Chapter 185
After breakfast, the ten of us set off. After a night of rain, yesterday's downpour seemed to have fallen on despair. The desert remained dry, with no sign of rain. Instead, the temperature had inexplicably dropped, and the wind had picked up, whirring and cooling. Even when the sun was high in the sky, it felt like a veil had been cast over it, shielding it from the scorching heat.
Entering the top ten competition, there were only ten people left. At this time, everyone was not in a hurry to travel, and actually kept a certain distance from Chu Huaiqin and the others.
Live broadcast room
"So, what were you all rushing for during the previous competition? In the end, you still have to go with your brother."
"Haha, there's nothing we can do! The previous stages were so difficult and dangerous. After entering the semi-finals, it's definitely not going to be any easier. With so few people, it's prudent to go all together."
"I just hope the US won't do anything rash again."
"It's tough. Once you get to the semifinals, who wouldn't want to give it another try? And once you get to the finals, who wouldn't want to give it another try to win the championship? So I think it's going to get even more intense later on."
"Team China, out of four people, at least one person can get in!"
"It's hard to say. I think the fact that the Rolling Team had four players reach the finals has a lot to do with them always being at the back."
"How is that possible? Those people have been giving our brother a lot of trouble. If the Rolling Team has been able to get to where it is today, it's because they are afraid of our great brother."
"Same as above. In his first fight, Qin Ge directly knocked Ford out, making people wary of him. Then he beat Liman and directly reached the top. Who dares to mess with Qin Ge?"
"The most unfortunate thing is Su Huaichen. If they hadn't separated at that time, maybe the Rolling Team could have arrived here together."
"I think we can place bets on the champion, runner-up and third place now. I'll go first, my dear brother Chu Huaiqin."
"Chu."
"Leeman."
"Fili."
Countless names flashed across the livestream screen, with Chu Huaiqin surprisingly holding a large share. Some voted for the single character "Chu," while others chose the full name, "Chu Huaiqin." The former clearly indicated international viewers were voting, while the latter came from Chinese viewers. Influenced by the atmosphere, voting soon spread across major forums outside the livestream, both in China and abroad. Chu Huaiqin's votes unexpectedly soared to first place. It was then that everyone truly realized that since the global competition began, Chu Huaiqin's popularity had unknowingly soared to a terrifying level, even gaining a significant following abroad.
The Chinese audience also felt happy. After all, Chu Huaiqin has the physique, and no one knows what tricks the program crew will have in store for him. They are actually afraid that they will be flattered to death.
The weather wasn't hot, which was a boon for Chu Huaiqin; walking was effortless and he felt refreshed. Holding the binoculars, Chu Huaiqin peered around, occasionally lowering his head to whisper to Xia Entang. Liman was so taken aback by the sight that he wanted to take it and see what was inside, which made him smile at Xia Entang non-stop.
“It’s a small town!”
Chu Huaiqin stopped, adjusted the focus, and took a closer look. He saw houses made of sand and stone, yellow in color, standing densely in front of him.
"Town? Is anyone there?" The little monk's eyes lit up, and he moved closer to Chu Huaiqin, standing on tiptoe to see what was happening. He had good eyesight, and if it were any other day, he would have seen it earlier, but today the wind was so strong, it kept blowing up dust and sand, obstructing his view.
Seeing that he was uncomfortable with tiptoeing, Chu Huaiqin handed him the binoculars. The little monk looked inside and saw that there were indeed many houses, but no one was in sight. The roofs were also tattered. Seeing such a small town in the desert did not give people a good impression. The little monk got goose bumps at that time and quickly stuffed the binoculars to Chu Huaiqin, hugging his chicken tightly.
"There is a small town?" Liman walked over, glanced at Chu Huaiqin's binoculars, and turned his head to look at Chu Huaiqin as if he looked down on him.
"Well, do you want to see it?" Chu Huaiqin asked, thinking it was okay.
The binoculars were handed out, and Liman reached out to take them, but before he could touch them, a hand suddenly reached out and snatched the binoculars away. It was Xia Entang.
"I haven't seen it yet!" Xia En looked at Chu Huaiqin steadily, his eyes motionless.
Chu Huaiqin looked at the angry Xia En and smiled. He reached out and poked his face, saying, "Look!"
Xia En was still unhappy, but he said nothing more. He picked up his binoculars and looked forward, but the more he looked, the tighter his brows furrowed. After a long while, he took off the binoculars and asked depressedly, "Are you sure you saw it right?"
Chu Huaiqin: ...
Seeing Chu Huaiqin's puzzled expression, Xia En said, "There's nothing inside!"
Chu Huaiqin's face turned serious upon hearing this. He didn't believe Xia Entang would lie. Taking the binoculars, Chu Huaiqin looked towards the spot where he had discovered the town. It was gone.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" The little monk was right next to Chu Huaiqin. Seeing his face change, he was frightened. "I said that town is not good. I felt that place was not good when I saw it. Brother, let's not go this way!"
The little monk was so nervous that he wanted to grab Chu Huaiqin, but he found Liman and Xia Entropy standing on his left and right. He wanted to get closer to Xia Entropy, but he saw that his face was paralyzed. Finally, he ran to Lin Zhinan and kept her company. "Don't be afraid, sister, I'm here."
