The female voice was a lifeline he clung to desperately, unwilling to let go. He forced himself to endure, to hold on. And so, sustained by the sound of that woman's insistence, he finally made it through.
Under the girl's care, he slowly began to recover. It was then he noticed that his caretaker was a young girl, perhaps only a dozen or so years old. Clearly, this girl had saved his life. To think that he had been on death’s very precipice, only to be pulled back by a mere girl, astonished him. In the ancient era, wound treatment was notoriously rudimentary; infections were common, and survival rates plummeted once infection set in. To this day, he couldn't fathom precisely how the young girl had managed to save him.
Later, once his body had mostly regained its strength, he ventured out and discovered he was in an utterly alien place—a vast, boundless desert stretching to every horizon. The only discernible structure nearby was a lone hill painstakingly built up from sand.
Speaking of sand dunes, Lu Zong suddenly interrupted the old man’s narrative. “Sand dune? Fatty, do you remember the one we encountered on our way here, the very same one we saw depicted in the mural?”
Ge Mei’s expression flickered with surprise, as if she were about to speak, but Fatty cut her off before she could utter a word.
Lu Zong could tell that Ge Mei knew something about that sand dune. Of course, it was also possible that she was Han Chong, which would explain her reaction. Fatty’s interruption was surely to prevent her from revealing something crucial about her identity.
Fatty spoke first, beating everyone to the punch. “You mean the sand dune we saw right after arriving in the Sahara? Of course I remember it. Did you think he was referring to the one Old Man Qian mentioned?”
Lu Zong paused in thought, less than certain. “Old Man Qian only said it was in the desert, and combined with the dune he just mentioned, I just have a vague feeling there might be a connection. It’s nothing much; Old Man Qian, please continue.”
Old Man Qian took a sip of water, cleared his throat, and went on. “That little girl took excellent care of me, and slowly, we became close. She even became my adopted granddaughter. When I asked her where I was, she refused to tell me, her face clouding over with worry. She stopped talking to anyone afterward. Seeing that she was unwilling to share anything, I stopped pressing her. That is, until one day.”
At this point, Old Man Qian cleared his throat again, deliberately drawing out the suspense with a sigh. “Woe, utter woe.”
Fatty grew impatient. “What happened? Just tell us! Haven’t you seen how anxious we all are?”
Old Man Qian could only sigh again before continuing. “I discovered that the little girl had suddenly vanished. I waited for several days, but she never returned. However, later on, I found a letter in her **.”
The mention of a letter made everyone pause and stare at Old Man Qian. Fatty was immediately eager. “What letter? Hurry up and show us!”
Old Man Qian fumbled in his robes for a long moment before slowly extracting a brittle, yellowed envelope. Written clearly on it in ink made from bamboo charcoal were the words: “Grandfather’s Eyes Only.”
Fearing Fatty might snatch it, Lu Zong quickly snatched the envelope from Old Man Qian’s hand, holding it tightly. His eyes immediately fell upon a line penned in ancient calligraphy: “May Grandfather serve under Cao Cao, to fulfill your granddaughter’s curse.”
There was a large block of text following that, but Lu Zong was already stunned after reading those first two lines. He failed to read further, his mind reeling over the implications of those initial sentences.
Just then, Fatty lunged forward. After a mere glance at the script, he tore several characters to shreds and began chewing them vigorously in his mouth.
Everyone was startled by Fatty’s shocking action, staring at him, completely bewildered by his behavior.
Fatty mumbled through a full mouth. “This Old Man Qian must be lying. He claims he was serving in a war, which means he should be over a thousand years old. Even if the old man squatted here day and night protecting that paper, it should have decomposed by now. How can he still produce it? He must be fabricating the story.”
The old man paused, then replied, “Ah, didn't I tell you? What I spoke of was merely a short segment from a dream.”
Lu Zong suddenly realized the core issue and asked curiously, “If it was just a dream, then why do you have this envelope in your possession right now? You must be lying.”
Old Man Qian waved his hands frantically. “No, no, I guarantee you I am not lying. I am just as baffled. It was clearly a dream, so why did I wake up with an envelope in my hand? I didn’t understand it at the time either.”
Ge Mei chuckled softly. “That’s simple enough. There are two possibilities: first, you are lying, and second, it wasn't just a dream, but a veiled reality.”
Old Man Qian shook his head. “Don’t worry, we are all in this together. I wouldn’t deceive you.”
