"Alas—" Lou Feier sighed deeply and looked up at the endless desert. "We can't get out if we keep going this way. This desert is probably... very, very big."
Jin Yue took out a bottle of water from her backpack, drank a few sips, and put it back into her backpack: "Well, if we are in the center of the desert, I'm afraid we will never be able to get out in this lifetime if we walk."
Now that the earth's surface area has expanded a hundred times, the area of the desert is larger than ordinary people can imagine, and it is impossible to get out of it simply by walking.
It is precisely because of this that the three of them took a short rest here and did not rush forward.
"Apart from this strange plant, there's not even a place to get shade around here." Lou Feier stood in the shadow of a thick and sturdy mahua tree and fanned the air with her hands. "If this continues, I'm afraid we'll all die of dehydration..."
She was soaked in sweat and her hair was stuck to her forehead.
Having been exposed to the strong sunlight until now, her eyesight began to become a little blurry.
Shi Wanyun squatted on the ground and picked up a handful of sand.
The sand and stones were very hot under the strong sunlight.
The sand and gravel are not fine, but very rough, and there are some small stones mixed in it. Compared with the fine sand on the beach, the sand and gravel here cannot be stepped on barefoot, otherwise you will only get scratched.
Shi Wanyun rubbed her palms for a while, then let the sand slide off her palms, turned her head and said to the other two, "The water resources here are enough for the three of us to survive for a long time, at least a few months. We won't die of thirst... unless we are trapped in this desert for a few months.
”
"Don't say such terrible things!" Lou Feier looked at the endless desert, then rolled her eyes slightly and sighed again.
She has no confidence anymore.
The scenery around here is all the same. The three women have been walking for more than three hours, and there is not even a single change.
If they had not been using the sun and time as standards to determine direction, she would have thought they had been spinning in circles for the past two hours.
Jin Yue reached out and touched the twisted and strange dead tree: "Don't worry too much, maybe we can find an oasis nearby."
The same kind of insects crawled out from the twisted gap again.
"This tree should be alive." Jin Yue speculated, "At least it means that this place is not so dead and dry. Maybe there is an undercurrent underground, otherwise this plant and the insects that live in symbiosis with it would not be able to survive. Maybe there is an oasis nearby."
Lou Feier looked at the tree and said, "The roots of plants in the desert can drill hundreds of meters underground to absorb water. Who knows how deep this strange plant can drill? Hundreds of meters is possible, or even thousands of meters?"
"Dig down." Shi Wanyun grabbed another handful of sand and gravel and said softly, "Maybe we can give it a try."
"…Huh?" Lou Feier looked at her with wide eyes, "What do you mean? Dig down? Why?"
Jin Yue also looked at her in confusion.
"Don't forget, our current goal is to find a place where I can draw a teleportation array."
Shi Wanyun patted her hands that were holding the sand and stones, stood up and said.
She had tried to paint in the desert sand before, but had never been able to do it.
The sand and gravel are too loose and will scatter with just a little force, or even be blown away by the wind.
Moreover, the sun at this time was too scorching, burning the skin of the three women. The patterns drawn by the mutant creatures' blood would be evaporated within ten seconds.
Therefore, the teleportation array pattern cannot be drawn successfully.
The three women walked for such a long time just to find a place with a flat ground and where the blood would not evaporate due to direct sunlight.
As long as the teleportation array can be drawn successfully, they can go back.
The main thing is the flat ground. After all, the sunlight is a factor that disappears at night.
But along the way, they didn't see such a situation at all.
"No way... This is a desert, not soil." Lou Feier lowered her head and stepped on the sand. "Can we dig a hole in this kind of ground? It's impossible. Once we dig out a shovelful of water, it will be filled up by the surrounding sand and stones."
"The sand and gravel next to this plant is a bit rougher and more compact. Maybe we can give it a try. Under the sand and gravel... it shouldn't be so loose, right?"
“Then give it a try!”
There was no way to continue walking, so the three women had no choice but to try this seemingly outrageous and stupid behavior.
result…
Barely succeeded.
Although the sand and gravel next to the plants are relatively compact, they still have the properties of sand and have a certain degree of fluidity.
