“What? To Africa?” Baojia looks at Lin Luoran suspiciously, “I think you just come back!”
“Yeah… That’s why I want to go with you this time. How can I leave my dearest Baojia behind?” Lin Luoran answers, trying to make it less serious.
Being a huge enthusiast of cultivation, Baojia is now very slim. It seems to be a good idea to take her on a trip to the savannah in Africa.
Baojia raises her head, “Fine, it’s very sweet of you. It’s just… Luodong is going back to school…” She tries to reject the plan but Lin Luoran stops her and explains,
“Yes, Luodong is going back to school and my parents are going back to the city with him. You will be bored in the mountain alone.”
Baojia turns to Goldie, “I have Goldie, don’t I?”
“Goldie is more comfortable without you. Let’s go together, please~~”
Goldie looks at them and chirps as if it is confirming Lin Luoran’s words.
With Goldie’s cooperation and Lin Luoran’s “begging”, Baojia finally agrees to pause cultivation and go on a trip with her.
They have booked air tickets. Apart from Wen Guanjing, the other two have never been to Africa and both of them are very curious and excited about this mysterious continent.
Wen Guanjing’s photo was taken in somewhere called Nabimia in the Kalahari Desert. As soon as they get out of the airport, Baojia feels that the dry and hot air of Africa is too much for her.
Lin Luoran makes a water “mask” for her and she feels easier to breathe.
They don’t head for their destination immediately. According to Wen Guanjing, in the tribe of Bushmen, food, water, and necessary drugs are more useful than money.
They buy a lot of things. Lin Luoran has her space. The Universal Sack now belongs to Baojia and she fills it. Watching Baojia filling the Universal Sack, Lin Luoran thinks it is enough for her even if she wants to stay in the tribe for a month or two.
Wen Guanjing gets them a guide. The guide belonged to the tribe of Bushmen, but now he has integrated into modern society. He can speak both English and the language of Bushmen and he is a suitable translator.
They travel in the desert in an SUV.
The further they get into the desert, the fewer trees and grassland they see. This savannah they see is different from the one they see on television, although they look similar.
Although Africa is rich in mineral resources, it’s not like there is gold everywhere.
The air conditioner of the SUV is broken. Cultivators like Lin Luoran can resist hot and cold, but if they close the window, Baojia will be extremely sweaty as if she is in the rain.
If they open the window, sand will come in and stick on her face, making Baojia feels nasty.
Lin Luoran looks clean and tidy with no sweat or dust on her. Baojia is a little angry, “This is heartbreaking… When can I be like you?”
Lin Luoran looks at her. Water and wood Reiki inside Baojia’s body is showing the tendency of wandering. When she can direct Reiki freely and gets the rotation of Reiki, she will officially enter the early stage of Training Qi.
“Soon. As long as you can learn to cast spells, you can keep yourself from the dust.”
Baojia looks at her “unhappily”. With her face covered with dust, she doesn’t have the mood of enjoying the scenery of the desert anymore. It seems that they will stay in the desert for a long time and she can have enough time for the scenery.
Wen Guanjing sits on the seat of co-driver and turns to Baojia, “It only took you three years to enter the early stage of Training Qi. You’re quite gifted already.” He knows better than anyone that Li Xi’er, who has Taoist root of single nature, takes less than eight years to enter the middle stage of Training Qi. Compared with her, this friend of Lin Luoran is quite admirable for what she has achieved.
Lin Luoran looks out of the window, “Gift is important, but hardworking is more important.” Baojia works really hard in cultivation. When Lin Luoran was stuck in the blood pool, Baojia has no aid at all. The fact that she could make such great progress without the help of any boluses or spirit stones shows that she has worked very hard.
The car is running in the desert for more than seven hours and they only stop and rest for a meal. Wen Guanjing and the guide named Barney take turns to drive but Baojia still feels sick.
Lin Luoran feels sorry and infuses some wood Reiki to her. Wood Reiki inside Baojia echoes to hers quickly and Baojia feels better soon.
Guided by Barney, they reach one small tribe of Bushmen.
