Yu Yi exclaimed in shock, “Wow, I finally see what’s going on! You guys are close with Professor Pan—this is just you two teaming up to exclude me!”
Tan Muxing, worried that Pan Yicheng would get blamed, quickly clarified, “No, Professor Pan treats everyone equally…”
Chu Qianli arrogantly declared, “Then hurry up and send me a red envelope! I have connections above me!”
Tan Muxing: “?”
Chu Qianli and Yu Yi chased each other around the office like a game of cat and mouse. In the end, it was Tan Muxing who managed to calm them down. To keep the peace, he took the initiative to order afternoon tea, finally quieting down his chatty companions.
The three of them had been working together in the office recently, processing various documents. While sipping his coffee, Yu Yi complained, “Chu Qianli, look how considerate he is! He even orders drinks for his colleagues. You’re the only one in this office who’s never done that!”
Chu Qianli grumbled in dissatisfaction, “Then what are you drinking right now?”
“Nonsense! This was ordered by Tan Muxing—what does it have to do with you?”
“It does have something to do with me!”
Seeing that another argument was about to break out, Tan Muxing quickly stepped in to mediate. Changing the subject, he asked in a friendly tone, “Yu-ge, are you a Daoist priest? You don’t seem like the ones I’ve met before.”
Tan Muxing lived at the foot of Qianshan, where he often interacted with Daoist priests. However, he had rarely seen one like Yu Yi, who, from appearance alone, had nothing in common with Daoism.
“Oh, that’s probably because we belong to different sects. The main ones are the Zhengyi Sect and the Quanzhen Sect. I’m from the Zhengyi Sect,” Yu Yi explained. Then, glancing at Chu Qianli, he quickly added in his defense, “That’s right, we specialize in talismans! So it’s perfectly normal that I can’t beat you in fortune-telling—each field has its own expertise!”
Having been completely outmatched by Chu Qianli in metaphysical calculations, Yu Yi now felt embarrassed and was desperate to find an excuse.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Chu Qianli raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying you specialize in magic? If you can start a fire or summon rain right now, I’ll order drinks immediately.”
Yu Yi faltered, suddenly lacking confidence. “…Well, I can draw fire talismans and rain talismans, but whether they actually produce fire or rain is another matter.”
“And you call that ‘expertise’?”
Yu Yi lamented, “Woe is me, woe is me! The Dharma-ending age is upon us—Daoism is in decline!”
Chu Qianli scoffed, “If you’re a Daoist, stop using Buddhist terminology.”
Although Yu Yi insisted that he could exorcise demons, draw talismans, and had even dealt with many tricky supernatural cases, Chu Qianli didn’t believe him at all. She was convinced he was just bragging.
Yu Yi shared several eerie ghost stories, which Tan Muxing listened to with great curiosity, but Chu Qianli remained skeptical.
Noticing her doubtful expression, Yu Yi warned, “Listen, young lady, don’t be so arrogant. There are plenty of strange and mysterious things in this world—don’t just blurt out that you don’t believe in ghosts and gods!”
Chu Qianli obediently replied, “No, Yu-ge, it’s not that I don’t believe in ghosts and gods—I just specifically don’t believe in you.”
Yu Yi claimed that one of his talismans instantly subdued a thousand-year-old ghost, but in Chu Qianli’s opinion, even internet paranormal fiction wasn’t this ridiculous.
Yu Yi pretended to rise from his seat, feigning anger. “Hey, you—”
Tan Muxing spoke up on behalf of the mischievous child, trying to smooth things over. “She’s just a kid, still a kid…”
Yu Yi seized the opportunity to back down gracefully, composing himself. “Fine, for his sake, I won’t argue with you.”
Chu Qianli sipped her juice and smugly mimicked him. “For Xingxing’s sake, I won’t argue with you.”
Tan Muxing: “……”
Just then, the office door suddenly opened. Pan Yicheng walked in from outside, glanced at the takeaway bags in the corner, and asked curiously, “What are you guys talking about? Drinking already?”
The three of them instinctively tried to hide their drinks, but Pan Yicheng immediately reached out to stop them, smiling warmly. “It’s fine, go ahead and drink. Soon, you won’t be able to buy any even if you want to.”
Yu Yi: “…That sounds a little ominous.”
Chu Qianli, sensing something was off, muttered, “Now this is a real ghost story.”
