Chapter 16 Wu Xie’s plan

As the sun set, this desert seemed like the great desert described in “The Legend of Chu Liuxiang”. Under the sun’s dimming light, the sand dunes changed from golden yellow to sandy red. The shadowed parts became darker and darker, and the continuous sand dunes presented a very three-dimensional light and shadow effect. Standing on the high slope, the setting sun and the boundless desert gave people a shocking sense of beauty.

Looking at such scenery, even the most obstinate and unwilling people would be penetrated and moved by the beauty.

Li Cu sat on the camel and looked at the people in front of him, temporarily forgetting what had happened as he immersed himself in the beautiful scenery. It wasn’t until the camel in front of him stopped and a small lake surrounded by green grass appeared in front of him that he woke up from his reverie and realized that he didn’t know why he had come here.

He recalled how everything that had happened during this period of time was so strange and fast that he hadn’t even had a chance to digest it. Half a month ago, he was more worried about his father beating him, and the teacher nosing into his business, but now these things weren’t even worth mentioning. First, his back was cut with a knife to look like the picture of the river during the Qingming Festival, and now he was forced to go to a place where birds wouldn’t even take a shit.

No, as soon as he thought that, he saw several unknown birds flying out of the lake toward the direction of the setting sun. There were still birds shitting here, apparently.

How did he get here without even worrying about whether the teacher would count him as absent from school? The awesome reason why he was cutting class was because he was coerced into it.

The best way to make suffering insignificant was to bear even more terrible suffering. But for Li Cu, if this wasn’t a personal experience, then the so-called great suffering was simply an exciting life adventure.

The expedition finally stopped and prepared to set up camp. Wang Meng and Ma Rila were obviously the laborers, while Wu Xie was the boss. He strolled to the edge of the haizi, scooped up some water to wash his face, and then sat down on the bank.

Seeing that no one had asked for his help, Li Cu also went over to wash his face like Wu Xie. The wound on his back was particularly itchy, and the haizi was one of the fresh-water ones with a very low temperature. Li Cu thought that if no one else was around, then he could’ve stripped naked and jumped down to have a nice, comfortable time.

But the top priority right now is to continue chatting with this boss and talk about feelings, so as to promote the development of things later on. I can also learn more information by chatting with him, Li Cu thought to himself.

But just when he sat down next to Wu Xie at the water’s edge, Wu Xie stood up and began to undress. Soon, he had taken off all his clothes and headed for the haizi.

He walked straight down until the water reached his waist, turned to Li Cu, and then said, “Take off your clothes.”

When Li Cu looked behind him and saw that there were women in the team, he shook his head and said, “No, you’re immoral.”

“Don’t you want to know my plan?” He splashed his face with water and took a deep breath. “I want to tell you, but you don’t want to hear it now?”

Li Cu felt a little puzzled. This man is clearly a psychopath, it’s not necessary to talk about things like this.

“Do you want to hear it or not?” Wu Xie seemed a little impatient.

When Li Cu looked at the camp behind him and saw that nobody seemed to notice them at all, he took off his clothes and carefully walked into the water while darkly scolding to himself.

The cool water flooded his body, instantly soothing his dry skin and causing extreme joy to well up in his heart. He continued to walk deeper into the water until he reached Wu Xie’s side, and then splashed his face with water, immediately feeling dizzy.

Bathing in a bay of cold water in the desert was really the pinnacle of worldly enjoyment.

He looked up at Wu Xie. Wu Xie wiped the water off his face and said, “You must promise me first that you’ll never tell anyone what I’m about to tell you.”

“That’s natural.” Li Cu said, wondering if such verbal promises were really valid. It’s impossible for me to refuse to make that promise in this situation, since you’ll never tell me if I do.

“I’m not saying this casually,” Wu Xie said. “If you tell others, you’re the only one who will be responsible for the consequences, so don’t blame me. I know you’re in a very awkward position, since following me after taking my money certainly doesn’t make you completely willing. During this trip into the desert, I’ll protect you as much as I can in my own way, but I can’t help it if you kill yourself. In the end, I’ll naturally want to save my own life.”

Li Cu nodded: “I understand, I’ll never say anything.”

