Stealing the Pen: Kirin's Primordial Lotus

Butler Xu brought Wu Xie out just before the cave collapsed.

The two stood in front of the collapsed cave, looking at the empty space around them. All their supplies had been buried underground, and the horses they had brought had been killed by falling rocks due to the collapse.

They had all sorts of wounds on their bodies, including bruises from being hit by falling rocks while trying to escape, scratches from falling due to earthquakes, and head wounds from falling rocks.

They currently lack supplies to meet their basic needs, medicine to temporarily treat their wounds, and transportation to get them out of the area.

"Uncle Xu, it seems we're destined to stay here." Wu Xie sat down on the ground with a wry smile.

But Butler Xu didn't think so. "In your eyes, Wu Xie, we may have no way out, but in my eyes, there are countless ways to go home."

Butler Xu took out some supplies he had secretly hidden from his pocket. "If we eat these energy bars sparingly, they can last us for three or four days."

Wu Xie swallowed hard as he looked at the three or four energy bars in Butler Xu's hand, but they were already at their wits' end and he couldn't afford to be reckless.

"But we have no direction. In this desolate northwestern desert, having no direction means certain death."

Wu Xie understood even better that what they needed now, besides the energy bar in Uncle Xu's hand, was direction; if it were night, they could use the stars to find their way.

But how many young people these days still know how to identify zodiac signs? Without a map or GPS when you're out and about, you're like a blind person walking.

“Uncle Xu, I know you want to encourage me, but we have no direction. If we wander around aimlessly, we will only end up dying in this desert.” Wu Xie imagined them trekking through the desert and couldn’t help but smile bitterly again. “But dying in the desert is not necessarily a bad thing. At least our bodies will be intact. I didn’t expect that they didn’t even have a complete corpse.”

Wu Xie turned around, his eyes filled with sorrow as he looked at the cave where Fatty Wang was buried.

"You don't need to worry about directions. I trained all those brats in the Hua family myself. They all know how to tell directions, so how could I not know how to tell directions?"

Butler Xu expressed his incomprehension regarding Wu Xie's concerns. Although he was indeed just a butler, the respect shown to him by the bodyguards who were always by their side was not insignificant.

Butler Xu was also very curious as to why Wu Xie thought they would definitely die in this place.

“Uncle Xu, even if you can tell directions, it took us almost half a month to get here on horseback. Let alone now that we can only rely on our two legs and this energy bar that can only sustain us for three days.”

Wu Xie, however, felt that Steward Xu was indulging in wishful thinking.

Wu Xie then raised another fatal flaw, "Uncle Xu, even if you can tell directions, and even if we've scrimped and saved to last us for half a month, what about our drinks?"

Wu Xie searched his entire body but couldn't find a usable container. "We'll run out of water in three days, so even if we have a lot of energy bars, it won't help!"

Butler Xu had a different opinion: "Wu Xie, the temperature difference in the Northwest is huge. As long as we operate properly, we can obtain water from nature."

Wu Xie had no better options at this point and could only trust Butler Xu's words. "So what should we do next?"

Butler Xu looked at the blazing sun overhead and then at the surrounding environment. "It's the hottest time of the year right now. We can't waste too much energy. Let's find a place nearby to escape the sun and get through the hottest part of the day."

Butler Xu looked at Wu Xie, who was sitting on the ground with a pale face, and said, "Moreover, we just ran out of the collapsed underground. We are exhausted. We need to conserve our energy to ensure that we don't die on the way."

Wu Xie, suppressing his burning throat, pulled himself up from the ground by the outstretched hand of Butler Xu.

The two searched the surrounding area, and fortunately, their efforts paid off; they finally found a cave that was still intact and had not yet collapsed.

"Eat something to tide you over and replenish your energy." Butler Xu tore open the packaging of an energy bar, broke it in half, and handed it to Wu Xie, adding, "This half is our food ration for the two of us today, so eat it sparingly."

Wu Xie broke the half in his hand into two pieces again, looking at the fragments of the energy bar that fell from his palm as he broke it, and laughed mockingly: "I never thought I would have such a day."

"Having food and shelter from the sun is already a blessing; at least we still have hope of getting out." Butler Xu ignored Wu Xie's pointless complaints.

“Cheng Ye and Yang Shu will definitely contact others to take action against those who remain in the area. It all depends on whether they can escape successfully.” Butler Xu thought of the fact that they had left some people outside. “If they can successfully escape from those people, perhaps our chances of getting out will be greater.”

Wu Xie picked up a crumb of energy bar and put it in his mouth. "The place where we rested yesterday wasn't far from here. If we could go there, maybe we could find some food and drink."

"When the sun isn't so strong, we'll head to the cave where we took shelter from the rain last night. They may not have left many supplies, but it should be enough for us to hold out for a little longer." Butler Xu couldn't guarantee their safety 100%.

"You should get some sleep first. The most important thing right now is to conserve your energy." Butler Xu told Wu Xie to rest first. His injuries were less severe than Wu Xie's, and he could hold on for a while longer.

"I'm young and can take a beating, Uncle Xu, you should rest first! I can still hold on." Wu Xie shook his head and told Butler Xu to rest first. After all, he was young and his physical condition was better than that of an old man like Butler Xu.

Butler Xu didn't argue with Wu Xie too much. After listening to Wu Xie's words, he wrapped his tattered clothes tightly around himself and leaned against the stone wall to rest.

Wu Xie sat on a large rock at the entrance of the cave, his eyes fixed on the collapsed area, where his last thought in this world was buried.

"Fatty, maybe you shouldn't have saved me. That way, we'd have each other on our journey to the underworld!" Wu Xie said with a sarcastic smile.

"Someone like me is a jinx. Whoever is good to me will not have a good ending." Wu Xie recalled his failed first half of life.

He grew up freely in the Wu family during the first half of his life, without any pressure. When he was young, his third uncle played with him and supported him when he went to school. Although his second uncle was strict, he would also care about him unintentionally. Not to mention his grandmother, who would always be the first to protect him whenever his second uncle wanted to punish him.

He later passed the university entrance exam smoothly, and then went to Germany for further studies. After returning, his family arranged for him to manage an antique shop. Although the income was insufficient to cover expenses, there was no debt crisis.

Later, he was led down a dark path from which he could see no light.

What happened after he came to his senses? Things he still can't face.

His awakening was the reckoning of the Wu family, the grandmother's regretful death, the second uncle's self-sacrifice, the third uncle's oblivion, and the fat man's dying words...

He seemed to live a life of constant gain and loss, with no one ever able to stay by his side, and even if someone did, it was only for a brief moment, like a fleeting ephemera at dawn.