“Where is it? Where is it?”
Gu Wu quickly looked around and saw a white shadow flicker beside a large rock before vanishing.
“Quick, let’s go check it out. She might have encountered a bad guy!”
Rong Jie hurriedly grabbed a large iron wrench from inside the car, just in case.
When the car arrived nearby, everyone got off. Behind the large rock was a small, shallow cave with dim lighting, and inside was a white figure lying on the ground.
“Xiao Fang! Is that you?”
Rong Jie rushed over, but upon closer inspection, she realized it was just an inflatable doll!
“…”
Everyone was stunned.
Cha Zhengfa shook his head, “That’s not right. How could an inflatable doll run around? What I saw was clearly a naked woman.”
“Could someone be playing a prank?”
Yin Kai immediately started inspecting the surroundings.
Rong Jie blinked her eyes and then turned her gaze, saying, “There’s something strange here. We shouldn’t stay too long. Let’s get back in the car first.”
Rong Jie had just successfully exorcised evil spirits, establishing her authority in everyone’s hearts.
Everyone returned to the car and discovered that Bei Fu, who had been staying inside, was gone!
“Oh no! What’s going on?” Gu Wu was flustered and very scared.
Yin Kai was convinced there was someone nearby playing pranks. He quickly opened the rear compartment, grabbed an iron rod, and shouted, “Damn it, if I find you, I’ll smash your heads!”
“Let’s get in the car first.”
Rong Jie gathered everyone into one car, took a deep breath, and said, “The situation is unclear right now. Let’s not make wild guesses. We shouldn’t panic either. Everyone must stay alert. Then we’ll split up, one group heading south and the other north, to search around here. Of course, this area is full of messy big rocks, making it very difficult to find people. So everyone must stay focused. If there are really bad guys around, they can’t have gone far. So we shouldn’t get out of the cars easily. If you spot anything, honk the horn, and the other car will come to meet you. If the situation is serious, keep honking continuously. If everything’s fine, just honk once every five minutes to report your position.”
Under Rong Jie’s command, the four of them split into two groups. Rong Jie rode with Cha Zhengfa, and Gu Wu rode with Yin Kai. The two cars began searching separately for Xiao Fang and Bei Fu.
There was no cell phone signal here, so there was no way to call the police unless they drove hundreds of miles to Golmud City.
“Rong Jie, do you regret coming here?”
Cha Zhengfa asked nervously while driving.
Rong Jie kept turning her head, scanning the outside of the car, “What’s there to regret? Tomb robbing and treasure hunting are always risky endeavors. The deceased would naturally set up multiple traps in their tombs to protect their wealth. As the saying goes, wealth comes with danger. Wanting to get rich easily overnight is just a child’s fantasy.”
“I thought it was too simple. I thought once we found the tomb, we could just dig a hole and find antiques. But reality is different. We haven’t even found the sand city yet, and problems have already arisen, and they’re serious.” Cha Zhengfa’s confidence was severely shaken. In a short while, Xiao Fang was gone, and then Bei Fu disappeared too. Who knew if more people would vanish next.
Rong Jie gently patted Cha Zhengfa’s shoulder, “Don’t think too much. Xiao Fang left on her own. Bei Fu might have left on his own too. Before we figure out the situation, it’s best not to jump to conclusions.”
“But Rong Jie, I really saw a naked woman running! I’m not lying!” Cha Zhengfa had carefully examined the small cave and was convinced no one could be running around with an inflatable doll. Even if someone did, there was nowhere for them to hide, and they should have been discovered by now. Therefore, Cha Zhengfa was convinced in his heart that many people had died here, and it was definitely haunted.
“Alright, don’t talk anymore.”
Rong Jie was also unnerved by what he said.
As the car was driving, suddenly a sharp horn sounded.
Cha Zhengfa immediately turned the car around and headed in the direction Yin Kai had gone.
Yin Kai’s minivan was parked by the roadside, but the car was empty.
Yin Kai and Gu Wu were both gone, and there were no signs of a struggle around.
Rong Jie climbed onto the car roof and looked around. All she could see were rocks; there was no sign of any people.
“They can’t have gone far. We got here quickly enough.” Rong Jie didn’t want to search randomly anymore and immediately said to Cha Zhengfa, “Come on, Old Cha, you climb up that big rock and keep watch for me. I’ll check behind the nearby rocks that block the view.”
Centered around this area, within a 300-meter radius, there were only four or five large rocks that could block the view.
Moreover, there were no other vehicles around.
Therefore, Rong Jie was convinced that if someone had abducted Yin Kai and Gu Wu, they must be hiding behind the nearby large rocks.
“Rong Jie, you should go up and keep watch instead.”
Cha Zhengfa felt in his heart that he was a grown man, how could he push the most dangerous task onto a woman?
Rong Jie waved her hand, “Don’t argue. I’m from a martial arts school; I can take on five of you.”
