Jiang Xiu felt this was really funny. Girl, you came over and asked me why then you tell me not to pretend? Aren't you contradicting yourself there?
He picked up a little of the grinded powder, "This is Clarity Grass, right? Add a little of this too."
The scariest thing in the desert was getting severely dehydrated. Even if the effects on the body functions were to be ignored, the most fatal effect was hallucination. This was very dreadful.
"50 bucks for a pouch."
"Give me two of them."
Once dehydrated, the brain would start to hallucinate, and this was quite risky in the desert. If someone becomes severely dehydrated in the desert, it meant they were almost dead. This Clarity Grass could wake them up from the state of hallucination. Hence, this was akin to a life-saving elixir.
Many people didn't know about this. For example, Qiu Yinru who was beside Jiang Xiu at the moment. She asked curiously, "What's the use of this powder?"
Jiang Xiu beautifully ignored Beauty Qiu.
But the seller of the stall wished to do business, so explained it to her, "Buy it! It's a life-saving powder which can clear the mind. Young lady, why don't you buy two pouches as well?"
Qiu Yinru shook her head, "It's too expensive."
100 bucks for 2 pouches was indeed a little expensive. Actually, this product was created by drying the Clarity Grass in the sun then crushing it into fine powder. It didn't sell that well, but that too depended on where it's sold.
For example, a cup of water had a huge difference in price in a street tall and a five-star hotel. Inside the desert, it was priceless.
Jiang Xiu spent 500 bucks on purchasing medicinal herbs here and also bought three water pouches. He filled them with water and put them in his backpack. He didn't buy anything else and travelled very lightly.
The sound of a horn came through from a distance at this moment. Jiang Xiu and Qiu Yinru looked over there and saw a military keep come over while leaving a dust trail in its wake. It drove straight to the town hall where there were at.
The first person to jump down the jeep was a soldier in camouflage with a submachine gun on his back. Professor Xu got down after that, followed by the driver who was also in camouflage.
"Students, these two people are the soldiers which the garrison has provided us. They'll ensure our safety during the journey."
"This is Captain Leng and this is Comrade Xiao Zhang…"
"The local garrison is quite supportive of our operation this time. Captain Leng and Comrade Xiao Zhang are top-class soldier kings in the army as well as martial arts experts."
"Welcome them, everyone…"
Clap-Clap-Clap!
The students clapped fervently. They had never seen a soldier with a submachine gun on his back so they were awed very much. The two of them gave a neat army salute to everyone.
Only Li Chengzhi, his sons, and Jiang Xiu were the ones who weren't clapping.
"Little Qiu, is everyone ready?"
Qiu Yinru took out the list and checked the no. of people, "Everyone's ready. We can set off anytime."
The ancient desert city exploration team this time consisted of one professor, three experts, two soldiers, three shamans, plus the 18 students.
"Alright, let's start on our journey officially."
The group set off towards the desert with grandiose. Jiang Xiu felt something was wrong while riding the camel because he noticed that this camel was quite weak and slow. Only, he didn't feel it was anything much as that 30-year old Captain Leng was accompanying him.
Since there was a person the same like him, Jiang Xiu didn't feel he was slower.
"It looks like you don't fit in with them."
Captain Leng's name was Leng Zhan. He had dark skin and a grim face. He spoke with a local accent and looked quite tough. He didn't show much expressions on his face and thus looked pretty hip overall.
"They made this trip at public expense while I made it at my own expense."
Captain Leng finally realized the crux of the matter."
"I heard this time's archaeology mission is very serious and the objective is to look for the ancient ruins which have disappeared. I came to this place when I was 16 and almost 15 years have passed by now. I've heard of many legends and captured plenty of tomb robbers, but no one had really seen Sahagan Ancient City…"
"Why did you follow us into the desert then?" Jiang Xiu asked him.
Leng Zhan replied, "I have to carry out the mission given by my superior. Also, protecting you all is also my duty. I don't wish for anyone to have an accident in the desert."
