In thе сhillу Septеmbеr оf thе nоrth, Xiao Аi wаs alreаdy drenсhеd in swеаt аftеr just five laрs around the track. Pаnting hеavilу, she gаsреd, "Sо tired! Lеt's tаkе а brеak!"
Zhаng Tianen аnd Su Zhiming wеre still jоgging slowly, their stаmina seеmingly ineхhаustiblе. Fivе оr siх lаps werе nоthing morе thаn а warm-uр for thеm. Аs Zhang Tiаnеn pаssed by Xiаo Ai, he соuldn't hеlp but fеel a flutter in his hеаrt аt the sight оf hеr slеndеr lеgs, dеlicаtе feаtures, аnd waist-length hаir.
During their triр tо Тiger Lеарing Gоrge, he hadn't еxpected Zhеming to bring Xiaо Ai alоng. Ovеr thе two оr three days of hiking, he had merely been an observer of their budding romance, yet he found himself still harboring feelings for Xiao Ai—and it seemed she might feel the same way about him.
Despite this, Zhang Tianen wasn't entirely keen on having Su Zhiming and Meng Xiao Ai join his desert trek. Yet, he couldn't deny the urge to impress Xiao Ai.
A man's good looks alone weren't enough. With his well-off family, strong physique, and solid academic performance, he believed his overall capabilities far surpassed those of Su Zhiming, who came from a modest background. Moreover, Zhang Tianen lived in a neighboring city, while Zheming was far away in Zhumen. During a private chat, Zheming had admitted that as an only child, his parents hoped he would at least settle down in Guangdong someday.
After much hesitation, Zhang Tianen agreed to let them join his desert adventure, largely for Xiao Ai's sake. The two were highly motivated, training daily by running and even starting to watch Bear Grylls' Man vs. Wild.
Xiao Ai's parents insisted that if she wanted to travel, she must join a tour group. For her trip to Tiger Leaping Gorge, she had lied, telling them she was only visiting the ancient towns of Lijiang and Shangri-La and joining local day tours. It took considerable persuasion for her parents to finally agree. This time, she planned to keep the desert trek a secret, but her parents remained uneasy, demanding to know which city she was heading to.
Similar worries troubled Zhang Tianen and Su Zhiming as well.
Both had openly told their parents about their plans to cross the desert, only to face strong opposition.
After much discussion on how to secure travel funds from their families, the three came up with a clever plan. Knowing Xiao Ai had long dreamed of visiting Xinjiang, they all explained to their parents that they were joining a self-driving tour along the Xinjiang route, which included crossing the 500-kilometer Taklamakan Desert Highway—a journey that would take just two days.
With this explanation, their parents reluctantly agreed. The three then booked flights to Kashgar together and even provided their parents with the contact information of the self-driving tour organizer, further convincing them of the trip's legitimacy.
"Killing two birds with one stone—fulfilling your dream of visiting Xinjiang while keeping our parents in the dark," Su Zhiming said happily, hugging Xiao Ai.
What their parents didn't know was that their destination wasn't Taklamakan at all.
As everyone enjoyed the spicy Sichuan dishes, seven or eight more people walked in. A vaguely familiar male voice called out, "Miss, over here—"
Bayunye instinctively glanced over and found the man at the front somewhat familiar, though she couldn't quite place him. However, he recognized her immediately.
"Master Ba!" Han Dasheng exclaimed, pointing at her in pleasant surprise. "What a coincidence today!" As he spoke, he walked over, his gaze falling on the Bu Lin Bu Lin Foodie Group. He paused briefly, frowned with displeasure, then quickly masked his emotions and greeted Bayunye and Hippo with a cheerful smile.Bayunye felt she wasn't particularly close to Han Dasheng and didn't act overly familiar. Instead, she brought up an uncomfortable topic right away, "Has Zhang Chenguang been found?"
Han Dasheng had already moved past the shadow of his missing client and shook his head, "Whether he can be found is up to fate. He wasn't as lucky as that Zou Kaigui, who made it back home to rest in peace. Tsk, I thought he was strange from the start. I shouldn't have taken him along."
Bayunye grew interested and poured Han Dasheng some sweet tea, but he waved it off, saying he wasn't used to it. Instead, he casually brewed himself a cup of hot chocolate with boiling water and tossed several packets to everyone, claiming it helped with altitude reaction.
When it was Bayunye's turn, she didn't take it and even looked disdainful, "How come a grown man like you drinks this stuff every day?"
"Hypoglycemia. I carry it with me."
She nodded and asked, "What was strange about that Zhang Chenguang?"
