Qi Yun got off the vehicle, looking around, and saw one small sand dune after another.

Although he had anticipated this, the situation still left him a bit dumbfounded.

The intel said the remains of the camel train were buried beneath the dunes, but where should they start digging...

He took a deep breath and said to Zhong Rui, "Go get the shovels."

"Got it, boss," Zhong Rui responded, turning to get the shovels from the Raptor's cargo bed.

Qi Yun then turned to look at Mamati and the others, saying, "Since we're all here, I won't hide it from you. I'm here in the desert heartland to find a certain chest.

But I only know that the chest is buried under the sand dunes, so we'll need to dig up these dunes one by one and check."

"If you three are willing to help, whether or not we find what I'm looking for, I'll give each of you an additional five thousand yuan as compensation."

Upon hearing this, Mamati looked at Ah Li and Ai Shan, knowing he was willing, but it depended on whether his two brothers were.

Ah Li and Ai Shan nodded in unison, smiling as they replied, "Thank you, Boss Qi."

At this point, Zhong Rui came over, placing several folding shovels on the ground.

Everyone stepped forward, each grabbing one.

Mamati approached Qi Yun and whispered, "Boss Qi, our water and food can only last 7 days. Beck will come to pick us up from 150 kilometers away, so subtracting a day for the return, we can only stay here for 6 days at most."

He felt the dozens of sand dunes couldn't possibly be dug up in short order and was worried that Qi Yun, after making such an effort, might not want to leave without finding anything.

Qi Yun nodded with a smile, patting his shoulder, "Don't worry, I understand what you mean. We'll head back when the time is up, regardless of whether we find it. I won't risk everyone's safety."

Hearing this, Mamati felt relieved, continuing, "Then you all wait a moment, Ai Shan and I will take a short recon ahead to see if there's any quicksand danger."

"Alright, much appreciated," Qi Yun replied, moving aside with Liu Meng for a smoke.

He glanced at Ah Li, who stayed in place without moving over, and in a low voice said, "Meng, keep an eye out over the next few days."

Liu Meng gave him a look and nodded, "Understood."

About half an hour later, the two scouts returned.

"We checked carefully and didn't find any danger," Mamati said, looking to Qi Yun, continuing, "But I still suggest splitting into pairs so that if anything unexpected happens, there's someone to watch over."

Qi Yun nodded, "You're right, safety is most important. Let's go two per group, and report any findings immediately."

Everyone agreed, grabbing their folding shovels and heading towards the dunes.

Ai Shan and Mamati were a pair, Liu Meng and Ah Li made another, while Zhong Rui followed Qi Yun.

These sand dunes were large and small, arranged irregularly.

The group reached the dune tops and began digging downward.

Even though it was winter in the desert and the temperature was low, the work kept them from feeling cold; Qi Yun even removed his down jacket.

The only discomfort was from the wind, which blew sand everywhere, soon covering their faces and bodies.

As the shovels flew, the sand dunes' height steadily decreased.

After more than half an hour of digging, Zhong Rui, breathing heavily, asked, "Boss, how deep is the chest you mentioned buried?"

"How should I know? Just keep digging. If it goes deeper than a meter, move on to the next one," Qi Yun answered.

"Alright!"

"..."

Three hours later, the dune beneath their feet had been dug to a depth of a meter, yet nothing was found.

Qi Yun couldn't help but sigh, taking a folding shovel to check the other groups' progress. Everyone was at a similar stage, with the same lack of results...

"Let's take a break, have some water. If you dig more than a meter and find nothing, move to the next one," he said.

The group nodded, sitting down to rest.

Fortunately, it's winter; if it were summer, desert temperatures could reach forty to fifty degrees, making work impossible.

After a short break, they all headed to the next target to repeat the previous work.

The sky gradually darkened, and the temperature began to drop. Exhausted and drained, the team had found nothing.

"Let's head back to camp and rest. We'll continue tomorrow."

Everyone, dragging their weary bodies, returned to camp to set up tents and boil water.

Of course, the boiling water wasn't for bathing; it was for cooking instant noodles.

In the desert wilderness, having a bottle of water to brush your teeth each day is already quite luxurious...

The biting night wind starkly contrasted with the day's heat from working.

After dinner, everyone was too exhausted and retreated to their tents to rest.

Despite being pricey at over three thousand yuan, the tents were indeed excellent at keeping out the cold and wind; it was much warmer inside than out.

Qi Yun crawled into his sleeping bag, turned to Mamati, and asked, "We won't have any wolves at camp tonight, will we?"

Mamati shook his head, "Don't worry, there are no water sources nearby, so there shouldn't be any animals around."

Reassured by this, Qi Yun relaxed and quickly fell asleep.