Saying that, Rong Jie took out a steel pipe from the back of the minivan.
With no choice, Cha Zhengfa climbed up the big rock and started looking around.
Rong Jie ran quickly to the first big rock and found no one.
Then she ran to the second one, still empty.
She checked two more places, still no one.
At the last big rock, Rong Jie slowly approached, looking back occasionally at Cha Zhengfa who was observing the surroundings from the rock. Cha Zhengfa kept shaking his head, indicating there was no situation.
Since there was no situation, the possibility that someone was hiding behind the last big rock increased.
Rong Jie took a deep breath and slowly walked around the big rock…
A steel rod!
Rong Jie saw the iron rod Yin Kai had previously grabbed, but there was no one behind the rock.
Holding the iron rod, Rong Jie looked around and walked out.
But the moment she walked out, she discovered that Cha Zhengfa on the big rock was gone!
“How could this happen?”
Rong Jie screamed, quickly dropped the iron rod, and ran back, but Cha Zhengfa had really disappeared.
Rong Jie shouted a few times, but there was no response at all!
Suddenly, Rong Jie saw a stream of black mist rising from a stone not far away, heading straight toward her…
“Ahh!”
Startled, Rong Jie hurried to the minivan, closed the door, and drove away.
Rong Jie wasn’t very good at driving; the car jerked along and stalled several times, but she finally managed to escape the black mist without any real danger.
In her panic, Rong Jie drove aimlessly, not knowing where to go, only pressing the accelerator pedal hard.
Ten or so minutes later
Turning around a mountain pass, Rong Jie suddenly slammed on the brakes and saw a desert ahead, with a yellow sand city faintly visible in it…
“Is that the sand city!?”
She had found the sand city, but at this moment, Rong Jie felt no joy at all.
Instead, she was very frightened and wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.
Just then, she suddenly noticed in the rearview mirror that the clear blue sky had a wall of sandstorm blocking out the sun approaching rapidly!
“Damn it!”
Rong Jie cursed and hurriedly started the car, turned it around, and drove south.
For an ordinary person, in such a situation, they would definitely choose to drive to the sand city. First, the sand city could protect against the sandstorm, and second, it was said to hide treasures. Who wouldn’t want to get their hands on treasures?
But Rong Jie saw through this as a trick by demons and monsters.
As a child, Rong Jie often heard ghost stories from her grandmother and knew some of the tricks ghosts used to manipulate people’s minds. She was convinced that these evil spirits wanted to force her into the sand city, so she wouldn’t fall for it.
Rong Jie shifted into the highest gear, pressed the accelerator to the floor, and drove southward frantically without looking back.
The sandstorm arrived in an instant, and the minivan was soon swallowed and submerged in it.
“Bang!”
In the yellowish sandstorm, the minivan hit a football-sized rock, the tire burst immediately, and due to the high-speed inertia, the van overturned several times in the desert, and Rong Jie was knocked unconscious.
※※※
Not knowing how long had passed, Rong Jie gradually regained consciousness.
She touched her nose; the blood had already dried.
Luckily, the car windows were not broken. She managed to crawl out of the car, leaning against the side of the vehicle that had tilted into the sand, she stood up, first looking at the sun in the sky, estimating it was about 2 p.m. Two eagles were perched on a rock not far away, looking at her…
They seemed to be waiting for a sumptuous meal of human flesh, but the result disappointed them.
Watching the two eagles fly away, Rong Jie suddenly thought that she might still be in the sand city area. She quickly pulled out the steel pipe and looked around… Looking around, Rong Jie suddenly saw a group of people, men and women, old and young, heading toward her.
“Don’t come over, it’s dangerous here, dangerous! Dangerous…”
Rong Jie waved frantically and shouted to stop the group from coming into the sand city area.
But these people remained indifferent.
Rong Jie quickly ran towards this group while shouting not to come closer.
These people were none other than Shui Miao and his companions.
Shui Miao stopped, took out a bottle of water, smiled, and waited for Rong Jie to arrive before handing her the water: “Drink some water first. Don’t rush to tell us what’s going on here. I already know.”
“You know… What do you know?” Rong Jie was panting, looking at this young man, she felt that Shui Miao’s eyes were very sharp.
Shui Miao turned his head to look at Chu Miaoyi and Lin Xue who had caught up, sighed lightly, and asked Rong Jie to sit on a nearby rock before speaking slowly: “You and your friends encountered some strange and evil things, one after another disappearing. You escaped a disaster through a moment of kindness and came here. Am I right?”
“Ahh! How… How do you know that?”
Rong Jie was greatly shocked, quickly looking at the group behind Shui Miao, seriously suspecting that Shui Miao was also some kind of dirty thing.
“How I know isn’t important…”
Shui Miao waved his hand, his expression turning serious, “What’s important is that this monster is very evil, having harmed countless people. I must find a way to destroy it today.”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage