WOOY Chapter 6

Chang Dong instinctively reached out to catch it, but his hand grasped the empty air.

The melon was still in Ye Liuxi’s hand—she had made a fake move, just letting go and catching it again, beating him to it. She placed it in his empty palm with a smile, “If you had caught it earlier, it would have been settled. So it’s decided. Hand over your phone.”

Chang Dong handed her his phone. She dialed her number, let it ring once, and then hung up before giving it back to him. “When you’re ready to leave, just notify me. I’m here all day, and if you can’t find me, call me.”

She did and said everything, leaving no room for negotiation. Chang Dong didn’t want to say more and turned to leave, but Ye Liuxi called out to him again.

“Hey, Chang Dong.”

Chang Dong turned back.

“Are you staying at a hotel?”

Chang Dong nodded and casually pointed in a direction: the hotel he was staying at was considered the best and most prominent in the town.

“Can I come over to your place for a shower tonight?”

She explained, “After all, you’ve paid for the room overnight, and it would be a waste of the bathwater. It saves me from going to the public bathhouse.”

Chang Dong frowned, “Don’t you have a bathroom at home?”

Ye Liuxi picked up the watermelon knife and knocked the back of the blade on the car compartment twice, making a loud clanging noise.

“I live in the car.”

 

——

 

Chang Dong took his car to the largest auto parts shop in town for some pre-trip maintenance. The mechanic, initially indifferent due to the car’s unimpressive appearance, only realized its remarkable modifications during the tightening and damage control process, exclaiming repeatedly, “Bro, you really know your stuff. These modifications are incredible!”

Chang Dong said nothing. He sat cross-legged on the ground, borrowed paper and pen from a worker, and slowly started drawing a route map.

For two years, he had mostly been confined to the backstage of that small Hui ethnic[mfn]the Hui ethnic group is muslim [/mfn] street, in a cramped space filled with nothing but backdrops and shadow puppets. Suddenly, like a storm breaking out, the dazzling colors and fragmented sounds around him were swept into dust. As far as the eye could see, he was still in the vast expanse of the Gobi Desert.

He had always known that one day he would have to return: eighteen people had died, why should he be the only one to survive?

The ink brush traced a winding route map on the paper, each waypoint etched in his mind.

The east-west crossing of Lop Nur could be done in either direction. This route, starting from Yumen Pass, was known in the industry as “west out of Yumen.”

Yumen Pass—Sanlongsha Devil City—Peng Jiamu Disappearance Site—Hongliudun—Lop Nur Town—Lake Center—Yu Chunshun’s Tomb—Dragon City

He circled the words “Dragon City” multiple times.

How did Kong Yang’s body end up there?

There’s an eerie legend that in the heart of the desert—

The bodies of those who die are never found because invisible ghosts hide under the shifting sand dunes. They take the bodies and, riding the strong Gobi winds, wander back and forth in the desert, carrying them hundreds of miles away.

Apart from Kong Yang, are there others too, perhaps embedded in the grayish-yellow mounds of the earth?

——

By the time the car maintenance was finished, it was already evening. There were a few damaged parts that were out of stock and had to be ordered the next day. Chang Dong ate a bowl of noodles at the restaurant next to the repair shop and walked back to the hotel.

At the hotel entrance, through the glass door, he noticed that the lobby was different from the past two days: several provocatively dressed young women were sitting on the sofa, chatting and laughing hysterically at something.

By the staircase on one side, a couple was embracing and going upstairs. The woman looked very familiar.

Ye Liuxi?

Chang Dong recalled Sunny’s words.

“Tomorrow, the people handing out advertisements here will be from that place…”

Indeed, there are differences between the north and the south. The southern advertisements are more subtle, while the northern ones are vivid and lively.

Since Ye Liuxi had found another place tonight, it seemed she wouldn’t need to use his room for a shower.

Chang Dong pushed the door open and walked in, eyes downcast, as he passed the sofa. A few hushed voices reached his ears:

“He secretly drugged Liuxi, did you see that?”

“Yeah, I saw. Probably trying to play tricks, afraid she wouldn’t be willing… that guy is going to have a great time tonight.”

“I didn’t warn her. Anyway, she seemed willing, she went with him herself…”

The group burst into giggles, showcasing the lack of empathy in the pleasure-seeking crowd: people who aren’t doing well themselves often take pleasure in others’ misfortunes.

Chang Dong frowned and walked to the elevator button. Most guests using the stairs stayed on the second floor, while those on the third floor and above used the elevator.

When the elevator arrived, Chang Dong got in and pressed a button. He was alone, and the elevator door closed slowly. The elevator in this small place was covered with advertisements on all sides, even on the carpet, which had restaurant slogans printed on it, advertising an 85% discount all year round.

This was Ye Liuxi’s own “business”. Whatever preferences the guests had, she must be used to them. He didn’t need to meddle.

When he reached his floor and exited the elevator, he walked quickly to his room, but suddenly hesitated.

Someone had drugged her. Morally and logically, shouldn’t he warn her?

He walked past the door and went down to the second floor via the emergency stairs.

The corridor was quiet.

The hotel lobby was high-ceilinged, which compressed the space on the second floor. There were few rooms, all in a single row with doors facing the corridor. Several rooms were unlit and empty. About ten rooms were occupied, with only one having a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door handle.

Chang Dong knocked on the door, but there was no response. He knocked harder, “Ye Liuxi?”

After several attempts with no response, Chang Dong lowered his head to inspect the lock. Just then, someone behind him spoke, “Are you calling me?”

Chang Dong quickly turned around.

