Everything happened too fast.
Li Juxxu could only watch helplessly, unable to do a thing.
Lin Lu threw a rope, and it landed exactly on the sand where Dandelion had vanished, but there was no one to grab it.
Shark rolled on the spot, pulled his half-sunken foot free, stepped back several paces, and stared grimly at the spot where Dandelion was buried. Everyone else looked grim too.
They had made it all this way without incident, only to lose someone right before the destination. No one could accept it.
Li Juxxu wanted to say something comforting, but didn't know how.
A living person had disappeared right in front of him—no body, no trace, nothing left.
Quicksand. This was quicksand.
"Move out!"
After a long silence, Shark collected himself and took the lead, scouting ahead personally.
No one spoke. Even Lin Lu, who always joked around, stayed quiet. The team was silent.
Night in the desert was not completely black; faint shapes were visible, but not far. Everyone knew the sand was beneath their feet, yet no matter how wide they opened their eyes, they could not see clearly. It was deeply unsettling.
Li Juxxu understood why Shark forbade lights.
Once the human eye adjusted to darkness, sudden light would create blind spots. They were nearly at the target area, so they had to keep their night vision.
Shark moved slowly. A rope was tied around his waist, with the other end held by Stone.
"There's a wolf following us, about 200 meters back!"
Li Juxxu spoke suddenly, and the team froze.
"How many?"
Shark paused for two seconds, then continued forward as if nothing was wrong.
"One!"
"It's a scout. If we stop, it'll run back to warn the pack. Can you take it out? One shot, if possible."
"I need a shoulder," Li Juxxu said.
"I've got you!"
Lin Lu did not hesitate.
Li Juxxu turned and unslung the Burster-002B from his back. He had already assembled it inside the tent.
He pressed the rifle firmly against Lin Lu's right shoulder, aimed for two seconds, and locked on.
It was a gray wolf, built like a young calf.
Highly alert, it sensed danger and turned to flee.
At that moment, the gun fired.
Thud—
The sniper round blew through the wolf's neck. The massive force snapped its head a full 90 degrees.
The wolf crashed into the sand, twitched twice, and went still.
Shark had provided a suppressor for the rifle. It was still loud, but nothing like the ear-splitting crack before.
"Nice shot!"
Shark praised him.
Any sniper could shoot accurately, but the mark of an elite was speed.
Three seconds or less meant elite.
Li Juxxu had done it in two.
Though he was recommended by Black Hornet, who never lied, Li Juxxu was young and unknown. Shark had still doubted him.
That one shot erased all doubt.
Li Juxxu also noticed the team's atmosphere relaxed a lot after the shot.
He looked at Lin Lu with concern. The recoil was heavy—not just backward, but downward. She had taken most of it.
But she acted like she hadn't felt a thing, no pain on her face.
The team waited until Stone disposed of the wolf's body before moving on.
"Gray wolves are intelligent. Even from a dead body, their kind can pick up information. Disposing of it won't erase all risk, but it will buy us time," Shark explained, mostly for Li Juxxu's sake.
The rest of the journey passed without incident, and they arrived safely.
Li Juxxu had always thought the desert was nothing but endless yellow sand.
But now he saw clumps of vegetation—thick, thriving.
"This plant is called Blue Enchantress. Not the flower you know. This is a unique desert grass. Our target is right under these Blue Enchantress plants."
"Desert scorpion is just what we call them. Their official name is desert blue-line thick-tailed scorpion. The scent of Blue Enchantress attracts them. So where there's Blue Enchantress, there are scorpions."
"But if the plants are damaged, the scorpions scatter and we'll never find them again. That's why we can't use bombs or heavy fire," Shark said, sounding frustrated.
"Their shells are extremely hard. Normal pistol rounds won't work. Sniper rounds do, but we can't use any light. That's where you come in. Take out most of the adult scorpions. The larvae will be forced to flee, and that's when we catch them."
"I'll do my best," Li Juxxu said.
He set down his pack and prepared. Shark and the others readied themselves too.
Four members took up positions on all sides for guard duty. The rest held fishing rods, baited with live mice.
Li Juxxu couldn't believe they had carried mice all this way.
Lin Lu knelt beside him with binoculars, acting as his spotter.
The mice scurried across the sand. The faint vibrations drew the scorpions, but they were patient, refusing to strike.
Li Juxxu lay still, holding his sniper rifle, only his mouth moving as he chewed chocolate. Shark's chocolate was rich and creamy, just how he liked it.
Lin Lu stared forward like a statue. A faint, pleasant scent drifted from her to Li Juxxu's nose.
No one spoke.
Except for the wind and the occasional squeak of a mouse, the desert was silent.
The temperature kept dropping.
Li Juxxu glanced at the thermometer hanging from Lin Lu's chest.
-27°C.
No wonder his fingers were going stiff. His gloves gave no warmth at all.
He couldn't imagine how bad it would be without the wormwood tea.
The night grew even darker.
Shark and the others were nervous—not that the scorpions wouldn't appear, but that Li Juxxu couldn't see.
The wolf was large and blurry, yet he'd hit it.
But desert scorpions were only about two fists big. Visibility was worse, and the temperature was freezing.
No one felt confident.
Then, under one clump of Blue Enchantress, the sand bulged.
A blue streak shot out like lightning.
A desert blue-line thick-tailed scorpion.
It clamped onto the mouse in an instant. Its arched tail struck like a fired arrow, stabbing venom deep into the mouse.
Fast and brutal.
In less than a second, the mouse went stiff and died.
The scorpion dragged the mouse downward, into the sand.
At that moment, the gun fired.
Thud—
The scorpion exploded.
Fluid, flesh, and shell fragments splattered across the sand.
Shark and the others breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Lin Lu threw down her binoculars, grabbed Li Juxxu, and kissed him hard on the cheek.
"Handsome, you did it! Didn't let your big sister down!"
She picked up her binoculars and went back to spotting like nothing had happened.
Li Juxxu blushed deeply, his heart racing.
It was the first time a woman had ever kissed him.
He and Zhao Huier had only held hands, proper and reserved.
Nothing could distract him now.