Wu Xie said: “I do everything for a reason, and you’ll know my intentions later.” He paused and continued, “My plan is to follow the team into Gutong Jing, and then use my methods to get them to stay there for three to four days. During this time, I’ll follow the marks Huang Yan had left before and try to find a way to interpret the mystery of this pattern on your back. If I find clues, I’ll make up an excuse for leaving in advance and separate from them so as to finish my own work. The whole process won’t require your help. You just need to be ready to leave with me at any time. But there are some things I really need to remind you of first.”

Li Cu said, “Go ahead.”

“Who do you think I trust the most in our current team?” Wu Xie suddenly asked him.

Li Cu was stunned and said to himself, How do I know, why are you suddenly asking me? “Manager Wang.” He replied casually.

Wu Xie smiled, “No, it’s you.”

“Me?”

Li Cu muttered to himself: What are you doing? Are you increasing my loyalty? It’s no use, I don’t understand what you’re thinking when you say something like this. My loyalty is even lower now.

This kind of rhetoric is too far-fetched. To put it bluntly, I’m half a hostage, so how can you trust me the most?

“Keep an eye on everyone in this team for me. We’re not the only ones with bad intentions.” Wu Xie said.

Li Cu nodded and smiled bitterly in his heart, feeling that there was definitely something wrong with Wu Xie’s brain. It’s weird for me to help you keep an eye on people. It would be good if I could do that with my own life.

At that time, he didn’t think too much about these words, nor did he understand why Wu Xie had to strip and get into the water before saying these things to him.

The two men soaked in the water for a while, but Wu Xie didn’t speak again. The two of them pretended to bathe comfortably, but after more than ten minutes, Li Cu couldn’t stand it anymore and asked, “So this is your plan?”

“Yes.”

“With such a plan, did I really have to come into the water and make a promise to you?” Li Cu almost spit out a mouthful of blood.

Wu Xie shook his head and sighed, “It’s not the length of the speech that matters.” He said quietly. “But I can show you one more thing.”

The two of them went ashore. Wu Xie casually shook the water droplets from his body, wiped his lower body with his jacket, put on his pants, and then— upper body still bare— took something from his backpack.

“This is…” Li Cu took it and glanced at it, finding that it was a photo. Wu Xie wasn’t in it; there was only desert scenery. “What kind of photo is this?”

“This is one of the photos Huang Yan brought back. If you take a closer look, it has a mark. As we enter the desert, you must always pay attention to these marks. They’ll help us find the clues Huang Yan left.”

Li Cu looked at the photo. It was a dilapidated stone building that looked a bit like a water tower half buried in the sand. The numbers 033 could be seen on it. This kind of building must have been a former sentry tower in the desert.

Li Cu looked at Wu Xie: “033 is the mark?”

Wu Xie nodded and Li Cu said: “The marks are arranged in order, followed by 034 and 035. Is this to show the sequence of events?”

Wu Xie nodded again. Li Cu looked at the photo and frowned. “But this mark is so big, was he not afraid others would see it?”

Wu Xie smiled and took the photo: “I also found it strange. I don’t know what Huang Yan met in that place, but he was a little crazy after he came back. I don’t understand what caused this behavior either, but I can only take one step at a time.”

“Do you believe what Lan Ting said is true?” Li Cu asked again. “If it’s true, have you taken any preventative measures? Otherwise we’ll end up in the same situation.”

Wu Xie sighed and suddenly smiled: “If only that were the case. I’m a relatively unlucky person, and will definitely encounter something more wonderful than this.”

<Chapter 15> <Table of Contents><Chapter 17>

********

TN Notes: Sorry dears, only two chapters tonight 😦 I had to give my house keys to my friend so she could check on my cats while I’m off on my adventure to the beach, and I think she’s done that self-isolation crap because she was SO CHATTY. I was trying to get in and get out but she talked my ear off for an hour lol. Anyywayysss, I bet Wu Xie decided to get naked and make Li Cu go into the water because he knew Li Cu’s back was hurting him and the water would help. WHAT A GOOD BRO!!! (Even if that’s not the case, let me have my fantasies of cinnamon roll Wu Xie being back lol)