The person who went out to investigate only returned after nearly an hour.
He said to the two of them, “A few families in this village moved over from the small town at the edge of the desert a year ago. Their ancestors were guides to that desert.”
When Chu Luo heard this, she suddenly had an idea and asked Li Yan, “Yan, have you found a guide to enter the desert?”
“Mm.”
Chu Luo said, “Why don’t we find another one? Since their ancestors were all guides in the desert, they must know a lot of legends about Loulan and know the roads in the desert.”
Li Yan thought for a moment and nodded. He said to the bodyguard, “Think of a way to invite a guide over.”
“Yes, Master.”
After the bodyguards left, Chu Luo asked Li Yan, “Yan, when are we leaving?”
“Wait for two days.”
Chu Luo was a little surprised. “Why wait for so long?”
“We’ll follow the others in.”
When Chu Luo heard this, she smiled. “That’s not bad. We can monitor the Duanmu family’s movements.”
“Mm.”
When the bodyguards returned this time, Chu Luo and Li Yan had already eaten lunch.
The bodyguard said to Li Yan, “Master, those people can’t be invited.”
Li Yan frowned. “Then offer more money.”
“We’ve already doubled the price in the circle, but we didn’t manage to hire them.”
Li Yan frowned even more.
Chu Luo asked, “How many families in this village moved over from that side?”
“Four.”
Chu Luo thought for a while. “Since someone from a family went to lead the way and disappeared, these people definitely won’t dare to lead the way again.”
After all, one’s life was more important than earning money.
Chu Luo looked at Li Yan and said, “Yan, why don’t we meet the other three families later?”
Li Yan nodded.
The bodyguard left.
Chu Luo had studied the dialect here in the helicopter last night and was a little tired after lunch.
She had originally moved a chair to sit beside Li Yan to accompany him. When Li Yan subconsciously looked up at her from his laptop, he saw her supporting her head with her hand as she tapped away. He put down his laptop and called out to her softly, “Luoluo.”
“Mm.”
Chu Luo responded to him in a daze but still didn’t open her eyes.
Li Yan stood up and carried her to the bedroom inside. As he walked, he said, “Go take a two-hour nap first. After you wake up, we’ll go meet those three families.”
“Mm, okay.”
After saying that, Chu Luo tilted her head and fell asleep in his arms.
When Chu Luo woke up, it was already five in the afternoon.
It was darker here than in the capital. When the two of them ate, the sky wasn’t that dark yet.
The two of them strolled slowly towards the village.
This village was divided into the east and west ends of the village. Li Yan’s men had bought all the east ends of the village. There were more than ten families on the west side of the village, but every family was a little far away from each other.
Right now, everyone had gone home to cook or eat.
The two of them walked over but no one saw them.
The two of them walked to a place near one of the houses. This house had a huge courtyard surrounded by a bamboo fence. Beside the bamboo fence, there were also many shrubs with thorns. There were a few apple trees in the courtyard. At this moment, there were even apples hanging on the apple trees.
From the courtyard door to the door of the house, there was a one-meter-wide stone path. There were few plots of farming land beside the stone path.
Such an environment gave people a peaceful feeling.
“This family is really good at living.”
Chu Luo sighed and looked up at the open door. “It’s already dark in the room. Why aren’t the lights on in their house?”
Just as Chu Luo finished speaking, the lights in the house lit up.
Then, she saw four people come out from behind and sit at the dining table opposite the door for dinner.
Chu Luo looked at Li Yan. “Looks like we came at the wrong time.”
Just as she finished speaking, one of the children stood up and ran out.
Behind him, the mistress of the house shouted, “Xiao Hu, only bring back half a kilogram of wine. If you bring back too much, I’ll spank your butt.”
“Got it, Mother.”
The child ran out of the courtyard as fast as lightning and ran to the side. He must have run too fast and didn’t see Chu Luo and Li Yan standing at the side.
Li Yan said, “Let’s go take a look at the other two families first.”
Chu Luo nodded and the two of them walked towards another house.
The other family had just started eating too, so the two of them continued walking down.
The last place was Lu Lang’s house. Their family must have eaten already. At this moment, Lu Lang was pestering his father to pluck apples for him in the courtyard.
Chu Luo realized that most of the trees in the village were jujube trees. Only these few trees were apple trees.
She whispered to Li Yan, “They should be very superstitious. An apple tree implies peace, so they planted an apple tree.”
Chu Luo had just finished speaking when Lu Lang, who was hopping under the tree, saw Chu Luo and Li Yan standing outside the courtyard. He quickly said to his father loudly, “Dad, there are guests at our house.”
