Pet King

“Let’s drive over and take a look.” Someone said what everyone was thinking.

Nabari frowned, looked at the sky, and objected, “It’s going to be dark right away. We should wait for daytime…”

Peter Lee shook his head. “No. The victims may still be alive.”

No matter who drove the car into the desert, it was not possible to ignore it. Everyone wanted to know what happened. Besides, not doing anything went against the basic humanitarian spirit, although it was too dark and they could not make out what had specifically happened. They could only make out that the car was half buried in the sand. Perhaps the driver was still nearby but not entirely out of trouble. He might merely be waiting for people to save him.

Time was of the essence. If there was a victim, a night of waiting could kill him. Moreover, with an off-road vehicle in an unknown situation nearby, no one would be able to sleep well this evening.

After a little discussion, everyone quickly drafted a plan—the drone would return and look for a gentle slope on the sand ridge. They would then drive across the sand ridge, head for the car, and find out what had happened before making camp for the evening.

Everyone was very curious about the car. They scattered and returned to their cars, ready to go.

Zhang Zian withdrew the drone and landed it on the sand ridge that had a gentle slope. Everyone soon smoothly crossed the sand ridge and arrived at the other side of the sand dune.

At this time, the sky was completely dark, and all the cars turned on their headlights. It became a sea of white.

If one was hiking through the desert, the best choice was to move at night in order to avoid the daytime when the sun was strong and very hot. It was best to rest during the day to avoid the loss of water.

However, driving in the desert at night is very dangerous. Generally, one should try to avoid driving at night. This was because the sand was rugged, and the surroundings were pitch dark. The strong contrast between light and dark and sharp changes in light and shade could easily cause visual fatigue. It made drivers unable to react to danger in time.

Nabari spoke over the walkie-talkie and asked everyone to stop.

“Mr. Wei Kang, Mr. Peter Lee, the situation ahead is unknown. If you insist on going to see it, I think it is best not to let everyone go together. It is better to send a few cars forward to do reconnaissance.”

Although Wei Kang and Peter Lee thought that this was unnecessary, they still respected Nabari’s opinion.

After some consultation, it was decided that Nabari, Peter Lee, Wei Kang, and Zhang Zian would drive forward to check out the situation. The other cars would be on standby.

This was despite the fact that everyone wanted a sneak peek. However, they knew that this was not possible, and they could only listen to the live broadcast through the intercom.

The four cars decided to travel ahead side by side and drive to the approximate area where the car was. This was so that their lights could cover a large area together, ensuring safety without missing any clues.

The images from the drones couldn’t accurately show the location of the car. While they felt that the four cars covered quite a bit of distance, they still didn’t quite spot the car.

From time to time, they glanced at their rearview mirrors. The lights from the rest of the team behind them were very bright. Despite them being very far away, they were still visible, though the lights flickered. This also proved that the undulations of the sand ridge were very large.

Suddenly, the high beams illuminated a slightly reflective object. It might have been the off-road vehicle.

“Stop! Stop! Hurry and stop!” Nabari suddenly shouted.

Zhang Zian reacted quickly and was the first one to step on the brakes. The moment he stepped on the brakes, the tires brought up a huge gust of sand before coming to a quick halt.

Peter Lee also stepped on the brakes, but unlike Zhang Zian, his vehicle slid a few meters before stopping.

Wei Kang’s reaction was slower. He went forward a dozen meters before coming to a stop. Although the car had stopped, the vehicle’s position seemed to be problematic, with the front wheel on one side appearing to sink.

Wei Kang had only just stopped the car but did not turn off the ignition. He swayed violently in the car. Fortunately, he was wearing a seat belt, otherwise his head might have been caught on the steering wheel.

He noticed that the front wheel seemed to be stuck in a pit and instinctively switched to the reverse gear to try and get the car out.

“Don’t move! Don’t move!” Nabari shouted. He jumped out of his car and ran to Wei Kang’s car.

Alas, it was too late.

Not only did Wei Kang not get the car out of the pit, his actions also proved counterproductive. His entire vehicle—not only the front wheel on one side, but also the rear wheel—sank deeper into the sand.

“Professor Wei Kang! Leave the car now!” Zhang Zian saw that the situation was dire and screamed into the walkie-talkie.

“Prepare the leash!” Peter Lee said. “Don’t let the car sink in!”

Wei Kang’s face was pale, and his body was sweaty. He shifted around and loosened his grip on the steering wheel and throttle.

A word suddenly jumped into everyone’s mind—quicksand!

They now understood why the off-road vehicle was trapped in the sand. It was probably the quicksand.

Quicksand was terrible. Like an insatiable bottomless pit, it tried to swallow any object that fell into it. The most terrifying thing was that the surface of the quicksand was often no different from ordinary sand. Therefore, it was only noticeable when things started sinking in.

The off-road vehicle was heavy, and it was sinking very quickly. In a blink of an eye, the lower end of the car doors were covered in sand. It could no longer be opened for Wei Kang to get out of the car.

“The window! Come out from the window!” Nabari shouted.

Wei Kang was completely in panic mode. It was only now that he thought of escaping from the window. He was thin and could easily squeeze through it.

He lowered the window and struggled to get half of his body out of the window. Then he sat on the window frame, hesitating as if contemplating whether to jump or not.

“Don’t jump! Get to the top of the car! If you jump, you will be buried with the car!” Nabari shouted again.

Wei Kang gritted his teeth and used a great amount of strength to ascend to the roof of the car. He often went to the wilderness, and that gave him good physical fitness. He successfully climbed from the window to the roof of the car. He crouched on top and grabbed the luggage rack with both hands. His face was as white as paper.

At this time, Zhang Zian had taken out a rope from his car and thrown it towards Wei Kang. He didn’t know how large of a range the quicksand had, and he didn’t dare to stand too close. However, the rope itself was very heavy. It was only on the third throw that Wei Kang managed to catch it.

Peter Lee had already adjusted his car. Zhang Zian tied one end of the rope to the trailer hook behind Peter Lee’s car and instructed Wei Kang to jump.

Wei Kang gnashed his teeth and jumped, albeit with his eyes closed. His legs immediately fell into the sand, and he felt a suction in the depths of the sand, dragging his feet down. He was now entirely dependent on the rope. He used all the strength left in his tank to pull on the rope and wrapped it around his wrist several times for additional support.

Peter Lee stepped lightly on the pedal. The rope went taut, and the power from the car’s engine easily defeated the pull from the quicksand. Wei Kang was quickly dragged to safe territory.