Chapter Fourteen: Duel in the Desert (3)
She had thought that a family steeped in five thousand years of dust and history should have nothing to do with this place. They should have spent their days in sprawling old mansions covered in creeping moss, practicing calligraphy from model copybooks and burning incense while painting.
Ning Hao pulled up his entry records, using his real identity.
As long as there was an entry record, it was not difficult to trace him.
His destination was also Al-Ahsa.
“The same hotel,” Ning Hao said with a smile. “The same hotel you’re about to stay at. They’re all VIPs for this event, scientists attending this technology forum, or renowned scholars in their respective fields.”
Renowned scholars?
This Zhousheng Chen in his twenties?
Saudi Arabia placed great importance on this forum and had specially arranged for the invited VIPs to stay at a royal hotel. Since this kind of hotel was not open to the public and its guests had special status, security was also extremely strict.
From two weeks before the forum began, the number and identities of everyone entering and leaving the hotel had already been confirmed.
There were only ninety-six people: twenty-six women and seventy men.
Of Cheng Muyang’s group, only he and Kyle were staying at the hotel. On the surface, they were VIPs invited by Saudi Aramco. Nan Bei and Bodongha, however, had not anticipated beforehand that they would need to attend such a formal technology conference. It was only on the final day that they received special invitation letters from Osama, becoming additional attendees.
Four security checks, ten days of travel, everything began at this hotel and would end here as well.
After they checked in, they received the schedule that very evening.
It consisted entirely of academic exchanges.
“Thank you.”
Nan Bei accepted the Chinese tea handed to her by a staff member in the lounge and looked at the more than twenty women inside the ladies’ lounge. The vast majority of them were not followers of Islam, but eighty percent still respected the traditions of the country, wearing black robes and veils. Only a handful wore shirts and trousers, leaving their entire faces uncovered.
This was the ladies’ hall, where men were not permitted to enter, so there were not many people, and everyone was much more at ease. Once the opening began, they would be able to watch the proceedings live on a screen covering the entire wall.
Nan Bei swept her gaze over the women beside her from the corner of her eye. Most were quiet, while some occasionally spoke in low voices, using the lingua franca, English. Their conversations were mostly about the King’s University in Saudi Arabia, which was soon to be completed.
According to what Cheng Muyang had said, the scientist they were looking for had to be among these people. The four groups that had come from Moscow had already narrowed down the CIA’s general range of activity. It was no longer possible for them to leave through normal channels.
So the CIA would definitely have this female scientist blend in with this group of people.
Because after the conference ended, all the VIPs would be taken to Riyadh Airport and leave through the royal family’s private terminal.
It was a highly rigorous itinerary, and also “that person’s” only chance to leave safely right in front of Cheng Muyang.
Nan Bei spent the entire evening committing every woman’s eyes to memory. There had to be differences. There had to be something distinctive.
Cheng Muyang’s group had only ten days to find this scientist. When it was finally over, she saw Cheng Muyang on the live broadcast screen of the conference hall, talking and laughing with several people, seemingly saying something amusing.
On screen, he wore a simple yet immaculate black suit, a light gray shirt, and a bow tie. Beside several men dressed in traditional white Middle Eastern robes, he was particularly conspicuous.
Nan Bei watched him for a while. Not knowing when his conversation would end, she simply decided to return to her room first.
She and several women in black robes were waiting for the elevator reserved for women. By an extraordinary coincidence, today, one week after entering the hotel, she finally saw Zhousheng Chen. He was talking with an elderly professor beside him, also in the lingua franca, English, though every so often a few words that sounded like Spanish slipped out.
“Chen,” the old professor said, patting him on the shoulder, “the King’s University here is funded by the royal family. The plan is to invest ten billion U.S. dollars in research funding for the first phase. Very tempting, isn’t it?”
Zhousheng Chen gave a quiet “Mm” and replied rather unconcernedly, “Saudi Arabia’s goal is very clear. They want to build the MIT of the Middle East.”
“So they want to hire you and have you come here to teach after you graduate.”
He shook his head. “I don’t like the climate here.”
After saying this, Zhousheng Chen seemingly glanced casually at the black-robed, veiled women.
Nan Bei heard only this much before stepping into the elevator.
One by one, the women in the elevator got off. She watched the numbers change, and soon it reached her floor. When the doors opened, standing outside was none other than Zhousheng Chen, smiling warmly. From the way he looked at her, it was obvious that he had already recognized her through her veil. As Nan Bei walked over, the first thing he said was, “My younger brother has missed you terribly. After the cruise ship explosion last time, he couldn’t find you and cried all night.”
Nan Bei gave a quiet “Mm” and smiled. “I missed him too.”
This young man had a very ordinary face. Perhaps it was precisely his completely non-threatening scholarly air that left her with a good impression. Although they had only met once, and it had not exactly been a friendly encounter.
Zhousheng Chen pointed to his own eyes and said, “It’s very easy to recognize you from here.”
Nan Bei understood at once.
He continued, “I’m curious. What brings you here this time?”
She was surprised that he could ask so directly.
But at an academic forum like this, her appearance here indeed could not simply be a coincidence. Nan Bei hesitated for a moment, wondering how much she should say. If Zhousheng Chen was an enemy, then whatever she said did not matter. He would certainly already know a great deal. If Zhousheng Chen was merely an outsider, then what she said mattered even less. He would surely avoid something this sensitive.
“I’m here to find someone,” Nan Bei said after thinking for a moment. “A female nuclear scientist.”
“Hard to find?”
“Very hard.” Nan Bei pointed at her veil and smiled. “You know the customs here. There are always some complications.”