The three women could only increase the scope of sand and stone excavation, and gradually dug out a funnel-shaped pit with a depth of two meters.
"Ah, the sand and gravel underneath has become a bit hard!" Lou Feier said in surprise as soon as she dug a shovel down.
The three women immediately started digging again.
They gradually discovered that the sand and gravel underground near the plant was very compact, but at a location relatively far away from the plant, even at the same depth, it was still loose.
Shi Wanyun dug up the compacted sand and found some... densely packed small holes on it.
"... These compacted sands and stones seem to be the work of those insects." Shi Wanyun frowned.
"This really seems to be the nest of those insects." Lou Feier squatted down to take a look, "We dug up their nest, they won't rush out to fight us..."
Before she finished her words, they came true.
Insects like those found in the cracks between trees began to emerge from those small holes like crazy!
Lou Feier suddenly stood up from the ground and took two steps back: "So many!"
At this time, Jin Yue immediately poured a bottle of water on the countless small holes that had been dug.
In an instant, the cave entrance was flooded with water.
Those insects had probably never seen so much water in their ancestors. They struggled for a few times on the wet sand and then stopped moving.
No more bugs came out.
"Draw it right here!" Shi Wanyun immediately seized the opportunity, "Water it more. The sunlight here has been blocked, so the water won't evaporate quickly, which will make the sand and stones more solid!"
Just like playing with sand at the beach, the three women poured water on the loose sand and the compact nest.
"You must succeed! Otherwise we will be wasting the source of our lives!" Lou Feier stepped on the wet sand and said.
"I'll try my best."
Shi Wanyun didn't waste any time and immediately began to draw the teleportation array pattern on the ground that had been watered and flattened.
“You can draw!”
"Very good!"
Soon, the teleportation array pattern was drawn.
Shi Wanyun immediately reached out and touched the teleportation array pattern, and then a red light slowly lit up.
Then, she was slightly stunned: "This is..."
"Success!" Lou Feier immediately grabbed Shi Wanyun's arm, "Quick, let's go, don't let those bugs get out!"
On the other side, Jin Yue also grabbed her other arm, waiting for her to start the teleportation.
"But... okay." Shi Wanyun nodded.
Immediately, a purple-black vortex appeared.
"Goodbye, Desert!"
Then the three of them disappeared on the spot.
Half an hour later, a strong wind suddenly blew, raising dust all over the sky.
The hole they dug was filled up in an instant, even burying the spiral plants.
Afterwards, the continuous sandstorm blew up the dust again, and those strange plants that looked like twists appeared and then disappeared.
The sandstorm continued.
The entire desert is shrouded in a sandstorm, and no one knows when it will stop.
If the three women knew that this would happen immediately after they left, they would definitely be very glad for their choice.
…
On the other hand, Xu Xin and Xu Ying were temporarily unable to find out the situation of Shi Wanyun and the others, so they prepared to start with the unconscious person.
This man is most likely the culprit behind the disappearance of the three of them.
If you want to know where Shi Wanyun and the others went, just ask him.
In order to save time, the two immediately returned to the World Tree where time flows a hundred times faster, but they did not return to where the survivors lived. Instead, they entered from another thick root and changed their location.
After all, this person doesn’t know what’s going on. It would be bad if he hurts the people around him after waking up.
Although he was already inside the World Tree and had nowhere to escape, the two men still tied him up for his safety.
Although I don’t know whether this ordinary rope will be of any use to him.
"Well... how do I wake him up?" Xu Ying was a little distressed, "How about just kicking him awake!"
As she said that, she raised her foot and wanted to kick it.
"Wait a moment."
Looking at the pale man lying on the barren soil, Xu Xin suddenly remembered something.
Can he read this guy's mind
Before, after this guy was teleported here, he only stayed under the tree house for a few seconds before entering the tree house.
He didn't have time at the time, nor did he think to activate his mind-reading ability, so he didn't know if he could read this guy's mind.
But now…
He immediately activated his mind-reading ability.
So... so painful...
So scary…
I'm... dying...
The voice that came at the first moment made Xu Xin open his eyes wide instantly.
