Following behind Erdan and the others' camel caravan, they had been circling in this vast desert for two whole days. Although Zhuang Rui had discovered some ancient human remains along the way, they were of little value and not worth excavating.
Although the desert scenery is beautiful, it can get boring after a while. Moreover, the temperature difference in the desert is extreme. It's hot enough to boil an egg in the sand during the day, but you have to wear a coat at night, which makes everyone very uncomfortable.
More importantly, the desert is short of water. Although the four camels carried a lot of water bags, they were only for drinking. For the past two days, let alone taking a bath, even washing their faces has become a luxury. Everyone's body is covered with a layer of yellow sand, turning gray and hazy.
Mengzi, who had been wandering in the desert for many years, didn't feel anything, but it was different for Zhuang Rui and the others. The excitement they had when they first entered the desert had long since disappeared. Even Xiao Jia, who loved to talk, had become very taciturn, licking his lips.
Mengzi stopped singing and said with a smile, "We're dozens of miles away from them, they can't hear us..."
Zhuang Rui glanced at his watch; it was already past noon. In another two hours, it would probably be dark. He squeezed the camel's legs together and quickened his pace to catch up with Mengzi. He said, "Brother Mengzi, how about this? Let's find a campsite to stay in later. We'll follow them for another day. If they still haven't headed to the ancient temple ruins, we'll go by ourselves..."
Erdan's camel caravan had been wandering in the desert for several days, and Zhuang Rui was getting impatient. He believed that as long as he could find the ancient temple ruins, even if there was something fishy going on, the Japanese wouldn't be able to get any benefit from them.
"I reckon they should enter the quicksand area tomorrow. Erdan left me a signal; if they're still circling around tomorrow, we'll go ourselves..."
Mengzi didn't expend much effort in tracking Erdan's camel caravan this time. Despite Erdan's loud tone, he was actually quite unsure of what was going on and would leave some secret marks for Mengzi every time they camped.
As for Mengzi changing his mind and being willing to go to the quicksand area, it's all thanks to "Brother Money". Zhuang Rui discussed it with Mengzi yesterday, and if they could find the ancient temple ruins, Zhuang Rui was willing to pay him 100,000 yuan.
As the saying goes, money makes the world go round. Although novels often portray chivalrous heroes who value righteousness over wealth, what about eating, drinking, sleeping, and everything else that costs money? Therefore, after much deliberation, Meng Zi agreed to Zhuang Rui's request.
"Hey, there's a cactus up ahead..."
Suddenly, Xiao Jia, who was sitting on the camel, shouted loudly. Everyone looked up and saw that there was indeed a patch of low-lying cacti about forty or fifty meters ahead.
"Haha, everyone's in luck, we'll be camping here tonight..."
Mengzi whistled, and the camels quickened their pace, arriving at the area where cacti grew. After everyone dismounted, Mengzi directed the camels to form a circular archway, about twenty square meters in size.
"Brother Zhuang, can I borrow your shovel for a moment?"
Without waiting for Zhuang Rui's reply, Mengzi pulled an entrenching tool from the camel carrying supplies.
"Brother Mengzi, we don't need this, do we?"
Zhuang Rui, who was about to take the tent down, was a little puzzled. They had been staying there for two days, and he hadn't seen anyone ask for a shovel to set up the tent.
Mengzi laughed upon hearing this and said, "Hehe, you guys are lucky, you'll get to eat something hot today..."
Zhuang Rui reacted quickly, asking, "Huh? Brother Mengzi, you mean there's groundwater down here?"
In the desert, heat and drought are the number one killers for explorers; most desert expeditions end in disaster due to dehydration and heatstroke. If you lose your way in the desert, you must ensure you have enough clean water to drink before you can escape; otherwise, your chances of survival are very slim.
There is no water on the surface of the desert, and it is difficult to dig for water in most areas. However, most deserts are basins with many seasonal rivers, which contain water sources. It's just that we haven't encountered any water in the past few days.
Having spent the last few days in the desert, Zhuang Rui and his group had gained a new understanding of water. Mengzi kept all the water bags, and only when they were extremely thirsty would he allow them to take a small sip.
Although they had heard that people would drink camel urine or even their own urine when they were thirsty, they had never had any direct experience with it before. Now Zhuang Rui and the others knew that if there really was no water in the desert, such a thing was not impossible.
The two-day desert experience left the group, who had just returned from the Huaqing Pool hot springs, feeling as if they had been subjected to extreme heat and cold. They felt ashamed when they recalled their past waste of water.
"That's right, if there were plenty of water, you could probably even wash your faces..."
Mengzi chuckled, picked up a shovel, walked over to the plants, examined them briefly, then walked three or four meters to the right and began digging.
"Brother Mengzi, does the presence of plants necessarily mean the presence of water?"
In the past two days, they had seen a few green plants every now and then, but they had never seen Mengzi do this before. Zhuang Rui could not see any difference between these cacti and the ones they had encountered a few days ago.
