Chapter 29 Desert Ruins - Part 3 (Three Chapters Combined) ...
The RV was rapidly retreating in the darkness, its heavy tires kicking up dust, and the vortex was slowly expanding. Almost every meter the RV retreated, the edge of the vortex would extend to the front of the RV!
Tang Bufan watched helplessly as the bus sank deeper and deeper into the quicksand from the driver's seat, his heart filled with anxiety as he strained his eyes to find Lu Yi.
Finally, a blond-haired boy appeared from the tilted bus door. He was holding a can of gasoline and forcefully threw it out into the quicksand!
The gasoline container, wrapped in rusty iron, landed heavily on a distant sand dune with a "thud," sinking into the soft, fine sand.
After throwing out the can of gasoline, Lu Yi turned around and climbed into the even more sunken bus.
"Lu Yi! Lu Yi!" Tang Bufan cried out to Lu Yi in despair as the RV retreated, his heart pounding. "Come out! We don't want the oil anymore! We don't want the oil anymore!"
"No!" Lu Yi said in a deep voice on the other end, his voice accompanied by the rustling sound of sand rolling around: "A motorhome can't handle cloudy or snowy days with just a power supply! It's too easy to lose power if we run out of fuel!"
"Life is at stake! Lu Yi!" Tang Bufan was almost going crazy when he saw Lu Yi reappear at the bus door, throwing a can of gasoline high into the air, while the quicksand had already reached his waist!
“We’re still some distance from the center of the quicksand. I know what I’m doing,” Lu Yi said, struggling to turn around inside the bus, which was already filled with fine sand. He hated that the bus was too small, preventing him from transforming into his beast form.
Seeing that he wouldn't listen to reason at all, and that the bus had already sunk halfway into quicksand, Tang Bufan's eyes reddened. He turned around and rushed to the front of the shelf, grabbed the heavy rope with trembling hands, and forced open the door of the RV while it was still backing up!
"Xiao Tang! Danger!" Kai Ge immediately stopped the reversing RV. The red-flashing camera watched helplessly as the emaciated Tang Bufan jumped down carrying a thick rope!
"Bastard...bastard!" Tang Bufan, barefoot, ran to the front of the RV with red eyes and gritted teeth, cursing as he ran. With trembling hands, he quickly tied one end of the thick rope to the front of the RV and then pulled the other end of the rope, running rapidly towards the whirlpool!
"Xiao Tang! Come back!" Kai shouted loudly through the loudspeaker.
"Don't come any closer! You're too heavy!" Tang Bufan yelled back at the RV, continuing to run barefoot across the sand dunes, his feet kicking up clouds of sand.
"Lu Yi! Xiao Tang is looking for you! Lu Yi! Please respond!"
"Let him go back!" Lu Yi struggled to move forward in the tilted bus, forcefully throwing out the third bucket of gasoline he had dug out of the quicksand.
"He's already at the edge of quicksand!" Kai's gentle electronic male voice suddenly cracked.
Upon hearing this, Lu Yi stopped in his tracks, intending to go back to dig for oil. Half of his body was stuck in the rushing sand, and he gripped the bus door, peering into the darkness. Sure enough, he saw the thinly dressed man at the edge of the quicksand pit!
"Teacher! Danger! Go back!" Lu Yi shouted anxiously to Tang Bufan, turning his head to look at the center of the vortex. The vortex was very large, sunken like a huge meteorite crater, and the bus was sliding towards the center with the sand. Although it had already sunk two-thirds of the way in, it was still quite a distance from the center of the vortex.
Perhaps we can save another barrel of oil. Lu Yi thought to himself, then glanced back at Tang Bufan and saw that he had slipped on the edge of the quicksand, his feet sinking into the flowing sand!
"Teacher!" Lu Yi panicked. Between saving the gasoline and Tang Bufan, he chose Tang Bufan. Finally, he grabbed the bus door frame and pushed hard to pull himself out of the fine sand. Then, he stepped on the remaining third of the bus roof and jumped high into the air!
