Desert Rhapsody - Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Before they set out, however, Jiang Yuan received new information. Perhaps they had the crocodile to thank for delaying them. A small boat that had come in pursuit delivered intelligence to Thutmose, proving that this powerless prince was not entirely without men of his own in Thebes. After all, in terms of legitimacy, Queen Hatshepsut was not exactly the ruler everyone wanted. Thutmose said, “The Queen Mother has issued an order to mobilize the army in Memphis.”

Memphis was precisely where they were headed. Thutmose’s natural sharpness came into play once again. “You said you were going to the far end of Lower Egypt,” he asked. “Then why does your ship only need to go as far as Memphis as well?”

“Stopping at Memphis is the Goddess’s will,” Jiang Yuan said. “What made you connect it that way?”

Thutmose replied, “They say the Queen Mother also has a Divine Envoy at her side now. He advised her to go to Memphis.”

Jiang Yuan was still thinking about it even after she boarded the ship. Thutmose arranged for his own trusted men to send them north. The Nile River flowed north into the sea from the plateaus and mountains of central and southern Africa. Their boat traveled with the wind and moved very quickly. Even so, it would take them an entire night to arrive. The river was so broad its far bank could not be seen, and on the water, the boat and its passengers swayed like a tiny leaf. Jiang Yuan dismissed the slaves and told them they did not need to attend her. After a while, Abal silently sat up beside her and squeezed her hand.

Their nightmares grew deeper by the day. They were afraid that once they fell asleep, they might never wake again. Although the outline of the Pyramid of Khufu had already appeared in their dreams, just like the statue, perhaps it was only because they were drawing closer and closer to the curse. Abal could not be seen, so Jiang Yuan had to keep holding his hand, both to wake him at crucial moments and to have him take over so she could sleep. After all, she was still a living person who existed, so during the day, the burden of staying awake had to fall on Abal.

He knew they were thinking about the same thing. This did not seem like a coincidence. Both of them remembered the strange incident when Thutmose had gone after the gem and the Goddess’s traitor. The prince had reported, “Only clothes, bloodstains, and the gem were left. The person vanished.” At the time, they had thought this was the final outcome of the curse. But what if it had not ended there? What if, like Jiang Yuan now, there was still an invisible person lingering at her side, struggling with all his might for one last gamble?

Abal said softly, “That man’s name is Huosen. He’s the leader of the tomb raiders.”

He had extraordinarily large hands and extraordinary strength, enough to twist off a lion’s neck. But under the miracle of invisibility, no one would likely notice a trivial thing like strength. Abal said lazily, “It’s probably him.”

They did not discuss the matter in great depth. In any case, even if one more damned invisible person had appeared, they still had to obediently go to Memphis and serve themselves up on a platter. The gem was on Abal, and invisible people presumably could not see one another either, so Jiang Yuan could feel perfectly at ease being the bait.

“Hurry up and sleep,” Jiang Yuan said. “I don’t want to lie here motionless for an entire afternoon.”

“Looks to me like you want to very much,” the air said with a laugh. Still, he obediently lay back down.

By nightfall, it was Jiang Yuan’s turn to sleep. She lay on the bed, nestled against soft silk. Abal had gone who knew where, but she did not need anyone holding her hand to confirm where she was anyway. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, but it seemed to be a very light sleep, and before long she woke again. In her dream, there had been not only the statue silently looking down at her, but also a sky full of stars. When Jiang Yuan rose and walked onto the deck to lean against the railing and gaze out, the stars above were the same as the ones in her dream.

Just by looking at the stars, there was no telling what era it was. Four thousand years ago or four thousand years later, the river seemed to surge on forever, unchanged. Jiang Yuan stood watching for a while before soundless footsteps came up behind her. “My dear Jia Nan,” Abal asked, “what are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” Jiang Yuan said.

Abal said, “You’re wondering whether returning the gem really can send us back to Ghost City?”

“It’s also possible we’d end up in Memphis of that time.”

