People kept falling behind them, and the sounds of wailing and screaming were endless.
After running for the time it takes an incense stick to burn (about half an hour), the screams gradually faded into the distance, and everyone slowly came to a stop, all panting like oxen.
Setting down the cart, Qi Yanxuan took two water skins from it, quietly added some spirit spring water, and then handed them to Shen Yanshan and Shen Yanqing.
Looking around, sobs kept rising from the crowd. Among those who hadn’t caught up were their loved ones. This single scorpion swarm had eliminated a portion of the people, and those people were forever buried beneath this yellow sand.
After resting a while, everyone began searching for their own groups. Fortunately, there weren’t too many people of the nearly ten thousand, a batch had died, and several thousand had all run in the same direction, so no one had gotten scattered. Finding each other was relatively easy.
The villagers of Kaoshan Village gradually made their way toward Qi Yanxuan and the other two. Everyone had long hair, and in the whole crowd only Qi Yanxuan had short hair, making him easy to spot. Using Qi Yanxuan’s head as a landmark, the group quickly gathered together.
“Yanxuan, we owe it all to that head of yours! Otherwise, if we’d gotten separated, we’d have had a hard time finding each other!” Shen Kui’s booming voice carried from far away.
His wife, hearing him say this, gave his waist a hard pinch and shot him a glare, but he didn’t mind at all instead, he grinned at his wife.
“That’s right, we also owe it to Yanxuan and Yanqing. Otherwise, we really wouldn’t have had time to run.”
“Exactly. If those scorpions had gotten close, we’d probably have ended up just like those people.”
Everyone spoke with lingering fear.
Seeing that everyone had quieted down, the village chief continued, “This time, with several thousand of us, we were still able to find each other. But what if it’s tens of thousands in the future? We need to come up with a plan.”
This was something Qi Yanxuan knew well. Before the apocalypse, when traveling with tour groups, the guide would always carry a little flag to lead everyone. Thinking of this, Qi Yanxuan said to the village chief, “Let’s make a flag. Write ‘Kaoshan Village’ on it, or pick a design. That way, everyone can follow the flag, and even with a large group, we won’t be afraid of getting separated.”
Hearing this, the village chief clapped his hands in approval. “Good, let’s do that. It’ll be dawn soon anyway, making a flag won’t take much effort. We’ll set out again once it’s done.”
Daylight comes early in the desert; the sky was already bright before the mao hour (5 a.m.).
The village chief planted the flag on his family’s ox cart a red cloth with the character for “mountain” written on it, mounted on a long pole.
With this, no one feared getting separated anymore. Everyone gathered their things and continued on their way.
Three days later, the main group entered the heart of the desert.
The weather today was far more stifling than usual, the sky somewhat dim, with very low visibility.
Just as Qi Yanxuan was pondering this, a great wind suddenly rose, and a flash of insight struck his mind. Not good! There’s most likely a sandstorm coming!
He hurriedly grabbed Shen Yanqing and called for everyone to stop. “Stop quickly! A sandstorm is coming! Find shelter from the wind nearby, cover your faces and eyes with cloth, lie down, and wait for the sandstorm to pass!”
The villagers of Kaoshan Village all scattered to find shelter from the wind.
Qi Yanxuan and the other two came to a small hill. The three of them covered their faces with cloth, lay down, and waited for the sandstorm to pass.
A quarter of an hour later, the sandstorm mercilessly struck. The entire sky turned pitch black, a scene of utter gloom howling winds, flying sand, and rolling stones.
The sandstorm raged for a full hour before it gradually subsided.
Qi Yanxuan’s group of three had it easier, being backed against a small hill. They were the first to get up, and the three exchanged a look before tacitly digging out their supplies.
Afterward, people gradually shook off the thick sand covering them a whole crowd of them, some shaking off sand, some digging friends and family out of the sand, others digging out supplies.
“It’s finally over. I was lying flat so long I couldn’t straighten my back.”
“Quick, quick, quick! Hurry and find the luggage it’s all buried.”
…
Once everything had been dug out, everyone regrouped, though at this point every single one of them had sand piled on their heads, which looked rather comical.
“It’s getting dark. We’ll camp here for the night and move on tomorrow,” the village chief said, his voice weak and listless.
“Ugh, what rotten luck. We’ve only been in the desert a few days, and already we’ve had a scorpion swarm and a sandstorm.”
“No telling what’s coming next. These days sure are exciting.”
“Please, no more excitement. Any more and I really won’t be able to take it.”
The three Shen brothers chatted as they walked off.
Night fell.
Qi Yanxuan took two small tents out of his backpack in truth, he had secretly taken them out of his spatial storage a few days ago, and they’d been using them to sleep in ever since. When everyone first saw these tents, they’d been quite curious. They were just a bit small, roomy enough for one person, but a tight squeeze for two.
As for why he took out two instead of three? I trust you all understand!
Inside the tent, Qi Yanxuan laid out the blankets and waited for Shen Yanqing.
Shen Yanqing stood outside, hesitating. Even after these days, he still wasn’t quite used to it especially the way Qi Yanxuan would burrow into his arms in his sleep.
“I’ll go take the night watch,” he said, turning to leave.
But how could Qi Yanxuan let him go? He stepped forward and grabbed him, a look of grievance on his face. “Shen-ge, is it that I sleep badly, so you’re sick of me now? If that’s the case, then you go rest and I’ll take the night watch.” With that, he headed toward the night-watch group.
He’d barely taken a step when someone seized him and hauled him toward the tent. Behind Shen Yanqing’s back, Qi Yanxuan wore a triumphant grin. (Today’s edition: Green Tea Xuan)
In the middle of the night,
Shen Yanqing lay with his eyes open, unable to sleep, while beside him Qi Yanxuan kept burrowing into his arms.
After all these days, Shen Yanqing raised his arm with an air of resigned acceptance, letting the man nestle into his embrace. He tightened his arm around the person in his arms and closed his eyes.
The moment his eyes closed, a smile curved at the corner of Qi Yanxuan’s lips.