"Sometimes he'd hide away to make phone calls, muttering in a foreign language. The weirdest thing was his thermos—poor quality, leaked, but he refused to throw it away. I told him, 'That 500ml isn't enough for the summit. Buy a 1.5L one along the way.' He said he had one in his suitcase. Later, I found out from others—Zhang Chenguang had been to Pearl Peak many times but never summited. I couldn't figure it out... I've taken plenty of beginners, and they summited on their first try."
Hippo joked, "Maybe he's just rich and likes burning money for fun?"
Han Dasheng shook his head blankly, "Oh, right, on the way to Pearl Peak, I also heard him take a call from a Chinese person..."
Hippo interrupted again, "How did you know it was a Chinese person?"
"Idiot, he answered in Chinese."
Hippo rolled his eyes.
"What did he say?" Bayunye asked.
"...Just that he couldn't leave now, that it was agreed upon, and complaining about how he didn't want to come but had to. He said it in his hometown dialect, so I don't know if it was his family telling him to come home." Han Dasheng said regretfully, "If only I'd stopped and let him get off then."
"The camp was in the middle of nowhere. Did you want to starve him or something?" Bayunye laughed, trying to comfort him and stop him from blaming himself.
"I asked the climbing guides they hired, and none could say where Zhang Chenguang got separated. The snowstorm was heavy, and they were all bundled up for the climb—how could you tell who was who? I think they were just shirking responsibility!" Han Dasheng grumbled for a while, glanced at the Bu Lin Bu Lin foodie group, hesitated, then smiled and chatted about other things before returning to his own table of clients.
Shi Mengzhi also noticed Han Dasheng and his group, giving the girls a look to pretend they didn't know each other.
When it was time to set off again, Han Dasheng called out to Bayunye as if he had something to say.
Bayunye followed him eagerly to a secluded spot, full of anticipation, "Did you remember something else about Zhang Chenguang?"
"Not him, it's those two girls..." He pointed outside, "The food streamers. They're such a scam."
"What? Did they pay the deposit but drag their feet on the balance?" Bayunye didn't know the rules of Han Dasheng's team, but their Eagle Club always required full payment before departure."It's not about the money. They came to our team in Lhasa during the summer, saying they wanted to go to Nagchu for fun, so I took the job." Han Dasheng spoke with a lingering sense of fear. "They wanted to go to the Damo Temple in Biru County to see the Skull Wall."
Bayunye was stunned and couldn't help but twitch the corner of her eye. "They wouldn’t perform eating Boston lobster in front of the Skull Wall with a light on in the middle of the night, would they?"
"I warned them not to dare do such a thing. They didn’t eat anything there, but the next day... they actually pulled a collective disappearance on me!" Han Dasheng slapped his thigh. "Zhang Chenguang’s case was a lesson! They scared me half to death. I felt like I was cursed and even considered changing careers and never leading tours again."
Bayunye relaxed. "A publicity stunt?"
He nodded heavily, his cheeks moving as he made a "tsk" sound. "I reported it to the police and joined the search. Turns out they hid somewhere for two days and then reappeared on their own, claiming they had severe Altitude Reaction and passed out somewhere... Damn it! Later, I found out that during those two days they went missing near the Skull Wall, they suddenly went viral. After returning, they did a live stream eating apples in a graveyard. Now they have a huge following, and every day people are guessing—"
As he spoke, he pinched his throat, raised his pinky, and shook his head, imitating a coquettish voice. "Where will the girls eat in some remote corner this week?"
Bayunye burst out laughing, nodding repeatedly as if enlightened. So that’s what happened.
"Keep an eye on them. Don’t let them 'run away'." Han Dasheng said earnestly. "These young girls are reckless and take extreme paths. Don’t let a fake disappearance turn into a real one. In the end, we’re the ones who get screwed!"
"I’ll get them all safely to Urumqi, not a single one missing." Bayunye said solemnly.
"Alright, as long as you understand." Han Dasheng stood up.
Bayunye now felt that Han Dasheng was quite loyal, so she walked him out a couple of steps. "Thanks, old brother."
Han Dasheng was pleased and acknowledged her.
Fortunately, Hippo was sharing a room with Shi Mengzhi, so he should notice if they tried anything unusual. Bayunye thought about how she had mentioned Dead Man’s Gully during dinner and regretted it deeply—"Hippo, keep an eye on Shi Mengzhi and the others. Don’t let them stir up trouble for us. There are new guests arriving at Kashgar Airport in a few days. Be extra vigilant when I’m not around."
Hippo received the message and replied with an OK emoji, then went back to working on his short video for Douyin.
