Desert Rhapsody - Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Naturally, this sleep meant to restore her strength did not feel good. Even asleep, Jiang Yuan could feel the exhaustion, the heaviness, the feverish heat of her body, and the hallucinations pressing in from every direction. She kept running through a corridor, running and running with no end in sight. In a blur, she would see those endlessly identical statues again. She was terrified, but at the same time she thought, Is this ever going to stop? Once she could actually see one, she was going to smash it into stone dust with a hammer.

When she woke up, she thought she would have a fever, but aside from her body feeling heavier, there did not seem to be anything else wrong. Thank heavens for that. Something was still poking her shoulder over and over, and then Abal realized she was awake. His voice sounded from the air. “Clear your head. We’ll be leaving soon.”

Jiang Yuan thought she had slept for a long time, but when she looked outside, the sun had only just begun to sink westward, and its heat was still ravaging the earth. “We’re not leaving at night?” she asked.

Abal said, “The searches are stricter at night.”

He had plenty of experience evading searches like this. He knew the inspections were harshest right after an escape and at night. They should leave when the city gates were about to close, or during a change of shifts or mealtime. That was how to avoid attracting attention. Food had already been laid out on the ground, and it looked genuinely delicious. The cat was gone. Abal said, “It left halfway through your sleep.” She had slept too deeply. That was the sort of movement she ought to have noticed.

They silently grabbed the food on the ground and began eating. They needed to replenish their strength. Only after they had eaten nearly half of it did Jiang Yuan ask him.

“…After you turn transparent, what happens?”

Even thinking with her toes, she knew that if both of them disappeared from sight, escaping would be effortless. There was no way Abal would not tell her such a trick. If he had not said anything, then either he did not know how to do it, or doing so came with a much greater, irreversible price.

Abal said, “Don’t curse him. You’ll disappear.”

“What do you mean, disappear?”

“Disappear means disappear.” The voice in the air paused for a moment. “I have a feeling my time is almost up. If we don’t reach Memphis within five days…”

“You’ll disappear completely.”

“Curse him a few more times, and the disappearance speeds up. So from now on, we’d better not even think a single word about him.”

“Who is he?”

“Khufu.” He spat out the single word, terse and to the point.

Jiang Yuan still remembered what Abal had looked like three days ago. Perhaps he had cursed Khufu many times to become what he was now. There was no point in saying that now. She asked, “Then what if we put the gemstone back?”

Perhaps he shrugged. A faint stir of air passed by. “An eagle with its wings bound can’t fly. We can only leave it to fate.”

Jiang Yuan nodded and said nothing more. They lowered their heads and continued eating for a while. Judging by Abal’s appetite, he had clearly made peace with it.

To get from here to Memphis in five days, they could not afford to waste even a moment.

Cloth really did have many uses. Spread on the ground, it served as a sleeping mat. During the meal, it became a tablecloth. Afterward, it turned into fabric to drape over themselves. Aside from a few suspicious stains and the smell of food on it, everything looked fine. In the dim light of evening, it should be enough to disguise them. The more difficult issue was that Jiang Yuan’s features were too distinctive. If someone ordered her to open the cloth and show herself, and she still could not run, then she would just have to let Abal stab people from behind.

Abal whistled. “My dear Jia Nan, even though I understand how much you love me, we don’t have to go that far.”

He strolled off at an unhurried pace. Faint footsteps could be heard moving to another corner, and Abal took out another cloth bundle hidden inside a jar.

Jiang Yuan was left somewhat speechless. Was this guy Doraemon?! Or had he finally maxed out his thief skills after becoming invisible? The bundle floated over and was set down on the ground, then opened. A pile of beautiful dresses and jewelry was stacked together. Lying across the top was a golden scepter. At its head, a cheetah roared with its mouth open, while a coiled golden cobra and obsidian eyes gleamed brilliantly. Jiang Yuan looked in Abal’s direction, waiting for him to explain.

“This is the Scepter of Isis. Take it, and we should be able to leave the city.”

“Who is Isis?”

“I don’t remember her face, so it’s hard to describe her. In any case, she’s some priestess who wanted to sleep with me. Don’t worry. It’s been three days. No one cares whether she appears or not.”

That poor priestess had already been locked inside some chest in her room. But Jiang Yuan believed that if she did not change into this outfit, she would end up even more pitiful than the priestess. According to Abal, this priestess was a rather prominent member of the royal family, Hatshepsut’s cousin. Her grandfather had once been the vizier of Lower Egypt, which was roughly equivalent to a governor and prime minister. In short, she did not get along very well with the female pharaoh, and her status was noble. Abal had once made her throw a tantrum in her room, declaring that she was praying for the empire and would not receive visitors. Now, as long as Jiang Yuan took the scepter and cursed people out, there was a very good chance she could curse open a path.

“How do you know all that so clearly?” Jiang Yuan asked suspiciously.

“As long as she wanted to have a child with the Divine Envoy and fight for the pharaoh’s throne,” the voice in the air said lazily, “she would tell me anything.”

I feel so sleepy I’m about to give up on being saved.