Pet King

In the remote villages of China, families often lived close to each other so that they could help one another if needed.
However, the Bedouin houses were scattered out far and wide.
Yet this was understandable.
Chinese village houses, even the poorest, were at least made of mud.
The houses here were made of open air thatch material.
Get too close and one could smell someone else’s fart, not to mention that if one needed to have privacy and do funny business…

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Here, there was no electricity, no power generators, no Wi-Fi, no running water, no books, and no newspapers.
Even if there had been, few people were literate.
There were also no conveniences of modern society.
What could one do after the sun sets? Of course, s*x.

The consequence of not having protection readily available? Many children.
From the very young to somewhat bigger, they ran freely around, looking a tad dirty but innocent.

For the girls, they quietly gathered in groups of two or three to weave handicrafts.
The younger ones would then play with colorful glass beads.

Every man here had three or four wives and a dozen or more children.
The way the children were raised mirrored that of sheep rearing.

In the village, teenagers like Salem were few and far between.
It may have coincidentally been that the nomadic tribes had ventured to the vicinity of the Siwa Oasis, and many of them went to town or the farther-away Port of Mersa Matruh to work and earn money.

Those left behind were young children and mostly middle-aged or elderly people over the age of 30.
In some places, a 30-year-old was not considered to be middle-aged—here, the harsh environment and long laboring hours made one age rapidly.
A person in their twenties was similar to one in their forties.

Salem led Zhang Zian to one of the shacks and whispered, “I just asked my cousin about it.
It seems that just before we came, there was another group of guests who arrived.
They seemed rich but somewhat rough.
He didn’t know what they wanted, but they went straight to the chieftain.”

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Zhang Zian nodded.
The few off-road vehicles parked at the entrance to the village must’ve belonged to this group of guests.

While the purpose of their visit was unknown, the hope was that they would not cause any trouble and affect the operations of the expedition team.
Yet Zhang Zian had a feeling of unease, fearing what might happen.

They approached another shack.
Salem did not knock, as there was no door to knock on.
The shack was made out of date palm branches and reed stems.
Only three sides of the shack were built, and the roof was covered with palm leaves.
A rag hung on the open side, functioning as a door.

By heading to the largest shack in the entire community, Salem indicated that this was the home of the village chief.
Despite this being the chieftain’s shack, it was only a little bigger than the ordinary people’s shacks.
Other additional features included pillars made of trunks or mud bricks to make the sheds stronger.

The door was more spacious with no curtain hanging.
It was possible to make out who is inside, but because the shack was dark and the outdoors were very bright, it turned out to be quite difficult.

Salem shouted at the house in his tribal language.
Zhang Zian couldn’t understand clearly what he was yelling, but he seemed to hear the word “Nabari.”

Zhang Zian guessed that Salem probably said that he would come in with the guests.
It acted like a warning that if one was having intercourse during the day, one should stop and pull on his pants.

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Just a joke.

After shouting, Salem raised the curtain and entered, indicating that Zhang Zian should follow.

Because Egypt was dry and hot, no matter how hot it got outside, it was always cooler indoors.
The airy house was now a clear advantage.

Sitting in the house was a middle-aged man, likely about 40 or 50 years old but whose true age was unknown.
He was smoking a hookah.

In addition, there was a middle-aged woman wearing a long bluish-black robe.
Only her eyes and her hands were visible.
She sat cross-legged on the blanket, skillfully flattening dough with a rolling pin.
A pit was dug in the ground next to it and surrounded by stones. A red flame shone brightly in the center.

There were two three- or four-year-old children crawling up and down on the blanket, staring at Zhang Zian with bright eyes.

A few plastic water dispenser containers lined the side of the house.
They contained liquids of different colors.
They probably contained water and camel milk, although one looked like milk wine.

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Zhang Zian guessed that this middle-aged man was probably the legendary guardian of the tribe—Nabari, as well as his wife and children.

Salem whispered something and introduced Zhang Zian to Nabari.

Nabari put down the hookah.
He stood up, looked at Zhang Zian, stuck out his hand, and said in English, “Welcome, friends from China!”

Zhang Zian noticed that Nabari was wearing a solar-powered watch that looked quite nice.
This might’ve been the most technologically advanced thing in the entire tribe.
Plus, his command of the English language was better than most Egyptians’.
Nabari was obviously a person who had seen much.
Salem said that he often took expedition teams or tour groups into the desert and returned safely.
This might actually be believable.

The Bedouins provided warm hospitality to their guests.
Men had to shake hands but also hug.

After the hug, Nabari smiled and asked, “What can I help you with, friends from afar?”

Zhang Zian spoke openly and talked about the expedition team’s request for him to take the team into the desert.
He also did not forget Salem’s request, repeatedly mentioning that it was because of Salem’s recommendation.

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Salem also helped on the sidelines.
He said Zhang Zian was like a good friend who’d gone through trials and tribulations with him for many years.
He also said that Zhang Zian had helped him a lot and begged Nabari to help him return this favor.

Nabari silently considered their question and did not rush to agree.
He first asked specifically where the expedition team planned to go, because the western desert was part of the Sahara Desert, and it was not possible to enter like a headless fly without a plan.

Zhang Zian nodded secretly.
Nabari had not agreed immediately upon hearing about the generous reward.
This proved that he was a calm and cautious person.

In fact, Nabari zeroed in on the difficulty of the expedition team.
The expedition team did not have a clear goal.
Wei Kang wanted a Bedouin as a guide, as they were familiar with the desert.
The hope was to hear from them whether they’d come across other types of Egyptian cats.
Without them, it would really be searching for a needle in a haystack.

“Cat?” Nabari frowned and thought for a while.
“You’re going to the desert to find a cat?”

“Yes, but no ordinary cat,” Zhang Zian said.

As it was difficult to explain what the original Egyptian cat was, he simply turned around to Fina and said, “A cat like this.”

Fina did not walk into the shack.
It lazed outside and looked around.

Nabari stared at Fina.
After a while, he said with uncertainty, “I…I might have seen it.”