The orc boy landed heavily not far from Tang Bufan. Lu Yiben tried to jump again as usual, but found that the fine sand under his feet was soft and there was nothing for him to put his weight on!
In a moment of panic, Lu Yi immediately rolled sideways to distribute his weight, quickly stopping his descent. Just then, he suddenly heard Tang Bufan shout:
"The rope! Catch it!"
Lu Yi looked up from the quicksand and saw the thick rope being thrown high into the air. He immediately reached out and grabbed it. Tang Bufan, who had already climbed up from the edge of the whirlpool, hurriedly shouted to Kai Ge under the RV's headlights:
"pull!"
Kai immediately reversed the RV, and Lu Yi, holding onto the end of the thick rope, was pulled all the way up until he was finally pulled to the edge of the whirlpool. The sand gradually hardened, and Lu Yi got up, panting.
He threw away the rope in his hand and slowly walked to Tang Bufan's side.
"teacher……"
"Smack!"
Lu Yi turned his head and froze. Tang Bufan raised his hand, breathing rapidly, his eyes red as he looked at Lu Yi.
"Why won't you listen...why won't you listen!" Tang Bufan roared hysterically at Lu Yi in the cold night wind, "I don't want that oil! I want you! I want you! I want you, Lu Yi! Don't you understand!"
Tang Bufan was too excited; his face was paler than usual, and as he gasped for breath, tears suddenly streamed down his red eyes.
Lu Yi stared blankly as crystal tears slid down the man's pale cheeks, gathered at his pointed chin, and then fell onto the golden sand dunes.
The vortex had stopped spreading, its center deeply sunken like a gaping abyss, while the bus, propelled by Lu Yi's leap, had long since sunk into the sand and disappeared from sight.
Lu Yi regretted it, not because of the attempt to salvage the gasoline, but because he made Tang Bufan cry.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, teacher..." Lu Yi apologized to him softly, trying to make amends, and reached out to wipe Tang Bufan's tears.
"Don't talk to me!" Tang Bufan angrily pushed his hand away, wiped away his tears, and turned to go back to the RV, but his legs went weak and he fell to the ground.
"Teacher!" Lu Yi quickly squatted down and found that Tang Bufan was exhausted. He might be scared, or he might have run a hundred meters with the thick rope.
"I'll carry you back to the car." Lu Yi tried to pick Tang Bufan up in her arms, but the annoyed man pushed her hand away.
"Get out!" Tang Bufan was still furious.
Lu Yi looked at him helplessly.
"Did I ask you to risk your life to send me to the East District Underground City?" Tang Bufan glared at him with red eyes, his voice trembling and unclear: "Who told you to go through all this trouble! I'm telling you... I'm telling you... if you do this again... get back home!"
Lu Yi's eyes reddened slightly from his scolding. He lowered his head like a child who had made a mistake, remaining silent for a long time before finally saying in a choked voice, "But...we finally got 11 barrels of oil, and now they're all gone. I was thinking...we could salvage a few barrels...I'm sorry..."
Lu Yi reached out and grabbed Tang Bufan's hand, unable to hold back her tears: "Please don't scold me anymore... Teacher... I feel terrible..."
Tang Bufan was stunned, not expecting that he would make Lu Yi cry. His burning anger was instantly extinguished by Lu Yi's tears.
Seeing the boy grabbing his hand in a fawning manner, Tang Bufan bit his lip hard, tears still falling, but he could no longer curse.
"Don't do this again next time." Tang Bufan felt incredibly bitter, but his voice softened: "If you die... I will never be able to forgive myself."
Chen Fei's death had already made his life very painful, and if Lu Yi were to join in... Tang Bufan thought he would definitely go crazy.
"I won't anymore." Lu Yi cautiously looked up at Tang Bufan: "Teacher, please don't be angry anymore."