Tan Muxing asked, “Are you heading out soon?”
Pan Yicheng nodded. “Yes, there’s a bit of a problem with the project, so it looks like I’ll have to go in person. And this time, there are two locations… let me see…”
“How about this? The four of us will set out together, and once we get there, we’ll decide how to split into two teams.” Pan Yicheng looked around the room, thinking about how to divide the team. “Yu Yi with me… no, that won’t work, not a good match…”
“Alright, then you three go together. At least you can watch out for each other.”
Among the expert team, Pan Yicheng had the highest level of expertise in Feng Shui and geomancy, followed by Chu Qianli, who possessed the Red Crystal Compass. However, Chu Qianli had only just reached adulthood and still looked like a child.
Since there were two locations to survey, Pan Yicheng and Chu Qianli had to split up, but the teams couldn’t be entirely without an adult. So, Yu Yi was assigned to their group.
Yu Yi glanced back at Chu Qianli and Tan Muxing, who were practically inseparable, and looked puzzled. He joked, “They already have a guardian—do they even need me?”
Pan Yicheng smiled. “What are you saying? You’re very important, an indispensable pillar of the team.”
“You mean a backup?”
“That’s your interpretation—I didn’t say that.”
“…So can I leave now?”
With the teams set, the group officially set off.
Having traveled once before, Chu Qianli and the others were getting used to the bumpy journey.
They flew to the airport, then took a car to the base. From there, they continued westward by vehicle, heading to an even more remote location than last time.
The vast desert stretched endlessly, barren and desolate.
At the station, Pan Yicheng prepared to part ways with Chu Qianli and the others. “I’ll be taking this train, and you’ll be on that one. The main issues we’re dealing with are geogrids and sand interception ditches. Be careful on the road, and Yu Yi, keep an eye on those two.”
Yu Yi gave a casual wave. “Oh-la, oh-la!”
“The temperature difference between day and night is huge here—make sure you dress warmly.” After giving his final instructions, Pan Yicheng took his luggage and boarded with the others.
The train he boarded was far from the grandeur of a high-speed rail—it was short and plain, barely resembling a passenger train. It rumbled to life and slowly disappeared into the vast expanse of the Gobi Desert.
Standing in the small station, Chu Qianli looked around in confusion. “Are we still near Shaman Village?”
Tan Muxing glanced down at his phone, but the signal was weak. He tried to answer, “It seems even more remote than Batuge’s work station.”
“I didn’t even know there was a station out here,” Yu Yi remarked as he surveyed the area, then turned his attention to the construction plans. “The railway should end just up ahead.”
Moments later, another train prepared for departure. The conductor stepped down and waved, signaling for Chu Qianli and the others to board. They obediently dragged their luggage onto the train, only to find that the entire train had just one passenger car, while the rest didn’t seem to be for passengers.
The two cars behind theirs were labeled with train numbers and marked as “Dedicated Water Tank Cars,” indicating that this was a supply train.
Settling in, the three of them started chatting with the train staff.
Yu Yi waved his phone around in frustration. “The signal here is terrible.”
The train worker chuckled. “Did you bring cash? There’s often no signal here, and plenty of self-driving tourists end up stranded.”
Chu Qianli gazed out at the barren landscape and asked in surprise, “People actually come here for self-driving trips?”
“Yeah, occasionally. And they don’t stick to the main roads—they love venturing into the wild trails, especially those with off-road vehicles. But further ahead, there’s hardly anyone—it’s basically a no-man’s land. No water, no electricity, no signal. If you get lost out there, it’s no joke.”
The train worker seemed familiar with the area, casually propping up his phone to watch pre-downloaded videos.
The desolate desert stretched on, utterly lifeless. Occasionally, distant black rock formations appeared, each one similar in its lonely, monotonous bleakness.
Chu Qianli and Tan Muxing leaned against the window, looking out. Suddenly, she spotted an inconspicuous small house and uniformed personnel saluting on a concrete platform. “There are people here.”
The train worker had just claimed the area was an uninhabited zone, yet there were still some stationed personnel in the vast Gobi Desert.
The worker glanced up and said, “Oh, this is a stop.”
The small, makeshift station had only two uniformed staff members, whose main task was maintaining the railway. Isolated from the world, they only had the chance to interact with outsiders when trains stopped by.
Some people disembarked from the train to unload drinking water and vegetables for the stationed workers. After a brief chat, they returned to the supply train.
