The Lost Tomb : Sea Of Sands

Chapter 78: Looking for Liang Wan

After sunset, Li Cu began prompting the two men to look for Liang Wan. The sun's harsh rays began to soften, and when the white sand no longer reflected the sunlight like a mirror, they could really look out into the desert.

They weren't sure whether the woman had been brought there like them, but based on common sense, she should have appeared long ago if she was anything like them. But they had roughly done a cursory search within the safe zone, and they definitely didn't find her. Far away from the haizi, the sunlight's reflection was so strong that the naked eye wouldn't be able to recognize objects.

Still afraid to stray too far from the haizi, they decided to split up and go in three separate directions to look around the sand dunes. Li Cu warned them about the abandoned trucks buried under the dunes around the haizi, and that the barrier they created was the boundary between life and death. He told them to never walk down the dunes to the outer edge of the haizi.

Since the both of them were already teenagers, they could tell whether Li Cu was joking or not, and knew to act accordingly.

The sunset in the desert was very spectacular, and they only had about thirty minutes before the sun sank behind the dunes. Li Cu didn't have much hope, but they had only been looking separately for two or three minutes before Yang Hao shouted. When Li Cu and Su Wan joined him, they saw firelight in the depressions between two sand dunes about a kilometer away.

The sand dune was casting a shadow, so the fire was very obvious.

"Binoculars." Li Cu said to Su Wan. From his bag, Su Wan took out a pair of binoculars about the size of a pack of cigarettes and handed them over.

When Li Cu took them and glared at him, Su Wan said, "I bought them to watch Wang Leehom's concert. They're very expensive. We have to save space, and it's not like we're fighting a war. They're good enough."

Li Cu broke away and looked at the campfire in the distance. He saw Liang Wan beside the campfire, wearing very little clothes and tidying up her suitcase.

The magnification on the binoculars wasn't enough, and all he could see were Liang Wan's slender legs. It looked like she was only wearing underwear, and Li Cu put down the binoculars, dejected with the long distance.

Yang Hao took the binoculars to get a look, stared for a few seconds, and then turned back to smack Su Wan's mouth: "Good enough my ass! We've had bad luck all the way here, and it's rare to see a beautiful naked woman. Such a good chance was ruined because you bought a pair of tiny, broken binoculars."

"What?" Su Wan immediately grabbed them, looked through them for a few seconds, and then smacked his own mouth.

When Yang Hao turned, pulled out his gun, and loaded it with a "kacha", Su Wan immediately stepped back and said he wouldn't dare bring the wrong thing again. Yang Hao said, "I'll fire a few shots to say hello and let her come to us. We can't let such a beauty be that far away from us."

Li Cu waved his hand to stop him. The path here was too dangerous, and he didn't know why Liang Wan was over there. Did she wake up here and walk over there, or was she left there before?

He carefully observed the surrounding sand dunes and saw traces of footprints on some of them, but he didn't know if they were left by Liang Wan.

The desert outside of the truck barrier was very dangerous, and the distance to Liang Wan was too far. If some kind of communication wasn't in place, Liang Wan would probably have an accident if she headed towards them.

He looked around at the terrain, but the sand dunes had changed so much that he couldn't make a judgment. The sun fell below the horizon very quickly, the bonfire became brighter and brighter, and Li Cu's foreboding grew stronger and stronger.

The surface of the desert was still very calm, and it was just like looking at a minefield. Someone had started a fire in the minefield, and even though it was ok now, it was bound to explode at any time. Yang Hao took a deep breath and said, "Give me a knife and some rope. We'll tie the rope around my waist, and once I get there, I can bring her back. But if I can't, I'll stay with her."

"Very manly, but there's something wrong with that." Su Wan said.

Yang Hao scolded: "Cut the crap and get the rope."

"Not long enough." Su Wan retorted. "It's only thirty meters. I think we should yell loudly or make something that can get the message across."

"It's still too far away. We'd be lucky if she can hear us, and it's impossible to send a message."

"They say that the sound of a saxophone can travel really far, especially in the desert. The saxophone resonates with the sand dunes, causing the sound to travel far distances. And the most amazing thing is that the saxophone can imitate a human voice, especially singing. We can use a saxophone to transmit our message." Su Wan said.

Li Cu had a slight headache. He knew that Su Wan played the saxophone well, but how was that relevant to their current situation? He slapped Su Wan on the mouth and scolded, "Are you out of your mind? Where are we going to find a saxophone now? Can you be more reliable?"

"I brought it!" Su Wan proudly pulled out a brass instrument from his backpack. "Dangdang! [1] Little Miracle Prince, please call me the King Collector of Nancheng, the Little White-Faced Doraemon."

When Li Cu looked at the brass instrument and saw that it was really a saxophone, his face changed. He glanced at Yang Hao, who looked back at him in astonishment.

After a pause, the two men came to a tacit agreement and grabbed Su Wan, "Fuck you! Binoculars take up space, right? Fuck you! Thirty meters of rope is enough, isn't it? Saxophone! Saxophone! Why did you bring a fucking saxophone?"

"The saxophone is my life!" Su Wan hugged the saxophone and said: "Damn it, it's rare for me to come to the desert, and I've always wanted to play a song at sunset, just like in those music videos. I'm taking risks accompanying you, so fulfilling my long-cherished dream won't cause too much trouble!"

Tired of arguing, Yang Hao and Li Cu both dropped him to the ground. Su Wan wiped the sand off of the saxophone and gasped, "Do you common folks not know what feelings are?"

"Was the music video taken in the desert?" Yang Hao asked Li Cu.

Li Cu shook his head: "It was on the beach by the sea, not in the desert."

Su Wan paused, "No way."

Yang Hao untied the clothes that were around his waist and got up shirtless. "Feelings, feelings, you say? Bring it, I'll show you feelings!"

Li Cu looked at where the sun was only a red line on the horizon, and waved to them before saying: "Stop it, we'll pick this up later. There's no time. Didn't you say you can imitate a human voice with the saxophone? Do it real quick."

Su Wan got up and sighed, "Sooner or later, you'll bow down to my saxophone." As he spoke, he removed the reed and shook the sand free, and then asked, "What do you want to say to her?"

"Just say that the desert here is very unsafe, and she needs to stay there. It's best not to move or make too much noise. We're trying to find a way to get to her."

"Speak English." Su Wan said, "This is a western instrument. It can only speak English."

Li Cu's homework was very poor, and Yang Hao didn't even know the basic grammar. The two of them talked for a long time before Li Cu said, "no safe, no move, you'd better shup up! We want the way now!".

Su Wan sighed and ignored them. As a high school student attending various cram schools, his grades were much better than those two. He climbed to the top of the dune, faced the bonfire, and played the saxophone into the sunset.

****************************************

Note:

[1] It's an onomatopoeia. American version would be like "Ta dah!". Su Wan did it in the drama on episode 33 around 30:30.