Yue Hengyi continued to follow the instructions, lying on the ground. With an increased surface area, he found it indeed harder to be dragged into the sand. He then slowly lifted his foot. The strength of the tentacles was immense; even Yue Hengyi, a fifth-tier ability user, could only lift his foot bit by bit. These were grayish-black tentacles, appearing quite withered.
"Hold that position, I'll save you immediately!" Shen Feng said to Yue Hengyi.
At this moment, wind blades began to condense in the air. Dozens of wind blades successfully formed and then swept towards Yue Hengyi in unison.
Yue Hengyi lay on the ground, daring not to move an inch. The wind blades arrived, "Swish, swish..." They fiercely sliced through the tentacles, severing them instantly. The dark tentacles fell onto the white sand, and Yue Hengyi felt he had escaped certain death.
"Now, slowly lift your other foot, slowly, without creating any vibrations!" Shen Feng continued sternly.
Yue Hengyi saw the tentacle on his leg severed, thanks to Shen Feng's guidance. He dared not disobey Shen Feng and slowly lifted his other foot. Shen Feng followed suit, lifting Yue Hengyi's right leg, and again unleashed wind blades, cutting off the tentacle attached to his right leg.
Yue Hengyi slowly lowered his legs and asked, lying on the ground, "Brother Feng, what should I do next?"
Shen Feng said, "Quickly pick up the severed tentacles on the ground, move closer to me, then grab Lu Zhengqi's hands! Hand the tentacles over to me!"
Yue Hengyi was speechless upon hearing Shen Feng's words and couldn't help but say, "Brother Feng, why are you still concerned about this kid at this point? As long as the two of us can escape, why bother about him?"
"Don't talk nonsense. We've only traveled for a day. We'll need the meteorologist's help for the rest of the journey. Can you translate? You can't, right? It's very rare. Come here and grab this kid's hands. If he gets grabbed by a tentacle, I can still help you cut it off," Shen Feng said irritably.
Yue Hengyi was helpless. Although it meant continuing to take risks, he couldn't afford to worry about it anymore. He quickly grabbed the two severed tentacles on the ground and sprinted towards Shen Feng, his speed pushed to the limit, far exceeding that of an ordinary person.
As Yue Hengyi moved, he immediately attracted the attention of whatever was beneath the sand. More than a dozen bulges appeared in the sand, chasing after Yue Hengyi's footsteps.
When Yue Hengyi reached Shen Feng's side, he forcefully threw the tentacles in his hands and then grabbed Lu Zhengqi's arm. Lu Zhengqi was still in a daze; after all, he was a child and had suffered a sudden massive impact, making him prone to fainting.
Shen Feng caught the two severed tentacles and began to examine them carefully. These tentacles were very dry and hard, not at all like animal tentacles. Whether octopus or squid tentacles, they were softer than these things.
"These aren't tentacles, they're vines!" Shen Feng immediately made a judgment. The things before him couldn't possibly be tentacles; they could only be vines. This indicated that the things beneath the sand were a type of plant.
"Whatever they are, how do we deal with the enemy now?" Yue Hengyi said anxiously.
At that moment, Yue Hengyi was momentarily careless and was bound by more than a dozen vines that suddenly appeared behind him. Now, not only Lu Zhengqi would be dragged down, but Yue Hengyi himself would be unable to escape.
Shen Feng looked at Yue Hengyi and Lu Zhengqi in their current predicament and, after a moment of careful thought, said, "Little Yue, do you trust Big Brother?"
Yue Hengyi, having reached such a desperate state, had nothing else to say. He replied with a wry smile, "I trust you completely, Big Brother. No more nonsense, save me quickly!"
Shen Feng replied, "Since you trust me, stay here. I'll be back to save you immediately!"
With those words, Shen Feng didn't hesitate. He used "Like the Wind Following" and slipped away into the distance with such speed that the things beneath the sand couldn't catch up.
Seeing this, Yue Hengyi couldn't help but ask, "Brother Feng, what do you mean? Shen Feng, come back!"
Yue Hengyi's shouts failed to sway Shen Feng's decision to leave. Shen Feng left without looking back, disappearing in the blink of an eye over the nearby sand dunes.
Yue Hengyi was going mad. Shen Feng, you are truly despicable! You refused to run with me earlier, and now you're running off yourself. This is truly disloyal. I was wrong to acknowledge you as my big brother; this is how you treat your brothers.
"Shen Feng, you scoundrel, don't play me like this! If you're going, take me with you!" Yue Hengyi said in anguish.
At this moment, Lu Zhengqi, whose neck was buried in the sand, opened his eyes. He had finally woken up but found that the person holding him had changed. It was Shen Feng holding him earlier, but now it was Yue Hengyi.
"Mr. Yue, why are you saving me? Where did Mr. Shen go?" Lu Zhengqi quickly asked.
Yue Hengyi replied irritably, "That scoundrel ran away, leaving only you and me. He's disloyal. When we die later, remember to ask God to send Shen Feng to hell when you meet him in heaven!"
"Mr. Yue, can't you go to heaven?" Lu Zhengqi asked curiously.
Yue Hengyi smiled wryly and said, "I am a staunch materialist warrior. How can I believe in the existence of God? After I die, I'll probably go to meet Marx. I hope the old man will accept me!"
Yue Hengyi did not expect that he would still be dragged under the sand. He felt frustrated and unable to express it. He also resented Shen Feng, thinking that it would have been fine if they had just left together earlier; Shen Feng insisted on observing the tentacles, which led to him being caught.
