On the sea of sand, a transport vehicle sped through, stirring up waves of sand.
Behind this vehicle were four similar waves of sand, but after these waves were erected scorpions' tails, all scarlet red.
"Drive towards eleven o'clock!" the old man said, holding the railing with one hand and a map with the other. "There should be ruins there! It can help us avoid the sand scorpions!"
"But there are sand scorpions approaching from the side!" the teacher said, driving and glancing at the rearview mirror.
"You just drive! I'll figure out the rest!" (pictured above)
"Everyone grab onto something around you! Sit tight!" The driving teacher immediately shifted gears, stepped on the accelerator, and turned the steering wheel. The transport vehicle pulled a long sand wave, turning towards the depths of the sandy sea.
Military transport vehicles are usually equipped with radar scanners and other sonic devices that can effectively detect obstacles in sandstorms. Before long, the radar emitted a sound indicating the detection of a large obstacle.
"We must have arrived! Let's hurry..." The old man was about to tell the driving teacher to accelerate, but the vehicle's windshield seemed to have been replaced. The dim, earthy yellow outside vanished, leaving only a tranquil sky and a golden sea of sand.
"The sand scorpions behind us are gone!" Qian Xiao exclaimed, looking as if he had narrowly escaped a disaster.
"But..." Qing Lianzi opened his eyes and asked, "Where is this place? I can clearly feel spatial fluctuations."
"I..." The driving teacher was about to speak but suddenly froze, his eyes wide as if he had seen something extraordinary.
Everyone looked forward through the vehicle's windshield. On the seemingly flat terrain ahead, there was a sudden Gobi Desert, and attached to it was an ancient palace.
"What... is this?" Teacher Devenson exclaimed dramatically.
The guide's expression was uncertain, as if he had a rough guess but didn't want it to be true.
"Old man," Qing Lianzi looked at the guide and said, "Crimson pillars, white stones, yellow walls, and green tiles. Is this the legendary Loulan Kingdom described in ancient texts?"
Upon hearing this, the guide's eyes grew more helpless. He nodded in resignation and said, "There are four legendary places in the Hexi Sand Sea, their coordinates are nowhere to be found, and those who seek them rarely return. They are: the eight-hundred-mile wild Kunlun, the three-thousand-foot Lop Nor, the eleven-zhang Heavenly Saint Gate, and the eighteen-story Loulan Palace."
"We are now at this Loulan Palace, I'm afraid our chances of survival are slim, and it will be difficult to get out..." With that, the guide lit a cigarette and said, "Let's write a will first. At least if we die, the people behind us can help take it out."
The atmosphere in the car instantly became heavy.
"This kid's lineage traces back to the ancestor Shi Qian," Cao Bei Jie, who had been silent, suddenly said. "Old man, is this Loulan Palace the capital palace of the Parthian Empire?"
As soon as he said this, the guide couldn't help but glance at Cao Bei Jie and ask, "Are you Old Rong? (slang, meaning thief)"
"Descendant of Bei Da Dao Yi Zhi Mei," Cao Bei Jie said, cupping his hands.
"What do you want to say?"
"If this is the capital of the Parthian Empire, then there must be a廢弃ed ancient teleportation array. Why don't we go in and find it and repair it?" (Special setting here: The real Parthian Empire was in the Iran region, while Loulan was near Lop Nor in Xinjiang.)
At this point, everyone was stunned, but also fell into thought.
Cao Bei Jie's reasoning made sense, but the casualty rate after entering Loulan Palace would likely increase significantly.
"Are you confident you can repair the teleportation array?" Qing Lianzi asked.
"This kid is not talented, he has only learned two secret techniques from his master: the illusion technique and the spatial technique, which can repair most teleportation arrays."
Thieves like Cao Bei Jie often stole not normal gold and silver treasures, but rare and exotic treasures, landscapes and calligraphy and paintings. Exploring ancient tombs and secret palaces, and competing with grave robbers for a living was also common.
"Alright then—" Devenson said, "Those who don't want to enter Loulan Palace, speak up now. We won't force anyone. If no one speaks, I'll assume everyone agrees to enter and search for an exit."
"..."
Silence filled the car. After all, entering Loulan Palace still offered a chance of escape, while searching for an exit in this vast sea of sand was tantamount to seeking death. Moreover, those who could sit here were not timid people, so no one spoke.
"Good... Since that's the case, when exploring, you must listen to the guide. When fighting, you must listen to the command of us three teachers. Do you understand?"
...
Mountains look close but are far; when they finally approached Loulan Palace, it was already dusk.
Devenson organized everyone to pitch tents and build a camp on the desert. Originally, such behavior in the previous sea of sand would have been suicidal, but now, apart from the Dragon Capital University team, there were no other creatures here. Even if there were, they were inside Loulan Palace, so it didn't matter.
By the bonfire, Mo Chuan gave Zhang Hanshan and He Lanxin a look, calling them over.
"What's wrong, Brother Chuan?" Zhang Hanshan asked, rubbing his nose.
"There was something wrong with that corpse salvager earlier," Mo Chuan got straight to the point.
"Ah?" Zhang Hanshan looked bewildered, while He Lanxin also frowned slightly.
"I always felt something was wrong with the arrangement of the room earlier," Mo Chuan said. "Then I realized that all the furnishings in the room were on the left side, meaning the owner of the room was left-handed."
"And the man who received us was right-handed..." Zhang Hanshan picked up the conversation, his face turning grim. "Take out the devices, and I'll check them again."
After the three took out their devices, this time Zhang Hanshan, disregarding the risk of damaging them, performed the most thorough disassembly. Finally, a line of characters was found at the terminal connection of the spirit crystal.
"What... is this?" Zhang Hanshan stared at it for a long time but couldn't figure anything out.
"Is it Sanskrit?" He Lanxin asked.
"It doesn't look like it..." Because of his special abilities, Zhang Hanshan had learned many ancient and modern Sanskrit texts, but these characters were truly strange, and he couldn't make out their meaning.
"Then... these things can't be used for now," Mo Chuan said. "After all, we don't know if these characters attracted the sand scorpions or led us into this Loulan Palace."
The three were also silent – after all, they had been tricked despite their vigilance, and anyone in this situation would feel bad.
"Who did it?" He Lanxin asked.
"It's not important anymore..." Mo Chuan rubbed his temples and said, "The most important thing now is how to get out of here..."