Chapter 22 Desert Accident

The off-road vehicle's tires crunched over the scorching sand with a dull thud, as if they had lost all strength from being baked by the midday sun. The convoy slowly came to a stop about fifty meters away from the abrupt mass of corpses ahead. The moment the engines shut off, a wave of desert heat, carrying sand and dust, rushed up and left a fine layer of yellowish-brown marks on the vehicle windows.

Wu Xie pushed open the car door, his feet barely touching the ground before the sand scorched him, causing him to recoil sharply. He quickly tiptoed into the shadows of the car. He raised his hand to shield his forehead, squinting at the top of the dune—Zhang Qiling and Hei Xiazi were already standing there, their figures shrouded in distorted air, as if they might melt into the undulating yellow sand behind them at any moment. The young man was still wearing that dark blue hoodie, the brim pulled low, obscuring most of his face, revealing only his sharp jawline. The hem of his shirt fluttered gently in the occasional hot breeze. Hei Xiazi leaned against a half-buried dead tree in the sand, his sunglasses reflecting the blinding sunlight. One hand was in his pocket, the other toying with the dagger at his waist. He seemed nonchalant, but his gaze remained fixed on the direction of the corpse array, his eyes subtly overlapping with the young man's.

"All personnel on alert, check weapons, watch out for quicksand." A-Ning's voice came through the walkie-talkie, trembling slightly, the static making the tension even more pronounced. She pushed open the car door a beat faster than usual, her hand still resting on the pistol at her waist—this team had traveled all over the country for so many years, encountering corpses in the desert wasn't unusual, but this scene before her made even her feel uneasy.

Wu Xie quickly walked to Xie Yuchen's side, who was gently rubbing his temples with his knuckles. His usually meticulously styled hair was slightly disheveled by the wind, but it did not affect his composure at all. "Look at those corpses," Xie Yuchen said in a low voice, pointing his finger towards the direction of the corpse array, "They are arranged too neatly, it doesn't look like they died naturally and were piled up here by the wind and sand."

Wu Xie followed his finger and saw seven corpses scattered in the shape of the Big Dipper, each in a half-kneeling position. Their withered skin clung tightly to their bones, and the cracks were filled with sand, giving off an eerie ochre sheen under the blazing sun. The wind rustled through the corpses' clothes, making a soft "whoosh," like some kind of silent summons. He couldn't help but frown, a stench of decay from being exposed to the sun, mixed with the dry smell of sand, filling his nostrils and making his throat tighten: "This is... some kind of formation? I've seen something similar in my grandfather's notes before, said to be used to guard tombs, but I've never seen anything this sinister."

“It looks like a sacrificial layout, but it’s not right.” Xie Yuchen took two steps forward, squatted down, picked up a pinch of sand, rubbed it between his fingertips, and it fell down in a rustling sound. “When I went to Changsha with my second grandfather to see the outer formation of Mawangdui in my early years, I saw a similar half-kneeling posture, but that was used to ‘suppress the earth,’ and the symbols and arrangements were different from this. The patterns on this corpse are more like something from the Xi Wangmu’s side, but they don’t completely conform to the known burial customs.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Qiling, atop the dune, moved. The young man didn't turn around, but slowly crouched down, his fingertips lightly brushing the sand before him, his movements so gentle it was as if afraid of disturbing something. Black Bear followed almost immediately. He straightened up from the dead tree, his steps light, avoiding the sand tracks at the young man's feet, standing just half a step behind him—an angle that allowed him to see the young man's movements clearly while also shielding him from some of the slanting sunlight. Neither spoke, but the young man's fingertips paused on the sand, and Black Bear immediately understood, turning his head slightly and calling out in A Ning's direction, "Miss A Ning, come and take a look—there are cart tracks here, very fresh." (Zhang Qiling: This wasn't the case in my previous life, so there seems to be a slight discrepancy, but it's not a big problem.)

Aning immediately led two team members over, with Wuxie and Xie Yuchen following behind. Hei Xiazi gently brushed away the surface sand with his toes, revealing a clear tire track underneath. The tread was still intact, with no signs of being worn down by the wind and sand. "Look at the depth of this tread," Hei Xiazi crouched down, tracing the tire track with his finger. "The wind in the desert is so strong; if it had been more than a day, the edges would have been blurred long ago. It's still so clear... Someone got here before us, and not long after."