Zhousheng Chen nodded lightly. “I hope you enjoy your time in Saudi Arabia.”
He tactfully steered clear of the sensitive subject.
The two of them exchanged a few more words, and Nan Bei asked him, with some curiosity, why he had come here.
“Don’t think of me as a member of the Zhousheng family. Here, I’m simply an invited researcher,” he said with an unhurried smile. “That time on the cruise ship, it was also because I knew something bad was going to happen that I decided at the last minute to go aboard and pick up Xiao Ren. From beginning to end, your world has had nothing to do with me. I came only to greet an old friend.”
If what he had said just now was his way of avoiding the sensitive subject, then what he said now was a very clear declaration that he would have nothing to do with their affairs.
She told Cheng Muyang about it after he returned to their room.
“Do you believe what he said?”
“Me?” Cheng Muyang sat on the sofa and gestured for Nan Bei to come over, then pulled her onto his lap. After thinking about it seriously for a moment, he said, “I probably would. I once had detailed information on him. His life trajectory from childhood to adulthood was completely normal.”
“Normal?”
Nan Bei was different from Cheng Muyang.
Because Nan Huai had done his best to keep her life simple, everything she knew had come merely from curiosity and personal interest. Cheng Muyang, on the other hand, had entered Moscow at fourteen and had to find his own place in that corner of Eastern Europe. He had had to carve his own path every step of the way, so he understood very well anyone who posed a threat to him or might become a potential enemy.
“His IQ is very high, extremely high. His life has always seemed to revolve around scientific research,” Cheng Muyang said with a smile. With both arms around Nan Bei, he casually removed his bow tie and loosened his shirt collar. “The people from Aramco also mentioned tonight that he is someone Saudi Arabia places great importance on among the VIPs this time. So his appearance here should be a coincidence.”
“An interesting person.”
“He is very interesting, especially those Wu songs embroidered screens he collects. They leave a very deep impression.”
“Yes, that shunga painting,” she said, lightly poking his palm with her finger. “Of course it left a deep impression on you.”
Cheng Muyang smiled faintly, almost imperceptibly. His fingers slipped into her long hair and smoothed it all the way down to the ends. “‘Last night, I did not comb my hair, letting my silky hair fall over both shoulders...” After saying this, his hand slid down from her thigh and caught Nan Bei by the ankle. “I gently stretched out and rested on my lover’s lap. What place could not be cherished?’”
“You lecher.” Nan Bei laughed and slapped his hand away.
She remembered these four lines. He had used them on the ship to tease her with his lewd, amorous verse.
He smiled, brought over the miniature computer, and placed it on Nan Bei’s lap. “Today we got the image records of all the female guests, though they’re all veiled. Ning Hao also traced the people who came out of the airport during that time period that day and narrowed it down to four.”
As Cheng Muyang spoke, he showed her the photographs.
Four nearly identical photographs of women with black gauze veiling their faces.
“Do any of them look familiar?” he asked.
“These four?” Nan Bei recalled the pairs of eyes she had seen that evening. “I’ve seen all of them.”
She had always had an excellent memory.
As long as she put her mind to it, remembering more than twenty pairs of eyes was not difficult.
What was more, these four pairs of eyes were all distinctive, and the differences between them were quite obvious: pronounced crow’s-feet, blue irises, a mole at the corner of the eye, and one pair of completely black eyes.
Once the scope had been narrowed down, finding “that person” would not be difficult.
Cheng Muyang settled her onto the sofa and asked the waiter for Chinese tea.
Because they were Chinese, they were treated very well here. Even the tea had been prepared with great care.
The waiter placed the tea in front of her. Inside the celadon teacup, a large tea flower was slowly unfurling, its fragrance light and delicate.
The tea itself might not have been particularly precious, but the thoughtfulness behind it was comforting.
By the time Nan Bei picked up the cup, the waiter had already left the room. But before she had taken more than two sips, someone knocked lightly on the door again. Cheng Muyang went over and opened it. A VIP attendant dressed in a white robe gave a slight bow and told them, in fluent English and in a straightforward tone, that bombings had occurred simultaneously in the capital, Riyadh, and Al-Ahsa. The princess was extremely alarmed and had immediately arranged for these distinguished guests to leave Al-Ahsa and head for the capital, Riyadh.
As he spoke, they could hear the same polite voice coming from the doors of several nearby rooms.
The same explanation.
It looked like a very serious bombing. Even the unfailingly courteous Saudis were giving everyone only thirty minutes. To facilitate the protection of the guests along their journey, the organizers had not arranged one car for each person. Instead, they had arranged one car for the female VIPs and three cars for the male VIPs, all traveling under heavy protection toward the capital, Riyadh.
Cheng Muyang closed the door, and Nan Bei had already set down her teacup.
“Bombings are happening in Riyadh too. Why do they want us to go there?”
“Al-Ahsa is mainly inhabited by Shi’a Muslims, and they are at odds with those in power,” Cheng Muyang told her. “Holding this conference here was, in a sense, a gesture of goodwill from the royal family. But now that a terrorist attack has occurred, the royal family also has to ensure the safety of its distinguished guests. They will inevitably move everyone to the capital, where they can keep them under their own protection.”
Cheng Muyang closed the door. Nan Bei had already set down her teacup. “That person just said the conference has been postponed, and all the VIPs can arrange their own itineraries freely starting tomorrow. We don’t have much time left.”
This was also what Cheng Muyang had been worried about.
He could not possibly abduct four VIPs inside Saudi Arabia at the same time, especially at such an important forum.
Ten days had been reduced to one day. He had to find this female scientist before they went to the airport.
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