As they chatted, they arrived at a dune with their camels. From the vantage point, they could take in all nine triangular towers in the desert, the view awe-inspiring.
Dr. Jia shared a few words with Amo. They didn’t rush toward the towers, but instead got off their camels and took advantage of their roles as tourists, taking quite a lot of pictures from above the dune.
Including, of course, the classic forced perspective funny photos where they propped up a tower with one hand or swallowed one whole.
The setting sun hung low above the horizon like a red plate, casting the whole desert in red. It looked bleak, magnificent, and tragically beautiful.
“I heard that there was a place where the nine triangular towers seemed to line up, Amo,” Dr. Jia asked when he deemed it appropriate.
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“Um.” Amo seemed a little reluctant. “I do know the place...”
“Can’t we go?” Gray Bear came over, his heavy boots creaking on the sand.
“You can.” Amo smiled shrewdly. “But that’ll be a different price.”
War Tiger laughed. “We’ll pay. Lead the way.”
They got back onto their camels and continued their journey. After a while, the night fell with the sun setting in the west. The clouds looked like they were burning above the triangular towers, beautiful like a landscape painting from a long time ago.
They reached a large dune and stood at the top, seeing the cluster of towers of different sizes, like a whole family of them.
It wasn’t that incredible a sight.
Since they were here, though, they might as well take some more pictures.
“Alright, Amo. You should head back.” Dr. Jia took out two paper bills. “Keep the rest as tips.”
Amo was surprised. “We haven’t gone to the towers, and without camels, it’ll be difficult for you to head back.”
“That’s none of your business,” Dr. Jia insisted.
Amo continued to argue, “It’s going to be night. It’ll be freezing. You...”
He collapsed before he could finish.
Lithe Snake had gone up to Amo from behind and knocked him out with a knife-hand strike. “No need to waste your breath. Just put him to sleep.”
Gao Yang huffed. You’re a man of action, for sure.
Lithe Snake lifted Amo onto a camel and put clothes on him to keep him warm, urging the camel to head back where they came from.
Dr. Jia didn’t comment on that. He looked over at the triangular towers in the distance. “Follow me.”
The seven of them walked for more than ten minutes, making it across seven or eight flat plains to reach a small basin under a dune. It was about half the size of a soccer field, looking no different from the surrounding area.
Gray Bear was the first to make it down and look around. “I don’t see an altar.”
“This is the place,” Dr. Jia said with confidence. “Eight years ago, I came here to survey the border of the Mist World. Then I blacked out suddenly. When I came to, it was already night. I discovered this altar by accident.”
No wonder he asked about where the triangular towers seemed to line up first. That was how Dr. Jia memorized the exact location, or it would be difficult to find his way back in a desert, where every place looks the same.
“I remember it was midnight. The altar showed up all of a sudden. My head was a little hazy, but it’s unlikely to be a dream. I remember that the pattern on the altar resembled a bird.”
“Why didn’t you tell everyone that earlier?” asked Gray Bear.
“There are many strange things in the Mist World, and no one knew the pattern had something to do with life monsters back then. I was gonna come back to investigate, but I forgot about it not long after.”
Gao Yang wouldn’t believe that from anyone else, but it made sense coming from Dr. Jia.
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War Tiger glanced at his watch. “There’s still a long time until twelve. Let’s wait.”
They sat down under the dune and took off their backpacks, having some biscuits and water as they waited.
Night fell, the sky lit by brilliant stars and the grayish blue moonlight. Shrouded in darkness, the triangular towers looked dignified yet lonesome.
Rather than sitting around, Lithe Snake and Gray Bear worked together to dig a hole about two meters deep with bare hands.
“So?” Lithe Snake asked from outside the hole.
Gray Bear climbed out and dusted his butt. “Nothing.”
War Tiger smiled, having anticipated it. “If the altar were simply buried under the sand, it would’ve been long discovered.”
“Captain.” Gray Bear turned to Gao Yang. “When you went to the shrine in Island Nation, the altar wasn’t there at first, was it?”
“Yeah.” Gao Yang nodded. “The altar was hidden. It didn’t show up under our feet until Zhuang Mei made an appearance.”
“Then would the altar not come out without a life monster this time?” Gray Bear was a little worried.
“Possibly.” Gao Yang wasn’t feeling optimistic.
They all turned to Dr. Jia then, who was fidgeting with the carved walnuts in his right hand, sitting cross-legged. “What? I saw it last time. Didn’t mean I’d see it again this time.”
“When you saw the altar last time, did something happen that you remember clearly?” asked Gao Yang.
“I remember seeing a white phoenix flying above my head.” Before the others could perk up, Dr, Jia said, “Are you expecting me to give a clue like that? Of course that wasn’t the case. I was lightheaded at the time. Consider it lucky that I even remember the place.”
“Are we gonna come all the way here without getting anything?” Gray Bear put his hands on his hip, feeling anxious.
War Tiger, on the other hand, was patient. “Let’s wait until twelve o’clock first.”
“Yeah, perhaps a life monster will show up then.” Lithe Snake curled his lips at Gao Yang. “Just like what happened with Captain.”
Everyone fell silent, the atmosphere tense.
Lithe Snake looked them over. “That was a joke.”
Gao Yang grumbled silently, And you can laugh about a life monster with a danger level of 14000 times?
“Ah, shit.” War Tiger had a half-finished cigarette in his mouth. “We should’ve brought healers here. We’ll be in big trouble if we are fighting a life monster.”
“We’re just here to investigate the altar,” Gray Bear said a little weakly. “We’ll at most find the remains of a life monster, right? We aren’t fighting a living one, are we?”
“Anything can happen,” said Qing Ling.
Gray Bear felt a shudder down his spine. He turned to Nine Frost. “Old Frost, do we have enough Medicine C?”
“Medicine C isn’t good enough.” Dr. Jia took out a small blue bottle of pills from his pants pocket, shaking it. “Try my new invention. Once consumed, you’ll have one chance to come back to life if you die within the next twenty-four hours. As long as the heart and brain aren’t seriously damaged, that is.”
“Come on! Give me a pill!” Gray Bear urged.
“I’m the weakest, while my life has the most value. I’ll have one.” Dr. Jia opened the bottle and poured out a blue pill, popping it in his mouth.
Then he put the rest of the pills on his palm. “There are three more. Split it however you agree on.”
Gray Bear took one, but stopped before putting it in his mouth. He looked at the pill and thought for a moment before turning to Gao Yang. “You should have it, Captain. Your life is more...”
Lithe Snake suddenly showed up and grabbed Gray Bear’s hand to bring it to his mouth. Caught by surprise while he was speaking, the pill went down Gray Bear’s throat before he could react.
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