WOOY Chapter 12

Chang Dong’s plan was to head directly west, crossing the Yardang formations, the three ridges of sand, and the Ghost City, skirting the edge of the Kumtag Desert, and then to enter the heart of Lop Nur.

He got up early to check the weather, even though he knew that good weather and a smooth journey weren’t directly related. It was just a habit.

After breakfast, he started loading the car and doing pre-trip inspections.

The supplies and equipment were divided between Chang Dong’s and Fei Tang’s cars. Fei Tang’s car was loaded with over a ton, and his own car was even heavier. As for Ye Liuxi’s car, he didn’t have any high hopes: the van had a low chassis and would likely bottom out and become immobilized within the day. When that happened, they would just leave it behind and figure out how to tow it back on their return trip.

After loading the cars, Chang Dong did a final inspection of each vehicle. At that time, those capable did work, while those less capable chatted idly. Fei Tang cozied up to Ye Liuxi, addressing her warmly as “Sister Yexi” and engaging in a lively conversation.

When Chang Dong approached, Fei Tang was passionately talking.

“Speaking of the agate with the animal head, it’s a unique piece. Its design isn’t Chinese; it’s Central Asian, Persian style. Experts speculate it came from the Silk Road, a national gift from the Western regions to the Tang Dynasty. But it’s hard to say; if it were a national gift, why isn’t it recorded in history books, right? So, its origin is a mystery…”

“The price is astronomical. The country won’t even let it be exhibited abroad; it’s said to be worth half of Hong Kong…”

Chang Dong said, “What are you talking about?”

Fei Tang then noticed him. “Dong Ge, Sister Yexi found out I deal with antiques and asked me about it. So I was telling her…”

Chang Dong interrupted him, “Hold the flashlight for me. I need to check under the car.”

Fatty Tang responded and grabbed the high-intensity flashlight, eagerly following. He felt especially smart today, having intentionally mentioned his antique business in front of Ye Liuxi. She indeed asked about the animal-head agate, which spoke volumes—she must have this item; otherwise, why would she ask?

Chang Dong pushed the floor mat under the car, grabbed the side rail, and swiftly slid underneath, his back against the ground.

Fei Tang awkwardly leaned in, butt sticking out, the flashlight beam dancing under the car. “Where? Where should I shine it?”

Chang Dong’s eyes were fixed on the skid plate, and he tapped it twice with a wrench. “Fei Tang, as a friend, I’m warning you: Ye Liuxi is already suspicious of you. Stop thinking about her stuff.”

Fei Tang replied, “How could that be!”

“Dong Ge, you don’t understand the situation. She asked me first, that’s why I told her…”

Chang Dong said, “Coincidences happen once at most. Any more than that is intentional. How many times has it been now?”

“She went to Xi’an and appraised the agate cup. Within a few days, you came from Xi’an. You deal in antiques, you know this thing is valuable. You’ve searched her car, and you plan to go into the Gobi with her. If she doesn’t suspect you, do you think it’s fate arranged by the heavens?”

Fei Tang said, “…Huh?”

Chang Dong pressed on his head and pushed him out.

They say a smart head doesn’t grow hair; Fei Tang’s receding hairline was for nothing.

——

Everything was ready. Just before departure, Ye Liuxi came over to confirm with Chang Dong.

“Once we’re on the road, food and water are covered, right?”

“Yes.”

“What about gasoline? Do we need to pay extra?”

“Not for now. The reserve tanks are filled, and we can top off along the way. But we’ll need to refuel later.”

Ye Liuxi felt like her money wouldn’t last. Her car had a small engine, and filling it up cost nearly five hundred yuan. Off-road vehicles consumed even more fuel, costing thousands.

“The equipment you bought,” she emphasized, “I don’t want it; I’m just using it. The money I gave you covers the usage fee, right?”

“Yes.”

Ye Liuxi sensed a hint of impatience in his tone and felt the need to defend herself, “I’m just short on cash lately. When I’m better off, I will also spend money like water.”

Did she have some misunderstanding about the term “spend money like water”? Chang Dong couldn’t help but say, “Do you know how much money it takes to spend like that?”

Ye Liuxi replied, “I don’t need to know. I’m always ready to spend. Give me money, and I’ll spend it.”

