This was completely unexpected. Chang Dong stood stunned for a few seconds. He took a few cautious steps toward Fei Tang: "Fei Tang?" After a pause, Fei Tang finally stirred—he wavered, trembling, and finally managed to push himself up from the ground, his teeth chattering so loudly that the sound could be heard clearly from across the distance. After exchanging glances with Chang Dong for a few seconds, Fei Tang's nostrils flared and contracted violently, and then suddenly he went into a full-blown hysterical scream: "Dong-guo! There's a ghost! There's a ghost!" —— Throughout the journey, Chang Dong had half-dragged, half-carried the nearly paralyzed Fei Tang back to the camp. Fei Tang had been so frightened that he was barely coherent, alternately weeping and laughing, and at one point had desperately crawled up onto Chang Dong's body, wailing, "My feet can't touch the ground! My feet can't touch the ground!" The scene had nearly startled everyone present. The gray-eight team unexpectedly welcomed Fei Tang into the main tent. Chang Dong found him heavy and, as soon as he entered, tossed him to the ground—Fei Tang dared not touch the floor; he crawled on all fours, trembling all over, until he finally sat on the rug, his legs curled tightly against his body, desperately folding himself in. His face was streaked with nosebleeds and tears. He glanced up and saw so many people around him—Ye Liu had arrived, Meng Jin Gu and Simon had also gathered to watch. As for the men under Gray-Eight’s command, they had already surrounded him tightly, bustling with questions: "What's going on?" Having people around gave him a sense of security. Chang Dong knelt down in front of him and raised his index finger. "Look at my finger," he said. Fei Tang watched closely—when Chang Dong pointed east, Fei Tang saw east; when he pointed west, Fei Tang saw west. After repeating this several times, Chang Dong said, "Good. He's not confused." "After saying that, she handed him a tissue. Fei Tang took it, blew his nose vigorously. Someone nearby brought him hot water, which he gulped down, and gradually warmth spread from his chest out to his cold, numb limbs. Chang Dong said, "Now I'm going to ask you a few questions—don't overthink it. Just answer honestly. When you were lying on the ground, speaking, you suddenly slid out about ten meters—was that your own movement?" Some of the people around understood, showing slight surprise, while others remained confused, as if completely at a loss, saying, "Didn't the ground feel slippery? I didn't notice that at all." Fei Tang shook his head vigorously. "Was it pushed or pulled?" Fei Tang's voice trembled: "Pulled. It was pulled." "Did you see who pulled you?" Fei Tang's tone had changed: "No. Not at all. At that moment, there were only us two—no one else around." The atmosphere gradually quieted down. Even the most slow to grasp could now sense something was off. Hui Ba murmured softly, "Good heavens." Chang Dong pressed on, "Do you feel like something's pulling you? Something with your hands?" The event had unfolded so quickly that Fei Tang couldn't quite put it into words. "Pulling where?" Fei Tang swallowed, then pointed to his right foot. Chang Dong bent down and lifted his trouser leg, and several people around him took in a collective breath—there was indeed a mark of pressure on his ankle. After this exchange, Fei Tang regained his composure and finally managed to speak a full, coherent sentence: "East brother, this place is really strange. Could we please move out and head back to the car right away? Yes?" He looked around, pleading for support and hoping to elicit a response. Hui Ba expressed some doubt: "Is this really true?" Though Hui Ba had spent a considerable time in the Lop Desert and had heard many odd stories, those had always been tales—this Fei Tang, still so fresh-faced and enthusiastic, seemed to be exaggerating, and Hui Ba sensed that there was likely a good deal of embellishment in what he said. Changdong said, "Then I suggest we..." Rising and facing the group, he said, "The Bai Long Dui area is indeed not suitable for setting up camp. The weather has been poor these past two days, and there's also been this strange incident—I think it's better to believe it. There's a salt field county town about a hundred kilometers away that can accommodate us. Why not make a little extra effort, drive an extra two hours, and sleep at a hotel?" — Don’t open your eyes. Pull the blanket over your head and just sleep through it. It’ll pass… — As long as I don’t have to go out for nighttime urination, I’ll just pee into a water bottle. It seems clear that we can’t move Gray Ba. Chang Dong turns to Meng Jin Gu. Meng Jin Gu scoffs, “Wait—before I ask you, will you go with us to the salt field?” Chang Dong is momentarily at a loss. “You’re asking us to go while you stay behind? That seems a bit… off, doesn’t it? Besides, there’s only you and me present—no one else saw anything.” He pushes at Fei Tang’s shoulder—indeed, the back of his shirt has been worn thin from friction. “…What actually happened, isn’t it all up to you? Who knows—maybe you dragged him ten meters or so and then came back to pretend it happened?” Chang Dong says, “I really feel something’s off here.” Meng Jin Gu snorts, “In my opinion, you’re one bitten by a snake and