After a simple meal, everyone went back to rest.
Xu Lang and the other two formed a small group, and they were about to return to their tent to rest. He had barely closed his eyes these past days, spending his time replenishing his spiritual energy. He felt quite weary.
Xu Lang’s current cultivation allowed him to stay awake for three days and three nights without much impact. But cultivation couldn’t replace sleep, at least not yet. Perhaps it would be possible after reaching the Golden Core Realm, or even higher realms.
Just then, dawn approached.
The first rays of sunlight gently rose from the eastern horizon, painting the clouds in the sky a golden red. The rolling hills in the desert seemed to be draped in a layer of golden red mist, the vibrant colors creating a magnificent panorama across the heavens and earth.
The beauty of desolation – that was Xu Lang’s most direct impression. He had seen countless beautiful landscapes in his years, each unique and captivating, yet this majestic beauty still struck a chord in his heart.
To avoid the midday sun, they had traveled through the night, and everyone was weary. But witnessing such a beautiful sight, they were instantly invigorated and stopped their journey back to rest.
Shirley Yang exclaimed, “Oh, my God, the desert is so beautiful!”
As she spoke, Shirley Yang quickly took out her camera and snapped several photos to capture this beautiful moment.
Xu Lang smiled and said, “God doesn’t have dominion here. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? But behind the most beautiful sights often lies a deadly danger. We have an old saying in our country: ‘Sunrise doesn’t go out, sunset travels a thousand miles.’ Such beautiful scenery is not a good omen in the desert.”
Xu Lang knew this saying from his previous life. He learned it in elementary school.
An Li Man chimed in, “While we’re still alive, we should take as many pictures as we can. He’s not wrong. The clouds in the sky are bleeding, it seems Old Heaven is angry. A sandstorm is coming in the desert, and it’s going to be a big one.”
An Li Man then ignored everyone else, as usual, and slowly retrieved a blanket from his camel. He leisurely spread it on the yellow sand, closed his eyes, knelt down, and with a devout expression, raised his hands towards the sky. He then began his daily prayer ritual.
Seeing An Li Man’s unhurried demeanor, everyone’s restless hearts gradually calmed.
Xu Lang said, “The setting sun is like blood, dyeing the sky red. The real disaster is coming. Everyone get on your camels immediately. No one rests today. We must reach the ruins of Xiye Ancient City ahead of schedule, following our planned route.”
Shirley Yang said, “Listen to Mr. Xu, everyone get on your camels.”
Only after everyone was mounted did Xu Lang continue, “It’s wind season, the black sandstorm is coming. No one knows how long it will last. If we get caught in this storm, we’ll all be buried here.”
Shirley Yang asked, “Will building sand walls be enough to block it?”
Xu Lang replied, “Absolutely not. Don’t even think about it. If I die in the desert this time, I’m screwed. This little guy hasn’t even slept with a woman yet.”
Shirley Yang twitched her lips, “You’re still thinking about this at a time like this, you really are…”
Lao Hu reminded everyone, “When we run, Fatty watches over Old Man An Li Man, make sure he doesn’t leave us behind. I’ll take care of Professor Chen. Xu Lang, you watch over Xiao Ye. No one can fall behind.”
Fatty nodded, “Leave it to me.”
Just then, An Li Man muttered a few words, suddenly got up, grabbed his mat, and jumped onto the camel. His agility was like a young man's.
No, even better than a young man’s.
Chu Jian and Sa Di Peng could definitely not do that. An Li Man effortlessly leaped onto the camel in one swift motion. His move was even aesthetically pleasing.
“Run fast, run fast! Or you’ll be buried in the sand!”
As An Li Man yelled, the camel already began to run, completely disregarding whether others could keep up.
Xu Lang cursed the old man under his breath, silently thankful for his foresight. He didn’t know the direction of Xiye Ancient City, so he could only wait for An Li Man to lead the way, patiently waiting for his prayer to finish.
Lao Hu directly cursed aloud, “Damn this old geezer! Everyone, catch up!”
All the camels began to run, an impressive spectacle. A trail of golden dust rose behind them.
As time passed, yellow sand swirled and obscured the sky. The strong wind made it impossible to keep one’s eyes open. If they hadn’t worn goggles and masks, even breathing would have been difficult. Opening their mouths would have meant a mouthful of sand.
They usually rode the camels slowly, so they felt nothing more than a slight swaying motion. At worst, their bottoms would get sore after a long time sitting. But now the camels were galloping, the sensation was completely different. They could only cling to the camel's back, afraid of falling off.
The camels galloped for hours, continuing until midday. Even if the people could endure it, the camels couldn’t sustain that pace.
Professor Chen and the others were already exhausted. After all, they had been traveling nonstop through the night and had no rest.
An Li Man urged everyone to quickly eat something. This was not the time to be sparing with water.
Xu Lang said, “Everyone, hang in there. Eat something and quickly replenish your strength. Once the camels catch their breath, we’ll have to run again. In the face of death, we must endure. Even if you can’t eat, you have to eat something.”
The others were exhausted, but they could still manage to hold on.
However, Professor Chen was old and the jolting had left him short of breath. He could only drink some water and couldn’t eat anything.
Professor Hao had lost his glasses during the run. Fortunately, Sa Di Peng’s eyesight was similar to Professor Chen’s and he had a spare pair of glasses, which at least solved an immediate crisis. Otherwise, Professor Hao would be blind as a bat.
Ye Yi Xin was already weak and had not rested since last night. After being jostled all this way, she felt nauseous and vomited on the ground. Naturally, she couldn’t eat either.
Except for Xu Lang, Shirley Yang was the only one who seemed fine. She had been moving around since last night, still full of energy, even helping An Li Man secure supplies. Her focused expression was quite attractive.
They had already lost quite a bit of stuff during the escape, including water, food, and some archaeological equipment.
Those pieces of equipment were too numerous and diverse. During this life-or-death situation, no one could spare any thought for those extraneous things.
Seeing this, Xu Lang went to help too. If they continued to lose supplies, that would be a huge problem.
Soon after, An Li Man mounted his camel again and shouted loudly, “The hyacinth is coming. Everyone, stop resting! Hurry up and run for your lives! It’s too late, you’ll be buried in the sand!”
Everyone climbed back onto their camels, dragging their weary bodies and continuing their frantic escape. They didn’t care if the camels could withstand it or not, the sandstorm now was even stronger and more violent than before.
Xu Lang felt the endless yellow sand and the decreasing visibility around him. He clenched his fists, then sighed helplessly.
Xu Lang was truly anxious. Before nature’s might, he was nothing but a mere mortal. He thought he could avoid this black sandstorm, but what was destined to come, would always come.
Lao Hu yelled loudly, adding insult to injury. Professor Chen had just been thrown off his camel.
Xu Lang had been focused on Xiao Ye and hadn’t been paying attention to anyone else.
Fatty went after An Li Man. Lao Hu told Xu Lang to stay behind and watch everyone while he went to retrieve Professor Chen.
Fortunately, Professor Chen had just been thrown off and Lao Hu, who had been keeping an eye on him, discovered him immediately. Otherwise, with the thick sandstorm, where would they find him?