Early the next morning, A-Ning led her remaining subordinates to retrieve the vehicles.
Because the cars had been scattered too far apart, they only managed to find five, just enough for everyone currently here. A-Ning wasn't disinclined to send Hei Xiazi to look for them, but Hei Xiazi only gave verbal agreements while his feet refused to move a single step away from the camp, making A-Ning wish she could just kick him to death.
As for Zhang Qiling, A-Ning held out zero hope for him. He was the type who would only lift a finger in a crisis; otherwise, he wouldn't even acknowledge you if you called him. Besides, given how things looked, he tended to listen to Hei Xiazi, which made him even more impossible to command.
Once the vehicles were recovered, A-Ning wasted no time and swiftly organized the team to move out.
Then she spotted Hei Xiazi walking out from behind a tent with his backpack slung over his shoulder, Xie Yuchen trailing right behind him. The atmosphere between the two of them was harmonious, especially Hei Xiazi, whose face wore a smile so radiant it defied description. The pair climbed into a car of their own accord, not sparing even a glance at A-Ning, who had been running herself ragged since dawn.
Seeing this after she had gotten up at the crack of dawn to chase down cars, A-Ning felt like she could swallow Hei Xiazi alive.
Desperately, A-Ning comforted herself by thinking: *Don't bother arguing with them. Getting mad just hurts you in the end. My milk ducts need protecting too.*
"Pack up your things. We're moving out," A-Ning said, deciding that out of sight meant out of mind.
Zhang Qiling hoisted his Black Gold Ancient Saber onto his back and walked by Wu Xie's side. Wu Xie chattered away endlessly; although Zhang Qiling offered no verbal replies, his occasional nods confirmed that he was indeed listening. The two of them, one quiet and one animated, presented a very harmonious picture.
"Xiaoge, I'm so glad I have you with me. Hei Xiazi sticks to Xiaohua like glue, I couldn't wedge myself in there even if I tried." Mentioning Hei Xiazi brought a flood of complaints from Wu Xie.
Hearing this, Zhang Qiling turned to look at Wu Xie.
Wu Xie caught the meaning in his Xiaoge's eyes and joked, "Right? You think so too, don't you? Who knows why Blindie is so clingy when it comes to Xiaohua? Surely he hasn't taken a fancy to him, has he?"
Zhang Qiling blinked without a word. Yet this threw Wu Xie—who always understood Xiaoge so well—into a daze. Surely he hadn't guessed right, had he?
"Xiaoge? It... it couldn't really be like what I said, could it?"
Wu Xie blinked his puppy-dog eyes at Zhang Qiling. Those eyes, untainted by the secular world, left Zhang Qiling somewhat at a loss. Unwilling to deceive Wu Xie, he gave a gentle nod.
"H-How could that be?" Wu Xie's eyes widened instantly, making his naturally large eyes look even bigger.
"Why aren't you moving yet? Staying here to see whose eyes are bigger?" A-Ning, having settled her own people, walked over when she saw Wu Xie and Zhang Qiling standing frozen in place.
"What do you mean? Let's go, Xiaoge."
Shocked and ignoring A-Ning's teasing, Wu Xie pulled Zhang Qiling toward the vehicle. He needed to get to the bottom of what was going on. In just a few days, his childhood friend was about to get stolen away by someone!
A-Ning didn't mind Wu Xie's attitude and signaled the driver to get the convoy moving.
After setting off, the scenery along the road remained a sea of golden desert. At first, it was fine to look at, but eventually, everyone except the drivers began closing their eyes to rest.
Guided by Zhaxi, after seven hours of travel, they arrived at the legendary Devil City to set up camp.
Seeing the fatigue written on everyone's faces, A-Ning knew they were exhausted, so she decided against organizing an immediate entry into Devil City. Instead, she chose to pitch camp here for rest and recovery, leaving the exploration for when their spirits were renewed.
Seeing this, Xie Yuchen and Wu Xie also got out of the car to pitch their tents.
"Xiaoge, let's pitch our tent right here. This is a pretty good spot," Wu Xie said, having led Zhang Qiling to a patch of flat ground.
