"And then what happened, and then what happened?" Cheng Luo was already captivated, persistently asking.
Even Que Qiu’s eyes were full of curiosity.
"And then..." A mocking smile appeared on Tianmiao’s lips, "This first beauty had his own lover, and they were deeply in love. The new State Preceptor, upon finding out, cruelly tortured and killed the lover of the beauty. The beauty, devastated beyond belief, exerted all his power to torture and kill the new State Preceptor in revenge. But even that was not enough to vent his hatred; after the State Preceptor died, he dismembered her. The beauty lost all will to live, took his lover’s body, entered the tomb, and forever slept alongside his lover."
"Ah..." Cheng Luo expressed regret, "Why was this new State Preceptor so vicious?"
"I cannot answer that question," Tianmiao smiled, "Alright, that’s the end of the story."
"What about the old State Preceptor then?" Cheng Luo asked, still unsatisfied.
"He, perhaps, became a wandering soul, roaming the desert, repenting day and night for raising such a...how should I describe this new State Preceptor? Zhou Qiang, how do you think she should be described?" Tianmiao suddenly turned his head to ask Zhou Qiang, who was huddled in the corner of the wall.
"Such a wicked, inhumane, abominable woman should have been strangled at birth," Zhou Qiang said through gritted teeth, viciously.
"Yes, indeed, but who knew at her birth she would turn out this way?" Tianmiao sighed softly, "Presumably, this old State Preceptor would never find peace due to self-blame."
Zhou Qiang remained silent, lowering his head without speaking.
"That first beauty was really so miserable, losing his lover like that. His lover also suffered terribly, an unavoidable disaster," Cheng Luo lamented.
"Abominable?" a confused assistant said, "Ruthless, inhumane indeed, but using the word ’abominable’? Zhou Qiang, your use of idioms isn’t quite right."
"Ha? Your focus is really strange," another assistant teased.
Tianmiao stopped telling the story, and everyone started chatting casually, each speculating why, after the capital moved, there was no more information from the Ancient Country.
...
The group stayed at this place, unknown how many bones were buried here until six o’clock the next morning. They opened the door, and the sandstorm outside had completely subsided. The sun slowly climbed over the horizon, and the long-lost warmth brought smiles to their faces.
Que Qiu habitually whistled, finding that no camels responded; instead, Tianmiao said, "Come here."
The camel team emerged from the sand and ran towards them.
Que Qiu helplessly took two steps forward, after counting the camels, said, "Load up the supplies, we’re setting out."
Everyone helped each other pack up, reorganizing the supplies. Que Qiu seized the moment and went to fetch water with Cheng Luo. This time, they also encountered a pack of wolves. The lead wolf excitedly stood up, looked at them, then, seemingly upon noticing Tianmiao was not there, disdainfully lay back down, while the other wolves watched them intently.
"I’ll just fetch a little more water, last time wasn’t enough to drink. I’ll fetch a little more to have enough," Que Qiu cautiously negotiated.
The lead wolf lazily glanced at Que Qiu and ignored him. The other wolves didn’t move either, though many eyes fixed on him, almost soaking his back with cold sweat.
Cheng Luo was also very nervous. But seeing none of the wolves make a move, he was somewhat relieved.
Having fetched the water, the two quickly left.