For scholars, immersed in the sea of books often lose track of time, Lu Binglin just had a little hazy clue, and was about to figure out the clue, but was interrupted by the shouts of Platoon Commander Zhao. Lu Binglin noticed that the convoy had stopped. When he got out of the car, the sky had completely darkened, and there was only a shallow layer of twilight left on the western skyline, but in the deep night sky in front of him, an orange light suddenly appeared, beating like a flame, very eye-catching.

Lu Binglin thought that another expedition team had arrived at the predetermined location and lit a bonfire to guide himself. But Platoon Commander Zhao affirmed that the light was still at least thirty kilometers away from him, and it couldn't have been from a bonfire, unless the whole truck was on fire. Leaving aside the question of what the light was coming from, the key issue was the loss of contact with the other expedition.

Lu Binglin couldn't help but shudder, and hurriedly took out the satellite phone and dialed it, but it was the same as when the mirage appeared, the phone seemed to be interfered with by something, except for the harsh sound of electricity, there was no sound at all.

Lu Binglin's partner told him that about fifteen minutes ago, he had contacted the expedition team, and that they had arrived at the predetermined location and started camping, but as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but sand dunes, but the wind began to blow, and the work of camping was very difficult. The two checked the approximate location of the two sides again, agreed on the meeting time, and the mirage hung up the phone.

And just now, Platoon Commander Zhao saw the light in the distance on the roof of the car, and hurriedly asked him to contact the team, but the satellite phone could no longer get through. After hearing this, Lu Binglin's heart couldn't help but sink, and he hurriedly asked everyone to quickly get in the car and rush to the camp. Lu Binglin hadn't gotten into the car yet, but he was pulled down by Platoon Commander Zhao.

Platoon Commander Zhao told Lu Binglin very firmly that he would either camp in place and go in to investigate at dawn tomorrow, or leave a truck and a few team members as backup, pull up the telephone line, and keep in touch with the experimental base. He can accompany Lu Binglin in, but the communication soldiers he brought must stay.

Platoon Commander Zhao's arrangement, that is, dispersed the manpower, but also dispersed the materials and equipment, under bad weather conditions, everyone is safer to hold together, and the risk factor of dividing into two teams is higher, which is really not a clever plan. But Lu Binglin didn't have time to argue with Platoon Commander Zhao at the moment, nodded his head, expressed his approval, and only hoped that the team could set off as soon as possible.

The convoy had been driving for less than ten minutes when the wind was blowing and the yellow sand began to pound heavily on the windows. The wind appeared without warning, and one second it was unusually calm, but in the next moment, the wind was so strong that it could almost sweep people away, and it seemed that a veil was covering them, and the vision began to blur.

Platoon Commander Zhao and Lu Binglin sat in the front of the off-road vehicle, this off-road vehicle has been modified, and a row of searchlights are installed on the roof, which could have shot out hundreds of meters away, but at this time, the beam of light seemed to hit a wall, and it was reflected back less than ten meters. The driver didn't dare to drive too fast, and once he got stuck in the quicksand, he couldn't get out of the car and arrange other vehicles to tow him.

Fortunately, Platoon Commander Zhao's desert experience played a decisive role, in Lu Binglin's opinion, there was no difference between large and small sand dunes, but Platoon Commander Zhao seemed to be able to see the danger, and kept loudly giving the driver a reminder, and the off-road vehicle walked a serpentine route and moved slowly.

It's less than 30 kilometers long, but it's an ordeal for everyone in the car. The wind was so loud that it completely swallowed everything around him, sitting in the car, they had to shout when they communicated with each other, but their ears couldn't adapt to the stimulation of this decibel sound at all, Lu Binglin soon felt that his brain and eardrums resonated, and began to feel severe pain.

Platoon Commander Zhao next to him took out a few cotton balls from his jacket pocket, stuffed them into everyone's ears, and kept making strokes, Lu Binglin knew that he meant to let everyone not pay attention to listening to those rumors, think about their families, children, promotion, salary increase, anything, you must keep your mind clear, and you will soon break through.

Although the cotton ball weakened the sharp sound of the wind in his ears, Lu Binglin's consciousness slowly fell into a state of chaos. He suddenly felt a kind of pessimism that he had never felt before welling up in his heart, perhaps it was his hasty decision that might have cost the lives of more than 30 people in two expeditions; even if he had gone through nine deaths and found the secret of the mirage, he would still face the merciless ridicule and vile slander of his peers; and those fresh lives were only exchanged for cold tombstones in the sea of sand, and his papers or writings could not be used for any other purpose than to be sacrificed in front of the tomb.

Fortunately, the storm came and went quickly, and after about forty minutes, the wind stopped abruptly. Lu Binglin's ears didn't seem to be able to adapt to this change, and they were still ringing weakly, and it seemed to be extremely difficult to raise his head. He saw Platoon Commander Zhao pat the driver's shoulder, signaled to stop, and then pushed the car door and walked down, only then did he confirm in his heart that the wind had indeed stopped.