The flight landed in Kashgar on time. Zhang Tianen, Su Zhiming, and Meng Xiaoai walked out of the airport together, where a striking red Wrangler was parked nearby, waiting to pick them up.
Bayunye’s schedule was seamlessly connected this time. The four guests from Zhejiang had finished their vacation and were flying back to Hangzhou from Kashgar, while Brother Long assigned her three new guests traveling from Kashgar to Urumqi, ensuring the vehicle wouldn’t run empty.
However, the burden on her shoulders hadn’t lifted. The mukbang streamers Abu and Aishuai were always looking to get more popular, racking their brains to find dangerous places to sit and eat. Bayunye remained extra vigilant throughout the journey, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.
The outgoing Su Zhiming was in high spirits after getting into the car. "Hey, miss, isn’t Master Ba here?"
Bayunye smiled. "I’m the Master Ba you’ve been in contact with."
"Oh my gosh! Master Ba, you’re so cool!"
"Traveling with two beautiful ladies, I’m so lucky!"
"Master Ba, are you from Xinjiang?""I don't think so, she looks more like a mixed-race..."
After the two of them finished speaking, Bayunye smiled and said, "She's definitely Chinese, but not from Xinjiang."
Zheming and Xiao Ai chatted happily with Bayunye, while Zhang Tianen rarely spoke. He was a man with strong purpose; this trip wasn't for Xinjiang, and Bayunye's convoy was just a smokescreen, so he had little interest in conversation.
It was, after all, the first day of the National Day holiday, and there were more vehicles than usual. Bayunye rested her left hand on her chin, her right hand on the steering wheel, slowly moving with the traffic. After exiting the airport's south gate, they hit another small traffic jam.
"Master Ba."
A familiar voice came not from the back seat but seemed to be from outside.
Bayunye glanced to the left and saw the rear window of a car in the opposite lane roll down. Inside sat Diao Zhuo, whom she hadn't seen in a long time.
She froze, feeling as if a firework had exploded in her heart, scattering brilliance across the sky. Bayunye thought, it was just a casual fling with no strings attached—why did it feel so surreal? Perhaps it was the joy of meeting an old acquaintance in a distant land, especially one she'd been intimate with.
Judging by the direction, Diao Zhuo was heading into the airport.
"Hey! Diao Zhuo! Where are you going?" She took off her sunglasses and called out loudly.
He looked at her, his expression still serious but with a hint of a smile in his eyes. "Back to Xi'an."
"What are you doing in Kashgar?! You still owe me a meal! Trying to run off already?!"
Diao Zhuo worked in Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, less than 50 kilometers from Kashgar. In the vast expanse of Xinjiang, that distance was practically next door. Both of them were open-minded and easygoing, having sparked some desire and passion during their last search mission. They didn't know much about each other—Bayunye didn't know where Diao Zhuo worked, and Diao Zhuo didn't know Bayunye would be in Kashgar today. Yet, one was picking someone up, the other catching a flight, and they happened to meet at the airport entrance. It seemed fate had a hand in this coincidence.
The road ahead cleared, and the car behind impatiently honked twice. Bayunye raised her thumb and pinky, bringing them to her ear, signaling they'd catch up later.
Diao Zhuo nodded.
"That girl's quite feisty."
"I like that car—it's been modified, really cool."
The colleagues in the front seat commented briefly before the conversation shifted to other matters. Diao Zhuo's gaze followed her car as it drove away, then gradually returned.
Bayunye checked Zhang Tianen and the other two into their accommodation. She heard that the "Bu Lin Bu Lin Foodie Group" had packed a bunch of snacks, planning to eat in front of the mosque. Luckily, Hippo's keen nose caught the scent of braised pork knuckle and convinced them to come back.
Patiently, she explained to the two fame-seeking girls who didn't know any better that although Xinjiang's security was good now, it couldn't withstand their recklessness. She also reminded Hippo to keep a close eye on them.
Just as she was speaking, a middle-aged woman called. It turned out to be Xiao Ai's mother. She asked Bayunye if her daughter had arrived safely. Bayunye replied sweetly, glancing in the rearview mirror at Xiao Ai, who was whispering intimately with Zheming.
A parent's treasured daughter, a boyfriend's little darling—both were things Bayunye had longed for but never had. When she was Xiao Ai's age, she was still enduring hardships in the military. Special forces training wasn't something just anyone could handle.
Back and forth, she forgot about running into Diao Zhuo. By the time she remembered, two or three days had passed. There was no need to call specifically and press for answers—some questions were only meaningful when asked in the moment.
Like, "Did you fucking miss me?"
OpenNovel