Ah Ning's face instantly darkened. She raised her hand and pressed the walkie-talkie, her voice even colder than before: "Attention all vehicles, search the surrounding 300-meter radius. Report any unusual activity immediately." After speaking, she looked at Zhang Qiling, her tone becoming more polite: "Mr. Zhang, do you think... it could be someone from the Wang family?"

Zhang Qiling didn't answer, but slowly stood up, his sharp gaze sweeping across the surroundings. Wu Xie followed his gaze and saw only endless sand dunes, not even a bird in sight. The wind swirled sand, drawing flowing lines on the ground. "Little brother, what did you find?" he couldn't help but ask. Before he finished speaking, Hei Xiazi patted his shoulder, his tone teasing yet serious: "Third Master, don't you think it's too quiet? Even if it's hot in this desert, there should be gerbils scurrying around in their burrows. But we haven't heard a single insect chirp since we stopped—this place is really eerie."

Wu Xie then realized that he had been so focused on the corpse array that he hadn't noticed the eerie silence. Just then, Xie Yuchen suddenly exclaimed "Huh!" and pointed to the center of the corpse array: "Look there, there's something reflecting light."

Everyone immediately looked in the direction he pointed, and saw a faint metallic glint peeking out from between the fingers of the corpse in the very center. It flashed briefly in the bright sunlight before being quickly obscured by shadow. Zhang Qiling took a step towards the corpse array, but his wrist was suddenly grabbed—it was Hei Xiazi. His fingers were gripping Zhang Qiling's wrist, the pressure just enough to stop him. "I'll handle this," Hei Xiazi's voice was no longer as nonchalant as usual, but rather serious. He pulled a pair of specially made tweezers from his backpack, the tips of which had fine anti-slip textures. "I'm familiar with these mechanisms embedded in corpses. You just watch from the side."

Zhang Qiling frowned slightly, his gaze falling on Hei Xiazi's hand holding the tweezers—that hand, usually holding a cigarette or a dagger, was unusually steady now, though the fingertips were slightly white from the force. He paused for two seconds, then slowly took a half step back, his hand unconsciously resting on the hilt of the black and gold ancient sword behind his back, his knuckles slightly white—that was his posture, ready to strike at any moment, a posture Wu Xie had seen for so many years, it was all too familiar.

Black Bear crouched low as he approached the corpse array, his steps extremely light, each step carefully placed between two corpses to avoid any potential trigger points. He stopped three steps away from the central corpse, crouched down, and gently pried open the corpse's stiff fingers with tweezers. The corpse's skin was dry and hard as leather, and the tweezers made a soft "click" sound when they touched it, making Wu Xie's heart leap into his throat.

As the fingers were slowly pried open, the metallic sheen was finally revealed—it was a palm-sized compass, made of bronze, covered with a thick layer of rust. The edges were rounded from wear, but the fine engravings were still clearly visible. Black Bear carefully took out the compass, not turning around immediately, but first looking up at Zhang Qiling atop the dune, his eyes questioning. The young man nodded slightly, and Black Bear breathed a sigh of relief, raising the compass and calling out to the crowd, "It's a compass, quite old-fashioned."

Xie Yuchen immediately ran over, took the compass and examined it carefully. When his fingertips brushed against the markings, his eyes suddenly lit up: "This is not an ordinary compass. It is a compass from the Warring States period, used to determine directions and for divination." He pointed to the pointer in the center of the compass, his voice filled with surprise, "Look, the pointer is not swaying, it is pointing straight to the northwest."

Only then did Zhang Qiling walk towards the corpse array. He didn't look at the divination plate in Xie Yuchen's hand, but went straight to a corpse on the left and drew the black-gold ancient sword from his back. The blade gleamed coldly. He gently used the tip of the sword to lift the collar of the corpse's clothes, his movements so light as if afraid of damaging something—on the corpse's chest, there was a peculiar symbol: it resembled a bird but was not a bird, with a snake's pattern wrapped around its head, the lines smooth yet exuding an eerie majesty.

"This is... the totem of the Queen Mother of the West!" Xie Yuchen leaned closer for a look, gasped, and even the divination disc in his hand trembled. "I've seen something similar in the murals of Dunhuang. It's a symbol used by the Queen Mother of the West's tribe to mark sacred sites—we...we've found the right place?"