Lu Binglin laboriously got out of the car, and Platoon Commander Zhao told him with a worried face that the search and rescue time might only be less than an hour. They entered a huge eye of the wind, so the wind was not strong, and soon the wind would strike again, and this time it was hard to say whether everyone would be able to pass through, and once the wheels were stuck in the quicksand, they would not survive the daybreak and would be buried by the quicksand.

Lu Binglin subconsciously asked, isn't the truck left outside more dangerous? Platoon Commander Zhao shook his head at him with a wry smile, that truck is outside the Devil's City, it should be fine, but we are now in the city. This strange wind in Devil City is the most peculiar, only within the range of more than 30 kilometers, not a single step out of the thunder pool.

Lu Binglin looked around, and by the searchlight on the off-road vehicle, he didn't see any buildings, and he didn't know where the city Zhao Platoon Commander was talking about?

A few minutes later, other vehicles slowly followed, and Platoon Commander Zhao used the compass to reposition it, and beckoned everyone to hurry up. Lu Binglin found that the firelight he saw before had long since disappeared, and hurriedly asked Platoon Commander Zhao the reason, Platoon Commander Zhao shook his head, and only said one sentence, it's too late, let it be fate, and then he didn't say a word.

As Platoon Commander Zhao said, ten minutes later, the convoy found the camp of the previous expedition. The vehicle was surrounded by a semicircle, and in the center of the semicircle were three tents, and the ropes on the tents were firmly fixed to the chassis of the car, but most of the vehicles and tents were buried under the yellow sand.

Lu Binglin's heart was once again enveloped by that sad and desperate mood, and the mirage chasers who got off the other cars did not look much better, and everyone took the shovels and other digging tools from the cars mechanically, and began to dig the quicksand outside the tent with great difficulty.

There was no one in the tent, no one in the truck, and there was no shortage of instruments and equipment, food, water, and tools, and they were neatly arranged, except for the dozen or so people. It seems that the team members have been gathered in the tent before, but what made them leave the tent en masse? Lu Binglin didn't think much about it, beckoned everyone to take the lighting equipment, and went around to search, he really didn't want to accept the fact that the team members disappeared en masse.

Platoon Commander Zhao took a step forward, stopped in front of Lu Binglin, and said in a loud voice, "Everyone only has twenty minutes, if you don't want to be stuck here, as soon as the time comes, we will return immediately, and if we are delayed, we will only stay in the car, and we will return early tomorrow morning to rescue." ”

Everyone walked in groups of twos and flashlights in different directions, and even Platoon Commander Zhao took a soldier and walked to the southwest. Lu Binglin re-entered the tent, hoping that the group of team members would leave some clues when they left. Rummaging through the tent again, Lu Binglin found several strange places. When the team left, they did not carry satellite phones, and even walkie-talkies were placed in sleeping bags.

The cloth door of the tent seemed to be torn by the strong wind, and a large amount of sand was poured into the tent, and Lu Binglin shaved it on the ground, which was twenty-five centimeters thick. Judging from the previous telephone contact, this expedition team should have arrived nearly an hour and 40 minutes earlier than itself. It is very difficult to camp in the desert, firstly, it takes a lot of time to find relatively stable and immobile sand dunes as leeward points, and to place the vehicle and fix the tent on the vehicle. This must have been done before the wind started, that is, an hour ago, when Lu Binglin and the others finally contacted the expedition team.

So when the team members set up their tents and carried their things in, the wind began to pick up soon after, and the strong wind tore the tent door and poured yellow sand in, and it was only an hour now, how could such a thick layer of sand be poured into the tent?

Lu Binglin seemed to realize something, and began to dig desperately in the sand. Soon he found a few pairs of boots in the sand, which the expedition had purchased before entering the desert, so it was certain that the missing mirage chaser had already taken off his clothes and shoes and got into his sleeping bag before the accident. And what happened after that, so that they didn't have time to put on their shoes, so they hurried out of the tent?

Soon, Lu Binglin dug out two cold-proof clothes near the cloth door of the tent, one of which had nylon ropes tied to the two cuffs, which seemed to be ready to be tied to the metal ring above the cloth door. In other words, when the wind tore the cloth door, the mirage chasers in the tent repaired the cloth door, and when they saw that it could not be repaired, they were ready to cover the gap with winter clothing.

This can at least prove that the mirage chaser was sober at that time, and his physical functions were normal, and he had been doing emergency repair work. But why did they give up completely after that, and instead walked into the wind and sand that they knew was a dead end, and was there any safe place besides the camp?

(It is the knowledge that all things can be void, and my body can be nothing.) With what I have nothing, I will be with the emptiness of the other. Nature can be hidden or revealed, it can die, and it can be born without restraint. If the deer in the air flies in the snow, but the eyes have not tasted it, and the ants in the cave are like bulls, but the ears have not heard of it, and those who have not seen and heard it are —— "Huashu")