Led by Xiaoqing, Xu Qian finally found Meng Liangchen in a dark crevice. Well, Meng Liangchen was only left with a sliver of blood, but he was still alive.

"Just bear with it."

One ancestral treasure was exchanged for a total of 950 gold.

Xu Qian, who was very happy to receive the gold, immediately switched to his new disguise, picked up the unconscious Meng Liangchen, and recited two acupuncture spells to him as compensation!

Then, he hoisted the still unconscious Meng Liangchen onto his shoulder, and turned his gaze to the side. Besides Meng Liangchen, there were two other people who were still alive. Xu Qian hesitated for a moment, then gave each of them a needle and asked Xiao Qing to help put it on.

It's still a human life, after all.

Of course, to prevent those two unlucky guys from waking up halfway through and being scared to death by Xiaoqing, Xu Qian also took another dip in the water, letting them stay dizzy for a while longer!

This time, going out was much easier than coming in; we went through the main entrance.

However, just before going up, Xu Qian had Xiao Qing transform into a normal-sized bamboo viper and crawl into his clothes. He also changed back into Mei Tai's vest before leaving the underground city with Meng Liangchen and the two unlucky guys.

The exit of the underground city wasn't far from the location he had marked, but it was inconvenient for him to be carrying three living people. After thinking about it, he decided to make two more trips to take Meng Liangchen to Meng Ziqiu first, if Meng Ziqiu woke up.

But when Xu Qian brought Meng Liangchen back to the marker, their car was gone, leaving only a few blurry tire tracks. All the people who had been on it had been tied up.

"Holy crap, what's going on? Were we robbed?" Xu Qian put Meng Liangchen down and then checked the people who were tied up. They weren't dead, they were still alive, but they all had the [Disoriented] debuff on them, which was probably caused by the bell, which had the effect of confusing people's minds.

"Hiss—" (Drinking some snake blood will cure it)

"Snake blood?" Xu Qian looked up.

"hiss--"

Suddenly, a rolling motion occurred on the sand, and a black snake emerged, flicking its tongue.

"Oh, so this is your little brother?" Xu Qian laughed.

"hiss--"

Xu Qian took some blood from the black snake, but instead of feeding it to them, he went to check the stone path. The stone slabs had been replaced, which was quite ruthless. It was clear that they didn't want the people below to live.

Xu Qian looked at Meng Ziqiu, whose contact was still steadily lit up in his friend list, and thought that there shouldn't be any major problems.

"Hey, is anyone there? Is anyone still alive...?"

No one answered. Xu Qian muttered to himself for a while, then had no choice but to go down and check it out himself.

Upon arriving at the ice cellar, Xu Qian discovered Fifth Master and his group in a corner. They were also tied up, in the same way as the people above.

Xu Qian checked them one by one; none of them were dead, but they were not far off.

He looked at the group of people, then at the hole above his head, and thought, "Fine, I'll move them one by one. After all, I'm a good person."

When Meng Ziqiu woke up, it was already dark. Not only was it dark, but it was also a bit cold, and the wind made him shiver.

"You're awake. I believe you're quite skilled; at least your physical abilities are better than theirs. You were the first to wake up."

Meng Ziqiu felt a throbbing pain in the back of his head, as if he had bumped it somewhere. He sat up, clutching his forehead, and turned his head to see... his brother?!

Xu Qian rested his chin on one hand, the firelight making his face slightly red. "Don't get excited. He just fainted from blood loss. He's already been given medicine."

After confirming that his younger brother was really alright, Meng Ziqiu, whose calm and rationality were gradually returning, was stunned when he saw the group of people lying in various positions around him. "What... what's going on..."

"Simply put, someone took all the supplies while you were unconscious." Xu Qian paused for a moment, then said, "It should be the same group that took your brother." Xu Qian was certain because Yan Jiudu was missing. He hadn't picked Yan Jiudu up, so it was impossible for Yan Jiudu to wake up. He could only have been taken away by someone, such as Yan Jiudu's accomplices.

"All...gone?" Meng Ziqiu asked with great difficulty.

“Hmm,” Xu Qian continued, “Not only that, they also took the team leader away, leaving you no way out.”

Meng Ziqiu stared at him expectantly. The little ancestor had said "you," which clearly did not include himself. In other words, he definitely knew how to get out.

Xu Qian ignored him and instead took out two bottles of water from his backpack, tossing one to Meng Ziqiu.

"Let's wait until they wake up before making any further plans," he said.

...

The next day, most people woke up.

After hearing Meng Ziqiu explain the current situation, Fifth Master remained silent for a long while, probably questioning his own existence. In all his years in the business, this was truly the first time he had encountered such a shameless act. Just as Meng Ziqiu hesitated whether to speak, he heard Fifth Master ask, "What's the background of your brother?"

Meng Ziqiu thought for a moment, then resorted to his grandfather's excuse, "To be honest, Fifth Master, I don't know much about his background either, but my grandfather (actually, it's me) trusts him a lot..."

