Chapter 19: The Black Storm

After hearing Uncle Li's words, everyone quickly retreated to the temple's main hall. After all, there was only one corpse here, whereas the water cellar contained an uncountable number of bodies... I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination, but even after reaching the main hall, I could still hear murmurs in my ears. Yet, when I tried to listen carefully, I couldn't make out anything. This place was truly eerie. Normally, when I was near a corpse, I could sense their final memories. But here, it was as if some mysterious force had weakened my ability—sometimes even making it disappear entirely. The red-clad bride in the temple's main hall remained motionless, sitting just as she had before. After hearing what the middle-aged man had said, everyone cautiously avoided her. However, I found myself deeply intrigued by this corpse. Every time I got near her, an overwhelming sadness would wash over me... Once we left the temple, the sun was still blazing. Since our water and food supplies were running dangerously low, we couldn't afford to stay exposed under the scorching sun. So, we returned to the house where we had spent the previous night. It was the closest place to the city gate, making it easier to escape if necessary. The middle-aged man left the temple with us. Though I remained wary of him, I couldn't just leave him behind. Ding Yi, on the other hand, kept a close watch on him, as if expecting something to go wrong at any moment. Back at the house, Ye Zhiqiu distributed some naan and water to everyone. Because of the severe shortage, we were all rationed a limited amount. Looking at the tiny piece of naan in my hand, I felt a deep sense of regret—if I were to die here, my savings in the bank would remain untouched! Uncle Li noticed my daze and urged, "Eat something. You need to keep up your strength if we're going to make it out of here." I nodded and took a bite of the dry naan. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I had expected... Seeing that everyone had lost their appetite, Zhao Qiang tried to lighten the mood with a joke. "Do you guys know what's the best way to eat naan in Xinjiang?" No one was in the mood to guess, so we simply shook our heads. Zhao Qiang took another bite of naan and continued, "In Xinjiang, the best way to eat naan is with roasted lamb skewers. You grab a couple of sizzling skewers dripping with fat, slide the meat onto the naan, and take a big bite... That taste—oh man, it's so good you'd swear your tongue was melting!" The way he described it made my mouth water involuntarily. I silently swore to myself—if I made it out of here alive, I would have a proper feast of authentic Xinjiang lamb skewers! Just as Zhao Qiang was talking excitedly, I noticed a small red bump on the tiger's mouth (the area between the thumb and index finger) of his right hand. It looked like a mosquito bite. "Zhao Qiang, did something bite your hand?" I asked. He paused, looked at his hand, and indeed saw the bean-sized red bump. It itched slightly but didn't seem serious. He chuckled, "No big deal, probably just a mosquito bite. It'll go away soon." After eating, Uncle Li gathered us to discuss our next steps. We agreed that we couldn't just sit around and wait—we needed to find water. The ancient city was large, and there was still a chance another water source existed. The middle-aged man insisted he had searched everywhere and found nothing, but we decided to look again. If we could find water, we wouldn't have to remain trapped here. Uncle Li split us into two teams to search in opposite directions. Regardless of whether we found anything, we were to meet back at the house in two hours. Zhao Qiang, Ye Zhiqiu, Luo Hai, and Liu Ziping formed one group. The middle-aged man, Uncle Li, Ding Yi, and I were in the other. Before leaving, we checked outside the city in the desperate hope of a miracle. But all we saw was an endless desert—no sign of our vehicle, let alone another living soul. We followed our assigned route, searching every house we passed, but we didn't find a single drop of water. We walked in silence. I noticed Uncle Li checking his phone multiple times—probably looking at something specific. His expression made it clear that he was uncertain about something. Doubt lingered in my mind. It had been decades—was this middle-aged man truly alive or dead? And Ding Yi... he seemed so sure about something, much more certain than Uncle Li and me. Then, by chance, I looked up at the sky. On the western horizon, a dark line had appeared. Moments ago, the sun had been blazing overhead, but now, thick clouds rapidly rolled in, casting a shadow over the land. The sky changed in an instant. Uncle Li's expression darkened, as if sensing impending danger. "The black storm is coming!" the middle-aged man suddenly shouted, pointing at the sky. Only then did I realize that the dark clouds in the west were moving at an astonishing speed. Looking closer, I saw that it wasn't a regular storm—it was a massive, rolling wave of black sand! "A black storm? Will we be safe in the ancient city?" I asked anxiously. The middle-aged man glanced at his watch. "At its current speed, it'll reach us in less than thirty minutes. The mud-brick houses might not withstand it, but the temple should be safe." Uncle Li agreed with his assessment. However, we had been separated from Zhao Qiang's group. We had to find them before the storm hit! We rushed in the direction where Zhao Qiang's team had gone, hoping to locate them before the storm arrived. But despite searching all the way back to the houses near the city gate, they were nowhere to be found. A sense of unease crept into my heart—splitting up had been a mistake... "What do we do, Uncle Li? Where could they have gone?" I asked, worried. Uncle Li was also troubled. After thinking for a moment, he picked up a piece of broken tile and scratched a few words onto the wooden table inside the house: "Head to the temple immediately." Then he looked up at us and said, "Let's go. We'll wait for them at the temple." By the time we reached the temple entrance, half the sky had already been swallowed by darkness. The black storm had arrived...