"I can hear this guy's inner voice!" Xu Xin said in shock, "This person is... a native of this world?"
"Can you hear your inner voice?!" Xu Ying was also immediately surprised, "He... isn't he still sleeping?"
"It's just sleeping, not that the brain stops functioning."
"That… "
Both of them started to think faster.
Why can I hear his voice
But this is not important for now!
"What can you hear?" Xu Ying asked immediately.
"Mo Hu's voice. It's painful, I'm dying, or something like that."
Xu Xin continued listening.
There are also words like "it's so dark that it's torn apart by time and space", which are quite fragmented.
This person must be having a nightmare.
"Then wake him up first!" Xu Ying was about to kick him.
"Don't be so violent." Xu Xin stopped her action, then took out a bottle of ice water that he had stored earlier and poured it on the man's head.
"Hiss—" The man shuddered all over, then his eyes suddenly opened, and he sat up as if there was a spring on his back.
So cool! So cool!
The man's voice echoed in Xu Xin's mind.
It was the first time for Xu Xin to read the human mind, which made him feel very magical.
Although the thoughts of those advanced mutant creatures and giant beasts were relatively fluent and almost the same as those of humans, he still felt quite excited to be able to read humans' thoughts.
The man's hair was completely wet from the bottle of ice water and stuck to his scalp. He stared blankly ahead, then slowly raised his head to look at the two people standing in front of him.
During this process, Xu Xin never heard his inner voice, and it was obvious that his mind was blank at this moment.
But the moment he saw Xu Xin and the other person, his eyes widened and he wanted to jump up from the ground, but his legs and feet were tied and he couldn't get up.
"It's you! Who the hell are you? You blocked my way when I was teleporting and almost killed me!... I'm not dead yet..."
As he spoke, he noticed where he was at the moment.
There is endless barren soil and desolation.
It seems like... there are no upgrades.
And his inner voice was completely consistent with his words at this moment.
Damn...dead, I'm dead
Where is this... Is this the world after death
What a person who is consistent in appearance and character.
"Who are you?" Xu Xin asked directly without any further ado.
He didn't care whether the guy answered or not.
As long as I hear the question, he will think about it, and it would be nice to just hear what he is thinking.
… who I am
I am your father!
Xu Xin's forehead suddenly turned black.
I'm not dead... Wait, who are these people
The man shut his mouth instantly and looked at Xu Xin and the others.
Who is it? Hmm... ? Is that a backpack on the man's back? A survivor? Could it be a new batch of survivors? Damn! I was caught by this little white mouse!
It's a joke that they actually wanted to tie me up with this kind of rope.
So where is this place...
Hmm... Let's clarify the situation first.
"Who allowed you lowly creatures to question me like this? It would be easy for me to kill you."
An arrogant and disdainful expression appeared on the man's face, and then he exerted force and the rope tied to him broke.
This is not a difficult task, Xu Xin and Xu Ying can do it easily.
Then he stood up and dusted himself off very calmly.
It was as if the person with a pale face and foaming at the mouth just now was not him.
Of course, his complexion wasn't looking very good now.
"Being forced to pass out by little white mice like you is the shame of my entire life!"
He didn't even look at Xu Xin and Xu Ying, and concentrated on brushing the dust off himself.
"Hey, who are you?" Xu Ying asked.
She is also guiding this person to think about more information.
"Who am I? You are not qualified to know. It's my turn to ask you." The man curled his lips in disdain. "Where is this place?"
The little white mouse also wants to know the truth... Wait, who are they? They seemed to have teleported to me before
Thinking of this, he looked at the two of them with confusion in his eyes.
"Who are you anyway? You can teleport, so you are not one of us, right?"
As he said this, he took two steps back cautiously.
"Which department do you belong to? Why are you interfering with me? I am in charge of the survivors in Area 1. You have no right to interfere!"
Damn, could it be that some Ai Sibi came here to steal the credit? Those three women are related to the World Tree, and we must not let them fall into their hands!
How did they suddenly appear beside me? New technology from above
Xu Xin's eyes narrowed.
As expected, he is the person in charge of the World Tree, and he also knows the whereabouts of Lou Feier and the others!
And what is his identity