There are less than ten thousand Bushmen living in the region of Kalahari Desert and only a small part of them still live in the desert. Most tribes only contain dozens of people. The tribe they visit has over one hundred people, which is quite a lot.
They stop the car and see only a few decayed trees and grass surrounded by the sand. It’s hard to believe that there are actually people living here deep in the desert.
Barney takes the lead and the three follow him to the place where the fire burns. They see the light of fire and hear the sound of people. It should be the tribe they want to find.
Lin Luoran knows that some tribes in Africa are poor, but it is hard for her to believe that they are actually that poor before she sees them in person. One typical example is the Bushmen who stay away from modern civilization.
Lin Luoran sees nothing but some bonfire and huts. People there, both men and women, are just covered with braided fabric made by grass ropes. Kids don’t wear anything and even women are topless.
The Bushmen are about five feet tall and they are all on the alert with spears. They have heard the sound of the SUV from afar. The sun has set and such noise of the car is a signal of danger to the Bushmen.
It is fortunate that they have a guide with them, or the first thing they meet would not be information on the murals but a conflict.
Barney is communicating with them and they finally put down the spears. However, they are still on the alert. Looking at the three, they feel an extreme danger from Lin Luoran as they are highly sensitive to danger. Coming all the way through the desert, it is abnormal that there is no dust at all on Lin Luoran’s face. The Bushmen believe that it will be very terrifying if this woman gets angry, even though she is always smiling.
Barney relaxes down. He turns back and says that they should visit the sheik of the tribe.
A sheik is the chief of a tribe. Following Barney, they get to the place of the sheik, finding that it is nothing more than a larger hut. Some Bushmen are gathering around a bonfire, talking and laughing. Although they don’t have any proper clothes, the smile on their faces is sincere and touching. No one will ever notice their skin color, race or clothes seeing such smiles.
The sheik is a young Bushmen who is about 5.2 feet tall. He is a strong and tall one in his tribe. The present given to him and his tribe is light according to Lin Luoran, just 5 kilograms of beef, 500 grams of salt and several large bottles of water.
The sheik is happy to see the beef, but when they take out the bottled water, everyone around the bonfire gathers here. Even the ones who were hostile to them smile for the first time.
“Water is so precious here…” Baojia whispers.
Lin Luoran shakes her head and says, “Continue watching.” It reminds her of the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy. Maybe they are not just excited about the purified drinkable water alone.
She is right. Barney tells them in English, “They like these bottles, saying that they can be used to collect water. They say that we are the distinguished guests of the Bushmen.”
They can understand English and Baojia sighs. She packs a lot of candies in her Universal Sack and they are not useful at all.
Baojia is an amiable girl. Lin Luoran and Wen Guanjing ask the sheik to talk about their request and Baojia stays next to the bonfire, communicating with Bushmen women and kids with hand gestures.
Behind the hut, Wen Guanjing takes out the photo and hands it to the young sheik.
Modern technology surprises the sheik and he turns the photo over and over again. Barney tells him the request of Lin Luoran and Wen Guanjing and he looks at the photo. It is dark and he cannot see it clearly so Lin Luoran takes out a flashlight. The young sheik is surprised at it as well. It seems that no one has ever been here before.
Lin Luoran and Wen Guanjing wait until the sheik finishes “studying” the “luminous stick” and they promise to give it to him as a gift. The sheik finally looks at the photo carefully.
“Ah —” With his pupils dilated, he screams in fear.
Lin Luoran and Wen Guanjing look at each other and see the joy on each other’s face. It seems that the sheik knows about the murals in the photo!
Can this trip be that successful?
Barney asks the sheik “Where is this?” many times, but the sheik’s eyes are more and more widely open. He screams in fear for a while and passes out!
He just passed out? What happened? Lin Luoran frowns. Why is he freaking out because of a photo of murals?
Wen Guanjing shows a wry smile, “Look.”
Well, the exciting Bushmen are now surrounding them again with spears. Lin Luoran feels worried. She can understand them, though, as the sheik is indeed shocked by them…
