The Fantasy Crystal Shoes

Valley of the Kings, Egypt.

Gusts of wind swept past, stirring up the dust. Ivanna Neal and her team, on a mission to excavate an ancient tomb, could barely keep their eyes open.

"Ivy, the sandstorm is too strong. Let's pack up, return to the camp, and come back when it subsides!" Steve Caldwell, a young man beside Ivanna, covered his nose and suggested.

"Makes sense, go pack up..." Ivanna looked up at the sky, knowing that the storm would last for some time. It had affected their archaeological research. She picked up the detector and other equipment from the ground before stuffing them into her bag.

"Ahhh..." Just then, Steve cried out loud, and an amused Ivanna looked over.

"What are you doing? The sand will choke you!" Ivanna arched her brow and saw the timid schoolmate jumping and grabbing her sleeve. Pointing to the near distance, he freaked out, "There is... a corpse!"

"Is this the first time you've seen a corpse?" Ivanna helplessly shook her head and looked over. Then her brow furrowed.

"We're not in the tomb yet. No corpses should be out here...."

Ivanna walked over to the spot where the corpse was buried before seeing a man in a suit. His eyes were closed, his face was ashen, his lips were bloodless, and a thin layer of sand covered his body.

"He's still breathing..." Ivanna bent down, felt his breath, and whispered, "He's not dead. It looks like he's injured and unconscious!"

"Thank God, it scared the hell out of me!" Steve heaved a sigh of relief and cautiously came up. Then he was shocked to see the clothes on the man's left abdomen stained with blood, "He bled a lot!"

"Come on, help him up and bring him back to our camp. We should stop his bleeding first!"

Ivanna picked up her backpack, propped the injured man with Steve, and left the valley for their camp nearby.

Steve laid him flat on the bed, wiped his face with a towel, and marveled in a low voice, "This man is as handsome as Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun..."

"Nonsense, bring me ethanol and tweezers!" Ivanna glared at him.

With her head low, she wiped his wound with ethanol. The unconscious man twitched, opened his eagle's eyes abruptly, and gazed at her fiercely.

"Who are you?" The man grabbed her wrist forcefully. His voice was deep and authoritative.

"Your rescuer..." To her surprise, the man boasted great strength despite his injury. She chuckled and cocked her brow.

As he refused to let go, Ivanna poked his wound. The man gasped in pain, and she explained with a smile, "Relax, we brought you back and will not take your life...."

Only then did the man let go of her hand. While cleaning the wound, Ivanna turned to Steve, "Bring me a dose of anesthetics quickly...."

"Ivy, we've run out of them...." Steve shrugged helplessly.

Ivanna pondered for a moment, looked down at the pale face of the man, and sighed, "No anesthetics, so you have to tough it out. We're too far from the hospital. I'm afraid you won't make it...."

"Go on!" The man urged in a low voice.

Ivanna picked up the tweezers and removed the bullet fragments from his abdomen with great care. As the anesthetics were not used, she could feel his body stiff from the pain.

Ivanna felt nervous, lowered her head, looked into his deep eyes, and gritted her teeth before disinfecting and sewing up the wound.

"Done..." Ivanna removed her gloves, wiped the sweat off her forehead, and found the man unconscious again. His brows were knitted together.

She asked Steve to fetch a basin of water, wiped the sand off, and then saw his handsome face. His eyes were closed, and it didn't affect his sculpted features.

They had carried out archaeological research many times, but it was the first time that such a thing happened. In the absence of anesthetics, the man toughed it out. She admired him for his endurance.

"Ivy, he has no ID card nor a cell phone. What should we do? Even if we send him to the hospital, he will not be taken in..."

Steve rummaged through his suit, found no important items, and asked helplessly.

"He speaks English, and I think he is our compatriot. I'll stay here and you go contact the embassy. Ask them for a solution..." Ivanna said in a deep voice.

Steve nodded, grabbed his phone, and drove away to the embassy.

Ivanna looked at the man's dry lips, shook her head, sighed, and wondered how long he was hiding on this dry land.

She picked up a cotton swab, dipped it in the water, moistened his lips, and put her hand on his forehead to feel his body temperature. Fearing that he might have an inflammatory fever, she got up and went to fetch the antipyretics and anti-inflammatory medicine.

Then she found herself in a difficult situation when she tried to feed him the medicine. Holding his head, she attempted to force open his mouth, but his teeth were clenched tightly probably because of the great pain.

