After retracing her route for some distance, Ling Yu could no longer see where the old guide had gone. Night was deepening. As she approached the boundary between desert and village, she saw the off-road vehicle whose headlights had swept over her earlier.
She slowed. The rear hatch stood open, and the man who had been driving appeared to be organizing equipment.
He looked up, and their gazes met.
Ling Yu finally saw him clearly. He was tall and powerfully built, with a cold, reserved air and the kind of face that grew more striking the longer one looked.
Under his scrutiny, she quickly looked away and meant to continue walking. Unexpectedly, the man called, “Miss?”
Ling Yu slowed, adjusted the drawing board in her hand, slipped her knife back into her clothing, and turned. “Were you calling me?”
He toyed with a bracelet as he approached. “I saw your guide run past just now. Did something happen?”
His gaze traveled over her before settling on her eyes, as probing as an investigator questioning a suspect.
Ling Yu saw no reason to lie. “My guide saw something frightening and ran away. The desert is deserted at night. Wasn’t he worried something might happen to me?”
The man smiled. “Old Wang is sensitive about those legends. He’s getting on in years and often claims he encounters strange things in the desert.”
Calling him Old Wang suggested the two were close. Perhaps…
“Are you a guide too?” Ling Yu asked.
He shook his head. “I’ve lived in the village for a while, so I know the people here. But I wouldn’t call myself a guide.”
“Then what is your name?”
“Pei Jin.”
Ling Yu acknowledged it without much interest, though she still smiled and extended a hand out of courtesy. Pei Jin did not take it. Instead, he looked toward the place she had just left.
After a moment, he asked, “Would you like me to drive you back?”
The offer benefited her, so she withdrew her hand and agreed.
If anything happened to her in Never-Night Village, she would lose her only chance to uncover the truth about her parents. Until then, she needed to protect herself.
*
Ling Yu quickly climbed into the back seat. The moment she leaned against it, one thought came first: she was safe. Those things would not find her here.
She immediately took out her phone and answered her agent’s messages.
“Which guesthouse are you staying at?” Pei Jin asked, watching her through the rearview mirror.
Ling Yu looked up. “The Fallen Sun Inn.”
Pei Jin drove slowly through the forest. After Ling Yu finally answered her agent’s three consecutive questions, she dropped the phone onto the leather seat and inspected the vehicle’s interior.
A faint trace of car fragrance lingered in the air. Near the windshield, behind a fluffy ornament, she spotted a familiar figure.
“Mr. Pei, do you read comics?” she asked.
Pei Jin realized she meant the figurine. Someone had given it to him, saying it came from an artist’s work.
“No. A friend gave it to me.”
Ling Yu was instantly disappointed. She crossed one leg over the other and looked outside, thinking of the small female figurine.
It was merchandise adapted from the heroine of her debut comic. Ling Yu had invested enormous time and effort in that work, terrified readers would condemn it. She did not authorize merchandise until her third comic was released.
Her careful design had sold well. The heroine was a genuine adventurer, brave and formidable, much like the experiences of her creator.
Sensing the atmosphere change, Pei Jin let a brief silence pass before asking, “Did you come here to sketch and find inspiration?”
“Mm.” After a while, Ling Yu added, “It took me ages to find a guide willing to take me around, and then this happened.”
“Old Wang behaves like that sometimes, but his years of experience are real.”
Ling Yu countered, “He said there was something wrong with the Line, so he left me there alone? If something happened, where was I supposed to find him?”
Her anger rose as she spoke, until she remembered that Pei Jin and the guide were clearly acquainted. It was natural for him to defend someone he knew, so perhaps there was no reason to be angry with him.
Pei Jin appeared to be considering how to explain. Silence returned to the car.
Through the window, Ling Yu saw people grilling food at the edge of the forest. Her body reminded her that its energy was running low, and her stomach growled.
The sound was painfully loud in the quiet car. She licked her lips in embarrassment.
“Would you like some barbecue before returning to the inn?” Pei Jin asked.
“I’ll eat when I get back.”
“The barbecue place beside your inn is excellent.” He continued talking as though her refusal did not trouble him.
*
At the inn, Ling Yu thanked him and got out. She walked inside at an unhurried pace, assuming she would not encounter Pei Jin again during her stay. She might even move to another guesthouse in a few days.
But the moment she reached the elevator, her stomach betrayed her again. Fortunately, no one else noticed.
Remembering Pei Jin’s recommendation, she hesitated, then decided to eat first.
The instant she entered the barbecue shop, she saw Pei Jin again. He was evidently familiar with the owner, drinking from an open beer bottle with laughter in his eyes.
“Old Wang caused trouble again,” the owner said through a plastic mask while his hands kept working. “I told him to stay out of the desert. If this keeps happening, the travel agency will fire him. Who was he guiding this time?”
“I don’t know her. A young woman. Fortunately I saw her, or something could have happened. She’s staying next door.”
The owner sighed. “At least you brought her back.”
Ling Yu decided she would hire someone more reliable next time. For now, hunger mattered more. She went to choose skewers.
There were many varieties, but most local specialties were insects. Ling Yu frowned. She disliked eating bugs and selected familiar foods instead, then handed them to the owner.
Pei Jin stood nearby drinking beer and watching her with one brow faintly raised.
He refused to believe she had not seen him.
“How much?” Ling Yu asked.
“Ah Jin, count them for the lady. My hands are full.”
Pei Jin counted the sticks. “Thirty-five. Fifteen large, twenty small. Forty yuan. What seasoning?”
Ling Yu scanned the payment code. “A little spicy. I like strong flavors. Thank you.”
After the mechanical voice confirmed the payment, she turned to leave.
“I thought you’d wait longer before coming down,” Pei Jin said.
Ling Yu tilted her head. “Mr. Pei, do I need to report that to you too?”
“That isn’t what I meant. I know the owner, and I’d like to apologize for Old Wang. May I buy you a beer?”
Ling Yu smiled as she declined. “Thank you, but I’m allergic to beer.”
The owner raised an arm to scatter seasoning. “You’re Old Wang’s guest, aren’t you? Ah Jin must have explained. It may be because of what’s been happening in the desert lately. We’re truly sorry.”
The remark sounded connected to Old Wang’s legend. Ling Yu immediately asked, “So the recent rumors are true?”
The abrupt change startled both men. Her expression seemed to transform from one second to the next.
“I’m only curious. Old Wang considered it unlucky, and that made me wonder,” she explained.
Pei Jin said, “Why don’t we talk?”
“What do you want in exchange?”
“Your name.”
He did not lie. When she entered, the single hanging bulb had illuminated half her face and drawn his gaze.
He thought she was beautiful.
Ling Yu tilted her head. “Search for the figurine in your car. You might find the answer you want.”
Pei Jin took out his phone and searched for its creator. The first encyclopedia result displayed a familiar photograph.
“Ling Yu…” he murmured.
When he raised his head, she had already taken her drawing board to a table nearby. He drank again and told the owner, “I’ll take her food over later.”
The owner moved her order ahead of the others and added several extra skewers as compensation.