WOOY Chapter 41

It didn’t hurt—just felt like a mosquito bite. Then, blood flowed into the syringe, and it was bright red.

Chang Dong only drew a small amount. He quickly removed the needle, as though weighing something in his mind. His movements were slow as he adjusted the valve, letting beads of blood seep out, dripping onto the ground.

“Liuxi, later… help me take down those two.”

Ye Liuxi glanced in Ding Liu’s direction. “Why?”

“I am afraid they’ll get into trouble—also, they’re a nuisance.”

Ye Liuxi lifted the cotton ball covering the needle mark. The white cotton had barely a speck of blood on it.

She said, “You’ll have to leave the desert eventually. What are you planning to tell Liu Qi? He paid you, and the moment he sent people in, you knocked them out?”

In the distance, water trickled down. Fei Tang had activated the car-mounted shower head, but he used it sparingly—only rinsing his face. Then, wiping away the excess water with his hand, he let it drip freely. Under the glow of the camp lights, the droplets hanging from his lashes shimmered like tiny halos.

Chang Dong glanced over, shifted slightly, and tucked the syringe into his sleeve. “Then what’s your take on it?”

“If they’re going to leave, it should be their decision—so no one can complain. If you ask me, let them go in and scare themselves out. They won’t have anyone to blame.”

“Besides, Ding Liu has been guarding Liu Qi’s territory for three years—if she didn’t have some brains and guts, she wouldn’t have lasted this long. And Gao Shen was assigned to protect her, meaning he isn’t weak either. If they aren’t scared off, that means we gain extra hands—isn’t that a good thing?”

It sounded reasonable. Chang Dong considered it, finding the logic more comprehensive. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Still, teaming up with this kind of people is a pain.”

Ye Liuxi smirked. “Not everything goes your way. A perfect life with a harmonious family, a kind father, loyal friends who’d die for you, a lover who’s gorgeous and gentle and intelligent—and now even temporary teammates who should be honorable warriors? What kind of luck do you think you have?”

“Back when you led teams, were all your teammates easy to handle? There had to be troublemakers. Did you kick out all the difficult ones? No—you train them. If you just wait for perfection to fall from the sky, how long do you think it’ll take? Look at Fei Tang—doesn’t he seem way more tolerable now?”

Chang Dong turned to look at Fei Tang.

Fei Tang was strolling over, flicking water from his hands, humming a tune, in a decent mood. As soon as he lifted his head and caught Chang Dong staring at him, he looked puzzled. “Dong ge, something up?”

Chang Dong said, “If you need to piss, do it now.”

Fei Tang instantly understood—he bolted.

——

By the time the sandstorm arrived, both sides had already settled in for the night. To keep air circulating, Chang Dong cracked open the window on the wind-sheltered side near the yardang formations and covered the sunroof with a protective screen.

This kept the inside of the vehicle from feeling stuffy, but the sound of sand pelting against the exterior was sharp and relentless. Ye Liuxi slept uneasily—half-conscious, she found the noise oddly soothing, until she suddenly jolted awake, realizing just how irritating it was.

She lay staring at the pitch-black ceiling of the car, momentarily bored out of her mind. The space felt cramped, suffocating. Annoyed, she flipped onto her side, her arm accidentally slipping past the hanging curtain.

The back of her hand brushed against Chang Dong’s.

Ye Liuxi’s heart skipped a beat. Her fingers instinctively curled inward—her mind blank, except for one fleeting thought: his hand feels cold.

After a moment, she ducked her head under the curtain, lifted his blanket with one hand, and gently nudged his hand back with the other—tucking him in properly.

Finished, she wasn’t satisfied. After thinking for a second, she murmured in a low voice, “I’m a good person, right?”

Only then did she grudgingly lie back down.

——

Probably because she hadn’t slept well the night before, Ye Liuxi was still too groggy to get up the next morning—despite knowing that Chang Dong and Fei Tang were already awake. She forced her eyes open and saw the endless expanse of sand outside, which made her feel even more justified in staying in bed.

After all, the weather was bad.

After a while, she heard Fei Tang gargling, occasionally exchanging words with Chang Dong—half-conversations, scattered remarks. It seemed he was talking about Ding Liu again.

“I just saw her putting on makeup. There are barely a handful of people around—who’s she doing it for?”

Chang Dong’s tone was indifferent. “She’s a young girl. She probably just likes looking nice.”

Fei Tang wasn’t convinced. “Nah, I don’t think so. She’s got schemes. She acts distant toward Gao Shen, won’t even look me in the eye—but she talks to you… Oh, wait. Dong ge, don’t tell me she’s—”

Chang Dong had no interest in continuing this topic. “At her age, having thoughts like that is normal.”

Ye Liuxi sat up and yanked the curtain aside with a loud whoosh.

