The desert scenery is indeed magnificent, but seeing too much of it can inevitably lead to fatigue.

By midday, the temperature finally rose noticeably, no longer as cold as the frigid night.

The convoy came to a safe place to stop for a brief rest.

Mamati and three others got out to check the vehicle conditions, while Qi Yun stood nearby to light a cigarette.

At this moment, Liu Meng came over with two boxes of self-heating meals, handed one to him, glanced around, and then asked in a low voice, "What are we doing on this trip?"

Qi Yun took the meal box and replied, "We're here to find a caravan that was buried by the sands many years ago. They were carrying something very valuable."

He naturally trusted Liu Meng, so he didn't conceal anything.

Upon hearing this, Liu Meng raised his eyebrows, a hint of curiosity flashing in his eyes, "Treasure hunting, huh? Similar to the movies?"

Qi Yun smiled slightly, "More or less."

Just as Liu Meng was about to say more, suddenly, a gust of wind swept through, and sand flew everywhere, a bunch directly blowing into his mouth.

"Pah!"

"Let's go back to the car to eat."

...

After the brief rest, the convoy continued on, and it was quiet in the car. Qi Yun held onto the handle above the door frame, his body swaying with the vehicle, and fell asleep without realizing it.

When he opened his eyes again, the outside had already grown dim.

He was roused by the roar of an engine.

Qi Yun pushed open the car door, a gust of biting cold wind hitting him, making him shiver and subconsciously tighten the collar of his down jacket.

Looking towards the sound, he saw that the Ford Raptor driven by Ah Li behind had unfortunately become stranded, its tires spinning frantically but unable to break free.

Ai Shan had parked the Wrangler nearby and was taking out a tow rope from the car, preparing for rescue.

After securing the tow rope, the Wrangler's engine roared deeply as it slowly moved forward, the tow rope gradually stretching taut, creaking loudly.

The Ford Raptor's tires spun rapidly, kicking up a cloud of dust, but the vehicle only trembled slightly, still deeply stuck in the sand pit.

"It won't work like this, it can't be pulled!" Mamati patted the car window, signaling Ah Li to stop, "The load in the truck bed is too heavy, let's unload some things and try again."

Ah Li quickly nodded, and the two vehicles temporarily stopped as everyone worked together to unload the items from the Raptor's bed.

Once most of the supplies were unloaded, Ah Li got back in the car and started the engine again.

The Wrangler ahead powered up again, its engine roar echoing across the empty desert.

Under the immense towing force, the Raptor's body finally made noticeable movement, and Ah Li floored the accelerator, the vehicle suddenly lunging forward and finally escaping the sand pit.

This effort consumed a lot of time, and Ai Shan got out of the Wrangler to suggest to Mamati, "Why not camp here tonight? It's easy to get stuck in the dark; this area doesn't have much wind and sand. Camping should be fine."

Mamati frowned, scanned the surrounding dunes, hesitated slightly, and then nodded, saying, "Alright, let's camp here tonight. Set up the tents first, then reorganize the supplies."

Everyone started to busy themselves, Ah Li drove the Raptor to a relatively flat area to park and put the previously unloaded fuel back into the truck.

The tents were quickly set up, and Mamati and Ai Shan picked up some dry wormwood and poplar wood nearby. Everyone sat around the campfire at the center of the camp.

The warm firelight dispelled some of the chill, and a touch of relaxation appeared on everyone's face.

"Tonight we have grilled lamb skewers to eat," Mamati said, taking out a plastic bag filled with skewered lamb from the car's refrigerator.

Seeing this, Qi Yun and the others' eyes instantly lit up.

Having eaten instant noodles for several meals, their mouths had become bland, and they indeed wanted some meat.

As the meat grilled on the rack, the dripping fat sizzled on the ashes, sending up wisps of smoke, with the scent of cumin and chili powder wafting in the air, making one involuntarily want to swallow.

Liu Meng rubbed his hands together eagerly, "Mamati, let me help flip them, I'm good at this."

Mamati didn't refuse, handing him a bunch of lamb skewers to grill.

At this moment, everyone's attention was focused on the campfire, oblivious to the few pairs of green eyes watching from behind a nearby dune.

Liu Meng's hands kept turning the willow skewers, and the lamb gradually became golden and enticing, the aroma permeating.

"I'm not exaggerating, but my grilling skills are not worse than those of the professionals," he said while distributing several skewers to everyone, "Here, have a taste."

Zhong Rui eagerly took the lamb skewer he offered, bit into it without hesitation, his eyes widening, and he mumbled unclearly, "Meng, your skills are exceptional, so fragrant!"

Qi Yun also tasted a couple of pieces; the flavor was indeed quite good.

