Chapter 220: Snake Marsh Ghost City (Mid): The Camp

I was stunned. I had just read about this place in Wenjin's notebook, and now they were going there too. I couldn't react for a moment—and they shouldn't have seen Wenjin's notebook, so how did they know this place existed?

"What's wrong?" the Caucasian asked, seeing my strange expression. "Your face suddenly went pale."

"Nothing, I was just startled." I quickly covered it up, feigning curiosity, and as I followed him I asked, "What is Tamutuo? What are you going there for?"

"Tamutuo? It's a long story," the Caucasian said, glancing at A Ning walking ahead, and whispered to me, "I'll tell you later. Let's first see what those two guys brought back from inside."

Seeing the look he gave me, it seemed A Ning didn't allow him to talk about it, so I understood and kept quiet.

People in the camp were spreading the news, waking up those sleeping in sleeping bags. We could only carefully navigate among the shifting sleeping bags, following A Ning and the others.

The entire camp was large. After going around the cluster of Land Rovers by the road, there was another area of tents. The biggest one was a round tent about four or five meters in diameter, probably set up by locals, with Tibetan markings on it that seemed to indicate lodging rates. A Ning led us inside. It was very warm inside; I saw a charcoal stove with a small chimney burning beside it, and the floor was covered with thick, colorful yak-hair rugs. I later learned these were called "coarse pulu," now quite expensive. There were also many old-style Tibetan wooden furniture and some packed but unopened non-woven bags.

The tent was very comfortable. A Ning sat down on the carpet. A Tibetan man, who seemed to be the tent's owner, came in and poured butter tea for each of us. I also sat down and looked over the people.

What annoyed me most was Poker-face. He sat opposite me, not even looking at me, leaning against a pile of felt blankets and immediately closed his eyes to rest. Not everyone from the car had come; some people I didn't recognize showed up, which made me quite uncomfortable. Among these people, I only knew Old Wu the Fourth and the Caucasian; the rest were unfamiliar faces.

As these people gradually settled down, A Ning placed the item that Black Blind had just brought out from the haunted house onto the low table in front of us.

It was a flat rosewood box. When opened, inside was a damaged blue-and-white porcelain plate, with a palm-sized piece missing from the left side.

There must have been a space beneath that stone coffin; it seemed this plate was originally placed in that space. What was this thing? Why did Poker-face and the others go to steal it? I couldn't help being a bit curious.

I was about to adjust my neck to look at the plate when two more people entered the tent: a white-haired old Tibetan woman and a middle-aged Tibetan woman. The old woman was as thin and withered as Chenpi A'si, about seventy or more, but quite energetic, with sharp eyes. The middle-aged woman looked like an ordinary Tibetan. As soon as they entered, the atmosphere in the tent suddenly changed. Except for Black Blind and Poker-face, everyone else involuntarily sat up straight and turned their bodies toward them, especially toward the old woman. Two people even bowed to her, as if this old Tibetan woman held a high status here.

The old woman returned the greeting and looked us over, especially me—perhaps because I was a stranger, she gave me a few extra glances. Then she sat down directly. A Ning respectfully picked up the porcelain plate and handed it to her, asking, "Grandma, please take a look. Is this the thing you saw back then?"

As soon as she finished, someone translated into Tibetan. The old woman listened, then took the plate and examined it. After a few glances she nodded repeatedly and kept saying something in Tibetan. The translator began to render her words back, and several people started conversing.

Their conversation was intermittent, and the translator's Tibetan was not very good; worse, his Chinese seemed poor too, halting and stumbling. I tried hard to listen but couldn't understand, so I quietly asked Old Wu the Fourth beside me who the old woman was. Old Wu didn't answer, but Black Blind next to him spoke. He said to me in a low voice, "Her name is Dingzhu Zhuoma. She was Wenjin's guide back then."

When I heard that name, I let out an "ah" and suddenly understood a lot. I was also amazed at how resourceful A Ning's company was—not only did they know about Tamutuo, but they also knew about this guide. Did that mean A Ning already knew about Wenjin's matter? From Wenjin's notebook I had read about their journey from Dunhuang into the depths of the Qaidam Basin. She indeed mentioned that they hired a female Tibetan guide. I couldn't help touching the notebook in my pocket, thinking to myself: what's going on? Had someone else read this notebook? But I remembered that in the notebook Wenjin also said that guide did not take them very deep into the basin; after passing Da Qaidam and entering the Charhan area, even the guide couldn't find the way—in fact there was no road to find. Finally they parted with the guide at the mouth of a salt mountain and set off deeper on their own. The Qaidam Basin covers over 240,000 square kilometers. Their final journey lasted three weeks, and where they ended up, no one could say clearly.

It seemed that if they wanted to go to Tamutuo, this old woman alone couldn't provide A Ning and her team with any particularly useful help. At most she could lead them to the place where Wenjin's group had parted ways with her back then.

