Qian Ying and Zhou Zixing, along with five Martial Artists, quickly headed toward the lake.
After a little over an hour, the group stopped.
Qian Ying arrived at a place that felt somewhat familiar from the previous night. Although he had been desperately fleeing then, the battle and being pursued and surrounded by more than a hundred Strange Beasts had left his memory of the surroundings somewhat hazy.
But the traces on the ground told him he was in the right place.
"Elder Qian, this should be where we were standing last night," Zhou Zixing transmitted to Qian Ying. With others nearby, it was better to communicate through transmission. Otherwise, if these people heard them, it might affect the group's morale.
"Yes, it's here!" Qian Ying crouched down and grabbed a handful of darkened sand containing hard granules. After sensing it, he said doubtfully, "However, whether it was the Strange Beasts or that Black Shadow, neither should have encountered any extreme heat while fighting us last night. But look at this soil..."
Like Zhou Zixing, Qian Ying was communicating through transmission.
Zhou Zixing also crouched down, grabbed a handful of darkened sand, then rose to carefully inspect it.
The sand in his hand had become different from the normal sand around it. Ordinary sand was somewhat brownish-yellow, mixed with patches of white. The area around the lake was all Gobi Desert, and the soil contained saline alkali, which gave it that whitish color.
But the soil in his hand had turned black and contained hard granules. When he crushed them between his fingers, the exposed particles proved to be vitrified.
"Hiss... this soil..." Zhou Zixing drew in a slight breath and transmitted, "The ground here has been vitrified, as if it were scorched by extreme heat. But I remember last