two quickly rose to the surface and returned to the sea.

Feng Ye immediately climbed onto the boat, grabbed one end of the rope, and dived back into the sea to secure the rope firmly to the statue. The other end was then hung on the crane by A-Can.

As the crane began to work, the statue of Mazu was slowly lifted up and emerged from the water.

As soon as the statue emerged from the water, the sea breeze seemed to carry a mysterious power, making the surrounding air solemn and dignified.

The statue still had some mud and sand on it, so the two of them fetched seawater and washed the mud and sand off.

Presumably, Mazu wouldn't blame them for using seawater, after all, she is the goddess of the sea.

The two knelt down respectfully and kowtowed three times to the goddess Mazu.

It's a pity there were no incense or candles on the boat, otherwise we would have definitely prepared some for the Goddess Mazu.

"The Japanese devils stole the statue of Mazu, and the statue of Shunfeng'er must also be at the bottom of the sea. Ah Can, let's go down and look for it."

"That's what I think too."

The two dived into the sea once again.

Sure enough, not long after, they found the statue of Shunfeng'er (the god of the wind) in the mud and sand.

Like the Thousand-Mile Eye, this statue is also cast in bronze, holding a halberd in its left hand and pointing to its ear with its right.

It was also eroded by seawater and covered with a thick layer of copper oxide, losing its original color, but its outline and features can still be seen.

Besides these three statues, Feng Ye and A Can also discovered many other treasures scattered throughout the seabed.

Various exquisite porcelain pieces, some broken and some intact, as well as bronzes, gold and silver wares, jade artifacts, and more.

However, these items were all relatively large; none of the smaller ones were seen, perhaps they were covered by mud and sand.

On the warship, they discovered even more treasures, all antiques passed down from various dynasties.

One of the golden Buddha heads was particularly coveted, and they really wanted to take it with them.

But after returning to the surface and exchanging words, the two ultimately decided against it.

The main problem is that this thing is hard to get rid of or hide once it's taken back, so it's better to leave it at the bottom of the sea for now and make a plan later.

The same goes for everything else; they didn't bring anything with them.

However, to prevent the scattered treasures from being lost after being covered by mud and sand, they moved all the treasures onto the warship.

As for proactively reporting it, neither of them had the awareness to do so.

Although the items on the seabed are supposed to belong to the state, almost all fishermen don't think that way; they just think whoever catches them owns them.

But Feng Ye had a premonition that once these three statues appeared, they would be regarded as a rare sight and spread throughout the entire town, and even the entire county, within two days.

Perhaps this will attract the attention of the county cultural relics bureau.

...

When the Rising Sun docked, it was already past seven o'clock, and the sun had already set.

There weren't many people on the dock at this time; most had already gone home.

Shortly after they landed, another ship followed and docked next to the Rising Sun.

The people on the fishing boats nearby were stunned when they saw the three statues on the Rising Sun.

People living by the sea worship Mazu, not only by going to Mazu temples to burn incense, but also by bringing a small statue of Mazu onto their boats for worship.

But no one would bring a statue as big as the one on the Japanese ship now onto the ship.

After all, space on a ship is limited.

Even the statues of Mazu in the temple on Baishi Island are several sizes smaller than these three.

"Where did you find Mazu, the goddess of the sea, and those with eyes that can see a thousand miles and ears that can hear the wind?"

Hearing the sound, Feng Ye turned around and saw that the fishing boat moored next to him belonged to Chen Lusheng.

He was just unloading his catch from the hold and didn't notice whose fishing boat was next to him.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!