Imperial Treasure
Chapter 366 - 255: The Bewitching Beauty Has a Sword

Chapter 366: Chapter 255: The Bewitching Beauty Has a Sword

"Sui Yi, Flower Demon, Feng Sha, Brother Ma, Zhang Wei, Shen Di, Han Gao, Gao Yi, are all eight people here?" Gong Jiu counted the heads and then added, "Including myself, that’s nine in total. Make sure everyone has their backpacks. Gao Yi, is there anything else that needs to be added?"

As the guide, he had to have a say in what supplies were needed for entering the Taklamakan Desert.

"For food and drink, choose dried meat and dry food, as for drinks, just pure water will do. Get a water bottle, the kind sold over there that isn’t easily evaporated by the heat. Anyway, try to choose everything lightweight... As for clothing, you must have at least one piece of warm clothing. Don’t wear shorts or short sleeves, otherwise, your skin will be roasted so much you could peel it off as a layer to eat..." Gao Yi mentioned these points quickly, pointing out several precautions. Everyone, including Gong Jiu, had more or less prepared these already, as they were often exploring caves and were quite sensitive to such matters. The only thing to note was that the desert is more relentless than any other environment, with extreme temperature differences between day and night and a high consumption of food and drink. Most people who go to the desert die not from unnatural causes but from hunger and thirst.

While preparing, Sui Yi noticed that Wei Feng’s personnel clearly outnumbered theirs, but it was only twenty-five people in total.

Liang Qing had known Wei Feng for a long time, and Wu Gu had met Xiao a few times. As for the others, Sui Yi didn’t have any recollection.

Everyone slimmed down their packs, but the equipment on their waists, wrists, chests, and even headgear and earplugs was clearly of elite quality.

"Hey, don’t look at theirs, we have our own. Feng Sha brought these over, absolutely reliable!" As Sui Yi went to the car to pick up her backpack, Gong Jiu came up from behind with a heap of advanced equipment such as thermal sensors, long-distance detectors, communication devices...

It was obvious at a glance that they were quite valuable.

Sui Yi glanced at them and picked up a communicator wristwatch, "This is enough for me, the rest would only be a burden."

Gong Jiu had long known about Sui Yi’s exceptional abilities, far surpassing both her and Flower Demon, so she didn’t try to persuade her otherwise and gave the equipment to Gao Yi.

After adjusting the data on the wristwatch, Sui Yi slung the backpack over her shoulders.

The modest backpack, smaller than those of others, was effortlessly hoisted onto her back...

Liang Qing and Wei Feng, who had been ready for a while, were originally watching Gong Jiu and the others busying themselves...

"Starting preparations only now, boss, aren’t you overestimating them?" Wu Gu sneered at the side.

Wei Feng stretched lazily and chuckled, "It’s exactly this that demonstrates their confidence, huh... Hey, what is that..."

Liang Qing was originally surprised to see Sui Yi, the strongest among them, carry the lightest weight, but then saw her open the trunk of the car and bend down to take something...

Unsure of what she was taking...

As she bent over, one could see from the side her straight, slender legs, 1.68 meters tall, wrapped in jeans, with a slender waist that curved into a not flamboyant but quite captivating arc. The most substantial changes martial arts practice brought to a woman were the remarkable beauty of her resilient curves and coordinated movements, causing many surrounding eyes to remain glued to her.

Brown military boots, dark blue jeans, a row of buttons on a soft, thin, cream-white shirt paired with a tan leather jacket - such a simple yet competent outfit could not conceal her subdued elegance and her unhurried, natural casualness.

Liang Qing narrowed his eyes, curling his lips with a smirk. Undeniably, this former master of his possessed a beauty that could disrupt a nation, even at a young age.

However, it seemed not everyone could maintain such a purely appreciative mindset.

"Ha, what a perky ass... From the back..." someone whispered with a chuckle to the person beside them.

No doubt, this expressed the thoughts of many male tourists nearby.

—— A seductress.

Quite a few people in the crowd whistled.

Gong Jiu and her company were trained in martial arts, with keen hearing, so a chill arose...

Whoosh!

A flash of black light flicked from the car trunk as Sui Yi randomly tossed it!

It was a sword!

With the scabbard included, the tip of the scabbard hissed as it shot through the air... in an instant striking the throat of the man...

A soft ’thud’ sound echoed as the man flew back two to three meters, with the sword rebounding back to her!

Clatter, the sword was back in hand, her fingertips gently hooked it, spinning it once in her hand.

As the man landed, he clutched his throat, coughed up blood, and groaned in pain.

Terrifying!

The entire crowd was scared out of their wits, especially the men, who all stiffened their faces, incredulously watching the young woman holding the sword.

For real or just acting, was this a movie? Were there special effects?

Liang Qing covered his face with his hand while Wei Feng raised an eyebrow.

Clearly, the man got what he deserved, but what a pity... he was one of their own.

Wu Gu’s face paled slightly, and he cursed under his breath at the woman’s consistently swift and decisive methods.

Sui Yi simply gave Wei Feng a faint look, saying nothing, her wrist gently turning.

