Chapter 68: The Road of the Second Exile (10)

Radish clutched his head and wept bitterly, “But it’s not even his stuff!”

“You’re still arguing?! Give it back to him, now!”

Ye Liuyun was furious. She’d long been fed up with Radish’s bad habits; usually, when he scavenged from the dead, she turned a blind eye, but now he was even targeting the living. If he got used to this, who knows what might happen in the future?

Radish suffered both scolding and blows, his face mournful. “Boss, how can you side with outsiders?”

Ye Liuyun snapped at him, “He’s almost dead—why keep his things? Are you planning to bury them with him?”

Sniffling, Radish reluctantly pulled out Lin Yuan’s belongings one by one.

There weren’t many: an unloaded gun, a dagger, and a keychain.

The keychain was rather punk—keys, a name tag, and a string of metal skulls dangled from it, the sort of thing young people like Radish would appreciate.

As he handed the items over, he couldn’t help muttering, “The name tag on the keychain says ‘Lin Ke’. Didn’t he say his name was Lin Yuan? He must have scavenged these from someone else.”

Lin Yuan took his things with a blank expression. “Maybe that’s my childhood name.”

The bearded man chimed in, “Yeah, maybe it belonged to his father—or his brother.”

Radish felt utterly betrayed and simply shut his mouth, resigning himself to die in the car.

Ye Liuyun had no time to comfort him. Anxious, she gazed out the window. The serpent’s body was slowly constricting, its tightly packed scales scraping against the glass as it wriggled. If their vehicle hadn’t been modified, it would surely have been crushed and deformed by now.

“Let’s wait a little longer… just a little longer…” Ye Liuyun murmured. “The Bramble Python is a mutant beast that hunts at dusk—under this blazing sun, it won’t last much longer. It’ll have to hide…”

...

Creeeak—

Creee—ak—

The off-road vehicle continued to sink, its tilt growing more severe.

Lin Yuan frowned, glancing beneath the car, his face grim. “We can’t keep waiting like this. I think it wants to bury us alive.”

The bearded man shuddered in horror, immediately turning to Ye Liuyun. “Boss, the Bramble Python is an expert at digging sand pits—its lair is one giant pit it dug itself! If it buries the car, we’ll really never get out!”

Ye Liuyun’s complexion paled. “No… it can’t be. Our car is huge, and it’s reinforced…”

She barely finished her sentence before the vehicle tilted again—this time, plunging straight into the sandpit at a sharp ninety-degree angle.

---

Inside the car, everyone scrambled to steady themselves, but still ended up tumbling together in a heap.

“No—this won’t do!” The bearded man panicked, bracing himself against the seat. “Even if we’re only half-buried, if the doors don’t open, we’re done for! You guys might squeeze through the windows, but I’m too big to fit!”

Frightened and flustered, he tried to open the door. The Bramble Python seemed prepared for just this moment—its head twisted around as soon as the door cracked open, splitting into six blood-red segments! In that instant, venom sprayed directly at the bearded man!

“Shut it!”

Sharing the front seat, Lin Yuan yanked him back in time.

Venom splattered against the glass, with a few drops landing on their arms. Though the liquid appeared clear, it burned their skin with a searing pain.

Ye Liuyun’s face was pale. “If that venom hits an open wound, you two are finished!”

Lin Yuan gritted his teeth, ripping off his sleeve where the venom had soaked in. “That snake is clever. It knows it can’t swallow all four of us at once, so it’s trying to trap us here—make sure none escape.”

At some point, the air conditioning had failed, and the interior grew increasingly suffocating, the temperature rising sharply.

Fear began to creep into Ye Liuyun’s heart.

She and her team had faced death countless times, but never had she felt fear like this. Perhaps those dangers had always been sudden, over in a flash, unlike now, where death approached bit by bit, tormenting them as it drew near.

Ye Liuyun drew a trembling breath, asking softly, “Does the car horn still work?”

The bearded man’s chest heaved rapidly, already feeling the oppressive lack of air. Hearing Ye Liuyun, he pressed the horn with all his strength—

The shrill blare echoed, startling the Bramble Python. Its head darted beneath the vehicle, searching for the source of the noise, while Ye Liuyun quickly pressed the window button.

Just lowering the glass a fraction was enough to let fresh air seep in.

Yet their situation hardly improved—scorching heat, dehydration, and the relentless passage of time were all deadly threats.

“Bearded man…” Ye Liuyun felt even speaking was draining. “Check the drawer—I remembered… there should be… a flare gun…”

Beside her, Radish weakly muttered, “Boss… just admit it… this route you picked is terrible… no sane person would take it. Even if you fire the flare… no one’s going to see it…”

“Shut up…” Ye Liuyun swallowed with difficulty, her tongue so dry nothing went down. “Just fire it…”

The bearded man retrieved the flare gun, his limbs numb, vision darkening. He squeezed the trigger several times without success and finally passed out.

Lin Yuan took the flare gun from his limp hand, mustering his last strength to thrust it out the window—

Bang!

---

Vivid smoke exploded into the sky, forming a striking signal above them—but whether anyone would come to their rescue, no one knew.

The sun blazed overhead, turning the car into a sealed oven. Outside, the Bramble Python, which should have retreated into the sand by now, remained tightly coiled around the vehicle, its tail swishing and shifting sand, already burying half the car.

Ye Liuyun felt her eyes so dry she could barely keep them open. Groggy, she wondered: Was this really the day she’d die here?

The front seat was even hotter. After the bearded man, Lin Yuan also passed out.

Her head swam, her stomach ached. Ye Liuyun weakly placed her hand over her abdomen and turned to look at Radish, regret gnawing at her.

If she died, so be it; she’d seen all the wonders and delights the oasis had to offer. But Radish was only seventeen…

Radish croaked, “Boss… maybe I should crawl out and let the snake eat me. At least I’d die quickly… and if it eats me, it won’t have time to eat you guys… maybe you could escape…”

“Escape where?…” Ye Liuyun closed her eyes. “Without the car, walking back to the oasis in this heat… we’d be dried to husks…”

Radish’s eyes were nearly shut, “Boss… do you think people turn into ghosts after they die?”

Ye Liuyun slowly shook her head. “I don’t know…”

Radish said, “If I could be a ghost, I’d want to be a water ghost… I’m so thirsty…”

Ye Liuyun managed a wry smile. “Then I’d want to be a wine ghost…”

Radish fell silent.

Ye Liuyun opened her eyes. In her blurred vision, she seemed to see something drifting, and faint, cheerful music echoed in her ears.

“Is this my last moment of consciousness? Why am I hearing music?”

She forced her eyes open, trying to see and hear more clearly.

Amid the blinding white sunlight, she saw countless colorful bubbles floating outside the window, drifting and swirling…

“Bu… bubbles?” Ye Liuyun murmured. “I must be dying, seeing hallucinations now…”

How could there possibly be bubbles in this parched desert?

…