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墨書 Inktalez
"Old Cao," I called out to him.
Cao Mingzhe slowly turned his face towards me. "I don't know what's wrong with him; I can't even determine his state—whether he's a living person or a ghost."
"How did he convey messages to you? Does he know you're observing him, or is he consciously sending dreams to you?"
"I think he is aware of the observer because at certain times, he transmits information to me."
"How does he transmit it?" I asked nervously, staring at Cao Mingzhe.
"It's an incomprehensible method of transmission, not through sound or text. Some information just enters my brain directly, without any warning; suddenly, I just know certain things. But without exception, this information arises only when I dream of Song Guilong. Sometimes, these messages manifest in my dreams and can even wake me up. More often, after waking up, the information gradually presents itself in images. The information is disjointed, and so are the images, as if transmitting this information is a laborious task. I've never received a complete segment of information. Much of it I have to piece together myself, and so does Old Xiao."
Cao Mingzhe's statement confirmed the letter left for me by Xiao Guolin. Xiao Guolin's letter was indeed a diary of dreams, recording fragments just like Cao Mingzhe's—pieces of images.
"Why am I not included?" I murmured to myself.
I hadn't worked with Song Guilong for long, but I was the one who picked him up from the airport to the Archaeology site. During the Lop Nur Archaeological Activity, we had many interactions—sharing a simple room and excavating a Test Pit together. He had helped me a lot in both work and life, and I respected him like an elder. But why had I never dreamed of Song Guilong?
Cao Mingzhe shook his head at me. "Maybe he didn't want to trouble you. And you should be grateful for that; otherwise, you'd be as abnormal as me and Old Xiao."
"The messages from the Awakener are what the Song Team conveyed to you?"
"Yes. Including you; you're an Awakener. And Heimanluo. The Heimanluo from Lop Nur has become more powerful."
"He is warning you."
"No, he wants me to go back."
"Go back? For what!"
Xiao Guolin believes that he received the same message. He thinks Song Guilong is still alive."
I couldn't control my expression; I was too tense to care, my throat instinctively dry. I swallowed hard.
I have always believed that the information left for me by Xiao Guolin was worthless, and I never considered his dreams as a reference for action. However, I knew that Xiao Guolin himself placed great importance on this information; he had gone to such lengths to encode it precisely so that I would see it. He believed in its authenticity!
"And you?" I swallowed hard, my throat dry with tension, causing my voice to waver slightly. "What do you think?"
Cao Mingzhe nodded resolutely. "I need to go back and find him."
I couldn't sit still any longer. Despite having more questions, my body trembled uncontrollably, not from the cold—since the heating in the room was high—but from a mix of fear and what seemed like hope.
I stood up and walked over to the water dispenser, pouring myself a glass of water and drinking it down.
"Coffee?" Cao Mingzhe's voice came from behind me.
I didn't turn around. I shook my empty hand by my ear.
Suddenly, I realized something. Cao Mingzhe and Xiao Guolin shared the same experiences and dreams, yet their purposes regarding this matter were completely opposite.
Cao Mingzhe wanted to return to Lop Nur's Underground Passage to find Song Guilong and bring him back. Xiao Guolin, on the other hand, aimed to destroy the Eternal Gate at Lop Nur.
Xiao Guolin had once ordered a weapon from the Vietnamese—a damn Antimatter Bomb. He didn't need to pinpoint the Eternal Gate at Lop Nur; as long as he detonated it in the Underground Passage, it wouldn't matter if it was an Eternal Gate or a portal; even the sturdiest door would be reduced to rubble.
But why? Why would two people with identical experiences make such drastically different choices?
If Song Guilong were still alive, then Xiao Guolin could not possibly be dead either. The information Song Guilong provided him should have sustained him for some time, at least until Cao Mingzhe and I could go down to find him. But what did that Antimatter Bomb he left me mean? Did he want me to deliver it personally?
Like an ant on a hot pan, my mind and body couldn't settle; stopping felt like it would lead to disaster. I walked straight toward the floor-to-ceiling glass door of the balcony. With a 'whoosh,' I pulled open the balcony door, and the cold wind hit me, calming both my mind and body.
One of these two must have concealed important information from me; perhaps neither of them could be trusted! I decided to withhold all that I knew and not believe any information they provided until it could be verified by a third party.
Not bothering to close the balcony door behind me, I turned around and let the cold wind blow against my back. At the same time, it dispersed the murky haze in the room. "Why did the Hakka People agree to let you enter the Underground Cavern? That is their sacred ground."
"First of all, my awakening ability is stronger than theirs." From a distance, both Cao Mingzhe and I raised our voices. "The same ability awakens with different intensities in different places. As for me, The Eternal Gate of the Hakka People is a counterfeit."
I lifted my paper cup slightly. "You didn’t open that passage by force, did you? That’s not your style."
Cao Mingzhe laughed. He stood up, picked up half of a cigar that I had left on the table, and walked toward me while saying, "Of course not. That’s your buddy Song Gang's style. I made a deal with the Hakka People that allowed me entry into their Underground Cavern; that was my bargaining chip."
"And what was your bargaining chip?"
Cao Mingzhe handed me my half-smoked cigar and glanced back at his desk. "It's that, the piece of iron."
I took a deep breath. Yes, this chip was big enough to make the Hakka People concede. If it weren't for Cao Mingzhe's powerful awakening ability, I think the Hakka People might even risk claiming it for themselves. After all, this piece of iron had belonged to the Hakka People long ago. But it had been away from them for too long.
"How did you convince the Hakka People that you have this piece of iron? They wouldn't just let you into their sacred ground based on your word."
"I showed it to them."
"A photo?"
"No." Cao Mingzhe pointed again at the piece of iron on his desk. "It's this one. The Hakka Clan Leader nearly dropped his eyes on it."
Hearing this, my eyes nearly fell out as well. Cao Mingzhe went alone with this piece of iron to negotiate with the Hakka People; it was hardly different from a sheep entering a wolf's den. The problem was that the sheep suffered no harm while the wolves swallowed their frustration. I couldn't help but become intrigued by Cao Mingzhe's awakening ability.
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