By the eighth century, Memphis seemed to no longer exist either. Only ruins remained, along with the magnificent pyramids standing in the desert, where people would occasionally go to look up at the miracles of the gods. “Is that so?” Abal asked. “Would that be in my time, or in yours?”

Jiang Yuan turned her head slightly, trying to locate him. Even though she could not see him, she could imagine his expression. Jiang Yuan had only just thought of this problem today, before boarding the ship. But from the looks of it, the bandit chief had known for a long time. In this regard, her mind still did not turn as quickly as his. Perhaps because she had spent so many years in the eighth century, it had been a very long time since she had thought about the era she had come from. She had not considered that if they returned the gem, she might very well return to the beginning.

“You knew back in Thebes?” she asked calmly.

Abal said, “Either way, I don’t have much to lose.”

He had plenty to lose. If she really brought him back to the twenty-first century, where was she supposed to get him an ID card? But then again, with his abilities, carving out a place for himself on the black market would be child’s play. Unlike her, he was not exactly law-abiding, and he had plenty of ways to survive in the future. The thought of Abal using a phone and smoking made her want to laugh. Jiang Yuan pressed her lips together.
“What if we each return to our own time?”

Abal said, “Then let this Nile River flow from two thousand years in the future to four thousand years in the future.” He added, “Without you, it would only be going back to its original course.”

Of course it would. The bandit chief was unexpectedly open-minded-and good at letting things go. He was right. Wasn’t living in the moment his creed? Jiang Yuan laughed. “You’re right.”

“Isn’t that how it is?” Abal said lazily. “People who’ve read books all seem a little foolish.”

She still fell asleep uneasily that night, anxious over the uncertain future. But Jiang Yuan knew that when the boat reached the bridge, it would naturally straighten out. The next day, Abal woke her. The boat had arrived at Memphis. As they docked, Jiang Yuan ordered her trusted follower, “Scuttle the boat, but don’t kill the slaves.” She had already discussed it with Abal. With a veil over her face, she did not even have to match his mouth movements. The trembling slaves could not even shed tears. They knelt on the ground, silently bearing the Sun on their backs.

Abal stood beside her and said, “Tell Thutmose this is the army I’m giving him.”

“Yes.” The trusted follower also knelt, ecstatic to receive the oracle. “I shall obey your command.”

One trusted follower took the slaves to scuttle the boat before hurrying back to the temple, while the other accompanied them into Memphis. There was no city wall at the docks. They did not even have to search; the moment they looked up, they could see the pointed peaks stretching along the distant horizon. The pyramids stood at the edge of sight, and Jiang Yuan wished she could sprout wings and fly straight there. But smoke and dust also hung in the distance, along with noisy shouts and footsteps running everywhere. The Queen Mother’s order had already arrived. Soldiers were being mobilized all across Memphis, throwing the entire city into unrest. Abal said, “Looks like we can’t rush straight to Khufu the way we discussed. We’ll have to use the second plan. What did you call it again?”

Jiang Yuan stared straight ahead without even glancing at him and answered succinctly, “Plan B.”

“Where do we meet?”

“Ask where the temple in Memphis is.”

They split up. Abal left without a sound, plunging into the depths of the city, while Jiang Yuan wrapped herself up tightly and paid a visit to the priests of the Memphis temple as the trusted aide of Thutmose III, High Priest of Karnak Temple and future Pharaoh, conveying his greetings. Even if they did not think much of her, they happily accepted the offerings she brought-put it on Thutmose’s tab first. Once they sat down and chatted, she could ask what had happened. Fortunately, she had already found out that High Priests all had royal blood, which saved her a great deal of trouble.

“Was it the Queen Mother’s order to guard the pyramids?”

