Before leaving, they thanked the Bedouin people for their care over the past few days. They also asked the Bedouins to complete their unfinished work—to find out the ident.i.ty of the bones found in the desert.
They bid farewell to Nabari and Salem and invited them to go to China as guests. Nabari thought it was unlikely that he would go, as he had no such interest. However, since Salem was still young, he could do so in the future.
Zhang Zian also deliberately pulled Salem to the side and stuffed a note in his hand. On it were a few mysterious numbers. Even though Salem repeatedly asked what it was, Zhang Zian always laughed. Let him find the answer by himself.
They then drove back to Cairo.
Wei Kang and his students took the data and video materials from the expedition and headed to Cairo University to conduct in-depth academic exchanges with their peers. They also entrusted their peers to go to the desert to pick up the GPS collars in a year. Their peers at Cairo University were extremely pleased and commended Wei Kang on his achievements.
Zhang Zian drove the family RV that Lazart had loaned to him. He cleaned it, topped it up with petrol, and handed it back to Lazart. He thanked him for his generosity and the help of his brothers and sisters. They also invited them to go to China for a holiday.
Lazart had already completed the custom-made jewelery and handed it over to Zhang Zian so he could pa.s.s it on to the rest.
With that, they could say that they had nothing more left to do in Egypt. There were some lingering regrets, but those would be difficult to solve. In any case, they could no longer stay, as they did not have the finances to continue. There were also still many things waiting at home.
On the plane, when the Great Pyramid was beneath them, Zhang Zian felt a sense of reluctance. Although there were many places not worthy of visiting in Egypt, this experience had left a deep impression on him. This was probably what most tourists felt when they left a unique place.
He had completed what he'd wanted to do. He'd returned the statue of the cat G.o.d, and it now lay with the stone and bronze statues of the many animal G.o.ds in the pyramid. Presumably, the cat G.o.d must not be too happy. It could no longer roam freely. The pyramid had sunk into the abyss and could no longer be easily found, much less opened.
He suddenly remembered that a lot of light sticks and gun cartridges had been left in the pyramid. He wondered what archaeologists would think when they rediscovered the place more than a hundred years later...
Fina was already asleep in the seat next to his. She'd been less unwilling to leave Egypt than to Zhang Zian. Perhaps her wishes had been fulfilled. Or perhaps she was able to hold on to her hopes and beliefs.
Wei Kang finished up the details in his report of the trip on his laptop. He planned to submit it when they landed.
Although he had largely completed the expedition and was praised by his Egyptian counterparts, Wei Kang did not appear to be happy. He was very sorry about what had happened to He He and offered to take responsibility. He He's parents wanted him to keep quiet about what had happened. In the report, he only wrote that she was sick because of the lack of water and poor nutrition. He left out her psychiatric issues to prevent them from affecting her future study and life.
Gao Ke, Xiao Tianyu, and Du Xuetao had slowly became strangers since they came out of the desert. They maintained minimum cooperation and exchanges for the sake of writing the report. Presumably, they would be extremely awkward if they b.u.mped into one another in the research labs back home…
Peter Lee and his team did not reappear. Whether they had managed to escape the desert was unknown. They had suffered huge setbacks, but they were unlikely to have learned their lesson. If they were still alive, they would definitely look for the next secret that contained pure cosmic energy. They would definitely try to spread their words to more people, but this had nothing to do with Zhang Zian. After all, they operated overseas and not in China. Chinese laws did not apply to them.
Shortly after takeoff, the land of Egypt disappeared from the window. Zhang Zian was feeling drowsy and soon fell asleep.
When he woke up, the plane had already landed in China. He was deeply asleep and had to be woken up by Wei Kang.
Next they transferred planes and took a domestic flight to Binhai. They exchanged pleasantries and hoped to see one another again—although some probably hoped not to. They then parted ways.
The taxi arrived at the pet store.
Zhang Zian paid the fare and stopped for a short while before he got off. He watched the customers coming in and out of the pet shop. They went in with empty hands, then left the shop with pet food or a pet storage box. Nothing seemed different from before he left. He could not help but smile. He was not too far from his goal now.
Some regular customers recognized him, but many more did not recognize him. They first recognized Fina and Famous and then guessed his ident.i.ty.
As for the reason…
When he stepped into the pet shop, w.a.n.g Qian, who was playing with his mobile phone, looked up at him lazily and asked, "What is this big black brother looking for?"
Although he'd worn a baseball cap or a fisherman's hat when he was out in Egypt and even applied sunscreen, it was inevitable that he got tanned. His skin was dark and bright red in some spots. He stood out.
The biggest lesson he learned was not to go to Egypt in the summer.
He'd used to have fair skin, but now he was extremely dark. No wonder many customers couldn't recognize him.
Zhang Zian cracked his knuckles, hit w.a.n.g Qian hard on his head, and picked up the remote control to turn off the air conditioner.
"Master! You are back! You must have missed us! That... Why did you turn off the air conditioner? It is so hot!" Li Kun said. He did not recognize Zhang Zian immediately, but his att.i.tude and the way he carried himself were a dead giveaway as to who he was.
"How hot can it be? It is so cool. Why turn on the air conditioner? Stop wasting your electricity!" Zhang Zian said with a stone face, unwilling to accept his explanation.
"Cool?" w.a.n.g Qian and Li Kun looked at one another. It was 30 degrees. How was this cool? What then counted as hot?
Since it was in the northern hemisphere, the coastal city had entered the summer. In June, the temperature was slowly rising, making it hotter.
"Good, cool weather! There is wind all around!" Zhang Zian closed his eyes and spoke these words with firm belief in his heart.
w.a.n.g Qian and Li Kun were speechless. They seemed to have some kind of hunch. A hunch that perhaps this would be a very difficult summer...
