沙海Ⅰ The Sand Sea I

Phantom Shadows in the Desert

Chapter Six

Mr. Foster

All the way, Eric Bennett didn’t say a word. He stared at the streets outside the window, wondering if he should just jump out of the car and run for it.

But where could he possibly run to? His mom’s place? Forget it. Even though his mom still cared about him, she already had her own family now—there was no room for him there. His dad’s place? That would probably just mean another beating.

It was only at a moment like this that he truly understood what it meant to be homeless. He found it a bit ridiculous.

True homelessness isn’t about not having a home, but about not wanting to face the family you have. Suddenly, he thought of Emily Bolton. He’d once seen this girl crying alone on the school playground at night. She always lived in the dorms; her mother worked far away. She probably never really experienced what a real home was, either. But, unfortunately, he didn’t even have a dorm room. In the end, he was even less worthy of her.

Grace Thompson was clearly still in pain from the electric shock, groaning the whole way and not paying him any attention. Eric Bennett kept his hand on the car door handle; at every red light, he could have gotten out, but in the end, he let go. Suddenly, a deep sense of sorrow washed over him. He felt that if he really went down this road of no return, it probably wouldn’t cause much trouble for anyone else.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” As the car passed through the Taiyanggong area, Grace Thompson finally asked him, “Did I scare you speechless?”

“What’s going on here?” Eric Bennett turned his head. “I don’t even know what to say. Who are those people? What’s your relationship with them, and why did you sell me to them?”

Grace Thompson frowned, not really wanting to answer. Looking back on the whole thing, she felt it had all gone off the rails. But seeing Eric Bennett’s expression, she knew if she didn’t explain now, he’d be completely lost—and she’d have to tell him eventually anyway. So, after thinking for a moment, she replied, “I don’t know much either. Their identities are very special. They’re not gangsters, but they’re even more mysterious than the underworld. I didn’t sell you; they said they wanted to compensate you, and since I like him, I naturally helped arrange it. I never thought it would turn out like this.”

“So what are they? Secret agents?”

“No, these people are tomb robbers.”

“Tomb robbers?”

“Yes.” Grace Thompson nodded. “They didn’t say it outright, but I’m pretty sure that’s what they are.

The first time she met Samuel Cooper was during a night shift a couple of days ago. She was bored, playing ‘Plants vs. Zombies,’ when Samuel Cooper walked in. He was wearing a black suit, tall and slim—just her type—so he immediately caught her eye.

Grace Thompson was especially into good-looking guys. Samuel Cooper wasn’t exactly handsome, but there was something very unique about his manner. Then she saw another man, following behind Samuel Cooper. Samuel Cooper called him ‘boss.’ He just glanced inside and quickly slipped out. She heard him say to Samuel Cooper, “You handle this. I don’t meet with strangers,” and then he left.

From Grace Thompson’s perspective, even though Samuel Cooper’s boss was young, there was a kind of world-weariness in his eyes that was rare for someone his age. Overall, both of them gave off a very strange vibe.

Later, Grace Thompson learned that Samuel Cooper was there to deal with a corpse the police had left. The autopsy was done, so she took Samuel Cooper downstairs and had him sign for the body. Just as she was about to return to her office, Samuel Cooper suddenly called her back and said his boss wanted to ask her for a favor—could she have dinner with him alone the next day?

Thinking of his boss’s appearance, Grace Thompson agreed right away. There was something so special about this man’s aura that she was more curious than ever.

But what she didn’t expect was that the next day, the boss didn’t show up—only Samuel Cooper came. After chatting for a while, Samuel Cooper told her something she found a bit unbelievable.

“The pattern on your back must have a special origin.” Samuel Cooper told her they were involved in cultural relics research. Three months ago, in an ancient Sui Dynasty tomb in Guyuan, Ningxia, they unearthed a mummified corpse. On the corpse’s back, they found a tattooed pattern—very unusual. They thought there might be something strange about it and planned to take the body to the research institute for examination. But unfortunately, something went wrong during the process: the guy responsible for transporting the corpse disappeared. For three months, they searched for him but couldn’t find him. Until recently, he died right next to you, and carved that pattern onto your back.

“A mummy?” Eric Bennett exclaimed in surprise, thinking: So the pattern on my back is actually a tattoo from a mummy? That’s even more disturbing—what am I, a Terracotta Warrior?

Grace Thompson said, “They figure that the guy transporting the mummy must have figured something out from the pattern and wanted to sell the information to someone else, but something went wrong, leading to the current situation. That guy—Peter Harris, the one who drew on your back—was already badly injured. Knowing he didn’t have long to live, he grabbed you to use as a canvas.”