Zhuang Rui looked at the scene before him. Along the highway, modern high-rise buildings stood side by side, while busy ferry boats shuttled between the north and south banks. Fishing boats, cruise ships, sightseeing boats, and massive ships, along with their whistles, created a beautiful and bustling seascape.
The more Zhuang Rui looked at it, the more familiar it seemed. He couldn't help but swear, "This... isn't this the damn Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong?"
This is not ancient times, and we cannot provide a scientific explanation for mirages. However, the chances of seeing familiar scenes in a mirage are extremely small, making Zhuang Rui feel like he had won the lottery.
Zhuang Rui had stayed at a hotel near Victoria Harbour for a few days and was extremely familiar with the scenery there; he was certain he wasn't seeing things.
“That’s right, it’s Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. Brother Zhuang, I’ve discovered that as long as I follow you, I can witness all sorts of miracles…”
Peng Fei, standing next to Zhuang Rui, was also muttering to himself. He was even more familiar with Victoria Harbour than Zhuang Rui, because he had once stolen a luxury cruise ship worth hundreds of millions from here, and he had spent two days just scouting the location.
"It's so beautiful, is that... Hong Kong?"
Although this wasn't the first time Mengzi had seen a mirage, he still stared intently at the beautiful scenery in the distance. The farthest he had ever been since birth was Dunhuang, and although he knew about Hong Kong, he had never been there.
"That's right, it's Hong Kong, Mengzi. You should go and see it sometime..."
Zhuang Rui kept repeating Mengzi's words, but his eyes never left the scene. Although the scene was familiar, it was a completely different feeling from seeing this view in Hong Kong.
"I must go and see it someday..."
Mengzi nodded. In ancient my country, mirages were regarded as fairylands. Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han led people to Penglai to search for fairylands and sent people to Penglai many times to seek elixirs.
Being able to personally visit a fairyland is probably the ideal in the heart of every desert dweller. So when Mengzi heard Zhuang Rui say this, he made a decision in his heart that after leaving the desert this time, he must go to Hong Kong for a trip.
The mirage in the distance lasted for about forty minutes, and the fog gradually thinned out.
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept across the desert, and the yellow sand blinded everyone's eyes, which were already wide open and a little sore. But when they opened their eyes again, the mirage in front of them had completely disappeared, leaving only a blue sky and an endless desert.
"Damn it, why is it so blurry..."
When Zhuang Rui saw the mirage disappear, he quickly picked up his camera to check it, only to be disappointed to find that the scene, which was crystal clear to him, was now blurred and indistinct, with only some images barely discernible.
However, even though the desert trip yielded no results, Zhuang Rui was still satisfied to have witnessed this spectacle firsthand.
Chapter 1106 Desert Black Hole
"It's so beautiful, what a pity I couldn't capture it in a photo..."
Dozens of kilometers away from Zhuang Rui's campsite, several people also made the same sound. The beauty and mystery of the mirage captivated Professor Man and his group, filling them with longing for that dreamlike scene.
It wasn't until the mirage slowly disappeared into the air more than ten minutes later that everyone came back to their senses as if from a dream.
"Mr. Erdan, I'm entrusting the task of finding the ancient temple ruins to you today..."
After packing his things, Nakagawa walked over to Erdan and bowed deeply. After witnessing the wonder of nature, Nakagawa had a strange feeling.
The beauty of mirages is undeniable, but the fact that such beautiful scenes appear in desolate and even extremely dangerous deserts creates a stark contrast.
Nakagawa wondered if his father, who had disappeared in this desert decades ago, had also witnessed this spectacle.
Two camel caravans, several dozen kilometers apart, set off at almost the same time, their melodious camel bells echoing across the desert.
As the sun rose, its scorching rays beat down on everyone, making them yearn for the seawater they had just witnessed in the mirage. If they could take a bath in the ocean right now, Nakagawa would surely offer an astonishing price.
The morning passed quickly. Because the mirage had delayed them for more than an hour, Zhuang Rui and the others arrived at the place where Zhongchuan and his group had camped the night before, around noon.
"Brother Zhuang, there are signs of barbecue here. They camped here yesterday..."
Peng Fei jumped off the camel, went to the sandpit, dipped his finger in the water, put it in his mouth, and said, "These guys are even luckier than us; this groundwater is drinkable..."
Yesterday, Peng Fei stayed up until midnight trying to equip the empty water bladder with some water. He was surprised to find that Erdan and the others had dug a sand pit and found drinking water, which made Peng Fei feel very resentful.
When Zhuang Rui saw that Mengzi hadn't dismounted from the camel, but instead followed the camel tracks left in the desert for dozens of meters before returning to the green area, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Brother Mengzi, what's wrong?"
"They're heading in the direction of the place where the accident happened back then, which is very likely the quicksand area..."
