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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
Thinking that this place was unlikely to have anyone passing by, I lazily took out a few bottles of mineral water and handed them to Shen Sipan, saying, "You can drink it or use it to wash up, whatever you like."
Shen Sipan took the water, chuckled, and asked, "Boss Zhong, do you have a towel?"
I was momentarily taken aback but quickly recovered, pulling out a towel and handing it to Shen Sipan. We both soaked the towels in the mineral water and then placed them over our faces. This way, the air we breathed was not as scorching, making it much more comfortable for our lungs.
Just as I was about to start looking for a keyhole, Shen Sipan suddenly shouted, pointing at the sand, "Boss Zhong, look! Look over there!"
Following his finger, I felt a chill run down my spine. There was a small mound of sand that slightly rose up, and within that mound were two eyes staring blankly back at me. Just as I looked over, those eyes blinked.
Startled, I drew my dagger and pointed it at the eyes in the sand mound, demanding sharply, "Who?!"
I did not believe there were only two eyes buried in the sand. From the shape of the mound, it was clear that someone was buried beneath the sand. Moreover, beneath those eyes were two holes—nostrils for breathing.
While surprised, I was also very curious. In such a desert environment, if someone were buried in the sand, their only fate would be to die from dehydration and exposure. If this person was still alive, it could only mean one thing: they had been buried not long ago.
After a while, those two eyes blinked again, and then the pupils slowly moved from side to side as if they could not speak.
Hesitating for a few seconds, I pulled out an Iron Shovel. My muscles tensed as I cautiously began to clear away the sand from around this person. This was just in case; if this turned out to be a trap, I could still use the shovel to defend myself.
Soon enough, a graceful figure emerged from the sand. To my surprise, it was a woman—a very beautiful woman at that. Have you seen the TV drama "Let's Get Married"? There’s a character named Liu Yan in it, right? Indeed, this woman's features resembled those of Liu Yan's best friend Gao Yuanyuan.
Her hands and feet were tightly bound with cowhide ropes, her mouth sealed with a large cloth strip. Her clothes had been torn into rags, and her skin was cracked from severe dehydration. The cowhide ropes were deeply embedded into her flesh. Clearly, she had been tied up with wet cowhide ropes; once exposed to the sun and dried out, they would constrict tightly... this was a form of torture.
After pondering for a moment and ruling out the possibility of this being a trap: first, this woman was close to death; how could she possibly set me up? Second, I arrived here through a Spatial Portal; no one down here could possibly know I would appear at this location at this time.
I threw away the shovel and stepped forward to help the woman up. I used a dagger to cut the ropes binding her, then untied the cloth gagged in her mouth. Her dry, colorless lips appeared before me, looking extremely weak, lacking even the strength to moan.
Shen Sipan handed me a bottle of water from behind. After thinking for a moment, I took out a towel, poured some mineral water onto it, and then went to moisten the woman's lips. Honestly, I wasn't entirely sure why I was doing this, but I remembered reading that a person who has lost too much water shouldn't be given a large amount of water all at once; otherwise, they might vomit or even face life-threatening situations—something along those lines.
The woman's lips trembled slightly and parted a little. Her eyes regained some spirit as they wandered for a moment before settling on the Mineral Water Bottle in my hand. A gurgling sound came from her throat, followed by a faint murmur that seemed to ask for more water.
I continued to moisten her lips with the towel until she rasped out, "Water..." Only then did I fill half the cap with water and slowly pour it into her mouth.
The woman squinted at me and weakly said thank you. I nodded in response, covering her mouth and nose with the wet towel. Standing up, I looked up at the blazing sun, took out a sunshade, and placed it in front of her to shield her from the sunlight.
I pulled out about ten bottles of mineral water and handed them to Shen Sipan, asking him to take care of the woman: "If she looks better, give her a wash with the towel!"
Shen Sipan pointed at his own nose in surprise: "Boss Zhong, I'm a man!"
Damn, are you not happy? If it were Fatty, he would have been grateful by now. I frowned and said, "Fine, after I find the location, you dig while I take care of her."
I took out my phone to check for WeChat notifications but found there was no signal here; I couldn't open WeChat at all. Cursing under my breath, I recalled vaguely that there was a hint about an oasis at the center of the Taklamakan Desert. Within that oasis was a Pentagonal Lake, and on its shore was a very square large rock; the Giant Gate Platform was located beneath that rock.