Ivanna eyed him silently for a moment, sighed, and talked to herself, "Forget it, I have to save him!"

With great care, she lifted his head, had a mouthful of water, lowered her head, and pressed her lips against his.

Because of excessive blood loss, his face was ghastly pale but his lips were somewhat hot. Ivanna felt that her face was burning.

Keeping the task in mind, she forced open his teeth and fed him two anti-inflammatory pills.

Confirming that he swallowed the medicine along with the water, Ivanna heaved a sigh of relief and moved away. Just then, his eyes opened slowly and looked into her eyes.

She didn't come back to her senses until his breath reached her. In an instant, her cheeks turned rosy.

"Well... I didn't kiss you..."

Ivanna quickly straightened up and explained in a dull voice, "You passed out. I was feeding you anti-inflammatory medicine..."

His suit had been removed while his shirt had been unbuttoned for the convenience of the treatment. Moistened by the water, his lips turned a bit ruddy. As he lay there on the bed, the scene was messy yet pretty.

The man just looked at her silently. Ivanna hastily looked away and whispered, "I didn't mean to take advantage of you..."

Before she could finish her speech, the deep voice of the man came from behind, "You... saved my life..."

(To be continued)

Ivanna looked back, only to see the man struggling to get up. In a hurry, she walked over, pressed his shoulder, and advised in a low voice, "Don't move, or your wound will split open. Do you have any documents that can prove your identity? We can send you to the hospital..."

"It's okay. My men will come...." The man shook his head and croaked, "Thanks, I'll reward you...."

"I didn't save you for rewards. It's just a favor!" Ivanna shrugged, poured him a glass of water, and handed it to him with a smile, "You're lucky to run into us. The sandstorm in the valley is strong today. You could have been buried!"

The man silently sipped the water, but a cold glint flashed across his eyes.

"By the way, may I know your name? How did you get injured in the Valley of the Kings?" Ivanna's face stopped burning, and she asked curiously.

"Marshall Walsh, it was a setup...." The man answered in a bland tone, refused to reveal more, and changed the subject, "What about you? Are you a doctor?"

"Ivanna Neal. People usually call me Ivy. I'm not a doctor but a graduate student of archaeology...." Ivanna introduced herself with a smile.

With a hint of surprise, his eyes looked at her. "A graduate student of archaeology can have such good medical skills?" He mused.

"Consider it a survival skill in the field!" Ivanna shrugged with a proud smile, "According to my foster father. I can't carry on with archaeology if I don't know how to save myself...."

Marshall nodded slightly and obtained certain information from her remarks.

Neal Family... that Neal Family?

He had never heard of any Neal majoring in archaeology or any foster father...."

"Do you know..." Before Marshall could finish his question, Ivanna's cell phone rang.

She checked the caller ID, excused herself, walked to the side, and answered the phone, "Hello, Ivy, it's me...."

"Dad, what are your instructions?"

"Ivy, the sandstorm is too strong. Suspend your archaeological work and come to my office. This is an emergency...."

"But I'm in the middle of something...." Ivanna said hesitantly, following a glance at Marshall, who was leaning against the bedside.

Before she could finish her speech, her father sulked, "Nothing is more important than my business. Come back ASAP. Steve will assist you!"

With a choice, Ivanna nodded, consented, and then apologized to Marshall, "Sorry, my foster father wants to see me. Stay here, my friend. Steve will come and take care of you..."

Marshall nodded slightly before watching Ivanna grab her phone and leave in a hurry. He got off the bed with difficulty, covered his injured abdomen, grabbed his suit, and pressed the lining three times to send out a signal.

While waiting for his men, he looked around the shabby camp before laying his eyes on a pile of drawings on the table.

He slowly walked over, picked up the drawings, and flipped them through. As he looked at the lifelike sketches of Egypt, he couldn't help but chuckle.

This woman had a pair of deft hands... When he flipped to the last drawing, a small incense bag embroidered with Ivanna's name fell out.

Marshall picked up the bag, had a sniff, but smelt no fragrance. When he looked at the delicate pattern, however, the corners of his lips curved up slightly. In the end, he stuffed the incense bag into his suit pocket.

In archaeologist Fred Slater's office, Ivanna and a man in a suit gazed at each other.

"Dad, the emergency you mentioned is for me to see him?" Ivanna looked coldly at the stranger, pouted, and asked unhappily.