Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The mobile signal base station was to the east, out of the way.

After discussing with the support vehicle driver, Fu Xun split the team.

The support vehicle would only go to the signal base; if no one was found on the way, it would return to camp near the sand ridge. The G-Class would head north, and regardless of clues, return to camp before nightfall.

Because of the time zone, in July the northwest sunset is around seven o’clock. Full darkness comes after eight.

By evening, the wind picked up, carrying fine sand that whipped against their faces, with small stones striking the windshield, making a rustling sound like raindrops falling intermittently.

Before long, the fine sand that couldn’t be blown away accumulated on the wipers, forming a thin line, winding and snaking along.

Wind and sand are common in the northwest desert, but in July, Dunhuang is deep in summer, and sandstorms are rare.

But today, the wind was strange. The sand content seemed as if it had stripped the entire Yadan plateau, all swept into the air.

Judging by the wind, it would probably stir up a sandstorm later in the night.

Qu Yixian thought of the tourist somewhere in the desert right now—no water, lost, phone dead, and alone.

Darkness alone can break a person’s will; if a sandstorm hits… even the strongest survival instinct will be blown away, bit by bit, by the desert wind.

She wondered if he was regretting it now.

——

Halfway along the route, the support vehicle driver called.

Fu Xun, driving, gestured for Qu Yixian to put it on speaker.

The driver, Shengzi, was the leader of the Qinghai Skywalker Outdoor Club. He had followed the GPS to the signal base Qu Yixian had marked.

“I drove all the way here. Didn’t see anyone.”

“Nearby?” Fu Xun asked.

Shengzi said, “I drove around the base station too. Nothing.”

This news was expected by Fu Xun.

In desert rescues, the most effective method is to search along the planned route left by the missing person. Even if the person strays, later search teams have an easier time.

But this missing tourist was different. He had no backup plan, and even entering the desert had been a whim—completely unprepared.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have exhausted all his supplies by noon after entering the desert in the morning, forcing him to call for help.

Beyond the difficulty of having no trace, the terrain from Yumen Pass to the Yadan Devil City is complex. The backup search team would have to expand the search to a two-hundred-kilometer radius.

It’s clear how huge a challenge this is for the rescue team.

Since no one was found, the plan was for Shengzi to return to the Dachaidan sand ridge and look for a suitable camping spot.

After the G-Class returned, they would regroup at the coordinates.

Shengzi agreed and, before hanging up, warned lightly: “The weather’s bad today. Forecast says strong winds. I estimate there’ll be a sandstorm later tonight. Don’t go too far; whether or not you find anyone, return to camp before dark, or it’ll be dangerous.”

Fu Xun responded quietly, “Understood.”

The farther north they went, the more desolate it became.

At first, they could occasionally see fenced areas by the roadside. Though the enclosed land was barren, there had at least been signs of human activity.

Later, not only were there no fences, even the tire tracks turned a corner and disappeared.

In the uninhabited desert, only sagebrush and endless barrenness remained.

Qu Yixian glanced at the darkening sky, listening to the rising wind across the plains. Without hesitation, she said, “Let’s head back to camp.”

——

The return route was different from the way there, passing through a deep ditch in the Yadan formations, going via the river valley.

Before this river valley dried up, it was fed by the ancient Shule River outside Yumen Pass, flowing westward and eventually merging with the Sanlong sand flow into Lop Nur.

If Qu Yixian’s cruiser hadn’t gotten stuck halfway, the third checkpoint on the search route would have been this valley—the same point she and Fu Xun had agreed on as a necessary supply coordinate.

The first part of the rocky road wasn’t easy to drive, but Fu Xun drove steadily. The tires were modified MT all-terrain deep-tread mud tires, gripping fiercely, so it wasn’t too bumpy.

Once they entered the river valley, the concentrated water flow had carved the ground into textures like a riverbed instantly drained of water. One second, the mud and sand were pushed into waves by the flowing water; the next, the water dried up, and the surface cracked under the sun, forming chunks of salt crust.

The salt crust was brittle. The G-Class, with its powerful engine, pressed into the surface, and the mud tires carved deep ruts, exposing the soft sand underneath.

Even for the G-Class, progress over this terrain was exhausting.

As the sky darkened, the western side of the Yadan lost the sunlight, only half of a reddened sunset remained. The residual glow streaked the horizon with gold edges, painting it like a celestial palace.

Across a deep Yadan ditch, the distant sunset was unseen. Wind gusted from the bottom of the ditch, carrying flying sand and stones.

The darkness came unusually fast. Sand whipped up, and within sight, yellow sand mixed with gravel pounded the vehicle.

