The vast majority of people in the world are unwilling to traverse the desert.
In the desert, the most dangerous aspect is the scarcity of water. Besides dealing with water scarcity, one must also contend with shifting sands, sandstorms, and countless dangerous creatures such as poisonous snakes, scorpions, and spiders that lurk everywhere in the desert.
Under the scorching sun, the air undulates, and the feeling of stepping on the sand is far from pleasant. With feet unable to exert force, one becomes fatigued from the long and arduous journey after walking only a short distance.
The people of the entire town of Ramaghi walk within this desert.
The DuPont River is a gem on the edge of the desert. Even as the river gradually dries up, and its water mixes with mud, the people of the entire town of Ramaghi still treat it like a treasure, relying on the DuPont River for their livelihoods.
On the first day of Zong Yuan’s arrival at this place, five people had already died by the DuPont River.
The people of Ramaghi town never took it seriously; death in the desert was considered commonplace, especially when the deceased were wanderers who mistakenly entered this place.
However, on that night, the DuPont River flowing through Ramaghi town was entirely occupied by poisonous scorpions. Countless scorpions with black tails appeared along the banks, among them were large-tailed fat scorpions dragging huge tails, highly venomous.
Anyone who saw this scene would tremble in fear, feeling a chill in their hearts.
It’s over.
A dense swarm of scorpions completely covered the yellow sand below.
The DuPont River could no longer be used, and Ramaghi town had to relocate.
Zong Yuan lowered the brim of his sun hat; he had changed into the attire of a Western cowboy, a friendly contribution from Larry. Although he had been to the desert before, this time he felt unusually relaxed. Larry and the others were drenched in sweat, exhausted, while Zong Yuan, looking cool, hadn’t shed a drop of sweat.
“Zong, give me the stuff.” Larry gasped for breath. “You’ve been carrying our stuff, and you must be tired by now.”
Zong Yuan shook off the sand from his pants, and in his tall figure, he was charming enough to make people blush and their hearts race. “I’m not tired, Larry. You’re the one who needs to rest.”
The larger items were all loaded onto the camel. Those walking on foot carried scattered life-saving items. Irene was too tired to speak; she sat on the ground, and Zong Yuan handed her a jug of water, which she could only sip sparingly.
Everyone looked utterly disheveled.
The people of Ramaghi town had been spoiled by the DuPont River; they didn’t need to constantly search for new oases, leading to a lack of the ability to walk long distances in the desert.
Zong Yuan, with the green stone in his pocket, looked out of place among the exhausted people sprawled on the ground.
Irene handed him the water cup, incredulous, “Zong, aren’t you tired at all?”
She couldn’t tell if Zong Yuan was genuine or not; his face looked incredibly relaxed, effortlessly turning their group into nothing.
Zong Yuan replied, “Not tired.”
With no breeze at all now, Zong Yuan walked towards a sand dune. When he reached a high point, he noticed a small black shape at the other end of the dune.
Zong Yuan stood with one foot in front of the other, on guard, “What’s that?”
A clump of black in the yellow sand was too damn conspicuous.
0046 was embarrassed, “How should I know?”
“…” Zong Yuan, “Aren’t you supposed to be an artificial intelligence? Can’t you access satellites?”
0046 struggled, “Unauthorized access to satellite systems is illegal.”
Zong Yuan, “…trash.” What artificial intelligence, more like an artificial dumbass.
0046 felt a bit nostalgic in his heart. Such a familiar address. Since Zong Yuan had some accident, he hadn’t contacted him again.
Zong Yuan, without a weapon, cautiously approached the black mass. As soon as he took a step forward, the black mass nestled on the top of the sand dune suddenly lifted its head.
A pair of slender eyes, fur in a mix of black and brown.
Zong Yuan’s face darkened, “Sandwolf.”
This sandwolf was relatively small, with a creature crawling under its paw. Zong Yuan’s eyesight was excellent, and he could see that it was a beetle.
Sandwolves weren’t particularly dangerous to human groups; they weren’t social animals. Zong Yuan’s face darkened not because of the danger they posed, but because of the state of this particular sandwolf.
This sandwolf had a swollen belly, lying lazily on the sand dune, playing with a beetle that should have been its food.
Sandwolves are not only carnivores but also scavengers.
Zong Yuan took a step forward, and the sandwolf looked at him warily before quickly fleeing.
Larry shouted from a distance, “Zong, what are you doing?”
Zong Yuan walked to the top of the dune, looked down, and his face turned iron blue in an instant.
Beyond the sand dune, a dozen or so mutilated corpses lay in a sand pit. The stench of decay became intense, and a group of vultures feasted on the remains. The yellow sand turned red, and internal organs were scattered everywhere.
0046 said, “Ugh.”
Suppressing his nausea, Zong Yuan was about to call for someone to drive away the vultures and bury the bodies when he saw one of the corpses in the pit twitch violently.
A belly with a hole in it and two vultures buried there pecking at the entrails of the twitching person. Terrifying, isn’t it?
Zong Yuan frowned fiercely, and with a stern face, he ran towards the pit. 0046 trembled and tried to stop him, “Zong Yuan, that’s definitely not a living person. Don’t go there!”
Zong Yuan said, “Do dead people move? Besides, I have a mission to complete, and I can’t ignore any strange occurrences.”
