Chapter 25

Wei Yuan turned and looked at Jiang Shan suspiciously. In those few seconds the black substance had already dispersed in the air, as if it had merged with it.
Wei Yuan had seen nothing.
Jiang Shan kept a straight face and walked to the toolbox. She reached out and touched it. The surface felt like metal—cold. She tried to lift it. It was lighter than she had expected—too light, as if there were nothing inside.
Wei Yuan glanced at the box she had brought. It had an upward arrow and the words “Handle with care.”
He knew how to open this kind of box. He found the spring latch and lifted the lid.
Inside was an intact fuel nozzle. Only then did Wei Yuan relax. He said quietly to Jiang Shan: “We found it. Let’s go.”
She didn’t object. She pushed his wheelchair toward the exit.
After a few steps the other torch went out. Jiang Shan heard Wei Yuan flick the switch a couple of times. It seemed dead.
Wei Yuan’s voice said: “Just keep going this way. The exit is ahead.”
She walked steadily forward in the dark. She could only hear the wheelchair on the ground and their uneven breathing, rising and falling.
Zhang Zheng and the others waited outside, restless, looking into the distance. “Damn, I could use a cigarette.”
He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he had smelled tobacco.
Zhang Zheng and the burly Lao Gao had turned the rest area outside upside down and had barely found two coils of usable fuel line. Now they only needed a nozzle from the storage.
Zhao Ying had been staring at the storage entrance. Her eyes lit up. “They’re out!”
Sure enough—where Wei Yuan was, there was always a way.
They saw Jiang Shan emerge slowly behind him, saw her whole and unharmed, pushing Wei Yuan. Their relief slowly froze on their faces.
They all saw the toolbox on Wei Yuan’s lap. He said: “Use it right away. It probably won’t last long.”
Zhang Zheng didn’t wait for him to finish. He grabbed the box and ran toward the truck.
They connected the nozzle with practised ease and dragged out a full drum from the back.
Jiang Shan let go of Wei Yuan’s wheelchair and stood to one side, watching them.
The others hadn’t expected her to be so tactful. The girl seemed to know how to make herself invisible, to keep her presence low.
That was a gift.
The sound of the truck starting again made everyone by the road relax. They knew they couldn’t waste time. Within minutes they were all back in the vehicle.
Jiang Shan sat with Wei Yuan in the back again. With two drums gone, the space was noticeably roomier. She could even stretch her legs and half recline.
Wei Yuan looked at her. “Don’t you have any questions?”
Most people would have questions after what had just happened. But Jiang Shan didn’t. She had already closed her eyes to rest as usual.
Jiang Shan answered him with silence.
Then she rolled her neck.