now afraid of the rope of the well. Even if you’re afraid of drowning With experience and accumulated wisdom, not just intuition, comes peace of mind—your intuition might be off, after all. You'd think the camellia wouldn't have turned out that way back then... Suddenly, she stops, realizing she's been too critical of his past. So she steps in to ease the situation, turns to Simon and says, "Boss, let's go rest now—we still have a fashion shoot tomorrow." ... A brief silence settles in. It's getting late, and Gray Eight is urging everyone to clear the spaces quickly. Chang Dong only reminds Fat Tang to hold on through tonight: with so many people here, just move toward the center of the crowd. If anything happens, it'll be others who suffer first. After giving the instructions, he opens the tent flap and suddenly hears Ye Liuxi speaking: "How pitiful! All her good intentions, all her patient efforts—no one listens." Chang Dong turns to see her leaning against the doorway, the injured foot resting lightly on the other one, her eyes slightly lowered, a mixture of amusement and mild reproach—clearly, she's deliberately staying to watch and make a point. "I couldn't persuade them to leave—do you have a better plan?" "What does it matter to me? They weren't even invited by me." Tonight, everyone seems sharp-tongued, except him, who's rather clumsy. Chang Dong turned back to the point: "Take your flashlight and go check out the spot where Fei Tang was attacked." —Under the beam of light, a straight streak of about ten meters long, clean and well-defined. Nothing else out of the ordinary. The pulling force must have been strong and sudden; otherwise, Fei Tang would have been struggling continuously on the ground, the marks twisted like a worm trying desperately to move while still pregnant. Ye Liu knelt down and tapped the ground with her hand. The ground was solid—whatever strange thing it was, it hadn't come from beneath. She looked up at Chang Dong: "What do you think? Just promise me you won't attribute everything to ghosts. If it really had that kind of power, it would have already taken over the Earth by now." Chang Dong swept the area with his flashlight: "The marks on Fei Tang's feet—by thickness, they resemble ropes. But ropes don "Yexiaolixi thought for a moment: 'What if it's a snake?' Changdong paused: 'There are vipers in Luo Bu Po, but they are slender and short. Even if Fat Tang is thin, he weighs well over a hundred pounds. The snake wouldn't have the strength to drag someone that far.' So then, they were truly at a loss? Yexiaolixi pushed the flashlight button up and then off again, watching the beam flicker on and off repeatedly. After several such cycles, she suddenly had an idea. 'Then like this...' She stepped back a few paces and stood at the center of the open space, arms and legs fully extended, her body resembling a thin, distorted 'large' character. She lifted her head, her hair swaying wildly in the wind: 'Whatever it is—whether it finds Fat Tang or me—should be able to reach out and pull me. If it does, I'll know exactly what it is.' The wind was so strong that it made her sway and wobble. Changdong found her imagining so vividly that it made his scalp itch. He hurried over and grasped her arms firmly: 'Don't be silly! Last time it stopped, so "Yexiaoxi said, 'Then that's settled.' She stepped forward to face Changdong, then took another step, positioning herself about half a step away from him. 'How about your reaction speed? If I suddenly launch myself across this distance, can you quickly catch me?' Changdong nodded, 'Yes, I can.' 'So can I. We don't know what this thing is—maybe it's drawn to you, or maybe to me. So here's the plan: we won't go it alone. If it hits you, I'll hold onto you; if it hits me, you'll grab onto me. That way, there's no question of who reaches out to whom—when the stone comes down, we each bear half the weight. How does that sound?' Changdong said, 'You're absolutely wild. Do you even know what this thing is?' He's seen his share of horror films and has a fairly vivid imagination. His experience tells him that to survive, one should be a bit more cautious. For instance, right now, Fei Tang is probably safer than any of us. Yexiaoxi said, 'Afraid? Then just stand back.' "Stand back—who caught you?" Ye Liuxi smiled, reaching out to straighten her hair only to have it fall disheveled again. The wind was strong, blowing so hard that it made it hard to see. Chang Dong lowered his head, pressing his hat down with one hand to keep it from being blown away. Yexi stared at the dial: "It feels like nothing's going to happen tonight." Changdong agreed: "I feel the same." Neither mentioned leaving—once they left, they'd have nothing to show for it, and would look foolish having frozen for hours. ... They checked the time again—past midnight. By now, the campsite must have been asleep, snoring all over. Yexi said: "Sometimes, the things you're most afraid of actually happen, while the things you're hoping for never do." Changdong nodded: "That's exactly what Murphy's Law is." ... As they hurried back to the car, their bodies nearly numb from the cold, they shivered once the doors closed. Changdong handed Yexi a cold medicine, and Yexi helped open the bottle of water that came with it. Neither mentioned the cold at all.