The next day, before dawn, the drill instructor knocked on each door, waking the team members to prepare for departure.

The drill instructor and the man with the gold-rimmed glasses bought the last five camels from the villagers and hired a local Uyghur guide with a generous payment. They followed the route previously planned by the archaeological team and embarked on an ancient trade route in the Taklamakan Desert.

The sand in the Taklamakan Desert is constantly shifting. After a night of wind, the tracks of Professor Chen's group were completely erased overnight, as if no one had ever been there.

The temperature difference in the desert is extreme. At night, the temperature drops below freezing, while during the day it can reach fifty or sixty degrees Celsius, almost scorching people.

In addition to a small amount of equipment, the five camels were loaded with drinking water and nang bread. Since there were not enough camels, some people had to walk. The guide rode one camel, and Rou Yi had difficulty keeping up with the group due to her leg problems. Therefore, the drill instructor specially arranged for her to ride one alone, while the others took turns riding the remaining three camels. They had tried having two people ride one camel, but the camel couldn't carry the weight, so they had to give up.

The security team's progress was slow. At this point, Rou Yi and Fatty realized how successful Professor Chen's strategy was. Professor Chen and his team of nine, plus the guide, each had a camel, so their speed would definitely be faster. But for them, twelve people taking turns riding three camels, the distance between the two teams would only increase. With an estimated journey of five days, Professor Chen would arrive at least two days ahead of them, giving him the advantage.

Fatty and Rou Yi’s guide was named Batur, in his forties. He used to guide tourists in the Taklamakan Desert and was very familiar with the desert environment. As dusk approached, Batur said to the man with the gold-rimmed glasses in broken Chinese, "It's getting dark. We, need to follow, the camels, to find, shelter from the wind."

The man with the gold-rimmed glasses was a little anxious. They were already behind schedule and needed to hurry. He said to Batur, "Can't we continue traveling at night?"

Batur quickly waved his hand. "No, no. Camels, also need rest, otherwise, we will all, die in, the desert."

Seeing Batur's insistence on resting, the man with the gold-rimmed glasses had no choice but to agree. The camels led the team to a sand dune, where they found some *suosuo* (saxaul trees) and *shaguaizao* (Calligonum mongolicum) nearby and slowly chewed on them.

The group made a fire near the sand dune. It slowly darkened, and the temperature dropped sharply. Batur instructed the team members to take off the camel hair blankets from the camels and wrap themselves in them to avoid freezing.

The twelve people sat around the fire, eating nang bread. The dry bread was rough on the tongue, and Rou Yi didn't have much of an appetite, but she forced herself to eat one to maintain her strength.

Fatty didn't care about the taste, he just felt hungry. He ate one bread after another, and when he wanted to eat a third, Batur stopped him, saying, "One person, at most two, otherwise, there won't be enough."

So Rou Yi gave her uneaten nang bread to Fatty, who ate it quickly and without ceremony.

During the meal, apart from the drill instructor and the man with the gold-rimmed glasses occasionally saying a few words, the others hardly spoke.

Rou Yi and Fatty didn't know the true faces of these people hidden behind their black masks.

Soon after eating, the drill instructor arranged for two people to keep watch, one for the first half of the night and one for the second half, while also watching the camels.

The next day, as soon as it was light, the team ate breakfast (still nang bread) and set off. The camels were in better condition that day, and their speed was faster than the first day, which gave the man with the gold-rimmed glasses some comfort.

In the barren sea of sand, wherever you looked, it was the same scene: sand, sand, sand, and more sand. Batur's decades of experience dealing with the desert had given him extensive knowledge of which way to go.

Batur told the man with the gold-rimmed glasses that he hadn't guided anyone to Lop Nur for more than ten years. Nowadays, tourists going to Lop Nur depart from Shanshan County and arrive in one or two days. The man with the gold-rimmed glasses didn't tell Batur the real reason they couldn't depart from Shanshan, using the excuse of scientific research.

Fatty knew the American's trick. There were military garrisons in Shanshan County. If they departed from Shanshan, their suspicious behavior would definitely be investigated at the checkpoints. Once investigated, their armed crossing of the border would be exposed. This group of American mercenaries would never be able to join the archaeological team. Therefore, to achieve their goal, they could only choose to cross the dangerous no-man's land to Lop Nur. The reason why the archaeological team also departed from the no-man's land was probably because of the two foreigners in the team, to avoid causing trouble.

On the third day, near dusk, the team had traveled more than half of the planned route. Batur estimated that they would reach the edge of Lop Nur in another two days.

But as dusk approached, a breeze from the horizon alerted Batur. He stopped the camel caravan and stood on a patch of desert, looking around. The man with the gold-rimmed glasses urged, "Hey, Ba, let's go, what are you hesitating about?"

Batur ignored the man with the gold-rimmed glasses. He felt the direction of the wind and looked into the distance, as still as a statue.

Seeing that Batur ignored him, the man with the gold-rimmed glasses walked straight towards Batur, wanting to ask what was going on. The drill instructor stopped him, saying, "There might be a problem, don't disturb him yet."

The man with the gold-rimmed glasses reluctantly gave up.

The sun gradually sank into the sea of sand, and the last ray of light stretched Batur's shadow very, very long. Batur stared straight at the sea of sand on the horizon for about two minutes, then turned to look at the man with the gold-rimmed glasses and the drill instructor. "It's over, it's over. The black sandstorm, is coming, early."

The man with the gold-rimmed glasses tried hard to look in the direction Batur had been looking, but there was nothing there except the endless sea of sand, sand dunes, and a wisp of setting sun.

The man with the gold-rimmed glasses complained, "There's no sign of a black sandstorm, are you seeing things, Ba?"

Batur panicked. He hurried to grab the camels and shouted to everyone, "Quick, go! Quick, go! If we don't leave, it'll be, too late!"

Clearly, except for the man with the gold-rimmed glasses, Rou Yi, and Fatty, none of the others understood what he was saying. They stood there愣愣ly, while Batur had no time to persuade anyone, wanting only to escape.

The man with the gold-rimmed glasses didn't translate Batur's words to the others. Instead, he negotiated with Batur again, "There's no black sandstorm, are you trying to raise the price? I'll give you more money, it's important to hurry."

Seeing that the man with the gold-rimmed glasses didn't understand, Batur dragged the camels away in another direction. "Saving my life, is important. If my life is, gone, what's the point of, money?"