Chapter 145
Chapter 145
The Kuxi Tribe lay to the west of the Blackstone Tribe.
In the language of the Sand People, Kuxi meant land, or a person as strong as the earth itself.
Just from the Tribe name and the Old Shaman’s whole tattooed, pierced, pipe-smoking, permed-hair look, Qin Ying could tell exactly what sort of people the Kuxi Tribe were.
Before setting out, Qin Ying excused herself from the gathering and went to find Wangcai and the others.
She separated from the Box Puppet and returned to her physical body outside the Box.
After going in and out twice, she was gradually getting the hang of it. Returning to her body went fairly smoothly this time.
But the moment she opened her eyes, a wave of dizziness hit her.
It was like a patient waking up from general anesthesia, her hands and feet cold, her body heavy as lead.
The price of traveling back and forth through the Box was not as small as she had imagined.
Qin Ying took a moment to recover before climbing out of bed.
After putting the remaining half stalk of Yao Grass into the health kettle to boil, she opened the lid of the Box and took out the Hou, Wangcai, and the Thunderbird.
By rights, the Thunderbird would have been perfect as a bodyguard inside the Box, but the little bird had been harmed by the Sand People, and it had killed quite a few Sand People in return.
There was no need to force them together and let resentment grow in that suffocating situation.
The woven rattan basket she had lowered in before had already burned up, so Qin Ying put a plastic grocery basket down instead.
Wangcai was brimming with anticipation. It swiftly scooped the Hou into the basket, then jumped in with an empty dog-food can and a mineral water bottle on its back.
Its tail wagged so fast it turned into a little fan.
The Thunderbird folded its wings and perched on top of Wangcai’s head.
After Qin Ying pulled the basket back up, Wangcai landed and made a beeline for the dog bowl on the first floor. It stood beside it, spinning in anxious circles, as if it would starve to death if food arrived a second later.
Everywhere it had walked, there were tiny plum-blossom paw prints dusted with fine sand.
The Thunderbird stood on Qin Ying’s shoulder, chirping nonstop and rubbing a whole faceful of sand onto her.
Qin Ying sighed, quickly fed the Hou more flames, then pointed them to a shoebox to poop out jade chips.
Time was tight, so she could not deal with the plum-blossom paw prints all over the floor.
She filled Wangcai’s bowl with dog food, goat milk, and fresh water.
The Thunderbird flew onto the cupboard and pecked at the cabinet door. It did not want to eat dog food like Wangcai. It wanted Ham Sausage.
Qin Ying peeled two for it. Only then did she press a hand to her throbbing temple, return to her desk, and drink the water boiled from the Yao Grass as if it were medicine.
Then she lay down on the bed.
Amid the hazy black mist, she found the point of light that represented Han Lie.
Her consciousness plunged endlessly downward, and she woke inside the body of the Box Puppet.
When Han Lie saw the puppet’s melted facial features restore themselves, he knew Qin Ying had returned.
Qin Ying was lying in the crook of his arm. With no one else around, she did not have to pretend. She frowned, waiting for the discomfort of entering the Box to pass.
Han Lie curled his index finger, placed it between his lips, and let out a whistle.
Quite a few people were accompanying them to the Kuxi Tribe this time, so Han Lie could no longer transform into a beast to travel.
Naturally, they needed a new mount.
A small mound bulged up from the rose-colored sand dune. Sand trickled down as a Sand Lizard with a patch of red scales on its forehead burrowed out.
Its white claws were swollen and broad, with thick pads that kept it from sinking into the sand, making it the best means of transportation in the desert.
It ran over as happily as a puppy, then lowered itself to make it easier for them to climb onto the saddle.
The base of its tail was bald, and the severed end was wrapped in something black and rubbery.
Only after leaving the top-down view of the Box did Qin Ying realize how huge this creature really was. It was big enough to carry two or three people.
This was the first time Qin Ying had seen something so much like a dinosaur.
She circled the Sand Lizard to look it over, then reached out and touched it.
Her fingertips felt as if they were brushing over eighty-grit sandpaper. The raised scales on the Sand Lizard’s rough skin left a faint stinging sensation, as though her skin were being sliced.
Near the Sand Lizard’s head crest, anti-bite spikes stood upright to protect it.