“…I’m not angry anymore.” Tang Bufan sniffed, ignoring his own tear-streaked face, and reached out to wipe Lu Yi’s tears, only to find his hands full of fine sand when he raised them.
Tang Bufan thought for a moment, then lifted his clothes, knelt down, pressed Lu Yi's head down, and wiped his face with his own clothes.
"He's almost eighteen, why is he still crying?" Tang Bufan muttered to him.
Lu Yi saw Tang Bufan's belly; it was very thin, so thin that his V-line was very obvious, his belly button was small, and his skin was white... good-looking.
"I was scolded by you, teacher." Lu Yi stopped crying and obediently sat on the sand while Tang Bufan wiped his face.
"You have such poor stress tolerance, you can't just cry when I scold you!"
"But you cried too..."
"Can I be like you? You're a kid and I'm an adult!" Tang Bufan lectured him seriously: "Kids have to be strong, but adults can be a little vulnerable."
Lu Yixin thought he was just trying to fool her again.
After Tang Bufan finished wiping Lu Yi's face, he lowered his own clothes, and the two looked at each other on the sand for a while, both starting to feel embarrassed.
"Let's get back in the car." Tang Bufan pulled Lu Yi up from the ground.
"I'll go and retrieve those three barrels of oil," Lu Yi told Tang Bufan to go back first.
Tang Bufan thought for a moment, feeling uneasy. Seeing one end of the thick rope not far away, he went over to pick it up and called Lu Yi over.
“This area is dangerous. You might sink into the sand again if you walk on it. Keep your hands on the rope.” Tang Bufan wrapped the thick rope around Lu Yi’s waist, feeling relieved to have survived the ordeal: “Luckily, this rope is long enough, otherwise you would have been swept into the quicksand just now.”
"The academy taught us how to get out of quicksand," Lu Yi said. He explained that rolling around like that wouldn't have caused him to sink too deep into the sand, and then relaxing his body in a crawling position would have allowed him to slowly climb out.
"It's better to be cautious." Tang Bufan tied the rope, feeling relieved, and then gently patted Lu Yi's arm: "Go."
Lu Yi then took the rope and left. Tang Bufan relaxed and realized how cold it was. He huddled up in the night wind, hugged his arms, and walked towards the RV, his feet sinking into the fine sand.
The RV was parked there, and in front of it was a huge quicksand pit; clearly, they couldn't go any further that night.
Tang Bufan returned to the RV, shivering. He rummaged through the shelves, found a thick sweater, and put it on. Then, still worried, he got out of the RV to wait for Lu Yi. Finding the view limited, he went back into the RV, pulled down the folding ladder, opened the sunroof, and climbed onto the roof.
Kai Ge had already taken down the solar panels and covered them with electric steel roller shutters for protection. Tang Bufan, wrapped in a thick sweater, stood on the roof of the car and watched as Lu Yi carried a barrel of oil back through the dark desert.
Kai opened the rear door of the RV, and Lu pushed the miscellaneous items at the back of the vehicle into it, putting the rusty iron oil drum inside. He then went back and forth twice more, putting all three salvaged oil drums behind the kitchen.
After the back door closed, Lu Yi noticed that Tang Bufan was still on the roof, so he nimbly climbed up.
Tang Bufan was sitting on the plant cultivation box, looking up at the sky. Lu Yi followed his gaze and looked up, discovering countless stars.
Lu Yi's eyes lit up, her mood lightened considerably by the starry sky, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.
He walked over and sat down next to Tang Bufan.
"There's so much sand in the wind during the day, but the starry sky is so clear at night," Tang Bufan said with a sigh, wrapped in a thick sweater. "I've forgotten how long it's been since I've seen such a beautiful starry sky."
Even in this apocalyptic world, the starry sky can be so magnificent.
“This is the first time I’ve seen this.” Lu Yi noticed that Tang Bufan’s body was very cold, so he pressed his arm against Tang Bufan’s arm. “The city where I was born is shrouded in fog all year round. Let alone stars like these, it’s hard to even see the sun.”
