King of Tomb Raiders

Chapter 46

When I was in Italy, one of my physical education teachers was a world-renowned Muay Thai expert, so I know firsthand the power of Muay Thai's hard punches, stances, and kicks. That palm strike just now, if it had landed on an ordinary martial artist, would have broken bones and shattered tendons, killing them instantly.

Tina kicked open the car door and sneered, "Hey, your 'pole-splitting palm' technique is pretty good. Are you from the same school as Master Gu Longde of Xishan in Bangkok? Is your master Yu Zheng or Ye Mansai?"

Yu Zheng and Ye Mansai are among the top Muay Thai masters, both disciples of Master Gu Longde. Their school is most proficient in "Pole-Splitting Palm".

Mai Cai snorted twice, turned his face away disdainfully, and gazed at the sand and dust that swept across the desert with the wind: "They are not worthy. They are only worthy to be my junior disciples. They have to kowtow obediently every time they meet. Are you satisfied now?"

A slightly shorter man walked over, handed Mai Cai a freshly opened keg of beer, and looked at me with a mocking gaze: "Chinese, your so-called Chinese kung fu is just a showy display of fancy moves. Dare to have a match?"

In recent years, as many Chinese martial arts films have entered Hollywood and been distributed all over the world, they have brought those graceful and flashy Chinese kung fu moves to every country on Earth.

Undoubtedly, the fight choreography was meticulously designed to achieve the film's aesthetic appeal, and it does indeed have a "showy but impractical" feel. However, the profoundness of Chinese Kung Fu cannot be explained in a few words, nor can these impetuous and arrogant Thais possibly grasp it.

Tina laughed exaggeratedly: "What? You are also a direct disciple of Master Gu Longde?"

Master Gu Longde is already ninety years old, and the youngest of his known disciples is over fifty years old, and they are all Muay Thai elites. How could a middle-aged man in his thirties suddenly appear?

Mai Cai chuckled strangely, raised his beer, tilted his head back, and chugged it down, arrogant and haughty.

In fact, when he was drinking with his head tilted back, there were at least twenty or thirty vulnerable spots all over his body that could be attacked, enough to kill him in one blow.

Tina asked in a low voice, "Mr. Feng, can we leave now? There are still important things for us to do at the camp. Isn't there an old Chinese saying, 'Harmony is precious'?"

When she humbly begged for help, a faint, misty light veiled her dark eyes, concealing her arrogance and tyranny. From certain angles, she naturally exuded a captivating charm.

I sighed inwardly: "This girl, so unpredictable, how many different expressions can she possibly have?"

I really should give Rainbow Warrior some face, so I nodded and walked with her to the car door.

Even with my keen observation skills, I couldn't find any place for the tiger to hide. But the moment I opened the car door, the tiger, breathing heavily, spoke again: "Quick... get out... Skyhawk... the old man will bring you news..."

The martial art of "transmitting sound secretly" can only communicate over a distance of no more than 100 meters. In a severely injured state, the tiger's internal energy will be further affected. Therefore, I am certain that we are no more than 20 meters apart at this moment.

Within twenty meters, there were only Mai Cai and the group of camels grazing leisurely.

I suddenly laughed. If a tiger were to disguise itself as a camel, that would be the greatest innovation in the history of Chinese disguise.

"Hey, what are you laughing at?" Seeing that we backed down and left, Mai Cai became even more demanding.

Tina slammed the car door shut and gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, clearly trying her best to suppress her anger.

"I wonder why this Thai man is so arrogant? Doesn't he realize that it would be an easy task for the Desert Legion to wipe out this caravan?" I know that the more abnormal a person or thing's behavior is, the more mysterious and unpredictable the secrets hidden behind it.

Is he a tiger?

"If not, where is the tiger hiding? Deep in the sand?"

The military vehicle drove forward, and as soon as it was out of Maichai's sight, Tina immediately took out her phone, dialed a number, and whispered, "Find someone, a Muay Thai expert named Maichai, currently in Ahcham, Egypt."

