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1815 Chapter 22

So, a few days later, when Li Cu and his friends were playing, they had another chance to pass by that warehouse. He remembered what his father had said a few days ago, and his curiosity made it impossible for him to control himself.

He secretly found a tree to climb up and then crawled along the branches to the top of the warehouse. At that time, the roof of the warehouse was covered with asbestos tiles. He lifted a few tiles and, seeing that there was no one below, he stealthily climbed inside, sliding down the beams and columns to the ground.

However, when he reached the ground, he discovered that everything had been cleared out. The entire warehouse only contained some moisture-proof tarps that had been draped over the items at the time.

He rummaged around in the empty, dim warehouse, naively hoping to find a few items that might have been left behind to see what they were. But he found nothing except for a delivery note in a corner that had been trampled on, which recorded countless transaction details.

On that note, he saw a symbol for the first time, and it wasn’t until he was in high school that he understood what that symbol meant.

The meaning was: Biochemical contamination hazard.

Later, he checked a lot of information and inadvertently saw a strange container in a book that he had seen at that time; it was a device for sealing biochemical materials. Moreover, this device was a special piece of equipment, as the number of rivets on the outside represented the degree of sealing and also indicated the danger level of the contents inside.

In the picture he saw in the book, the container had four rivets on four sides. But the one he saw in the warehouse had nearly ten rivets.

After learning about that item, he immediately understood why his father had such a nervous reaction, because this kind of thing was very dangerous. At that time, at least five thousand people lived in that factory area. If there were any hazardous materials stored in the warehouse without proper management and the doors were left wide open, it would indeed be very irresponsible towards those five thousand people.

Therefore, this strange container left a deep impression on him. Now, seeing it again, he instinctively felt a sense of fear towards it.

10. Two Hypotheses and Three Possibilities

Regarding Li Cu’s thought that “this thing contains very dangerous materials,” others remained noncommittal.

For them, the sudden appearance of this item was merely a twist of fate; if they hadn’t been resting by the lake, their equipment wouldn’t have been thrown into the water, and this incident wouldn’t have happened.

From the perspective of those involved in the project investigation, the most urgent matter at hand was to see if this equipment could still be used, in order to determine whether this exploration should continue—whether the project could proceed represented many things: money, honor, and opportunities for promotion.

Thus, Wu Xie didn’t pay too much attention to these people, only expressing agreement with Li Cu’s thoughts. After the others dispersed, the few of them gathered by the lake and started a fire to continue discussing this strange matter.

Wu Xie, the first to speak, said: “Last night, these pieces of equipment were definitely thrown into the water on purpose. The purpose of throwing them into the water can only be one of two things: the first is to stop us from moving forward, bringing this investigation to an end; the second is to lure us to discover this thing at the bottom of the water.”

“From a common sense perspective, the first possibility seems more likely. However, upon closer examination, there are very subtle contradictions. First of all, how did the perpetrator know that these instruments would be rendered unusable once thrown into the water? Generally, more advanced exploration instruments are waterproof, dustproof, and shockproof, yet most of those she threw into the water happened to be non-waterproof. This indicates that the perpetrator is very familiar with the condition of our various instruments.” Wu Xie exhaled a puff of smoke, glanced at the endless sand dunes in the distance, and continued, “If this assumption holds, then the perpetrator might be among our team, and it should be one or more of those from the archaeology department, because it is unlikely that the rest of us would be so familiar with those obscure instruments.”

1814 Chapter 21 – The Sealed Box

Li Cu knew what this thing was partly because of his family background. He lived in a factory area in Beijing, where many of the factories were related to military industry. Although not all the products manufactured were for military use, a significant portion of the products supplied to the military were produced there.

It was in the warehouses of this factory area that Li Cu first saw this kind of thing when he was still very young. One night, after his father finished his night shift, he took him through the warehouse district, where both sides of the road were lined with large warehouses that were five people high.

At that time, one of the warehouse doors was open, and the yellow light of incandescent bulbs was shining inside. Since the road was pitch black in both directions, his attention was naturally drawn to the light coming from the warehouse.

Although the distance from the road to the warehouse door was short, he couldn’t see much. He only saw some parts he had never encountered before, each about the size of a wheelchair tire, piled up in the warehouse.

Children are naturally curious, and walking on a dark road made him feel anxious, so when he saw this strange thing, he couldn’t help but ask his father, “Dad, what are those things?”

He clearly remembered that his father was a bit absent-minded at that moment, lost in thought as they walked forward. Upon hearing his question, he turned his head toward the warehouse. In that instant, Li Cu felt his father’s grip on his hand tremble.

Then, that large hand let go, and his father rushed into the warehouse, starting to yell angrily inside.

Because the situation happened so suddenly, Li Cu didn’t catch what his father was shouting about. He vaguely heard some scattered words that seemed to relate to the manager not closing the warehouse door properly. Indeed, it was nighttime, and the warehouse door shouldn’t have been left open.

However, Li Cu felt that his father shouldn’t have been so angry over such a minor issue; he was a bit stunned by his father’s reaction. Afterward, his father came out, personally closed the warehouse door, and then took Li Cu along to continue their way.

He remembered that his father’s hand was shaking at that time, but he didn’t understand that some questions shouldn’t be asked in such situations. He still curiously pressed his father, “Dad, what are those?”

His father didn’t answer him but picked him up and said, “These are very dangerous things, Little Duck Pear. You must remember, never come near this warehouse to play. And don’t touch what you just saw, okay?”

“Dad, why?” Li Cu wanted to know more, but his father didn’t say anything else and just carried him away into the darkness.