"Foggy City?" Tang Bufan asked. Although he was ignorant about this world, he had heard about the center of the Western Federation from Uncle Wolf and Eberon.
Lu Yi was slightly startled, worried that Tang Bufan might be thinking something, but seeing that he was still looking up at the stars and did not suspect anything, he felt relieved.
“…Yes, Chongqing.” Lu Yi, feeling the evening breeze, glanced at the huge quicksand pit in front of the RV and asked Tang Bufan, “What do we do now?”
"Let's take a day off." Tang Bufan wanted to relax. He was really scared tonight, so scared that he even had the idea of backing down. As long as he didn't move forward, Lu Yi would no longer be in danger, and Lu Yi would be safe in the desert behind them.
As for what lies ahead, there are still many mountains and a long road ahead. The future is like a fog, making it difficult to see clearly.
Noticing Tang Bufan's exhaustion and reluctance, Lu Yi turned to look at him. Tang Bufan, wrapped in a sweater, held his head high, his black hair fluttering in the night wind.
Lu Yi saw the reflection of the starry sky in his eyes, and his excessive thinness did not affect the contours of his profile; his forehead, nose, lips, chin... the curves were so beautiful.
"teacher."
"Um?"
Even though you look like this, I still think you're beautiful.
Tang Bufan turned to look at him in surprise, then smiled, a faint smile with a hint of shyness.
He nudged Lu Yi lightly with his shoulder: "You're good-looking too."
After saying that, looking at Lu Yi's still somewhat immature and handsome face, she thought of the slap she had given him that night...
"I'm sorry." Tang Bufan felt a tightness in his chest and apologized to him in a low voice, "I hit you."
"I deserve to be hit." Lu Yi wasn't angry. Tang Bufan was such a fearless person, yet he hesitated because of his adventure. It was his fault.
Lu Yi didn't mind, but Tang Bufan did.
He couldn't help but reach out and touch Lu Yi's cheek, gently rubbing it with his fingertips with heartache: "Does it hurt?"
Lu Yi paused for a moment before saying, "I think the teacher's hand is in more pain than mine."
"No matter how angry I was, I shouldn't have hit you." Tang Bufan reflected on himself: "I violated professional ethics."
Looking at Tang Bufan, who was deeply consumed by guilt, and at his face as white as moonlight, Lu Yi, as if possessed, uttered a sentence:
"How about... a kiss from the teacher?"
Tang Bufan was stunned. Lu Yi, stared at by him, suddenly realized that he had said something very strange, so he quickly lowered his head.
"I was just kidding..." He felt embarrassed and his body started to heat up, and his cheeks turned red.
Strange, Lu Yi was clearly bothered when Tang Bufan kissed her forehead before, but now she actually wants him to kiss her... Lu Yi couldn't understand herself.
A faint fragrance suddenly wafted over, and the man's thin but not stiff body pressed close to the boy. Lu Yi's eyes widened, his body tensed, and then he felt Tang Bufan's soft lips gently land on his cheek.
"..." Lu Yi was speechless, his heart pounding.
Tang Bufan kissed Lu Yi slowly and deliberately, and after their lips parted, he stared at Lu Yi closely for a while.
"We kissed," Tang Bufan said calmly.
Lu's mind was in a mess. He felt he should say something, but after thinking for a long time with a stiff body and a red face, he finally stammered:
"Thank... thank you teacher... my face doesn't hurt anymore."
Tang Bufan found his answer amusing and chuckled softly in Lu Yi's ear, causing Lu Yi's face to turn even redder.
The man sat back down, but then reached out to touch Lu Yi's head, his thin hand gently stroking Lu Yi's golden hair behind his head.
"You're so cute," Tang Bufan said softly with a smile, then looked up at the starry sky again.
Some things shouldn't be thought about too deeply, like this kiss. Tang Bufan felt that Lu Yi being able to sit here properly was more important than anything else.