After Mengzi dismounted from the camel, his face, which was covered with a solemn expression, revealed his face after removing his veil.
Although Mengzi stopped mentioning the "devil's forbidden zone" after spending a few days with Zhuang Rui and the others, his fear of that area had been deeply buried in his heart since childhood.
Having followed Erdan and his group in circles for several days, Zhuang Rui guessed that the Japanese man was running out of patience. He wasn't too surprised that they were heading to the quicksand area today, and asked Mengzi, "How far is it from here to that quicksand area?"
Zhuang Rui had just released the spiritual energy in his eyes, but he did not find Erdan's camel caravan, which meant that they were at least ten kilometers away from him.
Mengzi lowered his head, estimated for a moment, and said, "It should still be about forty or fifty kilometers. If I'm not mistaken, they should have reached the edge of the quicksand area..."
Because of warnings from Old Liu and the town's elders, the town's tour guides have always avoided that devilish forbidden zone. Even Mengzi doesn't dare to venture deep into it, and can only give a rough estimate of the distance.
"That far away?"
Zhuang Rui was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. It would take almost a day to walk forty or fifty kilometers in the desert. If something really happened ahead, even if they caught up, it would be too late to rescue them.
"Okay, everyone, let's eat something and rest first. We'll try to get there before dark..."
Mengzi understood Zhuang Rui's meaning, and he also regretted it a little. If he had known this would happen, he would have narrowed the distance between them.
Peng Fei was naturally in charge of cooking, while Mengzi led the camels, feeding them water one by one to keep them energized—a task far more important than feeding themselves.
After a brief rest, the group mounted their camels again and followed the tracks left by Erdan's caravan. Mengzi was getting impatient and kept urging the camels to trot, hoping to catch up with Erdan and the others as quickly as possible. ...
"Brother Erdan, Nakagawa is asking you, how much longer until we reach the quicksand region?"
For some reason, Nakagawa felt somewhat unsettled while sitting on the camel, and almost every ten minutes or so, he urged the translator Yan to ask Erdan a question.
"Tell him not to rush, it's still five or six miles away..."
Erdan replied impatiently, "Where were you before? You insisted on me leading you around in circles the other day, and now you're getting impatient?"
Upon hearing Erdan's words, Professor Man squeezed the camel's legs together and rushed to Erdan's side, saying, "Erdan, I think we need to adjust our formation. Let's put the supplies from those two camels on one camel, and then let one go first..."
More than 30 years have passed since the last time quicksand swallowed up the town's residents. No one knows if the quicksand area has expanded again. With the safety of his own life in mind, Professor Man put forward his suggestions.
Even through the veil that shielded him from the wind and sand, Erdan could hear the seriousness in Professor Man's words. After thinking for a moment, Erdan nodded in agreement. He was still a little apprehensive about this forbidden death spot that had been rumored in the town for decades.
After the caravan was reorganized, a camel without any supplies walked at the front, and about thirty meters behind it was a second camel carrying drinking water and other supplies.
As for Erdan and the others, they were even further away, hanging seventy or eighty meters behind the two camels. Erdan used a whistle to control the direction of the two camels in front of him.
"Hmm, Erdan, look ahead, I feel like something's not right..."
Having just descended from a small sand dune more than twenty meters high, Professor Man suddenly stopped the camels, took out a high-powered telescope, and began to observe the desert ahead.
"Teacher Man, what's wrong? Sandy ground is very common..."
Erdan didn't know why Professor Man had stopped. This place was still about five or six miles away from the legendary Devil's Forbidden Zone, and all that appeared in front of them was a relatively large flat sandy area, which was quite normal in the desert.
Because dry sand is soft and non-sticky, a strong wind can completely transform the desert landscape, creating bizarre and unusual terrain, with dunes reaching tens of meters high and gentle slopes stretching hundreds of meters. All sorts of illogical topographical explanations can exist in the desert.
Professor Man shook his head and said, "I feel something's not right. This sandy area is about a kilometer long. I think we should slow down..."
Although the desert before him also had ravines carved out by the wind, the desolation it exuded was different from what he had seen before, leaving Professor Man with an indescribable feeling, and his heart seemed to beat much faster than usual.
Professor Man saw two camels leading the way, still heading towards the sandy area that Professor Man found somewhat eerie, without Erdan's instructions. He quickly said to Erdan, "Quick, stop the camels! It's already noon. Let's have lunch and then survey this sandy area..."
"Is it nothing? Teacher Man, you can just say you're hungry..."
Erdan muttered something under his breath. He had been a tour guide in the desert for six or seven years and had seen many such landscapes. However, seeing that Professor Man insisted, Erdan still hooked his thumb and forefinger together, put them in his mouth, and gave a loud whistle.
The two camels that were walking forward heard the whistle and did not react for a moment. The camel in front turned its head, but its body was still pushed forward a few steps by inertia.