I believe that as long as Tina finds any suspicious detail about Maichai, within 24 hours, Maichai will be plunged into the darkest, most dreary prison in Egypt.

The trail went cold. The mysterious disappearance of Lu Jiacan, the pride of the Egyptians and a master of martial arts, in the desert was a devastating blow to the mighty Rainbow Warriors.

As the military vehicle sped towards the camp, Tina's phone rang at least thirty times. Even though she used numerous codes, coded phrases, and numerical symbols to conceal her meaning when communicating with the callers, I still managed to understand the gist of it—

The military deployed over 3,000 personnel to conduct a massive, grid-like search between Cairo and the Turkham Pyramid, a scale and intensity comparable to the US search operation against Saddam Hussein's group in Iraq. However, Lu Jiacan and his entourage seemed to have vanished into thin air in the desert; apart from the hoofprints of camel caravans, there was no trace of their departure.

Tina grew increasingly furious, slamming her fist on the steering wheel with almost every phone call she received, causing the military vehicle to constantly "hiccup" as it sped along.

Tiger mentioned "Elder Eagle," the renowned wandering swordsman and a close friend of Scalpel. Previously, Suren had also mentioned that Elder Eagle was about to arrive in Cairo, but only briefly, and there had been no further news since.

"Where is the tiger's scripture hidden? Could it be hidden inside a camel's belly?" A thought flashed through my mind. A camel's big belly can hold a lot of things. Let alone a few books, it wouldn't be difficult to hide a living person inside.

Just as I was thinking of the word "camel," Tina suddenly spoke up with a melancholy tone: "Mr. Feng, don't you think those camels would be an excellent hiding place?"

I chuckled dryly, "Ha... a camel? How did you even come up with that!" Actually, I was secretly astonished. Was Tina really like a master of "mind reading"? Could she see wherever I was thinking?

“I just… have a doubt, because I feel that your gaze has been fixed on the camel for a long time… Mr. Feng, I hope we can become the best partners, like the Egyptians’ springs and oases, eagles and deserts…” She glanced at me, a smile slowly rising, her eyes and brows filled with a moisture that softened my heart.

I nodded slightly, indicating that I completely agreed with her, and then turned my face to look out of the car at the huge orange-red sunset in the west.

The ancient poem's lines, "A lone plume of smoke rises straight from the desert, the setting sun hangs round over the long river," perfectly capture the desert landscape at this moment. In the distant blue sky, an airplane has just streaked across the heavens, leaving a straight trail of white smoke, like a master calligrapher's bold strokes, a stroke of profound and continuous ink.

“Mr. Feng, actually, from the moment we met, I hoped we could become good friends. You know, our country is soon facing the 2010 elections. Currently, the military is becoming increasingly powerful, often causing trouble and constantly attacking the ruling party, using this to coerce the president into resigning…”

I interrupted her: "General Tina, that's a big deal for the Egyptian government. I'm not interested."

Tina smiled, all traces of her former rage and melancholy gone, replaced by a sweet yet sorrowful smile, like a lily blooming in the twilight.

"No, Mr. Feng, you'll be interested. The President greatly admires you and has already reserved a position for you as a special advisor to the Presidential Palace, with benefits and power second only to Lu Jiacan. What do you say?"

I chuckled and made an exaggerated "I'm so honored" expression.

"Well, Mr. Feng, given Egypt's strength on the African continent, if it takes another leap forward, dominating the continent is definitely not a problem. The President intends to promote you to the National Emergency Management Committee, and when the time is right, he will nominate you as the ruling party's presidential candidate, allowing you to walk the red carpet of political power all the way to the glorious throne..."

Tina's promise was like a phantom seven-colored halo, or more like a hilarious fantasy.

"Really?" I forced a laugh and turned to look at her.

“Of course it’s true.” She said with a serious expression.

"Of course it's true?" I continued to make an exaggerated expression, silently turning my head to look out of the car again.

Such a windfall is not something everyone can encounter, whether it's a joke or a real event.