Lu Feng, who had already climbed onto the apple tree and was about to pluck the apple, jumped down from the tree and strode to the courtyard door. He looked at the two of them warily and asked, “Who are you and why are you at my house?”
Li Yan spoke in a local dialect. “We’re just here for a holiday. My wife wants to eat apples, so she came to ask if your family’s apples are for sale.”
“You’re locals too? Cityfolks?”
Chu Luo glanced at Li Yan, who was saying all this seriously, wondering how he was going to answer.
“Not really. My family from my father’s generation has already moved away from here.”
Lu Feng raised his guard again.
“I’m in the jade business. I’m here to buy a batch of goods.”
Chu Luo realized that Lu Feng heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this. He said, “Then come in. I’ll pluck a few apples for you.”
“Thank you.”
Li Yan held Chu Luo’s hand and the two of them followed Lu Feng into the courtyard.
Lu Lang, who was standing under the apple tree, stared at Chu Luo and Li Yan. His eyes clearly said, “They’re really good-looking.”
Seeing his son standing there foolishly, Lu Feng said to him, “Lang, go into the house and get your mother to bring out a basket. I’ll pluck some apples for the two guests.”
Lu Lang actually stared at Chu Luo and Li Yan and didn’t come back to his senses.
Lu Feng smacked his forehead. He suddenly came back to his senses and quickly covered his head as he ran towards the door silently.
After that, Li Yan changed from his usual cold and quiet self and started talking to Lu Feng about the jade in Green City.
As a local, he definitely knew a lot about jade.
Li Yan spoke skillfully and guided Lu Feng.
Chu Luo stood at the side and listened. At the same time, she quietly cast a spell and made the mother-and-son duo in the house freeze.
The two of them chatted for a while. Li Yan intentionally or unintentionally said that as long as there was a way to do the jade business, one could earn many times more money than the market price. Lu Feng was obviously a little tempted and wanted to follow Li Yan to the jade market, so he enthusiastically invited Li Yan in for a drink.
Li Yan didn’t refuse.
Chu Luo removed the magic. Before Li Yan followed him in, he plucked an apple from the tree for her to hold. The three of them walked towards the door.
Lu Feng said in embarrassment, “Look at me, I forgot to pick apples for your wife. Why don’t I go pick a few first?”
“No need. I’ll just eat this one.”
“Alright,” Lu Feng said and shouted into the door, “Honey, get a basin of water and wash the apple for this madam.”
A response came from behind. When the three of them walked in, they saw a woman carrying half a pot of water.
Lu Lang tugged at her clothes and followed beside her. He wanted to peek at Chu Luo and Li Yan, but he didn’t dare to.
Chu Luo washed the apples and sat at the side, listening to their conversation as she ate.
Lu Feng asked his wife to get wine and dishes.
Mrs. Lu was also a shy woman. After doing all this, she brought Lu Lang inside.
The two of them chatted as they drank. The way Li Yan talked about jade was so reasonable that Lu Feng was stunned. He simply treated him as the God of Fortune.
After three rounds of drinking, Lu Feng’s face had already turned red. After he drank another mouthful of wine, he looked like he had just won a prize.
“If only I had met Brother Qin earlier. Previously, I had always wanted to do the jade business, but I didn’t have any connections. After suffering two losses, I could only do other small businesses that barely supported my family.”
Li Yan promised to bring him along when the time came. Then, he changed the topic to the recent disappearance of the archaeological team.
At this moment, Lu Feng had already completely let down his guard. He said to him, “Brother Qin, I’m only telling you this in private because I see that you aren’t an outsider. Do you know which tomb the national archeological team is going to?”
“Which one?”
“It’s an imperial tomb that no one has ever returned from. It’s cursed by the Heavenly Dao. 18 years ago…”
Unexpectedly, 18 years ago, Lu Feng’s father had participated in that tomb raiding incident and never returned.
“Not only does that tomb eat humans, but it also has a huge impact on future generations. As long as a family participates in tomb raiding, no matter how much time has passed, they will lead a very difficult life, just like us…
“Look at me now. Other than being fed, I really don’t have any more riches or honor left. I heard that the descendants of others either did badly or died miserably.”
Li Yan glanced at Chu Luo and asked her with his gaze if that was true.
Chu Luo didn’t say anything. She couldn’t say for sure about this matter.
Li Yan asked again, “Since your father was a guide, you should be one too. Since it’s just a guide, it shouldn’t matter, right?”
