Absolute Death Game

Qin Shimoon nodded, already exhausted, she unzipped her sleeping bag and climbed in. Spending the night in the wilderness, guarded by a Wolf King, was thrilling to say the least. Yet even so, she couldn't let her guard down around the furry animal, keeping her gun within reach in case she needed it.

Reminding herself to stay alert, she still couldn't fight off her drooping eyelids. Qin Shimoon didn't know when she had fallen into a deep sleep. When she opened her eyes the next morning, she was momentarily disoriented, not knowing where she was. Startled, she sat up and remembered her predicament. She glanced around and found Xiao Buli's figure was nowhere to be seen, only Hei sat motionless on a nearby dune like a statue, loyally guarding his post.

However, what likely ensured its diligent vigil was not loyalty but the bonds of spell power, Qin Shimoon thought to herself, reflecting on how she initially couldn't defy Xiao Buli's commands. She looked at the creature before her and felt a surge of sympathy. Fortunately, she had already broken free from her shackles.

"You woke up quite early, huh?"

Xiao Buli's figure emerged from behind a mound, startling Qin Shimoon, "Where did you go?"

"Nothing much, just a stroll around," Xiao Buli didn't wish to elaborate, and Qin Shimoon naturally did not press further.

The two hurriedly ate breakfast and set out on their journey again. With the Wolf King by their side, they weren't attacked or harassed by wild animals. As they ventured deeper, traces of grassland gradually disappeared, giving way to a world of yellow sand and gravel. Only sparse tamarisks struggled to grow in this barren land, proclaiming the tenacity of life. They traveled by day and camped at night in the sands for three days.

One day, under the scorching sun, Xiao Buli felt a wave of irritation. The endless, aimless walking seemed to have no end in sight. His thoughts drifted to how Qin Shimoon had been secretive about the exact location of the base, which added to his gloom, and he was on the verge of losing his temper.

"Look there, that's the spot!" Qin Shimoon suddenly pointed ahead. Xiao Buli's spirits lifted as he looked up to see a vast expanse of wind-eroded rock formations appearing amid the drifting sands.

"If I were to build a base, this would definitely be an ideal location," Qin Shimoon said, her face showing delight. The arduous trek was unbearable for Xiao Buli, let alone for a woman like her. If it weren't for her resilient nature and a constant drive to not be outdone by Xiao Buli, she would have collapsed from fatigue long ago. Now, finally seeing a glimmer of hope, her heart was naturally filled with joy.

Xiao Buli nodded. What Qin Shimoon said was true. Constructing a base in the desert required an appropriate geographic location to ensure success and durability. Only on relatively hard geological structures was it suitable to build large-scale constructions, and those could very well be underground structures.

With their destination within sight, both quickened their pace unconsciously, heading towards that area. As they approached, a massive expanse of wind-eroded formations unfolded before them. After walking for about twenty minutes, they finally reached the interior and couldn't help but marvel at the natural wonders around them.

Mighty pillars shaped by eons of wind erosion stood like a forest of stone, their surfaces riddled with horizontal gorges that resembled giant stacks of soda crackers. Inside the desert, the wind hadn't felt as strong, but within the stone forest, its presence was palpable. Sand grains, lifted by the wind, stung their faces. Qin Shimoon wrapped her scarf around her face even tighter and curiously observed the distorted shadows of the pillars on the ground.

After walking a bit further into the stone forest, Xiao Buli felt a refreshing coolness, as if a giant air conditioner was blowing cool air from within the formation.

"What's that over there?" Xiao Buli pointed towards some distant pillars.

Qin Shimoon looked in the direction of his pointing, noticing the pillars he indicated were quite different from the ones nearby. These stones had rectangular through-holes dug into their middle, with blades like turbine propellers fixed to a central axis in the hole, slowly rotating with the wind. Because the entire device was hidden inside the pillars, and the selected pillars were positioned peculiarly behind others, one could barely notice them from outside the stone forest.

"Could it be some kind of power device?" Qin Shimoon also found it strange. As they were about to go and investigate, they rounded several pillars and the view suddenly opened up before them. In the middle of the stone forest, between massive rocks, there lay a canyon about eight or nine meters wide. Narrow at both ends and wide in the middle, it resembled a huge mouth split open in the earth. The howling cool breeze was blowing out from this crack. Walking closer, their sweat was quickly dried by the cold wind, and Xiao Buli shivered from the chill. It seemed if there was a base hidden here, this canyon would be the most likely entrance.