Lu Zong was still caught up in the bewildering sentence, unable to fully grasp its meaning. He had only glimpsed the beginning; surely the rest of the text would offer clarification. But when he looked for the envelope again, he found that Fatty had already swallowed the letter.
His suspicion of Fatty grew stronger. Even if it were a fake letter, there was no need to eat it, was there? Fatty must have had some ulterior motive for doing that.
He rebuked Fatty. “Fatty, that was wrong of you just now. Why did you eat the letter?”
Fatty waved a dismissive hand. “It was obviously a fake letter; it’s gone now, so what? Besides, it didn't say anything important. Let’s get moving, stop dawdling here.”
Lu Zong wanted to say more; there were too many inconsistencies. But Fatty showed no curiosity whatsoever and instead urged everyone to hurry. Lu Zong glanced suspiciously at Ma Xiong, who looked equally perplexed. Ge Mei and the Company Commander, however, acted as if nothing had happened and followed Fatty without a second thought.
Seeing that he and Ma Xiong were now in a reactive, passive position, Lu Zong had no choice but to take the old man’s arm and follow the group.
Along the way, Lu Zong continually engaged the old man in conversation, hoping to extract some truth from Old Man Qian.
Lu Zong asked, “Sir, do you know exactly how old you are now? Have you not seen your granddaughter since she left?”
Old Man Qian shook his head. “To be honest, I don’t know if that was a dream or reality. If I could choose, I would certainly believe that period was merely a dream. But this letter in my possession warns me every moment that I am in reality, and everything before was not just a dream.”
Lu Zong suddenly remembered the letter and inquired, “Right, Old Man Qian, do you know what was written on that letter?”
To everyone’s great astonishment, the old man’s reply was, “I do not. I am a simple man; why would I be interested in the contents of that letter? Furthermore, I barely recognize a handful of characters, so I couldn't read what was written.”
Ma Xiong became somewhat agitated, his tone sharpening. “Then you don’t care at all about your granddaughter? Couldn’t you have at least asked someone about it?”
The old man gave a wry smile, stroking his three-foot-long white beard. He chuckled good-naturedly. “What are you saying? Of course, I was curious about the letter’s contents. I asked the neighbors about my granddaughter’s whereabouts, and guess what they told me?”
Ma Xiong and Lu Zong knew the old man was deliberately teasing them. They shot him an impatient look and asked, “We don’t know.”
Seeing the slightest hint of annoyance on their faces, the old man stopped playing games and explained clearly. “When I asked the neighbors about my granddaughter, they actually said there was no such girl in this village. They said they usually saw me all alone and had never seen a young woman around.”
Lu Zong and Ma Xiong were stunned. They noticed Fatty, the Company Commander, and the others walking ahead, completely unconcerned with their conversation, continuing to question the old man on their own.
Lu Zong asked, “What? No girl? How is that possible? Surely the girl didn’t stay indoors constantly. Even if she didn’t go out, the neighbors should have seen her at some point.”
Old Man Qian shook his head. “Exactly. I was even more puzzled then. My granddaughter used to hold my arm every day when we went out for walks, and we always encountered plenty of villagers. But why did they all insist they had never seen her?”
Seeing the old man’s distress, Lu Zong and Ma Xiong tried to console him. “Old Man Qian, don’t be upset. Perhaps those neighbors just moved here and haven’t had a chance to meet your granddaughter yet.”
Old Man Qian’s expression suddenly grew grave. He glanced at Fatty, Ge Mei, and the others walking ahead, seemingly unconcerned, and leaned close to Lu Zong, whispering softly, “Young man, I can see there isn't much unity among your group. That Fatty and that young woman don't seem to be on your side.”
Lu Zong stared at the old man, shocked. He hadn’t expected this old man, despite his age, to have such sharp insight.
He nodded repeatedly in agreement, whispering, “Yes, yes, we two are likely being used by him—we’re just pawns in his game.”
Old Man Qian chuckled delightedly. “People nowadays love their scheming and infighting; they’re not like the ancients.”
Lu Zong had no patience for the old man’s musings. He urged him, “Old Man Qian, you said those events were a dream, right? Tell us, what did you dream about afterward?”
The old man’s expression shifted again. He looked intently at Lu Zong and said slowly, word by word, “Do you know what my granddaughter used to whisper in my ear every night after I fell asleep?”
Lu Zong and Ma Xiong exchanged a look. From Old Man Qian’s sudden change in demeanor, they knew the situation had taken a drastically serious turn. They asked in unison, “We don’t know. Please, Old Man Qian, tell us clearly.”