Live broadcast room: No, I think you are afraid.
Liman reached for the binoculars, but didn't see the town. He asked, "Are you seeing things?"
Chu Huaiqin shrugged and didn't answer.
The others also overheard their conversation, and their expressions grew heavy. There were many phenomena in the desert that humans couldn't explain, and there were many legends of objects appearing and disappearing. But they hadn't expected to encounter one during their show.
"Does the production team know about this?" Vasily asked.
No one answered his question because they didn't know either.
No matter what, they had to keep moving forward, but the atmosphere was quite tense. Chu Huaiqin would often use binoculars to observe the front.
An hour later, the town appeared again, but this time it was not discovered through the telescope. Instead, it was seen when Andre, who was walking in front and climbed up the sand dune first, shouted and everyone rushed forward.
"It's a small town, it's really a small town, it looks not far from here," Abadi said.
"Are we going to pass through that town?" Chen Zigao's face turned pale.
"That's what the map says," Fili replied.
The map didn't show a town here, but if they continued walking along the route on the map, they would come across a town.
"Ah, look, it's disappeared." Lin Zhinan pointed ahead and said in horror.
Others were also in disbelief. It was really gone. In just a blink of an eye, the town disappeared. How could it be?
The people in the live broadcast room were also shocked by this phenomenon, and many of them watched the town disappear through their own cameras.
"Oh my god, this is so weird and scary."
"Is this the route set by the director? Why did this town disappear?"
"Ghost town? Legend has it that there's a town in the desert that disappears during the day and reappears at night."
"But it's daytime now! It was also daytime when it disappeared!"
"Ahhh, I'm getting goosebumps. What's going on? Isn't this a survival game? How did something supernatural happen?"
"Is it a mirage?"
"Yes, is it a mirage? It must be, otherwise how could it disappear!"
"Don't be ridiculous. I thought of it the first time they said the town disappeared. I observed it carefully the second time it reappeared. All objects were upright. I even saw the hay on the roof moving with the wind. This town is real."
"Then why did it disappear?"
Chu Huaiqin and the others couldn't figure out this problem, but no matter what it was, they couldn't stop, so they continued to move forward.
As we walked along, this small town would appear and disappear from time to time. After a few times, everyone got used to it and was not as scared as before.
At 11:00 AM, everyone arrived at the food station. Those who hadn't eaten breakfast completely forgot about the town and focused solely on eating. After finishing their meal and resting for about an hour, everyone set out again. For some unknown reason, the "ghost town" never appeared again. However, around 4:00 PM, the weather became strange. The usually sunny desert began to set, its rays flooding in, illuminating the desert in a vibrant orange-yellow glow. The ten of them arrived at the foot of a massive sand dune, the largest and highest they had ever seen.
"I always feel that there will be something terrible over here." The little monk was very nervous. He was the only one here who had not forgotten about the town.
"Little monk, don't scare me, it won't happen." Lin Zhinan was also afraid that the town would disappear.
The two children huddled together and chattered, which was very interesting to Chu Huaiqin, but he had to urge them to leave. They had to cross the sand dune before dark.
Climbing the sand dunes wasn't easy, and sandslides were common. Often, climbing a single dune was more tiring than walking a thousand meters. But with everyone pulling, they finally made it up. However, the scene before them was a surprise.
"It's a small town." The little monk exclaimed.
"It's true, it's real, it seems, it won't disappear." Lin Zhinan murmured, not daring to blink, for fear that it would suddenly disappear again.
This town may not seem very large, but it is quite large in the desert. The houses are lined with buildings, using the most common architectural style of desert peoples. They are surrounded by yellow walls with small earthen windows and thatched roofs. Weathered by wind and rain, the houses here look very dilapidated, and I think they have been abandoned long ago.
"It's true." Abadi frowned. He had lived in a semi-desert country since he was a child and was familiar with the rumors about the disappearing town. However, he never expected that one day he would actually see this town appear in front of him and be able to touch it.
"It won't disappear again!" Chen Zigao swallowed nervously. He was very afraid of such a strange thing.
"I would rather he disappear." Phil's face was not good either. Such a place is scary just by looking at it. Who would have thought it existed?
"Let's go. We'll know whether it's true or not by taking a look." Liman was fearless and took the lead in walking towards the town ahead.
The others looked at each other and followed. This was the only way to go and they had to take it even if they didn't want to.
The town was not far from them, about ten minutes away. Along the way, no one dared to look away, and even breathed lightly, for fear that it would disappear. But when they got closer and closer, it was still there, and everyone wished it would disappear as soon as possible.
The atmosphere grew inexplicably tense. In the front was Liman, striding forward with unwavering fear. Fili followed behind him, and Chen Zigao naturally followed closely behind. Everyone's attention was fixed on the small town ahead when suddenly a scream rang out, making everyone's heart skip a beat. Looking towards the source, they saw Chen Zigao, his face pale and horrified, pointing at Fili's feet.
Everyone followed his gaze to look at Fili's feet and were shocked.
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