The speed of the sandstorm in the desert exceeded their imagination. As soon as Lu Jiuchuan finished speaking, the sandstorm, which was tens of meters high, was already in front of them, accompanied by a gale that almost destroyed everything.
The entire desert was engulfed by this raging wind, and humanity suddenly became incredibly small in the face of the terrifying nature.
Countless grains of sand fiercely pelted their faces, making it difficult for everyone to even speak. They all covered their mouths and noses with their sleeves. Before covering his mouth, Xiao Lou shouted, "Gather around me!" As soon as he finished shouting, his mouth was filled with sand. Xiao Lou quickly bent down to spit the sand out and then took out his Compass card.
Upon hearing Xiao Lou's voice, his teammates rushed to his side.
The sandstorm, tens of meters high, was like a mountain pressing down. Everyone stared in shock at the sand wall in front of them. Just when the sandstorm was about to engulf them, at this critical moment, the huge circle drawn by Xiao Lou, like a transparent dome, suddenly covered an area of 10 square meters!
The rolling yellow sand engulfed everyone in an instant, but the invisible barrier formed by the Compass Circle acted like a giant umbrella over their heads. Countless fine grains of sand flowed along the barrier to the surroundings, yet could not get even a fraction closer to them.
Those inside the circle looked at the spectacular sight of the sky above being rapidly covered by sand and dust, and exchanged bewildered glances.
Fortunately, Professor Xiao activated his invincible barrier in time; otherwise, they would have been buried alive by the sandstorm long ago. Being buried alive by tens of meters of sand is almost certainly fatal, because humans simply cannot climb out of the sand. Every movement causes sand to rush in, surrounding you without any gaps…
A sandstorm, tens of meters high, quickly piled up at the top of the barrier, completely blocking out the sunlight. The area within the invincible circle became pitch black. Xiao Lou hurriedly used a [ luminous pearl ] card to illuminate the surroundings.
The new rule for this challenge is that "all cards become invalid after use." Thanks to the light from the luminous pearl, Xiao Lou's [ Compass Card] and [ luminous pearl Card] have been reduced to a pile of card fragments, rendering them unusable.
But if these two cards can help everyone get through this sandstorm crisis, then they were worth it.
Xiao Lou glanced around and asked in a low voice, "Is everyone alright?"
The teammates' expressions ranged from tense to shocked. Fortunately, the invincible barrier stopped the sandstorm, and those standing inside the circle were unharmed. However, the teammates soon discovered that Liu Qiao, Lao Mo, Long Sen, and Qu Wanyue were all missing!
There are only eight people in the Compass community, four short.
Yu Hanjiang frowned and asked, "Where are Lao Mo, Xiao Liu, Long Sen, and Teacher Qu?"
The Compass circle is only 10 square meters, so it's immediately obvious who's missing. Xiao Lou also became a little nervous: "They were standing quite far from me just now. Was it because the wind was too strong that they didn't hear me and didn't have time to come over?"
Ye Qi, his face pale, said, "Could it have been swept away by the sandstorm?"
Lu Jiuchuan looked at Tang Ci seriously and asked, "If someone is buried by a sandstorm, what are their chances of survival?"
Tang Ci's expression was grave: "Ordinary humans will die within a minute if they can't breathe. Once buried by a sandstorm, they simply can't climb out within a minute... It's best if that's not the case, otherwise, it will be very difficult to save them."
Xiao Lou hurriedly took out the team's contract book and checked the names on it— the contract book had 12 signatures neatly arranged page by page, and the names of Lao Mo, Liu Qiao, and the Long Qu couple had not been erased.
He breathed a slight sigh of relief and said, "At least for now, they're still alive, which means they weren't buried by the sand. Perhaps they just got separated?"
The sandstorm wasn't over yet. Xiao Lou clearly noticed that the winds sweeping up the sand and dust overhead were getting faster and faster, seemingly forming a tornado. If Liu Qiao and the other three were swept away by the tornado, it would be difficult to find them again.
The desert was far larger than they had imagined.
Perhaps when the wind stops, Liu Qiao and the other three will be swept away to a place hundreds of kilometers away.
Yu Hanjiang frowned: "Once they are really swept away, it will be difficult to reunite them. We need to find them as soon as possible."
Shao Qingge stepped forward and said with a smile, "I'll go find it."
Ye Qi nervously tugged at his sleeve: "It's too dangerous for you to go alone..."
