Desert Rhapsody - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Jiang Yuan did not follow up on Abal’s words with so much as an “Oh.” Abal did not go on to tell her what it mattered that the man who had ridden out was Faisal, either. They rode on in silence and returned to the camp from the previous night.

Abal seemed to move as usual, his blue eyes fixed ahead as he searched for the path and led the way. When traveling through the open wilderness, people had to cover their faces with veils, so Jiang Yuan could not make out his expression. By the time they reached camp, it was afternoon. The sun had baked them until their heads swam. The hounds burst out from the shade, wagging their tails to welcome Abal. The food in the bag had already spoiled, but luckily they still had their good dogs to catch fresh food for them: two rabbits, a lizard, and a gerbil.

They divided up the work, cleaning the game and preparing dinner. Jiang Yuan made the fire while Abal went to the water’s edge to skin and dress the animals, then threaded them onto branches to roast over the flames. Jiang Yuan cooked a pot of wheat-flour mush, then mixed fruit with yogurt into a bowl of dessert. As she was stirring the rabbit-leg soup, Abal set the rest of the meat down beside her, dripping with blood.

The sun gradually sank. He took off his headscarf and draped it over his shoulder, revealing his handsome face, damp with sweat. His blue eyes glanced at the two bowls of fruit yogurt on the ground, and he smiled with great interest.

“So this is what the devil’s food looks like.”

Jiang Yuan ignored him. Abal pointed at the apple slices she had peeled thin. “I’ve seen you carve those into rabbits before.”

Jiang Yuan picked up the knife and, with two swift cuts, carved a pair of rabbit ears into the apple slice before putting it into his portion. The bandit chief said, immensely satisfied, “Usually, you don’t look like a woman at all, but sure enough, you were born to cook.”

Jiang Yuan treated his words as nothing but wind by her ear. A while later, she saw Abal trying to carve rabbit ears into his own apple slices. He was far more deft with a knife than she was. By the time dinner was over that night, there were two oxidized, blackened apple lions sitting beside Abal. He studied them for a moment, then stuffed them into his mouth and ate them. In this vast desert, everyone ought to cherish food.

Actually, the lizard did not taste too bad either, aside from being a little tough on the teeth and somewhat chewy. Jiang Yuan lay in the same pit from the night before, gazing up at the stars as she thought this.

Abal said, “Rest early. We need to conserve our strength.”

She gave a soft mm to show she understood. After a while, she fell asleep. Around midnight, she woke again.

It was not because Abal had come over to poke her. Perhaps Jiang Yuan was simply jumpy. She sat up. Abal was sitting on a rock, one leg propped up, looking into the distance. His short hair was wet, and his long robe billowed in the wind. He really did love bathing. Moonlight perched on his arm. It was the lead hawk and disdained joining the other two hawks in their night hunt. Hawks were generally birds of prey that moved during the day, but Abal’s sort seemed to prefer moving at night. Besides, when moonlight shone across the Gobi, it lit up a thousand miles. The view was vast, bright almost as day. Perhaps they could see in this light as well.

The other two hawks circled in the air, then dove down, seized their prey, and dropped it to kill it. Abal turned his head to glance at Jiang Yuan. Wrapped in her blanket, she walked over to the rock.

“Didn’t you say we needed to conserve our strength?”

“It will still be five days before we reach the place where the lions appear,” Abal said. “I have enough time to rest.”

As for Jiang Yuan, of course, she had no experience. It would be best if she stopped letting her imagination run wild and prepared early. He whistled. The hounds received the order, kicked off against the sand, and raced away in excitement.

The desert was always livelier at night. The animals that came out to forage were easier to hunt. What they caught next was a big-eared fox. Abal did not need the food, so he let the hawks and hounds divide it among themselves. The scene was a little bloody, and Jiang Yuan somewhat regretted getting up. Now she did not particularly want to sleep either. But the scenery of the Gobi was strangely beautiful. Though she had looked at it for more than a hundred days, the bright moon in the sky was still so huge it dazzled, hanging over the endless wilderness while the cold wind and sand seemed to sob.

Abal asked her, “How old are you?”

Jiang Yuan said, “Twenty-three.”

It seemed she had also spent half a year in the desert. Counting on her fingers, her birthday should have passed. Abal glanced sidelong at her. “You’re that old, and you still don’t have a man?”

Jiang Yuan said, “…What the hell does that have to do with you?”

The bandit chief did not get angry even after being cursed at. He looked down at Jiang Yuan from above, his blue eyes narrowing as he smiled. “Since the food you made today was decent, if there’s anyone you like, you can pick any of my men. Of course, they have to be willing too.”

Jiang Yuan felt that perhaps the moonlight was simply too beautiful, and that was why she was standing here wasting words with him. “Including Faisal?”

“Including Faisal,” Abal said. “After you’re done with him, just leave him to me.”

The smile remained on his face, its curve unchanged, gentle and dangerous. Standing was too tiring, and Jiang Yuan did not want him looking down at her. She climbed onto the rock. Abal did not move. Moonlight cried out twice in annoyance, but Jiang Yuan forced it aside with her knife and plopped down beside its master. Only after sitting down did Jiang Yuan realize that the view from up high was truly good, far more beautiful than what she could see below. They had not yet strayed too far from the trade route. If she looked as far as she could, she seemed able to see shimmering light and scattered sparks of fire at the very edge of her vision. There was a gap of a dozen centimeters or so between her and the bandit chief. Though they sat shoulder to shoulder, the boundary between them was clear.

She pulled her blanket tighter, not letting it touch Abal’s hand. That hand was playing with a curved blade, and the jewel on his ring finger flashed with a beautiful light.

“I assume you’ve heard my story?” Abal said. “The road to Damascus to slaughter my third brother, Aklan, went a little too smoothly.” He said, “I’ve always wondered who it was that wanted to use my knife to kill someone.”

Jiang Yuan remembered what Abal had once said to her: “Don’t do your utmost.”

They sat there, looking at the moon together for a while.

Jiang Yuan asked, “How many older brothers do you have left?”

“Two.”

“A young lion must always weather wind and frost before it can grow into a true lion,” Jiang Yuan said as she stood. “Do your best. I’m going to sleep. Good night.”

I’m a little bewildered. I keep feeling like this should be the end, even though the word count is too short.

All right, in the next chapter they really will kill lions, then go have fun in Baghdad.