……

 

——

This journey was not like the trip from Liuyuan to Dunhuang; this was the real deal. Fei Tang didn’t dare take the lead this time and dutifully let Chang Dong lead the way.

The car headed northwest, the journey was smooth. Fei Tang had done some research, and nowadays, so-called adventures were no longer life-and-death situations. Thanks to the country and the new technology, even the Taklamakan Desert, known for its shifting sands, had a road running through it. It’s worth noting that the name Taklamakan in Uyghur means “go in and you won’t come out.”

As long as he didn’t push his luck too far, he felt he could get out at any time.

After driving for almost two hours, they slowed down and stopped.

Fei Tang poked his head out and saw quite a few large and small vehicles stopping along the way. He curiously looked at Chang Dong, who was walking over, “Traffic jam?”

But that didn’t seem right; everyone was pulling over.

“We’ve reached the scenic spot, Yumen pass. Time to buy tickets.”

Fei Tang was puzzled. “Dong Ge, don’t you get a commission for leading a team? I’m not here to tour the sights.”

He was here for an adventure! An adventure! And now they were stopping at a scenic spot. Was the next stop going to be a shopping trip?

Chang Dong replied, “Even if you don’t visit, you still have to buy a ticket. It’s bundled. To take the Yardang Ghost City route, you have to pass through Yumen Pass. I’ve already paid for it, it’s included in the cost. Do you want to take a look? You’ve never been here. If you want to see it, take a quick look; if not, we can continue on our way.”

Fei Tang quickly got out of the car.

——

Chang Dong had led tours to Yumen Pass several times before. It was just a big earthen platform, and he wasn’t interested in seeing it again. “You guys go ahead. I’ll wait in the car.”

Ye Liuxi looked at the ticket price—40 yuan.

When she converted it, it meant she could buy two medium-sized green-skinned pears, chop enough meat filling for half a pot of dumplings, or take three or four baths at a public bathhouse.

She held the two tickets, feeling it was quite a waste, and pondered to herself, “This is a bit wasteful… Maybe I should go through the ticket gate twice, go in once, come out, and then go back in…”

Chang Dong was utterly baffled. “What’s the point of doing that?”

Ye Liuxi said, “It would make me feel better.”

 

——

Getting off the car, they had to walk a long path paved with pebbles to reach the ruins of the city gate. Ropes were strung on either side of the path, serving as makeshift railings.

Although the high season had passed, the tourist interest in the site hadn’t diminished. Numerous tour groups of various sizes made the pebble path bustle with noise.

A staff member stood by the roadside, asking passing tourists to show their tickets.

Ye Liuxi flashed her ticket and walked about ten steps inside, intending to go out again to experience the joy of “entering with a ticket” once more. Just then, she heard Chang Dong’s voice from behind—

“My ticket is with the woman in front,” said Chang Dong.

Ye Liuxi sighed, thinking: some people in this society are so narrow-minded, they can’t stand to see others happy.

Suddenly, Fei Tang exclaimed beside her, “What the heck, really? It’s just an earthen platform! What a rip-off!”

As they got closer, it was indeed underwhelming. To put it nicely, it was preserving the original appearance without too much human interference.

It was just a small square fortress, made of yellow rammed earth[mfn]photo 1 below [/mfn]. In and out in the blink of an eye, and a loop around the city took no more than five minutes.

The tour guides with their megaphones kept chattering—

Some were straightforward and candid.

“Dear visitors, there’s not much to see here. You have fifteen minutes to take pictures, so make the most of it. Our main attraction today is still the Yardang Ghost City…”

Some guides were reciting their scripts by rote.

“Everyone, please look. This is the world-renowned Yumen Pass. The ancient grandeur of the pass evokes a mix of emotions, and one can’t help but recall famous verses like ‘ the lonely city looks out at Yumen Pass’[mfn]A poem from the Tang dynasty: “The long clouds of Qinghai darken the snow-capped mountains, and the lonely city looks out at Yumen Pass. I have fought a hundred battles in the yellow sands, and I will not return until I have conquered Loulan.”[/mfn] and ‘The winds of springtime cross not the Yumen Pass’[mfn]’Ascends the Yellow River, to afar where white clouds amass;/ Forlorn, here lies a fortress, by the towering mountain mass./ O why, to the Tune of the Willow, must pipers ever bemoan?/ Ah the genial winds of springtime cross not the Yumen Pass.'[/mfn]…”

Ye Liuxi sidled up to an elderly couple. Both had graying hair and wore glasses, looking scholarly. They had hired a private guide, engaging in a question-and-answer session that might yield some valuable insights.

