The sun sank slowly into the western horizon, staining the sky red. The Himalayas towered in the distance, the snow and ice on its peaks faintly visible. It made for a spectacular picture; solemn and sacred. 

Three Ford Raptors ran out of Peshawar and headed to the Afghan border. 

They got to the border checkpoint at nightfall. Two Pakistani soldiers signalled for the cars to be inspected and Tang Yu-Yan handed them a document from her car window. The two soldiers immediately raised the barrier arm after reading the document. All the Pakistani soldiers waved, sending their best regards as the three Ford Raptors went onward. 

This situation made Xia Lei feel like the soldiers wouldn’t even care if the cars had box-type nuclear warheads in them. They weren’t called ‘Pakistani comrades’ for nothing. Only Chinese who have gone to Pakistan would experience this feeling. 

Xia Lei spoke up after they crossed the Afghan border. “Why is there a border checkpoint at Pakistan but not at Afghanistan?” 

“Who will be responsible for running the border checkpoint if they...