It was Ye Liuxi, holding a bath basket and a bag of clothes in her left hand, and a pair of slippers in her right. Her expression was even more puzzled than his, “You know I can’t afford to stay in a hotel, so why are you knocking on a hotel room door calling my name?”

Chang Dong retracted his hand, “What are you doing here?”

“Didn’t we agree that I’d come to your place for a shower tonight? I parked my car in the back lot and came up the rear stairs when I heard you calling my name… Aren’t you staying on the third floor?”

Chang Dong replied, “I mistook you for someone else.”

——

 

While Ye Liuxi was taking a shower, Chang Dong went down to the second floor again. He had a lingering feeling that something was off.

The light was clearly on at the door of that room, but no one answered no matter how hard he knocked. He tried calling the room number from the hallway phone, but no one picked up.

Chang Dong made his way from the stairs into the hotel’s back parking lot.

The parking lot was actually a semi-open area with many parked vehicles, including private cars and electric tricycles. It wasn’t exclusively for hotel guests. He stood in the parking lot for a while, looking up at the hotel building.

The dark walls almost blended with the night, and the lit windows looked like giant eyes embedded in the black curtain. Some rooms had their curtains drawn, with occasional shadows flickering against them.

As the cold wind blew, Chang Dong shivered, turned to go upstairs, and took a couple of steps before something struck him.

He turned to look at a window on the second floor.

Inside, the lights were off, which wasn’t unusual since the hotel’s occupancy rate was low, leaving many rooms empty.

What was unusual was that the room had its window open—in such a windy and dusty town, windows were rarely opened. Even if someone wanted to air out the room, they’d usually choose a windless midday. Moreover, it was night, and the temperature was dropping.

In the entire building, it was the only room with an open window.

Chang Dong loosened the top zipper of his jacket, stretched his neck, and stepped back a few paces. He then sprinted forward, stepping and pushing off the wall, lifting his body up, extending his arm to grab the edge of the air conditioning unit, and leveraged himself to climb into the window.

There were sounds inside the room.

 

Chang Dong stood by the window for a while, gradually seeing more clearly in the faint light from outside.

On the bed lay a fat man, naked, with his hands and feet tied up and a pillowcase stuffed in his mouth. He was trying to struggle free, making muffled sounds, but to no avail.

Chang Dong walked to the bedside.

The man struggled even more, seemingly trying to call for help, yet also appearing afraid that the newcomer might harm him.

After a moment, Chang Dong bent down, grabbed the blanket thrown on the floor, and casually tossed it over the man.

——

The hotel’s hot water flow was strong and steady, making the public bath’s water flow seem like a slow, stubborn old ox that couldn’t be rushed or pushed.

Ye Liuxi was thoroughly satisfied with her shower. She changed into fresh clothes and came out, drying her hair with a towel.

Chang Dong was watching TV. It was surprising to see such a big man enjoying a melodramatic mother-in-law and daughter-in-law drama: the daughter-in-law was clinging to the man, refusing to let go, while the mother-in-law, straddling the windowsill like riding a donkey, was screaming hysterically, “If you don’t kick her out today, I’ll jump!”

Ye Liuxi dried her hair while glancing at the TV, curious to see if the mother-in-law would actually jump.

At that moment, Chang Dong raised the remote and pressed a button, turning the TV off.

Ye Liuxi felt he did it on purpose and frowned at him.

Chang Dong met her gaze and said, “I went to that hotel room.”

“What?”

“Was it you?”

It seemed there was no point in playing dumb anymore. Ye Liuxi put the towel aside and started to comb her hair with her fingers, “Did you untie him?”

“I covered him with a blanket.”

Ye Liuxi said sarcastically, “I didn’t know you had a Buddha’s heart.”

 

“Do you know that with the current temperature, leaving the window open and having someone spend the night naked would at best lead to frostbite, and at worst, they could die from hypothermia?”

Ye Liuxi replied nonchalantly, “So what?”

Chang Dong stared at her, “If that person froze to death, it would be a homicide case. So many eyes saw you with him, the police would come looking for you first.”

Ye Liuxi laughed, “You care so much about me? Afraid I’ll go to jail?”

Chang Dong answered, “Whether you go to jail or pay with your life doesn’t matter to me, but it would delay my plans.”

“Until the Dragon City matter is settled, I hope you follow the rules and have some legal awareness. Don’t cause trouble for everyone. After it’s done, you can kill and burn as you please, it won’t concern me.”

 

Ye Liuxi didn’t say anything, but kept smiling. After a while, she said, “Okay.”

Her tone was gentle, as if she didn’t mind at all, but when she left and closed the door, the whole hallway echoed.

Chang Dong knew from that sound… he’d definitely offended her.

——

Ye Liuxi went downstairs, cursing Chang Dong in her heart: “Lecturing me, what a jerk.”

She entered the parking lot and looked back at the half-open, dark window: if she climbed back in to cause trouble, it would seem petty.

“Consider yourself lucky!”

She walked toward her van, but suddenly stopped a few steps away.

The car door was open, and she could faintly see a figure inside.

 

Ye Liuxi laughed: “What kind of day is this? One after another, all coming to challenge me.”

She lightened her steps, silently approached, leaned against the half-open car door, and reached under the nearest seat, slowly drawing out a knife.

A foot-long straight-handled watermelon knife, its blade gleaming and cold in the night.

The person inside the car continued rummaging for something, making small, rustling sounds like a mouse scavenging for food.

Ye Liuxi tapped the car door frame with the back of the knife. The person, caught off guard, shuddered and froze, not daring to move.

Ye Liuxi said, “What are you looking for? I know this car well. Why not tell me, and I’ll help you find it.”