Later on, Li Cu felt that his father made a mistake in this situation because, at his age, intimidation could sometimes be effective, but it had to be very concrete. Simply saying “this thing is dangerous” wasn’t enough.

Only descriptions like “you could lose your hand” or “you could go blind” could truly scare a child. At that time, children didn’t really understand what danger was. The word “dangerous” could even heighten their curiosity instead.

1813 Chapter 20 – Things That Cannot Be Touched

That night, Li Cuo didn’t know how long he had slept; he had been dreaming all night. When he woke up, it was already noon the next day.

Li Cuo found it strange that no one had come to call him and that the team hadn’t set off. Was everyone in the expedition team still sleeping in?

After a moment of self-encouragement, he crawled out of his sleeping bag and walked outside the tent.

The tent could block out the cold as well as the heat, but when Li Cuo stepped out, a wave of heat hit him, and the sunlight was so bright it looked like it had been rendered by a computer.

Once he adjusted to the light, he saw that nearly everyone in the expedition team was standing by the lake, their attention captivated by something in the water, completely oblivious to him.

Li Cuo glanced at the camels the expedition had brought and thought that this was a good opportunity to escape, if only he knew how to ride a camel and the way back. Unfortunately, that was clearly impossible, so he quickly dismissed the idea.

Then he moved closer to the crowd and saw several soldiers had stripped down and were trying to retrieve something from the lake.

“What’s going on?” he yawned and asked a nearby person. The person replied, “Someone threw all our equipment into the lake.”

“Ah? Who did it?”

“I don’t know. Normally, this place should be very safe, so we didn’t arrange for anyone to keep watch last night. No one expected someone would do something like this here. Look, the soldiers are fishing it out now; whatever they pull up will be set aside to see if it can be dried and used again.”

Li Cuo turned his head to see Wu Xie and Professor Wang fiddling with some of the retrieved items, and he asked, “Are these devices important?”

“If they can’t be repaired, there’s an 80% chance we’ll have to go back,” the person said. “This is an expedition, not a sightseeing trip.” Li Cuo walked over to Wu Xie, and just as he was about to speak, Wu Xie waved his hand, saying, “I’m not in the mood to answer any of your questions right now.”

“I wasn’t going to ask you a question,” Li Cuo replied. “I just wanted to remind you of something.”

“What?”

Originally, Li Cuo wanted to tell him about the shadow he had captured in the camera, but just as Wu Xie finished speaking, someone shouted from the direction of the lake, and a commotion broke out in the crowd.

Wu Xie and Professor Wang immediately stood up and ran over, and Li Cuo had no choice but to follow. He dashed over and saw several people surrounding the retrieved equipment, pointing and discussing.

“What is this? You just brought the stuff here; what are you all mumbling about?”

“This isn’t our equipment,” one of the soldiers responsible for the retrieval said.

The soldier pointed at one of the retrieved items and said, “I recognize everything else, but look at this thing; it’s not ours.”

It was an object seemingly wrapped in a metal shell but not too heavy, about the size of a wheelchair wheel, cylindrical in shape, and covered in rust, with many small bumps that looked like corroded rivets.

“This isn’t our equipment?”

“Absolutely not.”

“When was it retrieved?”

“I don’t know; it was just pulled up along with this pile of equipment. We didn’t notice it before, but we just found it while sorting through everything. It seems this thing has been at the bottom of the lake all along.”

Wu Xie walked over and kicked it gently, and the object rolled onto the sand. He felt that it was very light.

“Don’t! Be careful, it might be a bomb or something!” someone shouted. Everyone immediately stepped back.

Wu Xie sighed as he looked at the others, also feeling puzzled. But Li Cuo had already recognized it; he stood frozen in place, thinking to himself, how could there be such a thing here?

“This…” he tried to speak, “this… this… this is…”

“What?” Wu Xie replied impatiently, “Spit it out.”

“You’d better not touch it with your foot,” Li Cuo said, “it’s best not to touch this thing at all.”

1812 Chapter 19 – Phantom of the Dunes

Li Cu lay in the tent, which was made of space fabric. Once the zipper was pulled up, the cold outside had almost nothing to do with the warmth inside. The soldiers participating in this operation were all staying in large tents, while the expedition members clearly had more refined accommodations, with two people sharing a double tent. This arrangement allowed for a bit of privacy and made it easier for people to rest.

Li Cu and Wang Meng shared a tent. After Li Cu entered, the two of them sat on their sleeping bags, staring at each other in silence, not knowing what to say. Li Cu was contemplating the situation; it was Wang Meng who had attacked Liang Wan, and then Liang Wan had knocked him down. Although he had been present at the time, the matter should be considered as Liang Wan’s grudge against him. Surely, he wouldn’t seek revenge here.

Moreover, Wang Meng had a very strange personality. On the surface, there seemed to be nothing wrong with him, but he exuded an aura that was extremely abnormal. It was an indescribable feeling; although Li Cu could tell from their interactions that Wang Meng was not at all foolish and was quite efficient in his tasks, he always felt that Wang Meng was often half a beat slower than normal people.

When Wang Meng noticed Li Cu looking at him, he showed no reaction, wearing an expression that was particularly exasperating, making one want to kick him away. He simply stared back at Li Cu.

He made no extra movements, and suddenly Li Cu understood. A person, no matter how well-trained, will always have some unconscious habitual movements during idle times without a specific purpose. These small actions can connect into larger movements, giving the person a sense of continuity. However, Wang Meng was not like that; when he had nothing to do, he hardly moved at all, which gave him a very dull impression.

“You…” Li Cu wanted to know why this person was like this, so he tried to find a topic to discuss with him.

