WOOY Chapter 35

Without the markings along the road, it took them quite a bit of effort to return to the camp.

From a distance, there was only the vehicle, but no sign of the cook. Chang Dong was taken aback and hastened his steps. Upon closer inspection, he found the cook curled up beneath the vehicle, fast asleep and yet to wake.

Feeling a bit guilty, Chang Dong recalled locking the vehicle doors before leaving the day prior—worried the cook might fiddle with things inside. He hadn’t anticipated being delayed outdoors for a whole night. The cook likely found it too windy and cold with nowhere else to go, eventually seeking shelter beneath the vehicle.

Even without full consciousness, the instinct to seek warmth amidst cold remained intact.

He roused the cook, unlocked the car, and promptly checked the satellite phone. The signal had been restored, and Fei Tang had apparently made numerous calls.

Chang Dong called Fei Tang back, exchanged a few words, then turned to Ye Liuxi, saying, “Let’s go. We’ll discuss later.”

——

The fuel efficiency of the off-road vehicle was decent—it managed to support them onto the provincial highway and cover a good stretch. After the engine died, they waited by the roadside for about half an hour before Fei Tang’s car arrived, speeding toward them.

After spending days rolling in the sand with Ye Liuxi, Chang Dong had grown accustomed to their disheveled appearances. But now, with Fei Tang arriving in clean, bright clothing and neatly combed hair slicked to one side, the contrast starkly highlighted how dusty and bedraggled the two of them looked.

Chang Dong patted the dust off his collar, realizing that what he most desperately needed at the moment wasn’t supplies—it was a hot shower.

Fei Tang, being rather quick-witted, wasted no time and said, “Dong ge, I made several calls but couldn’t get through, even at different times… Is it the same as last time?”

“Yes.”

“No trouble, right?”

He suddenly widened his eyes. “Hey, besides Ye Liuxi in the car, doesn’t it seem like there’s someone else?”

Chang Dong pulled the cook out of the car, much to Fei Tang’s shock. Fei Tang, who had enjoyed pancakes and lamb soup with him before, failed to recognize him and blurted, “Who’s this?”

“One of the people left behind from Huoya,” Chang Dong replied. “You’ve spent time in the big tent. Made any friends?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call them friends, but I did exchange numbers with a few folks for potential future ‘business.’”

Chang Dong had anticipated this, leaving Fei Tang looking a little embarrassed. “I know one or two,” Fei Tang admitted.

Chang Dong sighed with relief. “Try to get in touch and see if this person has any hometown friends or acquaintances so we can send him back.”

With the matter of the cook sorted, Chang Dong grabbed a spare fuel canister from Fei Tang’s car and asked for help moving it onto the roof. He inserted a rubber hose into the canister, sucked fuel from the other end with his mouth, and just before it reached him, quickly sealed the hose with his finger before inserting it into the fuel tank. Many modern vehicles have anti-theft mechanisms on their fuel tanks that only allow refueling with a pump, but Chang Dong had removed this mechanism, knowing that in the wilderness, he’d likely need to siphon fuel this way.

Nearby, Ye Liuxi showed Fei Tang a composite photo taken by a drone. “It looks like a road, with shadow puppet coffin mounds on either side. What does it remind you of?” she asked.

Fei Tang felt chills down his spine as he swallowed nervously. “Shadow puppet coffins… On both sides?”

“Both,” Ye Liuxi confirmed.

Fei Tang was relieved it was broad daylight, far from Bailongdui, and that he was only looking at a photograph and not forced to see the real thing on site.

“This doesn’t make sense,” he said. “It’s just a road—no beginning, no end, no points of reference.”

Ye Liuxi urged him, “Use your imagination! Don’t think of it as a modern road. Think back to the Han or Tang dynasties. A road like this—what would it resemble?”

Fei Tang couldn’t avoid the question and stared at the photo. “This road… In the Qin dynasty, there were imperial roads, with trees planted every three zhang[mfn]Around 10m[/mfn]. But they didn’t place mounds like this… Shadow puppet coffins, without dead bodies? If the shadow puppets stood upright…”

He suddenly blurted out, “It looks like a Sima Road!”

