The fine texture of the gold made Leo put in quite a bit of effort. Only when beads of sweat appeared on his forehead did his consciousness penetrate the hexagram.
Leo finally discovered the secret, smiled slightly, and extended a finger to tap the red dot at the center of the hexagram.
Click!
With a soft sound, a golden beam shot out from the hexagram into the air, revealing a line of faint, indecipherable floating text.
The vampires were instantly astonished and carefully examined the magical light.
“It’s Ancient Hebrew! It means ‘Petra, Kazni Temple, God be with you.'” The well-read Elder Archibald quickly translated.
Poof!
With a soft sound, the golden light disappeared, and the hexagram returned to its ancient golden luster.
“Elder Archibald, what’s Petra and Kazni Temple?” Leo asked excitedly.
“Master, Petra is an ancient city ruin in Jordan, world-famous. Kazni Temple is also very well-known, rumored to have once secretly housed the Holy Grail of Jesus,” Archibald, who had lived for over a thousand years, explained effortlessly.
“Quite the choice of location. Looks like we should prepare to head to Jordan. Elder Archibald, how far is it from here?” Leo asked.
“Not too far, about 200 kilometers. A two to three-hour drive. But getting a visa to Jordan might be a bit troublesome,” Elder Archibald replied.
“As for the visa, with your abilities, it should be easy to handle,” Leo laughed. “Seems like we’re getting closer to the treasure.”
“Indeed,” the vampires said excitedly.
Noon, desert wasteland.
The fierce wind whipped up sand and dust, howling across the land. A road stretched through the desert, faintly visible in the sandstorm.
Leo drove an off-road vehicle, departing from Jerusalem, passing the Dead Sea, heading straight for Petra.
The journey was desolate; it took half a day to see one or two cars. Besides the sound of sand hitting the car, only a few sleepy bats in the back seat accompanied Leo.
Boredom was Leo’s biggest feeling now, almost as drowsy as the vampires who feared daylight.
Suddenly, a strange noise startled Leo. Before he knew what was happening, the car stopped.
Leo looked out; steam was billowing from under the hood.
Leo got out of the car and opened the hood to find that the car had broken down!
With a wry smile, Leo scratched his head. He couldn’t fix cars. Was he supposed to fly directly to Petra in broad daylight?
What about the vampires?
While he was troubled, a distant camel bell rang out.
Leo calmed himself and listened carefully; it was indeed a camel bell.
Looking into the distance, he saw a caravan slowly approaching through the sandstorm.
Several men in Arab robes were leisurely chatting on camelback, seemingly accustomed to such sandstorms.
Leo happily approached them, waving his hand vigorously.
The Arabs soon noticed Leo and his broken-down vehicle. The bearded leader waved back and asked, “My friend, what’s wrong? Need help?”
“Sorry, my car broke down,” Leo said with a wry smile.
“That’s unfortunate; there’s no place to fix cars around here,” the bearded man said with a shrug.
Leo sincerely asked, “Could you give me a ride to Petra? Of course, I can pay.”
The bearded man asked instead of answering, “Are you Atrarian?”
“Yes,” Leo nodded.
“Then you’re in luck. We Arabs have a good impression of Atrarians. You can come with us. If you were from the United States, sorry,” the bearded man laughed.
“Thank you so much. Please wait while I grab my luggage,” Leo said gratefully and ran back to the car.
Leo didn’t have much luggage; his so-called luggage was just the vampires in the back seat.
The vampires turned into bats and slept during the day. Whether they slept in the car or in a bag made no difference to Leo.
Returning with his bag, the bearded man instructed one of his men, “Kata, give our Atrarian friend a camel.”
A slender Arab man nodded and handed one of the camels to Leo.
Leo thanked him and gracefully mounted the camel.
“Atrarian friend, you seem skilled. Do you know the legendary Atrarian martial arts?” the bearded man asked with a smile.
“A little bit,” Leo replied with a smile.
The bearded man raised his hand and shouted, “Let’s move on! We must reach Petra by tonight; otherwise, the night sandstorm will torment us.”
The caravan formed a line and continued under the scorching sun.
The poor off-road vehicle was left alone in its place.
At first, riding a camel through the desert felt novel to Leo. He even felt a sense of grandeur conquering the desert.
But that feeling quickly faded. Leo couldn’t muster any more enthusiasm.
The sun’s heat beat down from above; wind and sand battered him from all sides; and the camel’s bumpy ride was uncomfortable… Driving an air-conditioned off-road vehicle was much more pleasant.
As evening approached, a massive canyon appeared before them.
Against the desert backdrop, what amazed them was that the canyon’s color appeared rose-gold and very magnificent.
Seeing the canyon, the bearded man praised excitedly, “Praise be to Allah! We’ve reached Petra.”
After praising Allah, he turned to Leo and asked, “Dear Atrarian friend, are you here to tour Petra?”
“Yes, Petra is Jordan’s treasure. I’ve longed to visit for ages,” Leo replied.
Leo’s words brought a proud smile to the bearded man’s face. “Atrarian friend, you won’t be disappointed. You’ll have a great time in Petra.”
As they spoke, a horse team galloped past them like a gust of wind into the canyon ahead.
The bearded man coughed from the dust kicked up by the horses and complained, “Those pesky Bedouins! Let’s move into the canyon!”
The canyon was narrow; it took half an hour for the caravan to pass through it.
Once out of the canyon, their view widened. The famous Old Petra city appeared before them.
In Petra, nothing stood out more than a massive temple.
Seeing Leo’s gaze drawn to it, the bearded man proudly said, “Atrarian friend, that’s Kazni Temple-Petra’s most famous monument and our pride!”
Kazni Temple was precisely Leo’s ultimate destination on this trip.
“I came to Petra mainly to visit Kazni Temple,” Leo said with a smile.