“I’m just a worker, just making a living, so don’t take it the wrong way,” Wang Meng said.

Li Cu knew Wang Meng was referring to his previous attack and smiled, “It’s fine, in this world, one must…”

Before he could finish, Wang Meng had already turned and switched off the light on his side, then lay down in his sleeping bag and went to sleep.

“…act according to one’s own circumstances,” Li Cu said helplessly, chuckling to himself, “What a strange person.” They were all strange people, damn it, all strange people.

“If you worked in a shop where the boss was never around, and you were the only one there from opening to closing time, sometimes for a whole year without anyone stepping in, you would learn to shut down your own power and become a strange person during the downtime, just to get through those painfully long days,” Wang Meng said from his sleeping bag.

“Have you worked in such a shop?”

“Almost five years in total. At my worst, I sat behind the counter and didn’t even want to play Minesweeper on the computer. So, I just sat there and eventually fell asleep. When I woke up, it was already noon the next day, so I just continued to do nothing.”

“Wow, wouldn’t you end up sprouting, or at some point, discover your feet had taken root?”

“I’ve had that kind of dream,” Wang Meng replied.

Li Cu suddenly wanted to burst into laughter but managed to hold it back with great effort. After calming down, he continued to ask, “What happened next?”

Wang Meng did not respond, and a few minutes later, a series of snores came from his side. Li Cu thought to himself that Wang Meng had really good psychological resilience. If he had gone through such an experience, he definitely wouldn’t be able to fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

However, upon further reflection, it might not be the case. If he were living such an extremely boring life, then sleeping might become a skill for escaping reality. Or perhaps, such a simple life would wash away all his distracting thoughts, leaving him completely clear-headed.

He lay in his sleeping bag, cradling his head in his hands, staring at the top of the tent. He realized that there was no way he could fall asleep, so he began to sort through everything that had happened up to that point.

The boss named Wu Xie was a hidden modern tomb raider. Besides tomb raiding, he also had hobbies as a photographer and freelance writer. Through these interests, he met a woman named Lan Ting, who told him that there was a mysterious power in Gulongjing that could prevent people from appearing in photographs.

Thus, Wu Xie began to investigate this matter and discovered that it was related to other experiences he had gone through, and the results of his investigation were now etched on Li Cu’s back.

He had been inadvertently drawn into this situation simply by passing through that place, and he was pulled in very innocently. The key parts would not be revealed to him.

No, he didn’t even know the crucial information. He sighed, thinking that Wu Xie must have only mentioned the surface details. The real essence was that “having an explanation is better than having no explanation.” Wu Xie seemed to have told him this. Was he hinting that knowing a little was enough, and not to dig deeper?

He really couldn’t be bothered to find out.

Li Cu picked up his camera, recalling that while taking landscape photos earlier, he seemed to have captured something strange. Out of boredom, he began to flip through his photos.

After going through the images one by one in the camera, he soon felt drowsy. Everything in the tiny viewfinder appeared very blurry. As he flipped through, he finally came across those few photos. He slowed down and looked closely, feeling that the problematic thing should be among those images.

Suddenly, he sat up. He had finally found the problematic photo.

Indeed, he had captured something. Near that sand dune, the sensation in that moment was not an illusion; he saw a shadow appear on the dune in that photo.

This was not an illusion caused by light and shadow; it was truly something indescribable that appeared on that dune.

Yes, it was a shadow.

Li Cu enlarged the photo again and again until the entire shadow filled the viewfinder. He stared at the shadow for a long time and finally realized that this was the outline of a person.

Li Cu gasped and looked carefully for a long time. Finally, he reached a conclusion. Judging from all the details of the shadow’s outline, it should be a woman lying on the sand dune.

The woman appeared at that spot the moment he took the photograph. For some unknown reason, the camera failed to capture her true appearance, only showing a blurred outline. However, he clearly remembered that when he lowered the camera and looked at that place with his naked eye, there was nothing there at all.

The entire process lasted no more than half a second; he didn’t see any dust being kicked up, nor did he notice any signs on the sand dune that indicated someone had just moved through. All he saw was an exceptionally quiet sand dune.

Suddenly, a chill crept through Li Zu’s bones, as if the temperature outside the tent had finally seeped inside. He quickly turned off the camera, then curled up in his sleeping bag and covered his head.

1811 Chapter 18

6. Another Wu Xie

Seeing that a few people had dispersed, Wu Xie signaled to Wang Meng, “Compile all the models and quantities of the cameras for me. Then pull up the data on all the tour groups that have visited here in the past year.”

“A year? That must be quite a lot, right?”

“Be smart about it. The tour groups coming to Gulongjing are likely to be quite unique in terms of scale and itinerary. It won’t be too many,” Wu Xie replied.

Li Cu was huddled at the side, unsure if he could move freely in this matter. After finishing one cigarette, Wu Xie immediately lit another. It was then that he noticed Li Cu still standing nearby and asked, “What’s going on? Haven’t you looked at any of the materials? You seemed clueless just now.”

“You should know I’m not fond of studying.”

“Do you value your life?” Wu Xie asked him. “If it’s still like this tomorrow, I won’t be polite with you. Do you think I’m too easygoing or something? As a potential hostage, a piece of meat, you’re our food in tough times. Can’t you at least have some awareness and value? So that when we’re starving, we can find a reason not to eat you?”

Looking into Wu Xie’s eyes, Li Cu felt that this guy didn’t seem to be lying. There was a gleam in his eyes that ordinary people didn’t have; it was a kind of subconscious contempt. Clearly, this guy had experienced far more than an average person could endure, and to Li Cu, he seemed to be looking at another kind of lower life form—one that could be consumed.