I have no interest in the Egyptian presidency and I despise the cutthroat, pretentious political circles. Even if everything she said is true, I would not agree.

Furthermore, the fact that Tina revealed this information to me during the turbulent time following Lu Jiacan's disappearance clearly indicates that she wanted me to hastily take over Lu Jiacan's role and secure more benefits for the Egyptian government during the pyramid excavation process.

It seems that the leader of Tina's faction enjoys treating others like fools. Whether it's tomb raiding or eliminating dissidents, all they need are gunners who are always ready to charge into battle—unfortunately, I'm not their ideal candidate.

"Mr. Feng agreed?" Tina smiled especially brightly.

I smiled and shook my head: "Let me think about it. Such a significant and fortunate matter requires at least some time—"

After a ten-minute silence, Tina spoke again, getting straight to the point: "Mr. Feng, now that we've all become colleagues serving the President, you can report any news of 'superweapons' during the pyramid excavation directly to the President at any time. As for military support, don't worry, I will gather all available Rainbow Warriors to the Anwarara Oasis, no more than forty kilometers from the Tu Liehan Pyramid, in a very short time, ready to be deployed within ten minutes."

"A battle? Against whom?" I asked myself silently.

Tina's next words undoubtedly answered the question that had been nagging at me: "Everything inside the pyramid belongs to the Egyptian government. From a single grain of sand to a superweapon of immense power, everything belongs to the government. Neither the Japanese nor the Americans have the right to take it away without permission. What do you think?"

I smiled silently, but inside I was shocked as if a mountain had collapsed and a tsunami had struck: "It seems that this excavation operation is destined to be a complete waste for everyone."

Tina's words directly represented the Egyptian president's opinion, clearly stating that those who submit to him will prosper, and those who oppose him will perish. Everyone in the camp who did not defect and become compliant citizens would be relegated to the "enemy" camp, their fate possibly being life imprisonment in a dark prison, or simply being buried in the desert…

In this situation, withdrawing as soon as possible may be the wisest choice.

As they neared the camp, Tina received her last phone call, her initial excitement slightly dampened: "Oh? They're from the International Aid Federation? Okay, keep a close watch and see if there are two Chinese and one Egyptian mixed in with their caravan. You can get photos of these three directly from the Legion's operations command. Listen, three people. For each one you find, you'll get one million dollars in your bank account—if you find all three, there'll be an additional five million dollars reward. Got it?"

I understand that she was still referring to that camel caravan.

As the car pulled into the camp, she said briefly, "It turns out that Maichai is a special envoy sent by the international aid organization this year. His camel caravan came specifically to solve the drinking water problem in the drought-stricken areas of Egypt."

Tina wouldn't overlook any suspicious detail. It's certain that she has woven a nationwide surveillance and command network over Egypt, ready to launch any level of armed attack at any time.

A day after leaving the camp, nothing seemed to have changed.

All the way there, I had been wondering, "What effect will that 'resurrection sand' have? Could it really bring the dragon's soul back?"

I've seen far too many rituals performed by witches and shamans to summon spirits and exorcise demons, and I've always scoffed at them, regarding them merely as a means of making a living and for entertainment purposes only.

The fields of spiritual studies and theology are so profound and unfathomable that I have always avoided them like the plague, let alone participated in them personally.

Leaving the smiling Tina and heading towards my tent, I suddenly felt incredibly relaxed, as if a heavy suit of armor had been removed. Tina's grand vision for my life, while appealing, also placed undue pressure on me. Being around her always made me feel uneasy, like sitting on pins and needles. Compared to that, I preferred being with Suren; it was much more relaxing and comfortable.

"Brother Wind—"

Suren had been waiting anxiously behind the tent flap for a long time.

Unexpectedly, Yelan was also in the tent, holding his head in his hands, looking extremely distressed.