Wu Xie also leaned closer, staring at the symbol for a long time, feeling both surprised and suspicious: "Finding the right place is a good thing, but these corpses... and people who arrived before us, what does it all mean?"

"It means that someone doesn't want us to continue forward." Hei Xiazi walked over and patted Zhang Qiling's shoulder. The young man didn't dodge, but just tilted his head slightly to listen to him continue, "This corpse array is placed here for two reasons: first, as a warning, and second, to block the way—those wheel tracks from earlier might have been left by the person who set up the array, deliberately leading us here."

Ah Ning also came over, her face so serious it could drip water: "Can you tell who did this? I've seen the Wang family's methods before, but none are this insidious."

Zhang Qiling's gaze fell on the corpse's neck, and he pointed lightly with the tip of his knife—there was an extremely fine wound there, with clean edges, almost invisible. "Carotid artery, one cut to kill." His voice was soft, but it clearly reached everyone's ears. "The technique was very professional; not someone from the Wang family."

“More like a cleaner.” Black Bear suddenly spoke, his tone colder. He looked at Zhang Qiling, and their eyes met briefly in the air. They both saw seriousness in each other’s eyes. A cleaner is the underworld’s term for a “cleaner” who specializes in removing traces for others. They are ruthless and never leave anyone alive. They had encountered one in the Qinling Mountains before and almost got caught by them.

Just then, a sharp whistle suddenly pierced the silence of the desert, like some kind of signal. Zhang Qiling reacted with astonishing speed; almost the instant the whistle sounded, he whirled around and pulled Hei Xiazi behind him. Before Hei Xiazi could react, he felt his back slam into a solid chest. The next second, a crossbow bolt whistled through the air and embedded itself in the sand where they had just stood. The fletching was still trembling violently, and the arrowhead glowed with a ghostly blue light—clearly, it was poisoned.

"Take cover!" A Ning shouted instantly. She pushed aside the teammate next to her and rolled behind the car, her gun already cocked.

Suddenly, a dozen or so men in black appeared from behind the sand dunes, all wearing masks and carrying submachine guns. Bullets rained down, the "rat-a-tat-tat" of gunfire echoing through the desert. Bullets struck the vehicle, leaving dents in its surface. Zhang Qiling pressed down on Wu Xie's nape and forcefully pushed him towards the back of the car, then rolled over himself, his gaze fixed on Hei Xiazi's direction—Hei Xiazi had already taken cover behind another vehicle and was peeking in his direction. When he saw Zhang Qiling looking over, Hei Xiazi grinned and gave him a "it's okay" gesture.

"Damn it, we've been ambushed!" Black Bear cursed, pulling a modified pistol from his backpack. He cocked it swiftly and was about to lean out to fight back.

Suddenly, his wrist was grabbed. It was Zhang Qiling. He had somehow gotten around to Hei Xiazi's side, his fingers gripping the back of Hei Xiazi's hand. The grip wasn't strong, but it made Hei Xiazi unable to move. "Don't be impulsive." The young man's voice was lower than usual, with a hint of urgency that was barely perceptible. His gaze swept across the battlefield before returning to Hei Xiazi's face. "They're driving us away, not trying to kill us."

Black Bear paused for a moment, then reacted, following the young man's gaze to the trajectory of the bullets—sure enough, although the bullets were dense, they all avoided the vital areas behind the car where the group was hiding, instead firing at the sand around them, as if forcing them to move in a certain direction. "Third Master, look to the northwest!" Black Bear suddenly shouted to Wu Xie.

Wu Xie peeked out and looked northwest. The sand dunes there were gentler than elsewhere, and there seemed to be a wheel track leading into the distance. "They want us to go in the direction the compass is pointing?" he asked, puzzled.

“Because there are traps there.” Xie Yuchen’s voice came from the side. He was observing the sand dunes to the northwest through binoculars, his brows furrowing even more. “I think I just saw a reflection behind the sand dunes, like… a metal plate from a mechanism.”

"Just using someone else to do the dirty work." Hei Xiazi sneered. Just as he was about to say something more, he saw Zhang Qiling suddenly straighten up and walk towards the corpse array.

"Brother!" Wu Xie and Hei Xiazi shouted almost simultaneously.

