WOOY Chapter 29

Chang Dong wasted no time and went straight back to find Ye Liuxi.

As expected, she maintained her typical “I can accept anything” attitude, saying, “So it’s just the wind and sand acting up?”

Chang Dong retrieved an empty beer bottle with a narrow neck from the car. He placed it upright in front of Ye Liuxi and casually knocked it over. “The wind blows, the bottle falls. That’s normal.”

He repeated the action, this time flipping the bottle upside down, balancing it on its neck with great effort. The bottle wobbled precariously before stabilizing. “The wind blows, and the bottle ends up like this. You’d think it’s a ghostly encounter.”

Ye Liuxi gave a soft “hmm.” Before Chang Dong said that last sentence, she had indeed thought to herself: It must be something supernatural.

“It’s all just wind,” Chang Dong explained. “The difference is, it doesn’t align with our conventional understanding. We think of wind as a sweeping force, like a giant broom coming through in one clean sweep. When it’s over, all the trees bend in the same direction.”

“But the wind these past two days at Bailongdui has been far from normal. Within the strong gusts, there are whirlwinds, small eddies, and rapidly appearing turbulent flows. Sand particles can’t move on their own; they can only be carried by the wind. The wind gathers them quickly into formations resembling tentacles, almost like…”

Chang Dong’s thoughts wandered to the legend of Yumen Pass:

— A city as vast as Yumen Pass was blown apart by the wind, reduced to sand. — The entire sand city was lifted into the air, reassembling amidst a sandstorm. — Some say that the yellow earthen city walls glimpsed faintly in midnight sandstorms are actually the ghost of Yumen Pass.

Those “tentacles” they’ve repeatedly encountered lately would make sense. For sands lifted into the sky to form a city once more, forces from all directions would need to act on them, counterbalancing and interlocking to sculpt soaring eaves, arched gates, and straight walls…

Without such balancing forces, the sand would simply drift, carried along by the wind like aimless particles.

Ye Liuxi pressed him, “Like what?”

Chang Dong snapped back to the moment, about to speak, when the sound of a car engine roared from a distance.

He instinctively glanced over the campsite.

All the vehicles were still there.

——

After a while, the sound of the car grew clearer, and a cloud of dust rose from the direction of its approach—there really was a vehicle coming.

Meng Jingu couldn’t help but chuckle, “Wow, Bailongdui has been quite lively these past two days!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a Jeep Grand Cherokee[mfn][/mfn] came speeding into the camp. The driver, a man in his forties, leaned halfway out of the car, waving excitedly at the campsite and shouting in a loud, cheerful voice, “Finally, some friendly faces!”

Hearing the commotion, Huoya and his group stepped outside. Seeing new arrivals, they instantly felt uneasy—Hui Ba’s corpse still hadn’t been dealt with.

Fei Tang, aware of the gravity of the situation, felt confused. He couldn’t figure out who this jeep belonged to and glanced at Chang Dong for guidance. Chang Dong gave him a subtle nod, signaling him to wait and observe.

Only Meng Jingu remained carefree, laughing as he stepped forward to greet the newcomers. “Welcome, welcome! Where are you coming from?”

“From the northeast!” the man replied, launching into an energetic explanation. “We’re on a road trip, three Grand Cherokees. We followed  the GPS, didn’t hire a guide… At first, we didn’t dare enter Bailongdui, but then we saw the tire tracks. I thought, why not follow them? So we drove in to explore… Thanks a ton, brothers. You even put up marker flags for us—so thoughtful!”

Tire tracks? Marker flags?

Chang Dong’s heart skipped a beat. His gaze shifted, catching Huoya quietly slipping behind the tents. As he moved, he signaled to his men with hand gestures, urging them to follow quickly.

——

Not long after, the other two Cherokees followed into the camp. Huoya’s main tent was nearly deserted, and Chang Dong’s side wasn’t particularly welcoming either—Meng Jingu’s camp had effectively become the social hub. The newly arrived female traveler was already deep in conversation with Qiao Meina and the others, exchanging skincare tips for dry climates.

Chang Dong tested the GPS and satellite phone, finding that the signal had fully recovered. Leaving Ye Liuxi and Fei Tang at the camp, he drove out for a quick check.

He didn’t go far before spotting the last marker flag he had placed on his way in. It was still firmly planted in a hollow of a dirt mound, its pole slightly bent but otherwise secure. Searching the area, he found that the strange tire tracks and the eerie imprints pressed into the dirt mound from the previous day had vanished.

