Chapter 13 Cooperation

Wu Xie tidied up the things on the table and placed a coin in the center: “This is the ruins of Heishui City of Xixia.” Then he put a pack of cigarettes on the side, “This is the approximate location of where Lan Ting went. Do you see anything?”

Li Cu gesticulated, “It’s very close.”

“Heishui City was a famous ancient city on the Silk Road. Later, in the Sui Dynasty, it was buried by sandstorms overnight and disappeared from sight. After that, it was discovered, excavated, and looted by Russian grave robbers in 1909.” Wu Xie said. “But it’s generally believed that the real wealth of Heishui City hasn’t yet been discovered. Before the Sui Dynasty, Heishui City was a frontier fortress, and countless people died around it. It also had several heydays throughout history. During the Tangut period, the Mongols guarding the city had accumulated huge wealth, and so the city’s rulers were besieged by the Central Plains army. Once their water supplies were cut off, they broke through the besieging army and fled into the desert. But when the Central Plains army entered the city, the soldiers didn’t find any treasure. Some people suspected that these Mongolians had brought it all into the Badan Jilin Desert. As a result, the Central Plains troops led people into the desert and followed the trail all the way to a place called Gutong Jing.”

Li Cu was stunned. He had already put together all the details and come to the final conclusion in his heart. Regardless of whether he believed it or not, Wu Xie’s narrative was really wonderful.

“They found the armor and weapons of the remaining Mongolian soldiers all scattered on the sand, but all of them had disappeared. There weren’t any signs of blood and no traces of a struggle, only these clothes and weapons.” Wu Xie said.

Li Cu gave an “Oh” and paused: “What’s your conclusion?”

Wu Xie sighed, lit another cigarette, and took a drag: “According to this legend, the Mongols must have been somewhere in the desert at that time. After they took away the treasure, they certainly couldn’t carry it all the time. They must have hidden it somewhere in the desert, and that place must be near Gutong Jing.” He smiled. “If Gutong Jing has the hidden ruins of ancient imperial tombs, it would be the best place to hide these things. As someone who deals in antiques, this is exactly the kind of information I’m looking for. So I sent my team to the desert to check it out. After four months, they finally found the place in the photo, but they didn’t found anything. The only clue,” Wu Xie pointed to Li Cu’s back, “is this picture. They found a Buddha statue in the ruins of a rock cave temple along the outer edge of Gutong Jing, but its clothing had many characteristics of ancient Mongolia. They found this picture painted on the Buddha statue’s back in the form of tattoo.”

Li Cu had heard Liang Wan say that they saw this picture on the back of a corpse, but he didn’t expect that to be a lie, and that the story behind it was so huge. “Wasn’t it on the back of an ancient corpse from the Sui Dynasty?”

“Wang Meng made that up.” Wu Xie said. “As you know, the person I put in charge at that time was Huang Yan. I had given up hope of getting something from that place since the people who came back seemed to have some mental problems, especially Huang Yan. He felt very strongly that this map had something to do with Gutong Jing and began frantically trying to solve the mystery. Later, I could hardly follow his trail and figure out what he was doing. But I made another mistake. I ignored this matter, and then that happened to your back.”

“Then what happened to him?” Li Cu asked. “How did he die?”

“He was killed.” Wu Xie flicked the cigarette ash. “I don’t know how he died, but he carved all the clues he found on your back before he did. This matter is very complicated, and I’m guessing that that picture may be able to tell us where the Mongol’s treasure is. So it might be dangerous to leave you here. If you follow us to the desert, no matter whether we find those things or not, I’ll say that we did. In this way, you won’t be exploited and will be safe.”

Li Cu touched his face. There was no denying that what Wu Xie said was really reasonable, but he still felt uncomfortable and had a deep desire to run. Only then did he realize that he was being cowardly and that he couldn’t really say that he didn’t know the situation—he could only promise now, but he still instinctively wanted to escape.

