Dream Breaker

The wooden carving was only about a palm high, dark and unpolished. It depicted a person with nine snakes growing from their chin.

The craftsmanship was poor, with many details blurred. It lacked any artistic creativity and was certainly not a valuable item.

If its origin were known, or if it perfectly represented a specific artistic style, it could fetch ten thousand yuan.

However, if it were merely known to be an old item from several hundred years ago and nothing more, it might only sell for a few hundred to a thousand yuan.

Appraisal was crucial for an antique. Without a master to explain its intricacies, it wouldn't be worth anyone's while to spend a large sum on it.

Mo Qiong put down the wooden carving and turned to select jewelry instead.

Apart from Zhang He and Xiao Kun, the others weren't very knowledgeable about such items. They chose things based on intuition and guesswork.

For example, some picked pearl necklaces, thinking that such a long string of pearls, uniform in size and with a bright white luster, would be expensive even just for the pearls themselves.

Others placed more importance on items like jade Buddhas, reasoning that the more artistic value an antique possessed, the more it was worth. They believed that the excellent carving of the Buddha sculpture, a crystallization of ancient art, must be valuable.

Still others were drawn to royal items like paperweights, thinking they must have been used by some king and would be more valuable once appraised as items used by famous people.

In short, everyone had their own ideas, and they divided the spoils with great enthusiasm.

Even if multiple people fancied the same item, they would discuss it amongst themselves, offering to trade items.

No one thought about taking undue advantage; they were all respectable people, and their families knew each other well.

Taking such a small advantage was pointless unless one could take it all.

But was that even possible? Zhang He had discovered these items and distributed them as equitably as possible, which was already very generous.

Mo Qiong wasn't good at picking these things. He chose a few items that no one else wanted, and Zhang He couldn't stand watching.

He personally helped Mo Qiong choose, handing him two nice jade pendants.

"You should pick more items with inscriptions or patterns, otherwise how will the appraisers judge them? A jade thumb ring with no markings is basically only worth the price of the jade," Zhang He said.

Mo Qiong smiled, unconcerned.

"I've already made a fortune on this trip. Adding these items, the share of gold and silver, and the previous seven million, I should get around thirty million yuan? That's enough for me for a long time. What difference would a few million more make?"

Zhang He shook his head. "A few million more has its uses. You're too easily satisfied."

Mo Qiong chuckled, "I don't have that big an appetite. If I'm not satisfied after almost getting thirty million for free on a sea trip, when will I ever be satisfied?"

"Yeah, we practically found money this time. We still have to pull some strings, but you, my friend, just stumbled upon it purely by chance," Zhang He said, pointing at Mo Qiong with a smile.

Xiao Kun laughed, "No way, I feel like I'm losing out. I'll help you guys auction these things, you all have to give me a commission."

Mo Qiong smiled, "No problem, take whatever percentage you think is fair."

"Thinking about it, you're a real European Emperor. Ever since you got on this ship, our luck has been incredible, constantly encountering surprises. We've never had such good fortune on our sea voyages before. You found pearls when diving, and you got the biggest one. Now we've found treasure, and it's you and Zhang He. Even your card-playing luck has been good," Xiao Kun said.

Mo Qiong quickly replied, "The best luck was staying alive, wasn't it? If you guys hadn't run into me, I wouldn't have gotten on your ship."

He then looked at Zhang He and said, "Right, Zhang He, let's just say you discovered all these items yourself. Everyone else can just collect their share. You've found so many valuable things this time, who in the sailing community won't know your name?"

Zhang He was taken aback. "This... is that okay?"

Mo Qiong turned to everyone else. "What do you guys think?"

They looked at each other and said, "It doesn't matter to us. We're not that deeply involved in the sailing community, and he's the only one who's so dramatic about it."

Xiao Kun added, "I don't care about the rest, anyway, this crown of mine was something my family bought from someone else."

In the end, everyone agreed on a unified story and finalized the distribution of benefits.

Zhang He profited the most, earning almost as much as everyone else combined, and gained fame.

Xiao Kun also gained a lot. Although he only casually picked out two pieces of jewelry, he obtained the most precious, priceless treasure.