“I’ll study hard tonight,” Li Cu said. “But you have to tell me the ins and outs of the situation; you promised me.”

Wu Xie glanced around, then took a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Li Cu. When Li Cu opened it, he found it was a newspaper. The headline read: “Apple Daily – Guan Gen.”

Then, Wu Xie recounted some of the earlier information about Lan Ting and Gulongjing to Li Cu. After listening, Li Cu struggled to grasp the main point: “Are you saying that people who have been to Gulongjing might not appear in photographs?”

“Yes,” Wu Xie replied. “According to what she described to me, that’s indeed the case.”

“But how is that possible? That violates the laws of physics,” Li Cu said. “The reason people see things, and cameras can take pictures, is that there are things that can reflect light. It shouldn’t be possible for some things to reflect into a person’s eyes but not into a camera.”

“Actually, it is possible,” Wu Xie said. “At first, I thought it was her nonsense, but then I thought about it. The reason why ‘Daoda’ can’t be captured in a camera might actually be a possibility.”

“What?” Li Cu thought it was impossible.

“Because Daoda doesn’t exist in reality. Let’s assume something happened to Daoda in Gulongjing, and she didn’t return with the tour group. If Daoda was never in the group to begin with, but Lan Ting had a hallucination and thought she saw Daoda, that’s not impossible.”

“That sounds like a plot from a lot of bad American movies, and in the end, didn’t it turn out she committed suicide?”

“I just want to tell you that in this world, nothing is impossible, and nothing is beyond explanation,” said Wu Xie. “Perhaps what you explain has nothing to do with the truth, but having an explanation is far more important than not having one.”

Li Cu seemed to understand but felt that it wasn’t worth engaging in a serious debate with someone like him, so he changed the subject: “Aren’t you a tomb raider? Why are you working as a photographer for a female writer and also writing?”

“I became a tomb raider because of my lineage and a promise. Once I leave this circle, there are many things I won’t be able to do, and many people I won’t be able to help,” Wu Xie said. “Some people commit small evils because they know that if they leave, those small evils could turn into real great evils.”

Li Cu still didn’t understand, but he felt a bit of admiration for the way Wu Xie smoked. Is this what true masculinity looks like?

While he was pondering this, Wang Meng returned, holding several stacks of documents, all containing information about tour groups from the past year.

The three of them sat down, and Wang Meng asked Wu Xie, “Boss, what do you need these for?”

“I’ll tell you once you see them,” Wu Xie replied, flipping through the documents. Each file contained a photo, a group shot taken by the tour leader after the group gathered at the airport. A banner was held up in the background that read: XX Investigation Tour Group. This photo serves a dual purpose: one for the archives and the other for selling. “Look closely at the people in these photos, at the brands and quantities of their cameras. I believe we can analyze which expedition teams lost cameras here.”

Li Cu took the photos, and looking at the numbers Wang Meng had compiled, he noticed that the least common were the ordinary point-and-shoot cameras with colorful shells. He said, “We mainly need to look for colored cameras, comparing colors and models. There aren’t many tour groups, so it’s unlikely that two people from different groups would have the same color and model of camera.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Wu Xie said.

Li Cu glanced at the young boss, feeling that his words were always hinting at something, as if he was constantly teaching him, which only made him feel more puzzled.

The three of them studied the photos, and soon they identified two tour groups that had lost cameras, but only two. Based on the number of cameras, unless half the people in both groups brought more than one camera, there must be another group that couldn’t be identified.

However, the probability of someone bringing two or more mobile phones in such tour groups was also quite high, as point-and-shoots and DSLRs serve different purposes. But according to common reasoning, the chances of another tour group being unidentifiable were even greater.

Moreover, another possible reason could be that no one in that tour group brought a point-and-shoot camera; they all had professional cameras instead.

According to this line of speculation, they continued their search. However, pursuing this assumption also led to a dead end. In today’s increasingly affluent society, if you go on a trip without a big camera, it seems like it doesn’t count as a real trip. Therefore, even if a group consists entirely of DSLR cameras, it is not easy to distinguish them; this cannot be considered a breakthrough.

When this direction proved unfruitful, they turned to investigate based on time, as Wu Xie believed that these three groups must have been active during the same period. However, there were no records of simultaneous groups in Wang Meng’s data.

There were a total of eleven groups in the records, and they had found two so far: one from Qingdao and the other from Beijing. The Beijing group was Lan Ting’s group, and they saw Lan Ting and Dao Dao in the photos. The arrival times of these two groups in Gutongjing were a week apart. The group closest to these two had a time difference of two weeks, while another was a month apart. The time gaps seemed a bit too long. Moreover, if the groups from Qingdao and Beijing were already time-separated, it indicated that the cameras here were not destroyed all at once; they merely used this place as a fixed destruction site.

Aside from this, there were no other leads.

Wang Meng said, “How about I start by checking these two groups?”

Wu Xie nodded, seemingly without any better ideas. At that moment, Li Cu suddenly noticed a face in the photo he was holding that made him feel very uncomfortable.

He glanced at Wu Xie, then back at the person in the photo, feeling very strange. He saw a young man smiling happily in the picture, and this person looked very much like Wu Xie. No, not just similar; he was practically Wu Xie. Had this boss come here with a group before?

“Boss, look,” he said to Wu Xie. “Who do you think this person looks like?” He kept staring at the face.

Wu Xie took the photo, and Wang Meng chimed in, “You’re just a hostage; what right do you have to call him boss? Don’t try to get close to him.” Wu Xie ignored them and focused on the photo in Li Cu’s hand, and upon closer inspection, he frowned.

