The Lost Tomb : Sea Of Sands

Chapter 140: Female Classmate

Today's class was over, because Li Cu could no longer concentrate. The middle-aged man assigned him homework, asking him to analyze the details of King Mu's entire plan, and find a way to parse out the plan's framework. If he could do that, it would immensely help him with the later courses on fate and layout.

Tomorrow's class would be about the history of these black-clad men. The middle-aged left him a riddle, saying that they weren't the people who had opened the box, but they had witnessed everything after that.

After he left, Li Cu climbed into the wheelchair and wheeled himself outside the ward. No one was playing soccer on the sports field, but the girl he had seen just now was playing badminton with another boy. They were opposite the sports field, however, so he couldn't see them clearly.

Li Cu involuntarily touched his face. The scars were still there. I must be as terrifying as a ghost, and I wasn't even good-looking to begin with.

He was under the eaves, looking at the two people in the distance enjoying the grass, sunshine, breeze, and fresh air. He indulged himself in the strange mood he was in, and felt very depressed.

He believed the middle-aged man's words. Although everything was a little too magical, he believed that fate would make it so that some people had incredible destinies.

By the time he regained his senses, the girl had already come up to him. She had obviously been very active, as her forehead was covered with sweat. The boy who had been playing with her had his equipment on his back as he walked to a nearby building that looked like a school.

"Are you feeling better?" The girl asked him. "Did they let you out to get some sun?"

"They said sunshine would be good for me." Li Cu replied. No one had actually said that, but someone put a wheelchair by his bed so that he could go to the toilet by himself.

It wasn't a pleasant experience to be served with a bedpan.

"You've been lying down for a long time." The girl said. "I thought you were dead at first."

Li Cu looked around. He didn't know what day it was, which made him a little anxious. He asked the girl, "Are they allowing you to talk to me, or did you sneak over to see me?"

"What do you mean?" The girl asked. "Are you saying I'm breaking the rules? Then, if I'm punished for this, it has nothing to do with you."

This was a bit hostile, and the girl's expression seemed slightly provocative. Li Cu thought the girl seemed to be very interested in him.

"Well, can you tell me what the date and time is?"

"Are you asking about the Gregorian calendar or the timing method here?" The girl asked him.

Li Cu paused and asked himself, what's the timing method here? If it's not the Gregorian calendar, is it the lunar calendar?

"You haven't had this lesson yet, have you? There aren't many outsiders here, and ordinary people don't need to understand it. We have our own way of calculating time, but it's not made up or anything. The calendar's just different; it's backwards." The girl said. "In fact, we don't use it very often, because it's not practical. But we need to understand it so we can figure out how much time is left."

"What time?" Li Cu became more and more confused. The girl walked behind him and started pushing his wheelchair towards the sports field. "I'm not a teacher, so I can't teach you this, but you'll probably learn it tomorrow. I'll take you for a walk. The scenery over there is better."

As the wheelchair went onto the track surrounding the sports field, the sun beamed down on Li Cu from all directions, making him feel warm.

When the girl told him the date, he realized that a long time had passed. He remembered the day he entered the desert, but the time underground was a little vague. Up to this point, nearly half a month had passed, and he didn't know how the others were.

He vaguely felt a little apologetic for the things he had said to Yang Hao. He told himself that there was nothing he could do, but he felt as if he had handled it wrong.

At least he didn't cherish his good relationship with Yang Hao. It was surely retribution, so once he calmed down and thought about it, he would probably feel very uneasy.

He tried to shake off these thoughts. He wanted to ask the girl some questions about the course he had just heard, but didn't know if he should ask them.

But the middle-aged man didn't tell him that he should keep it a secret. He thought it over, but before he could open his mouth to ask, the girl asked him, "Your name's Li Cu, right?"

Li Cu nodded, and the girl asked him, "Does it have any special meaning?"

"Of course, it's a kind of musical instrument. When my father went to the countryside, he learned to play a kind of instrument belonging to the Li ethnic group. Because his surname is Li, he felt it was the perfect opportunity when I was born to use this character as my first name. That thing isn't popular, so you might not know it."

"I know, that thing's other name is "diyin gulu" [1]. Your nickname isn't "Gulu" is it?"

"It's Yali [2]." Li Cu smiled, suddenly thinking of his father.

He was surprised. First, because he was only thinking of him now; and second because he was even thinking about him at all.

"Are you a student here?" Li Cu asked. Boys his age had no resistance to pretty girls, but now he was facing some contradictions. On one hand, the course just now made him very confused; but on the other hand, he liked the feeling of suddenly being pushed by a strange girl around the sports field.

"Student? This isn't a school." The girl replied. "This is just a sports field. Just because there's a sports field, doesn't necessarily mean it's a school. The real skills aren't learned in school."

"Then where is this place?" Li Cu once again raised this question.

"This is home." The girl answered. "I live here. Every time I go for a run, I pass in front of your ward. The curtains here normally aren't drawn, but they have been every time I've come by recently. If they're closed, that makes me think there must be someone inside."

"Oh." Li Cu nodded. They reached the other side of the sports field where Li Cu was having trouble seeing before. There was a big lake behind a small grove.

Li Cu saw the previous leader of the black-clad people standing by the lake. The girl didn't seem afraid of him and pushed Li Cu to a place that wasn't far from him. She continued to ask: "Pear, what are you doing here? I feel like they all seem to value you."

Li Cu was a little nervous when he saw the black-clad person looking back at them. The man had changed out of his black clothes and was fishing by the lake in a casual t-shirt. He didn't seem to be paying them too much attention, which made Li Cu think that he and this girl didn't have to be so cautious.

Li Cu told her that he didn't know why he had come here, and then went on to talk about some things that he thought were unimportant. He also vaguely mentioned some of the things that had happened before he came here. The girl didn't seem to entirely believe him, and pushed him to the edge of the lake. She then sat down on the embankment beside him, and lowered her feet. "You're holding back. I know you came here because of your nose. Can you really see those things? [3]"

Li Cu was about to speak when the girl suddenly touched Li Cu's broken leg, and then stuffed a roll of something into his sock.

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Notes:

[1] Bass rumbling/grumbling noise.

[2] Pear. Chinese white pear if we're getting specific.

[3] She's hinting at the pheromones.