Among the remaining people, the distribution was largely equal, appearing to be roughly the same.

However, after appraisal, some would inevitably end up with more and some with less. Mo Qiong would certainly be the one who earned the least.

Apart from the two nice accessories Zhang He had insisted on giving him, he had chosen from what was left over.

Even the wooden carving, which no one bothered to take, he had consciously put into his own collection.

Everyone saw this and, on the way back, completely accepted him into their circle.

That evening, Mo Qiong returned to his cabin, placed the wooden carving by his bedside, and lay down to sleep.

Everyone had noted down what they received, and they would all go through Xiao Kun's channel for auction.

As for the wooden carving, Xiao Kun said it wouldn't even qualify for auction, so they would just sell it at a random antique shop.

While fast asleep, Mo Qiong, unusually, had a dream.

He hadn't dreamed in days, but that night, he suddenly had a nightmare.

It was on a dark sea, and Mo Qiong found himself sinking into the water, constantly descending.

Dreams have no beginning. Mo Qiong didn't know, nor did he try to figure out, why he was sinking in the sea.

He only wanted to reach the surface, to breathe freely, but he couldn't. He just kept sinking.

It was as if he were caught in a massive whirlpool, unable to escape, being forced down into a dark abyss.

Mo Qiong struggled with all his might, wanting to shoot something, but he had nothing. All around him was only seawater.

Even controlling the surrounding seawater to surge couldn't resist the unseen force that was determined to drag him into the abyss.

The pitch-black depths of the seabed were like a giant dark mouth, constantly swallowing Mo Qiong.

Mo Qiong choked on water painfully, mouthful after mouthful, until the last bit of air in his lungs was expelled and filled with seawater. He was still falling.

His struggles grew more intense because the pain didn't lessen at all. Instead, the deeper he sank, the more terrifying the water pressure became.

His muscles, bones, and internal organs were being crushed. Fear and despair gnawed at him madly.

What kind of torment was it to suffocate for a long time yet not die? What kind of torture was it to have pressure that could flatten iron applied to the human body, and only get worse?

In the darkness, he couldn't see the surface at all. He felt like he had fallen thousands of meters into the deep sea.

He sank very quickly, not even reaching the bottom. This deep sea was like an endless abyss. Forget the seabed, there wasn't even a rock.

There were no fish either. It seemed like there was only seawater.

He could only go deeper and deeper.

Mo Qiong was in unbearable pain, yet unable to die. He struggled frantically, just wanting to alleviate the suffering even a little.

Suddenly, a wisp of air appeared in the deep sea.

The air that appeared abruptly didn't exist in the sea as bubbles. Instead, it was like an eraser wiping away a blank space against the dark background.

"Boom!"

Almost simultaneously, the entire endless ocean was destroyed.

Mo Qiong could be very sure that it was a destruction, like the Earth falling into a black hole, perishing with overwhelming force.

Everything suddenly went out like a screen being turned off, collapsing into a line, and then vanishing instantly.

"Ugh..."

Mo Qiong's eyes snapped open, and he sat up in bed.

He greedily breathed in the air, feeling utterly weak.

He checked the time; it was still the middle of the night.

"So it was a dream..." Mo Qiong relaxed and lay back on the bed.

"Right, if I was dreaming, did I specify a landing spot? And I breathe when I sleep, so did air get shot into the dream?"

He was still a bit groggy from just waking up, but thinking about this, Mo Qiong became completely alert.

He frantically tried to recall the details of the dream. Although everything had become blurry, he still remembered the general events.

"Real matter appeared in the illusory dream, and thus the entire dream... collapsed?"

"But why did it feel like I was drowning for so long... That's right, maybe my prolonged drowning was just my brain thinking too fast. In reality, I only just started this dream a few seconds ago."

Thinking this, Mo Qiong scratched his head. He realized that he might never have long dreams again.

Basically, any dream lasting one or two seconds would be destroyed the moment he exhaled, directly shattering the dream.

Even if he had a long dream, it would be because the content of the dream itself spanned a long period of time.

"Tsk tsk, so from now on, no matter what dream I have, it will interrupt itself."

"I'll never be able to finish any dream again..."