Chapter 83: Acupoint Part 2

Her words sliced like a soft knife straight to the heart and lungs before she pulled back with a cold snap: “It’s just one Turtle Pearl, and you’ve chased after it relentlessly all these years.” Her voice turned light and teasing, laced with seductive venom. “If you want it that badly, beg me. Perhaps… I might consider giving it back.”

Yang Baibai choked on her retort, stunned into silence for a moment.

The plane had climbed into the stratosphere by then, and the flight attendants were passing out meals one by one. The clink of cutlery against plates hushed the cabin. Gu Xianwang figured that was the end of it. But once the meal was done and Yang Baibai wiped his mouth with a wet towel, he suddenly turned serious. “You’re for real?”

It had been at least twenty minutes since her last jab. Gu Xianwang kept up her aloof demeanor and shot back: “What? You want it that much?”

“Yeah.” He nodded, like a schoolyard thug who’d gone from trash-talking to pouring his heart out at the gates. “How do I beg to make you hand it over?”

Gu Xianwang’s mind raced. “Can’t do it now. I have to link up with Master first.”

Yang Baibai shrugged. “I can wait.”

“Wait?” Gu Xianwang let out a cold laugh. “They say women are fickle as the weather. Just waiting around? I might change my mind by tomorrow.”

Yang Baibai pulled off his earbuds, coiled up the cord, and stuffed it in his pocket. “Tch, what a pain. Fine, I’ll tag along then? Beg you once a day till you meet your master. That work?”

Hook, line, and sinker.

Gu Xianwang hid her smile, keeping her expression frosty. “Fine. But I’ve got a short fuse—especially for big mouths.”

Yang Baibai shrugged again, flicking his rubber-gloved hand her way with an OK sign. “Tell me about it.”

~~~

“I don’t get it,” Ye Chan said, standing by the baggage carousel.

“I don’t get it,” Ye Chan said from the back of the taxi, crammed in tight.

“I really don’t get it.” Ye Chan tugged Gu Xianwang aside in the outdoor gear shop, eyes glued to Yang Baibai wandering the shelves. “Why are we dragging this guy along?”

Was life going too smoothly? Did they need someone to throw a wrench in it?

Gu Xianwang shot her a glance and murmured: “He knows the precise spot on the map. Bringing him beats us wandering Xi’an blind.”

Ye Chan scowled, still uneasy. “He doesn’t strike me as the honest type. What if we’re headed to some godforsaken wilderness… with a guy like that?”

“Relax. He won’t try anything.”

Huh? Ye Chan blinked rapidly. Why did that line ring a bell?

Before she could place it, the shop owner strolled over pinching the shopping list. “Miss Ye, good to see you. Most of this is in stock: Mora knife set with the Mountain-Opening Axe, full climbing kit, satellite phone, altimeter… Eighty-one thousand eight hundred total. The jacket, pants, and boots I’ll pull from a buddy’s shop. You mind waiting?”

“Ah.” Ye Chan mumbled offhand. “Yeah, no problem. Make it quick—card now?”

“Best time to swipe is right now, yeah.”

~~~

Brother Tiger owned the place—a known name in outdoor circles and an off-road veteran himself. Xi’an sat in a sweet spot: head north for the Northwest Grand Loop through Lanzhou and Yinchuan, looping into Xinjiang and the Qinghai-Tibet Highway; or south into Sichuan via the Chuanzang, Dianzang lines, or 317 and 318, all funneling toward Tibet for pilgrimage. He ran a vehicle mod shop too, raking in enough from rich thrill-seekers hitting Alashan yearly to buy a new house outright.

Money? He had plenty. Rich folks? Seen ’em all. But this college-kid-looking girl dropping cash without flinching on pro-grade gear? That was a first.

While sorting the transfer, he caught an earful.

As for the trio, the guy didn’t seem tight with the two girls—it was like a mid-journey pickup. But not quite that casual either. Eavesdropping, the young lady and the little bro were already bickering after a few words. Some map disagreement.

She insisted ancient maps followed Pei Xiu’s standard: the Six Principles of Cartography—distance, accurate sightings, elevations, directional deviations, curves and straights. That’s the rule. Each grid folding a hundred li? Scale. Ever cracked open the Map of Yu’s Traces? Tch, cartography from odometers, one beat per li. What, you think your eyes beat the wheel?

The guy sneered at her for showing off her book smarts, accusing her of nothing but rote memorization. “There are a million ways to draw maps out there,” he said. “Not just landscapes—poetry maps, inscription maps, dot maps, sound maps. The jianghu’s got every trick in the book. You think it’s only the official standard? That’s why the map shows the entire Qinling Mountains—to trace the dragon veins’ flow and highlight the qi of form and principle. The spots you’re talking about aren’t even connected; they’re eight hundred li apart. Running off there would make you the real idiot.”

Then the more poised beauty from inside stepped forward to play referee. “Little Bro, watch your mouth,” she said. “If you’ve got evidence, lay it out. Don’t just talk in circles.”