Clatter.

She swiftly inserted the sword into a specially designed clasp on her waistband.

It was a silent display of deterrence.

All twenty-five people on Wei Feng’s side felt the threat emanating from one person.

The arrogance and hostility that had been present before were significantly reduced at that moment.

This wasn’t something Wei Feng could control, as even he felt the silent message from her—if you become an enemy, her sword would be aimed at your throat.

"Why is there a sword?"

"Probably a martial artist, but it looks like they’re filming a movie..." Many people subconsciously looked around for cameras.

In fact, apart from the guide, everyone in the two groups here had weapons—mostly firearms, and even cold weapons were hidden in their backpacks. It was rare to see them exposed so openly under the watchful eyes of so many people, like Sui Yi did.

——Especially since there were many ordinary people here.

However, she seemed to not care at all, as she fastened her backpack’s lock, and just as Gong Jiu and the others were ready, the two sides faced each other with barely concealed rivalry and hostility...

Yet, the tourists nearby noticed that the mere five women among these two groups were all beauties, and even the least attractive one would stand out in a crowd like a dazzling flower. Not to mention the men—ignoring Wei Feng, both Feng Sha and Zhang Wei were considered handsome, and there was also Xiao, the epitome of an aloof man!

Could these two groups actually be filming a movie?

Before anyone could confirm, the two groups had already entered the desert...

"I just checked. The gear on these people is top-notch, all from American and German brands. Look," a young man who seemed like a college student showed the data on his cellphone to the people beside him, "People like that are definitely not like us, not ordinary tourists... maybe they’re from special agencies here for an adventure..."

"Wasn’t it said that the Chinese Academy of Sciences also sent people into the desert to search for ruins?"

"Maybe these people are from some other power..."

It must be said that these people, who spent their days playing games and reading novels, had quite the wild imagination. This drew the constant ridicule of the older generation nearby, but little did they know their speculative ideas were actually on point.

Sui Yi and her group were indeed not ordinary tourists.

————————

Of course, Sui Yi and her friends did not opt for traveling on foot... In fact, Gao Yi had gone to another place earlier to fetch their means of transport.

——Camels.

The two groups rode on thirty-four camels into the desert, surrounded by other tourists...

Those tourists were taking pictures, cheering, laughing, and talking loudly...

"Why do I feel this adventure is a bit strange~~" Gong Jiu’s expression was very peculiar..

Sui Yi looked around at the camel convoy of nearly a hundred people,..."Give it some time, and it won’t feel that way anymore."

Three hours later, all they had around them were endless sand and the scorching sun.

Although the tourism industry had developed, and desert highways had been opened up within the Taklamakan Desert, that was only the outer ring of roads, still far from the deeper areas. Clearly, the authorities were not foolish enough to send people to their deaths.

And the place Sui Yi’s group aimed for was off the tourist track, hence it had previously only been Dugu’s team’s route.

Gong Jiu kept complaining that riding camels was even more uncomfortable than riding horses, feeling like her butt was about to split.

Who was to say it wasn’t? No matter how soft those camel humps looked, if you sat too long...

"Stop your whining, I have a headache!" Flower Demon said, although she saw Gong Jiu deliberately taking out a mirror to look at her face.

"Ta-da, behold my Goblin-Reflecting Mirror!"

At a glance.

Flower Demon’s perpetually dark expression got even darker.

For someone who was always ready to touch up her makeup, the environment was akin to the apocalypse.

Any makeup would turn into an oily mess at such temperatures~~

Faced with the choice between looking like a roasted pig with an oily face or having dry, cracked skin, she opted for going bare-faced but constantly applying sunscreen and toner..~~

"Ha, Flower Fairy, do you know what you look like right now? You resemble a female peacock freshly pulled out of swill water."

The female peacock, ugly yet vain...

Flower Demon took a deep breath and retorted, "Tomboy, your balls must be cracked."

Gong Jiu: "..."

The men: "..."

The journey was enlivened by the bickering between Gong Jiu and Flower Demon, averting everyone’s boredom, but the deeper they went, the more contemplative they became.

Wei Huan turned to Sui Yi with a smile and said, "The route we’re taking is unanimously agreed upon, it seems both our trump cards are correct. I wonder about what comes next..."

Perhaps the moment hadn’t come, but neither had taken the initiative to bring up the exchange of information between the groups, and just as Wei Huan had worried initially,

——Sui Yi’s group had assumed the strategic advantage.

After all, they had the map in their possession.

Wu Gu and the others had once suggested simply killing off this bunch to search for the map, but Wei Huan knew it wasn’t that simple. Knowing that Gong Jiu’s group wasn’t ignorant of their origins and still they brought only a few people indicated they weren’t afraid of them. Plus, Sui Yi’s inscrutable nature kept the usually suspicious and cautious Wei Huan from making the final move.

It was best to let Sui Yi’s group act as guides and clear the way.

However, Wei Huan knew that Gong Jiu and the others felt the same towards them, use the other side to their advantage!

Who prevails in the end remains to be seen...(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)