The wind in the Gobi, carrying the harshness of gravel, stings the face. Chu Ran squinted at the undulating sand dunes in the distance, his trouser legs already dyed khaki by dust. He clutched a worn copy of the I Ching in his hand, with several dried camel thorns tucked between the pages—specimens he had casually picked up during his exploration these past few days.
"Brother Chu, let's rest for a while! There isn't even a tree in this damn place. If we keep walking, my throat will dry up completely." Zhao Lei's complaint came from behind. His former college roommate was now slouched on a dark brown rock, chugging mineral water.
Chu Ran turned around and smiled, sitting down beside him: "Hold on a little longer. Our scheduled observation point is ahead. The geological changes after this earthquake are very unusual—we might find something interesting."
There were fifteen people in the group, all classmates or friends of Chu Ran from college. Among them were top geology students, outdoor enthusiasts obsessed with adventure, and people like Chu Ran, who had come purely out of curiosity about metaphysics and the unknown. Three days earlier, a magnitude 6 earthquake had struck the Gobi, creating rare geological cracks in the epicenter area—this was what had drawn their self-organized exploration team.
"Something interesting? I think it's more like something deadly." Li Ming, the most timid in the group, shrank his neck, his eyes filled with unease. "Haven't you all felt that this place is weird? There isn't even a flying bird around; it's eerily quiet."
"Don't scare yourself." Zhou Kai, the team leader, patted Li Ming on the shoulder. A top geology student and the initiator of this activity, he said, "The Gobi has always been sparsely populated. It's normal for animals to migrate after an earthquake. We'll collect the samples as planned and evacuate first thing tomorrow morning."
Chu Ran didn't speak, just lowered his head and stroked the I Ching in his hand. For some reason, ever since stepping into this post-earthquake area, he had felt an inexplicable throbbing in his heart. The "changing lines of the Qian hexagram" in the divination had made him faintly sense that this trip held unexpected turns. He looked up at the sky—what had been a clear blue had somehow been covered by a thin layer of gray mist. Sunlight pierced through the clouds, casting dappled light on the cracked earth, exuding an indescribable weirdness.
At that moment, the ground beneath their feet suddenly trembled slightly.
"Another earthquake?" someone exclaimed.
Zhou Kai immediately stood up, his expression grave as he pulled a geological instrument from his backpack: "No, this tremor is strange. It doesn't follow the pattern of crustal movement..."
Before he could finish speaking, the ground's trembling suddenly intensified, as if an ancient behemoth had awakened underground, violently churning the earth. The cracked gaps expanded rapidly, black crevices spreading like a spider web, swallowing the surrounding sand and gravel. Screams and shouts erupted instantly, and the fifteen-person team descended into chaos.
Chu Ran felt dizzy and disoriented, his body lifted by a powerful force and then slammed heavily to the ground. He instinctively hugged the I Ching to his chest, his vision obscured by the swirling sand and dust. He heard the desperate cries of his companions, with Zhao Lei's voice close at hand: "Brother Chu! Grab me!"
Chu Ran stretched out his hand, but only grasped a handful of scalding sand. In the next second, the ground beneath his feet completely collapsed, revealing a bottomless black hole. A strong suction force dragged him downward violently. Before losing consciousness, the last thing he saw was the gray mist in the sky growing thicker and thicker, eventually turning into a chaotic darkness.