The train worker explained, “Nowadays, only our colleagues are left in the uninhabited zone. This train mainly delivers supplies to construction and duty personnel.”
The train started moving again.
Chu Qianli watched as the tiny station faded into the distance, like a lonely stone in the vast Gobi. She had merely passed through this place, but those stationed there had remained for who knows how long.
Yu Yi, with a mysterious air, mused, “The more deserted a place is, the easier it is for strange, supernatural things to happen.”
Chu Qianli shot back, “You’re sitting on a socialist train and still daring to talk about ghosts? Keep it up, and we’ll cut off your supplies!”
Yu Yi: “Don’t doubt me—I even brought talismans!”
Tan Muxing gently mediated, “Alright, alright.”
Their destination was the project’s frontline construction site. The three of them traveled aboard the supply train to the work station, which was far more populated than the small stations they had passed along the way. Many construction workers were stationed here.
After unloading supplies, the train turned around. Beyond this point, there were neither roads nor railways—it was truly a land of complete desolation. If the railway construction were to be completed, future trains would traverse the uninhabited zone, connecting it to a city 400 kilometers away.
However, the severe wind and sand erosion in the Gobi Desert had long hindered railway construction. Chu Qianli and the others had come to survey the terrain, searching for the best route through the steep desert landscape.
The expert team was warmly welcomed by the construction workers. But when the workers heard that the three of them wanted to inspect the terrain and glanced at the darkening sky, they hesitated and said, “It’s getting a bit late today. How about tomorrow? Besides, strange things have been happening at the construction site lately.”
Yu Yi asked, “Strange things?”
“That’s right! The wind and sand here are brutal. During the day, we set up sediment control barriers and sandbreak nets, but when we return the next day, they’re all torn to shreds—our work from the day before completely wasted. It’s been happening a lot these past few days—downright eerie!”
Construction workers often traveled deep into mountains and forests, occasionally encountering bizarre occurrences. Facing something like this, they naturally felt uneasy.
Chu Qianli gasped in mock horror, “We were too careless—we shouldn’t have brought a Taoist along! The number of strange incidents has increased.”
Yu Yi: “…Hey.”
Tan Muxing speculated, “Maybe the wind at night ripped them apart?”
One of the workers shook his head. “No way! These sandbreak nets are designed to withstand wind and sand—there’s no way they’d just be blown apart. Come on, I’ll show you the ones that got torn.”
The three of them followed the construction worker and soon came across the shredded green sandbreak nets. Only then did they realize the severity of the problem.
Chu Qianli touched the tough material and murmured uneasily, “It wouldn’t be easy to tear this apart.”
The sandbreak nets were made from special materials, specifically designed to control sediment. They couldn’t have been damaged by mere wind and sand—this was clearly the result of some external force.
Even with her small hands, Chu Qianli could barely make a dent in the net. Who knew what had attacked it during the night?
“Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to rip these apart,” the worker complained, “and this place is completely deserted. It’s like we’re dealing with some supernatural force…”
“The most frustrating part is that the windstorms at night are so bad, you can’t see three or four meters ahead. The security cameras didn’t capture anything either!”
“We’ve been stuck dealing with this for days—can’t even finish setting up the sandbreak nets, let alone do any other work.”
This situation was stranger than expected, catching the trio off guard. They had just arrived and were already encountering something eerie. Naturally, they had no idea how to handle it.
Chu Qianli suddenly smacked Yu Yi on the back, speaking with exaggerated seriousness. “Yu-ge, the demon-exorcising mission you’ve been waiting for is finally here! Who would’ve thought your talismans would actually come in handy? Shouldn’t you put on a little show tonight and capture the ghostly culprit?”
Tan Muxing was stunned. “Wait—so the stories Yu-ge told in the office were real?”
Chu Qianli laughed, “Of course they’re real! He’s driven away thousand-year-old demons before—this tiny problem is nothing!”
Hearing this, Yu Yi hurriedly tried to defend himself, quickly saying, “Don’t be ridiculous! This is the Age of Declining Dharma—our magical powers have weakened…”
“No worries! If one of our teammates makes a sacrifice to the heavens, your powers will be limitless!”
Yu Yi: “??”
I am just a novice translator and Chinese is not my native language. I try my best to translate the chapters as accurate as possible.
If there are any mistakes then kindly comment and remind me. Your support means a lot.
