Chapter 22

The room was filled with human skulls of various sizes, ranging from white to bronze to yellow, placed on shelves against the walls, on tables, and even in baskets by the door. Many of them still had eyebrows and eyes. A projector screen hung on the wall, displaying slides of bloody and mangled heads!

In the center of the room, on a stand similar to a camera tripod, at eye level, was a skull with half its cranium blown apart, staring directly at Buck!

The dim lighting, likely to enhance the projection, made the atmosphere even more eerie and terrifying!

Anyone else would have been frightened out of their wits, but Buck actually heard himself swallow loudly!

Then, out of curiosity, he reached out to touch the lifelike human head in the basket beside him. It turned out to be made of silicone, feeling soft and supple like human skin, but when he parted it, he found a real skull inside!

The jaw could even open and close.

Buck’s heartbeat didn’t quicken at all. He touched it again and then asked the girl in the dim light, who had intended to scare him, “You, planning to scare me?” He really couldn’t pretend.

Fang Lingying felt a great failure.

But to be honest, Fang Lingying found herself a bit curious.

A beggar, that was her first impression of Buck.

Was it just a month ago?

A beggar with only worn shoes and a mineral water bottle.

She allowed Buck to get into her car mainly because she had seen his lonely figure walking on the vast and endless plateau road a few times.

More so because when Buck waved for a ride and she discovered he was a woman, he apologized and decided not to get in, showing kindness.

Just for this, she thought Buck was a good person, at least a kind beggar.

After all, on this plateau known as the roof of the world, pedestrians were not uncommon.

Apart from a few hikers, most were devout pilgrims, and there were very few bad people, which might have been the main reason Fang Lingying felt safe enough to stop.

When she heard the passenger door unlock, Buck didn’t hesitate, nodded, and threw his things to the side, then opened the door and got in. The back seats of the two-door Jeep were folded down, filled with all sorts of travel gear, a messy tent, which explained why Buck, who was walking, had overtaken her several times. This made her admire his courage even more.

However, the long solitary journey had made Buck lose the desire to speak, and he only glanced at his pile of shoes and thick coat tied to his waist in the rearview mirror.

For long-distance walking, shoes were the most important item, so he had been collecting them along the way, replacing them when they wore out. The result of sleeping outdoors was that his thick coat served as both a windbreaker and a blanket, keeping him warm and dry, and when it got hot, it could be used as a shade. Now, of course, it wasn’t necessary, and he only wore a relatively clean jacket.

Of course, the consequence of all this was that as soon as the off-road vehicle accelerated, the wind blowing in through the windows filled the cabin with a strong smell of sweat!

This was the second deep impression Buck left on Fang Lingying!

How many days had it been since he last showered? Fang Lingying immediately turned on the air conditioning, opened the windows, and set the air to recirculate, making the cabin filled with the sound of the wind, and she sped up, her emotions complex and unhidden.

But the woman’s gossipy nature made her only quiet for thirty seconds before she couldn’t help but ask, “Where do you plan to walk to...” Her voice was immediately cut off.

Of course, as soon as Fang Lingying started speaking, the imbalance in her breathing made her inhale an indescribable odor... How to describe it? The stench of old, spoiled pickled vegetables mixed with a bit of soy sauce, like a tangible weapon, hit her hard in the nose!

Her hands involuntarily shook, and the Jeep, which was speeding at 80 km/h on the straight national highway, immediately swayed violently!

The specially modified and raised Jeep was not suitable for high-speed driving, and the high body and hard suspension could easily cause it to flip over in such a situation!

Women can be unpredictable. In this situation, the girl actually covered her face with both hands and screamed, letting go of the steering wheel!

Fortunately, Buck, with his quick reflexes, grabbed the steering wheel with his left hand and pulled the handbrake with his right, stopping the car with a screech, unlike his slow response when speaking, which was due to his still adapting to the Chinese language environment. The girl’s scream had just stopped when she continued to scream like she had seen a cockroach: “Eh!? Take your hands off!”

Yes, on the white leather steering wheel cover with water diamonds, there were two black fingerprints!

Buck silently withdrew his hands, looking at the girl as she tried to control her emotions, driving silently again, but this time his right hand carefully avoided the black fingerprints.

This became the third impression Buck left on Fang Lingying.

The car speed was carefully reduced to 60 km/h, and they finally arrived at the provincial capital city they had planned to reach.

Indeed, the girl, who had been hit by the chemical weapon, screeched to a stop in front of a domestic sports clothing store, glanced at Buck, pulled out the key, and jumped out of the car, rushing into the store to grab a few pieces of clothing and jumping back. She then realized something and leaped out again to buy an electric shaver and scissors from a nearby men’s store—expensive ones that could flip up to trim sideburns—and threw them into Buck’s arms before heading straight to the hotel.

