The Lost Tomb : Sea Of Sands

Chapter 33: Living Person in the Truck

Li Cu grew even more agitated and listened attentively for a few minutes before his ears gradually adapted to the quiet atmosphere. He slowly sifted through the sounds and found that it wasn't someone singing, but the sound of the radio. These trucks were equipped with radios, but how could they still work after such a long time? Was there a radio that wasn't broken and could still work normally? But that was impossible. Even if the radio wasn't broken and could still work after so many years, the battery would have long run out.

He moved his tense body and poked his head out of the gap in the truck, looking in the direction of the sound. A quick glance showed him that something wasn't quite right, as he saw that there were seven or eight trucks across from him and only one had its lights on. It wasn't the headlights that were on, however, but the inside light in the cab, and the song was coming from that truck. There was actually electricity, so did that mean that someone was living in this place?

Was there someone else alive here? Fear and expectation surged up at the same time. If there wasn't a living person in the truck, then it could be a ghost. But if it was a ghost, it was acting too strange. Li Cu decided to take a risk and have a look. The moment he climbed down from the truck and landed on the sand, he closed his eyes, wondering if a pair of hands would come out of the sand and drag him down below.

But nothing happened. Li Cu breathed a sigh of relief and moved towards the truck little by little until he finally came up beside it. Again, nothing happened.

Li Cu didn't want to disturb whatever was inside the truck, so he snuck into the cab of another truck beside it, then approached the front and looked closely through the gap. When he caught sight of a figure moving in the light, he swallowed.

So strange, was he dreaming? When clearing out these same trucks during the day, he could see all of them clearly and nobody was there. Was it true that there were still people alive here, but they didn't stay in this place during the day?

Li Cu's fear subsided as numerous thoughts flashed through his mind. The difference between him and Wu Xie was that he didn't care about whatever unknown fear his imagination could conjure.

Li Cu was just about to take a closer look when the truck he was in started shaking and then sank more than a meter into the sand. It was quickly followed by all the sand cascading down like a waterfall, as if it was going to bury the truck again. Startled, he immediately ran towards the back of the truck that was now tilted up. As a result of the weight change, the entire truck suddenly flipped over on the ground like an overturned bowl, trapping him inside and making him wonder why he was so unlucky. After putting up a short struggle, he found that there was no way to push the truck off, so he could only hope to dig a hole under the sand to get out. But the sand was flooding in so violently even before he started digging, that as soon as he tried, the sand dune would collapse even more.

Li Cu found himself unable to move as he and the truck sank deeper and deeper, and he was almost buried alive. As soon as he quieted down, he noticed that the radio had been turned off and he could hear the sound of someone walking on the sand nearby. Based on the footsteps, he knew that the person had walked to the front of the truck and then stepped on the metal hood with a thud. It's over. This is it, I must have been found.

Li Cu took a deep breath, prepared to run as fast as he could whenever a gap appeared, and then jump into the water, regardless of whatever was out there. At that moment, however, he clearly heard the sound of a gun being loaded. He paused and told himself, if it's a gun, it's not a monster. It's a person! He immediately shouted to the person outside, "I'm human, I'm human! I'm the victim here, I'm a tourist!" The footsteps instantly moved above him, and he heard the sound of stamping feet.

Li Cu continued to shout: "Don't shoot! Put down the gun! I didn't mean to peek!" Then, he felt the person jump down from the truck and begin to grope around the side, as if to rescue him.

Li Cu calmed down a little and had just managed to catch his breath when suddenly, there was a muffled sound and the whole truck violently shook. He saw a bullet hole appear overhead.

The man had actually fired a shot at the body of the truck!

"I'm a living person, I'm human!" Li Cu was shocked. He had just finished speaking when two more shots were fired off, hitting the area right by his head, and splashing sand all over his face.

Li Cu took a deep breath and said to himself, he doesn't care if I live or die. It looks like he wants to kill me. He didn't dare scream anymore, but tried desperately to lean to the side in hopes of avoiding any more bullets.

The person didn't shoot again, but Li Cu could see through the bullet holes that a shadow was ceaselessly moving in the moonlight. He didn't know what they were doing, but something suddenly came through one of the bullet holes and turned. Li Cu found that it was a hook.

When that person pulled it a few times and found that it held strong, they jumped off the truck. Then, Li Cu heard the sound of a chain being pulled.

He was relieved when the truck started to lift, and he eagerly watched the sand slide down as the truck lifted up even more. He couldn't wait to move to the gap and climb out.

The air outside was cold and fresh, and although he was only trapped for a few minutes, the suffocating feeling had already made him very uncomfortable. After this event, he seemed unable to stand extremely narrow spaces, which changed many things for him in the future.

After Li Cu pulled half of his body out, he turned to look for that person, and saw a moving pulley device standing beside one of the trucks. Before, he had merely thought it was a strange commodity, but now he knew its use.

Although the truck was hoisted up, it was still very tiring to climb out, so Li Cu turned to look for that person to help him. He felt that such a thing was basic human nature, and since the other party had hoisted the truck up, they should also give him a hand.

So he said to that person standing on the opposite side, "Give me a hand, Brother."

Unexpectedly, Li Cu was greeted by a heavy rifle butt to the forehead and almost fainted. In a daze, he realized he was lying prone on the ground, and eating a huge mouthful of sand before he was dragged out of the sand pit. He then felt that person start searching him.

Li Cu said to himself: Law and order is too bad these days. There are even robberies in the desert. Still dazed, he saw the other party's gun hanging in front of him. It seemed like they were very confident about giving him the butt, but didn't think he had the ability to resist. So Li Cu reached for the gun and grabbed it with both hands, trying to seize it.

The man responded pretty quickly and immediately grabbed the gun strap, but the sand pile couldn't support both their weights under the intense movements of the two of them pulling and rolling around. They each wanted to stand up and gain an advantage, but as long as either of them moved too much, the sand pile would immediately collapse, sinking their bodies into the sand again. In the midst of their scuffle, the wound on Li Cu's back was torn open and sand got into it, almost driving him crazy with the pain. Because of this, he had a short, sudden burst of strength, which meant the other man couldn't gain an advantage even though he was much taller than Li Cu.