Ye Liuxi knew Chang Dong was speaking to the man, but she didn’t rise—first, because she had already “fallen asleep,” and second, because she trusted Chang Dong completely. She drifted off, half-aware, in the intermittent sounds that filtered in. Once again, she experienced the dream of the small wooden house where the eyes seemed to devour her. Now she knew what this strange thing was called: the Eye Tomb. She had grown used to it, no longer startled, and now she felt confident walking through it again and again, thinking of Ding Liu, of Chang Dong, and finally of her own amnesia. How strange it was—didn’t characters in TV dramas and films often recall fragments of memory when they found themselves in familiar settings? Why was her memory so stubborn, so still, like a stagnant pond? She walked to the pile of firewood and looked down at the cracked barrel, now seeing it clearly for the first time up close. There, slowly climbing the barrel’s wall, was a small scorpion—just as long as a finger. She thought of scorpions with eyes like those—how could they grow so large? … Upon waking, the room was flooded with sunlight, the entire city in a warm, earthy yellow—so bright and intense it was almost blinding. Ye Liuxi rolled out of bed and glanced over to Fei Tang, who lay perfectly still, hands folded neatly over his abdomen, as if in a formal funeral pose or as if he had entered a vampire’s trance. Ye Liuxi kicked the foot of the bed. “Open your eyes—can you see me now?” When Fei Tang finally stirred and tried to open his eyes, Ye Liuxi appeared only as a shadow. He spoke as concisely as possible. “Better than yesterday—about seven out of ten.” “Then get up. I’ll go wash up and take you along. I don’t have the patience to attend to you specially.” Fei Tang scrambled to his feet. Ye Liuxi tossed both of their toiletry items into the basin, held the basin in one hand, and led Fei Tang out the door. As they stepped outside, they noticed the back door of the off-road vehicle was wide open, Chang Dong sitting on the edge of the vehicle, his head bowed, studying yesterday’s leather map. Inside the car—empty. Ye Liuxi was momentarily stunned: "Where is that person?" Chang Dong gestured to the empty room across from them: "Please have the doctor realign his bones and secure them inside." "Why realign his bones?" Chang Dong pointed to his own arm: "The area where it's broken is swollen like a basin—hard to bear." Ye Liuxi growled: "That's no surprise! What about Liu'er?" "I just checked on her—she hasn't awakened yet." Ye Liuxi felt a weight settle in her chest. She remembered Chang Dong had mentioned yesterday that for patients like Liu'er, either they would wake up quickly or... they would remain unconscious for an indefinite period. She scoffed: "It doesn't matter if the bones are realigned—after all, I can break them again." With that, she dragged Fei Tang off. Chang Dong watched her walk toward the well—this well didn't require a water supply; just press the handle firmly several times, and clear, fresh water gushed out. Indeed, good—where there's water, there's life. That's precisely why Lop Nur remains an uninhabited region: because the great lake has dried up. A while later, Ye Liuxi brought Fei Tang back, her face damp. Chang Dong said, "Don't go inside—there's something I'd like to say." As he spoke, he cleared a space, and Ye Liuxi sat down, instructing Fei Tang to squat by the wall corner. "You, sit there and get some sun," she said. "Sunlight is good for your eyes—just like drinking hot water—it's standard care, nothing special, but it never goes wrong." Fei Tang sat down obediently, unaware that there was another person already getting sun beside her. The Mountain River. Ye Liuxi asked, "What would you like to say?" Chang Dong looked at her face and couldn't help asking, "Have you washed yourself?" "Yes, I have," she said, wiping her face with her finger and showing him the water she'd wiped off. "Here, the water." "Didn't you use any lotion or cream?" "Poor, nothing at all. My skin is naturally good." "Would you like to use mine?" He had his toiletry bag right beside him and casually picked up a small spray bottle—something he didn’t use often, but since the Gobi Desert is so dry, every time he came in, he always kept a moisturizing spray and cream on hand. Ye Liuxi looked down at the bottle, which read "Men's Facial Mist." "Men's? Can women use it too?" "Yes, though they’ll eventually grow beards." Ye Liuxi gave him a withering look, closed her eyes, lifted her chin, and viewed her from the side. From the bridge of her nose, through the dewy lips, down to her jawline, and finally to her neck, the entire face flowed seamlessly, as if drawn in one smooth stroke—no hesitation or imperfection in the lines, no trace of stiffness when she raised it. It was just a good foundation. Chang Dong reached out and gently sprayed her a few times, the fine mist settling over her entire face, some droplets lingering at the tips of her lashes before instantly blending in. Fei Tang sat tucked in the corner, resignedly soaking up the sunlight, feeling as though he never even had a spray or cream, and Chang Dong would never notice that. Ye Liuxi tapped his face with his hand, then opened the face cream lid, used his middle finger to apply a patch, and gently pressed it onto his face, listening to Chang Dong's description of the city. "Xiao Yangzhou is also known as Huangtusheng, which is quite fitting—because most of the houses here are built with compacted yellow soil. The largest market is called Heishisheng, also known as Xi'an..." Fei Tang murmured in surprise—quite coincidentally, he too had come from Xi'an. Chang Dong nodded, "Exactly. The market names are all drawn from historically renowned cities, each with its own alternative name, categorized according to the commonly used building materials in the region. Since the markets are spread far apart and each area has different geographical conditions, the building materials vary accordingly. For instance, there are also cities named Hongzhan and Huyang, both of which are relatively small—when converted to our terms, they're roughly equivalent to a town of ours." "Xi'an is said to have the best geographical location and natural conditions, making it the preferred site for settlement when entering the Central