Qin Ying thought that with a body this size, a Sand Lizard probably did not have many natural enemies in the desert.
She went back to studying the Sand Lizard’s severed tail.
Before her itchy fingers could pick off a bit of the black, gluey substance wrapped around the stump, Han Lie, who had been keeping the Sand Lizard pinned down, stopped her in time.
“Ah Ying, Sand Lizards secrete this substance at the site of a severed tail. It stops the bleeding and numbs the pain.”
“But after losing their tails, Sand Lizards are relatively irritable and sensitive.”
As Han Lie spoke, he blocked with one hand, just in time to stop the Sand Lizard’s short little leg as it lifted to kick Qin Ying.
Qin Ying raised both hands. “All right.”
The Sand Lizard had already been loaded with luggage and water skins, a very broad saddle blanket, and a wooden box.
It looked… very much like a small Coffin, tied down with wide leather straps.
“Our trip isn’t dangerous enough to count as marching out with a Coffin, is it?”
Han Lie replied with a perfectly serious expression, “This is for you.”
“Huh?”
He was giving her a Coffin?
“If you return to the world above, you can place this body inside the box.”
On the rose-colored dunes of Chixia Mountain, Han Lie, with the faintest blue-black stubble along his jaw, smiled without realizing it, bright as sunlight. “That way I can carry you on my back and protect you at all times.”
After a pause, he emphasized, “I lined it with sheepskin. It’s very soft.”
Last night, he had carefully considered the safety of the Soul-Container Puppet when Qin Ying left the Box.
So while keeping watch outside Qin Ying’s tent, he had quickly made this box.
He showed Qin Ying the inside. It was indeed fully lined with thick sheepskin, and he had apparently stuffed some sort of spice in there as well.
A heavy fragrance rushed straight into her face.
Qin Ying looked it over twice, then nodded. “It’s… pretty good!”
Although it was a little inauspicious, it was better than leaving the Soul-Container Puppet lying around all over the place. In the future, when she returned, she could simply anchor herself to Han Lie.
A thought struck her, and she said, “Didn’t you have a comrade who died at Golden Saddle Mountain? Just say you’re taking your colleague’s remains home.”
Once it was wrapped in a shroud, no one should be crazy enough to insist on checking.
That poor man’s dried corpse was still being kept by Qin Ying. Using him as an excuse could be considered a corpse-storage management fee.
Once Han Lie returned to Luoyang, he could hand the remains over to the man’s family for burial.
Qin Ying’s arrangement was quite reasonable. Han Lie tied the little box back onto the Sand Lizard’s back and said, “When I find better wood, I’ll make you a prettier and more comfortable one.”
The kind with carved patterns.
Qin Ying patted the Coffin box and said indifferently, “I’m not picky.”
If she was already sleeping in a Coffin, what did it matter whether it had carvings or not?
She stood beside the Sand Lizard and tried stepping into the loop of rope hanging from the saddle blanket to climb up.
Qin Ying was currently wearing the Blackstone Tribe’s clothes, which included pants, so she had no fear of exposing herself.
After climbing up, she shifted her hips. The thick felt padding made for a pretty decent riding experience.
Han Lie swung himself up and sat behind Qin Ying, his arms coming around her to take the reins.
“Sit steady.”
At his warning, the Sand Lizard swayed to its feet and raced along the dunes at breakneck speed.
Qin Ying had not expected the creature to run so fast, swift as wind and lightning. She leaned back and ended up against Han Lie’s chest.
“Put on your hood and veil properly.” Han Lie tugged the reins with one hand while using the other to pull Qin Ying’s cloak down over her face.
Qin Ying’s entire face was tucked inside the hood. All she could hear was the wind whipping past and Han Lie’s low voice.
“The journey will take most of the day. It’s a long road. If you’re tired, you can sleep for a while without worry.”
“I won’t let you fall.”
Ahead by the dunes, Aman and the others, who had been waiting, also urged their Sand Lizards into a run from afar.
Amid the rolling clouds of dust, Han Lie merged into the traveling party speeding down the road.
Qin Ying tugged at the upper edge of her veil and leaned back with her eyes closed.
Before falling asleep, she mumbled indistinctly,
“I know.”