However, at this moment, Shen Feng's figure reappeared on the distant hills. He was holding a gasoline can and heading towards them.
"Yue Hengyi, were you just cursing me?" Shen Feng directly questioned as he rushed over.
Seeing Shen Feng reappear, Yue Hengyi was overjoyed and quickly replied, "Big Brother, I wasn't! I've always admired your character. My admiration for you is like a never-ending river, like a rampaging Yellow River that cannot be contained! As the saying goes, birds follow phoenixes to soar far, and people associate with the virtuous to improve themselves. I am incredibly fortunate to be by your side, how could I dare to insult you?"
Shen Feng did not reply. He grabbed the gasoline can and began to pour it onto the sand, moving as he poured. As Shen Feng moved, bulges suddenly appeared on the ground around them. These bulges continued to approach Shen Feng, like earthworms hidden underground.
"Brother Feng, be careful! The things underground are coming!" Yue Hengyi quickly warned Shen Feng.
Shen Feng calmly poured the gasoline, saying, "I want these things to come closer!"
Shen Feng moved steadily on the ground, dodging and drawing a circle on the ground with gasoline. Finally, Shen Feng was surrounded by bulges from all directions, and all the gasoline in his hands had seeped into the ground.
At this moment, the underground vines all emerged. The dark vines moved towards Shen Feng, preparing to grab him.
In the nick of time, Shen Feng used "Like the Wind Following," unleashing his speed and instantly disappearing from his original position. His speed was so great that even the underground vines couldn't react.
Seizing this opportunity, Shen Feng took out a kerosene lighter, opened it, and threw it. The lighter landed on the gasoline-soaked ground, and a fierce blaze ignited.
These more than a dozen vines were immediately set ablaze. The vines seemed to feel immense pain and quickly retracted underground. Plants are naturally afraid of fire; contact with fire can easily lead to their annihilation. Therefore, whenever fire appeared, plants would begin to dodge.
Concurrently, the vines on Yue Hengyi also disappeared. All the vines retracted underground. Yue Hengyi grabbed Lu Zhengqi and pulled him up. This time, Lu Zhengqi emerged from the sand completely unharmed, except that he had swallowed a lot of sand when he was dragged down, and could only keep spitting, "Peh, peh..." to expel the sand from his mouth.
Shen Feng threw the red gasoline can onto the sand and lectured Yue Hengyi, "Everything requires thinking. The martial world is full of dangers, and it's okay to retreat, that statement is correct. But if you retreat whenever you encounter danger, that's cowardice!"
Yue Hengyi thought of his previous panic and felt ashamed and embarrassed. Seeing his unseemly display witnessed by Shen Feng, and now being lectured, he could only let Shen Feng have his way.
Suddenly, Yue Hengyi noticed a large wet patch on Lu Zhengqi's pants and started to laugh. So, there was someone even more scared than him.
Yue Hengyi found an outlet for his frustration, pinched Lu Zhengqi's cheek, and said, "Kid, your courage needs some training too. It seems you don't need to go to the toilet anymore. Let's go back!"
Shen Feng nodded and said, "While the plants underground are scared now, let's leave. In the sand, their movement speed can't be faster than a car."
Shen Feng speculated that beneath this desert lay mutated plants. Only mutated plants would actively attack humans; ordinary plants would at most contain toxins internally, but they wouldn't actively attack people.
Upon returning to their original resting spot, Yue Hengyi saw a patch of blue and purple on Slot's face and asked in confusion, "Old man, what happened to your face? Why is it suddenly all bruised?"
Lu Zhengqi quickly translated Yue Hengyi's question.
Old Mr. Slot covered his face and said, "I don't know why. Suddenly, for a moment, I felt incredibly heavy, and my head hit the car. After a while, I felt normal again. This place is really strange."
Yue Hengyi retracted his head, deciding not to pursue the topic further. It seemed the old man's injury was caused by his use of his ability. The enemy was unaffected by gravity, but his own comrade was injured. Yue Hengyi had no intention of taking responsibility for this.
"Let's drive, no more rest. There are monsters under the sand here, let's hurry," Shen Feng said.
Yue Hengyi quickly started the car. Everyone got in quickly, and the group continued to drive eastward. After midnight, the car entered a salt flat. In this place, not even cacti grew. The entire ground was flat and smooth, with a thin layer of crystalline substance on it, which were mineral salts.
Australia has the world's largest salt flats. Deserts at least have basic flora and fauna surviving, but in salt flats, there are no signs of life at all. Even beetles would avoid this area. The reason is simple: survival around salt flats is impossible.
No water, only salt and alkali everywhere, and no food. This is a death trap.
Unknowingly, the moon had also set. In the entire salt flat, nothing could be seen except the car's headlights.
Driving in such a vast area, Yue Hengyi let loose. The surroundings were flat and smooth, with no obstacles, not even a single stone visible. He just had to drive forward, without needing to think about skills like turning.
Yue Hengyi pushed the speed to one hundred and eighty kilometers per hour, which was the limit for the pickup truck. No matter how much he pressed the accelerator, the speed couldn't increase further, and the car's fuel consumption also doubled.
As they were about to leave the salt flat, Yue Hengyi saw a lake. It was a blue lake, appearing beautiful under the headlights.
"Let's rest for a while. It will be dawn in about two hours. Let's rest now," Shen Feng suggested.
"Alright, I'm tired too, but will we be attacked if we rest here?" Yue Hengyi was concerned about safety.