Xiaо Аi instinсtivеlу swallowed, hеr tоngue and thrоat, pаrсhеd fоr dауs, actuаlly felt a hint of moisture. Shе tоok а deер brеаth and wаs оvеrjоуed tо discover shе сould still brеathe. She аbruptly оpenеd hеr еуеs аnd fоund herself lуing in а crаmреd spаcе, аn IV tube besidе hеr hand. Тhrough the flow rеgulator, she соuld sеe thе medicine driррing dоwn, onе drор аt а timе.
As hеr mind сleаred furthеr, she reаlized shе wаs lуing in the bасk sеаt of a cаr. There was a fаint smell of cigаrettes. Тurning her hеаd, she sаw what seemed to be two men in the front seats.
"Ah..." she rasped out.
"She's awake, she's awake," a male voice came from the driver's seat.
Then, a man in a black jacket in the passenger seat turned to look at her. His gaze was resolute and commanding, with a strikingly defined jawline—the epitome of a mature, ruggedly handsome man.
Not a god, yet surpassing one.
Xiao Ai felt so moved she wanted to cry. A few tears streamed down her cheeks. She raised her hand to wipe them away and greedily licked her palm. The handsome man in the passenger seat poured half a cup of water and handed it over. She grabbed it and drank it all in one gulp, then burst into even more sorrowful sobs. Because her throat was still hoarse, her cries were piercing and dry, like the empty whistle of a kettle boiled dry.
She couldn't believe she still had a chance to survive, to drink water again.
Water, water! Something she had once taken for granted now brought her to tears with just a single sip. Covering her eyes, she felt a flood of emotions—sorrow and joy, pain and relief—rushing in from all directions. In just eight or nine days, it felt as if she had lived an entire lifetime. So-called love, so-called vows—she saw through them all! She saw through them!
Life is not something you can belittle or play with.
Love, it turns out, cannot withstand storms or trials either.
Footsteps sounded outside, as if many people were approaching. The car door opened, and several people dressed as doctors and nurses skillfully lifted Xiao Ai from the back seat of the SUV, placed her on a stretcher, and transferred her to another vehicle. Xiao Ai saw Zheming lying on another stretcher, seemingly much more conscious than she was. He didn’t dare look at her, pretending instead to be dazed and vacant-eyed. The couple who had vowed to live and die together now faced a bleak end. Whether this was a disaster or a blessing for the two of them was hard to say.
Xiao Ai turned her head away, avoiding Zheming’s gaze. Amid the chaotic crowd, she spotted one or two familiar figures—likely Bayunye and Hippo, who had taken them from Kashgar to Urumqi a few days earlier. For a moment, she wondered if everything was just a dream conjured by her final moments of lucidity—like in the movie 47 Meters Down she had watched with Zheming, where the heroine, trapped dozens of meters underwater, seemed to be rescued just as her oxygen ran out, only for it to possibly be a hallucination from hypoxia. Whether the heroine ultimately lived or died remained a thought-provoking mystery.
She blinked, trying hard to distinguish reality from illusion.
Bayunye squeezed through the crowd and, seeing Xiao Ai awake, felt much relieved. "Hey, beauty, don’t do such dangerous things again. If you ever want to go hiking or traveling in the future, come find us." She patted Xiao Ai’s shoulder, not forgetting to drum up business.
"Master Ba..." Xiao Ai still couldn’t believe what was happening before her eyes.“Yes, it’s me, Master Ba! When you go out and meet the media, you must mention me! I, Master Ba, followed the Beidou Rescue Team volunteers and found you without any charge.” Bayunye was still haunted by the previous reports written by journalists, afraid that others would think traveling with her vehicle was unsafe. Before the ambulance drove away, she quickly gave instructions. After speaking, she still felt uneasy and patted Zheming, “You, remember too, you must mention my name!”
Brother Long shook his head with a smile when he saw her like that.
Zheming and Xiao Ai were taken away by the professional medical team. Bayunye breathed a sigh of relief and rested one hand on the car door. “Zheming’s ear is like Old Wang’s palm, both corroded. But his condition is more severe, probably because the treatment and care were not timely or adequate. Now his entire ear is…”
She shrugged and pointed to her face. “His face is also badly damaged, which will likely affect his appearance.”
Old Wang, still shaken, quickly checked his injured hand again.
“How did he get injured?” Diao Zhuo asked.
“He was digging a hole to find water when something sprayed out and splashed onto his ear, burning it badly.” Bayunye crossed her arms and looked at Diao Zhuo. “It’s the same situation we encountered.”
Old Wang thought for a moment. “Could it be the death worm? Legend says this worm can also spray venom.”
Diao Zhuo got out of the car and walked to the trunk to get an entrenching tool. His next move made his intentions clear.
Bayunye pointed, and several people took their entrenching tools and started digging downward. The sand in the pit had long been dried and loosened by the midday sun. With each shovel, the surrounding sand flowed like water into the dug-out area, seemingly endless. Aside from dried grass roots, nothing else was found in the sand. The object that sprayed strong acid remained a mystery.
“That thing must have escaped long ago,” Brother Long said, wiping his forehead.
Diao Zhuo recalled how Old Wang and Zheming were injured—one during slightly damp ground after rain, the other during cooler nighttime temperatures. His thoughts remained unchanged: dry, hot sand could not sustain something filled with bodily fluids. The appearance of this thing must be related to the moisture level of the sand and the temperature.
Human intrusion was already a disturbance to the desert’s creatures. Whether they hid or fought back, it was all for their own survival. Since they were unwilling to appear, it was better not to force them.
“Forget it,” Diao Zhuo said, sticking the entrenching tool aside. “Let’s head southwest and look for Zhang Tianen.”