Looking at the calm man, Lu Yi suddenly felt a little annoyed, wondering why he was so young.
If he weren't so young, his answer would definitely be... definitely more mature, befitting Tang Bufan's composure.
The two stayed on the roof of the car for a long time until the temperature dropped to near zero.
They were covered in fine sand, and it took them a long time to shake it off. The RV was parked in the quiet of the night.
Tang Bufan started to feel sleepy again. Lu Yi calculated the time and realized it was time to give him the antidote. So he opened the medical kit, took out a syringe, drew out the clear liquid, and sat down by the bed to give Tang Bufan the injection.
Tang Bufan's veins were very prominent, and Lu Yi was able to easily insert the needle. Tang Bufan frowned slightly, lay on his side on the iron bed frame with his eyes closed.
Lu Yi first observed his expression for a while, then his gaze fell on the silver collar around Tang Bufan's neck. There was a three-digit rolling password on the front. As long as Lu Yi knew the password, he could open the collar.
Without the collar to obstruct him, Lu Yi could bare his fangs and bite his neck, injecting his unique mutated venom into Tang Bufan's thyroid gland. Then, under the stimulation of the toxin, this largest endocrine gland in the human body would stimulate the cell renewal and mutation of Tang Bufan's entire body.
Tang Bufan's lips will turn bright red, his bones will undergo secondary development, his body temperature will permanently rise by three degrees, and he will transform from a human into a sub-beastman... He will live.
"Teacher," Lu Yi called softly to Tang Bufan.
"Hmm?" Tang Bufan responded with his eyes closed and a long, drawn-out breath.
"..." Lu Yi hesitated for a long time but still didn't ask him for the password to the collar.
"It's nothing." Lu pulled the thin needle out of Tang Bufan's vein.
Feeling groggy from a nap, Tang Bufan yawned as he got up. He drew back the curtains and saw that the air outside was shimmering with golden sand; it was another day as hot as an oven.
Lu Yi was cutting lettuce for him in the kitchen. Tang Bufan sat on a folding chair and looked outside. Although he said he would take a day off yesterday, he couldn't help but think about what to do next.
Lu Yi rescued three barrels of oil, which should be enough for them to drive out of the desert if nothing else goes wrong. The problem is that there is quicksand ahead. How can the RV get around it?
"Thinking about which way to go?" Lu put a salad in front of Tang Bufan.
“Even if we open Evelyn’s door in this situation, we still won’t be able to find our way forward, right?” Tang Bufan picked up a fork and asked Lu Yi.
“Yes.” Lu nodded and sat down opposite Tang Bufan: “The map was drawn by satellite, so its accuracy is limited. Moreover, a rainstorm or hurricane can change the terrain of an area. The quicksand area is caused by groundwater seepage, so it can’t be seen on the surface. We can only rely on our own exploration to get there.”
Tang Bufan was still shaken by the swirling quicksand that resembled a gaping maw of abyss. He frowned and asked Lu Yi, "Now that the bus is no longer there to scout ahead, how are we going to get the RV going?"
“I’ll scout.” Lu Yi had already thought it through: “The oil has been loaded into the RV, so I can run freely in front, and the RV will follow behind me. As soon as I notice something wrong with my feet, I’ll immediately tell Kai to stop the car.”
Tang Bufan frowned and thought for a moment. He had no better solution for the time being, so he could only sigh and agree: "Then you can tie a rope around your waist."
"Uh... we don't need the rope." Lu Yi felt that would make him feel like a dog on a leash.
"No way!" Tang Bufan knew he valued his reputation, so he said seriously, "Safety first."
"..." Lu Yi's eyes welled up with tears. Tang Bufan didn't even consider his shy, youthful heart.
The two continued to discuss while eating, and finally decided to go around to the lower part of the desert. The original location of the Tarim River was above the Taklamakan Desert, so theoretically, the area above the desert would have more shifting sands than the area below.
