Chapter Forty-Four: The Living Map

Hu Ming planned to keep three of them for his brothers and give the other two to the others.

At some point, Fatty had come over. He said to Yang Xueli, Professor Chen, and the others, "This time, we won't have our soldier buddies to help us. You'll all have to rely on yourselves."

Everyone nodded.

The next day, at noon...

"It's truly an honor to have such a distinguished professor visit a small place like ours! How about this: you can stay at the guesthouse for now. If you need any help, we'll do everything we can."

The cadre in charge of Bosten Lake Town in Minfeng County smiled as he spoke to Professor Chen. "Whatever cooperation you need, we'll make sure everything goes smoothly!"

"We urgently need a guide!" Hu Bayi made his request without hesitation.

"No, we need the most experienced one, and we need to set out right away!" Yang Xueli added.

"Who are these two?" the cadre, who was called Section Chief Zhao, asked Professor Chen.

"This is our team leader, Comrade Hu Bayi."

"This is Miss Yang, the sponsor of our archaeological expedition!"

When Section Chief Zhao heard that these two spokespeople held such important positions, he immediately went over with a beaming smile to shake their hands.

"Is there anyone in town with experience traveling in the desert?" Hu Bayi asked.

"The most experienced guide? I'm afraid that might be a little..." Section Chief Zhang looked troubled.

"Of course there is! Section Chief Zhao, An Liman! He's the living map of the desert. Everyone in town knows him. That old man's amazing, and he's got a great knack for raising camels!"

Section Chief Zhao said nothing, but a young man beside him recommended, "Even the children in our town know you need to take three things into the desert: water, camels, and An Liman!"

Hu Bayi and Hu Ming exchanged a glance and nodded.

"Isn't that exactly who we're looking for?!" Fatty said.

"He's very hard to find. We haven't seen him in more than half a month."

"What's his name?" Hu Ming asked with a frown.

"We don't actually know his real name. We all call him An Liman. In Uyghur, it means 'the living map of the desert.'"

"What's the fastest way to find him?" Yang Xueli asked.

"Let's check the police station!" Hu Bayi didn't want to waste time, so he had the two men take them straight to the police station to look for An Liman.

They then went to the only police station in town.

They then went to the only police station in town.

"The An Liman you're looking for is right here!" An Liman was a well-known figure in this little town. As soon as the station chief heard his name, he knew exactly who they meant.

From the introductions, they learned that An Liman was a clever man.

In recent years, with the country opening up, many foreigners had come to visit the area. An Liman had made quite a bit of money by acting as their guide.

Just a few days ago, An Liman had taken a group of foreigners into the desert. He returned on his own halfway through, while the foreigners had vanished without a trace.

So the government had to look into it. But when they questioned old man An Liman, he claimed to know nothing. With no other choice, they had detained him along with his camels.

"Station Chief Wang, can we trust this old man?" Fatty asked.

"Maybe they couldn't agree on a price, so he left them in the desert," Station Chief Wang Bawan said with a shrug.

Hu Ming hadn't said a word beside Station Chief Wang, but he knew that those so-called foreigners hadn't been abandoned in the desert by An Liman. They had all died out there. With that, Hu Ming and the others were led into a small room.

Inside, old man An Liman was performing some kind of strange prayer.

"Dear elder, we're an archaeological team. We'd like you to take us into the desert and hire you as our guide," Professor Chen said politely to An Liman.

"Go into the desert?" Once An Liman understood the situation, he paid them little mind. In his eyes, only money mattered.

"If you're willing to help us, money won't be a problem," Yang Xueli said directly.

At that, An Liman's expression shifted, and he glanced at Yang Xueli. From her clothes alone, he could tell she wasn't short on money.

Just then, Hu Bayi turned to Hu Ming and said, "Why are all the camels outside so skinny they're nothing but bones?"

An Liman stood up and said to Station Chief Wang Bawan, "Wang Bawan, you haven't done something to my camels, have you...?"

Fatty didn't understand what he'd said at first. "Wang bastard?"

"It's Wang Bawan," Hu Ming said, glancing at Fatty.

By the time Wang Bawan and An Liman had nearly finished arguing, An Liman turned to Yang Xueli and continued, "About this matter... Wang Bawan, if I take them into the desert, will you give all my camels back to me?"

"Of course I will. How can you take them into the desert without camels?" Wang Bawan was naturally eager to support the government's call.

Station Chief Wang Bawan released him on the spot.