Returning to the camp, he found Huoya’s group back and in the middle of packing up. Their actions were rough and chaotic, kicking up clouds of dust that even reached Meng Jingu’s camp.

With the addition of the northeastern travelers, Qiao Meina’s confidence had clearly surged. “Hey! Can you keep it down? Have some decency, will you?” she shouted.

Huoya acted as if he hadn’t heard, rasping orders in his hoarse voice, “Hurry! Move it!”

Chang Dong glanced at Ye Liuxi, who shook her head, indicating she had no idea what was going on either.

Stepping out of his car, Chang Dong strode toward Huoya. Huoya, with bloodshot eyes bulging and neck veins standing out, ignored him, barking, “Hurry up! Stop dawdling!”

Grabbing Huoya’s arm, Chang Dong yanked him aside with force. “You didn’t find Hui Ba’s body, did you?”

Huoya froze for a moment.

“Did you?” Chang Dong pressed.

Huoya looked up at him, licking his cracked lips before letting out a dry, eerie laugh. “No, we didn’t. Not Hui Ba, not the other two. Nothing. The markers we left last night? Gone. No blood, no coffin, no dug-up mound. Nothing.”

“Since we’ve shared meals together, let me give you some advice: leave. If you don’t, the next ones to disappear without a trace will be us.”

He shoved Chang Dong aside, his face hardening into a fierce scowl. “Forget packing everything! Just take what you need to survive!”

Chang Dong stepped back, watching as the once-bustling main tent was reduced to a chaotic mess. Their belongings were hastily loaded into four vehicles. The cars, which had been full on arrival, now carried noticeably fewer people.

As the convoy slowly pulled away, Huoya sat in the lead car. Just as they were about to leave the camp, he slammed on the brakes, rolled down the window, and shouted back at the camp, “Here’s a favor from me: get out of here. Don’t think this is some vacation resort! Otherwise, you won’t even know how you died.”

With that, he waved dismissively, and the cars sped off, leaving a trail of dust behind.

The sudden departure left the camp in a moment of silence. After a while, Meng Jingu, puzzled, asked, “Hey, is it just me, or are there way fewer of them now?”

Chang Dong had made up his mind. He strode back to his car, gesturing for Ye Liuxi to get in, and gave Fei Tang a decisive order: “Pack up your stuff immediately and follow me.”

Fei Tang didn’t hesitate and ran straight toward his vehicle.

Seeing the second group start breaking camp in a hurry, Meng Jingu began to panic. Despite his usual disagreements with Chang Dong, he rushed over, clinging to the half-open car window. “What’s going on? After all that wind and sand these past few days, we finally have good weather. Why is everyone leaving?”

Chang Dong replied flatly, “Didn’t Huoya make it crystal clear just now? If you’ve got the guts, feel free to stay.”

He pressed the gas pedal, forcing Meng Jingu to step back and let go as the car began to move. Dazed, Meng Jingu stood watching in the rearview mirror as the vehicle grew smaller and smaller.

Chang Dong let out a long exhale.

Ye Liuxi, puzzled, asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Hui Ba’s body is gone. The coffin is gone. Or rather, the entire place we went to last night—it’s all gone,” he explained.

Ye Liuxi nodded in understanding. “So you want people to leave that place… Do you think they’ll follow?”

“They will. Meng Jingu doesn’t like to take responsibility, prefers to work in groups, and loves to follow trends. With two groups suddenly leaving, he’ll leave too.”

 

——

Not knowing where Huoya’s group had gone, Chang Dong exited Bailongdui and continued onto the Harlow Highway. After traversing a stretch of washboard road, the surface gradually smoothed out.

Fei Tang barely dared to breathe, and kept his eyes glued to the car ahead, terrified of losing sight of Chang Dong and getting separated.

Then he spotted it—a milestone marking the S235 provincial road.

They’d reached the provincial road!

Overcome with emotion, Fei Tang almost burst into tears. The dark asphalt stretched across the salty Gobi wasteland, with the Bailongdui Yardangs becoming a faint silhouette in the background. He could hardly believe they’d spent two days there and made it out in one piece.

His eyes misted over. Grabbing a tissue, he wiped his face and blew his nose, feeling like he’d been granted a second chance at life.

Around noon, Chang Dong stopped the car. Fei Tang heard his voice crackle over the radio: “Want to hunt for Gobi jade? We can’t let this trip be for nothing.”