Holding the rubber hose in his hand, Chang Dong asked, “What is a Sima Road?”

Fei Tang replied, “Dong ge, you don’t know this? You’re from Xi’an! Haven’t you visited Qianling Mausoleum?”

“No.”

Fei Tang was at a loss for words, then sheepishly explained, “It’s the burial site where Wu Zetian and her husband are interred together. When you enter, there’s a Sima Dao, also called a ‘Sacred Way,’ leading to the mausoleum. It’s over four kilometers long, with many stone figures lining the sides. They’re called Stone Wengzhong[mfn]stone statues in front of the tombs of ancient emperors or ministers- usually of people[/mfn]—oh, and there are ten pairs, making twenty in total.”

Talking about the statues seemed to energize Fei Tang. “The tombs of emperors and officials in ancient times often had Stone Wengzhong statues in front of them. They were divided into civil and military figures—civil ones held scrolls, while military ones held swords. I saw an introduction about them at Shaanxi History Museum. If these shadow puppet figures lying in coffins stood upright… they would practically become ‘Shadow Wengzhong.'”

Chang Dong reasoned, “Stone Wengzhong statues make sense. Stone is a durable material, resistant to damage. It can survive thousands of years of weathering. But shadow puppet Wengzhong, wearing fabric clothes and standing there—could they even last a year?”

Fei Tang casually countered, “That’s why they’re placed in coffins and buried with earthen mounds.”

Even absurd reasoning seemed to carry a surprising logic.

Chang Dong glanced at Ye Liuxi, their eyes meeting with the same thought turning in their minds.

If this really was a Sima Road—a road leading to a mausoleum—then Yumen Pass might actually be an enormous tomb.

——

Chang Dong decided to retreat for a few days.

First, the two of them had been crawling and tumbling around recently and needed some rest. Second, after these experiences and lessons learned, they’d need to prepare some tools before heading back.

When he mentioned this to Ye Liuxi, she had no objections. “So, does that mean I can go get my car?” she asked.

Most of her assets, including her old van, were still abandoned in the vast Kumtag Desert.

Chang Dong shattered her hopes with a single sentence: “No, we’re heading toward Hami along the Harlow Highway in both directions.”

Of course, they could also retreat to Luobu Town, but Hami was much larger than Luobu Town, offering more resources. It also connected to Inner Mongolia and Gansu, making access more convenient.

Ye Liuxi sighed and climbed back into the car. Curling up in the passenger seat, she rummaged through her bag and carefully counted her money.

Less than 700 yuan.

She had no idea how long they’d stay in Hami, and expenses like lodging, meals, and buying supplies loomed over her.

Driving intently, Chang Dong occasionally glanced at her. After a pause, he said, “When we get to Hami, I’ll cover your lodging expenses.”

“Why?”

“You didn’t usually stay in hotels and lived in your car instead. I’m the one who told you to leave it in the desert.”

Ye Liuxi thought about it and replied, “That’s not necessary. Leaving the car there means I gained lodging costs but saved on fuel. It evens out. But, you should treat me to a meal each day—preferably with meat.”

Chang Dong gave her a sidelong glance. “Why?”

“If you’re going back into Bailongdui, you’re going to need my blood, aren’t you? Even blood donors get compensation.”

“Alright then, we’ll have lunch together from now on.”

Ye Liuxi nodded, then turned to look out the window. The ridges of the Gobi desert stretched endlessly, separated from the low-hanging clouds by a gap no wider than a palm.

With this arrangement, her budget suddenly felt a lot more manageable.

Chang Dong cracked open the car window slightly. It was the warmest time of day, and the breeze blowing in was just perfect.

——

In the afternoon, they arrived in Hami and checked into a hotel. The accommodations weren’t expensive and offered great value.

Initially, Chang Dong was worried he’d have to share a room with the cook, but Fei Tang approached him with good news: he had contacted the cook’s hometown acquaintance, who happened to live nearby in the jade market area. Fei Tang, planning to sell some newly acquired stones, offered to drop the cook off on the way. That solved the issue, granting Chang Dong some much-needed peace.