His heart sank. Over the past period, every time he investigated that matter, he always felt a twinge in his heart when he saw that face. He had thought he would never see this person again in his life, but clearly, this person had been very active all along. This meant that what he thought was over might not be finished at all.

Wang Meng leaned in to look at the photo and said, “Boss, it’s him again.”

Wu Xie nodded, and Li Cu asked, “Isn’t this you?” Wu Xie shook his head, “It’s not me, or perhaps this is the real me.”

1810 Chapter 17

5. The Only Possibility

The group helped Wu Xie check all the remnants of the cameras to see if there were any intact memory cards. The professors seemed completely out of their depth in this matter, merely standing by and watching.

In the end, they managed to extract six SD cards that might still be usable. After inserting them into a computer, the first few cards had issues, and only two could be recognized by the computer.

Li Cu thought to himself: If these people wanted to destroy the cameras, they must have been in a particularly panicked state. Because if they were calm and just wanted to destroy the photos inside, they could have simply burned the SD cards.

But he quickly realized he was mistaken.

Both of these SD cards contained a vast number of photos, the sheer quantity was staggering. Most of them were landscape photos, with very few portraits. It was clear that the owners of these two SD cards were professional photographers, not ordinary travelers taking pictures for memories. If all these photos were to be presented, it would be a significant waste of time; only one type of photo warranted introduction. The accompanying soldiers looked at the photos and informed them that all the landscapes depicted were from Gulongjing.

Indeed, the owners of these SD cards had all been to Gulongjing.

Li Cu then asked, “What exactly is Gulongjing?”

As soon as he finished asking, everyone turned to look at him. A student-like person said, “Haven’t you seen the materials? You don’t even know where we’re going?”

Wu Xie looked at Li Cu and said teasingly, “Yeah, I can’t believe you would ask such a question.”

Li Cu felt a bit embarrassed for a moment before thinking of a way to defuse the situation. He said, “I didn’t say I didn’t know what it was; I was just expressing my surprise.” Then he pretended to be serious and asked again, “What exactly is Gulongjing?”

Wu Xie patted him on the back and said, “Not having done your homework is just not having done your homework. Don’t pretend. The professors are all here; let them explain it to you.”

As Wu Xie spoke, he looked at a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his fifties but had a very muscular build, looking nothing like an academic. Li Cu recalled that the materials indicated this person seemed to be the team leader, named Wang Daming.

Wang Daming’s name sounded like someone from Hong Kong or Taiwan, but he was actually from Shandong and appeared to be an expert in remote sensing. Hearing what Wu Xie said, he replied, “Actually, the definition of that place is quite vague. I only know that Gulongjing is an area surrounded by three lakes, which are arranged in a triangular shape. And those three lakes are elusive; even in this day and age, they are often hard to find using satellites. It’s as if they have a life of their own. It’s said that during the Qing Dynasty, someone saw them once and dropped a signal flag, but when they went to look for it later, they only found a desert and didn’t see the three lakes.”

“Are those the kind of lakes that are said to move on their own?” Li Cu asked.

Wang Daming nodded, “Many people think so. Perhaps the three lakes don’t actually move but only appear at certain times. After that time passes, they sink beneath the desert.”

“In that case, why is the place we’re going called Gulongjing?”

“That’s where the plane dropped the signal flag at that time,” said someone next to Wang Daming. “Haven’t you looked at any information at all?”

For the first time, Li Cu felt a bit embarrassed in this group and stammered, “I… my memory isn’t very good.”

“Let’s not discuss this anymore; we should know to go back and continue reviewing the materials,” someone in the team said, clearly displeased. Li Cu glanced over; he remembered that person, but he had felt during his research that this person was not easy to get along with. He was quite unremarkable, with no distinctive features to describe him. If he had to point out a characteristic, it would be that his hair was naturally curly. He was probably under thirty and was one of the few students, but he was said to have achieved some success. Therefore, he held an equal status with the professors in their daily interactions.

Li Cu couldn’t remember this person’s name, so he decided to refer to him as “Curly Hair.”

Curly Hair continued, “These photos are perfectly normal, just ordinary landscape pictures. There’s no way they would burn the camera because of these photos. And why would they bury them?”

“If what they wanted to destroy wasn’t the photos in the camera, could it be the camera itself?”

“Are you saying they suddenly developed a collective aversion to cameras?”

“Is there such a thing as camera phobia in this world? I haven’t heard of it.”

“I’m telling you, anything can happen in this world. There are even people who fear hair; Hitler had a fear of body hair. Aside from his mustache and hair, he had all his other body hair shaved off.”

“But it wouldn’t be possible for so many people to develop a fear at the same time.”

The group was discussing animatedly, and Li Cu felt a bit awkward; his knowledge clearly couldn’t contribute to this kind of discussion. After all, he was still a student, and despite trying to act like he was 27, his past habits made him hesitant to engage in discussions with adults.

Wu Xie ignored him and kept flipping through the photos. Finally, he clicked his tongue, bringing silence to the group. “There’s only one possibility for this situation,” he said.

“What is it?” Curly Hair asked.

“All the cameras buried in this pit are the only things here. There’s nothing else, which indicates that this has nothing to do with weight, robbery, or discarding goods. This matter must only concern the cameras themselves. However, there are so many cameras here. If each camera owner simultaneously had the idea to destroy their camera, or if someone instigated the destruction of the cameras, the likelihood of that happening is very small. In other words, it’s impossible for everyone to simultaneously believe that the cameras must be destroyed. Moreover, a travel group is unlikely to have a leader who would insist on destroying all the cameras, as surely not everyone would obey such an order.”

“What’s your conclusion?” Professor Wang asked.