Just as everyone packed up their tools and was about to return to their vehicles, Old Wang ran over with a walkie-talkie, his face full of excitement. “Found him! Found him! Alive!!”
Zhang Tianen had been found by another rescue team. Though barely alive, he still had a faint breath. Even an hour later, and his young life would have been beyond saving.
With this, all three college students who had attempted to traverse Badanjilin on foot without any backup or supplies were now alive.
Badan Jilin seemed to possess a spirit of its own. The moment news of Zhang Tianen’s rescue arrived, the sound of singing sands rolled in like thunderous war drums. After repeating three times, it suddenly ceased. It was unclear whether the desert was celebrating the rebirth of life or warning against humanity’s ignorant actions.Everyone let out a long sigh of relief, completely relaxing as they gazed into the distance, finally able to admire the curves of the sand mountains sculpted by nature’s craftsmanship with the carefree eyes of tourists. Under the relentless polishing of the strong winds, the sand beneath their feet formed layers of rippling waves, resembling fields freshly plowed in spring. In the distance, towering sand mountains rose like natural walls, standing almost perpendicular to the ground at a near 90-degree angle, their peaks meeting the blue sky. The sand on their surfaces bore downward-flowing patterns, resembling cascading waterfalls of sand. Here and there, a few clusters of unknown desert plants dotted the landscape, swaying in the wind as a testament to the tenacity of life.
In the harsh, arid climate of the desert, low and withered plants could survive for decades, while humans, armed with meticulous preparations and a determination to conquer nature, frequently found themselves in life-threatening predicaments—an undeniable irony.
"Diao Zhuo, dare to play a big one?" Bayunye gazed at the sand mountains, a spark of adventurous spirit burning in her eyes.
Diao Zhuo leaned against the car door, smoking a cigarette. After days of tension, his nerves had finally relaxed, and he lazily asked, "Looking for another fight?"
She was taken aback—that wasn’t what she meant at all. Hearing his response, she deliberately retorted, "So, are we fighting or not?"
A real fight? Brother Long and Hippo exchanged glances, shrugged, and silently acknowledged their helplessness, resigned to the role of mediators.
"The ground here is too hard. Let’s find a softer spot first," Diao Zhuo flicked the ash from his cigarette, watching as the fine sand and ash drifted away with the wind.
Bayunye burst into laughter. "What, afraid of getting knocked down and hitting your head on the ground?"
Diao Zhuo tilted his head to look at her. "Afraid you’ll be the one in pain."
Originally, Bayunye hadn’t intended to fight him, but his provocation stirred her competitive spirit. She stepped forward, grabbed the front of his shirt, rose on her tiptoes, and glared at him defiantly. "If we’re fighting, let’s do it now. Whoever’s afraid of pain is a coward."
Diao Zhuo freed himself from her grip, stubbed out his cigarette on the sand, and casually tossed it into a nearby trash bag. "Fight my ass. I never hit women."
Bayunye’s thought process differed from that of most women, and his words only fueled her irritation. "How do you know I’d be the one getting hit?"
He snorted, a faint smile playing on his lips. "I don’t want to get hit by a woman either."
Satisfied, she dropped the fight and stood in front of him, pointing at the towering sand mountain across from them. "Let’s see who can reach the top." As she spoke, she gestured with her thumb toward the off-road vehicle beside them.
Everyone’s gaze followed her gesture. Drive up such a high, nearly vertical sand mountain? Brother Long traced the slope of the sand mountain behind them—it was an extremely long incline that could provide momentum. With enough courage and stability, it wasn’t impossible to charge up in one go. But hesitation was not an option: you couldn’t falter when stepping on the gas, and you certainly couldn’t hit the brakes halfway up. If you chickened out, braked, or veered off course, there was a high risk of flipping over, and no amount of acceleration afterward would save you.
(Warning: This action carries significant danger. Readers are advised not to attempt it.)
However, given Bayunye and Diao Zhuo’s driving skills, flipping over was unlikely. The real suspense lay in who could reach the top faster.
Diao Zhuo swiftly got into the car and leaned out the window to ask, "Master Ba, how do you want to compete?"Bayunye started the engine, and the vehicle trembled and roared like a battle-hardened warhorse ready to charge. Through the passenger window, she saw Diao Zhuo’s ruggedly handsome face framed as if by a television close-up—damn, it was captivating. The more she looked, the more she liked it. This feeling was even more intense than when they were in Qiangtang.
His toughness, his temper, his purely masculine character, his persistence and free-spiritedness, and the occasional wicked streak that surfaced—all suited her taste perfectly. Even if it was just for a moment of gratification, she had to seize it firmly.
“If I go up first, you’ll be mine in life and in death. Do you dare?”
“What if I go first?”
She laughed with an especially domineering air, her eyes flashing with unwavering confidence. “Suit yourself! You won’t win anyway.”
Diao Zhuo steadily turned the vehicle around and drove up the slope. Bayunye followed slowly behind him. They drove for a long stretch until they reached the top of the slope, parking side by side. Ahead lay a tall sand dune. At this moment, the sun was directly in front of them, casting the shaded side of the dune in a reddish-brown hue, while only the crest was tinged golden by the sunlight. Looking up, when the wind stirred the sand, a yellow haze filled the sky, evoking a sense of the vast, desolate grandeur found in Jin Yong’s martial arts epics.
“Want me to give you a few meters’ head start?” Diao Zhuo teased deliberately.
Bayunye remained completely unfazed, her expression resolute and bold, just like when she had aimed her gun and shot the rear tire of the vehicle ahead. “A bet is a bet—no tricks!”
“The horn will be the signal,” Diao Zhuo said, looking ahead.
With a loud “beep—”, both off-road vehicles started simultaneously, charging straight toward the sand dune ahead.
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