Under the night sky.
Fayoum Desert.
This vast sea of sand appeared particularly mysterious and desolate in the glow of the setting sun.
Song Heping drove an old Toyota Camry along the desert highway, with Nura sitting in the passenger seat, gripping the door handle firmly, her gaze resolutely fixed ahead.
The desert nights were bone-chillingly cold, and Song Heping handed the last sip of water to Nura.
In the distance, Egyptian military police helicopters hovered between the dunes, with searchlights piercing the night sky like sharp swords.
Ahead, sand mountains appeared, resembling a continuous range under the moonlight.
"The entrance to the secret passage is up ahead."
Nura pointed to an inconspicuous dune in front of them.
"For hundreds of years, the Bedouin people have created secret tunnels and storage points in the desert for emergencies. Even satellites can't detect them; only the Bedouin know these secrets."
This was Nura's bargaining chip.
The reason she dared to lead Song Heping deep into the desert and claimed she could evade the military police was that she could certainly do it.
Song Heping drove the car into the shadows behind a dune, the tires making a soft scrunching noise as they passed over the loose sand.
Nura jumped out of the car, skillfully walked to the dune, scraped away the sand behind a rock, and pulled out a rope from inside.
"Come over and help!"
Song Heping hurriedly stepped forward and, together with Nura, began pulling the rope with force.
Rumble, rumble, rumble—
As the rope was pulled back, a corner of the sand mountain began to collapse gradually, revealing a pitch-black entrance to a tunnel.
"Hurry, they are coming! Drive the car inside."
The sound of helicopters got closer, and Song Heping quickly returned to the car, hit the gas, and drove straight into the passage.
The tunnel was just wide enough to accommodate the vehicle. Song Heping got out of the car and, together with Nura, triggered a mechanism that soon restored the tunnel entrance to its original appearance.
Inside the tunnel, it was pitch black, and Song Heping took out a tactical flashlight and turned it on.
In the bright light, the original look of the tunnel was fully revealed.
The ceiling was rocky, and the ground was sandy.
Everywhere was dry, so there were no issues like water seepage.
"This is a secret hideout our ancestors dug to avoid war. If you reach the point of desperation, you can come here to hide. Each tunnel has an underground river, providing a water source. If the Bedouin are in trouble in the desert, they will look for these places to survive. But some places might no longer have water due to the passage of time."
Nura explained, slowly walking forward.
Song Heping was still standing there in a daze.
Seeing the surroundings, he suddenly felt that the stories of Alibaba and the Forty Thieves he heard as a child might not be nonsense; they could be real.
"What are you standing there for? Move! They will trace our steps and find this place. We must leave before they arrive."
"Oh, right!"
Song Heping took out the gear bag from the trunk and followed Nura further into the tunnel.
The entrance to the tunnel was very large, but it became narrower as they went, eventually requiring them to bend over to proceed, with the air filled with the smell of mold and sand.
"This tunnel leads to a water source. About twenty kilometers from here, there is a small Bedouin tribe."
Nura led the way, saying, "We have to walk for three hours to reach there. Afterward, it will be safer."
"What do you mean by 'safer'?"
Song Heping asked curiously.
Nura replied, "The Bedouin people have been scattered across various places for years. Each tribe has different rules, but there is an ancient agreement to help each other when in trouble. However, I am not sure if the tribal chief will accept us, given the big mess we caused..."
"I see..."
Song Heping illuminated the walls with his tactical flashlight, revealing some strange patterns. On closer inspection, they turned out to be ancient murals.
The Bedouins had depicted scenes of desert life using simple lines, including one mural illustrating two figures confronting each other with knives.
"That depicts a duel," Nura explained. "In Bedouin tradition, disputes are settled through duels."
The tunnel ended at a natural rocky cave with a moonlight beam shining from a crack in the top.
Nura led Song Heping out of the opening, pointing westward, "Twenty kilometers in that direction, you will find the tribe I mentioned."
"How do you navigate?"
Song Heping turned off the flashlight. The moonlight was good, so their visibility was fine without exposing their position.
"It's a gift."
Nura's expression appeared slightly melancholic.
"When a people have survived in the desert for millennia, their descendants develop this ability. However..."
She hesitated before slowly adding, "It's a cursed gift."