Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Fatty pretended to think for a moment, then said, "All right. I suppose I can make an exception and go with you."

Hu Bayi rolled his eyes at him.

Hu Ming frowned. "In that case, when we go into the desert, I hope you'll remember to make sure each of us has a gas mask."

Yang Xueli asked in confusion, "A gas mask?"

"Yeah. If we're going to Jingjue Ancient City, it'd be best for everyone to have one. And you all know that the Jingjue Queen was a snake charmer, right?"

Hu Ming nodded as he spoke, then took a drink of water.

Professor Chen and the others looked surprised. "The Jingjue Queen was a snake charmer?"

Seeing their surprise, Hu Ming frowned. "The Jingjue Queen could control snakes. You didn't know that?"

Professor Chen and the others shook their heads, then turned to Hu Ming. "Comrade Hu Ming, I know you've studied the history of the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions extensively. I wonder if you could tell us about the history of the Jingjue Kingdom."

Hu Ming raised an eyebrow. "That's enough for today. I'll talk with you when I have time. I remember I have a notebook—I'll let you look at it then."

With that, Hu Ming stood up. It was getting late, so he left with Hu Bayi and the Fatty.

Professor Chen wanted to press him for more, but Yang Xueli stopped him.

"Uncle Chen, there's no need to rush. Since Mr. Hu Ming said he'd tell us about the Jingjue Kingdom later..."

As she spoke, Yang Xueli stood and went to see Hu Ming and the others out.

After seeing them off, Yang Xueli looked at Professor Chen and smiled. "Uncle Chen, with those three helping us, we'll definitely find Jingjue Ancient City. You can put your mind at ease. Especially Hu Ming—he's unfathomable. I suspect he knows every clue to Jingjue Ancient City; he just isn't saying."

Yang Xueli's guess was spot on.

Professor Chen nodded in agreement. "According to the notes your father left behind, this journey will be full of dangers. We're good at archaeology, but we might not be able to handle the dangers. We need to get along with them as best we can and take their advice, while also keeping our guard up."

After all, they had known one another for less than two days. They had no real bond, and their relationship was based on mutual interests—in other words, they were practically employer and employees.

As the saying went, one should never intend to harm others, but one should always be on guard against them. Yang Xueli and Professor Chen had come to the same conclusion.

Hu Ming and the other two came to a breakfast stall. The delicious aroma made Hu Ming sit down for something to eat. They were all hungry.

Hu Bayi had wanted to have some tea, then go back and cook noodles himself to save money.

But the Fatty, who was nearly fainting from hunger, and Hu Ming both strongly objected, so he had no choice but to spend a little money on breakfast.

"Boss, two bowls of wontons, three scallion pancakes, and a bowl of soy milk."

"Coming right up, gentlemen. Take a seat and I'll get everything ready."

The Fatty scooted his stool closer to Hu Ming and asked in a conspiratorial whisper, "Mingzi, how much do you think this piece of jade is worth? Give me a number. And if we find Jingjue Ancient City, will my jade lose its value?"

He pulled the Jade Pendant out from inside his collar and held it in front of Hu Ming.

Hu Ming didn't even look at the Jade Pendant. He picked up the soy milk, blew on it, and took a small sip, then bit into a pancake. It tasted pretty good. Only then did he glance sideways at the Fatty. "Stop thinking about how much the little bit your father left you is worth. Just take good care of it.

"The value of your piece is somewhat connected to Jingjue Ancient City, but whether it's worth money doesn't depend on the city. It depends on whether a buyer likes it. Me, for instance—I wouldn't take it even if you gave it to me."

The Fatty smiled and put the jade away. So much for that question. He lowered his head and ate his wontons.

"Mingzi, if you ask me, that bunch of eggheads are just going for a little stroll. Once they can't take the hardship, they'll turn around and head home. Forget about finding Jingjue Ancient City. The temperature in that desert gets up to fifty or sixty degrees."

As he spoke, Hu Bayi scooped up a spoonful of wontons and put it in his mouth. His expression briefly tightened. "Wow, these smell great. Hey, I love the wontons in the capital. They taste so much better than the ones we had at high altitudes."

"Old Hu, so what you're saying is we're just going on a little trip and pocketing tens of thousands of US Dollars?"

The Fatty chuckled and looked at Hu Ming. "If it's like Old Hu says, the three of us will make over a hundred thousand dollars from that American woman without doing a thing, and we'll get to travel, too. You can only get a deal like that from those dumb Americans."

"Fatty, think about it. Professor Chen and that extremely nearsighted Professor Hao are both getting on in years. Can they handle the desert? And there's that little girl, Ye Yixin—she's frail and doesn't have much stamina. I reckon they'll be crying to go home in a few days."

Hu Bayi was all smiles, looking as pleased as if the five thousand US Dollars had already been handed to him for free.

"Wouldn't that be great? Once we've got the American woman's money, we can go find Jingjue Ancient City ourselves, haul out all the treasures, and sell them. The three of us will be rich!" the Fatty said excitedly.

"You're getting ahead of yourselves. Those archaeologists are stubborn. Their perseverance in archaeology is even greater than ours when we're raiding tombs for treasure."

Hu Ming was eating his second scallion pancake. He glanced at Hu Bayi and the Fatty. The two of them were thinking far too simply—far too naively.

A woman as shrewd as Yang Xueli wouldn't be so easy to make money from.

"Eat up. I'm going to get some gasoline. You two go back and pack what you need."

Hu Ming got a barrel of gasoline. He also bought fifty pounds of aged glutinous rice from the rice shop, along with black dog's blood and other things.

He bought plenty of food and water, too. He knew how dangerous this journey would be, and he wanted to be prepared.

If the trip to Jingjue Ancient City weren't so dangerous, and if they didn't need help from the local officials and that human map of the desert, he would have taken Hu Bayi and the Fatty there long ago.

They might even have to make a trip to the Kunlun Glacier this time to put an end to Hu Bayi's nightmare of more than a decade. Perhaps he could even get a reward from the system.