"The weather inside the desert is definitely awful, but the people are more awful."
"You mean to say?"
"The robbers in the desert are much more violent. The desert acts as their natural protection. Someone has even organized an army inside and established a country."
According to their current itinerary, they would arrive at the White-Hump Peak after a day. Their direction was correct when comparing to the words left behind by Xie Sanxian's ancestor. Back then, they had travelled west and continued pursuit for seven days before losing their way. In other ways, after going west for seven days, the exact direction to move will depend on the materials these experts had gathered and their deductions from the corresponding geography.
Night had creeped in before they realized. The climate in the desert was quite vile and caused fatigue to pile up so proper rest was a must. That's why they didn't continue to hurry after the sky had darkened. All of them prepared to rest by setting up tents, heating water and cooking food.
Professor Xu and the rest assembled together to study the map.
"The folklore writings of the Ming Dynasty tell that the ancient city is a remnant of divinities. Therefore, many strange things happen above the ruins. According to the writings, it never rains in the other places in the desert but it rains over the ancient city. They even have an underground drainage system.
Qian Deshen stated.
Professor Xu nudged his spectacles, "Folklore exaggerates a lot. Also, authors like to add their own imagination into the description. We are people of Science. God is merely a system of faith and doesn't exist in reality."
This Professor Xu was an atheist. He had revealed this point of view when he was discussing things with Jiang Xiu.
"What? Professor Xu doesn't believe there's a God in this world?" Qian Deshen asked him.
Professor Xu shook his head while smiling.
"God exists!"
A resolute voice came through at this moment. Everyone looked towards the source. It was Shaman Li Chengzhi who said it. He stood up then slowly walked over towards them, "God exists in this world. Since you two people are erudite people, you might not understand it, but our world has an underworld strength hidden below the surface. They are martial artists. You too must know of the Jianghu. There's a ranking called the Demigod Ranking in the underworld, everyone knows this. They live for over a hundred years and some for over two hundred years. Their ultimate target is to become God."
The professor's and the experts as well as the students wore a face full of disbelief.
"Master Li must be joking, right?" Professor Xu asked him.
Li Chengzhi shook his head, "These are facts. All the people who have touched the high-level entities in the underworld know about it. Our nation has 13 people on the Demigod Ranking and the rest of them are from other nations."
"If Professor Xu has time after this desert trip and wants proof, you can go to Sichuan. There are many legends related to Gods and Sword Immortals there as well as a good deal of proof too."
"The Demigod from Sichuan on the Demigod Ranking is still alive…"
Professor Xu smiled in response to that. He didn't like to argue with others. In his mind, these so-called Shamans were just tricksters of Jianghu and one of the lowest professions equivalent to scammers. He naturally didn't deny they had the ability as well as were useful in tombs but he also held a prejudice in his heart.
This was the nature of a scholar.
"Professor still doesn't believe it?"
Li Chengzhi continued, "Since Professor has researched historical ruins for your entire life, have you never found any mysterious thing inexplainable by science?"
"Naturally, we have met it. There's many things which can't be explained by science, but that doesn't mean God exists. It's just that our science and technology still hasn't reached that level yet. We will definitely solve some of the riddles we face right now after 50-100 years." Professor Xu replied to him.
"Flame Control, Walking on Water, Killing Through… You say all these things are related to science?"
"Of course."
To him, there was no difference between a Shaman controlling fire and a magician playing with fire. He had seen several videos of magicians spending a day underwater and of someone sleeping mid-air. Only these were all results of diversionary tactics. The trick was hidden, that's all. Once it is uncovered, it becomes worthless.
The two of them kept arguing and the situation soon became volatile.
The students and the experts naturally stood on Professor Xu's side.
The Professor asked, "Since Master Li believes God exists in this world, may I ask if you have seen one?"
"That's…"
His face went rigid. God was ethereal. Even the Demigods didn't dare say that God existed and just had a vague feeling that they existed.