Sandstorm

The next day, Qin Chuan finally understood the true meaning of what Bushra had called a "barren land." Everywhere he looked, there was nothing but golden sand, like an ocean of sand, rising and falling endlessly to the horizon. If one didn't know that beneath its beautiful exterior lay scorching heat and death, they might indeed be deceived by its appearance.

Bushra stopped, spread out a mat on the ground, and began to pray devoutly, kneeling and bowing repeatedly while chanting in a low voice. The soldiers did not disturb him, as they too were shaken by what they saw. Many of them also made the sign of the cross on their chests and silently prayed in their hearts... whether they were Libyan or German, the troops indeed needed divine protection at that moment.

After a long while, Bushra finally stood up, gazed at the endless golden desert with a look of deep reverence, and said, "Awana Sharnu... the abode of the devil. Once you step inside, your life belongs to the devil!"

At first, Qin Chuan thought Bushra's words were more of a legend or an exaggeration, but after entering, he realized that Bushra had spoken the truth.

This desert was completely trackless. Everything looked the same—just sand dunes everywhere. Finding a tree or a mountain to use as a landmark was out of the question, and even the sand dunes beneath their feet were constantly shifting. One day the sand dunes were like this, and the next they were like that. A single sandstorm could completely "reshuffle" everything.

For those walking through it, this was a natural maze. The only thing they could rely on was their sense of direction.

But even that was unreliable because their destination was the Msés Oasis.

"Msés Oasis is just a dot on the map!" Bushra explained. "Many people pass by it without ever finding it, and as a result, they die of thirst on the remaining journey."

"Then how do you find it?" Qin Chuan asked.

"I don't know!" Bushra replied. "But I just know how to find it!"

Alfredo added while translating, "Maybe it's a feeling."

Qin Chuan nodded in agreement. Though it wasn't scientific, right now, they had no choice but to trust that feeling.

Another problem was that once they entered this "abode of the devil," the marching speed slowed drastically.

There were two reasons for this:

First, the terrain was uneven, with mostly soft sand.

The uneven terrain meant that the actual journey would be much longer than the straight-line distance on the map... The troops were constantly climbing over one sand dune after another, so even though their marching spirit hadn't diminished, their speed was less than half of what it had been before.

The soft sand made walking even more difficult, especially when climbing. With each step forward, they would slide back a step, and if they weren't careful, they would slide all the way down to the bottom and have to start again.

The other reason was that the terrain created many problems for the vehicles... The vehicles couldn't climb these sand dunes of soft sand and had to find a more winding but relatively flat route with the help of the scouts.

This forced the logistics convoy and the troops to split up... The convoy went around the sand dunes while the troops took a direct route over them.

Luckily, both sides had radios and frequently used signal flares to indicate their positions, preventing them from getting lost.

If these were the only difficulties, the troops could still press on. After all, they were making progress, and there was enough water to get them to the Msés Oasis... Not only could the oasis provide water, but it also signified that they had passed through the most dangerous part of the "abode of the devil."

But as the saying goes, "Man proposes, God disposes." On the second day of their journey into the golden desert, just as the soldiers were struggling to climb up and down the sand dunes, Bushra's camels suddenly became restless, refusing to move and standing in place, crying out.

This alerted Bushra, who quickly raised his hand to signal the soldiers to stop and remain quiet.

Qin Chuan looked around but saw nothing unusual. The sun was still high in the sky, scorching the desert and everyone in it, and there was nothing around them except themselves.

But Bushra's solemn expression made Qin Chuan feel that something was wrong, and it was something serious.

"What's going on?" Qin Chuan asked.

Alfredo shrugged and replied, "I don't know either. Bushra says the wind is picking up, but what's so scary about wind—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Alfredo's eyes widened, staring dumbfounded in the direction of the northwest.

Following Alfredo's gaze, Qin Chuan saw a plume of smoke in the distance, something that could easily be mistaken for a cloud or a plume of smoke from an exploding shell.

"It's a sandstorm!" Alfredo's face turned pale as he waved his hand, shouting to the soldiers, "Disperse! Find cover!"

But there was no cover to be found in this place. The entire area was filled with sand dunes, and hiding was useless.

Bushra managed to get the camels to kneel down, quickly checked to make sure the water bags and food were securely fastened, then crawled under one of the camels for shelter. A moment later, he poked his head out and motioned for Qin Chuan and the others to do the same.

Qin Chuan understood, called out to his men, and followed Bushra's example, crawling under the camels. It did provide some sense of safety, though the stench of the camels was hard to bear.

Then, out of curiosity, Qin Chuan peeked out to look at the approaching sandstorm... This was his first time witnessing a sandstorm.

By now, the sandstorm had grown even larger, looking like a moving wall of sand, slowly but relentlessly bearing down on them. It resembled a raging sea, with waves of gray-black sand rolling towards them.

If you looked closely, you could see that the upper layer of the wall was a slightly reddish-yellow, the middle layer was gray-black, and the lower layer was black.

Qin Chuan understood the reason for these colors: The upper layer contained finer dust particles, which reflected the sunlight coming from above, making it appear reddish-yellow. The middle layer had larger particles, allowing only some sunlight to pass through, giving it a gray-black appearance. The lower layer contained the largest particles, which blocked out almost all the light, making it look black.

The wind grew stronger, and the sandstorm drew closer. Then, all of a sudden... the sky darkened as if night had fallen. In an instant, sand was flying everywhere, carried by the heated wind from the sun. The sand found its way into every opening—sleeves, collars, and more—stinging Qin Chuan's face and making it nearly impossible to keep his eyes open.

It was a strange sensation, like nightfall had suddenly arrived, but it wasn't truly night. Occasionally, a few rays of sunlight would break through from above... This was due to the uneven distribution of the swirling sand, allowing brief glimpses of light through the gaps. It was like a rotating light in a dance hall. If it weren't for the fact that the sand was clogging Qin Chuan's nose and mouth, making it hard to breathe, this could almost be considered a beautiful sight.

Carefully, Qin Chuan took a towel from his backpack, struggling to tie it around his face to cover his nose and mouth. Then he held the towel in place with one hand... He was worried that the fierce wind would suddenly blow the towel away, and if that happened, he would have to worry about not being able to eat his dinner, as the sand would surely fill his stomach.

Amid the howling wind, there was the faint sound of a gunshot... followed by the pained cry of a camel.

Qin Chuan cursed silently to himself, realizing that some clumsy soldier had accidentally fired their rifle and hit one of the camels.