“The conclusion is that it wasn’t the entire tour group that destroyed these cameras, but rather a small group of two or three individuals who took all the cameras, checked them, and destroyed them,” Wu Xie said. “We can reconstruct what happened at that time. There was a team or several pairs of tour groups that, while stationed at a certain location, had someone steal or use some means to take away their cameras, and then checked the contents here before destroying them.”

“This is also a conclusion. If that’s the case, then they might have thought that among so many cameras, one of them likely captured the images they wanted,” Professor Wang said. “So, did they find the photos they were looking for?”

“When we were rummaging through the cameras just now, did we find any cameras without memory cards?” Wu Xie asked.

Li Cu and Wang Meng both shook their heads. Li Cu mustered his courage and said, “I think, since they chose to burn all the cameras instead of just the memory cards, even if they found the photos they were looking for, they would have taken the entire camera that contained the pictures.”

“That makes sense.” Wu Xie took a few puffs of his cigarette, fiddled with the wreckage for a moment, and said to Wang Meng, “Check again to see if there’s anything we missed.” Then he turned to the others and said, “Everyone else should get back to work. Those who are interested can stay to help, but don’t just sit around doing nothing. It’ll cool down soon.”

1809 Chapter 16

**4. The Camera Mound**

As the sun sets, this desert seems to resemble the vast desert described in “The Legend of Chu Liuxiang.” Under the glow of sunlight, the sand dunes shift from a golden hue to a reddish tone; the shadowed areas grow increasingly dim, and the undulating dunes create a striking interplay of light and shadow. Standing atop a high slope, the sunset and the boundless desert evoke a breathtaking beauty.

In the presence of such scenery, even the most mundane person, the one least inclined to appreciate beauty, would find themselves moved and penetrated by this splendor.

Li Cu sat atop a camel, gazing at the travelers ahead, temporarily forgetting everything that had happened and immersing himself in this beautiful landscape. It was only when the camel in front stopped, revealing a small lake surrounded by green grass after crossing the dune, that he snapped out of his reverie, realizing he had no idea why he had come here.

Reflecting on the past week, he found the events to be incredibly strange and rapid, leaving him with no opportunity to digest or ponder them thoroughly. Just a week ago, his biggest concerns were about his father’s punishment and the trouble he might face from his teacher; now, those worries seemed trivial in comparison. First, he had been cut on his back, leaving a wound resembling the “Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” and now he was being forced to a desolate place.

Wait, just as that thought crossed his mind, he noticed several unnamed birds flying out of the lake, heading towards the sunset. So, there were indeed birds here that could relieve themselves.

How did he end up here, and why was he not worried at all about his teacher counting him as absent? His excuse for skipping class was quite impressive—he had been coerced.

The best way to make a hardship seem insignificant is to endure an even more terrifying disaster. However, if one does not personally experience it, what is deemed a significant hardship can, for Li Cu, feel like an exhilarating adventure in life.

The expedition team finally stopped to set up camp. Wang Meng and that Ma Rila were clearly the laborers, while the boss, Wu Xie, strolled over to the lake, scooped up some water to wash his face, and then sat down by the water’s edge.

Seeing that no one was asking for his help, Li Cu walked over as well, mimicking the action of washing his face. The wound on his back was extremely itchy, and the water in the lake was fresh and cool. Li Cu thought that if there were no one around, he would have stripped off his clothes and jumped in for a refreshing swim. But for now, he needed to continue chatting with the boss to build rapport; perhaps he could gain his freedom sooner, and he might learn more information through their conversation, Li Cu thought.

However, as soon as he sat down next to Wu Xie, Wu Xie said to him, “Get up. What are you sitting here for?”

“Just taking a break.”

“The camel needs a break; what do you need a break for? The scenery is so beautiful here, go take some photos,” Wu Xie said. “A photographer should look like a photographer.”

“But I don’t know how to take pictures.”

“Figure it out yourself,” Wu Xie replied. “The role of the photographer is crucial in this expedition. Don’t let it slip.”

Li Cu left reluctantly and returned to his camel. He found a secluded spot, took out an aluminum alloy box, and opened it. Inside was a seemingly impressive DSLR camera. He picked it up, fiddled with it for a moment, and realized it was quite easy to operate. He raised the camera, aimed it at the surrounding scenery, adjusted the focus, and took a few landscape photos, discovering that they turned out beautifully. It turned out that using the camera didn’t require much skill to capture professional-quality images.

Feeling energized, Li Cu climbed up a sand dune, constantly changing the focus and shutter speed, and took several hundred photos in various directions. Suddenly, he stopped. He thought he saw something flash in the lens. He put down the camera and looked in that direction, but all he saw was a stretch of yellow sand. He frowned.

The lens had moved very quickly during the photo-taking, and the focus had switched rapidly, so it was just a fleeting sensation. However, Li Cu believed he hadn’t imagined it. He immediately stopped and looked again, but the sun had already touched the horizon, and in that light, it was impossible to see anything far away.

Li Cu picked up the camera again, zoomed in to the maximum focus, and searched for the fleeting object. He wanted to check the SD card to see if the thing he had just seen had been captured. Just then, someone in the nearby camp shouted, and he turned to look, seeing a person yelling on the grass, “Come quickly, there’s something here!”

Others gathered around the shouting person, and someone asked, “What’s worth shouting about?”

Li Cu cautiously climbed down the sand dune and walked over to where the crowd had gathered, discovering that they had been digging a sand pit to start a bonfire for dinner that night, and it seemed they had unearthed something while digging.

