А fеw dаys latеr, thе соnvоy arrived in Urumqi. Ваyunyе sent the guеsts tо саtсh thе airpоrt shuttle in batches acсоrding to thеir flight times. Wаtсhing thе "Вu Lin Bu Lin Fооdiе Grоuр" wavе goodbyе аnd boаrd the bus, Baуunye finаlly felt соmрlеtеlу аt easе—thеy wеrе gоne, аnd whatеvеr trouble thеу might stir up nеxt would no lоnger be her соnсern. Nо wonder Hаn Dаshеng was sо wаrу оf thеm; thеse influеnсers rеallу weren't еasу tо hаndle.
Ассоrding to everуone's feedbaсk, they had а great timе and wоuld dеfinitelу choose the Eagle Club again for their next trip to the western regions. With some free time now, Bayunye called out to Hippo and A Dian, "Come on, let's go enjoy some lamb skewers ourselves."
"Great, I'll go buy a few braised pork knuckles," Hippo joked.
"Then I'll livestream it for you," A Dian said.
Every time they finished guiding a group of guests, they had new inside jokes to tease each other with.
"Alright, you two, that's enough. Next time they come back, you can take them. I'm not coming," Bayunye said. The most troublesome foodie group had already left, but for some reason, her right eyelid kept twitching from time to time. As the saying goes, a twitching left eye brings fortune, while a twitching right eye brings disaster. She suddenly felt a sense of unease.
"Speaking of which, if that foodie group ever contacts us again, we can just turn them down," Hippo said. "Not only are they childish, but they always ask the weirdest questions. The other day, they asked me if we had arranged camping at some location. I said of course not, unless guests specifically requested not to stay in hotels, but we don't recommend inexperienced guests camping on their own. They told me they saw tents in the luggage of those three college students who joined from Kashgar."
"Maybe they misidentified them?" Bayunye shrugged it off. "They probably mistook their windbreakers for tents."
"Possibly," Hippo didn't pay much attention either. Throughout the trip, they had been too focused on the foodie group and had somewhat neglected the other guests.
"Dear passengers, we regret to inform you that your flight HU7879 is delayed due to air traffic control. The departure time is yet to be determined. We apologize for any inconvenience caused."
"Ugh!" Su Zhiming sighed heavily. "What an unlucky start!"
Zhang Tianen wasn't a superstitious person, but hearing Su Zhiming's offhand remark still annoyed him a little. It was just a flight delay—why make such a fuss?
Bayunye's convoy itinerary didn't include crossing the desert highway at all. They had used this as a smokescreen to deceive their parents, hoping to stretch out the travel time so their parents would discover the truth a few days later, by which time they might already have made it out of the desert.
"Nervous?" Su Zhiming asked affectionately, wrapping an arm around Xiao Ai.
Xiao Ai chuckled softly, "Oh, we're just flying to Baotou first. It'll take over a day by car to reach the desert. Why be nervous now?"
"Right, we still need to buy some supplies—water, food, and such," Su Zhiming said, gazing at the planes parked outside the terminal. He had a feeling that this trip would leave him with many reflections and deepen his bond with Xiao Ai.
"Dear passengers, flight HU7879 is now boarding. Please take your belongings and proceed to the gate..."
Zhang Tianen slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Let's go."
By the time the plane landed at Erliban Airport at seven in the evening, the three of them were exhausted from the day's journey.After a night's sleep, the young people regained their energy and happily stocked up on mineral water and compressed biscuits. The girlish Meng Xiao Ai even bought a cactus bonsai, saying she wanted to plant it deep in the desert with Zheming. Tonight, they would take a train to Ejina Banner to begin their trek across the Badanjilin Desert.
While packing their backpacks, Zheming and Xiao Ai realized that crossing the desert was far more challenging than they had imagined. Zheming's backpack weighed a staggering 70 jin, and Xiao Ai's was nearly 40 jin, most of which was water.
"Oh my god! It's so heavy!!" Xiao Ai felt dazed under the weight of her backpack.
Seventy jin was equivalent to half of Zheming's body weight. Though he also found it incredibly heavy, seeing Zhang Tianen carrying 80 jin without a single complaint, he gritted his teeth and said, "It's okay, dear. If you can't carry it, I'll help you."
Xiao Ai immediately brightened up.
"Once we enter the desert, our packs will gradually lighten as we consume water and food," Zhang Tianen said calmly, without any sweet talk. "But drinking water faster isn't better. Zheming and I each have ten 2-liter bottles of water, and Xiao Ai has eight. We plan to walk out of the desert in eight days. That means we guys can't drink more than one bottle a day, and the extra will go to Xiao Ai. Listen, water is the most important thing in the desert! No water means death!"
Xiao Ai pursed her lips tightly, unconsciously picking at her nails. She looked scared, as if having second thoughts.
Su Zhiming was much more optimistic. "I checked, and there are over a hundred lakes in the Badanjilin Desert. Travelogues say you can stumble upon a lake just by walking around. It's called the Jiangnan of the Northern Desert!"
Xiao Ai breathed a sigh of relief, truly imagining this trek as a stroll through a Jiangnan town. With no wilderness survival experience, she had no idea that their journey was an unsupported, unassisted crossing—the most dangerous kind of desert trekking.
Before heading to the train station, Zhang Tianen made a final check of the items in his backpack. "Food, water, hats, scarves, GPS... Huh? Where are my spare batteries and compass?"
