"Old Master Qu, looking at the stars this late at night?" I asked, walking up to him.
Hearing my voice, he turned and looked at me, then smiled and said, "Brother Xiang, you're not resting yet?"
"I want to have a word with Master Fu."
"Talk about what? Are you trying to ask him when we'll reach our destination?"
I nodded.
Old Master Qu smiled mysteriously and said, "Brother Xiang, I think you don't need to make that trip."
Hearing him say that, I asked curiously, "Why?"
He pointed to the Tianshan Mountains and then to the ground and said, "Because we've already arrived."
"Arrived?" I was stunned.
He chuckled, "That's right, this is the location marked on the map." 138 Reading Network
I looked around and said, "Didn't the map say there was a lake near the destination? Around here..."
"So many years have passed, who can guarantee that the lake hasn't dried up?"
"But..."
Before I could say more, he said, "I know a bit about astrology. Judging by the stars over Tianshan, this should be the place."
The map clearly depicted a large lake. Although I hadn't consulted the map many times, I remembered it very clearly.
But around here, let alone a lake, there wasn't even a puddle.
Still a bit unconvinced, I went directly to find Fu Kui. As I approached, bodyguard A Yuan was guarding his tent. He told me Fu Kui was already asleep and that I should wait until he woke up.
Seeing his unyielding demeanor, I knew it was pointless to talk to him further.
Besides Old Master Qu, everyone else was exhausted and resting in their tents.
So I returned to my tent to get some sleep.
The next morning, when I woke up, apart from Li Chuang and Rexiti, everyone else in the camp was gone.
I asked Li Chuang where everyone had gone.
He replied, "Gone scouting. They should be back soon."
"Scouting where?"
He pointed to a small hillock not far away and said, "Over there."
I had planned to walk over casually and take a look, but after climbing the small hill, I was absolutely stunned by the sight behind it.
Behind this hill, there was a vast expanse of white!
As far as the eye could see, the ground was covered in white sand. If not for a gust of wind blowing some sand onto my face, I would have thought I was hallucinating.
White desert. I had seen it in geography magazines; the world's largest white desert is in western Egypt.
I never expected our country to have a white desert too, and judging by the current scale, it wasn't small.
Soon, I saw a line of tiny figures appearing on the white sand. It was Fu Kui and his group returning.
"Damn it, there's definitely something weird about that sand!" Fu Honglang grumbled incessantly as soon as he returned.
I asked him what happened, and he told me that as soon as he entered the white desert, he felt as if his body had been filled with lead, becoming incredibly heavy.
Upon hearing this, I examined him and the others closely and asked if everyone else felt the same.
He said no, only he felt that way.
That was strange.
Fu Honglang wouldn't lie to me; if he said it, it must be true.
"Brother Fu, did you find anything?" I asked.
He replied, "No, but judging by Master Fu San's intentions, he wants to cross this desert. We walked about ten li into it just now, and once we entered, we completely lost our bearings, and the compass was useless."
"Then how do we get across?" I asked.
He gave a wry smile and shook his head, "I can't say for sure..."
In the afternoon, after lunch, I saw A Yuan packing their belongings. It seemed they were really determined to cross this white desert.
Judging by the current situation, we had no say. Fu Kui's attitude was clear: either follow him and continue, or go our separate ways.
Under these circumstances, going our separate ways was naturally out of the question.
This area for a hundred li was a no-man's-land. If we left the group, there was no doubt it would be a near-certain death.
In such a situation, no matter how many reservations we had, we could only suppress them.
Rexiti was like this. Along the way, he spoke less and less, only chatting with me occasionally.
Li Chuang also seemed hesitant, and on several occasions, he had hinted at his intention not to continue forward.
But it was no use; the four people with Fu Kui all followed his lead.
Although Fu Honglang outwardly followed Fu Kui, I could sense that he had come with the determination to see it through to the end.
Song Bing was the same. He had been entrusted by Wu Tingxiu, and if he returned shamefacedly like this, he probably wouldn't have the face to see Wu Tingxiu.
In the end, apart from Rexiti and Li Chuang, no one else wanted to turn back.
Even though Fatty always grumbled about going back, I knew he was more invested than I was.
Since the decision was made to cross the white desert, everyone began to divide the tasks.
To my surprise, the moment I stepped onto the white sand, I suddenly felt the same sensation as Fu Honglang.
My body instantly became heavy, as if another person had been placed on me.
This feeling was very strong.
"Fatty, do you feel anything unusual?" I asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, don't you feel your body suddenly become heavier when you step on this white sand?"
Fatty stomped his foot and said with a puzzled look, "No."
"No?" I frowned, feeling somewhat strange.
"Brother Xiang, what's wrong? Is there something amiss?"
I shook my head and said, "It might just be my imagination. Let's keep moving."
Looking at the white sand under my feet, I surveyed the surroundings. As far as I could see, there were no trees or green grass, only dry sand.
The sky was azure blue, and the direct sunlight hit the sand, making the entire desert shimmer.
I could feel hot air blowing on my face, and with it being the hottest part of the day, every step I took felt incredibly arduous.
"Brother Xiang, what's wrong? Why are you panting so much?" Fatty asked.
I couldn't quite explain it. I asked Fatty to hand me some water.
"Is it the stuff you're carrying? Is it too heavy?" Fatty said, taking my backpack.
And the moment the backpack left my body, I suddenly felt much lighter. Instead, Fatty exclaimed, "Holy cow! Brother Xiang, why is your backpack so heavy?"
My eyes lit up, and I immediately thought of something!
So that's what it was! No wonder I felt my body getting heavy the moment I entered the white desert!
It wasn't a problem with me, nor was it my imagination; it was the things in my backpack!
Thinking of this, I quickly asked Fatty to put the backpack down and, without a word, unzipped it...