The vultures were startled and flew into the sky, circling not far above, trying to drive away the human disturbing their meal.
Holding his breath, Zong Yuan entered the pit, doing his best to ignore any mutilated bodies, heading straight for the twitching corpse.
However, upon closer inspection, anyone could tell that this corpse was thoroughly dead.
The face was pockmarked from pecking, and one left eye was still wide open, seemingly struggling in despair.
Zong Yuan sighed, closed the eye, stood up, and Larry’s voice from the top of the dune approached, “Zong, why did you run so far—?!”
Larry stood on the sand dune, and the impact of seeing this scene almost made him faint, “OMG!!!”
OMG! OMG!!!
Zong Yuan hadn’t spoken yet when 0046 suddenly screamed along with intense noise, causing Zong Yuan’s brain to buzz, “Ah ah ah ah!!!! He opened his eyes, ah ah ah ah!!!”
Zong Yuan immediately turned his head to look at the corpse on the ground.
The eyes he had just closed were now wide open. The eerie green pupils moved from left to right as if searching for something. They only stopped when they captured Zong Yuan’s figure. The glowing green pupils ceased their movement.
No breath, no other reaction.
Rather than saying the corpse was strange, it was more accurate to say that only the eyes were peculiar.
Zong Yuan stared at the eye, unmoving.
If one didn’t look at anything else and wasn’t in this situation, this eye would be absolutely beautiful.
With a slightly reddish tint at the corners, the pupil’s color was mysteriously alluring, a deep green. The eyelashes were long, possessing a beauty with exotic charm.
Suddenly, a vulture swooped down from the sky, swiftly grabbing the eye and flying away.
Zong Yuan instinctively took a few steps back. When he looked again, there were only dark eye sockets.
As if receiving a signal, all the vultures flew away in an instant. Zong Yuan’s expression became serious. He lifted the other eyelid of the corpse with a closed eye and saw a pair of ordinary and featureless eyes.
“Huh?” 0046 exclaimed, “Isn’t it supposed to be a pair of eyes?!”
Zong Yuan let go and grabbed a handful of sand to clean his hands. Larry was trembling all over, almost unable to speak, “Zong, come over quickly!”
Zong Yuan crossed over the corpses in a few steps. Before ascending the sand dune, he stepped on a hard stone. He paused and dug out the stone beneath his foot.
It was the familiar green stone, shaped like a sacred beetle. Zong Yuan expertly turned the stone over, revealing another line of text.
Zong Yuan said, “It doesn’t seem to be the same sentence as the previous one.”
0046 translated, “Death—”
A strong wind blew suddenly, swirling sand obstructing the view between Zong Yuan and Larry. The sandstorm came abruptly but dispersed in an instant.
Huge English letters lay on the sand, stabbing into Zong Yuan’s eyes.
Expressionless, Zong Yuan recited, “Death has favored you.”
In the moment he finished speaking, a strong stench of decay hit him from behind. Zong Yuan dodged, and with the bloody scent came a small object landing on the ground.
A bloody, fresh animal heart lay in front of Zong Yuan.
The heart seemed to be pulsating as if still alive.
Death, a gift bestowed upon the man it favored.
Zong Yuan silently stared at the object for a few seconds, “Who is Death?”
0046 replied, “I don’t know.”
Zong Yuan thought, ‘Death favoring you’ means that it wants you dead.
This heart?
Intimidation, a threat?
He walked around the heart. Larry was already sitting limp on the sand dune, his gaze fixed on the mass grave. He couldn’t bear to look but couldn’t look away. Zong Yuan reached out and waved his hand in front of Larry, “Larry, snap out of it.”
Larry startled, hastily got up, and followed Zong Yuan back, “What was that? Where did all these people come from? How did they die? Are there others looking for the oasis?”
“No one knows,” Zong Yuan walked briskly with long strides, “First, let’s get someone to bury these bodies. Otherwise, larger scavengers will come from all directions.”
There were too many rotting corpses, and it was the hottest time of the day. The stench of decay would eventually spread, posing a danger to them on the road.
The people of Ramaghi Town understood this principle. Enduring nausea and the urge to flee, they used the tools at hand to rudely and simply bury the bodies in the sand pit.
Irene stood by Zong Yuan’s side, expressing concern and anger, “Zong, you shouldn’t have separated from everyone to come here alone!”
Zong Yuan pursed his lips, hands in pockets, gazing at the now-covered sand.
Blood seeped into the sand, absorbed and cleaned by the grains.
Seeing that Zong Yuan wasn’t responding to her, Irene angrily took two steps closer and shouted, “Zong! I’m talking to you!”
A loud noise suddenly rang out, accompanied by a yellow-green snakehead emerging from the soil. The dark eyes coldly stared at Irene, and a bright red, slender tongue extended, hissing.
A rattlesnake.
Its middle portion is buried in the soil, the head raised, the thick snake body swaying, and the rattling tail producing intense sounds.
Such a venomous snake, hidden right around them.
Irene remained motionless, her body chilled, directly stared at by the rattlesnake. She was evidently the prey of this snake.
Death was so close to her at this moment.
Since Death favored a man, it wouldn’t allow others to stay around that man.
The possessive and domineering desire of death, no one could refute it.
Author’s Note:
Mummy: I have a special way of flirting with guys! (Proud)
Zong Yuan: …
