Finding a water source eased the tension within the team considerably. Some of the more optimistic ones even dug out the instant noodles they hadn't been able to eat before. It's understandable, though, since the water was right there, inexhaustible, so why not eat it now?

Xu Qian, sitting by the water, could smell the aroma—it was pickled cabbage and beef. Cooking instant noodles is a delicate art; for example, with pickled cabbage, adding a tomato or something makes it absolutely delicious.

"Are you hungry?" Meng Ziqiu could see him swallowing.

"Sure, I have some instant noodles here. Shall we borrow a pot from that guy later?"

Meng Ziqiu laughed heartily, but agreed, "Okay, I'll borrow it from him in a bit."

Xu Qian nodded. As a quiet and refreshing man, he looked at the lake in front of him and had a slight urge to go for a swim.

To be honest, he really wanted to take a shower.

"Oh right, do you have any plans after you leave? You didn't say anything yesterday."

"I want to take a shower first," Xu Qian said, turning his gaze to the side with a serious expression, "and get a haircut while I'm at it."

"..."

After a while, the silent Meng Ziqiu got up to borrow the small pot for cooking noodles. He probably didn't quite understand what a shut-in's mind was filled with all day long.

After some rest, the group decided to continue on their way. It was the windy season, and if someone was unlucky enough to run into a sandstorm, they would be doomed. Naturally, they wanted to get out as soon as possible.

Of course, ideals are often grand, but reality is often harsh.

Leaving the desert on foot is no easy task; there are always too many unpredictable and unexpected events.

Suddenly, the people in front stopped, and they heard Glasses Liu pointing ahead and saying something.

"There are footprints here! There are people here! We're saved!"

"We can still see the footprints, which proves that this group of people didn't go far. We can find them by following the footprints."

"Thank God! It's finally going to be over!"

"I heard the team leader say that a group of people who retrieve corpses regularly come to the desert. It's very likely that they are the ones!"

Seeing their expressions as if the rescue team was right in front of them, Meng Ziqiu didn't want to discourage them. But thinking about it carefully, he realized that if they were really here to retrieve a body, they wouldn't choose to come during the windy season. If they didn't find the body and ended up getting themselves killed, it would be a huge loss. However, they were already nearing their limit and were more inclined to believe it was a rescue team. "Let's follow them," Xu Qian said.

Meng Ziqiu nodded to him, since things couldn't get any worse than they were now anyway.

But it must be said that since the footprint appeared, the atmosphere in the team has been greatly boosted. Some are even thinking about where to have a big meal after leaving the desert, while others say they want to go home and sleep for a day and a night.

Originally, this group of people weren't exactly desperate criminals; they were just a bit more agile than the average person. Many of them had families. If it weren't for Boss Shen's generous payment and their own financial difficulties, Fifth Master wouldn't have been able to find so many people.

The group followed the footprints on the sand step by step. After walking for about an hour, those with sharp eyes spotted a gray plume of smoke floating in the air in the distance.

Before long, a round tent appeared in front of us, surrounded by a fence, with several camels lying on the edge of the fence.

Everyone present, except for Xu Qian, was extremely excited.

“Looks like there really are people ahead… Hmm, why do you look like that? Is there a problem inside?” Meng Ziqiu noticed Xu Qian’s expression, which seemed somewhat wary.

"Yes, there is indeed a problem." The problem is huge. As soon as Xu Qian saw the tent, he heard a series of notification sounds. There was a demon god with a killing aura of over 200 in the tent. That's 200! If a person has 30 points of killing aura, then 200 points means that person has killed at least seven people. In a society governed by law, what else could a person who has killed seven people be but a demon god?

"Then I'll go and call them back." Meng Ziqiu said, about to step forward, but was stopped by Xu Qian.

“We can’t stop them, so don’t waste your energy,” Xu Qian knew very well that it was impossible to calm these people down. Rather than doing so, it would be better to follow them and see for ourselves. “We’ll follow too. With me here, there shouldn’t be any major problems.”

Meng Ziqiu hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

As Xu Qian approached the tent, the notifications kept flashing before his eyes, the red light making him feel uncomfortable. If this had happened on Wuqi Mountain in the past, it wouldn't have been a problem, but how could such a menacing figure exist in a society governed by law? Was the security situation really that bad...?

"Is anyone there?" Sangge led his men upstairs.

After a while, the tent was opened a crack.

The woman who came out was about forty or fifty years old. Her clothes looked like those of the neighboring Roman country. She was quite surprised to see so many people outside when she opened the door.

Sang stepped forward and explained the situation, "Sister, we are travelers from China. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, our vehicle broke down halfway through the journey, and we followed after seeing the camel footprints."

The woman spoke to those behind her in a language that no one else could understand, something like a dialect. After a while, the people inside the tent seemed to agree, and she opened the tent flap, saying, "Come in."

Upon entering, besides the woman, there was an elderly man, also around forty or fifty years old, who seemed to be the head of the household. However, he appeared to have difficulty walking and was carrying a pipe, filling the entire room with the smell of smoke.

"Brother, it's like this..." Fifth Master handed over a pack of cigarettes and repeated what Brother Sang had said earlier, but this time in more detail. In short, they wanted to rest at this place and borrow some camels to get out of the desert. Afterwards, they would give him a generous reward.

“That’s easy to say… phew…” The old man immediately lit a cigarette and took a satisfying puff.

Xu Qian didn't pay attention to the conversation between the two, but stared at the curtain behind the man, behind which was the real 'demon'.

After a while, Fifth Master and the man reached an agreement. The woman from before brought over a large pot of water from the back, which made the others very excited. Although they still had water in their hands, it was a different matter to drink sparingly and to drink as much as they wanted.

Xu Qian looked at the water that was served, but didn't add anything.

Seeing that he nodded, Meng Ziqiu then let Meng Liangchen drink it.

Soon, another young man appeared, looking to be in his early twenties with an honest and kind face. He was carrying a large plate of meat, which had been cut into small pieces and was unrecognizable.

The woman smiled gently, seeming to be a good-natured person. "You must be hungry too. Eat something first. My camel just brought back water today and needs to rest. Let's set off again tomorrow."

Xu Qian looked back and forth between the young man with the red name and the piece of camel meat in his hand.

Upon seeing this, Meng Ziqiu asked, "Boss lady, what kind of meat is this?"

The woman replied, "Camel meat. The camel is old and can't walk anymore, so we slaughter it."

Seeing that Xu Qian nodded, Meng Ziqiu then replied, "I see. Thank you, ma'am."

Xu Qian turned to the young man and asked him, "Are you the only family here?"

The woman took the lead, saying, "My son is mute and can't speak. We're the only family around here."

The young man hunched his shoulders and nodded.

At this moment, Meng Ziqiu put his arm around Xu Qian's shoulder and said, "Come on, let's go take a break."

Before Xu Qian could respond, he heard the woman say, "Then you mustn't go too far."

"Don't worry, they can't escape," Xu Qian said with a smile.