It's just that going around from the bottom will be a longer distance, but there's no other way.
“We should be at the Hotan River site now,” Kai told the two. “This river originally ran through the Taklamakan Desert, but it was covered by yellow sand hundreds of years ago. As long as we successfully cross this underground river, we shouldn’t encounter any large shifting sand areas next.”
"The underground river that runs through the desert must be difficult to cross, right?" Tang Bufan asked worriedly. It was almost evening, and he was sitting on the edge of the iron bunk bed, combing Lu Yi's hair with his fingers.
Why didn't I know to look for combs in the small supermarket back then?
"We'll eventually find an area where the sand is more compacted," Lu Yi comforted Tang Bufan, sitting obediently on the ground.
Among the trendy little trash they found were a few pretty hair ties. On a whim, Tang Bufan decided to tie Lu Yi's hair up so it would be easier for him to go for a run.
"Hopefully we can cross the underground river smoothly tonight." Tang Bufan really didn't want to stay in this desert anymore. He had to work day and night, which made his already messed-up sleep even worse.
After saying that, she took the cat hair tie in her hand and tied Lu Yi's hair into a pretty low ponytail.
After that, I adjusted the position of the plastic cat so that it was right in the center of the hair tie.
"Looks good." Tang Bufan praised Lu Yi. Lu Yi's hair was curly, and since they hadn't showered for several days, it was a bit oily, making Lu Yi's hair look like it had been sprayed with styling spray, giving it a stylish look.
"Does it really look good?" Lu Yi felt that Tang Bufan's hair was tied too tightly, which was pulling at his scalp, so he reached out and loosened it a bit.
"It looks really good." Tang Bufan genuinely envied him: "You're the kind of guy who always looks stylish no matter what you do with your hair."
It might be related to Lu Yi wearing earrings and a necklace.
Lu Yi was pleased by his praise, and a blush rose to her cheeks. Looking at Tang Bufan, who had black hair and fair skin, she also praised him, "Teacher is handsome too, you..."
After thinking for a while, I came up with a suitable adjective: "very classy".
Tang Bufan knew he looked ugly, but he appreciated being praised for his good looks, so he turned around and picked up the rope.
"Come on, let me tie you up with a rope."
"..." Lu Yi resignedly got up, covered his face with his hands, and obediently let Tang Bufan tie him up with a rope, enduring the shame of being like a dog.
The sun finally reached the horizon, and the desert temperature began to drop. Lu Yi, wearing light-screen glasses, carried a long rope outside and found that the rope, which was coiled in a circle, was very heavy. Tang Bufan, with his small and thin body, had actually been able to run very fast in the desert last night.
They were still barefoot.
Lu Yixin thought that perhaps what supported Tang Bufan's body was not his bones and flesh, but his beliefs.
Tang Bufan walked into the driver's seat, and under his watchful eye, Lu Yi obediently tied the rope to the front of the RV. Then, dragging the long rope, he began to run at a steady pace, using his own feet to explore the way for the RV.
His steady breathing reached Tang Bufan's ears through the RV's speaker and the light-screen glasses. Tang Bufan watched for a while in the driver's seat, then grabbed a sweater and climbed onto the sunroof, sitting on the plant cultivation box to encourage Lu Yi, who was scouting ahead:
"Lu Yi! Go for it!"
"Lu Yi! You're awesome!"
Lu turned around, and even though it was just the two of them in the vast desert, she still blushed with embarrassment.
"Stop shouting!" Lu yelled back at Tang Bufan as he ran, "How embarrassing!"
"I haven't even rolled up the book to use as a megaphone yet!" Tang Bufan couldn't help but laugh, playing around: "Lu Yi, please concentrate on your marathon! The class's gold medal depends on you!"
Helpless, Lu Yi could only smile and keep running ahead. Knowing that Tang Bufan was with him on the roof of the car, he suddenly felt much lighter, and the originally boring long run became enjoyable.
