Chapter Forty-Six

"Mingzi, what's the deal with An Liman? Why do I keep feeling like something's off about him?" Fatty urged his camel closer to Hu Ming and Hu Bayi and spoke in a low voice.

At that moment, in the desert, Fatty rode his camel and watched An Liman leading the way, feeling suspicious.

After all, ever since they'd first entered the desert, the old fellow had kept asking them, intentionally or otherwise, whether they wanted to turn back.

There was definitely something wrong! Fatty thought. Hu Ming wasn't surprised to hear him say that.

Aside from knowing some of the story himself, Fatty also had an unusually keen eye for people. He was almost always right, and rarely made a mistake.

"Hey, Miss Yang, what exactly did you say to An Liman earlier? Can you tell me?" Fatty asked, glancing at Yang Xueli behind him. Today, Yang Xueli seemed to be in a particularly good mood, and she didn't refuse to answer him.

"Nothing much.

"I just paid some of the commission in advance so Uncle An Liman could buy things for his camels.

"He said the camels needed a lot of supplies and he didn't have enough money, so he asked me to give him some upfront."

After hearing Yang Xueli's explanation, Fatty understood.

"Ha! No wonder the old fellow's been urging us to turn back even though we haven't been out here for three days. So he'd already gotten some money out of us.

"If we turned back now, he wouldn't be losing out at all.

"No way, Mingzi, Old Hu. I have to keep an eye on him.

"Otherwise, I won't feel at ease!" With that, Fatty urged his camel to stay close behind An Liman, in case the old fellow tried to run off.

Hu Bayi and Hu Ming agreed with Fatty's decision. It was better to have him keep an eye on An Liman.

Lake Bos Alteng...

It was the source of life for Guyasha Town. When they arrived, An Liman knelt by the lake and prayed, his expression devout.

Only afterward did he let Hu Ming and the others fill their water skins. They loaded enough water onto the camels, then set off east toward the rising sun to find the Ancient Peacock River. From there, they would follow its old course south.

Sunlight spilled across the desert, dazzling and golden.

"Professor Chen, that lake has such a strange name. Why is it called Lake Bos Alteng?"

Ye Yixin had never been to the desert before. She was thrilled to stand in the vast, boundless sands and curious about everything. She would spend ages asking about the poplars.

She'd ask about the dunes for ages, too, and then about the gullies. She asked about everything. An Liman was thoroughly fed up with the young woman and could barely be bothered to speak to her.

The energy of young people was simply too much for an old man to handle.

With no other choice, Ye Yixin went to ask Professor Chen.

"Xiao Ye," Professor Chen said, looking at Ye Yixin with deep affection, like a grandfather doting on his granddaughter. He patiently explained, "Bos Alteng means 'standing.' The lake got its name because three mountains stand in its waters. In ancient times, it was also called the Fish Sea. It's the largest inland freshwater lake in Yan Country with inflow and outflow, and the Peacock River originates here, flowing deep into the Taklamakan Desert."

Professor Chen knew the geography of the country like the back of his hand.

"Ohhh!"

An Liman urged the camels to move faster. As soon as he called out, the camels behind him quickened their pace. Ye Yixin, Sa Dipeng, and Chu Jian watched the impressive trick with envy.

After traveling for a while, they stopped to rest. An Liman whistled, and all fifteen camels stopped and knelt down. The three young people were even more envious.

With nothing else to do, the three of them went to tease An Liman's camels. They tried whistling and calling out the way An Liman did, but the camels ignored them. An Liman saw what they were doing and sneered. If they could all do it, wouldn't he be out of a job? After a brief rest, they set off again.

As they traveled through the boundless desert, taking in its unique beauty, everyone was in high spirits.

Unable to contain her enthusiasm, Ye Yixin began to sing. Chu Jian and Sa Dipeng joined in.

"Our Western Regions are a wonderful place, with lush green grapes and lush green grasslands, horses running free. Our Western Regions are a wonderful place, with golden sands..."

The three of them got Fatty caught up in the mood, too, and he joined in with a booming voice. They sang and laughed along the way, having the time of their lives. Hu Ming couldn't help but sneer. The desert was no place to play around. They'd soon find out what it was like to suffer.

Hu Ming and Hu Bayi exchanged a glance, both looking helpless.

Playing around near the edge of the desert might have lifted their spirits, but going deep into the Taklamakan Desert was pure misery. Worse, they could lose their lives at any moment.

If they stepped into quicksand, they'd be swallowed up and suffocate with their mouths full of sand.

The group set off again. Hu Ming and Fatty rode their camels at the back, leisurely smoking and seeming to be in good spirits.

"By the way, Old Hu, that American came all this way to our country and put up so much money to search for Jingjue Ancient City. Do you think she's after the treasures inside?"

Hu Ming frowned and dismissed Fatty's theory. He knew why Yang Xueli had come.

"Never mind whether we can find Jingjue Ancient City. Even if we do, how could she carry all those treasures away by herself? Just look at the tomb on Niuxin Mountain. The archaeological team spent months excavating it and still needed trucks to haul the treasures away."

At this, his tone turned utterly confident. "The Taklamakan Desert belongs to our country, and if Jingjue Ancient City is found, it'll belong to our country, too. Would an American dare steal our country's treasures?"

"She wouldn't."

The two brothers continued to mutter to each other at the back. Yang Xueli glanced behind her, then turned back and said to Hu Bayi, "Mr. Hu Ming and Mr. Wang seem to be having a good time chatting about something..."

They must be saying bad things about me again. Hmph. Yang Xueli could easily guess what Fatty was like. He was always looking at her the wrong way, so he was bound to be saying unkind things about her. Hu Ming didn't like her much, either. Still, she didn't care.

"They're just chatting nonsense. Ignore them."

"Mm." Yang Xueli nodded lightly, her beautiful eyes on An Liman, who was leading the way. "Uncle An Liman really is an expert in the desert. Have you noticed? All the poplars, dunes, and broken walls we've passed form a living map of the desert route when you connect them."

"Not bad, Shirley Yang. You're very observant. Keep it up." Hu Bayi gave Shirley Yang a thumbs-up.

Without them realizing it, their relationship had grown much closer during this time.