Chapter 1209: Sudden Attack
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Not long after, the sleepy desert was suddenly replaced by lush crops and date palm trees, and the farms on both sides of the road were planted with peanuts, wheat, cotton, corn, and other crops, including mint.
Egypt was rich in mint, and it could also be exported to China. In China, the mint was further processed into cooling balm before being re-exported back to Egypt. Egyptians especially enjoyed the cooling balm, but strangely, no one thought of making it a national product.
They’d reached the Faiyum Oasis.
Zhang Zian slowed down and decided to stop and rest for a while here. He would have his lunch here as well. After all, this would be the last…city before reaching the oasis—if a permanent population of 20,000 was considered a city.
The road was still very long, and he was the only driver. No one else could replace him so that he could rest. The long-term fatigue of driving was dangerous and not good for one’s physical or mental health. It was said that sitting in the driver’s seat for a long time also placed undue pressure on the prostate. He did not want to have severe issues with his prostate without using it much, peeing uncontrollably wherever he went…
Faiyum was one of the oldest cities in Egypt, but there were not many tourists visiting it. Most tourists rushed by it while heading towards the Black and White Desert.
It was no wonder that there weren’t any attractions of particular interest here, the most famous being the Whale Valley.
Just like how the colorful eggs of the whales were presented in “a.s.sa.s.sin’s Creed: Origins,” the Faiyum Oasis had been a vast ocean a few million years ago. With the pa.s.sing of time and the retreat of sea waters, the oasis had slowly risen above sea level and become land. Much of the marine life that had died here became precious fossils, especially the colorful whale fossils.
However, unlike dinosaur fossils, the average person was not that interested in whale fossils. After all, the whale had not gone entirely extinct, and it was still possible to see live ones. Thus, only professional archaeologists and the rare occasional tourist visited this place.
In fact, many people visited Egypt without a good reason. After truly being in Egypt, they discovered that it was a boring place. They usually painted the narrative that it would be a pity not to visit such a historic place but always followed by saying that they would not, however, come a second time.
Egypt was not known for its natural beauty. The most important sites were man-made. At first glance, the temples of various sizes looked nice, new and very appealing. However, if one saw too many, it would be easy to get bored of them quickly. Most temples had the same shape and an interior that mirrored the others.
Without much knowledge about Egypt’s past, it was difficult to see past just the name of the place. Yet there were many Egyptian G.o.ds, and the relations.h.i.+ps between the G.o.ds were complicated. It made one wonder how many tourists actually did any form of reading before visiting these places.
The Whale Valley was a popular destination for archaeologists. Recently, some of them had found a fossil that was reasonably intact. The fullness of the fossil allowed them to plot out the evolutionary journey of the whale more precisely, much like Professor Wei Kang’s efforts to find the missing link in the evolution of domestic cats.
Today’s inland areas of Egypt were still relatively cloudless. They did not deviate much from zero annual precipitation.
Zhang Zian parked the car on the side of the road. He planned to find a place where no one was around so that he could relieve himself. The elfins also wanted to get out of the car and stretch.
When he got off the bus, he immediately felt the intensity of the sun. He thought he had adapted to the sun in Egypt, but he realized now that such a thought was naive.
For unknown reasons, the sun at Faiyum was more intense than anywhere else. The sun’s rays felt like they put weight on people and made it difficult for anyone to breathe. More drastically, Richard was out only for a split second before wanting to get back into the car.
“Hey! This is way too hot! This must be at least 60 degrees!”
“I’m afraid it is more than that.”
Zhang Zian was wearing sungla.s.ses, so it was slightly better for him. Yet it was indeed very hot, so much so that he felt the high heat seeping into the soles of his feet. His feet felt like they were soaked in warm bags of water.
The temperature at the place where the sun was s.h.i.+ning was estimated to be likely above 60 degrees. Yet the worst was yet to come.
Fina and Famous, as if poked by something, were shaking from head to toe, twisting their bodies and alternating waves of their paws.
“Get back in the car! Close the door!” Fina couldn’t help but shout.
“There are a lot of mosquitoes!” Famous also shouted.
Richard screamed even more. “Hey! Help! Help! We are under attack!”
Zhang Zian also realized that, when they left the car, countless mosquitoes emerged from cracks in the nearby rocks, and they were heading straight for them.
It was strange that the densely-populated city of Cairo had virtually no mosquitoes, while the spa.r.s.ely-populated areas were teeming with them.
Generally, mosquitoes did not move about during the day—only in the early mornings and evenings. The mosquitoes here were different.
Mosquitoes that could survive in desert areas were fiercer than common mosquitoes. The idea was that there were not that many animals to feed from, so when they finally found one, the mosquitoes must suck as much blood as possible, and fast. If the animals didn’t run off in time or find a good place to hide, they might even be entirely sucked dry.
The desert mosquitoes overwhelmed the elfins, and they focused on the fragile but capillary-rich parts of the body—nose, mouth, eyes, ears, and claws. It made the elfins very miserable. Once bitten, those places would be very itchy but unfortunately difficult to reach. They would not be able to scratch them.
The first to be attacked were Fina and Famous, as the other elfins were invisible. The main force of the mosquitoes rushed toward them. Other mosquitoes smelled the other elfins but couldn’t see the elfins’ bodies. They did not give up. They hovered around the invisible elfins, trying to approach and land.
The number of mosquitoes was simply too much. It was like a locust crossing. Two visible streams of what looked like black smoke rapidly approached Fina and Famous. They surrounded them with lightning speed, much like how demons appeared in “Journey to the West.”
It was now too late to get back into the car. The mosquitoes would definitely follow, and in the narrow confinement of the car, there would be no way to deal with them.
Old Time Tea and Vladimir saw that Fina and Famous had been targeted, and their bodies were covered fully in mosquitoes. They decided to break stealth and emerge to join the fight. A swarm of mosquitoes changed targets immediately and headed for them.
As part of the mosquito army headed for Old Time Tea and Vladimir, the pressure on Fina and Famous was slightly reduced.
However, as the breeze dispersed the scent of the elfins to a greater distance, more mosquitoes smelled blood. Like a bloodthirsty great white, they rapidly rushed in, and before they knew it, all their ears could hear was the sound of the mosquitoes’ buzz.