Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 45 Hitting the road
The fat man, hands in his pockets, said, "Old man, when can we set off? Everyone's waiting for you!"

"That depends on my camels. When they're full and have enough to drink."

Hearing this, Hu Bayi said helplessly, "When will we be able to eat and drink our fill?"
"That depends on you guys."

Yang Xueli, with her handbag slung across her shoulder, said, "We wait for him, he waits for the camel, and the camel waits for us. What does this mean?"

“How can you people be so stupid? How can you buy food and drink without money? How can my camels be fed and watered without food and drink?” Anliman said seriously.

"What did I tell you? This old man only cares about money!" the fat man said speechlessly.

Yang Xueli smiled; money was something she had no shortage of.

"It's okay, just tell us how much it costs and when we can leave."

"With money, things are much easier. We can set off soon, in two months!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Xueli's expression turned somewhat displeased. "Wait two months, and the typhoon season will be over!"

“Yes, it’s the windy season now. If the wind is too strong, you’ll die if you go into the desert!” Anliman said with great emotion.

Yang Xueli said, "Didn't you say that you can go into the desert all year round and that the windy season is nothing?"

“I mean I’ve been to the desert all year round,” Anliman said, “but I’ve never experienced a windy season.”

"Old man, stop being unreasonable! You just want to get out of the police station as soon as possible. You never intended to take us into the desert, did you!" the fat man said angrily. The old man had come to the camel shed as soon as he got out of the police station and had been wasting time here, which was driving the fat man crazy.

"How can you talk like that? Didn't I just say that we can go into the desert after the windy season?" Anliman said, sitting down and acting like a spoiled child.

To put it bluntly, Anliman's shamelessness boils down to two things. One is money. The other is that the typhoon season is indeed very dangerous.

“In that case, let’s not waste any more words. Whether we need this old man or not doesn’t really matter,” Hu Ming said. “These camels are enough. Let’s go and apply to the higher-ups. Consider these camels as confiscated and given to us. The country attaches great importance to this archaeological expedition, so there’s no reason to refuse.” After saying that, Hu Ming turned and led his men toward the police station.

“That’s right, these camels are useless in the desert if they’re not raised properly. Let’s just treat them as camel meat, right, Lao Hu!” the fat man chuckled.

When Anliman heard this, he was almost scared to tears. These camels were his lifeblood, and these people actually wanted to confiscate all of his camels and even eat their meat!
Are you all devils?
Anliman, caught red-handed, had no choice but to say, "Okay, okay, I promise, I promise, please don't take my camel away!"

“Although I promised to go into the desert with you, I still have to worry about the money…” Anliman was a little unwilling.

The fat man immediately replied, "Mingzi, how about we skip this old man and ride our camels ourselves?"

Fatty is best at this kind of self-serving, harmful act of adding fuel to the fire.

"Alright, alright, you can give me whatever money you want, just don't take my camel."

Anliman felt like he'd really been driven mad today; these people were simply devils.

However, Yang Xueli smiled. Although it was indeed not very kind of her to use such methods to get Anliman to go to the desert with her, Yang Xueli was not short of money and would not treat Anliman unfairly.

Hu Ming noticed the jade pendant around An Liman's neck and looked at An Liman with a meaningful gaze.

Hu Bayi followed Hu Ming's gaze and his expression changed. He then walked over to An Liman and said something to him.

An Liman's expression changed upon hearing this, and he looked at Hu Bayi with a hint of surprise in his eyes. Yang Xueli and Fatty both saw An Liman's expression change drastically upon hearing Hu Bayi's words, which made them curious about what Hu Bayi had just said.

Hu Ming knew that Hu Bayi must have also discovered that the old man was a tomb raider!

After Hu Bayi finished talking with him, Yang Xueli talked to him about the reward, but the Hu brothers didn't care about it anymore.

However, they seemed to be having a pleasant conversation. Yang Xueli told Anliman that she would pay him for the trip into the desert first, and then pay him again upon his return. Seeing such a generous reward, Anliman immediately agreed.

Soon, a few days later, Anliman carefully selected twenty camels, and carrying supplies and equipment, prepared to set off.
"Old Hu, how's the preparation of the things I asked you and Fatty to prepare coming along?"

"Don't worry, everything is ready."

"Besides the usual items, especially those you mentioned, Fatty and I each bought two large portions, which is enough."

"That's good." Before setting off, Hu Ming asked Hu Bayi and Fatty to go out and buy some materials, including commonly used realgar powder, garlic powder, arisaema powder, as well as commonly used glutinous rice flour and dried angelica.

"Hey Ming, why the hell did you make us buy all this stuff so early in the morning? Food? To make a barbecue?" At this moment, Fatty realized that almost everything Hu Ming had asked him and Hu Bayi to buy was medicinal herbs, so he asked about it.

"Eat my ass! All you ever think about is eating!"

"Remember, this is a folk remedy I found. If you have time, grind equal amounts of realgar powder, garlic powder, arisaema powder, and glutinous rice flour together, make them into balls, and dry them in the sun. This can repel snakes."

"As for realgar, you can add dried angelica root, mix the two together, and then burn it to repel snakes and insects."

"There are many snakes and insects in the desert, so be careful." At this moment, after Hu Ming said this, the fat man smiled awkwardly and rubbed his nose.

However, in the past few days, the barbecue in Xinjiang has really made Fatty very happy, and he still wants more.

When he returned, he wanted to have another meal.

Hu Ming shook his head upon seeing this. He also had quite a few of these things in his space, but he hadn't prepared them properly, and since someone else was reimbursing him for them, he could save some money.

The rewards for going to the Nine-Story Demon Tower had already been distributed. Hu Ming's reward this time was a breathing technique called "The Marrow Cleansing Classic," which, as the name suggests, cleanses the marrow and has the effect of prolonging life. Hu Ming was quite satisfied with this reward; he had only practiced it for a few days, but he already felt much stronger than before.

……

During the walk, Anliman, following Yang Xueli's route, began to introduce the current desert route to everyone so that they could be prepared.

"I'm telling you guys, this is the most dangerous time in the desert right now, we need to be careful."

"Now, we need to go from Bosten Lake along the lake path to the ruins of the ancient city of Xiye. This route is also the easiest to recognize in the desert and is not difficult to find."

"Whether we can find the underground river channel if we go deeper depends on Hu Dada's decision."

"You lot, you'd better pray to General Hu more often, so that he can protect you..."

"If you're scared, pray to Hu Jintao; he might let you go back."

(End of this chapter)