Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 507 Dragon Bone River

"Can you get in touch with that profiler?" Sun Hang asked.

"The profiler left the '101' private detective agency after completing the case and has since left Chang'an; his whereabouts are unknown," the mastermind replied.

"Whereabouts are unknown... He's probably been silenced." Sun Hang muttered. "Then can we find the records of the profiling? As far as I know, profiling requires a lot of information analysis, right? The analysis and deduction process should be recorded, right?"

"According to the firm's head, the profiler was accustomed to using pen and paper for deductions rather than electronic devices, and therefore left no record of the firm's calculations. Furthermore, at the request of the anonymous client, all paper documents recording the deduction process were destroyed after the profile was completed."

“They did a pretty clean job.” Sun Hang glanced at his phone. “Looks like I only have one clue left.”

The recipient of this package.

The task instructions given to Sun Hang by Copper Finger did not specify who the recipient was. Sun Hang was only instructed to place the package in a safe in the abandoned city of Yumen within a limited time and set a specific password.

Yumen was originally a larger city than Longcheng, but as the living environment in the Hexi Corridor deteriorated, a large number of citizens moved to the interior, causing this once largest city in the Hexi Corridor to gradually decline and eventually be completely abandoned.

But even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Excluding the suburbs swallowed up by the desert, the remaining main urban area still covers more than 200 square kilometers. The location of the safe mentioned in the mission description is "turn left at the third bridge on Sima Heng Street, the site of the former Sima branch of Yumen Bank, the first floor of the basement" - however, for a hunter who is completely unfamiliar with Yumen Desolate City, just finding this Sima Heng Street is enough to give him a headache.

You can't find maps of Yumen city on civilian navigation software. If you want them, you can only look through the archives for those yellowed old paper maps. However, Yumen city has been completely abandoned for decades and is now unrecognizable. It's hard to say how reliable the old maps left over from back then are now.

For first-time visitors to Yumen, there are usually two options. The first option is more economical: purchase a "modern map of Yumen city" drawn by hunters and mercenaries from the information brokers in Longcheng. However, there are many versions of this modern map on the market, with significant differences in price, quality, level of detail, and accuracy.

There have even been cases where people bought a poorly drawn map and, instead of visiting Yumen, ended up plunging headlong into the depths of the Hexi Corridor – a truly bizarre incident.

The second option is more expensive, but much more reliable than buying a map. It involves hiring a guide familiar with the route, or finding an experienced hunter or mercenary team heading to Yumen and traveling with them after paying a "protection fee."

The copper finger solution mentioned earlier is this kind of solution.

"Hopefully, that guy Zhulong knows the way."

If it were just a trip to Yumen, Sun Hang wouldn't mind meeting a few more people along the way, but considering he had this "hot potato" in his hands, he thought it best to go alone—not because he was afraid that others would have any ill intentions towards him, but simply because he was afraid of trouble.

After all, the main purpose of this trip is to recruit people rather than kill them. If they establish a cold-blooded and bloodthirsty image in the minds of the hunters in Dragon City, the subsequent recruitment work will probably become much more difficult.

……

……

At 9:30 p.m., Sun Hang and Xue Yue successfully met up with Zhulong at the pre-booked hotel.

"So, how did the visit go?" Sun Hang asked, sitting cross-legged on the bed while eating the complimentary snacks provided by the hotel.

"It went fairly smoothly; my old friends were all willing to give me face... but they also said that with a mission of this level of danger and an unprecedented probability of success, it would be extremely difficult to recruit people willing to participate." Zhulong sighed and said, "There are only two types of people who might take the initiative to come to me."

"Which two?" Xue Yue asked in a slightly muffled voice, chewing on a small piece of cream cake with her cheeks puffed out.

“One type is a desperate madman who has nowhere else to turn, has nothing but his own worthless life, and may even be heavily in debt.” Zhulong elegantly picked up a small piece of kiwi with a toothpick. A chill flashed across his fingertips, and the kiwi, along with the toothpick, was instantly covered with a thin layer of white frost, looking just like icing.

