Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
One had to come look at the pyramids when one came to Egypt. But coming to look at the pyramids didn’t mean one would enter the pyramids. First of all, there were limited tickets to enter, and second of all, it was said that the experience wasn’t the best inside the pyramids. Many people chose not to spend money on something that they wouldn’t enjoy. Even the Chinese guide for tourists explicitly told tourists this: “Regret for one hour when you enter the pyramid; Regret for your whole life if you didn’t enter the pyramid.”
Their situation today was a bit more special. Zhang Zian made all of the elfins that weren’t in his phone invisible. They would definitely not be able to enter the area with all these cats and dogs.
“Gah! Hot!” Richard complained tiredly. “You idiot, why are you not going in? Are you drying your balls in the sun?”
The sun was getting higher and higher, and the sunlight was getting stronger and stronger. They were standing on the wide plains with barely any shade.
Richard was hopping on Zhang Zian’s shoulder, but the sun directly shining down on them made sure that no matter where it tried to hide, it would always end up getting shined on. All it could do was use its wings to block the sun from its face so that it could get some shade, but even the sun was making its wings heat up so much that it was getting unbearable.
Zhang Zian was wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses and could bear with it even though it was hot.
“Be patient.” He looked at the time. “Wait a bit longer.”
“Wait for what?” Richard was almost getting roasted by the sun. “Are you waiting for me to die from the heat? Hurry and take off your baseball hat so I can wear it! Or… Old Time Tea! Lend me your straw hat!”
Famous’s tongue was all the way out, and it was panting constantly to let off the heat that had gathered in its body. Even though Galaxy didn’t want to enter the pyramid, Famous couldn’t wait to go in so they wouldn’t have to bear the harsh heat of the sun. It looked at Zhang Zian, not able to understand why they were waiting for nothing here.
The most carefree out of all the elfins, Old Time Tea, with its long, light robes and straw hat, was unwilling to watch the other elfins suffer under the heat. “Zian, what are we waiting for?”
Zhang Zian wiped his sweat, explaining, “I gave it a thought. Since there’s a limited number of three hundred tickets a day, it also means that after these three hundred people have entered, no more tickets will be sold.”
That didn’t answer any of their questions.
He pointed at the entrance to the pyramid, getting the elfins to look at it carefully—the tourists with the tickets were bending down to file into the pyramid. Those bigger Western tourists might even have to bend at the knees to head in. It was uncomfortable just watching them. It might have been easier to just get on their hands and knees and crawl.
“Gah… Are you worried about getting f*cked in the *ss?” Richard was going off the rails again, but it had also perked up because of it.
Zhang Zian explained again, “I mean, we would barely be able to see anything if we entered now and everyone was pushing around. Why not just wait for the other 299 people to come out before going in to take a look? Then it would be as though we have rented out the whole space, and we can look at whatever we want.”
The elfins finally understood. In theory, that would work.
“Gah… Alright, you’re smart for once, you idiot. But I’m not following you. Hurry and get me back into the phone. If I stay in the sun any longer I’m going to end up a specimen…” Richard started to sway on his shoulder.
Zhang Zian’s face was stiff as he continued, “I can’t allow that. I heard that the air in the pyramids is extremely bad. I was planning on grabbing onto your legs while you scout out the road ahead. The tomb raider stories always have scenes where, in order to prevent getting suffocated in an ancient tomb unknowingly, they carry cages of sparrows or doves to test the air quality. If the sparrows and doves suddenly up and die, that means that they can’t continue walking forward… Even though we don’t have sparrows and doves, we do have you.”
It was swelteringly hot right now, but a chilly shiver went down Richard’s spine. “Gah! Are you the devil? Is this the reason why you brought me to Egypt? Trying to deal with me silently?”
A joke was a joke. After finishing, Zhang Zian fished out a white cloth from his pocket, putting it on his head like the locals did, covering his head and his shoulders and even Richard. If they were to enter a bank in China looking like this, they might be dead even before they could take a second step.
“Do I look like the Oil Prince of UAE? I’m only missing a black band,” he joked.
Richard had regained its strength after getting the chills. “Gah gah! I have revived! You idiot, you’re still three American Presidents away from being the Oil Prince of UAE!”
Outsiders must’ve felt that it was extremely hot for Arabic men to wear a full robe of white. But under the forty-degree-Celsius sun, the white material reflected light, and it didn’t absorb the heat like dark-colored clothes did. When the wind blew, it gently lifted the fabric, and the robe gently guided the wind downwards. That helped to move the air around the body. When the wind stopped, the last flutter of the robe still brought along a bit of breeze with it.
“Let’s go a little bit closer. We might get some shade by the side of the giant stone,” Zhang Zian suggested as he pointed at the west side of the pyramid.
It was the off-season for tourism. Due to that and the heat, there weren’t many tourists in the area. The locals didn’t have much motivation to move either. They called out to Zhang Zian several times, but, seeing that he barely lifted a brow at them, they gave up on trying to attract his attention. Unlike China’s vendors, though, they would always put hospitality first, and they always ended things with “Welcome to Egypt.”
The foundation stones of the pyramid were taller than normal people. Thousands of years of being out in the open and the constant barrage of firearms from war had caused many of the stones to have cracks in them. Sometimes, neighboring stones might even be able to fit a person in between them.
There really was a shady area on the west side of the foundation. The elfins each found a place to rest, hiding within the cracks to shield themselves from the burning heat.
Even with such weather, there were still a few excited tourists trying to climb up the pyramid. But they often stopped after six or seven stones.
Zhang Zian couldn’t rest. Even when he was talking, he was also focusing on the entrance, silently counting how many people had gone in and how many people had come out. Not only was there a limit to how many tourists could be inside, there was also a time limit on their ticket. If they didn’t go in before the doors closed, their tickets would have been a waste.
But something was weird. He had been observing for half an hour. In theory, there shouldn’t have been much to see in the pyramid, and if they were fast, they should’ve been done in ten-plus minutes. Even if they were slow, they should’ve come out within half an hour. But no matter how he counted, he’d seen 60 people going in, and only 50 had come out. Other than the people that were currently walking out, the numbers didn’t seem to tally.
Where had the rest of the people gone?
Now that they were getting closer and closer to closing time, there were fewer and fewer people coming out of the pyramid. He decided to stop waiting, asking Galaxy to wait outside for a short while and beckoning the other elfins to enter the pyramids with him.