As night fell completely, Kai turned on the spotlight on the roof of the RV, not to make it easier for Lu Yi to run, but so that Tang Bufan could see Lu Yi's figure in the dark.
The AI with the upgraded emotional module understands that this behavior wastes energy, but it can reassure its owner.
One hour, two hours, three hours... Lu Yi maintained a steady pace of running, and the RV's speed per hour was no slower than when the bus was scouting the route.
Tang Bufan had already put on a sweater and was sitting swaying on the roof of the car. Every now and then, Lu would turn around and see him looking up at the starry sky, with the vast Milky Way behind him, incredibly clear.
Lu Yi smiled slightly, because the rope around his waist made it seem as if he was pulling Tang Bufan along. So he turned around and his running legs became even stronger.
Suddenly, a strange, enormous outline appeared on the horizon. It resembled a mountain, yet it wasn't; many parts of it were sharp angles. Lu frowned and slowly stopped.
He stopped, and the RV slowly came to a stop as well. Tang Bufan, sitting on the roof, looked down and saw the outline of the dark, gigantic object on the horizon.
Lu Yi observed from a distance for a while, then turned and walked back. Tang Bufan stood up on the roof of the car, and Lu Yi jumped high on the sand and landed on the roof of the RV with a "thud".
"Don't jump like that, you'll break the roof of the car," Tang Bufan muttered to him as he observed the outline of the giant object.
“The armored vehicle is very tough, it won’t break,” Lu Yi said, looking at the huge object shrouded in darkness with Tang Bufan.
"What is that?" Tang Bufan asked him, frowning. He used to feel uneasy whenever he saw huge objects in videos, but now that he saw something that looked like a mountain but wasn't, he understood how oppressive a giant object could be.
"It feels like the wreckage of a space carrier from a thousand years ago," Lu Yi guessed. So many sharp points undoubtedly indicate that they are man-made objects, while the dark and motionless appearance suggests that they are inanimate objects. However, it would take a closer look to determine whether they are indeed the wreckage of a space carrier.
"A space carrier...you mean one that flies in the sky and can carry hundreds of fighter jets?" Tang Bufan asked in surprise, having seen it in science fiction movies.
Lu nodded: "A space carrier allows a country to exert military pressure anywhere on Earth without having to build an airport. It is a very convenient mobile military base. However, after the war, most space carriers were dismantled to build underground cities. It is estimated that this one was preserved because the cost of dismantling and transporting it was too high after it crashed in the center of the desert."
After Lu Yi finished speaking, his golden-green eyes gleamed with intense interest: "I've only ever seen them in textbooks before, this is the first time I've seen the real thing. Teacher, let's go take a look."
"Okay." Tang Bufan readily agreed when he saw that he was very interested.
Lu Yi was about to jump off the roof of the car when he remembered something and turned back.
"Teacher, get back in the car. That space carrier is so big, its interior must be huge. It will attract a lot of creatures to nest inside in this desert, which is dangerous."
Tang Bufan also felt the air was cold, so he wrapped himself in a sweater, nodded to him, and bent down to open the skylight next to him.
Lu Yi watched him return to the RV before jumping off the vehicle with a sense of relief.
Tang Bufan sat down in the driver's seat, while Lu Yi, with a rope around his waist, continued to scout the way for the RV. The RV started up again, and Tang Bufan looked at the huge outline through the windshield, still feeling a little scared.
"Will there be any danger..." Tang Bufan muttered to himself. He didn't want to be scared like yesterday again. If he was scared too many times, he would become mentally impaired. He wanted Lu Yi to be safe.
"Xiao Tang, don't worry, that's the right way to go." Kai Ge's gentle electronic male voice suddenly sounded: "The space carrier hasn't sunk, which means that the sand in that area is solid. If we follow the edge of the carrier, we can bypass the quicksand area and continue forward."
"Alright." Hearing what Kai Ge said, Tang Bufan could only calm himself down and follow the RV closer to the giant object.