Soon, everyone finished the bag of lamb, yet Liu Meng still seemed to want more.

After dinner, as the fire burned low, everyone crawled into the tents to rest.

Qi Yun walked a few steps further away to relieve himself.

With a cigarette in his mouth, one hand unzipping his pants and the other holding a lighter.

As he raised his hand to light it, he suddenly caught a glimpse of green lights flashing briefly in the distance.

He immediately felt a chill sweep over him from behind, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up.

But when he carefully looked in the direction of the sand dune ahead, he saw nothing.

"Was I seeing things?"

He stood still, staring for a good two minutes, but everything remained normal.

At this moment, a voice called from behind: "Boss Qi, what's wrong?" It was Mamati, who came over out of concern when he noticed Qi Yun had not returned to the tent for a long time.

Qi Yun quickly shook himself, zipped up his jacket, and turned to walk towards Mamati.

"It's nothing, I just thought I saw a few green lights over there, maybe it was a mirage."

Though the speaker was unintentional, the listener was attentive. Upon hearing this, Mamati instantly became wary: "In which direction?"

Qi Yun turned and pointed behind him: "Right there, at the sand dune in front."

Mamati looked over but saw nothing either.

Still, his expression remained serious. His years of experience in the wild alerted him to the potential danger.

Turning to Qi Yun, he said, "We can't stay here overnight tonight; we have to leave immediately. What you saw could be wolves."

"Wolves?!" Qi Yun was taken aback.

Mamati nodded: "Yes, there are wolves in the desert too, and they are more fierce and cunning than wolves in other places. I have seen them over by Lop Nur, and they are very large."

"However, desert wolves usually have fixed habitats and only hunt near water sources. We must have intruded into their territory."

With that, he quickly led Qi Yun back to the camp, waking up Ai Shan and Ah Li to explain the situation.

After hearing this, both of them also looked serious. Without much thought, they quickly opened the car doors, started the vehicles, and turned on all the headlights, illuminating the surrounding sand and casting long shadows.

Qi Yun called for Liu Meng and Zhong Rui to quickly pack up. Hearing there were wolves, Zhong Rui immediately showed a tense expression, while Liu Meng remained calm, intentionally or unintentionally sticking close to Qi Yun.

Everyone worked quickly and efficiently to pack up their things.

Just as they stuffed the tents and sleeping bags into the car and were about to pack up the items in the middle of the camp, a long, low howl suddenly broke the desert silence, echoing in the night sky.

The sound seemed to come from all directions, sending chills down their spines.

Soon after, more wolf howls followed one after another, getting closer and closer.

"Get in the car!" Mamati shouted loudly.

They dared not delay and quickly scrambled into the cars, leaving some items behind.

Mamati floored the pedal, and the car shot forward like an arrow, with Ah Li and Ai Shan following closely behind in the other two vehicles.

They hadn't driven far when, under the car headlights, they were horrified to find a pack of large desert wolves emerging from behind the sand dune, numbering no less than a dozen.

Their eyes glowed a ghostly green in the darkness as they swarmed toward them.

Seeing their tense expressions, Mamati comforted them: "No need to worry; as long as we're in the car, we're safe. They'll give up after a while."

Indeed, after following the cars for several hundred meters, the dozen or so wolves gradually slowed down, ceasing their pursuit.

Everyone collectively exhaled a sigh of relief, and the tension in their nerves finally relaxed a little.

"This is why we plan the camping sites in advance: we choose locations that not only shield us from sandstorms but also have few wild animals," Mamati said.

"I see; it's a good thing you're experienced. Otherwise, we would have been in big trouble tonight," Qi Yun said, still with lingering fear.

Mamati nodded: "That's right, in the desert, any carelessness can lead to big trouble."

Qi Yun lit a cigarette, taking a deep drag before exhaling.

At this moment, a screen spontaneously appeared before his eyes.

[Host did not receive intelligence messages yesterday. Expired intelligence messages will be stored as intelligence points (Note: After upgrading to Level 4, intelligence points can be used to query specific information about a particular individual.)]

[Current intelligence points: 1]

Qi Yun was taken aback, checked his phone for the time, and realized it was already midnight.

He had dozed in the car for a whole day and completely forgot about checking the intelligence messages.

Though he unknowingly discovered a new function of the system, it wasn't a complete loss.

"Using intelligence points to query specific information about a particular individual seems useful..."

The convoy drove for another two hours before finally arriving at the camping site Mamati had chosen.

After pitching their tents, Mamati and Ai Shan remained concerned and took a flashlight to inspect the surroundings, ensuring safety before crawling into their tents to sleep.

...

By noon the next day, the convoy stopped by a sand dune.

Mamati looked at the GPS in his hand and said, "Boss Qi, here is the location you were looking for."

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