"They're with me," Zheming said, looking exasperated. "You stuffed them into my bag yourself! By the way, why do you need a compass when you already have a GPS?"
"For peace of mind."
Zheming and Xiao Ai exchanged a smile, both thinking Zhang Tianen was overly cautious.
Today, Bayunye and the others were preparing to return to Lhasa, picking up passengers along the way to share fuel costs. Just as they started the engine, her phone rang—an unfamiliar number that seemed vaguely familiar.
She reached her hand out the window, gesturing to wait, and answered the call. "Hello."
A woman's voice came through. "Hello, is our Xiao Ai in the car? Could you please ask her to answer the phone?"
It seemed to be Xiao Ai's mother, who had also called when Xiao Ai first arrived. Bayunye blinked in confusion. "You mean—Meng Xiao Ai?"
"Yes."
"She... hasn't she already gone back?" Bayunye said. "She left by plane with two male classmates a few days ago."
"Left?!" Xiao Ai's mother was shocked. "But you haven't even reached Kashgar yet, have you?!"
"We arrived long ago."
"So she left from Kashgar Airport?"
"She left from Urumqi Airport.""How could this be?!" Xiao Ai's mother exclaimed in shock. Bayunye's heart sank as she heard the other party confirm again, "Aren't you taking the Southern Xinjiang loop, starting from Kashgar, heading east counterclockwise, and returning to Kashgar?!"
"We're taking the Xinjiang-Tibet route. After passing Kashgar, we head straight to Urumqi. We don't take guests back the same way," Bayunye explained, feeling her eyelid twitch again.
There was a moment of silence on the phone. After a while, Xiao Ai's mother asked, "When did my daughter leave Urumqi?"
"Five days ago."
Another silence followed. Xiao Ai's mother seemed to struggle to accept this fact.
"Xiao Ai hasn't returned home? Is she still with those two male classmates? I have their phone numbers here. I'll send them to you right away. Please call and ask."
"No need..." Xiao Ai's mother said dejectedly. "Their phones aren't reachable either."
Bayunye felt helpless. After hanging up, her mind was in turmoil. Previously, they had focused all their attention on the foodie group, never imagining that the three college students who joined from Kashgar would be the ones to run into trouble.
"Master Ba, what's wrong?" Hippo called out from behind.
"Nothing, let's go!" Bayunye waved her hand.
Not long after they started driving, another call came in. The caller ID showed a landline number. "Hello?"
"Hello, this is Qianjin Police Station."
"Where?" Bayunye asked.
"Qianjin Police Station in Beiyang City," the other party said. "Did Meng Xiao Ai, Zhang Tianen, and Su Zhiming travel with you in Xinjiang a few days ago? Now, their parents have reported them missing and would like you to provide specific details."
Bayunye let out a long sigh and recounted the timeline of their joining and departure. "They told me their flight was at 8:30 a.m., so we dropped them off at 6 a.m. But later, other guests mentioned that they had something like a tent in their luggage. However, we stayed in hotels the entire trip, so I don't know why they brought a tent."
"Alright, we'll verify what you've said. If you remember anything else, please contact us. If we have further questions, we'll call you again. Please keep your phone on."
"Understood." Bayunye had a vague feeling that something was wrong with those three college students.
After checking into the hotel that evening, she called Xiao Ai's mother again. The other party said the police had investigated the three children's flight information and found that they had flown together to Baotou. The next day, they took a train to a place called something "Banner."
Hippo asked with concern, "Are we in trouble? Were they kidnapped at the airport?"
"We're not responsible," Bayunye shook her head. "They flew to Inner Mongolia."
"That's good," Hippo patted his chest. "We didn't lose them."
"Good? They're missing," Bayunye shot him a glare. "They didn't tell us they were going to Inner Mongolia. Sigh! It's also our fault for not asking more. All three of their phones are unreachable. I think something's going on."
Hippo didn't think the worst. "Maybe they just love the grasslands and wanted to experience the scenery of 'wind sweeping over the grass, revealing cattle and sheep.'"
"Now you're reciting poetry!"
"That's the only line I know..." Hippo pouted.
Later, when they checked the news, sure enough, the headline "Three College Students Missing After Joining Xinjiang Self-Driving Tour" was being widely shared.The news article read: Recently, three senior students from Beiyang Institute of Technology—Meng Xiaoai (female), Su Zhiming, and Zhang Tianen (with Meng and Su being in a romantic relationship)—organized a trip to Xinjiang and joined a local self-driving carpool tour. After failing to contact their families for several days and with friends and relatives unable to reach the three students by phone, their parents reported the case to the police today. The police contacted the driver of the self-driving carpool tour, referred to as "Master Ba," who stated that after arriving in Urumqi, he had dropped them off at the airport and had no idea where they went afterward. Currently, the three students remain missing, and the public is encouraged to provide any relevant information about them. [Photos of the three students attached]
"What the hell! How could they write such nonsense!" Bayunye was so furious she almost threw her phone. "What do they mean by 'joined a Xinjiang self-driving tour'? They clearly went to Inner Mongolia without telling their parents and went missing! What does that have to do with us? 'Master Ba'—who gave them permission to call me that?! I'm not on a pilgrimage to the Western Heaven! Master Ba?! It makes me sound like some unkempt old man!"
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