Chapter 13 Island Adventure 6
Unlike the previous road, the trees on this road are becoming sparser and shorter.
The forest gradually turned into grassland, and sunlight filtered through the sparse leaves, dappling the soil, and a faint scent of grass filled the air.
That rolling grassland resembled a green ocean.
The four walked steadily forward, as the temperature gradually rose and the air became increasingly dry.
The boundary between the grassland and the desert gradually became clear before their eyes. At first, a few tenacious blades of grass could still be seen struggling to survive on the edge of the sand, but soon only endless yellow sand remained.
The desert wind, unlike the gentle breeze of the grassland, carries intense heat and a dry atmosphere, brushing against their faces and the hems of their clothes.
Underfoot, the soft sand slid gently with each step, making a soft rustling sound.
In the distance, the sand dunes stretch out in waves, like a sleeping giant, silently guarding this desolate land.
"It's amazing how such a short journey took us from a forest to a grassland and then to a desert." Fang Tai was sweating profusely from the heat.
"Have you noticed that the temperature gets higher the further we go in?" Luo Qing sensed something was wrong.
"I suspect something is affecting the temperature here."
The group continued their journey towards the center of the desert under the scorching sun.
"Shh~" Luo Qing gestured for everyone to hide behind the sand dunes.
Two strange old men, one tall and one short, were walking towards them from the opposite direction.
They wore long robes and pointed hats, their faces were covered with wrinkles, their skin was as black as charcoal, they were hairless, and their eyes were frighteningly large, yet they gleamed with a sinister and sharp light.
Each of the two men held a long staff, their gait unpredictable, as if each step contained some kind of power. Their appearance instantly filled the once desolate desert with an eerie and unpredictable atmosphere.
The four held their breath, not daring to make the slightest sound, for fear of disturbing the two old men. They stared intently at each other, trying to find some clues from their behavior and expressions.
One of the old men suddenly stopped and looked around, as if searching for something.
His gaze lingered for a moment on the sand dune where the four were hiding. Suddenly, an invisible membrane appeared on Luo Qing's body, enveloping all four of them.
The next second, the old man looked away curiously. "The intelligence indicated that the fragment was last found around here, so why isn't it here?"
“You must have taken the wrong road,” another old man snorted.
"Impossible. I wouldn't go to the wrong place even if I slept in the wrong bed. Your intelligence gathering must be wrong."
The two old men argued as they walked away, their figures gradually disappearing from sight.
Once they were sure they were all far away, the four of them breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down on the ground.
"That scared me to death! What is this thing? It looks terrifying, and it can even talk!" Mu Qimeng patted her chest.
"Brother Mu, don't you think they're a lot like the same kind of people?" Fang Tai smiled mysteriously.
“You mean…” Luo Qing raised her finger and pointed to the sky.
Fang Tai nodded.
"It seems that the existence of this game is indeed related to them."
The group fell silent for a moment.
"If that's the case, then what were they looking for just now?" Mu Qimeng asked.
"Whatever it is, it must be something that benefits them. Let's look for it and see if we can find it," Luo Qing ordered.
The four of them pulled out the shovels they had used for mining and began searching everywhere.
When Luo Qing was digging near a cactus, she suddenly felt something was wrong with the bottom of her shovel.
She quickly dug through the surface sand, revealing a metal plate with mysterious patterns.
"Come and see!" Luo Qing called out, brushing aside the sand around the metal plate with her hands. It was a square metal plate.
She tried to dig down along the edge of the metal plate, but found that something was blocking her way and she couldn't reach the bottom.
"What is this thing?" The four of them gathered around to examine it.
The more Luo Qing looked at the pattern on the metal plate, the more familiar it seemed, as if she had seen it somewhere before.
Luo Qing's eyes suddenly lit up. She remembered the dark pattern on the corner of the two old men's robes, which was exactly the same as the pattern on this metal plate.
She immediately squatted down, recalling the pattern on the old man's clothes, and carefully compared the details between the two.
“Look, the pattern on this metal plate is exactly the same as the pattern on the robes of those two old men!” Luo Qing said excitedly.
Upon hearing this, the three of them tried hard to recall the old man's robe, looking down to examine it closely. Indeed, the intricate and mysterious patterns were exactly the same as those on the old man's robe, as if telling some unfathomable secret.
"This should be what they're looking for."
"Could this be a clue to the game?" Mu Qimeng wondered.
“Very likely.” Mo Ming nodded, his eyes gleaming. “This metal plate buried in the desert is definitely not simple. Moreover, those two old men were also looking for something similar. We can continue our investigation along this lead.”
"Wait, do you think the four small patterns on the four sides of this box look like fingerprints?" Luo Qing asked, pointing to a small circle with intricate lines inside.
Mu Qimeng subconsciously raised her thumb to compare it with the pattern next to it, and her eyes widened. "How come this pattern is exactly the same as my fingerprint!"
Mo Ming leaned closer to take a look and nodded, "It is indeed exactly the same."
The remaining three also gave a thumbs up.
“This one is the same as mine.” Luo Qing was the first to find the one that matched her fingerprint.
"This is mine." Fang Tai also found it.
Mo Ming stood on the side with his fingerprint.
"We only have an hour left before it's time to go back. Shall we get on?" Luo Qing asked the people around her, her hand already resting on the pattern.
"We've come this far, so of course we have to go for it." Everyone gave a thumbs up.
"Three, two, one!" The four fingers fell together.
The next instant, a blinding white light emerged from the pattern in the middle of the metal plate.
As the white light appeared, the desert beneath their feet vanished instantly, and the four of them screamed as they plummeted down.
The white light dissipated, the ground was deserted, the metal plate was gone, and the desert returned to its original state.
“I told you it was this place, but you didn’t believe me. You insisted that I led you astray. I’ve been leading the way for so many years, how could I possibly have led you astray!”
"But I didn't gather any wrong information, yet you insist that I did!"
Two strange old men, each holding a disc, reappeared, arguing amongst themselves.
"This is it, no doubt about it, let's dig." The two stopped at the spot where Luo Qing and the others had just disappeared.
One hour later.
"Didn't you say this was the place? Where's the stuff!" The taller old man in black jumped to the ground and threw down the shovel he was holding.
He was covered in sand, his face was covered in sweat, and next to him was a huge pit with a radius of two meters and a depth of forty meters.
Another elderly man in black jumped out, saying, "I told you your information was wrong, but you wouldn't believe me. Now look what happened."
"No, that's not it! You just led me the wrong way. My intelligence couldn't be wrong, so don't try to shift the blame onto me!"
...
"It's your fault!"
"It's clearly your fault! You led us down the wrong path!"
...
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