Many people called the journey to Lop Nor a combination of “adventure and treasure hunting.” The “treasure hunting” often referred to finding ancient city ruins, which was more of a joke. In truth, it meant searching for jade stones scattered across the Gobi desert.

In recent years, Gobi jade had become a popular commodity, attracting many to drive into the Gobi desert to collect gemstones like Gem Light[mfn][/mfn], Golden Silk Jade[mfn][/mfn], and Opals. Online guides alone listed at least sixteen or seventeen routes for jade hunting, complete with rhyming instructions like, “South from XX village for 17 kilometers, turn left for 3 kilometers for agate, turn right for 2 kilometers for fossils.”

Since Chang Dong promised not to let Fei Tang “come away empty-handed,” it was clear he’d brought him to a prime spot. Fei Tang was thrilled, nodding eagerly, “Yes! Let’s do it!”

In his excitement, he hastily emptied out a shoulder bag, slung it across his shoulder, and scrambled down the embankment.

 

——

The blue of the sky seemed sharper than usual, adorned with heavy white clouds hanging low. In the distance, the dark brown Gobi hills stood distinct, resembling a strikingly vivid oil painting stretched across the lifeless silence.

Chang Dong leaned against the car, gesturing toward Fei Tang’s jubilant figure in the distance. “Fei Tang is quite greedy, isn’t he? I figured he’d pick up a piece or two, make ten or twenty thousand, and be satisfied. Instead, he’s lugging around a bag big enough to fit a fortune.”

Ye Liuxi sat down on the ground, stretching her legs and arms. After being cooped up in the car for so long, her body ached for movement.

Chang Dong noticed the white bandage on her foot. “How’s the wound?”

“It’s okay,” she said, “I changed the dressing this morning. No more bleeding, but it’s still not healing—it’s damp and raw.”

“That’s normal. Just keep taking care of it.”

Ye Liuxi looked up at him. “Now that we’re out… I just want to ask you—are you going back?”

Chang Dong showed no reaction. “And you? Are you going back?”

Ye Liuxi smiled. “Of course I am. Don’t forget, I hummed that song, and I opened that disappearing coffin. No matter how terrifying Bailongdui is, I feel like it’s calling me home. But as for you, you haven’t even found a trace of Kong Yang…”

She paused as a thought struck her, correcting herself. “No, that’s not quite right. You only searched a small area. Maybe if you keep looking, you’ll find something.”

Chang Dong shook his head. “Unlikely.”

“Why not?” Ye Liuxi asked, puzzled.

Chang Dong sat down beside her. The shadow of the car covered their torsos, but their legs stretched into the sun. They were both half in shadow, half under the blazing light—a mix of cool darkness and searing brightness.

“Lop Nor has always been the breeding ground for horror stories,” he began. “And they all follow the same patterns: mysterious disappearances, a car appearing out of nowhere while driving at night, a village spotted in the middle of nowhere only to never be found again. You can search online; they’re everywhere. Explanations range from the supernatural to scientific, with parallel worlds being the most popular. I never believed it back then.”

“And now?” Ye Liuxi raised an eyebrow.

Chang Dong considered how to frame his thoughts. “Have you noticed that once we entered Bailongdui, there were two days of sandstorms, two days of complete disconnection from the outside world, and countless inexplicable occurrences? It’s because we entered another Bailongdui—let’s call it Version 2.”

He drew a circle in the dirt. “This is our campsite and its immediate surroundings. It hasn’t changed. Bailongdui 1 and 2 both seamlessly connect to its periphery.”

“Seamlessly connected” wasn’t quite accurate, though. “Roughly connected” would be better. When he first inspected the tire tracks, he found that his tire marks abruptly disappeared about a kilometer from camp—that might have been the seam.

“The first night we entered Bailongdui, a sandstorm hit. Without us realizing it, everyone—our entire camp—had shifted into Bailongdui Version 2.”

“But this morning, with the clear weather, for some reason we returned to Version 1. That’s why everything from Version 2—the opened Yardang, the coffin with the shadow puppet figure, Hui Ba’s body, the blood on the ground—were gone.”

“If Kong Yang’s body, embedded in a yardang, truly exists, it must be in the bizarre environment of Version 2. But what I can’t figure out is why Version 2 of Bailongdui exists at all.”

Ye Liuxi was silent for a while, then said, “You’re overlooking something. It’s not Bailongdui that’s strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re too focused on Bailongdui. Strange things didn’t only happen there. Don’t you remember? On the first night at Hui Ba’s camp, we saw ghostly lights and shadow puppets on the main tent. Back then, we were still far from Bailongdui.”