Squeezing in, Li Cu saw that the dug-up sand pit indeed contained unusual items, mostly black, thin pieces that looked like plastic and metal, along with some colorful pieces mixed in.

“What is it? Trash?” someone asked.

Wu Xie pushed through the crowd, squatted down, and picked up a piece to examine it. Everyone immediately recognized it.

It was a burnt camera.

Wu Xie continued to sift through the plastic and metal pieces, and Li Cu was astonished to discover that beneath the sand, there were a large number of various models of burnt cameras buried. There were DSLRs as well as compact cameras.

“What’s going on?” someone whispered nearby. “How could there be so many destroyed cameras?”

“Dig them out,” Wu Xie told Wang Meng behind him. “Get everything out.”

A total of more than 40 camera remains were excavated, of various models. By the time these cameras were sorted and lined up on a waterproof cloth spread on the sand, it was already completely dark. Although the desert night was very cold, the members of the expedition wrapped themselves in coats and gathered around the cameras.

“There should be two to three tour groups,” Wu Xie said. “All their cameras are here. They must have collectively destroyed all their cameras while passing through this area.”

“Why? Did they have so much money they didn’t know what to do with it?” a professor asked.

“I don’t know, maybe it’s because they captured something that made them uncomfortable,” Wu Xie said. “Let’s take a look and see if there are any usable files on the memory card inside. That way, we can find out what they recorded.”

1808 Chapter 15

3. The Place Where Devils Live

Wu Xie, Wang Meng, Li Cu, and another person named Ma Rila are riding in the same jeep. Li Cu finds that the name Ma Rila has many possible interpretations, some of which are quite amusing.

Along the way, Wu Xie starts talking about various topics, sharing some information that Li Cu should know. For instance, in this team, Wu Xie’s alias is Guan Gen. He is a travel writer, while Li Cu is his photography assistant for this expedition. Wang Meng uses his real name as his life assistant, and Ma Rila, who is of Mongolian descent, speaks several local languages.

They are traveling from Beijing with a total of three vehicles. In the front vehicle are several archaeology professors and their students, while the vehicle behind them carries representatives from the expedition’s investment partners. In front of the three vehicles is another vehicle from the local military providing assistance. The convoy of four vehicles has now entered a government-managed area, which is the Populus euphratica protection zone. Others are not allowed to enter here. They will not reach their destination directly because it is surrounded by large sand dunes. They need to find camels at the outpost; previously, Li Cu heard some soldiers say that the camels should be ready.

Wang Meng shares some basic knowledge with them along the way, though it’s unclear where he gathered this information from online. He mentions that the towering sand dunes are a prominent feature of the Badain Jaran Desert, with dunes generally ranging from 200 to 300 meters high, and the highest peak, Uzhumu, reaching 528 meters, making it the largest desert in the world. Between the tall dunes are over 140 inland lakes, referred to as “haizi” by the locals. Most of these lakes are saline, but there are also freshwater lakes, which are very rare, a mechanism that Li Cu finds puzzling. Surrounding the lakes are vast marshy meadows and salt marshes, which serve as important grazing and settlement points for herders.

Most of the herders belong to the Eruqi Mongolian ethnic group, which is quite an ancient nationality. Badain is the name of the discoverer of the desert, and when he entered this desert, he discovered 60 lakes; “Jilan” means “60” in Mongolian, so the desert is named “Badain Jaran.”

The haizi here is a miraculous landscape. Often, travelers’ views are blocked by the sand dunes, so when they climb over a dune, they see children surrounded by sand mountains, and the water appears azure blue, leading many to think they have encountered a mirage. Even during the windy and sandy season, the lakes, encircled by sand, remain crystal clear and are not buried by sand.

Many people may have seen an image in Microsoft’s operating system, depicting the undulating sand mountains formed by the wind blowing the sand, which rise and fall in an orderly fashion. Under different sunlight temperatures, they display shades of pale yellow, orange, and fiery red, dazzling in their brilliance. The wave-like sand patterns, influenced by light and shadow, create various beautiful designs. Some resemble the flying figures of Dunhuang, some the pyramids of Egypt, some human silhouettes or Buddha faces, some birds and beasts, some are figurative, and some abstract, as if they are part of a large art exhibition showcasing various styles. Among them, the Haizi of the child temple in the hinterland, along with Nuoertu and the surrounding sand mountains, are the most magical and beautiful.

However, the place they are heading to seems unrelated to any of this.

They are headed to a place called Gulongjing. It is said to be a very strange area, regarded by the local Eruite Mongolian people as a place where demons reside. According to the information Li Zu found, their purpose for this trip is archaeological and geological exploration. However, with Wu Xie’s appearance, Li Zu realizes that things are definitely not that simple. He wonders what fate awaits him.

The dry air makes the scars on his back itch unbearably. With the strange patterns on his back, the tomb raider mixed into the expedition team, and Wu Xie’s seemingly serious words, he feels that the connections behind these events will be very complicated.

After seven hours, they reach the outpost. With the help of local soldiers, they organize a caravan of camels, and locals join in to help guide them to the camels. As they mount the camels and begin to walk into the sand dunes, it is the first time Li Zu gathers the courage to ask Wu Xie a question.

“Why didn’t you come by yourself? Why are you following this group?”

“It just so happens that this group of people is also heading to Gulongjing, and they have government backing. If I don’t join their team, I could easily be seen as an enemy here, and I don’t want to confront the local military,” Wu Xie replies. “I’d rather be one of them; after all, I know much more than they do, and what I’m looking for doesn’t conflict with their goals. It’s better to have some support.”

“Is it really that simple?”