But unexpectedly, thinking that the hotel might not allow such a dirty and disheveled person to enter, Fang Lingying cleverly drove into the garage. However, the security guard, who was doing his job, noticed the smell as the car passed by!

He wouldn’t allow them to enter, no matter what, and even the front desk manager came down to stop Buck from entering.

Buck, holding the not expensive but new clothes, couldn’t help but feel a bit moved. Watching the girl, who was sharp-tongued, argue with the staff, he suddenly felt a bit amused, as if he hadn’t felt so relaxed in a long time!

It also seemed like a reminder. Buck shook his head, wondering why the girl insisted on staying at such a four- or five-star hotel, wasn’t that asking too much?

Reluctantly, he opened the door, and the three people outside immediately jumped back a bit!

The smell was too strong!

Even Fang Lingying, who had been about to scold her team, covered her nose and mouth!

Buck finally felt a bit embarrassed. He thought he had become indifferent to such things after his long solitary journey, but he sighed and pointed to the car wash station in the underground parking garage, pulling out a water gun and pointing it at himself. The three people understood what he was going to do and moved back even further.

Fang Lingying, looking at the well-lit environment, instinctively climbed back into her car, moved it in front of Buck to form a makeshift shower, and then walked away with her luggage. But just as the front desk manager took her luggage, she turned back and threw the car keys to Buck, along with two packs of cookies: “Wash the car well!” Her tone and actions were like those towards a dog.

The next day, Fang Lingying saw Buck with his hair cut in a messy but clean style, wearing sportswear without the previous odor, and a Jeep that was spotlessly clean inside and out.

Buck, though expressionless, quickly followed Fang Lingying’s instructions, opened the rear trunk, and put the large suitcase inside. The items in the back were still in the same messy state, and Fang Lingying, stretching her neck to look, didn’t notice any signs of disturbance or tampering. She hummed lightly, resisting the urge to open the storage box, turned to the driver’s seat, and just as she was about to step on the pedal to climb into the high driver’s seat, she suddenly paused and stepped down: “Can you drive?”

Buck, adhering to the principle of earning his ride through labor, nodded honestly, but a slight pain in his heart reminded him of the scene of racing with his beloved one on the racetrack.

The girl pointed to the driver’s seat: “Then you drive. Since you’re hitching a ride home, you should do what you can.”

Buck started the car and skillfully maneuvered it out of the tight parking space, then smoothly entered the busy traffic of the provincial capital.

After a brief exchange of names, the talkative Fang Lingying, during dinner, looked at Buck’s rough, dark hands and asked curiously: “Why don’t you have much of an accent from your hometown? Can you eat spicy food? Why did you come to such a distant place to work? Were you tricked into picking cotton?”

Indeed, every year, many migrant workers from Sichuan and Chongqing come to the vast northwest to pick cotton. Although most are now regulated, in such a large country with so many people, there are always exceptions. But the girl’s imagination was quite vivid.

Buck’s hand trembled as he ladled soup, thinking he was so easily deceived? But this explanation seemed plausible, so he nodded and started eating.

It had been a long time since he had a proper meal. Even though he controlled his eating, he still finished the food like a whirlwind, pouring the leftover oil from the stir-fried green peppers and meat into his rice bowl and eating every last grain of rice before putting down his chopsticks and thanking the girl, who was staring at him in amazement.

The word “thank you” became the most frequently used by Buck during the rest of the journey.

For this benefactor who let him eat and drink for free, it was only right.

Fang Lingying, seemingly influenced, spoke less but observed the driver more often.

From then on, Fang Lingying truly overcame the part of her self-driving trip she disliked the most, giving herself 32 likes for her cleverness, and comfortably returned to the large southwestern city along the scenic route.

On the return trip, the road through Gannan gradually transitioned from the relatively barren and vast northwest to the more lush and verdant southwest. They camped on the Sichuan plateau for three nights. On the first night, Fang Lingying was a bit cautious, setting up the tent at a popular camping site. But seeing Buck silently wrap himself in a blanket and sleep by the car tire, she felt completely at ease the next night, spending the night by her favorite grass sea and flower lake, which was almost her dream of traveling, free from any worries or safety concerns, and close to nature...

However, in the middle of the night, a sudden heavy rainstorm hit the high-altitude area. The sound of raindrops hitting the tent turned the romantic atmosphere into one of worry. Looking through the gap, she saw Buck’s figure, like a solid rock, by the bright yellow Jeep tire. Fang Lingying’s mouth moved several times, but she didn’t call out.

The next morning, when they continued their journey, Fang Lingying particularly observed the driver, who showed no signs of discomfort or distress.

For Buck, this was nothing. During missions, staying up