Watching Mengzi's actions, the spiritual energy in Zhuang Rui's eyes silently seeped through the surface of the sand.
Different substances appear in Zhuang Rui's eyes in different colors. Sand appears grayish in the spiritual energy, without any spiritual energy, while water is clear and transparent, and has a faint trace of spiritual energy.
“Zhuang Rui, the presence of plants doesn’t necessarily mean there’s water. Many plants can absorb trace amounts of water molecules from the air. But since Brother Mengzi said so, there must be water…”
Compared to Zhuang Rui, Dr. Ren had more confidence in Mengzi. Mengzi had left a deep impression on him when they were doing archaeological work at the desert human settlement site.
"There really is..."
Before Dr. Ren finished speaking, Zhuang Rui had already sensed that about one and a half meters below the sand, there were wisps of spiritual energy emanating from the sand. Although there wasn't much, it was definitely the presence of water.
The sand was soft and easy to dig. In just seven or eight minutes, Mengzi had dug down more than a meter deep. The sand he shoveled out was already damp and had even clumped together.
"Brother Mengzi, why did you stop digging?"
When Xiao Jia saw Mengzi dig down another half meter, he stopped and asked curiously, "There are clearly traces of water here, why don't you dig down further?"
"There's already water..."
Mengzi casually answered, then took a transparent plastic sheet and covered the opening of the pit he had dug, weighing down the sides with sand before walking over to the camel and taking some water bags that had been emptied over the past few days.
"This...this will produce water?"
Xiao Jia stared at the setting sun, lying on the sand, looking at the sandpit covered with a plastic sheet, and muttering to himself.
"Hey, there really is water now..."
After muttering to himself for five or six minutes, Xiao Jia couldn't resist any longer. He secretly lifted a corner of the plastic sheet and discovered that a layer of water had indeed seeped out from the bottom of the sandpit, and the plastic sheet was covered with tiny water droplets, with a few dripping down from time to time.
"There's so little water here, this method will allow us to get a little more water..."
Mengzi smiled and covered it back with the plastic sheet.
Covering the pit with a transparent plastic sheet is essentially a simple solar still. The air and soil inside the pit heat up rapidly, producing steam. When the steam reaches saturation, it condenses into water droplets on the inside of the plastic sheet.
Although Mengzi didn't understand this common sense, he had lived in the desert for many years and was very good at fetching water.
About an hour later, Mengzi lifted the plastic sheet, took water from the bottom of the pit with a ladle, poured it into a basin, and let everyone wash their faces.
Although some of the water was groundwater, it was very salty and alkaline. Mengzi took some water from the bottom of the pit and put it into a pot that had been prepared to boil, while Peng Fei watched the pot.
Mengzi himself led the camels over one by one to drink the water from the bottom of the pit. This water was not drinkable for humans, but it was safe for the camels.
After the water boiled, the lye blocks at the bottom of the pot could be clearly seen. Peng Fei transferred the boiled water to another container, poured out the lye blocks, took out several large pieces of dried meat, and put them into the pot to make meat soup.
Peng Fei also has a wealth of experience in wilderness survival. Although he is not as familiar with the desert as Meng Zi, he is much better than Zhuang Rui and the others. He has been in charge of setting up camp and tents for the past few days.
Chapter 1105 Mirage
As dusk settled, the afterglow of the setting sun spilled across the boundless desert, painting the entire desert a fiery red, like a sunset over the sky—a truly beautiful sight.
More than 40 kilometers away from where Zhuang Rui and the others were camping, there was another camel caravan. Six camels were huddled together, surrounding the four people in the middle. There was a small campfire inside, with an iron pot on top, and the water inside was already boiling.
That's right, this is where Erdan camped. Perhaps because this desert was an oasis a hundred years ago, the groundwater is relatively abundant, and within a radius of twenty or thirty meters, green desert plants grow everywhere.
The place Erdan found to stay had an even richer water source than Zhuang Rui's, and the alkalinity was low, so both people and camels could drink directly from it. The conditions were much better than Zhuang Rui's place.
Night fell quickly, and the desert grew increasingly quiet, save for the crackling of the flames licking the dry firewood and the breathing of the few people gathered around the campfire.
There wasn't much firewood on the camel, so Erdan carefully added a chopped piece of firewood to the pot, then greedily sniffed the aroma of the meat in the pot.
“@@￥#…”
Suddenly, a voice broke the silence of the desert. It was Nakagawa, who was sitting by the campfire, saying something to the translator.
"Brother Erdan, Nakagawa asked me to ask you, have you shaken off the people behind you?"
Nakagawa is a well-known entrepreneur in Japan. Because he is busy with work, he doesn't exercise much. Nakagawa is over forty years old, and after two days of hard work in the desert, his face was full of fatigue.
These past two days they've been going around in circles in the desert, some of the places they've even retraced their steps on. Nakagawa thinks no one can keep up with them.