Meeting Ye Qi's worried eyes, Shao Qingge couldn't help but reach out and gently rub Ye Qi's head, saying, "Don't worry, I'm in Insect King mode now, and the transformation can last for about 20 hours. This little bit of sand can't hurt me at all. Letting me go is the safest option."
Ye Qi said seriously, "Are you sure you won't get lost and lose yourself if you go alone?"
Shao Qingge: "..."
Can you please stop undermining me?
However, Ye Qi's words make sense. Shao Qingge does have a poor sense of direction, and the probability of him getting lost in the desert is as high as 99%.
Xiao Lou agreed, saying, " CEO Shao can't go looking for people. What if he can't find them and you get lost too? Wouldn't that be even more troublesome?"
Shao Qingge shrugged helplessly: "Okay, what do you guys suggest?"
After thinking carefully, Xiao Lou said, "I have an idea. Let's just use teleportation to bring the four of them back. We have two Tao Yuanming cards and two Li Qingzhao cards. The markings on Li Qingzhao cards can be modified five more times, which should be enough."
Between Peach Blossom Spring Teleportation and marker delivery, Xiao Lou decided to choose the latter.
Although Peach Blossom Spring is safer and lasts for 3 hours, its drawback is that the entrance and exit are in the same place. The Compass Circle is safe now, but unfortunately it only lasts for 10 minutes. If they come out of Peach Blossom Spring after 3 hours and walk to this place again, they will face the risk of being "buried alive by a large amount of sand and dust".
It's very difficult for a person to climb out from under a sandstorm tens of meters deep; they would probably suffocate halfway up.
However, since Li Qingzhao's marker can be modified, we can wait until before Compass ends, then have the fearless CEO Shao go out alone to find a safe place, modify the marker, and then bring everyone back to the ground.
With that in mind, Xiao Lou took out a Li Qingzhao card, placed a marker inside the Compass circle, and said, "No matter where they were blown away, as long as they are still in the same secret room, we can use the marker to bring them back."
Everyone agreed with Professor Xiao's idea—sending people to search was definitely not as safe and quick as bringing people back.
Five minutes later, Xiao Lou activated the team's teleportation marker.
Long Sen and Qu Wanyue soon appeared before the crowd, both looking visibly shaken.
Qu Wanyue's long hair was covered in sand, making her look quite disheveled. As she tidied her hair, she said, " Professor Xiao shouted something, but I didn't hear it clearly, and then I was blown away by the strong wind."
Long Sen, his face pale, said, "I was terrified! We were lifted more than fifty meters into the air by the sandstorm, but luckily we reacted quickly enough to activate our Chameleon Cards and blend into the sand, which allowed us to slowly fall back to the ground."
Xiao Lou said, "It's good that you're alright."
He looked around and, finding that Liu Qiao and Lao Mo were still nowhere to be seen, Xiao Lou's expression changed. He asked in a low voice, " Teacher Qu, have you seen Liu Qiao and Lao Mo?"
Qu Wanyue shook her head: "I didn't see it. The sandstorm was too strong just now, and the visibility was less than 5 meters. I couldn't see anything outside. A teleportation prompt popped up in the floating window, and that's how I got back here."
Long Sen scratched the back of his head and suddenly said, "I think I heard Xiao Liu's voice. She's calling, ' Uncle Mo, be careful.'"
Just now, Long Sen was standing close to Liu Qiao and Lao Mo. When the wind blew, he vaguely heard Liu Qiao shouting, but he didn't hear the specific content very clearly.
Long Sen said apologetically, "The tornado came too fast. I turned around and found that everyone was gone."
Qu Wanyue looked around and quickly realized that Xiao Liu and Lao Mo might be in trouble.
She looked at Xiao Lou worriedly: " Professor Xiao, Xiao Qiao and Lao Mo, could they have been swept away by the tornado?"
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a glance and fell silent at the same time.
It seems that Liu Qiao and Lao Mo are in grave danger.
Although their names were still on the contract book, proving they were still alive, they did not respond to Xiao Lou's teleportation summons.
The card summoning will pop up a window in the floating box. As long as Liu Qiao and Lao Mo are conscious, they can instantly arrive next to Xiao Lou by pressing "agree to teleport". Under such dangerous circumstances, they have no reason not to accept the teleportation summoning.
Unless, of course, they have lost consciousness.
Whether they will wake up after falling into a coma in such a terrible sandstorm remains to be seen.
What if it gets blown hundreds of kilometers away by a strong wind and buried? Then there would be no trace of it, neither alive nor dead!
