Wu Xie

The next morning, Wu Xie wake up a bit after sunrise, after a night full of weird dreams that keep him moving around his sleeping bag, stealing away he most needed rest for the journey ahead of him. Nevertheless he was determine to see it through and find his missing uncle no matter what dangers or fate he could find there.

He make sure he had everything he needed packed on his backpack, from provisions, a dagger for defense against the things his grandfather had described existed around tombs, flashlights, ropes and so on, including his grandfather notebook, then went out of his tent to join the chaos of dismantling camp from some of the crew.

Pangzi was putting some packing's at the cargo of a black pickup and as soon as he saw him, he came to meet him, putting an arm over his shoulders.

"Ah Tainzhen, are you ready for your first adventure? I will let you know, it may not be as you had picture it on all those years of yearning for it." Pangzi pointed at the young man.

"Even though I look useless in your eyes, I assure that's not the case. I am more than aware of the dangers of Tamutuo and know it legend as the palm of my hand." Wu Xie said innocently and Pangzi frowned before he dragged him away from the busy camp.

"Hey, where are you taking me?" Wu Xie protested when Pangzi guide him far enough from any unwanted overhearing.

"Tianzhen, really... you must be a bit more careful around this group of people. Even though this expedition is called by your uncle Erbai, most people unrelated to the Wu family is here for more than find your third uncle. They are her for lost treasures and let me tell you that you carry with you one that can put you in danger and become a target of quite a lot of mercenaries. This business is really ruthless, no kidding, so don't go around casually saying things only your grandfather knew." Pangzi said and Wu Xie sighed.

"If you mean my grandfather notebook, which is named the tomb raiding ultimate note, there is no need to worry. No one else but me can see what is writing on it and even if they try to get me, to know what's inside it will be useless. Anyone who force me to read it will be cursed and burn to ashes as soon as the first word is said. I doubt my uncle told you about the curse on the notebook and me. No one in my family is comfortable with telling others that I am the source of an ancient curse my grandfather use to keep his findings from unscrupulous people." Wu Xie explained.

"What curse? This is my first time hearing of such thing." Pangzi asked quite surprised to hear of such thing from Tianzhen mouth.

"A special one. My grandfather said that when I was born, something strange happen when I cry out for the first time after leaving my mother's womb. He said that several thunders flashed in the sky at that very moment over the hospital my mother was taken and that the room went dark from a power outage that affected only her private room. My grandfather was waiting outside the room along with my father and when he hear the thunders, he swear he hear it naming me Wu Xie and that for a second he saw the translucent shape of a Qilin go out of my mother's room."

"Five years later, he was compelled to raid a tomb he dreamed about for weeks. He said the tomb was a very small one that only had one treasure inside. After finding the exact location of the tomb, he raid it, finding a strange white jade brush on an elaborated gold case. After he study and taste it several times, he found out it could cast a spell and a curse at the same time. The spell was to keep every word writing with it, invisible to everyone, except one person of your choice. The curse was for anyone else trying to steal the writing, or the one chosen will burst in flames to death."

"When I was seven, my grandfather officially choose me as his inheritor because he see me as a special child for what happen at my birth and the spell on the book acknowledged it. A few days later, when I begin to read it with my grandfather's guidance, a spy on my family found out I could read the notebook too and he try to force me to tell him what was writing on it and... well... I had nightmares of the man combusting in flames for weeks. Six months later my grandfather die and my father forbid me to become a tomb raider ever since." Wu Xie finish the long hidden secret of his family and saw as Pangzi went pale in a instant.

"Kid... you... damn and here I thought Zhang Qiling was the most mysterious and surreal man I know...yet you are so much on his league. Your uncle hide your secret well, that's for sure. Been born under the blessing of a heavenly beats and protected by fire, you two are a perfect match." Pangzi said with a mix of awe and fear at the same time.

"Actually, I have forgot all about that, as it never happen again, but now that you know, there is no reason to worry about my safety regarding my grandfather's ultimate notes. Only someone with a death wish will try to steal secrets that are cursed in such a way." Wu Xie said as he turned to look at a certain direction in which a certain woman with a ponytail was 'coincidentally' passing.

When Pangzi saw Ning walking away, he laughed. Wathever the story Wu Xie just told him was real or simply made off in the spur of the moment, it didn't really matter. The thing was that now he truly had a layer of protection, as the tale will spread beyond the Wu family and the apparent death sentence too dangerous to find it real or not.

"You are truly growing up Tianzhen, maybe you are indeed fit to this kind of job." Pangzi said as he guide Wu Xie back to the camp.

After a while, they decided the best route to take to the area Madam Dolma had pointed as the Devil City location, but Wu Xie find it odd that the woman didn't explained in more details about what to expect out of the Devil City and vicinity, but as Pangzi had warned, he decided to keep quiet for the time being.

At the end, they headed into the desert and Wu Xie was glad to share a car with Xiao Hua, Pangzi and Pan Zi, instead of Hei Xiazi, Ning or even Zhang Qiling. The last one make him feel nervous, especially after what happen with the pendant that absorbed his blood and which hanged over his neck as warm as it was made of skin.