Little Bro wasn’t one to lose face. He promptly rattled off some esoteric verses: “Mountains love to embrace the body, but water shuns and turns away. Water must embrace as mountains do; without water’s hold, no mountain reaches. Seek no acupoints on a voided dragon—even if found, they fade and die. Or in a pass or canyon where the dragon seems to halt, the true dragon lurks hidden within.”

He went on to explain that the spot the little miss had pointed out featured barren ridges and dry streams aligned in a line. It might look like a dragon, but it was a false one. The true dragon’s glance-back point should be right here. He tapped a location on the phone map. Brother Tiger didn’t crowd in too close for a look, but he found the whole thing pretty amusing deep down. He just couldn’t keep up with the latest trends among the young crowd. Had some new web novel dropped that he hadn’t gotten around to yet?

The shop door suddenly swung open right then, letting in a gust of cool air. One of the hands from his buddy’s store hurried inside, arms loaded with bags big and small. “Brother Tiger, got everything.”

Brother Tiger gave a nod. “Perfect. No issues. I’ll square up the bill with him later.”

After seeing the guy off, Brother Tiger went down the list, ticking off each item, double-checking the packaging, and then turned to them. “You two ladies—want me to load this stuff straight onto your car?”

The gear hadn’t looked like much on the order form, but piled together it weighed at least several dozen kilos—hefty stuff that caught Gu Xianwang off guard. She handed the keys to her rented Wrangler over to the boss and asked him to toss it all in the trunk.

She glanced back at the phone map and looked up at Yang Baibai. “You sure the map’s core point is in Golden Hook Town?”

Yang Baibai shot her a look. “Can’t you check it yourself?” Then, remembering he still needed something from her, he backpedaled. “Close enough. It’s around there. Bound to be landmarks on-site; we can just ask passersby.”

Gu Xianwang frowned in thought. The Golden Hook Town he’d indicated hugged the border between Baoji and Hanzhong, tucked away from everywhere else—deep in the mountains, by the look of it. A three-hundred-kilometer drive; if they left now, they could make it by tonight.

But could she really trust Yang Baibai’s word? Mountain roads weren’t like highways or national routes. A wrong turn would cost them hours, maybe days, doubling back.

Ye Zhen had specifically recommended this shop, saying the owner was a big name in the business. Maybe he knew a thing or two. With that in mind, Gu Xianwang slipped out the door alone and called to the burly guy hauling the goods. “Big Bro, could I pick your brain about something?”

Brother Tiger was drenched in sweat from the lifting. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“You ever heard of Golden Hook Town? Anything like… tourist spots around there?”

“Oh.” Brother Tiger wiped his brow with his elbow and grinned. “Out for a mountain cruise, huh? Golden Hook Town’s pretty niche. Hardly anyone knew about it before, but it’s gotten some development lately. There’s Star-Plucking Peak nearby—got this old rock on top that looks just like a gold ingot. Supposed to be great for wealth luck; draws a crowd for that. Oh, and a Mist Forest, too. They hype it up like some foggy woods on Mount Fuji in Japan—perpetual mist, all mysterious. Young folks eat that stuff up.”

It all sounded pretty ordinary.

“What about Sheep Bend Gully? You know that one?”

“Sheep Bend Gully? Never heard of it. Name sounds like it’s buried in the hills somewhere. You’ll have to get in there and ask the locals.”

“Oh yeah, and there’s this ancient maple tree out that way. Thing’s ancient—easily a thousand years old. If you’re passing by, you can climb up and hang a wish plaque for romance. But looking at you three young folks, all trendy and whatnot—even bringing a chicken along as a pet—you probably aren’t into that kind of thing.”

Another ancient maple? Gu Xianwang filed that away. She was about to press further when her phone buzzed—a WeChat notification. Her heart skipped a beat. She pulled it out and checked the message, freezing in place.

It was from Long Li: a photo, pitch-black like the evening sky right now, but without any lights.

Moments later, a coordinate ping followed. Gu Xianwang cross-checked it against the map. The spot was near their planned Golden Hook Town, but off by a mountain ridge—thirty or fifty kilometers, give or take.

Was this their real location?

She seized the moment to fire off three quick replies, her palms slick with nervous sweat. But even after a couple of minutes, those fragmented messages had sunk into the digital void, met with utter silence.

Gu Xianwang hurriedly thanked Brother Tiger, then whispered a few words to Ye Chan as soon as they were inside. The two women immediately decided to head straight for that location.

Once outside, Brother Tiger handed the keys back to her and gave the car’s extensive modifications another puzzled once-over.

“Hey, where’d you rent this ride from?”

“What’s wrong?” Gu Xianwang was in a rush and didn’t want to get bogged down in small talk, so she brushed it off.

“Oh, nothing. Just curious. Alright, safe travels. Give me a call if anything comes up—my shop’s got full after-sales support.”

Brother Tiger waved them off, watching as the car disappeared into the distance. He couldn’t help wondering whose rental fleet this belonged to. Why install a satellite-grade tracker? The mods didn’t even look that pricey. Were they that worried it’d end up in a ditch?

Tsk. Weird.