Just as I was thinking, the conversation between A Ning and Dingzhu Zhuoma ended. After exchanging bows, the middle-aged woman helped the old lady out. Several people who hadn't understood asked how it went. A Ning couldn't hide the smile on her face and said excitedly, "It's right! She said this is the plate, the one Chen Wenjin showed her back then. She said with this plate, she can lead us to find the mountain pass from that year."

Several people stirred restlessly. Black Blind asked, "When do we set out?"

A Ning had already stood up and said to them, "Today, at noon, everyone sets out." As she spoke, the others stood up and were about to head out.

At that moment, Black Blind said again, "What about him?"

As he said this, he pointed at me.

A Ning and the others turned to look at me, as if they had forgotten I was there. A few of them were startled for a moment. I stared at A Ning, waiting to see what she would say.

Unexpectedly, A Ning didn't pay much attention. After thinking for a moment, she pointed at Poker-face on the side and said to Black Blind, "He brought him back. Let him take care of him himself." Then she led the others out. Only Black Blind and Poker-face were left in the tent.

Black Blind gave a dry laugh, then also leaned back onto the felt blankets, lit a cigarette, and looked at Poker-face, saying, "I said you're asking for trouble, aren't you? If you hadn't let him get in the car earlier, this wouldn't have happened. What do we do now?" Poker-face raised his head, glanced at me indifferently, and seemed to sigh helplessly. He said to me, "You go back. There's nothing for you here. Don't go into that sanatorium again. The things inside are too dangerous."

I looked at him, feeling very displeased.

To be honest, I didn't want to go to that damn place at all, and I didn't know why A Ning and her crew were going there. Right now I just wanted to know what Poker-face had done on the Cloud Summit and what that horrifying scene I saw was all about.

So I replied, "If you want me to go back, fine. I just want to ask you a few questions."

Poker-face still looked at me indifferently, shook his head, and said, "My affairs are not something you can understand. Besides, there are things I'm still searching for answers to myself." With that, he also stood up and walked out of the tent without looking back.

I was shaking with anger, almost spitting blood. Watching his retreating back, I really wanted to rush up and strangle him.

Black Blind also sighed, patted me on the shoulder, and said, "There's a bus here. Three hours to the city. Have a smooth trip."

With that, Black Blind also walked out of the tent, leaving me alone inside. The scene suddenly became quiet and cold.

This made me feel very awkward. I had a sense of being looked down upon, even abandoned, extremely uncomfortable. The attitudes of A Ning, Poker-face, and Black

But the problem with Black Blind was real.

When I thought about it, A Ning's team was about to set off; I had been rescued by them from the ghost building, an unexpected event, so they hadn't prepared any measures to arrange for me, nor did they have any responsibility to explain anything to me; of course I should just go back on my own.

But I really couldn't resign myself. Watching people coming and going outside the tent, the preparations buzzing with activity, I felt my blood surge. I thought, what could I do after I went back? Wenjin, who had sent the package, had already left ahead of me. This person had managed to hide for twenty years so that even Third Uncle couldn't find her despite all his efforts — how could I possibly find her? Was I supposed to be like Third Uncle, spending another thirty years searching for her for the sake of a mystery? Impossible.

The events in the sanitarium were confusing and mysterious, with absolutely no clues at all. Yet the notes Wenjin had left behind kept talking about this "Tamutuo." And now, the group outside was about to set off, but I was preparing to buy a ticket and take the bus home.

The only clue to the whole matter was now the notebook in my pocket, and its contents seemed to be hinting that I had to go to Tamutuo to learn something.

What should I do? Going back to Golmud, what could I do there? I couldn't do anything anymore.

"You need to be proactive in doing things."

Suddenly my grandfather's words echoed in my ears, and then I felt the notebook in my pocket, thinking that my experience in Golmud this time was entirely due to my quick and decisive actions that gave me the upper hand.

Alright, I made up my mind on the spot. Damn it, Poker-face, don't be so cocky. If you can go, I, Wu Xie, can go too. I'm going along this time! I stood up, walked over to A Ning, who was outside preparing her luggage, and asked her, "Do you have any extra gear?"

A Ning was counting her compressed biscuits. Hearing me suddenly ask, she looked very surprised. "Extra gear? What do you want?"

I shrugged, a bit unsure how to say it. "I want to join, I want to join. I want to go to Tamutuo too!"

"Join, my foot!" A Ning laughed, turned away and ignored me. But I kept looking at her and said, "I can help you. Think about what happened in the Cloud Summit Palace."

A Ning then looked up, her expression changed. She looked into my eyes and gave me a slight smile. "Are you serious?"

I nodded, and she pointed to the equipment vehicle nearby. "Take whatever you want. We leave at twelve sharp. No waiting for latecomers."