Chapter 1146: The Clue in the Desert

Zhang Zian carefully observed the photographs that Lazart showed him. From the hairy knitted surface, it could be seen that the subject of the photograph was a carpet or tapestry. Judging by the size, the latter was more likely true.

The tapestry was surrounded by a circle of red decorative lace, which could be ignored.

This picture was a narrative from a first-person perspective.

Most of the tapestry was occupied by rolling yellow sand. The dark yellow sun hung overhead. Some parts of the sky had faded badly, but there were still traces of earthy yellow.

The yellow sand, the yellow sun, the yellow sky.

A cat walked in the middle, leaving a trail of paw marks on the yellow sand. It was looking back as if impatiently urging the person behind to hurry up.

As it was from the first-person perspective, one hand stretched forward, like the person was crawling behind the cat in the desert desperately.

In the far horizon, the desert and sky met. Several black branch-like things that looked like palm trees and yet like green bristlegrass swayed, and there was a deep green lake, probably representing an oasis.

The theme of the tapestry was abnormally distinct. It was about a cat leading a dying man in the desert to an oasis.

One of the details attracted Zhang Zian’s attention. The wrist half-buried in yellow sand was tattooed with a pattern, which was obscure due to the level of weaving skill at that time, but it could still be seen that it was a cross.

Lazart smiled and reached out his wrist. The inside of his wrist had a similar cross tattooed on it, representing their Christian beliefs.

Zhang Zian finished looking at the image and looked toward Fina, mostly able to guess Lazart’s meaning. Still, to confirm, he said, “Your meaning is…”

If Lazart wanted to say that Fina was the cat in the picture, Zhang Zian had to deny it, because Fina lived in the decades before B.C., when Jesus had not been born, and it would be impossible to give religious meaning to the cross.

Lazart laughed. “I saw this tapestry from an acquaintance. I thought it was interesting, so I took some pictures. It is said that the ancestor of the acquaintance knitted the tapestry according to an even earlier family legend. Today, when I saw Fina, I thought it was very similar to the cat in the tapestry, so I wanted to show it to you.”

This statement was somewhat credible—that it wasn’t a tapestry woven by those who had experienced the event, but by later generations based on earlier legends, to commemorate their ancestors. The descendants of Christianity, out of pride in their family history, would have casually added the tattoo of the cross into the tapestry.

“Can you send these photos to me?” Zhang Zian asked.

“Yes.”

Lazart sent the photos to Zhang Zian.

Zhang Zian took advantage when the others were not paying attention and secretly showed the photo to Fina. “Are you the one in this picture?”

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Fina seriously looked at it for a while. It impatiently shook its head and said, “I’ve long forgotten. Who would remember this kind of minor matter?”

This answer was very much its style.

Zhang Zian thought for a while. He walked to Lazart’s side and asked, “Your acquaintance—does he know where this situation in the tapestry happened?”

“Where, ah…” Lazart tried to recall. The family legend only mentioned that it was a desert in the west and did not mention the specific location, let alone the fact that the ancient place name must be different from the modern name, and so there was no meaning in knowing it either.

“It seems like a desert in the west,” he answered.

“A desert in the west…”

Zhang Zian felt vaguely that this might be a clue to the search for the primitive Egyptian cat. If this picture was not of Fina, but of one of her kind, it may have once inhabited the desert in the west. As for whether it was still there, that could only be known after the field investigation. The hope was certainly slim.

Ninety-five percent of Egypt’s territory was desert, with Eastern desert in the east, Nubian desert in the South, and Western desert in the west. Trying to find creatures from the desert that had existed two thousand years ago would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The oasis in the tapestry may have been a clue, but it may have changed greatly after two thousand years. The oasis could have evaporated a long time ago.

Zhang Zian consulted Gao Ke with his ideas. Gao Ke and the others, although feeling that their hopes were slim, agreed that this was a clue. It was always better to have clues than not to have clues. At least they could temporarily lock their target in the western desert.

He He did not participate in their discussion, but she was attracted by the beautiful and exotic gold and silver jewelry. She pulled Kate aside and asked her to help introduce her to them. She planned to buy some jewelry to take home. She could not only keep it as souvenirs for herself but also give them as gifts to her close female friends and relatives. Most importantly, the price of gold here was cheaper than it was in China. 18K gold was even cheaper. Wasn’t it great that she could get gifts with Egyptian characteristics for not a lot of money?

After their discussion, Zhang Zian thought about how the shop assistants and his friends in China had repeatedly advised him to bring gifts back before he left. He might as well take care of Lazart’s business at the same time as a way for thanking him for helping.

They explained their willingness to buy to Lazart, and Lazart readily agreed to introduce them personally to the various types of jewelry in the shop.

There were many kinds of jewelry in the shop, but since Zhang Zian wanted to buy the most Egyptian-style jewelry, he could exclude the ordinary jewelry, which was exquisitely crafted and popular with local women but had no special meaning.

According to Lazart, jewelry with Egyptian characteristics and popular with foreign tourists could be roughly divided into three categories—imitations of famous cultural relics, statues of famous figures, and protection amulets.

Imitations of famous cultural relics, those that were more representative of Egypt, included the Rosetta stone tablet pendant. In accordance with its original proportions, it was made smaller, and with artistic treatment, it could be used as a key pendant. It could also be used as a necklace to hang around the neck, and it could be placed at home as decoration.

As the key to cracking the hieroglyphs, the significance of the Rosetta stone tablet was obvious. Such a pendant was very popular with foreign male tourists.

Gao Ke and the rest bought two or three Rosetta stone tablet pendants and Tutankhamun gold mask pendants each.

The most popular statues of famous figures were, of course, the three famous beautiful women in ancient Egypt: Nefertari, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra VII. The most popular statues were the jewelry with Nefertiti’s head carved into them.

Compared with famous cultural relics imitations, foreign female tourists usually preferred the pendants of three beautiful women’s heads, and He He was no exception. She knew that Nefertari and Nefertiti were more beautiful than Cleopatra, but since they were going to be given to their domestic friends, they must be well known. How many people in China knew who Nefertari and Nefertiti were?

But what made her hesitate for so long without buying was the fierce cobra behind Cleopatra’s crown on the pendant.