It took the RV more than an hour to reach the foot of the behemoth. Kai shone the searchlight on the roof around and found that it was indeed the remains of a space carrier. In addition to the ship itself, there were also many warplane wrecks scattered in the surrounding sand. Some of the warplanes had wings that were larger than the RV.
"Wow... Wow wow wow wow..." Tang Bufan opened the cockpit window and stuck his head out, looking up along the steel hull of the mothership. It felt like he had arrived at the end of the world wall, with no end in sight, and the starry sky was cut in half.
“Teacher, look.” Lu Yi walked over and pointed to the distance of the mothership towards Tang Bufan. Kai Ge’s searchlight shone in the direction he was pointing and found a streamlined black motorcycle parked on the sand.
Tang Bufan was taken aback and recognized it as Anderson's motorcycle.
“Anderson is already inside.” Lu Yi reached out to untie the rope around his waist and sniffed the air. “And he’s been inside for at least a day or two.”
"We didn't see him on the first day we entered the desert. He actually rode his motorcycle and got ahead of us early on," Tang Bufan exclaimed.
Lu Yi thought for a moment and asked Tang Bufan, "Should we go in now or wait until dawn?"
Actually, Lu Yi wanted to go in by himself, but he was worried about leaving Tang Bufan alone in the car. He could smell the scents of many creatures in the air in this area, and it would be too dangerous to leave Tang Bufan alone.
So after thinking it over, I felt more at ease having him by my side.
"Let's wait until daytime." Tang Bufan considered that Lu Yi had already run for five hours tonight, and desert animals are nocturnal, so it would be much safer during the day.
Lu nodded and then bent down to reel in the rope.
Tang Bufan sat in the driver's seat and calculated the time for a moment. Then he got up and went to the kitchen to fry meat. It was midnight. They ate and went to sleep immediately. When they woke up at six in the morning, the temperature would be just right. They could explore for a few hours and return before the temperature rose to 60 degrees Celsius.
"I wonder what it looks like inside. Maybe some fighter jets can still fly." Lu Yi sat at the folding table eating the meat that Tang Bufan had fried for him, unable to hide his excitement.
"The warplane is from a thousand years ago, the parts are probably all rusted." Tang Bufan rested his chin on his hand and watched him eat, his gaze gentle: "Eat slowly, no rush, we can always go in after 3 pm tomorrow."
"Teacher, won't you eat something?" Lu Yi asked him.
"I can't eat. With my digestive system, I can't sleep well if I have anything in my stomach," Tang Bufan said calmly.
Lu Yi glanced at Tang Bufan's emaciated body, his eyes dimmed, and he felt a pang of sadness.
The two fell asleep. Kai turned off the light. Lu Yi ran for five hours and Tang Bufan was poisoned. They both fell into a deep sleep. When they woke up one after another, it was already ten o'clock in the morning.
The two sat facing each other, one on the bed and the other on a makeshift mat on the floor, and then they both laughed.
Outside, the sun was blazing, but this area was shaded by the massive mothership, making it several degrees cooler than other places.
Tang Bufan's leg injury had healed, so he fastened his weapon belt, put on his bulletproof vest, and took out his heavy sniper rifle, ready for the expedition.
Lu Yi also changed into military trousers and leather boots, and slung the sheathed long curved knife behind his back.
The two did not rush to get out of the car. Firstly, it was too hot outside, and secondly, they observed their surroundings. Kai drove the RV slowly along the huge hull and soon discovered a huge hole more than ten meters high.
"There! That's great! The RV can drive in!" Tang Bufan said happily, looking at the entrance of the cave that had been dug into a slope by the yellow sand.
Lu Yi peered carefully through the car window. It was very dark inside; the scorching sunlight couldn't penetrate, so the temperature must be low. He nodded in agreement.
"Okay, drive in."
The RV then drove to the bottom of the giant cave and slowly drove in along the slope of the accumulated yellow sand.
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