Zhang Qiling nodded. He didn't care much about such trivial matters, so naturally, whatever Wu Xie said went. Once the location was settled, the two of them began setting up the tent.
Not far away, Hei Xiazi's voice rang out: "Flower, Flower, you've just recovered from a major illness—could you use some professional tent-pitching services?"
Xie Yuchen, who had long since grown impatient with his nagging, turned around and asked, "How much?"
Although he could manage on his own, buying a bit of peace and quiet was well worth it; Hei Xiazi simply talked far too much.
Hei Xiazi smiled and held up two fingers. "Not much, not much. Just two hundred."
Xie Yuchen stared at him. "Fifty."
Hei Xiazi hurriedly countered, "One hundred. Master Hei has to eat, you know."
Such a small sum was nothing to Xie Yuchen. He tossed his tent pack straight at Hei Xiazi and sauntered off to survey the terrain.
Listening to this exchange, Wu Xie's envy practically streamed out of his eyes in droves. His own employee, Wang Meng, only made eight hundred a month, yet Hei Xiazi had just pocketed a hundred for simply putting up a tent. How could Wu Xie not be envious?
Wu Xie glanced over at Zhang Qiling, who was still busy pitching their tent, and silently made up his mind. He needed to learn from Hei Xiazi.
Right now, he was so broke he could barely afford Wang Meng's salary, let alone support Xiaoge, which only added to his expenses. He needed to find a lucrative way to make money, and Hei Xiazi's method looked pretty good—it paid well, too.
Having secretly made up his decision, Wu Xie set off to ask Xiaohua if there were any odd jobs he could recommend, only to trip over something on the ground.
"Hey, come quick! There's a person here!" he yelled, frantically brushing away the dirt.
Seeing that something was happening over by Wu Xie, A-Ning, Xie Yuchen, Zhang Qiling, and Hei Xiazi all crowded around.
"Not bad, Wu Xie. Your bizarre knack for running into weird things just keeps getting stronger," Hei Xiazi said, adjusting his glasses.
Xie Yuchen couldn't help nodding in agreement. He had walked a full circle around this area and hadn't seen a thing, yet Wu Xie had stumbled upon someone immediately. If that wasn't bizarre, what was?
"I tripped over him, and that's how I found him," Wu Xie argued defensively. He refused to admit he was cursed with bad luck; this was clearly just a coincidence.
"All right, stop talking. Let's dig the person out first," A-Ning said, her patience exhausted as she felt less like an expedition leader and more like a kindergarten teacher.
At her words, the group pitched in and managed to pull the person out together. As the face became increasingly visible, someone recognized him as one of the men who had gone missing earlier.
"How did you end up walking all the way here?" A-Ning demanded.
The newly unearthed man replied weakly, "We ran into a sandstorm on the road. We just kept walking and ended up here."
"Did you see Old Gao and the others?" A-Ning pressed on.
"They went deeper inside. No matter how much I called out to them, they wouldn't turn back."
Realizing that the rest of the missing people were inside Devil City, A-Ning couldn't afford to rest anymore. She immediately assigned Xiaoge, Hei Xiazi, and Xie Yuchen to guard the camp outside, while she took a few people to scout ahead.
As she passed Wu Xie, A-Ning stopped in her tracks. "You're coming too."
"Me? Why?" Wu Xie asked, pointing at himself in confusion.
A-Ning looked from him to Zhang Qiling, who had been staring in their direction the entire time. "Because Xiaoge might not care about anyone else, but he won't ignore you."
Wu Xie looked over at Xiaoge, feeling that A-Ning wasn't entirely right—after all, his Xiaoge treated that Hei Xiazi pretty well, didn't he?
However, Wu Xie kept the thought to himself. He was quite curious about Devil City anyway, and going in for a look now didn't sound like a bad idea.
Watching Zhaxi, who was still resisting the idea of entering Devil City, A-Ning alternated between threats and reassurance. "We're just going to search the perimeter, we won't go in deep," she said, before ordering her men to keep a close eye on him.