Plains. The mountain behind it is called Heishi Mountain—I believe it's composed of black basalt. The stones there are gray-black, and houses are traditionally built using locally quarried stone, resulting in sturdy, well-constructed buildings. The Yulin Guard and the families of the scholars and magicians have long resided there, historically considered the safest region." The Han Dynasty's Great Wall was extended even further west, reaching into the Lop Nur region, though it eventually fell into disuse. "The eastern boundary of this map is the Great Wall," Fatang exclaimed. "I get it! The coming of severe winter is just like the Wall of the Endless Winter—exactly like the Wall of the Endless Winter! Oh, by the way, which season of 'Game of Thrones' is it now?" Changdong didn't respond. What did he mean by "exactly like"? Our Great Wall had already been there for much longer. Ye Liuxi said: "I understand that. The Han Dynasty's Great Wall extended into Lop Nur—most of it has since eroded. But if it were like the Jade Gate Pass..." There still lingered a ghostly trace of the Great Wall, cutting off the return route, and for people on the other side, that would become an impassable boundary. Changdong continued: "The northeastern border of this map stretches quite far. The nearest town, called Hu Yang City, has only dead poplars—tall, pale, lifeless trees stretching endlessly. There's a local saying: every dead poplar tree is the spirit of a fallen "Fei Tang was stunned: 'That vast region has always been on the frontier, enduring countless battles. I remember border poems—something like "How pitiful the bones of soldiers along the Unstable River, still dreaming of their loved ones in the deep courtyard"—and "Since ancient times, the white bones have gone unrecovered. How many souls of fallen soldiers must have lingered in sorrow?" How many untold tragedies must those soldiers have suffered?' Chang Dong nodded: 'Therefore, since the dynasty's founding, that great stand of poplar trees has grown outward continuously, spreading endlessly, eventually forming the northern boundary alongside the great desert.' 'The city of Poplar Trees once served as the stronghold of the Scorpion Eye. About a year ago, the Scorpion Eye caused the deaths of many officers of the Feathers of the Sky by hanging them there. Subsequently, the Feathers of the Sky retaliated and burned down the city of Poplar Trees. After careful comparison, I believe the geographical location of that vast stretch of dead poplars closely matches the real-world area near the flag town.' Hearing the words 'flag town,' Ye Liuxi's heart raced. Yet Fei Tang was eager to ask: 'What about the southern region?' To the south, such a vast area was marked with only two locations—reminiscent of an uncharted region, beyond narration or depiction, leaving large blank spaces. One of them is the pile of remains of the Yadan landforms. Further down, four characters are arranged in an arc, a common cartographic convention used to denote expansive geographical features such as mountains or rivers—like "Kunlun Mountains" or "Yarlung Tsangpo River." These four characters are: "Bogu Yao Jia." According to real geographical features, this area encompasses the Kumingtage Desert, thus also including the... Gētóu Shāpōzi. Chang Dong didn't answer Fei Tang. He closed the book: "The map is here. It has many details. As for the rest, once your eyes improve, you can explore on your own." Ye Liuxi suddenly recalled something: "With all these questions you've asked, has he ever suspected you?" Chang Dong nodded. Indeed, he had doubts, yet the frail man made numerous speculations—even asking him, "Is the Yulin Guard raising you as a sworn warrior, thus never letting you know what's happening outside?" But the one question he never asked was—were you someone from beyond the frontier? Chang Dong had a strong intuition: no one would question that they were from beyond the frontier, even if he shouted loudly in the bustling marketplace, "I'm from beyond the frontier!" The onlookers would only chuckle. They simply didn't have that awareness. People from within the frontier were the ones who couldn't leave; those who could move in and out were like shadow figures. How could anyone from beyond the frontier come to the frontier at all? Chang Dong cleared his throat: "There's one more thing... He said he targeted us specifically because he wanted the carts." — When the man said this, Chang Dong almost thought he had misunderstood. The man smiled indifferently: "We've been causing disturbances in Xiaoyangzhou for days now. Many people have fled. The city is now half-empty." "Who knows, last time we ended up with both of us battered and exhausted, losing several people and even a vehicle. Since we were all gathered together, our collective target was large, so we all decided to scatter separately." " nowadays, cars are so rare—every one we use, we lose one. At the nightclub, I heard that a few people were arriving in old corrugated trucks, and that immediately caught my eye." "While you all were drinking and chatting, I watched from afar, thinking the two women wouldn’t amount to much, and that the thin man wasn’t particularly capable. Me and Scorpion, with a bit of maneuvering, would be more than enough. If we could actually drive one of those trucks back and manage to kill you all, that would truly be a major achievement." "I didn’t expect you to have guns…" the frail man chuckled, coughing continuously. "Guns are such a rare thing—I’ve only seen them in small films. Even when we cut off our boss, we never had one." All these references to "Scorpion’s eyes"—now Chang Dong finally understands—Scorpion’s Eyes is actually the name of the organization, and only the leader is ever called Scorpion’s Eyes "I finally managed to grip the knife, trying to stand up, but suddenly she charged at me, lifting me right off my feet—maybe that's when the knife pierced me. I don't know. That woman really went hard on me; I was completely stunned by her force...” As he spoke, he began coughing again, coughing so hard he could hardly breathe: "Just go ahead and kill me if you want. But... once we've avenged the death of Jiang Zhan—our lord—we'll make good on our promise. You'll see." The "Zhan" in his words refers to Jiang Zhan, who is known as Jiang Zhan.