The little star from the Gobi Desert, handed over to the state, is hailed as a national treasure.

Song Dazhuang gasped. With so many eyes watching, not a single person had noticed this deadly hidden danger!

Once the planks break and the shed collapses, everyone will be buried underneath. With the sandstorm raging, there's no way they'll survive!

"Liang, evacuate immediately!"

The last trace of hesitation in Liang Zhe's mind vanished completely. He tightly protected Tian Tian in his arms and roared, "Everyone, grab your gear and evacuate immediately! Quickly!"

No one dared to delay. They hurriedly gathered supplies, tied the ropes around their waists together to form a lifeline, and helped each other out of the shed.

"Brigade Commander, shall we get on the vehicle?" a soldier shouted against the strong wind.

"Don't ask me!" Brigade Commander Bai's gaze fell on the small bundle in Liang Zhe's arms. "Ask her! Our lives are all in this child's hands now!"

"You can't get on the bus." Tian Tian lifted her head from Liang Zhe's shoulder, her face covered by her father's large military uniform, preventing the sand and dust from getting in.

She stretched out her little hand and pointed to the back of the truck: "Daddy, it's too dangerous for the big truck to run. Let's hide behind it."

"Go to the back of the car?" Song Dazhuang almost thought he misheard. "What good would that do?!"

Before the words were finished—

"Boom—crash!!!"

A chilling sound of tearing and collapsing came from behind!

Everyone turned around in horror and saw that one of the pillars of the temporary shed had collapsed first. The heavy canvas and wooden frame were torn down as if by an invisible giant hand. One hair affects the whole body. In just two or three seconds, the entire shed collapsed completely and crashed heavily onto the spot where they had just been standing, kicking up a large cloud of turbid dust.

—If we had been even half a step later, none of the people inside would have gotten out.

Dead silence. Only the wind howled.

Everyone's face was ashen.

"Squad leader! Count the number of people! Quickly!" Liang Zhe's voice trembled slightly with lingering fear.

"Report! Everyone evacuate! Not a single one missing!"

Liang Zhe turned and glared at Song Dazhuang, his eyes sharp as knives. Song Dazhuang dared not utter a single doubt, nodding hastily and shouting in a surprisingly loud voice, "Listen to Tian Tian! Listen to everything Tian Tian says!"

Helping each other, the group, guided by safety ropes, stumbled and trudged to the back of the truck, where they all crouched down, using the truck body as a windbreak.

"Sweetie, what else do we need to do next?" Song Dazhuang leaned closer, his voice soft and gentle, as if afraid of disturbing this little lucky star.

"Shh—" Sweetie stretched out her soft finger and put it to her lips. Her sweet voice was more effective than any military order. "Uncle, don't talk. Listen to the sound of the wind."

Everyone immediately fell silent, not daring to even breathe loudly.

The surroundings fell silent instantly, with only the howling wind overhead. The sand and dust seemed to be tossed and churned by an invisible hand, sometimes billowing into a yellow curtain that blotted out the sun, and sometimes slamming into heavy clumps of sand that made people dizzy and unable to even open their eyes.

In this suffocating, desperate moment—

A strange sound, faint and indistinct, drifted from the depths of the sandstorm.

That sound... had a rhythm. It wasn't like the wildness of the wind, but more like a steady, rhythmic beat, like heavy drumbeats, or the deep pulse of the earth.

It moved steadily and unhurriedly, completely undisturbed by the strong winds.

Liang Zhe felt the small body in his arms suddenly move.

A fluffy hat peeked out from his coat collar. Tian Tian tilted her little face up, her big, bright eyes searching for something in the swirling dust. Liang Zhe tried to take off his goggles and put them on her, but she gently pushed them away with her little gloves.

She tilted her head, listening intently towards the direction of the sound. The strong wind made her braids sway wildly from side to side, but it did nothing to distract her.

Watch and listen.

Suddenly, she raised her hand and pointed in the direction where the sandstorm was raging and looked most dangerous, her voice clear and certain:

"Dad, let's go there!"

Liang Zhe's gaze followed his daughter's movements, looking in the direction she pointed—as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but endless yellow sand.

But at this moment, no one raised any questions.

Brigade Commander Bai was the first to stand up, brushing the sand off his clothes, and said in a deep voice, "Did you all hear that?"

Everyone stood up at the same time, without saying a word.

They tied themselves tightly together and took firm steps toward the direction Sweetie was pointing.

The moment they left the vehicle, the unhindered, devastating force of the sandstorm slammed into each of them. It wasn't wind; it was a massive, horizontal whip composed of countless grains of sand. The soldiers had to bend over, lowering their center of gravity to its lowest point, advancing almost on foot. The sand was soft and loose; a single step would sink up to their calves, requiring immense effort to pull out, and the next second, quicksand would rapidly fill their footprints behind them. Breathing became torture; even with cloth covering their mouths and noses, the hot, coarse sand still seeped in, choking them and burning their throats.

"Hold on tight to the rope! One after another! Don't fall behind!" Liang Zhe's shout was torn apart by the wind. He held Tian Tian tightly in his arms with one hand, while his other hand was clasped tightly with Song Dazhuang behind him. Tian Tian was firmly protected by his military uniform and his body heat, her little face buried in the crook of his neck, only occasionally raising her head to check the direction through the gap, and then gently tugging at her father's collar with her little hand to indicate whether to turn left or right.

The column wound its way through the dunes like a thin thread struggling in boiling water. Vision was blurred, and the sense of direction was completely lost; the only thing they could rely on was the faint pull emanating from the small figure ahead. Time itself became hazy; it felt as if they had walked for centuries, yet also as if they were merely struggling in place.

Just as their strength was about to be exhausted and despair began to spread again, Commander Bai, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped and raised his hand to signal.

"Listen!" he shouted hoarsely.

The wind was still howling, but faintly, there seemed to be other sounds mixed in—a muffled, intermittent snorting sound, and... the rustling sound of some huge body rubbing against the sand.

Liang Zhe's heart skipped a beat. He squinted and strained to see through the thick sand and dust on his goggles.