“They say a terrifying Devil will descend there,” the High Priest said, looking deeply displeased. This sudden and inexplicable order had thrown the entire city into chaos. Compared with an inspecting priest who had brought over great piles of gold, silver, and jewels, letting her see Memphis in such an embarrassing state was practically a slap in the face. Hatshepsut, after all, had not yet dared to truly ascend the throne and claim kingship, and she was focused on royal trade, cutting back temple property and slaves. The priests had plenty of complaints in private. “The soldiers have been ordered to gather and surround them. Every single one must be surrounded, and the Vizier actually complied! Has he never considered that after taking those men away, the tomb construction…”

Jiang Yuan’s spirits instantly lifted. Wearing a sympathetic expression, she sighed along with him for a while before asking how the workforce for the tomb construction could be short. It turned out Memphis did not have enough infantry, and there were far too many pyramids, temples, and statues across the river from the city. They could not dispatch enough men on short notice. The Vizier, who knew what had gotten into him, had even dragged away the slaves building tombs for the local nobles. Even though he had promised to return them in a few days, the great local nobles were still extremely dissatisfied. They simply did not dare speak because it was a royal order. But Jiang Yuan was one of their own, after all. Besides, who would not want to curry favor with the future Pharaoh? Once Prince Thutmose married Princess Neferure and ascended as Pharaoh, the Queen Mother was only a woman in the end. What could she do to Amenhotep III?

Jiang Yuan’s face filled with outrage. “So they dragged away your private soldiers and slaves? How could they do such a thing? Where is the dignity of the High Priest now? The Vizier must have deliberately misinterpreted Her Majesty the Queen Mother’s command. He must be intentionally making things difficult for the temple… How dare he!”

The High Priest was furious. Together with Jiang Yuan, he cursed the Vizier thoroughly. But he also knew where to draw the line, and after a while he sent Jiang Yuan back to her room to rest. Jiang Yuan instructed a maid to draw a triangular symbol at the door. “This is the latest fashion in Thebes. Drawing this symbol on the door proves that I serve God Horus with devotion in my heart.” She dismissed the maid, called for a lavish meal, and began to eat.

Because she had been ordered to write a Book of the Dead for the prince, she ate very slowly. After a couple of bites, inspiration would suddenly strike, and she would write furiously on the stone tablets and papyrus scrolls spread across the floor. A while later, she would complain that the meat and bread had gone cold and demand the maids take them away and make them again. The kitchen grumbled for a while, but after she promised to reward them with her own gold bracelet, there was no more trouble. By the time Jiang Yuan slowly dragged things out until just before nightfall, she finally saw a roasted quail rise into the air. In three bites, a chunk disappeared. The wine cup also floated up, and the beer inside dropped by a large gulp with a splash.
In front of Jiang Yuan, the outline of a cloth pouch emerged after it left its owner’s body. Jiang Yuan opened it and took a look. The distinctive smell of sulfur hit her in the face, followed by an even stronger reek of urine.

“That was a real pain to find,” Abal complained. “Why are all your requests so strange? Check if it’s the right stuff.”

Jiang Yuan bravely reached inside to verify it. Ever since Adnan’s death, she had long expected that sworn brother of hers to start trouble. As a woman on her own, there would always be times when she was alone; one mistake could leave a lifetime of regret. Jiang Yuan had secretly begun researching explosives very early on and made them into tiny pellets to carry with her. But using something like that in public drew far too much attention, so she would never take them out unless it was the final moment. Even after ending up in ancient Egypt, she still kept one or two on her. Who could have imagined that one day she would have to take them apart, let Abal inspect them, and entrust him with the important task of finding the raw materials?

She checked through some of it, picked out what was wrong, confirmed the useless portions with Abal, and casually tossed them into the fire. “These are right.” Abal briefly explained where he had found the sulfur. He knew sulfur was used to bleach cloth, so he had tried searching around the weaving places, and to his surprise, there really had been some. As for saltpeter, he had followed Jiang Yuan’s instructions and focused on the area around the latrines. Even in Jiang Yuan’s era, crude urine-niter bombs were famous village weapons, enduringly popular and never out of fashion. Jiang Yuan sensed Abal go still. She stopped what she was doing and looked up. After a moment, the bandit chief silently edged closer.

“How many gold coins would this method be worth?” He looked perfectly composed, his curiosity leisurely, like an innocent child full of thirst for knowledge. Jiang Yuan expressionlessly pushed his large face away. “This isn’t for sale.”