"Alright, let's go down a bit and eat by the sand dunes..."
Erdan turned to Professor Man and said something, but he was shocked to find that Professor Man had taken off his veil at some point, and the old face that was revealed was distorted beyond recognition, as if he had seen a ghost.
"Gurgle, gurgle..."
At the same time, Erdan heard the urgent calls of camels. Generally speaking, camels do not usually make noise; they only make noise when male camels are showing off to each other during the breeding season.
Moreover, camels have a unique way of calling. First, they spit out their vocal cords from their throats, then inflate them with air to produce a low gurgling sound. After calling out, they swallow their vocal cords back in.
But Erdan could tell that the camel's vocal cords seemed to have stopped swallowing; the gurgling sound it made seemed to be filled with despair.
Erdan's brain reacted a little slower than his ears. When he turned around, he found that the camel at the front, which was two meters tall, had half of its body sunk into the sand.
The camel didn't understand the principle of quicksand. After stepping into the sand, it struggled desperately, but the more it struggled, the faster it sank. The flat sand surface was like a black hole, pulling the camel's body closer to the bottomless abyss.
In just a few short seconds when Erdan turned his head, only the head of the more than two-meter-tall camel was visible on the sand. The sound coming from its throat was extremely shrill, which startled the camels riding on Erdan and the others, causing them to stir.
"Er Mao... don't run, don't run, turn around, come back!" Er Dan kept whistling. He had just calmed down the camels he was riding when he discovered that the second camel in front of him had panicked and plunged headfirst into the quicksand, struggling desperately.
"Da Mao, Er Mao..."
Erdan snatched the binoculars from Professor Man's hand. Watching the camel's head slowly sink into the quicksand, tears streamed down his face. For the people living on the edge of the desert, the camel... was their best brother.
Erdan could clearly see that as Da Mao was swallowed by the yellow sand, turbid tears streamed from the corners of his eyes. This pained Erdan deeply; it was his carelessness that caused his two good companions to perish in the desert.
Chapter 1107 Situation
The deep neighing of the camels had disappeared, and the desert that had just been churning with yellow sand had returned to calm, as if a stone had been dropped into the ocean, creating a ripple before returning to stillness.
The calm sandy surface seemed as if nothing had happened. The gloomy silence made Erdan, who had been crying for a while, feel a sense of unease. After stopping his crying, he looked ahead somewhat at a loss.
"Oh, Tosang... Oh, Tosang..."
Just as Erdan was at a loss for what to do, Zhongchuan, who was sitting on the camel, suddenly rolled off the camel, shouted loudly, lay on the ground, pounded the yellow sand with his hands, his face was full of tears, and shouted words that Erdan could not understand.
Although they couldn't understand what Nakagawa was saying, anyone could tell from his tearful and snotty appearance that he was deeply saddened. This puzzled Professor Man and Erdan greatly. Could it be that Mr. Nakagawa was an animal rights activist? Was he grieving for the camel's death?
Nakagawa's erratic behavior made Erdan forget his grief. He was so astonished that he quickly nudged the translator, Yan, and asked, "This...this, Brother Yan, what is the Japanese saying? That's my camel..."
These dead camels belong to his own family, so why is Nakagawa crying so much? Besides, these camels aren't his biological father, so why is he crying so bitterly?
"Little...little Japanese, they're...they're calling for daddy..."
Following Erdan's naming convention, Yan Xiaowei also started calling him "little Japanese." He was also a bit confused by Nakagawa's behavior. Although he could understand Japanese, it didn't mean he understood what Nakagawa's actions meant.
"Shout...shout what? Shout 'Dad'? He really called me 'Camel Dad'?"
Erdan felt his brain was a bit overwhelmed. This was a novel idea. It was true that Japanese people liked promiscuity, and it was also true that Japan's AV industry was very developed. Erdan had downloaded a lot of Japanese adult films on his computer for his own viewing and study.
However, Erdan couldn't figure out how his camel, which was only a few years old, could give birth to a son as old as Zhongchuan. Even if camels had that ability, the timing didn't make sense.
"Erdan, don't talk nonsense. Zhongchuan may have encountered something else that's upsetting him. Xiaowei, ask him what happened."
Professor Man was a mature and worldly-wise man. Seeing Nakagawa like this, he was indeed very sad. However, he did not believe that the head of a famous Japanese company would call two dead camels "father".
Of course, Professor Man couldn't guess that after seeing the camels swallowed by the quicksand, Nakagawa remembered his father who had been buried in this desert and was very likely also dead under this quicksand, which is why he knelt on the ground to mourn his deceased father.
Yan, the translator, pulled the weeping Nakagawa aside. After exchanging words in broken English, they finally understood the whole story. Nakagawa had acted this way because he felt that this was where his deceased father was buried.