Looking down from the edge of the canyon, it was pitch-black and the view inside was unclear, and the cold wind that blew out only added to the eerie atmosphere. Qin Shimoon and Xiao Buli exchanged glances but said nothing. Noting that the narrow paths on both sides of the canyon led gradually downwards, they chose to walk down the nearest side. Although the paths were described as narrow, they were still as wide as a normal highway. The ground, whether sculpted by man or formed naturally, was covered with varying sizes of rocks and a thick layer of yellow sand, yet it appeared very smooth overall.

As the two of them progressed, the constant howling of the wind against the rocks that had filled their ears started to fade away. After walking a bit further, apart from the occasional sound of small stones rolling and the breathing of the two travelers and the wolf, no other sounds were heard.

After about the time it took for a meal, the two had slowly descended to the bottom of the valley where the terrain had gradually become more level, and the slope gentler. A mist began to form on the rocks on both sides and became increasingly noticeable the deeper they walked in. Eventually, some rocks were even steadily dripping water. Whether this was due to an abundant underground water supply or the cold air creating condensation on the rock surfaces was unknown.

As they turned a corner in the path, a vast open area laid out before them, about the size of two or three football fields. The canyon opening above wasn't very large, not more than a dozen meters across at its widest point, but the space inside was surprisingly vast — no wonder it appeared so indistinct from above. Using the light filtering down from the canyon, they could just make out a row of something along the back wall in the deepest part of the space.

"Let's go take a look," Xiao Buli said in a low voice.

The two quickened their pace and approached. Hei seemed uncomfortable with the damp, cold air inside the canyon, looking around nervously as it walked. Before they got close, Xiao Buli could make out that the fuzzy shapes were actually a line of dilapidated trucks. Despite their sorry state, Xiao Buli found them a good omen at that moment, prompting them both to speed up into a jog towards the trucks.

As they got nearer, the details of these museum-worthy trucks finally became clear. It seemed those trucks had once been used for transporting materials, with their wooden fences and the mottled military-green paint scarcely concealing their age.

It appeared that when they withdrew from the site, they didn't have enough personnel to clear all the items, otherwise, they wouldn't have left these precious vehicles of that era to waste away here. This indicated the project had initially received significant attention and investment. Otherwise, they wouldn't have devoted so much financial resources to it.

The two inspected the trucks inside and out, finding nothing of value other than some personal effects possibly left by the original drivers, such as matches and scraps of paper.
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Thus, they continued on deeper into the canyon. As they moved further away from the entrance, the light inside dimmed to the point where they could barely see their own hands in front of them. Xiao Buli activated the Omniscient Eye for himself, while Qin Shimoon turned on the outdoor flashlight she had in her backpack which had ample battery life since it had barely been used thus far.

The flashlight's beam occasionally revealed scattered mechanical parts and papers on the ground, presumably left behind during the evacuation, which, due to the secluded nature of this place and its distance from the surface, had not been blown away or buried by the sand. They were still in the same state as they were decades ago.

Moving forward, they eventually reached the end of the cavernous space, facing a dark, damp wall.

"Eh," both had expected to find an entrance to the base at the end, and they were puzzled not to see one. Qin Shimoon shone the flashlight to either side, but within a dozen meters or so, there was no sign of an entrance.

"You search that way, I'll look over here," Xiao Buli gestured to Qin Shimoon, indicating for them to split up in their search. After a moment's thought, addressing the Wolf King, he added, "Hei, go with her." It wasn't that he suspected her of any wrongdoing but in such darkness, Xiao Buli was unsure if any dangers lurked.

Qin Shimoon made no comment on the arrangement and silently moved to the right, proceeding extremely slowly to avoid missing any detail on the wall. If the entrance to the base was hidden, she wondered if it would require some special method to be opened.

She had only gone a few meters when she heard a low curse from Xiao Buli, "Damn it." He then called out loudly to her, "Stop looking, it's over here."

Approaching Xiao Buli's position, Qin Shimoon couldn't help but smile inwardly. There was no grand base entrance on the wall; the original base construction had taken advantage of a natural fissure in the wall, which at first glance, looked like part of the natural formation. Had they not already found the trucks outside, who would have thought that this place concealed an entrance to a secret base? (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)