“I’ll pay for it.”

“Not for sale.” She took his hand, led him into the room, then shut him inside. She went back out on her own and mixed the materials with charcoal, making crude little pellets. Perhaps they would have to blow open the pyramid to get inside. There was no other way; they could only rely on these.

That night, after Abal heard the information Jiang Yuan had gathered, he decided without much thought, “It’s Huosen.” He was casually fiddling with the materials Jiang Yuan had left over, testing whether he could make something like the explosives bandits commonly used-not that he was making those, of course. He had also taken the opportunity to gather the things he needed for himself. Since he was already invisible, he might as well take whatever he could. He burst into laughter. “Someone is worried we’ll find the right pyramid.”

It was a rotten idea, but also a genius one: surround all the pyramids nearby so the people who came would have no way of knowing which one was the real target. But Huosen had still miscalculated. Abal resembled his mother; Huosen had not expected that the Governor of Bakum was actually a native-born Egyptian. Even though he had kept secret which pyramid the stolen goods had come from, Abal could precisely narrow down the destination from the details of his nightmares and the few words exchanged by the tomb robbers.

The soldiers in the city were still being mobilized, with clamor and shouting continuing day and night. This project was far too large. Without someone directly supervising him, the Vizier could not possibly dare to disregard the dissatisfaction of the High Priest and the other nobles like this and squander so much manpower and wealth. Without sufficient intimidation, he would not have gone through with it. Abal concluded, “Huosen is right beside him.”

Naturally, Huosen had to come. And he was more anxious than Abal and Jiang Yuan. He had to catch them. The gemstone was on Abal, and without the gemstone, no one could go back.

“The center of the pyramid is the burial chamber.” Jiang Yuan drew a simple map for Abal. The very center point of the triangle was the burial chamber. “We just have to climb upward. Keep going up.”

“That place wasn’t built for living people to climb, was it?” Abal imagined it for a moment, because he knew what a pyramid looked like. He had been the one to describe it to Jiang Yuan. He had personally ridden over to look at and touch one; a single stone block was three or four meters high. The inside of the pyramid would naturally also be stacked from such massive stones. Climbing upward would probably be difficult. Jiang Yuan said directly, “Huosen will prepare it for us.”

She could feel the bandit chief curve into a wicked grin in the air. “I like this idea.”

Morning and evening, Jiang Yuan went to chat with the High Priest about Memphis’s valiant, warlike Vizier. Then they patiently waited for more than a day. According to Abal’s suggestion, this was to wear down Huosen’s patience and make him even more irritable, forcing him into the struggle of a cornered beast. He was in more of a hurry, because he could not find them, nor could he find the gemstone. Thinking carefully, the standoff had likely begun the moment Thutmose’s ship left Thebes.

By the evening of the fourth day, unrest had already broken out in Memphis. Many people surrounded the granaries, begging for a few grains of wheat, while even more believers flooded into the temple, trading gold for food. Abal’s agitation among the common people had played no small role. People believed the sudden ravings were instructions from the gods, especially because the Devil was now right beside Memphis. Two days was enough time for those rumors about the Devil to spread throughout the entire city. Memphis had already become an empty city. The large amount of manpower being pulled away required ample food and supplies, and at the Vizier’s demand, grain, beer, clothing, weapons, horses, weapon smiths, and bakers all had to be provided first.
It was said that many senior officers were there as well, which meant the women attached to them-and the servants who waited on those women, along with their perfumes, clothing, tailors, master sculptors, and jewelers-had to follow.

Ancient Egypt did have plenty of precedents for gathering tens of thousands of laborers to build tombs, but that did not mean anyone had experience with such an abrupt mobilization. Memphis had been hollowed out by one sudden order, as if the entire city had been uprooted, given wings, fitted with wheels, and then driven by countless stumbling feet to swarm toward the pyramid in a panic. Once too many people were involved, everything dissolved into chaos. At dinner, Jiang Yuan deliberately made harsh demands, yet even the softness of the bread and the size of the portions failed to meet her standards. It was said the streets were already nearly empty. Memphis and its docks were the hub connecting Upper and Lower Egypt, and now that hub had ground to a halt.