In just a few tens of minutes, the sandstorm blotted out the sky.

“It’s really kicking up sand,” Qu Yixian said, glancing in the rearview mirror. Behind them, the world was more dangerous than the road ahead.

The fine sand raised by the car’s rear was whipped into vortices, attacking from all directions.

At the moment the wind surged, the G-Class was shoved down the lower slope of the sand ridge. Qu Yixian nearly heard the brittle salt crust crack under pressure.

Simultaneously, the tires spun in the sand pit, the motor noise buzzing. The sand dug up by the wheels repeatedly struck the vehicle, a light grainy sound.

Fu Xun remained calm. He assessed the situation, glanced at the engine RPM on the dashboard, and without hesitation, released the throttle.

The moment he eased off, the engine RPM dropped like a gyroscope being pulled backward.

The vehicle sank backward, about to settle into the sand pit. Fu Xun stomped the throttle several times, roaring the engine. The G-Class lunged forward like a beast breaking free, surging ahead.

The force was so great that the salt-crusted ground was crushed entirely. The fine sand beneath trapped all four wheels, dragging them downward.

The car sank, and trying the throttle again produced nothing but spinning wheels.

They were stuck.

Worse, the camp was still forty minutes away.

After the weather change, darkness fell quickly. In an instant, the sunset beyond the canyon disappeared, and layers of sand driven by wind surged in waves.

Visibility was too low. Fu Xun turned on the headlights: “The sandstorm just started; it won’t stop soon.”

The storm had just formed; the sandstorm wouldn’t fully mature for a while.

He lowered his hat brim and handed Qu Yixian a sports jacket from the back seat: “Put this on, get out and help me.”

Qu Yixian immediately understood.

Earlier, while waiting for the cruiser to descend the sand ridge, she had carefully examined the G-Class.

Aside from the modified tires, engine, suspension parts, and lights, Fu Xun’s vehicle had reinforced front and rear bumpers, side steps, and wind deflectors. The front had a reinforced winch, and the rear had a tow hook.

Now, the situation was urgent. Fu Xun likely planned to self-rescue using the winch.

Qu Yixian got out to help, following him closely for a while. She couldn’t find an opportunity to assist, so she withdrew to a safe zone.

A shallow spot in the riverbed and Gobi was sheltered by a soil mound, a narrow cracked slit.

The wind outside was too strong. Even wearing Fu Xun’s jacket, she couldn’t block the desert wind, which cut through the thin fabric into her bones. Sand penetrated everywhere; she hadn’t even opened her mouth, yet the grit ground between her teeth with a crunching sound.

She squinted, in the valley illuminated only by the G-Class headlights three meters away, gritting her teeth as she mentally recited “everything is unsuitable” again.

She swore she would buy a calendar afterward and tear off the pages for fun.

Fu Xun coiled the cable on the anchor point. With the tow preparations complete, he glanced at Qu Yixian and felt reassured.

Her position was within his sight but outside the danger zone of the winch operation.

Not a bit of trouble.

Fu Xun returned his focus to the winch, preparing for the final adjustment. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the cracked mud behind her, teetering dangerously.

His expression tightened slightly. At first, he thought it was his imagination. Concentrating, he raised the flashlight and scanned.

The sand at the top had been eroded by the wind, sliding down along the crack. When it reached the swan neck of the fissure, it accelerated, carrying the sand below with it.

His face changed. He shouted sharply: “Move!”

Too late.

Qu Yixian was completely unfamiliar with this command and didn’t know how to react.

Under the two straight beams of light, he moved against the backlight, his expression entirely unreadable. Only vaguely could it be discerned that his gaze was aimed above her head.

Qu Yixian reacted quickly. Though she didn’t fully understand what was happening, she instinctively raised her elbows to protect her head and lunged forward as best she could.

Almost the moment she hit the ground, there was a faint “buzz” by her ear. In the dizzying scene, the thing pressing down on her was as heavy as a boulder, compressing her chest so she nearly suffocated.

She tried to take a light breath—her nostrils and lips were clogged with sand.

She recalled the last thing she saw and froze for a moment before realizing—

Damn, the young master has been buried alive!

Before Qu Yixian could recover from this unprecedented shock to save herself, a hand with distinct knuckles accurately grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her from the sand without hesitation.

Seeing that the sand wasn’t too deep, Fu Xun exhaled and switched to holding her.

His arm just passed under her ribs, not yet leveraging force. Qu Yixian glanced at him strangely, her hands tightly gripping his forearm to protect her head.

“Shh!”

Fu Xun paused.

Qu Yixian sank into his embrace, low and tense: “Something… it caught my foot…”