As soon as he saw me come in, he jumped up like a fully inflated balloon, took two steps forward, grabbed my hand tightly, and shook it violently, babbling incoherently, "Brother Feng, you're back... no, Mr. Feng, something terrible has happened... the dragon's body has evaporated, leaving only his clothes..."

Yelan's face was ashen, truly "ashen-faced." He was still wearing the work clothes he wore when he went down the mine, his hands and face covered in dust, suggesting he had rushed to the tent in a very urgent situation.

I shook off his hand, sat down in the chair, stretched vigorously, and then calmly gestured for him to sit down.

Suren took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

Yelan sat on the edge of the bed, about to speak again.

I waved my hand at him: "Yelan, calm down first. Let Suren tell you what happened."

Suren's level is more than ten times higher than Yelan's.

She immediately began to narrate in a calm tone: "Brother Feng, three hours ago, Captain Yelan returned from the well and, as usual, went to that unused tent to feed Long. However, when he stepped into the tent, he found the bed empty, with Long's underwear, shirt, and pants all neatly laid out on the bed—that's all."

His bland tone might give the impression that he was "nothing special," but when Yelan added the following details, a detail made me extremely nervous.

"No one went near the tent. In the workers' minds, Long was old and dirty; no one considered him a friend. So, when it came time to choose someone to feed him, everyone shook their heads in refusal. So, only I went there on time. The clothes were still arranged with the underwear inside and the outer garment outside, all the sleeves pulled up, as if someone who had been lying peacefully in bed had been suddenly 'pulled' out of their clothes by some force..."

As Yelan recounted the story, his face was contorted with grief and his brows furrowed; in his view, the dragon had been "evaporated."

This happened three and a half hours ago. Yelan searched the entire camp by himself before reluctantly running to my tent to report. After all, the disappearance of the dragon was just a trivial matter in the camp, insignificant compared to the sensational disappearances of Tengjia, Bancha, Master Kudie, Lujia Can, and others.

“Brother Feng, I originally wanted to test the power of the ‘Resurrection Sand,’ but unfortunately I don’t need to now!” The small box was placed on her bedside table.

Yelan stared nervously at the box, stammering, "This...this sand can't be tested casually...I heard the dragon say before...he said that if used improperly, it will...attract...the vengeful spirits of other races...extremely vicious vengeful spirits that can destroy the entire world..."

Such exaggerated claims could only come from the mouth of a witch doctor or shaman. I've always suspected that Yelan has been terrified by the increasing number of bizarre events. In his current state, he doesn't seem suited to continue working at the camp.

"A vengeful spirit? Which country's vengeful spirit?" Suren joked, trying to sound casual.

In the works of novelists over the centuries, vengeful spirits have indeed been regionally categorized. For example, Americans fear vampires, Chinese fear hellish demons, Japanese fear puppet monsters and hellish beasts, Africans fear the resurrection of mummies, and Europeans fear the fog-covered vampire bats...

As a member of a mysterious Egyptian tribe, what did the dragon refer to as a "vengeful spirit"?

"It's...it's...it's 'King of Terror'..."

Part 4: The Battle Between Heaven and Man

— Chapter 12 — The King of Terror and the Sands of Resurrection —

The phrase "King of Terror" is, in some ways, a fixed phrase, definitely referring to that strange prophecy in the "Centuries." So, upon hearing Yelan's words, I was suddenly horrified: "What? The Resurrection Sand is related to the King of Terror?"

My voice sounded a bit strange, which made Yelan look up with a blank expression.

Suren had already placed the box on the table and reached out to pop the lid open.

From any angle, it is just an ordinary bag of desert sand, a tiny fraction of what is taken from the desert.

My feelings about "resurrection sand" are no different from before; I think it's just one of the boring props used by shamans.

"Yelan, what were the dragon's exact words? Tell me quickly!"

Yelan stood up blankly, staggered to the table, looked at the small bag of yellow sand in the box, and stammered, "Before reaching the desert, one night, I took the dragon to a small bar in Cairo to find women..."

The dragon's narration was too verbose and contained a lot of vulgar slang, which made Suren frown deeply.