Abal gloated so hard he nearly split his sides laughing. “That sand-digging idiot. What would he know about all the considerations that go into moving troops and issuing orders? He was so desperate to find us that he must have promised the Vizier a whole pile of nonsense. With that face of his, plus the Queen Mother’s command, he really would be very convincing.” Jiang Yuan was genuinely a little curious. “You learned this as a bandit?”

The former bandit chief heaved an affected sigh.

“Bandits have higher standards than government officials, you know. Without women, fine wine, good meat, and a place where they can happily throw their gold coins around, they won’t go anywhere.”

Put that way, being a governor and being a bandit really did have quite a lot in common.

The timing was just about right. Once darkness fell, it would be easier to act. Even if there was some pulling and tugging, others might not necessarily see the transparent patch beneath Jiang Yuan’s clothes. She summoned the maids, threw the bread down in front of them, and watched as they knelt in terror, kowtowing and begging for mercy. Then Jiang Yuan rose in a fury and went to find the High Priest.

“They say there is a Devil there. In my view, there really is a Devil there! I’m afraid the Vizier has already been bewitched by it. Otherwise, why would he do something so muddleheaded?” Jiang Yuan rebuked loudly. “I asked around. Quite a few strange things have indeed happened around the Vizier recently. They say he often hides in his tent like a thief, and more than once, people have seen him talking to empty air.”

The High Priest was clearly tempted, but still somewhat hesitant. “This…”

“What Devil could withstand the radiance of the Sun God? To say such things in the sacred ancient capital of Memphis-if you ask me, the problem is that his own heart is corrupt, and that is what gave the Devil an opening to invade! It is not only the Queen Mother and Prince Thutmose who will punish him. The great Ra will surely bring judgment down upon him as well!” Jiang Yuan urged the High Priest on. “Bring men with you and go take a look! I hear that barely any priests or clergy followed the Vizier there. Perhaps the people over there are thirsting desperately for Ra’s teachings! The rainy season is almost over. This year, we will surely receive even more offerings and gold!”

Who knew which words moved the High Priest-the Pharaoh’s and the god’s punishment, or more gold. Seeing the High Priest’s expression waver, Jiang Yuan hurried to strike while the iron was hot. “I heard from the messages sent back that someone has already discovered traces of the Devil! I think it must fear the light of the great Amun-Ra during the day and only come out at night to make trouble. We must set out at once, catch it in the act, and destroy it! The great Amun-Ra will surely reward us!”

Her face was resolute, her vows solemn. Even though every word out of her mouth was nonsense, with every opportunity pushing in the same direction, even the High Priest could not help growing muddleheaded. He gathered the few remaining private soldiers left in the temple and set off for the pyramid. Better still, at some point in the night, someone leaked the news, and suddenly everyone had heard that the Vizier was possessed by a Devil, and that the High Priest was going there to unleash his power and seize him on the spot… The remaining fraction of the city-basically nobles and priests, with a small number of commoners-boiled over.

“We’re going too!” “Great Ra!” The High Priest moved slowly. When he saw the dense crowd blocking the temple gate, their torches almost lighting up half the sky, he was so moved that old tears streamed down his face. He used every bit of breath in his chest to shout at the top of his lungs, “May the great Amun-Ra bless us!”

The torches formed a long dragon, and the curfew was all but meaningless. The gates of Memphis had already opened. A second wave of people walked out of the city, the sparks on the ground winding forward and reflecting the stars in the sky. The starry sky was very bright, and in the distance, the pyramid revealed its dark tip through the gauze-like night. Jiang Yuan stood on the chariot and gazed into the distance. Suddenly sensing something, she shifted slightly to the side.

A moment later, she felt someone climb up beside her and press close, taking her hand to help her find her balance.

“It’s been so long since we rode together like this,” that person teased by her ear. “I really missed it.”

One more chapter, just one more chapter.

The gossip can wait until the next chapter.