Xiao Lou clenched her fist gently.
Yu Hanjiang pressed down on his shoulder and whispered to comfort him, "Don't worry, Liu Qiao is so smart, and Lao Mo has a good sense of direction. Even though they've lost consciousness, they might wake up soon... As long as they wake up, they can survive."
Xiao Lou nodded: "I know, I hope they're alright."
Although everyone was worried, the sandstorm hadn't passed yet, and they couldn't leave the Compass barrier rashly. Xiao Lou took a deep breath and quickly calmed down, handing the [ Li Qingzhao ] card to Shao Qingge, saying, " CEO Shao, the marker can be modified 4 more times. As long as you don't suffocate, please go out and find a safe place to teleport everyone there."
Shao Qingge nodded: "Understood, I'll get you guys later."
He gave everyone a reassuring look, then pushed off the sand with his legs. The Zerg's jumping ability reached its peak at that moment. Shao Qingge leaped more than ten meters high like an arrow, leaving the Compass barrier. Like a fish entering the deep sea, he nimbly stretched out his hands and plunged into the sand.
The others remained where they were, and their expressions were not good as Liu Qiao and Lao Mo were still missing.
Xiao Lou forced himself to remain calm and distributed the team's voice headsets to everyone.
Although the card is discarded after use, the voice headset can maintain communication as long as it remains in everyone's ears, although the communication range is still 10 kilometers.
Xiao Lou pressed his earpiece and said, "The sandstorm is just a greeting gift from the Two Kings. There may be greater dangers ahead. Everyone stay close and don't get separated."
With Compass's invincibility time getting shorter and shorter, if Shao Qingge didn't teleport soon, once Compass's invincibility ended in 10 minutes, the mountain of sand above the barrier would collapse instantly, burying them alive.
Although Xiao Lou was anxious, he could only trust CEO Shao.
Shao Qingge not only used the Zerg's climbing and jumping abilities to crawl in the sand, but after crawling for one minute, he leaped out of the ground and began using the Teleportation Card to quickly teleport in the opposite direction of the sandstorm.
Teleporting 50 meters in a second is a speed comparable to a sandstorm. In just 3 minutes, Shao Qingge escaped the sandstorm and arrived at a vast open space.
He looked up and gazed into the distance.
The climate here is excellent, look...
Not a trace of a sandstorm could be seen. The azure sky was cloudless, and in the distance, a clear lake, like a mirror cast by God in the desert, reflected the vibrant green plants around it.
On the lakeside, a group of beautiful young women dressed in the traditional costumes of the Western Regions were dancing together. Some shirtless young men rode camels around, carrying strange and unusual goods.
A bustling town, how could there be such an oasis in the vast desert?
Without further hesitation, Shao Qingge changed Li Qingzhao's tag and brought his teammates over.
After receiving the teleportation, Xiao Lou and the other six immediately pressed "agree" and instantly appeared next to Shao Qingge.
Looking at the scene before him, Ye Qi exclaimed excitedly, "This is wonderful! There's even an oasis in the desert! We no longer need to worry about water and food shortages. Why don't we stay in this town for three days?"
Xiao Lou nodded and said, "Okay, although there might be Hunters lying in ambush in the town, it's better than wandering aimlessly in the vast desert, lacking water and food."
They didn't want to endure the scorching sun again, and the ever-present possibility of sandstorms filled them with dread.
The oasis in the desert was breathtakingly beautiful. The crystal-clear lake water made everyone thirsty; if only they could find clean water here…
The group exchanged glances and walked side by side toward the oasis.
After walking for about 5 minutes, Ye Qi couldn't help but wonder, "Why haven't we arrived yet?"
Long Sen scratched his head in confusion: "It looks close, just a few hundred meters ahead, but we've been walking for almost 5 minutes, and it still feels like this oasis is still a few hundred meters ahead?"
Qu Wanyue said with a serious expression: "That's right. Every time we take a few steps, the town takes a few steps back. It's like it's always moving."
Yu Hanjiang suddenly stopped and shouted sternly, "Retreat now!"
Xiao Lou also realized what was happening, and he said with a stern face, "There's no town ahead at all, this is a mirage."
mirage, a strange landscape in the desert.
You can clearly see some beautiful scenery not far ahead, but you can't get to it no matter what you do.
Because this is an illusion projected by light.
Like a rainbow in the sky, you can see it, but you can't touch it.
It is said that those who encounter the Mirage will never be able to leave this desert.