“There is another type of person, and there are even fewer of them… They are not after money or wealth, they are not afraid of strange creatures or death, and you have no idea what their true purpose is…” As Zhulong spoke, his gaze suddenly shifted to Sun Hang. “These people are like you… or rather, they are the same type of people as you.”

“Reclusive masters often have eccentricities, it’s quite normal,” Sun Hang said. “Do you have a way to recruit someone like that?”

“Absolutely not.” Zhulong shook his head. “Recruiting people like that is all about fate. I’ve already had my old friends spread the word about the Egypt operation. If anyone is interested, they should come to me.”

“These pastries are good, quite delicious,” Sun Hang suddenly said.

"Huh?" Zhulong was stunned for a moment, clearly not realizing why Sun Hang had changed the subject.

"I said this cake is quite delicious, I wonder if it's sold in mainland China."

“Oh, you mean this? This is sugar-oil cake, a specialty snack from the Hexi Corridor. You can buy it in Chang’an and Chunming City,” Zhulong said. “As for Tianfu City… I think I should be able to find it if I look around, but I’m not sure if the taste will be different.”

"You think this tastes great too, right?" Sun Hang glanced at Xue Yue. "A mixture of sugar and oil is a deadly enemy for people who are trying to lose weight, but the human brain just happens to crave it."

"It's all delicious!" Xue Yue chewed her food vigorously. "These things are all so delicious!"

"If you like it, have room service bring another serving," said Zhulong.

"I plan to leave for Yumen tomorrow," Sun Hang said. "Are you familiar with the road to Yumen?"

“I’ve been there twice,” Zhulong said. “To be honest, it was the mission to explore Taklamakan back then. But just to be on the safe side, I still recommend finding a guide.”

"Are there any reliable candidates?" Sun Hang asked.

“Yang Qiaoxi,” Zhulong said, “she used to be the leader of the second-ranked mercenary group in Dragon City, but she retired after a mission that resulted in heavy losses. And among my group of ‘old friends,’ she is the only one I can trust.”

"No wonder she was the first person you looked for after arriving in Dragon City," Sun Hang said meaningfully. "There must be some other story between you two, right?"

"That's all in the past." Zhulong smiled helplessly.

"But didn't she retire from the mercenary business? She told you during the day that she would never do mercenary work again," Sun Hang asked. "Are you planning to use your body to get her back into the game?"

“She’s just a guide.” Zhulong shook his head. “Although she’s no longer a mercenary, she’s been to Yumen quite a few times in the past few years.”

"What is she doing in Yumen?" "Delivering goods," Zhulong said. "For those free hunters and mercenaries who walk the line between life and death every day, alcohol is an essential consumable."

……

……

The next morning at 10:00 AM, at the North Gate of Longcheng.

When Zhulong drove the car out of the city gate, Yang Qiaoxi had already been waiting at the city gate for a long time on her motorcycle.

In cities like Longcheng, where traffic is often congested, motorcycles, which can weave in and out of traffic, are indeed much more convenient than cars.

"Oh, you're here." Yang Qiaoxi greeted them, then pointed to several large cardboard boxes piled up at her feet. "Is there any space in the car? Could you take some things with you?"

"Are all these wines?" Sun Hang got out of the car and picked up a box. Besides the clinking of glass bottles, he could also faintly hear some subtle sounds of metal parts rubbing against each other.

"Supplies," Yang Qiaoxi said, "including but not limited to alcoholic beverages."

"There must be a lot of contraband, right?" Sun Hang's nose twitched slightly. "I smell plastic explosives and some special drugs."

"Don't worry, they all have valid exit permits," Yang Qiaoxi said with a smile. "Otherwise, I would have stuffed the stuff into your car first thing this morning, since you have such prestigious exemption from inspection."

"Speaking of which, is there any latest news about that treasure in the no-man's-land?" Zhulong asked Yang Qiaoxi as he carried the last box of "supplies" into the carriage.

“There are so many rumors, and they’re getting more and more outlandish. They’re almost turning into fantasy novels,” Yang Qiaoxi said. “Instead of sifting through this pile of rumors that have been passed down through countless hands, we might as well go to Yumen and see for ourselves.”

