In recent months, business at Master Diao’s shop had been slow. Occasionally, a customer would come in, take a look, and leave without buying anything. Even the regulars hadn’t shown up—perhaps due to the current economic climate, making even feng shui seem less appealing.
At that moment, Bai Bing walked over carrying a cup of tea and said to Liu Dashao, “Young boss, you’ve been reading for so long, you must be thirsty. Have some tea to quench your thirst.” She bent down and placed the tea on the coffee table.
Liu Dashao accidentally caught sight of her cleavage, felt a rush of blood to his head, and immediately realized he was about to have a nosebleed. He quickly turned his head to the side and said, “Alright, Bingjie, just leave it here. You can go back to work now.”
Just then, someone came rushing toward the shop. Liu Dashao looked closer—wasn’t that Old Wu, one of Master Diao’s regular customers? Usually, Old Wu would come carrying bags of purchases, so why was he showing up empty-handed today?
Seeing a customer had arrived, Bai Bing hurried to the door to greet him. As soon as Old Wu stepped in, she said, “Welcome!”
Old Wu nodded at her and went straight to Liu Dashao. After catching his breath, he asked, “You’re here, young boss. Where’s your Master Diao?”
Master Diao had been often out lately and usually didn’t return until around eight or nine in the evening. Liu Dashao nodded and replied, “I don’t know where he’s gone gallivanting off to. What do you need him for?”
Old Wu said, “Of course, it’s important—something big, something good, something worth doing.”
Hearing this, Liu Dashao raised an eyebrow and said, “Hey, Old Wu, did you happen to dig up a bronze tree over a hundred meters tall? Usually, you bring treasures with you, but today you came empty-handed. Be honest, what’s going on?”
Old Wu replied, “Oh, young boss, don’t tease me. Who can dig up a bronze tree these days? Even if I did, just a couple of branches would be enough for me to live comfortably for the rest of my life.”
Hearing this, Liu Dashao figured Old Wu probably hadn’t found anything valuable. But since he was in such a rush to find Master Diao, there must be something going on. He continued, “Since you didn’t find anything valuable, why are you looking for my Master Diao? Did you find some mysterious tomb and need him to step in?”
Old Wu hesitated, perhaps surprised that Liu Dashao knew about Master Diao’s tomb-robbing background. He said, “This is something you, young boss, don’t need to know too much about. Even if you did know, you wouldn’t be able to help.”
Hearing this, Liu Dashao felt a bit offended. He thought to himself, “Back in the day, I entered the sleeping quarters of the Ming Dynasty emperor and the hidden corpse cave of the Yellow Turban rebel leader Zhang Jiao. How dare you look down on me?” He replied, “Old Wu, are you looking down on me? Don’t you know what line of work I’m in?”
Old Wu suddenly seemed to remember something and slapped his thigh, exclaiming, “Right! You’re a Taoist priest, young boss! How could I forget?” He then pulled out a wooden box and said, “Help me figure out what this is. Can you make any sense of it?”
Liu Dashao took the wooden box. He immediately recognized the carvings on it as Buddhist figures and realized it was made of poplar wood from Xinjiang. He said to Old Wu, “This is just a poplar wood box. It might be valuable, but why are you making such a big deal out of it?”
Old Wu sighed and said, “Young boss, I’m not asking you to study the box—I want you to look at what’s inside.”
Liu Dashao felt a bit embarrassed. He opened the box, and immediately a fragrant aroma filled the air. His first thought was that the contents might be poisonous. He wondered if Old Wu was trying to kill him and quickly covered his nose.
Old Wu laughed and said, “Don’t worry, young boss, it’s not poisonous. I’ve opened this box many times, and nothing’s happened to me.”
Hearing this, Liu Dashao relaxed a bit but felt a little ashamed. He thought to himself that Old Wu must be secretly laughing at his inexperience. He resolved to analyze the contents thoroughly to avoid embarrassment.
He took out the item inside—a piece of parchment covered in mysterious markings. It was clearly from the Western Regions. Liu Dashao had spent two years in Hong Kong learning from Master Diao and had participated in real tomb expeditions for about half a year. He was well-versed in the history, antiques, and burial customs of China from the Shang, Zhou, Spring and Autumn, Warring States, Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. But when it came to Western Region artifacts, he was completely lost.