Bullets whizzed past Zhang Qiling, some grazing his clothes, others striking the sand at his feet, kicking up clouds of dust. He seemed oblivious, his steps steady as he walked straight towards the center of the corpse-filled field. Hei Xiazi's heart leaped into his throat; he was about to rush out when he saw the young man crouch in the center of the corpse field, his fingertips moving rapidly across the sand, leaving afterimages in his wake. A moment later, Zhang Qiling stood up and made a hand gesture in their direction—the "safety" gesture they had agreed upon beforehand: his index and middle fingers together, gently flicked upwards.

"Come with me." Zhang Qiling's voice came, still calm, but it reassured everyone.

Hei Xiazi was the first to rush out, quickly running to Zhang Qiling's side. He looked him up and down, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Zhang Qiling was unharmed: "You kid, can you not be so impulsive next time?"

Zhang Qiling didn't answer, but simply turned his head slightly, his gaze falling on Hei Xiazi's arm—when he dodged the bullets earlier, Hei Xiazi's sleeve had been torn, revealing a shallow scratch, still oozing a little blood. The young man's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, and he reached out to touch it, but then hesitated, ultimately just tilting his head towards the back of the corpse array: "There's an entrance over there."

Wu Xie and Xie Yuchen rushed over, while A Ning and her team continued to provide cover, firing at the men in black to buy time. Zhang Qiling led them around to the back of the corpse array, where the sand was softer than elsewhere. Pushing aside the surface sand, a hole half-hidden in the sand suddenly appeared—the hole was about a person's width wide, pitch black inside, and a putrid smell mixed with the damp smell of earth wafted out, making people wrinkle their noses.

"Go down," Zhang Qiling said briefly, looking at the cave entrance.

Wu Xie peered into the cave; it was pitch black, and he could only hear the faint sound of wind coming from within. "What's down there? Is it dangerous?"

Zhang Qiling didn't answer immediately, but turned to look at Hei Xiazi. The two looked at each other without speaking, yet it was as if they had exchanged countless messages—Hei Xiazi's sunglasses slid down to the tip of his nose, revealing his smiling yet unusually serious eyes, and he nodded at Zhang Qiling; Xiao Ge nodded slightly, the coldness in his eyes seemed to have faded a little.

"The underground passage of the Queen Mother of the West's Palace." Hei Xiazi pushed his sunglasses back up, his tone filled with certainty. He patted Wu Xie's shoulder, "Don't worry, with Xiao Ge here, even if we fall into the underworld, we can still come out alive." As he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Zhang Qiling, filled with undisguised trust.

The gunfire behind them grew closer, clearly indicating that Aning's team was nearing its end. Zhang Qiling didn't hesitate any longer, jumping first into the cave. As he disappeared into the darkness, he paused for a moment, seemingly waiting for those behind him. Hei Xiazi followed closely behind, deliberately reaching out to steady the edge of the cave entrance before jumping down to prevent sand from slipping in and blocking their path. Wu Xie and Xie Yuchen exchanged a glance and then jumped in as well.

The cave was pitch black, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. The only sounds were their breathing and footsteps. Wu Xie accidentally touched the back of the person in front of him—it was Hei Xiazi. He immediately stopped and whispered, "Slow down, there might be steps ahead." Just then, they felt Zhang Qiling slow down and even lightly tap the ground with his toes, making a soft "thump" sound—a warning that there were steps ahead.

Just after their figures completely disappeared from the cave entrance, a rustling sound suddenly came from outside, like quicksand moving. The seven corpses that had been scattered on the sand began to slowly sink, and the sand, as if it had a life of its own, surged up through the gaps between the corpses, quickly burying the entire corpse array completely, leaving only a flat patch of sand, as if the eerie scene had never existed.

In the darkness, Hei Xiazi's hand accidentally touched Zhang Qiling's wrist. He instinctively tried to pull away, but Xiao Ge gently held it. Zhang Qiling's fingers were slightly cool, but very steady, gripping his wrist as if confirming his location. "Follow me," Xiao Ge's voice came from the darkness, warmer than usual.

Hei Xiazi couldn't help but smile, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Don't worry, I won't get lost—wherever you go, I'll go."

The darkness ahead was still long, and no one knew what awaited them, but Wu Xie and Xie Yuchen felt inexplicably at ease looking at the two figures standing close together in front of them—as long as Zhang Qiling and Hei Xiazi were there, even if it was a thousand-year-old maze under this vast sea of ​​sand, they would always find a way out.