"Tianzhen, we are all more or less your family here, can you tell us about the legend of Tamutuo or that could burn us to death?" Pangzi asked.

"It's fine for me to tell you. The real secrets of Tamutuo are not mention on my grandfather's notes only the dangers any tomb raiders may face on their way to the Queen Mother's Palace." Wu Xie explained.

"So there is more to what that old woman told us?" Xiao Hua asked not really surprised to hear it, because just an approximate coordinate and following a dry river course upstream was simply too vague to his liking.

"Of course there is. My grandfather listed three mayor dangers in Tamutuo aside for the ones that could be find inside the tomb burry deep within the desert with at least seven accessible levels and who knows how many sealed ones."

"He mention three layers or more like three rings of warnings around the Devil City. The first one is a sandstorm that will come out of nowhere, strong or weak, depending on the ones entering the ring area. Grandfather said the duration of the sandstorm will depend on the judgment of the guardians of the City. If you are lucky enough to pass the storm, the second warning is called the dragon roar, which is a fierce lightning storm that will sound as a dragon raging on the desert. That one it's said to be quite frightening, as you could be strike by lighting at any time, while the heavens seems to send down their judgment to test what's inside your heart."

"If you happen to pass this second test, then there is the third and last one outside the tomb. Over the night sky an atypical northern lights (aurora) will be seen and it will be extra charged with magnetism. No compass will work at that point and it's said that it can cause illusions of all kinds, to get you lost inside the Devil City forever. Then is the real maze which is the Devil City origins and the tomb entrance can only be reached inside an illusion itself." Wu Xie said all at once, already memorized the whole Tamutuo reference years ago. At his side, Pangzi become a bit panicked and swallowed hard.

"Alright, no wander Madam Dolma didn't said a damn thing about that. To be honest such tale make you want to turn back. I mean, with such hardships, can we even find San Xing in one piece?" Pangzi asked and Wu Xie glared daggers at him.

"Of course we will! My grandfather did come back from whatever hell he faced there and so will us along with uncle three." Wu Xie assured him immediately.

"That's right Fatty. It's not like tomb raiding is a safe job no matter where you go. You had probably see you fair share of impossible things and live to tell the tale. No matter what, we should keep going upstream of the river course until reaching the Devil City, whatever happens in there, it will depend on our will force. We Mystic Nine families had the strongest will and also the luck to face such tribulations." Xiao Hua said with confidence.

"So true. Master San's luck had never fail him before, nor will it fail him now. I'm sure he is somewhere waiting for us to bring him back home." Pan Zi as he keep their Jeep steady on their long line over the desert dunes. For a couple of hours, there was no mayor problems other than the heat of the desert, but as they were closer to where the Devil City was supposed to be located, the wind begin to pick up, until a sudden sandstorm was formed out of nowhere, trapping them inside.

"Stop the cars! We can't get separate this early in the journey!" Xiao Hua transmitted on their radio to the others, but the visibility was already close to zero and the convoy did stop, but already on different points from one another.

"Damn it! We should get out now... we don't know how long this storm will last, as Wu Xie warned us before." Pangzi said, taking his backpack and opening the door of their Jeep. Immediately the strong wind mixed with sand assaulted them with force, but they all got out to face it head on.

Not too far away from them, Zhang Qiling, Hei Yanjing and Ning had also went out of their car.

"I will look for Wu Xie." Qiling said as he looked to his northeast, sensing the pendant tainted with his blood in that direction. He was glad that Wu Xie had at least follow his suggestion and wear the pendant, otherwise it will be a lot more harder to find him in such a sandstorm.

"So he is indeed your charge." Ning said against the raging wind.

"Oh come on, of course he is. Do you think that Erbai will let his nephew go to a dangerous place without the best guard?" Xiazi asked, trying to diverse Ning's attention from the fact that Qiling, from that point onward will always look for Wu Xie no matter the danger even if they just met and not for any monetary gain, but for his own will and need.

"It will be hard to find the others under this storm. We should look for a safer place to wait for the storm to settle." Ning insisted, trying her best not to be blow away be the strong wind.

"You can go whatever you want, I will find Wu Xie." Qiling repeated.

"We should not separate!" She yelled against the storm.

"Then you come with us. It happens that I am in charge of Hua Yuchen in this expedition, so I too need to look for him, otherwise I will not be paid that fat amount offered to do the job properly." Xiazi said. Although his motives were not so different from that of Zhang Qiling.

"And they call me a mercenary? What a joke..." She rebuked.

"Stay here then. I'm going." Qiling said as he started to walk against sand and wind into Wu Xie's direction, closely followed by both Xiazi and Ning. Even if Qiling did not remember everything about Tamutuo, he was sure that their test had just begun and he really didn't wanted for Wu Xie to fail it when they had just met after dreaming with each other for years.

AN: Thanks for reading, I hope this is interesting enough for the beginning of their journey. This story will not follow the original ultimate note, so expect new challenges for this pair. See you next time, take care until then. ^_^ 💖