After sending the cook off, Chang Dong thoroughly enjoyed a hot shower—there was no greater relief than letting steaming water wash over him. Refreshed, he set out to boil water, but the kettle seemed to be malfunctioning and wouldn’t heat up. He called the front desk, and they quickly apologized, promising to send a replacement.

Within five minutes, there was a knock at the door. At the time, Chang Dong was shaving, his face covered in foam. Without hesitation, he opened the door.

Ye Liuxi stood outside, holding a kettle.

Turning off his shaver, Chang Dong looked at her for a moment before asking, “Found yourself a new job?”

“Part-time,” she replied. “I’ll be cleaning this floor tomorrow, so I figured I’d drop off the kettle while I was at it.”

She walked in without waiting for an invitation, filled the kettle with water in the bathroom, and plugged it into an outlet. Meanwhile, Chang Dong finished shaving, rinsed off the foam, and dried his face with a towel.

After a while, the kettle buzzed to life, functioning perfectly. Ye Liuxi swiftly packed up the old kettle. Before leaving, she turned back and added, “If you need to do laundry, there’s a shared washing machine downstairs. Detergent and fabric softener are provided, but you’ll need to handle it yourself.”

——

Chang Dong washed his socks and underwear himself, hanging them to dry in his room. For the larger items, he put them into a laundry bag and headed downstairs.

The laundry room was tucked away in a rather obscure spot. After asking the front desk, he learned that it was located inside the staff workspace, at the far end of a hallway and around a corner—a poorly planned space leftover during the hotel’s construction, repurposed as a self-service laundry room.

The room was dimly lit, containing just one drum-style washing machine. Nearby were stacks of plastic stools, a table in the corner holding detergent and fabric softener, a few magazines, and an indoor drying rack with some work uniforms hanging on it.

Chang Dong stuffed his clothes into the machine, set it to automatic wash, and kept the 45-minute cycle preset by the previous user.

Calculating the time, he figured returning to his room and coming back later would be too much trouble. Instead, he decided to take a stroll while the clothes washed, then retrieve them on the way back upstairs.

He stepped out of the hotel leisurely.

In summer, this area would have bustling night markets but now, the air was dry, and the streets were unusually quiet.

He came across an open fruit stall and bought some grapes and fragrant pears. The vendor enthusiastically pitched Hami melons: “You can buy just a single slice! Sweet and fragrant, or I could cut it into pieces and pack it in a box with toothpicks for you to eat.”

Chang Dong bought a box.

Returning to the hotel, he checked the time—seven or eight minutes still remained. Feeling impatient, he thought about stopping the washing machine early, pulling the clothes out, and wringing them dry by hand.

As he rounded the hallway corner, he unexpectedly saw Ye Liuxi.

She was sitting on one of the plastic stools, holding a laundry bag, intently watching the clothes tumble in the machine. Her freshly washed hair hung damp and smooth, water droplets slid off the tips.

There wasn’t much to see, just white suds hitting the glass before being swept away by the next spin cycle. The last time he’d seen a similar expression on her face was when she was making soup.

Ye Liuxi had a particular air about her when she was quiet—she seemed profoundly lonely. Chang Dong found himself wishing she’d stir up some noise instead.

He walked over, grabbed two plastic stools, placing one under himself and the other for the fruit he’d bought.

“Have some fruit,” he offered.

Then he gestured at the washing machine. “My clothes are almost done.”

Ye Liuxi responded with a hum, pulling off a small bunch of grapes. Carefully peeling each one, she popped them into her mouth with deliberation.

The dim light and the monotonous rhythm of the washing machine created a quiet atmosphere. Once Chang Dong’s clothes were finished, he hung them on the drying rack. He then helped Ye Liuxi set up her wash, as she wasn’t familiar with touchscreen machines. When he asked, she opted for the 15-minute quick wash cycle, not wanting to wait too long.

Since the time wasn’t lengthy, Chang Dong stayed with her until it was done. As they exited the laundry room and passed by the front desk, Chang Dong glanced through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows and caught sight of the parking lot. Almost absentmindedly, he remarked, “Fei Tang hasn’t come back yet.”

Ye Liuxi responded with a hum and said, “Probably struck it rich.”

 

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For some reason when I copy pasted the chapter from my google doc, the quotation marks got messed up. I hope it’s not too disturbing 🥲