Both Chang Dong and Fei Tang turned to look at her.

She didn’t acknowledge them. Instead, she focused on tidying up her messy hair, clipping it into place. “What a waste—spending that energy on men. So boring. If it were me…”

She lifted her head and flashed a brilliant smile. “I’d go rule over the world.”

With that, she grabbed her toiletry cup and went off to wash up.

When she returned, the fire pit was burning again. Chang Dong was cooking noodles—seasoned generously with shrimp skin, seaweed, and mushroom slices. Once the water boiled, he sprinkled in some salt, and the fragrance filled the air.

When Gao Shen approached, even he couldn’t help but take a second look—he and Ding Liu had eaten biscuits for breakfast. Those things were dry, cold, cloyingly sweet, and overwhelmingly greasy.

He asked Chang Dong, “Liu-er wanted me to ask—do you have plans for today?”

His tone carried hostility. He and Ding Liu shared the belief that Chang Dong’s team wasn’t serious, that they were purposely delaying and messing around.

Without even lifting his head, Chang Dong replied, “Yeah. After breakfast, we’re collecting Hui Ba’s body.”

The answer caught Gao Shen off guard. He hesitated before turning away.

Ye Liuxi sat beside Chang Dong. The noodles had just finished cooking. Chang Dong let the flames die down, and divided the noodles into handled meal boxes. Everyone took their own portion.

Ye Liuxi picked up her bowl, watching the steam rise. She gently blew on it twice, then asked, “Are we heading out right after this?”

Chang Dong nodded. “It’s safer in daylight.”

That made sense. All the strange happenings had occurred at night.

After eating, Fei Tang took the initiative to wash the dishes. Here, simplicity was key—wipe the bowls clean with paper towels, then scald them with boiling water.

Ye Liuxi was gathering her goggles and gear when she suddenly heard Chang Dong call her. “Liuxi, come here for a moment.”

She looked up to see Chang Dong standing beside the off-road vehicle, the trunk half open.

Walking over, the first thing she spotted was a tightly rolled-up body bag. She assumed he was going to talk about the corpse recovery, but instead, he reached into the tightly stacked body bags and pulled out a handgun.

Ye Liuxi quipped, “You called me over just to execute me?”

Chang Dong chuckled, weighing the gun in his hand. “I don’t use it often—Liu Qi helped me get it, just in case… Liuxi, you really might be an insider.”

“Why?”

“I think that a girl raised in normal society—even if she doesn’t care about pleasing men—would still be focused on pleasing herself. Ask a hundred people, and none of them would answer with ‘I’d go rule over the world’”

At most, they’d have political aspirations—advocating for the people. The age of battling for dominion over the world has long passed.

He flipped the gun around, offering it to her. “Do you know how to use it?”

Ye Liuxi took it. “Feels like… I’ve used one before, but I don’t feel especially familiar with it. You’re giving this to me?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“If we do enter the pass, things inside… might be chaotic.”

Was it just because she had casually said she would rule the world? Maybe she was only joking. Ye Liuxi asked, “Do you have one too?”

“I do. But this one is for you—to keep yourself safe.”

Ye Liuxi hummed in response, casually lifting the hem of her shirt and tucking the gun into the back of her waist—her movements practiced, effortless.

Her waist was slim—strong and defined. Her skin had a warm, honeyed tone—healthy, smooth. The curve of her waist was soft, her hips firm and lifted. The presence of the gun added a strange mix of sharpness and sensuality.

The hem of her shirt swayed once before settling, concealing it completely.

Chang Dong averted his gaze.

Ye Liuxi asked, “Are we all riding in your vehicle when we go in?”

——

Fei Tang insisted on riding in the car, refusing to stay behind alone no matter what. Ye Liuxi blocked the door, demanding that he promise not to cry, panic, or tremble if anything happened.

Blushing furiously, Fei Tang made his pledge.

Ding Liu, however, refused to ride in Chang Dong’s vehicle. She snapped at Gao Shen, “Don’t we have our own car? Why are we squeezing into his?”

It was probably a matter of pride—being brushed aside twice had clearly left her irritated.

Chang Dong didn’t care either way. He simply started driving, leading the way. The deeper they ventured into the terrain, the worse the roads became—uneven and demanding considerable skill to navigate. Gao Shen’s car quickly fell behind.

Ye Liuxi sighed to herself, imagining the kind of complaints Gao Shen must be enduring from Ding Liu right now.

She mentioned it in the car, but Fei Tang had zero sympathy. “Isn’t this just a willing victim situation? If you ask me, Ding Liu shouldn’t be so cocky. Love is like money—it doesn’t last long if it keeps getting used up. One day, Gao Shen’s gonna wake up, and when he does, no amount of crying or begging will get him back.”

