That's a conch.
A very large conch, which was bigger than Xiang Yang's two fists combined.
Xiang Yang was immediately surprised and swam over quickly to pick up the conch.
However, there are greater surprises yet to come.
"Could this be?" Xiang Yang held the conch with an uncertain expression on his face.
In fact, Xiang Yang had already recognized the species of the conch in his hand. Whether it was because he studied oceanography in college or because he was engaged in the shell selling business after graduation, he could recognize the species of the large conch in his hand at a glance.
There is no other reason, this conch is just too famous.
Phoenix conch, also known as the giant conch, is one of the four famous conchs in the world along with the crown conch, the conch and the nautilus. It is ranked first among the four famous conchs because of its unique appearance, beautiful patterns resembling peacock tail feathers and rare number. Phoenix conch is the most precious among all shells.
Due to the small number of Phoenix snails, the price of Phoenix snails on the market has remained high, but collectors who love shells still can't put them down.
Most of the Phoenix snails grow in the southwest Pacific Ocean, with the largest number in my country's South China Sea. They generally like to live under coral reefs or hide in water plants and kelp. They are an extremely precious resource bestowed by nature on mankind.
In addition, the conch can be made into a horn. The sound it produces is deep and loud, and is the symbol of the Buddha's Dharma. Legend has it that when it is blown, the gods will be happy, and those who hear it will have their sins eliminated. It is regarded as a thing that can ensure safety and drive away evil spirits.
Especially in Hunan Province, a branch of the witch clan who calls themselves Master, regards the conch as a treasure to be passed down. Whenever a Master finishes the three hangings of the contract and goes out to play cards, the master will pass on a deck of hexagrams, a card scripture, and a conch horn to the eldest disciple. Those three things are the symbols of the master, and the rest of the disciples just follow this master to make a living by beating drums and gongs.
In Hainan, Phoenix conch is called the sea god conch in addition to the big conch. It has a tall and pointed shape, less than half the total shell height. Each wide body layer often has two obvious longitudinal ribs. The shell surface is milky white with dark brown and crescent-shaped markings. The shell mouth is orange-brown, with white grooves between the teeth of the outer lip, white axial teeth, and dark brown patterns between the teeth, as gorgeous as a "phoenix tail". Its majestic and spirited appearance is a symbol of strength.
The reason why Xiang Yang's face was uncertain was that the conch was not dead, but alive.
A Phoenix snail of the size in Xiang Yang's hand is usually worth at least tens of thousands of yuan when it is dead. If it is in good condition, it can be worth at least one hundred thousand yuan. If it is made into a horn by a witch and passed down or enshrined in a temple, its value is limitless.
Aren’t livng conches worthless
Of course not. If the snails were just worthless when alive, Xiang Yang's expression wouldn't have been so gloomy. Xiang Yang couldn't revive a dead snail, but he did have a way to kill a living snail, and there was more than one way.
What is difficult for Xiang Yang is that the Phoenix snail is a protected animal.
Not to mention the Phoenix conch, which is the first of the four famous snails in the world, none of the four famous snails in the world, or even the top ten famous snails in the world, has a protection level lower than level two.
If Xiang Yang had picked up a dead conch shell, no one would have said a word to him because it was not a cultural relic and he could sell it openly after picking it up.
But if Xiang Yang fished up a living conch, he would definitely go to jail.
Xiang Yang thought carefully for a moment and finally felt that there was no need for him to kill the conch secretly. Some things might not be discovered by others, but once discovered, there would be no recovery.
After releasing the conch, Xiang Yang searched the surroundings more carefully.
Are you kidding? We have already found a living conch in this sea area. Are we still afraid that we won’t be able to find dead conch shells
What's more, after Xiang Yang searched the area carefully, he actually found several dead conch shells.
Unfortunately, the shells of these conchs are obviously damaged. Even the best-preserved one has a hole in the tail, and some are simply left with only a piece of debris.
The only intact conch shell found was also alive.
Xiang Yang was suddenly speechless.
Actually, this is easy to understand.
Snails lack effective means of attack, and once they are discovered by ferocious marine predators, they often have no choice but to wait for death.
The Phoenix snail has a thick shell, and marine predators cannot eat the snail meat inside the shell without destroying the shell. As a result, the only dead and complete Phoenix snail shells that can be found are those that died of natural causes such as old age or disease.
There are very few such shells.
Xiang Yang sighed and was about to step back, but when he turned around he was suddenly stunned.
Xiang Yang saw a palm-sized hole on a reef not far ahead, and four or five complete conch shells were piled up under the hole.
Xiang Yang stared in disbelief at the four or five conch shells, but when he saw them clearly, he became extremely excited.
Those snails were piled together, some even with their backs facing down, and it was obvious that they were all dead.
However, Xiang Yang did not approach immediately. After all, there was a dark hole on the reef above the pile of conch shells. If Xiang Yang guessed correctly, the murderer who killed those conchs lived in that hole.
"I hope it's not a sea snake." Xiang Yang took out the bioelectric gun and swam carefully towards that direction. The full-body diving suit on his body could help him defend against most dangers. As long as it was not a marine creature like a sea snake, it generally could not bite through his diving suit.
As a result, Xiang Yang was stunned again when he just took out the bio-electric gun.
The "murderer" who killed the four or five conches actually came out of the hole and "surrendered".
I saw two colorful and extremely beautiful tentacles coming out of the cave, and then a beautiful Chinese lobster poked its head out of the cave and looked outside quietly.
After waiting for a while, the Jingxiu lobster seemed to be sure that there was no danger outside and immediately crawled out of the cave.
After a moment of stunned silence, Xiang Yang was immediately overjoyed. This Jingxiu lobster weighed at least one or two kilograms, and it was also a "dead conch".
With a flash of his body, Xiang Yang instantly appeared above the giant Chinese lobster.
Xiang Yang's appearance scared the Chinese Jingxiu lobster. It had probably never seen a marine creature swimming as fast as Xiang Yang, so it immediately fled towards its hometown.