The First Night of the Journey

"On the road ahead, we might encounter three kinds of traps. You must be extremely careful, or we'll be in serious trouble," Meng Tao said gravely.

"The first is a salt-alkali thorn net. The exposed saline soil between the dunes freezes into jagged crystals, hard and dense like a bed of spikes, and can easily puncture an off-road vehicle's tires. Therefore, once the light starts fading before sunset, we must stop driving to avoid accidentally entering a salt-alkali thorn net."

After hearing Meng Tao's introduction, everyone nodded.

Visibility was poor when driving at night. If they blew a tire, that would be a real headache.

In the middle of the desert, they would be trapped with no way forward or back.

Still, this kind of trap could at most cause some trouble. It was not likely to be fatal, so everyone quietly waited for Meng Tao to continue.

"The second is called a frost trap by the locals. The surface layer of sand hardens from overnight frost, forming a crust that appears safe. Once the weight on it exceeds 300 kilograms, the frost layer can suddenly crack, dropping you into quicksand. Vehicles may be swallowed quickly as well," Meng Tao said.

Everyone's expressions turned grave when they heard about the second trap.

If the salt-alkali thorn net merely punctured tires and caused some trouble, then frost traps could already kill people.

Lin Yuan pictured it in his mind. One moment, the vehicle seemed to be driving steadily; the next, it suddenly lurched downward.

Quicksand rushed in from all directions as the vehicle kept sinking.

The people inside frantically tried to escape and save themselves, only to find that the sand had sealed the doors shut so tightly that they could not even open them.

That kind of situation was truly