"Well... I'm not sure either. What does Mr. Nakagawa mean?"
Erdan hadn't received the 50,000 yuan that Zhongchuan had promised, so of course he didn't dare to make any guarantees. Otherwise, if Mengzi and the others showed up, he was afraid that Zhongchuan would renege on the money.
"Nakagawa said he felt it was about time and wanted to find the ruins of the ancient temple as soon as possible. I said, 'Brother Erdan, let's find it quickly, take the money, and leave. What are you dawdling here for?'"
Although Yan Xiaowei came from a modest background, he had never experienced such hardship before. If it weren't for the generous reward, he would have quit long ago, and his words showed absolutely no respect for Nakagawa.
"Hehe, Brother Wei, if we take a longer route, this little devil will feel the money was well spent, won't he?"
Erdan laughed and continued, "Since he said so, Xiaowei, you tell him that we'll go to that quicksand area first thing tomorrow morning. It's not far from here, and we can get there by noon..."
This was Nakagawa's own request, so Erdan immediately felt relieved. Even if Mengzi and the others caught up with him, he would have an excuse to make sure he received every penny he owed.
"Mr. Man, Nakagawa said he's asking you for help tomorrow..."
After hearing Yan Xiaowei's translation, Zhongchuan looked at Professor Man and mumbled a few more words. Zhongchuan could not forget that his father was buried in this desert and his remains have not been found to this day. He did not want to follow in his father's footsteps.
"Don't worry, Mr. Nakagawa. Tomorrow we'll move the supplies around and have a camel go first, so we can react if we encounter quicksand..."
Professor Man nodded. This matter concerned the lives of several people, and he dared not be careless in the slightest. As a desert expert, he was most aware of the dangers of quicksand.
After the broth boiled, Erdan extinguished the firewood. The desert was desolate, and all supplies had to be used sparingly. As night fell, the group, having finished their meal, went into their respective tents, and the desert returned to silence.
Unlike Erdan and the others who fell asleep as soon as they lay down, Nakagawa tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He was very young when his father died, and tomorrow he was to go to the place where his father disappeared. This left Nakagawa with an indescribable feeling in his heart. ...
"Let's go, pack everything up..."
Around 5 a.m. the next day, Mengzi called on everyone to get up and pack their things. The desert sun was blazing during the day, and the people living here would take advantage of the early morning to walk a little further.
Zhuang Rui and his group had a good rest yesterday, and since today was the last day of tracking Erdan's camel caravan, they all seemed to be in good spirits.
After packing their things, it was already getting light. A few wisps of mist drifted across the vast desert, a sea of yellow sand. Mengzi looked at the sky with some concern and said, "The weather doesn't look right. There might be a strong wind. Let's find a flatter spot..."
The winds in the desert are terrifying. Often, a gust of wind can turn a small sand dune into flat ground, and a flat sand bed can suddenly stand up as a sand mountain.
Therefore, if you encounter strong winds, the best thing to do is to find a flat place and take shelter under a camel. This is the only way to avoid the desert gales.
After hearing Mengzi's words, Zhuang Rui looked around and said, "How about we stay here..."
The presence of cacti in their current location indicates that the area was not covered by sandstorms, suggesting it should be a relatively safe place.
Mengzi waved his hand, his eyes fixed on the desert fog. Suddenly, his gaze sharpened, and he shouted, "Hey, you guys are lucky! You can actually see a mirage!" "A mirage? What's that?"
Zhuang Rui was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, but he immediately lost the will to ask further questions, because Zhuang Rui also saw the scene in front of him and was immediately stunned. He didn't even realize that the piece of dried meat he was holding had fallen onto the sand.
"A mirage...?"
In the desert in front of Zhuang Rui and the others' campsite, the previously scattered fog became even thicker, and many scenes seemed to appear in the fog, but they were indistinct and difficult to distinguish.
Everyone was drawn to Zhuang Rui's exclamation. In fact, there was no need to point it out. Just by looking up, they could see a city seemingly standing out of thin air in the desert ahead, with people moving around in it.
The legendary mirage appeared before their eyes, and everyone was stunned by the sight, standing still and staring at the distant mirage.
Zhuang Rui reacted quickly, impulsively taking out his backpack from the camel, taking out a small camera, turning it on, and pointing it at the modern city in front of him.
A mirage is a natural phenomenon caused by the refraction of light. It is also called a mirage and is a virtual image formed by the refraction of light reflected from objects on Earth through the atmosphere. Scientists call it an optical illusion.
It's important to know that such a sight is extremely rare, and even fewer can be recorded on video, so Zhuang Rui certainly wouldn't let such an opportunity slip by.
"That...that's a car, damn it, and the ocean too, I really want to jump in and take a bath..."
After about three or four minutes, the originally blurry scene gradually became clear. Towering buildings appeared one after another in front of everyone, and speeding cars sped past in the distance like scenes from a movie.