“Not exactly. To a large extent, what they are looking for is somewhat related to what I want. By following them, I also hope to protect them as much as I can. The place we’re going is very dangerous; if we go in without any knowledge, it’s easy to run into trouble.”

“So what exactly are you looking for? What does it have to do with the pattern on my back?”

“I’m looking for a woman,” Wu Xie says. “The pattern on your back is the last clue she left for me. The process is quite complicated, but once we reach the first campsite, I will tell you the general details.”

“Is she your lover?”

“No, we’re not very familiar. I just feel that what she has experienced is somehow connected to what happened to another friend of mine. If I can find out what happened to her, I might also understand what happened to my other friend.”

1807 Chapter 14

2. Testing the Waters

In front of Gate 0, a dozen people had already gathered. Li Cu saw many large aluminum alloy boxes piled on a cart, and Boss Wu was among them, accompanied by someone named Wang Meng. However, he did not see the other strong men from that night.

After Liang Wan watched him get out of the car, he left. There were an overwhelming number of people at the airport, with cars lined up everywhere and no parking available. Li Cu walked over while holding a plastic bag containing underwear.

Boss Wu and Wang Meng looked at Li Cu and waited until he reached them. Wu Xie lit a cigarette and offered it to him, saying, “You can’t smoke on the plane. Do you want one?” Li Cu shook his head, and the others busy with their tasks turned to Wu Xie and asked, “Old Guan, who is this?”

“A photographer,” Wu Xie replied without turning his head. Li Cu immediately said, “I’m not a photographer.” He was somewhat curious to see if they would give up on him if he didn’t give Wu Xie face. Or would they panic? This would also let him know if this team was entirely made up of Wu Xie’s people.

According to his guess, not everyone present should be Wu Xie’s people; otherwise, he wouldn’t need to disguise his age as 27.

Wu Xie remained unfazed, simply taking a drag from his cigarette and saying, “Do you know how important this matter is to me?” Li Cu remained silent, and Wu Xie continued, “If you ruin this, you will destroy many, many important things for me. Unless you tell me now that you’re not afraid of dying, you’d better be honest with me. My temper isn’t as good as it was a few years ago.”

“My injury isn’t healed yet; you’ve seen my back. Can you let me go once you get the photos?”

“I’ve said it; this matter is very important to me. I can’t take any risks. I promise you, if you cooperate with us, not only will we return safely, but you will also receive a very generous reward.” Wu Xie exhaled smoke and said, “If this matter isn’t completed, my life will have no meaning. I will definitely kill you out of frustration. So, just stay quietly and treat it as a trip.”

“A trip?”

Wu Xie kicked the box at his feet in front of Li Cu and said, “This is your equipment. Yes, a trip. My third uncle used to trick me like this too.”

1806 Chapter 13

**Good News and Bad News**

Two days later, after being hospitalized for stitches for the second time, Li Zu finally saw Liang Wan again. Because her involvement in Li Zu’s discharge had been exposed, she was criticized for being late, and Li Zu was assigned to another doctor. This was a serious doctor who wore glasses and had a stern demeanor. Li Zu had always disliked such people, but thinking about how he still needed this doctor for his back injury, he felt that if the doctor wanted to make things difficult for him, he could easily do so, so he refrained from being rude.

Neither Li Zu nor Liang Wan reported the incident again. For some reason, he believed that reporting it would be completely useless, and he also found the repeated process of giving statements too troublesome. When the other party left, they didn’t even threaten them not to report it, clearly feeling extremely confident. It was better not to provoke someone like that.

Liang Wan came with some fruit, as if she were visiting a patient. When Li Zu saw her peek in and noticed there were no nurses or doctors around, he secretly slipped in and closed the door behind him.

In her hand, she held a few bananas that seemed to be of poor quality. She didn’t hand them to Li Zu but placed them aside and said to him, “I have good news and bad news.”

“Heh.” Li Zu smiled expressionlessly, indicating indifference. “It seems I’m no longer related to you.”

Liang Wan replied, “The good news is that I found out what the pattern on your back is.”

“Oh, what is it?” Li Zu asked expressionlessly.

“You should listen to the bad news first.” Liang Wan said, “That Boss Wu just now seems to not know that you’ve changed doctors. He sent someone to deliver something to me, and I brought it for you.”

Li Zu glanced at the bunch of bananas. “Is that it? Thank him for me, and then stick one up his ass.”

“No.” Liang Wan pulled an envelope out of her bag. “Take a look at this.”

Li Zu dumped the contents of the envelope onto his blanket, revealing a lot of miscellaneous items. First, he picked up something that looked like an ID and saw that it was an inspection certificate. When he opened it, he found his registration photo inside.

Name: Li Zu
27 years old?

He touched his chin, wondering if he looked like someone who was 27 years old. What was a team photographer anyway?

He continued to rummage and found another smaller ID beneath the first one, which was his photographer qualification certificate. There were also some proof documents, a health check form, a driver’s license, a bundle of 100 yuan bills (about three thousand yuan), a plane ticket, a fake ID, and a stack of documents bound with a rubber band.

He pushed the other documents aside and pulled the rubber band off the folder, only to find that everything inside was related to an expedition. There were introductions to the personnel, route maps, temperature change charts, precautions, and a lot more information. The last piece of paper was a gathering notice: Tomorrow at 3 PM, at Beijing Capital Airport, T3 terminal, gather at Gate 10.

He set these things down and looked at Liang Wan, suddenly feeling that this matter was indeed quite interesting.

“Can I be discharged tomorrow?” he asked. Liang Wan shook his head and said, “But don’t worry, the person who brought this thing to me told me that I have to get you to the airport on time for the gathering, or I’ll be in big trouble. So I’ll find a way to get you out.”

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