"Let's drive over and have a look," someone said what everyone was thinking.
Nabari frowned, looked at the sky, and raised an objection. "It's going to be dark soon. It's better to go in the day …"
"No, maybe there are survivors." Peter Lee shook his head.
No matter who drove the car into the desert, they could not ignore it. Everyone wanted to find out the truth, and it was against the spirit of humanitarianism to ignore it. The light was too dim, and they could not see the specific situation clearly. They could only see that the car was half-buried in the sand. Perhaps the driver was still nearby and had not escaped, waiting for people to rescue him.
Time was of the essence. If there was really a victim, a night of waiting might take that person's life.
Furthermore, with an unknown off-road vehicle nearby, no one would be able to sleep well tonight.
After a little discussion, everyone quickly came up with a plan. The drones would retreat, find a gentle slope on the sand ridge, and collectively drive over the sand ridge. Then, they would drive to the car, scout the situation, and set up camp.
Everyone was curious about the truth behind the car. The onlookers dispersed and returned to their cars, rubbing their palms and getting ready to set off.
Zhang Zian withdrew the drone, flew on the sand ridge, and found a place with a gentle slope, allowing everyone to successfully cross the sand ridge and arrive on the other side of the sand dune.
At this time, the sky was completely dark. Every car turned on their headlights, illuminating the surroundings in a snowy white.
If it was traversing the desert on foot, the best choice was to go out at night and avoid the intense sunlight and unbearable heat during the day. They would rest during the day and walk at night to reduce the body's water loss.
However, it was very dangerous to drive at night in the desert. Generally, people would try to avoid driving at night because the sand was rugged, and it was dark outside the range of the headlights. The strong contrast between light and dark and the rapid change of light and dark could easily cause visual fatigue, making it impossible to detect danger in time.
Over the intercom, Nabari suggested a stop.
"Mr. Wei Kang, Mr. Lee Peter, the situation ahead is unclear. If you insist on going to investigate, I think it is best not to go together. It is better to send a few cars to investigate first."
Although Wei Kang and Peter didn't think it was necessary, they still respected Nabari's opinion.
After some discussion, it was decided that Nabari, Peter Lee, Wei Kang, and Zhang Zian would go check out the situation. The other cars would stay put.
In fact, everyone wanted to be the first to see it, but they had no choice but to stay and listen to the live broadcast through the walkie-talkie.
The four cars were now a few meters apart, driving side by side toward the approximate location of the off-road vehicle that was half-buried in the sand. This way, the headlights could cover a large area, ensuring safety and not missing any clues.
Previously, the drone's image could not accurately determine the distance. The four of them felt that they had driven quite far, but they still did not see the car.
From time to time, they glanced at the rearview mirror. The headlights of the main force behind them were very bright. Even at a distance, they still shone through the darkness, but the flickering lights proved that the sand was very uneven.
Suddenly, the high beams seemed to shine on a slightly reflective object. It seemed to be the off-road vehicle.
"Stop the car! Stop the car! Stop the car! "
Nabari suddenly roared.
Zhang Zian reacted quickly and was the first to step on the brakes. He stepped on the brakes all at once, and the tires rolled up a lot of sand and quickly stopped.
Peter Lee also stepped on the brakes, but he was not as decisive as Zhang Zian. He slid forward a few more meters before stopping.
Wei Kang's reaction was a little slower, and he slid forward more than ten meters before stopping. Although he had stopped, there seemed to be a problem with the car's posture. The front wheel on one side seemed to have sunk in.
Wei Kang only braked, but he did not turn off the engine. He shook violently in the car, as if he had lost his front hooves. Fortunately, he was wearing a seat belt, or his head might have hit the steering wheel.
He felt that the front wheel seemed to have sunk into a pit. He instinctively shifted to reverse, wanting to reverse the car.
"Don't move! Don't move! "
Nabari yelled. He had already jumped out of the car and ran toward Wei Kang's car.
But it was too late.
Not only did Wei Kang not reverse the car, but the wildly spinning wheels dug up a lot of sand. It seemed to have a countereffect, disturbing the structure of the deep sand. Not only the front wheel on one side, but even the rear wheel began to sink.
"Professor Wei Kang! Get out of the car! "Zhang Zian saw that the situation was urgent and grabbed the walkie-talkie.
"Prepare the rope!" Peter Lee also reacted. "Don't let the car sink!"
Wei Kang's face was pale, and his whole body was sweating. He trembled and let go of the steering wheel and accelerator.
A word suddenly jumped into everyone's mind — quicksand!
They understood why the off-road vehicle in front of them was trapped in the sand. It had probably encountered quicksand.
Quicksand was very scary. It was like an insatiable bottomless pit, trying to swallow anything that passed through it into its belly. The most frightening thing was that the surface of quicksand was often no different from ordinary sand. You would only notice it when you walked on it and sank.
The off-road vehicle was heavy, and it sank very quickly. In the blink of an eye, the sand had already reached the bottom of the door. Wei Kang could not even open the door.
"Window! Come out of the window! "Nabari shouted.
Wei Kang was completely panicking. Only then did he remember that he could escape through the window. He was thin, so he could get out of the window.
He rolled down the window and struggled to get half of his body out of the window. His butt sat on the window frame of the car, and he looked down. He seemed to be hesitating whether or not he could jump.
"Don't jump! On the roof! If you jump, you will be buried with the car! "Nabari shouted.
Wei Kang gritted his teeth and used a lot of effort. Relying on his good physical fitness from frequent field expeditions, he successfully climbed from the window to the roof of the car. He lay on the roof, his hands clutching the luggage rack. His face was as white as paper.
At this time, Zhang Zian had already taken out the rope from his car and thrown it far away to Wei Kang. He did not know how large the range of quicksand was, so he did not dare to stand too close. However, the rope itself was very heavy. The first and second time, he threw it askew. It was not until the third time that Wei Kang caught it.
Peter Lee had already turned his car around. Zhang Zian tied one end of the rope to the trailer hook behind Peter Lee's car, and then Wei Kang could jump out of the car.
Wei Kang gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and jumped down. His legs immediately sank into the sand, and he felt a suction deep in the sand, dragging his feet down. Now the rope was his life-saving straw. He used all his strength to pull the rope, wrapping it around his arms several times.
Peter Lee stepped on the accelerator, and the rope was taut. The horsepower of the engine easily overcame the suction of the quicksand, dragging Wei Kang from the quicksand to safety.
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