He politely said to Old Wu, “Mr. Wu, I really can’t figure out what this is. You should ask Master Diao.” He put the parchment back into the box and handed it back to Old Wu, feeling a bit humiliated.
Old Wu refused and said, “Leave it with you. When Master Diao returns, please give it to him and ask him to contact me immediately after he’s seen it.” Then he turned and hurried away.
Liu Dashao watched Old Wu leave and muttered, “What a strange guy,” before returning to his book.
At nine o’clock that night, Master Diao strolled back humming a tune, and Bai Bing greeted him with a smile, not forgetting to tease him a little.
Seeing Master Diao back, Liu Dashao quickly handed him the wooden box and relayed Old Wu’s message.
Master Diao listened with interest, took the box, opened it, and his face immediately darkened. Without a word, he took it into his room for further study.
“Your phone call, young boss,” Bai Bing said, holding the receiver at the counter.
Liu Dashao wondered who would call so late and asked, “Who is it?”
Bai Bing replied, “It’s that Mr. Wang again. He says he has something to discuss with you.”
Liu Dashao, realizing the timing, quickened his pace and picked up the phone: “Hello, this is Liu Dashao.”
A voice came from the other end: “It’s your brother Wang. Have you made a decision?”
Liu Dashao replied with a bitter smile, “Alright, I’ll go along with it, as long as you don’t mind.”
“Wonderful! I knew you’d be straightforward, Liu. Don’t worry, we’ll treat you well. We’re going to the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang. No need to bring anything—just be ready. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow morning!”
Liu Dashao was surprised and couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. He asked in astonishment, “What? Where did you say?”
Actually, he had heard clearly, but he couldn’t accept it—Xinjiang meant going back to mainland China. And the Taklamakan Desert? A place where even Western adventurers called the “Sea of Death,” and locals said you could enter but never leave.
Truthfully, he would have been excited to go anywhere else—money and adventure, who wouldn’t want that? But going into the desert made him uneasy. Sighing, he thought, “Who asked me to take that white envelope of deposit?” He had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree.
He replied, “Alright, I’ll be ready tomorrow,” and hung up.
Since he had to go to Wang Zhicai’s house the next day, he couldn’t stay up too late. After washing up, he went to inform Master Diao.
He approached Master Diao’s room and saw only a faint light through the window. Was Master Diao already asleep? That wasn’t like him. He pushed the door open and walked in.
Inside, he saw Master Diao intently studying the parchment. Liu Dashao thought it strange—Master Diao had seen countless valuable antiques, so why was he so interested in this old scrap of parchment?
He approached and asked, “Master Diao, what’s drawn on this? All these curves and lines—can you make any sense of it?”
Master Diao was startled by the sudden question, carefully put the parchment aside, and said, “I’m also puzzled. I don’t know why Old Wu gave this to me.”
He took a sip of tea and asked Liu Dashao, “What did you come here for so late?”
Liu Dashao replied, “Just got a call from a friend. He wants me to prepare and accompany him to Xinjiang tomorrow.”
Master Diao was stunned and asked in surprise, “What? To go there?”
Liu Dashao confirmed, “Yes, the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang.”
Master Diao nodded slowly, his face showing concern for Liu Dashao.
After saying goodnight to Master Diao, Liu Dashao returned to his room and lay down, but he couldn’t fall asleep. Thoughts of the desert filled his mind. Finally, he made the foolish decision to count sheep.
After counting sheep for a long time without success, he suddenly got up, turned on his computer, and began researching the Xinjiang desert.
He had never looked into this before and didn’t even know what the Xinjiang desert looked like. But now, a quick search brought up countless pages of information.
After reading through some of it, he learned that several archaeological teams had gone there and made significant discoveries. Liu Dashao was puzzled—what value could a barren desert hold for modern tomb robbers? Why would Wang suddenly want to go there, especially to a place already visited by others? Was he just having delusions?
The thought made him chuckle. But if others had already been there, the danger would be less. At least he wouldn’t be wandering around blindly like a headless fly. Feeling more relaxed, sleep finally overcame him, and he drifted off.
He woke up the next morning at over nine o’clock. The expedition team had already prepared all the equipment, so Liu Dashao didn’t bring much. He hailed a taxi and headed to Wang Zhicai’s mansion.
As he stepped out of the car, he ran into Wang Zhicai and hurriedly greeted him, asking about the trip to Xinjiang.
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