 

The guide was enthusiastically explaining, “As I mentioned earlier, Dunhuang has two famous passes: Yumen Pass and Yang Pass. This is because the ancient Silk Road split into northern and southern routes at Dunhuang. The northern route exited through Yumen Pass, passing through today’s Lop Nur and Loulan. The southern route exited through Yang Pass, traversing the Taklamakan Desert, both were very arduous routes…”

The elderly gentleman asked, “I have a question… Dunhuang is not considered a big city even today, and it was even smaller in ancient times. Even if the routes split there, was it necessary to build two passes in such a small place?”

The guide coughed and said, “Well, perhaps it was because the Han Dynasty was very powerful…”

They had the wealth to spend lavishly, so they built as many as they wanted.

The elderly lady said, “I also have a question. Historical records describe Yumen Pass as a bustling place with emissaries and trade caravans constantly passing through, but the size of this small square fortress seems rather small. We visited Yang Pass yesterday, and it felt much larger, even with a memorial hall built there…”

The guide replied, “…History indeed leaves many mysteries. Now, let’s take a look at the back of this fortress…”

Ye Liuxi wanted to hear more, hoping the elderly lady would persist, but to her surprise, the elderly couple both just smiled and let it go.

 

She was feeling a bit frustrated when she suddenly heard Chang Dong speak.

“In fact, quite a few people have mentioned that this Yumen Pass seems too small.”

Ye Liuxi turned around and saw him not far behind, apparently eavesdropping earlier.

“So?”

Chang Dong said, “According to historical records, Yumen Pass should be in this vicinity, but no one had ever found it. In 1907, an adventurer and archaeological thief, dug up many Han bamboo slips near here, and thus determined that this small square fortress was Yumen Pass.”

“But this place is indeed too small, so some people insist that the real Yumen Pass has not yet been found.”

Ye Liuxi said, “That doesn’t seem likely.”

After all, Yumen Pass is not in a no man’s land, and the scale of the fortress wouldn’t be small. With today’s technological advancements and the intensity of archaeological efforts, even the ancient cities of Loulan and Jingjue (called Niya ruins), buried deep in the desert, have been uncovered. And Yumen Pass is located near Dunhuang.

Chang Dong said, “It’s not impossible. Maybe it’s still deeply buried… Or a more romantic explanation is that it weathered away.”

“Weathered away?”

“Yes, the conditions here are harsh. Unlike building walls in inland cities where they can quarry stone, the construction here used local materials like reeds, yellow earth, red willow branches, and gravel. The strong northwest winds blow stones across the ground, and it’s not surprising if the structures were eroded flat.”

Ye Liuxi looked up at the ruins of the fortress and said, “If an entire fortress was weathered away, it would truly be impossible to find.”

Chang Dong replied, “That might not be the case. The fortress might disappear, but the sand remains. The nearest desert to Dunhuang is the Kumtag Desert[mfn]photo 2 [/mfn]. Maybe Yumen Pass has already weathered away into a gentle sand dune in the desert. Or perhaps, during a sudden, massive sandstorm, the entire fortress was swept up into the sky by the wind.”

He then fell silent.

Not far away, Fei Tang impatiently shouted at them, “Dong Ge, can we go now? No matter how long you look, you won’t get your money’s worth back…”

Ye Liuxi turned and started walking back. As she passed by Chang Dong, she looked back at the pass and said, “If all the sand of the fortress was swept up into the sky, do you think that the sandstorm would resemble a fortress? That would be quite…”

She couldn’t find the right word to describe it—terrifying, romantic, or magnificent?

Chang Dong’s fingers, hanging at his side, trembled slightly.

 

photo 1- Yumen Pass

photo 2- Kumtag desert

 

TL’s note: Happy New Year!! I hope you will all be happy, healthy and that you will achieve all your goals and dreams 💕