"Brother Ye, the shelter is a bit rough, but it's already set up. Tonight, Xiao Fang and I will be on watch. Why don't you go inside and rest first?" Guo Qi came out and said.
Ye Mo smiled and replied, "No need, I'll take the night watch outside. I like being out at night. By the way, Brother Guo, you're older than me, so just call me Ye Mo from now on." Ye Mo felt that Guo Qi was a decent person who valued camaraderie, which made him want to get along with him. He disliked those who were heartless and unfaithful.
"All right, then I won't be polite. But don't call me Brother Guo either. Everyone in the army calls me Da Qi. You can call me Da Qi too. I'm honored to be your friend—no, your brother. How about that, Brother Ye?" Guo Qi was straightforward and disliked beating around the bush.
Ye Mo nodded and said, "That's even better."
Thinking of Ye Mo leisurely roasting wild rabbits alone in the jungle, Guo Qi stopped insisting. After many days, he was indeed very tired and went inside to rest with Fang Wei.
Inside the tent, Lu Lin looked at Chi Wanqing, who seemed to have something on her mind, and asked, "Wanqing, what do you think of Ye Mo?"
"Ah—" Wanqing was caught off guard while lost in thought, but soon responded after a moment of silence, "I think Brother Ye is a good person, and he's very capable, he has a kind of... a kind of..." Wanqing hesitated for a long time and didn't finish saying the feeling she longed for.
"Wanqing, you've been in the army for over three years, right? I know why you joined. But a woman grows older and needs a place to settle down. You've never shown any affection to any male soldier. Three years ago, you joined to avoid the arranged marriage your father set up for you, and maybe also because of your mother's situation. Now three years have passed. Are you going to live like this forever? Sometimes happiness comes; don't reject it." Lu Lin sighed softly.
After a pause, she continued, "When I graduated from technical school, I was nineteen—the prime of youth. I started working at the provincial arts troupe. I met him—a handsome man. Not only me, but other girls in the troupe admired him secretly. Of course, I was no exception.
But he was especially nice to me and asked me out more than once. Six months later, he proposed. I was only nineteen, and facing a twenty-seven-year-old man's proposal, I was at a loss. Though I liked him, I told him I was too young and asked him to wait. Half a year later, on my twentieth birthday, he proposed again, but I still wanted to wait because I felt I was too young to start a family.
But after that day, I never saw him again—he left. I waited another year with no news. Then I thought, if he ever came back, I would marry him immediately. But he never appeared, and I lost the will to work. So I joined the army.
Wanqing, sometimes opportunities come only once; if you miss them, they're gone. Trust me, Lu Lin. I've seen many kinds of people in the army. Ye Mo doesn't seem cunning; his eyes don't flicker, just that he's poor.
With your family background, would you care if he's rich or poor? Besides, there's a saying: Don't look down on a poor young man. If you truly liked wealth, you wouldn't have refused your family's wishes to join the army." Lu Lin sighed deeply, seemingly recalling the past.
"Lu Lin, actually I don't mean what you think about Brother Ye. It's just... I can't really explain it. I won't say more; I'll go see Brother Ye." Wanqing got up and was about to leave.
"Eh, Wanqing, your leg can walk now?" Lu Lin asked, surprised, pointing at Wanqing's leg.
"Yes, actually Brother Ye healed it. I could walk soon after, but it still hurts if I'm on it too long." Wanqing seemed to remember something, stopped talking, and hurried out. She suddenly felt a burning sensation on her face, as if someone had caught her at a weak spot—she felt shy.
Watching Wanqing run out, Lu Lin seemed lost in thought. Wanqing was a bit like herself back then, but Ye Mo was nothing like the man she once met.
Nearby, Ye Mo sat on a blue stone, deep in thought. He was mentally reconstructing the map he saw today. The route had been reviewed countless times, and combined with the few Tibetan words Wanqing helped translate, it clearly pointed to the Taklamakan Desert.
Though Ye Mo had never been to the Taklamakan Desert, he was familiar with China's map and major regions. But he had no impression of the "Kuhu" place or what "Shengmen" meant.
Ye Mo knew the Purple Heart Vine well—it was a spirit wood essential for many pills during Qi Refining stage. Although it didn't have harsh growing conditions, it definitely wouldn't grow in a desert since water is the most critical factor.
The Taklamakan Desert is China's largest desert, with an average annual rainfall under 100 mm—some years only a few millimeters. How could such a spiritual wood grow there?
While Ye Mo was pondering, Wanqing came out, and he noticed immediately. He smiled softly, thinking this girl seemed cold but was a little attached to him.
Wanqing didn't know how to greet Ye Mo. When she saw him turn and smile at her, she relaxed and quickly walked over.
Just as Wanqing reached behind Ye Mo, her expression suddenly changed. A small gray snake with glowing green eyes lunged at Ye Mo's back.
"Not good!" Wanqing knew that snakes with triangular heads were venomous, and this snake's head was not just triangular, but sharply so. Without thinking, she pounced on Ye Mo's back to protect him.
At the moment the green-eyed triangular snake attacked, Ye Mo sensed it. If Wanqing hadn't jumped, he could have dodged, but now it was impossible to pull her away.
The green-eyed snake reached them almost simultaneously with Wanqing, though it came from several meters away, showing its incredible speed. The gray snake bit Wanqing's back precisely.
Ye Mo was startled but not overly worried. He didn't believe he couldn't cure a snake's venom.
He turned and held Wanqing tightly. The snake lingered nearby, staring at him and trying to attack again. Seeing this, Ye Mo's anger surged, and he threw three iron nails at it.
"Chak chak"—two dull sounds, but the nails didn't pierce the snake's head. Two slid off its skin, and one left a thin blood mark. The snake seemed to realize this person was not to be trifled with and suddenly disappeared without a trace.
"This is no ordinary snake," Ye Mo thought, looking at Wanqing's face, now ashen.
The venom was powerful, and Ye Mo silently worried.
At that moment, Lu Lin, Guo Qi, and others came out and saw the situation. They knew Wanqing had been bitten by a highly venomous snake.