Richest Rag-picker

Chapter 487: Chapter 459: Please Turn Back

While the young man in the passenger seat was studying the map, Qi Xiaotian, beside Fang Chenyi, couldn’t resist winking. He then held up two fingers and whispered faintly:

"20,000."

Upon seeing this, a corner of Fang Chenyi’s mouth lifted. He nodded at Qi Xiaotian, acknowledging that he understood he meant 20,000.

Seeing that Brother Fang understood, Qi Xiaotian said no more. ’Brother Fang must have his own plans.’

There was a reason, of course, why Fang Chenyi had offered 200,000 when he knew the price was only 20,000.

Fang Chenyi could tell the young man didn’t come from a well-off family. ’It makes sense, really. In an environment like this, how many families could possibly be wealthy?’

20,000 was likely a fortune to them, but Fang Chenyi didn’t mind providing an even greater incentive.

That way, the guide would be all the more dedicated to leading him to the meteorite’s location.

After all, to Fang Chenyi, there was no difference between 20,000 and 200,000.

After studying the map for a moment, the young man pulled a pencil from his pocket and began making marks on it.

In a short while, a long, winding route appeared on the map. It even seemed to make a wide detour around the destination.

"We can just follow this route."

The young man finished drawing, tucked the pencil back in his pocket, and handed the map to Fang Chenyi with a snap of his fingers.

Fang Chenyi took the map and looked at the winding route, asking with some confusion:

"Why not take the shortcut I marked? Following your route, we’ll have to travel at least three times the distance."

The young man nodded, his voice filled with a mixture of respect and excitement as he spoke:

"Of course we can’t take your route. The one you marked is shorter, but it’s been blocked off.

My uncle tried taking a group down that path before. They didn’t even make it halfway before they were driven back.

And according to my uncle, those people were soldiers. They said it was dangerous up ahead and no one was allowed to get close."

Upon hearing this, Fang Chenyi immediately understood. ’Huaxia must have its sights set on this meteorite as well.’

’They don’t want any outside forces interfering or getting a slice of the pie.’

However, Fang Chenyi was the meteorite’s original owner, so he was naturally going to get it back.

Of course, if Huaxia truly needed it after he retrieved it, he wouldn’t be stingy.

But that was a matter for another time. The most important thing now was to find it first.

According to the guide, that road was a no-go, but Fang Chenyi couldn’t be certain the new route wouldn’t also have guards.

"Don’t you worry. Since I drew this route, I can definitely get you there. To tell you the truth, absolutely no one knows this path except for me. See here, and here? The quicksand in these two areas is especially active, so most people wouldn’t dare to go this way. But I know a small path that avoids the quicksand. I stumbled upon it by accident a while back."

Fang Chenyi nodded. He had chosen to let the young man guide them, so he had to trust him.

He waved his hand, signaling for the convoy to advance, and the ten Warriors began to slowly drive out of the small town.

The weather was perfect that day—no wind, no sand. Both the young man and Fang Chenyi let out a long sigh of relief.

After all, sandstorms were the most common weather phenomenon in the great desert.

A major sandstorm could alter the flow of the shifting sands.

Even a dune over a hundred meters high might vanish completely after a sandstorm. In the same way, a flat plain could become a towering sandhill after a storm had passed.

This was the greatest danger of the desert.

Time passed, bit by bit.

The Warriors kicked up a long, dragon-like trail of yellow dust as they cut through the endless desert.

「At noon,」 the convoy slowly came to a halt on a wide, flat expanse of sand.

Everyone jumped out of their vehicles, pulling out canteens and waterskins to drink.

However, they were all experienced. No one drank greedily. They each took just a few sips before carefully stowing their canteens and waterskins away.

After all, in this endless desert, no one knew how long they’d be out here or when they’d find water again, even if the convoy’s current supply was plentiful.

The young guide nodded in approval at the sight, giving Fang Chenyi a thumbs-up:

"Your people are really impressive. This is the best crew I’ve ever seen. Heh, my older brother once led a convoy into the desert, also very well-prepared, but they came back in less than a day. Do you know why?"

Fang Chenyi casually kicked at the yellow sand, taking in the desert’s alien beauty. "Heh," he said faintly, "They ran out of water."

The guide gave Fang Chenyi another thumbs-up.

"Exactly. You’re right. They brought a full two-week supply of water and managed to squander it all in one day. My brother told me they complained it was too hot and actually used that precious water to wash their hair.

To be honest, I was worried you guys would do the same. If that had happened, I really wouldn’t have gotten my 200,000.

But now, I feel like that 200,000 is much closer."

When it came down to it, the young man’s main concern was still whether or not he would get his 200,000.

After all, for him, 200,000 was like a regular person winning a 5 million lottery jackpot.

The vehicles were parked in a line, and the team rested in their shade. Everyone avoided strenuous movement, conserving their strength.

Even Vajra, who could never sit still, was now lying listlessly in the shade of a vehicle, drained by the heat.

Fifteen minutes later, at a command from Qi Xiaotian, everyone boarded the vehicles again.

This time, however, the drivers of each vehicle were swapped out to prevent fatigue.

Just an hour after they set off again, Fang Chenyi’s convoy spotted a sentry post up ahead on the flat desert terrain.

In the vast, open desert, trying to bypass it was clearly impossible. By the time Fang Chenyi and his team spotted the outpost, the lookouts there had certainly spotted their convoy as well.

"Halt! That’s a quicksand area up ahead! It’s extremely dangerous! You can’t go any further. Please turn back!"

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