Sure enough, when Fifth Master heard about his grandfather, he stopped asking questions and said, "Go and see Boss Shen. Since we can't get him out of here, we should hurry up and find a way to get him out."

On the other side, Boss Shen looked extremely unwell.

According to the two unlucky guys Xu Qian brought out yesterday, they were from that foreign archaeological team. They said they only saw the group that came to rob the tomb, and did not see Boss Shen's uncle's team.

In other words, not only did Boss Shen fail to find his uncle, but he also lost all his supplies and the guide. Now, it was uncertain whether he could even make it out of the desert alive. This deal was a huge loss, and his expression was naturally terrible.

"Boss Shen, my friend has some understanding of the desert environment. If we follow his arrangements, our chances of getting out are still quite high." Fifth Master wasn't really sure himself, but in this situation, he had to reassure everyone first.

"I'll just follow Fifth Master's arrangements." Boss Shen's face was ashen. He actually knew that this was not Fifth Master's fault, but he was angry and aggrieved.

After sorting through the group, three of them had injured their ears, plus the two archaeologists that Xu Qian had picked up, and Meng Ziqiu's injured younger brother who was still unconscious. The remaining eight people were all relatively healthy.

As for supplies, the backpacks of the people below the stone path are still intact. If we share them with everyone, it should last them for a while.

At this moment, the two archaeologists rescued by Xu Qian said that they had found a lake nearby. Upon hearing this, the others changed their initial disdain and their hopes were rekindled. In this desert, not having food was not a problem; not having water was the real disaster.

"Can you give me a straight answer? This is a critical moment that concerns everyone's life and death." Sang Ge squatted on the sand, his words sounding like a threat or a warning.

One of the team members nodded vigorously, "I can take you there, after all, everyone wants to survive."

Sang Ge looked at Fifth Master and saw him nod in agreement. Then he called two of his brothers to lift the man up and said, "You're right, everyone wants to live."

While Sangge led his men to search for Haizi, the others who stayed behind counted the water on their bodies. There were 22 unopened bottles of mineral water and 7 empty bottles. These were the 'trash' they had dug out of the sand, but now they had become treasures.

Xu Qian didn't join the fun, but instead went into Meng Ziqiu's tent. As soon as he entered, he smelled a strong medicinal odor. "Your brother is still not awake?"

Meng Ziqiu shook his head. He had just checked his brother's injuries again. They were all superficial wounds, but for some reason, the man just wouldn't wake up.

"It must be due to a lack of exercise." Xu Qian had completely cleared away all the debuffs on him, and the only explanation was that the child was too weak.

"Tell me," Meng Ziqiu said after a moment of silence, "can we go out?"

"I guess so," Xu Qian replied somewhat casually. He was feeling sleepy; he hadn't slept well the night before.

Meng Ziqiu suddenly laughed upon hearing this, perhaps because of the ease in his tone, "We'll get out of here, we still have a spicy crab meal to eat."

Speaking of spicy crab, Xu Qian was no longer sleepy. He reached into his backpack, pulled out two bags of spicy dried fish, and casually tossed one to Meng Ziqiu.

"You even have this..." Meng Ziqiu looked at the dried fish in his hand and couldn't help but laugh. It was clear that his little darling wasn't nervous at all.

“I bought these before,” Xu Qian said, still chewing the dried fish in his mouth. He saw Meng Liangchen’s fingers twitch. “Oh, your brother is awake. It seems the dried fish is just as appealing as the dried fish. He woke up so quickly.”

"...Brother, you're dead too."

Xu Qian felt that Meng Ziqiu's younger brother seemed a bit silly.

Meng Ziqiu: "..." It's not just that he seems like it, it's that he's stupid.

...

Meng Liangchen was dazed and confused as his brother forced a long plot into his head. In short, he hadn't died; he'd been saved by the "big brother" his brother mentioned—the one in front of him… Okay, height isn't an issue, looks aren't an issue, strength is the most important thing. Also, their current situation wasn't optimistic; the car and all the supplies had been taken away by that group of people.

The problem they now face is how to leave the desert without a vehicle, supplies, or even a guide.

"Is life really that difficult...?"

"Life is full of hardships," Xu Qian said, offering a half-hearted attempt at comfort.

Just then, Sang Ge's voice came from outside.

"Hai Zi has been found—"

Meng Ziqiu helped his younger brother out of the tent, carefully put a hat on him, and then carried him on his shoulder. "Xiao Liang, brother is taking you home."

Xu Qian saw this, carrying his own bag on his back and holding Meng Ziqiu's bag in his hand, his eyes filled with sorrow, "Sigh, now that I have a younger brother, I don't care about my nephew anymore."

“Good nephew,” Meng Ziqiu turned around and smiled at him, “go home with your ‘uncle’, together.”

"Oh, okay." Xu Qian shrugged and reluctantly agreed.

"...???" Meng Liangchen was completely confused. What are you talking about? I don't understand a word you're saying.