Chapter 59: Tibetan Characters
Translator: Tim Editor: Tehrn
“Right, it is here.” Chi Wanqing was also happy. It was as though she helped Ye Mo do something remarkable.
Ye Mo put Chi Wanqing down and walked in between the two evergreen trees, and indeed, he found a lump on the ground. He found a wooden stick and carefully picked open the soil. There were a dead person’s bones surrounded by a few rocks, and beside him was a plastic bag that was covered very tightly; however, many places in the plastic bag were starting to corrode.
Ye Mo slowly picked the plastic bag with the stick and looked beside the bones, but found nothing else. The Lama must have placed this plastic bag in his clothes around the chest, and after the body had started to corrode, it fell off. Therefore, Fang Nan couldn’t see it at the time.
He slowly picked open the plastic bag and inside was a map made out of the skin of a goat that was also starting to rot. However, this goatskin map seemed to have been specially made. Although it was rotting, the content on it could still be read clearly. Ye Mo stared carefully at the goatskin map for a while, and what looked like to be a desert appeared to have been drawn on it; there were even some characters that Ye Mo didn’t recognize.
Just when Ye Mo was troubled over the map of the desert and those strange characters, a faint aroma traveled into his nose, and a few strands of hair fell on his neck, making him a bit itchy. Ye Mo immediately realized that Chi Wanqing was looking at this map from behind him.
Ye Mo moved aside and said with a troubled face, “I don’t know these characters, and now I can’t even move the map, or it would probably shatter into pieces.”
Because Ye Mo moved aside, Chi Wanqing immediately realized her intimate position. She was a bit awkward when she heard Ye Mo’s words and hurriedly say, “Brother Ye, I know these characters! They’re Tibetan characters. My grandfather stayed in Tibet for a long time before; he taught me these words.”
“Wanqing, do you really understand these words? Hurry and tell me.” Ye Mo was planning on to remember these words completely, but now that Chi Wanqing knew, he was immediately delighted.
“The characters on there are incomplete, but I can read a few: Ku Lake, Taklimakan, Luo bu and Holy door; however, I think that Taklimakan is probably referring to the biggest desert in our country, the Taklimakan Desert. This desert is also called the sea of death, and it is situated in Southern Xinjiang in the Tarim basin. This map should be pointing there, and the route really looks like to be leading to the Tarim basin.” Chi Wanqing interpreted all the characters on the map. However, due to the fractured nature of the map, the interpretation wasn’t complete; however, she added in her own understanding.
After hearing her words, Ye Mo mumbled to himself, “So that’s where it leads! Looking at the direction on the map, it really does guide to that place... Got it, thank you Wanqing.”
Chi Wanqing smiled sweetly and said, “Actually, I’m really happy that I could help you do some things. You don’t need to thank me, I didn’t really thank you before as well.”
“Oh, that’s true.” Ye Mo laughed and put the map and plastic back into the ditch and buried the bones again.
When Ye Mo carried Chi Wanqing back again, Guo Qi and the others had already organized the battle loots. Chi Wanqing suddenly felt that the eyes with which her teammates looked at her were a bit different. She wanted to explain things but didn’t know how to explain.
Ye Mo put Chi Wanqing down and said, “I need to go, let’s separate here.”
“Huh, Brother Ye, you are leaving?” Hearing that Ye Mo was leaving them, Chi Wanqing suddenly felt a bit disappointed.
Lu Lin looked at Chi Wanqing and suddenly said to Ye Mo, “Ye Mo, once you leave, I will need to carry Wanqing, but when I can’t, she will need Fang Wei and Guo Qi to carry her.”
“What’s that got to do with me…” Ye Mo just trailed off, feeling Chi Wanqing’s imploring look, he remembered how she had helped him this time, and how without her, even if he could remember the characters, he wouldn’t know where to find someone who can translate for him. He didn’t have much to do now, so he might as well go with them for a bit longer.
Thinking about this, Ye Mo said, “Fine, in that case, I’ll go with you guys for a bit longer. Wanqing, come on, let’s move.”
“Master, you call her in such an intimate way,” Fang Wei walked over cheekily and said.
Ye Mo swiped his hand and said, “Stop, I never told you that I was going to take you in as my disciple.”
Hearing that Ye Mo was willing to go with her a bit longer, Chi Wangqing rejoiced and hummed in approval before immediately laying on Ye Mo’s back without any hesitation.
“Sigh, Wanqing, at least be a bit more reserved. Look at you, you just got on straight away, what can I say about you?” Lu Lin looked at her with a shaming glare.
Ye Mo quickly said, “Captain Lu, don’t say random things, there’s nothing between us. I only just knew her just like you guys.”
Chi Wanqing was blushing and didn’t dare to talk. She asked herself what she was doing just then; however, Ye Mo was the first person of the opposite sex other than her father that gave her a good feeling. She had been in the military for three years, so what sort of elites haven’t she seen? Yet, never had anyone been able to leave her any impression, but today, this Ye Mo, who she saw for the first time, was able to leave an impression in her heart.
Although she was very cold to people, she wasn’t a reserved person due to her family influence. She wasn’t good at masquerading her emotions, or maybe she simply didn’t want to, so if she felt good about someone, then she did, and if she didn’t, she didn’t. If she didn’t have this personality, she wouldn’t have had a big argument with her family and left for the military herself.
Therefore, she was very happy that Ye Mo stayed. If Sister Lin didn’t make him stop, she would have found a way to do so herself. When she was in university, her grandmother told her, “Do not miss the opportunity only to regret it in the future.”
Ye Mo’s eyes were clear and didn’t have those obscure intentions that she didn’t like. The main thing was that Ye Mo saved her, and he seemed to be really strong. For Chi Wanqing, Ye Mo was a pearl hidden amongst the grass. Since she discovered him, there was no reason to reject the idea of pursuit. Although he seemed really desolate now, one day, he would soar high into the sky.
Of course, this wasn’t the main reason that she had a good feeling toward Ye Mo. It was mainly that Ye Mo had something on him that she longed for: this serenity, freedom and this unexplainable spiritual cleanliness. She like that feeling on him. It was something that couldn’t be expressed with words.
Knowing Chi Wanqing’s cold personality, Guo Qi didn’t joke around with her even after Lu Lin said it. Guo Qi was very respectful towards Ye Mo. In his eyes, Ye Mo was truly a man with great ability who kept a low profile.
The forest between the borders of China and Yue was massive. Other than Captain Lu who only carried Ye Mo’s bag and felt that it was light, Guo Qi and Fang Wei were all carrying tens of guns and the bone ashes of the two other squad members and were slightly struggling. They only walked for an hour or so before it was dusk and decided to camp for one night before leaving.
Because Lu Lin and the others were ambushed, they had lost a lot of things while escaping, so now, only Ye Mo had a tent in his bag. This tent could only be given to Lu Lin and Chi Wanqing. Ye Mo and the other two could only sleep outside.
However, Guo Qi and Fang Nan were obviously experienced in outdoor survival. Soon, they cleared out a big patch of space and even set up a wooden tent.