…

Ye Liuxi kept an eye out for road markers, stopping a few times to confirm their path. Eventually, she spotted the mound where Hui Ba was buried. As soon as Gao Shen’s car arrived, Chang Dong tossed him a military shovel. “Dig here.”

Gao Shen caught it with one hand. “Here?”

“Yeah. Once you reach the lower layer, be careful—don’t damage the corpse.”

Gao Shen rolled up his sleeves and started digging. Ding Liu watched from the car for a while before stepping out to take pictures on her phone. Meanwhile, Chang Dong retrieved three body bags from the trunk, laying them out on the ground.

After a while, traces began to emerge. Gao Shen became more cautious as he dug. Eventually, he set the shovel aside entirely and started clawing through the blood-soaked earth with his bare hands.

Ye Liuxi quietly warned Chang Dong, “If you ever go up against him, watch out for his hands… He’s definitely trained.”

At last, three bodies were unearthed. The clotted blood and sand had hardened around their faces, sticking tightly like a grotesque mask—they were difficult to peel away. Gao Shen packed the corpses into the body bags and stacked them in his trunk.

Ding Liu grimaced. The thought of sleeping in a car that had carried corpses disgusted her.

She looked up at Chang Dong. “What’s next?”

Chang Dong gestured forward. “Keep going.”

——

After driving a bit further, another yardang appeared in the distance.

Chang Dong stopped the car and instructed Ye Liuxi and Fei Tang, “You two, get out.”

Fei Tang, confused, simply pushed the door open and jumped out. Ye Liuxi asked, “You sure about this?”

“I’m sure.”

“Is your seatbelt fastened?”

Chang Dong chuckled. “Relax, it’ll be fine.”

Ye Liuxi replied, “If it were really fine, you wouldn’t be asking me to get out.”

She stepped out of the car, backed up a few paces, and gestured toward the vehicle.

Chang Dong scanned the surrounding terrain, slowly tightening his seatbelt—he hadn’t done a stunt in a while and felt a bit rusty.

Behind them, Ding Liu saw Ye Liuxi and Fei Tang getting out and assumed they had arrived at their destination. Just as she was about to tell Gao Shen to stop, she suddenly saw Chang Dong’s car accelerate, speeding ahead. Nearing the mound, the vehicle executed a sudden, sweeping drift, kicking up a massive wave of sand like smoke—before slamming into one side of the mound, collapsing part of it.

Ding Liu thought that he had crashed. She gasped aloud.

Gao Shen glanced at her and calmly said, “Relax. His car’s been modified—he probably did that on purpose.”

Sure enough, through the settling dust cloud, she saw Chang Dong step out of the car, using his hand to brush away the dirt in front of him.

Ding Liu let out a relieved sigh. After a moment, she narrowed her eyes at Gao Shen. “Can you pull that off?”

Gao Shen replied, “Liu-er, every profession has its expertise. No one’s good at everything.”

Ding Liu scoffed. “So, basically, to put it shortly—you can’t.”

——

The sand settled, and the mound partially collapsed. Perhaps the angle of impact was particularly sharp, because the shadow-puppet coffin had mostly slid out.

The artwork still followed the Han Dynasty style, but this time, it didn’t depict shackled figures entering the pass.

On the coffin’s surface, a grand palace was clearly painted. A man dressed as an emperor covered his face, weeping. Two dimly glowing palace lanterns stood nearby, their frames fragile and thin. Behind a raised curtain, a woman in palace robes also lowered her head, quietly wiping away tears.

Ye Liuxi pulled Fei Tang over. “What’s this scene supposed to be?”

Fei Tang hesitated. “Uh… A man and a woman, both crying. The guy must be the emperor. Is this… him sentencing a concubine to death?”

If not for the curtain, it might have looked like that.

Chang Dong shook his head. “No. This is Emperor Wu of Han, summoning Madam Li’s soul.”

Shadow puppetry traces its origins here—anyone with even a passing knowledge of the art would know this story.

Chang Dong gestured toward the coffin’s surface. “Emperor Wu of Han lost his beloved concubine, Madam Li, and fell into deep grief. A sorcerer summoned her soul, but stated that they could only meet from behind a curtain. This scene illustrates that event.”

He leaned in closer. “There’s writing here.”

Six ancient characters—Fei Tang recognized the script. “This is a xiaozhun script[mfn]it looks something like this [/mfn], commonly used in the early Han Dynasty. It says…”

The first character resembled flowing water. The second and fourth were unfamiliar.

He could only recognize the third, fifth, and sixth—as they were nearly identical to modern writing.

x x Bone x Eastern Soul. [mfn]I might change the translation for this later since I don’t completely understand the context. It could also be translated as bone.east.spirit [/mfn]

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