“That makes a lot of sense.” Sun Hang gave Yang Qiaoxi a thumbs up and plopped down in the passenger seat.

Yang Qiaoxi glanced at her watch, then lifted her long legs and straddled her motorcycle: "It's getting late, let's go!"

As she spoke, she pulled down the visor of her helmet, and the motorcycle engine roared in response.

Zhulong immediately stepped on the gas and followed.

……

"Zhulong, you should still remember the first half of the road, right?" Yang Qiaoxi asked over the radio communication channel.

Her motorcycle kept about twenty meters away from Sun Hang's car. The fine gravel kicked up by the rear wheel kept hitting the windshield of the off-road vehicle, making a sound like popping beans.

"If I remember correctly, the first half of the journey should have been along the riverbank of the Dragon Bone River, heading northwest for about forty kilometers," Zhulong replied.

The Dragon Bone River was originally an unnamed river outside Dragon City. Later, the river dried up and the riverbed became part of the Gobi Desert. People were surprised to find that a large number of animal skeletons had accumulated on the riverbed downstream, hence the name Dragon Bone River.

The source of the Dragon Bone River is deep in the no-man's land of the Hexi Corridor, but the river does not pass through Yumen. The hunter who bought the wrong map and wandered into the depths of the no-man's land lost his way because he went too far along the Dragon Bone River and turned at the wrong place.

"Why not put up a road sign at the bend?" Sun Hang asked. "It shouldn't cost much, right?"

“Sandstorms frequently occur in the Hexi Corridor. Even if road signs are erected, they can be swept away or broken by the sandstorms,” Zhulong explained.

“Then spend more money to erect a road sign that is sturdy and heavy enough, or simply cast an iron monument and bury it several meters deep underground,” Sun Hang said.

"What if I told you that these sandstorms are actually a kind of strange phenomenon, so destructive that they can even change the terrain of the Gobi Desert?" Yang Qiaoxi said with a smile on the communication channel.

Sun Hang: "Then it's alright."

“Even if the road sign isn’t destroyed by the sandstorm, it’s still hard to tell the way,” Zhulong said. “Just like Yang Qiaoxi said, the terrain of the Gobi Desert changes every year… Besides the powerful sandstorms, terrain changes are also a kind of phenomenal anomaly. The shape of the Dragon Bone River valley actually shifts slightly every month. If you put up a road sign on the riverbank this month, it might be hundreds of meters away from the riverbank next month.”

“That’s right, so the Dragon Bone River can only be used as one of the reference points,” Yang Qiaoxi said. “If those newbies really think that they can get to Jade Gate by following the Dragon Bone River, then nine times out of ten they will never be able to get to Jade Gate or return to Dragon City.”

"So how do experienced people like you determine the route?"

“The distant mountains and the sun in the sky are our reference points,” Yang Qiaoxi said.

"Can you tell me more about it?"

"That's the skill that guides in Dragon City use to make money. If you want to learn it, you'll have to pay tuition."

"How much?" Sun Hang asked immediately.

"It's not cheap. 'Teaching an apprentice means starving the master'... There are more and more people who can guide you these days, so this money is getting harder and harder to earn," Yang Qiaoxi said.

“It’s 10:45 now. At 11:00, if the sun is directly above that camel-hump-shaped ravine to our north, turn 45 degrees southwest and drive away from the riverbank. If the sun isn’t directly above the ravine, keep driving until the next hour to find another landmark,” Sun Hang suddenly said.

"How did you know?" Yang Qiaoxi's tone was tinged with shock. "You've been to Yumen before?"

[P.S. This novel's geographical setting is partly based on reality and partly fictional. It does not completely correspond to real-world geography, so please do not take it personally. The real-world Dragon City is located in Inner Mongolia or Northeast China, while the Dragon City in this book is roughly located between Baiyin and Tianshui, adjacent to Chang'an. The location of Yumen has been moved from its original site to the Wuwei area.]

The reason for comparing the place names with real-world locations is to facilitate understanding and imagination. Finally, let me reiterate: please do not try to match the place names in this book with real-world cities (Kyū.jpg). Any resemblance is purely coincidental.

(End of this chapter)