[Current Intel Points: 2]

The next morning, Qi Yun climbed out of the tent, and the biting cold enveloped him, instinctively tightening his down jacket.

After a night's rest, everyone had recovered some of their strength.

After a simple breakfast, everyone picked up their folding spades once more and set out towards the dunes.

Today they dug through a total of fourteen dunes, but as dusk fell, they still hadn't discovered anything...

The third day...

The fourth day...

The fifth day...

At night, inside the tent, Mamati looked at Qi Yun and reminded him, "Boss Qi, tomorrow will be our last day here; the day after, we must return."

"Yes," Qi Yun nodded, a sigh echoing in his heart.

Could it be that what's beneath these dunes is truly not meant for me?

...

The next day, just like usual, after breakfast, everyone set off towards the dunes ahead.

After days of digging, everyone except Liu Meng began to doubt whether there really was anything buried under the dunes.

The morning passed peacefully and swiftly.

Everyone returned to the camp, rested briefly after lunch, and then resumed work.

Suddenly, Ai Shan felt his spade hit something that didn't feel like the sand they had been digging through before.

His hands sped up, and in just a few moves, he unearthed a bone!

He couldn't tell whether it was human or animal.

Invigorated, he started digging more vigorously, and before he finished a cigarette, a heap of white bones and a nearly collapsed wooden box appeared in front of him!

Through the gaps in the box, he could see something faintly reflecting light inside.

His heart raced, suppressing the excitement within him, he bent down and opened the box.

What came into view was a pile of jewelry, there were gold hairpins glimmering and green agates...

Ai Shan inhaled sharply.

He forcibly suppressed his excitement, and whispered towards the other side of the dune to Mamati, "Mamati, come over here."

Mamati heard him calling, and immediately carried his spade, walking over.

When he saw the pile of bones and the open box, his eyes widened, a look of disbelief on his face.

He crouched down, carefully observed the jewelry in the box, the gold hairpins and green agates shining charmingly under the sunlight.

"Is this... is this real?" His voice trembled a bit, almost not believing his eyes.

Ai Shan nodded, glancing towards the direction of the other two groups.

The large dunes were far apart, so others didn't notice what was happening here.

He crouched down again, lowered his voice, "You're not mistaken, it's all real!"

It took Mamati a while to recover from the shock, and he was about to call Qi Yun over.

But unexpectedly, Ai Shan grabbed him from behind, "What are you doing! I found this!"

Mamati, startled by the sudden tug, paused, showing a trace of surprise on his face.

Seeing the greedy look in Ai Shan's eyes, he immediately understood what the other was thinking.

"Ai Shan, what are you doing?" Mamati's voice was deep and solemn, "Boss Qi hired us to find this box, we can't keep it!"

Ai Shan's hand held tightly onto Mamati's arm, showing no sign of letting go, and said in a deep voice, "But I found it first, I don't want to just hand it over.

If we sell these jewels, we'll never have to come into the desert again; think about it, how many hardships have we endured here over the years, how many times have we almost never made it out alive!"

Hearing these words, Mamati sighed, patted Ai Shan's hand, and tried to calm him down.

"Ai Shan, I know what you're thinking, but we can't do this, Boss Qi hired us and paid us, maybe he'll even give us more reward for finding the box."

"And have you thought about it? If you hide these jewels privately and Boss Qi finds out, what will be the consequences? He could accurately track this lead and spent so much to come here, can he be an ordinary person? We can't afford to offend him."

Ai Shan fell silent after hearing this, his expression struggled, obviously unwilling.

After a while, he whispered darkly, "Then we can find a way to make them stay here forever, after all, every year many people go missing in the desert..."

As he spoke, the muscles on his face unconsciously twitched.

Mamati heard this, his eyes instantly widened, staring at the other.

He suddenly felt that the brother he grew up with seemed a little unfamiliar, as if not the same as in his memory.

After a long silence, he let out a long sigh, "Boss Qi is Hong Ge's friend, don't you think his family and friends would investigate even if he went missing? At that time, the police would surely question us thoroughly. Do you want to get us all killed?"

"Let it go, Ai Shan..."

"Why!" Ai Shan gritted his teeth tightly, his expression somewhat frantic, "Then we... we can bury the box back, and after sending them away, we can come back to get it later, can't we?"

Seeing this, Mamati helplessly shook his head, looking at the other with eyes full of disappointment.

"Doing this will cause us to completely lose our reputation, no one will ever dare to trust us again."

"Have you forgotten what your father said? We only take what we're supposed to, don't let desire blind your eyes."

Saying that, he forcibly broke free and walked towards Qi Yun.

Leaving Ai Shan standing there, staring blankly at the box of jewels on the ground.

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