“Boss, to tell you the truth, you’re really sincere, but it’s precisely because of this sincerity that I feel uneasy. I think there’s a trap here. People in your industry can’t be so sincere.” Moreover, going to Gutong Jing is so dangerous, and it may make you crazy. Who would want to go?! Li Cu didn’t dare say this part out loud, but he muttered it to himself.

“As impossible as this business is, no one would believe such things. Now that you believe it, if you go back and rest, you’ll think I’m lying again. But the picture on your back does exist, and so does the danger.” Wu Xie looked at his watch. “I’ve told you everything I can tell you, so I’ll pick you up from the hospital in three days. Right now, I’m being polite and trusting you. But don’t try to fool me. If you do, I’ll be like a whole different person, and there won’t be any use in running. I can find you wherever you go.”

Li Cu listened to the elevator door close and was relieved to know that the group had really gone down.

“Open the door quickly! I’m going to suffocate to death.” Liang Wan shouted. Li Cu let her out and she rushed straight to the toilet.

Li Cu held his face in his hands and let himself slowly relax. He gritted his teeth and weakly thought: Oh my god, what kind of evil did I do? Have I lost my mind? Huang Yan made me a brain-dead person. I don’t know what’s going on. I’m living in an illusion.

How could these things happen to me? I haven’t even heard of this bullshit place in the Badan Jilin Desert. Badan my ass!

When Liang Wan asked him what was going on, he didn’t have the strength to give the details so he just gave her a rough account of the situation. As soon as Wu Xie had left, Li Cu’s inner fear spread like ink on rice paper, and the scales in his heart immediately tipped to the retreating side, no matter how wrong it might be.

Wu Xie had predicted very well. As Li Cu recalled the story and thought over it more, he increasingly felt like Wu Xie had made it up. And he really felt that these people had other intentions for going to the desert. As soon as Wu Xie left, Li Cu came to a decision almost immediately: “Sister, I have to go somewhere to hide. Immediately. These people are out of their minds. Can you lend me some money?”

Liang Wan ignored him, but immediately went to check his wound and see if there was anything wrong with it. She stared at his back thoughtfully, and Li Cu had to call her a few times before she responded and said, “Where are you going to hide?”

“I don’t know, I’ll buy a ticket and get on a bus somewhere. Maybe go to Tibet, or some scenic areas, or some remote place. Anyway, I’ll hide in a place where they can’t find me.”

“I advise you to stop using your head,” Liang Wan said slowly, touching his wound. “You’ll never escape him.”

“Why?”

“He left a photo on your back. You may have been in too much pain to feel it.”

Li Cu tried to raise his head and look at the photo but cried out almost immediately. He was unsure if it was because of the pain, or because he saw what was in the photo.

It was a photo of Li Cu’s family that had been taken in Houhai when he was still young. His parents hadn’t divorced yet, and the three of them stood very close together.

“Are these your parents?” Liang Wan asked.

“Yes. What does he mean? How did he get this picture?”

“It’s to warn you that if you run away, you’d better take your parents. Otherwise, they’ll take your place.”

Li Cu looked at the picture and felt his insides become cold. He had no idea what to do.

Could he run with his parents? No way! Not to mention the fact that his tough father wouldn’t listen to him, his mother also had her own life now. How would he tell them about it? Moreover, this matter was full of so much bullshit that there was no way they would believe it. Just like when they were young, if they had valued and believed in each other, then they wouldn’t have come to divorce.

He stared blankly at the photo, sighed, and squeezed it in his hand.

Instead of coming to a decision, he found that the only thing he could do was not make a decision and wait to see how things would develop.

**

Long ago, my grandfather always told me that I had to understand people’s “motives”, which he called their original purpose. For a period of time, I confused motivation with the final goal, but I later realized that motivation came from the beginning, while the goal was often last. During the developmental process, the goal was constantly changing, and sometimes even went opposite the beginning.

——Wu Xie

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