Looking around, Damn! Where is the good oasis? Where is the good lake? Where is the good large rock? All around me was endless yellow sand; I couldn't see any green at all.
I didn't believe there was an issue with the designated exit. If my coordinates were set at the center of the desert, then my exit point must be right in the center of it.
Should I call Jin Manyuan?
Just as I was about to dial, I remembered there was no signal. Unable to hold back my frustration, I glanced around and suddenly spotted a red teleportation portal. A thought struck me: right! I could wait for the cooldown of the portal and then teleport to a place with signal to make a call... Uh, but that doesn't seem like a good plan either. The cooldown time for this portal is half an hour; just to make one call would take an hour round trip. Besides, I need to activate six more magic circles within twenty-four hours—time cannot be wasted like this.
Feeling frustrated, my gaze swept over the woman again. After pondering for a moment, I crouched down beside her and noticed she looked much better now; her skin wasn't as cracked as before. I directly asked her: "Do you know if there's an oasis nearby?"
The woman slowly nodded, the wet towel covering her mouth and nose rising and falling.
I couldn't help but feel delighted. "Is there a Pentagonal Lake inside the oasis?"
The woman nodded again.
"Can you take me there?" I asked eagerly.
The woman slowly shook her head.
"Come on, how can you be like this? Don't you know that I saved your life? If I just let go, you would be baked into a dried corpse out here!"
Before I could get angry, the woman weakly said, "I can't move at all right now. How can I take you there? That place is at least a two-hour journey from here."
Damn, another two hours wasted. This Jin Manyuan is really frustrating; she even misremembered the location.
"This is great!" I chuckled, not caring how surprised the woman might be. In front of her, I took out a jade pendant from the Mustard Seed Pendant. This jade pendant belonged to Yun Zhihan's Spatial Bag, which seemed to contain several compartments.
The compartment for placing items was completely empty. I dismantled the door panel of this compartment and found a few pieces of clothing. After laying the door panel on the sand and placing the clothes underneath it, Shen Sipan and I carefully lifted the woman onto the door panel.
I draped a coat over her, and she looked at me with gratitude. It was my oversight; I only remembered to cover her with a piece of clothing now. Although she had been almost completely exposed earlier, her skin was so dry it resembled bark, which made me forget about the difference between genders.
I also took out a bundle of Climbing Rope and made a loop to tie it to the door panel. After dragging the door panel a bit, it felt quite light.
"You guide us from behind, and I'll be the driver in front!" I laughed heartily.
"First, walk half an hour in this direction," the woman smiled back, pointing in one direction.
I greeted Shen Sipan, secured the portal, pulled the door panel, and quickly started running forward.
For me, years of training had made my physical strength exceptionally fierce. I'm not bragging; even now, I was pulling this woman along without any effort. Even if I were to carry her on my back, walking several dozen miles wouldn't be a challenge.
Every ten minutes or so, I would stop to take a few sips of water and then pour some mineral water over my head. Shen Sipan naturally followed suit, knowing that my supply of mineral water was endless. He even poured some on the woman.
I must admit, our actions in the desert were akin to being VIPs among the wealthy.
The woman's complexion improved significantly, and even when she spoke to me, her voice had returned to a melodious tone reminiscent of a oriole.
I learned that her name was Lu Yue, and her father, Lu Zhengyang, was a Sand Raider making a living in the Taklamakan Desert. Not long ago, he had clashed with another group of Sand Raiders over territory. Although Lu Zhengyang emerged victorious, many from the opposing side managed to escape. A few of those Sand Raiders brazenly counterattacked Lu Zhengyang's base while most of his forces were outside, leaving the base poorly defended. As a result, Lu Yue was captured by them.
After mistreating Lu Yue for a while, the Sand Raiders tied her up with cowhide ropes and left her in the desert before departing. For them, leaving an opponent to dry out in the desert was the greatest punishment. It was precisely because of this that Lu Yue encountered us and managed to escape death.
As we continued running, Lu Yue would change direction every so often. Watching her casually point around made me suspicious; could she be just pointing randomly? Clearing my throat, I asked, "Lu Yue, why don't you just point in one direction and have me go straight there? Why do we have to keep turning?"
Lu Yue smiled slightly and replied, "Have you heard of quicksand in the desert?"
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