The attic, its roof torn off by the sandstorm, with only the bare walls remaining.

It suddenly dawned on Luo Daqiang. He freed a hand to offer his gun. "Here, Boss!"

Zhang Xianchao reached for it, but Luo Daqiang’s hand slipped. The wind snatched the gun away, smashed it hard against Zhang Xianchao’s face, and then whipped it out of sight.

Luo Daqiang was petrified, trembling in fear. Zhang Xianchao, his face twisted in agony, looked like he wanted to tear him in two. "You idiot!"

’If he weren’t afraid of losing his footing, Zhang Xianchao would have kicked him long ago.’

’Once he gets through today in one piece, he’s definitely going to hunt down that bullshit fortune-teller and tear him limb from limb.’

"CREAK... CREAK..."

They clung to the wall, and the iron door they were gripping creaked ominously.

Zhang Xianchao hoped the wind would get stronger and blow the door open, but he also didn’t want them to be blown away. Panicked, he kicked at the door wildly.

Unfortunately, the security door at Jiang Si’s house was too sturdy. No matter how hard he kicked, it didn’t budge an inch.

Luo Daqiang glanced at Zhang Xianchao and cautiously suggested, "Boss, the wind has died down a bit. We could let go and jump."

The attic of Jiang Si’s house wasn’t low, and they couldn’t see what the situation was like below.

Even with a mouthful of sand, Zhang Xianchao couldn’t stop himself from roaring, "You idiot! Let go and go see King Yan! Have him reincarnate you as a pig, and don’t you dare say you know me!"

Luo Daqiang genuinely thought it was a good idea. If they couldn’t get into the house, wasn’t it more dangerous to just hang here in the wind?

’If the wind got any stronger, he’d probably turn into a wind-dried sausage.’

Suddenly, his eyes darted to the side and he exclaimed excitedly, "Boss! I still have a knife! I’ll cover you while you pry the door open!"

Zhang Xianchao desperately wanted to slap Luo Daqiang. "Why didn’t you take it out sooner!"

Luo Daqiang chuckled sheepishly. "Well, I didn’t think of it!"

Just as Zhang Xianchao took the knife from Luo Daqiang, CLANG—the door suddenly flew open.

"Urk—"

Zhang Xianchao stared down in a daze. The sharp knife had plunged deep into his chest, and blood gushed out.

The weight on Luo Daqiang suddenly increased. "Boss, you’re so heavy! Get up, I can’t hold on anymore."

Zhang Xianchao went limp against him. As the ferocious sandstorm intensified, Luo Daqiang couldn’t hold on any longer. His grip loosened, and like shooting stars, they plummeted into the sand-filled sky.

Two afterimages streaked through the dust-choked sky. Jiang Linhai peeked out from behind Jiang Si. "Where are they?"

Jiang Si pointed up. "They flew away."

"Oh, oh, oh."

The next second, Jiang Linhai was stunned by the disastrous state of their attic.

All that was left of the entire attic were some steel rebar with a little concrete clinging to them. The roof was completely gone.

Jiang Si had thought that reinforcing the roof structure would have prevented this, but she had still underestimated the power of the sandstorm.

Fortunately, the first and second floors were still stable, so they could continue living there.

Just from being open for a moment, a lot of sand and dust had blown in.

Jiang Si’s goggles were almost completely covered.

She wiped them clean. Over at Qin Shen’s house, his figure faintly appeared.

Jiang Si stood on her tiptoes to get a better look. He was holding some wood and hammering away, seemingly repairing the second-floor window.

In such a massive sandstorm, Qin Shen seemed to be wearing only a woven hood.

He didn’t even have sunglasses or a mask.

Jiang Si shouted to him, "Qin Shen, I’m going to give you some things! I’ll toss them into your yard, can you get them?"

Qin Shen’s blurry figure suddenly stood up and paused. A moment later, his deep voice carried over, "Yes."

Jiang Si breathed a sigh of relief and quickly grabbed a woven bag. She wrapped face cream, goggles, four dust masks, and a protective suit in bubble wrap.

After wrapping it all tightly into a ball, she put two large bricks into the bag for weight.

Jiang Si tied a chain around her waist while the others held on from behind. The wind howled, and she still felt like she couldn’t keep her footing.

She forcefully threw the bag over and yelled to Qin Shen, "Did you see it?"

Qin Shen’s steps were steady, giving the impression that he was walking on solid ground in the middle of the sandstorm.

He picked up the bag and gave a deliberate wave. "Got it. Thanks."

Jiang Si shouted back, "You’re welcome!" She added a word of caution, "The wind is too strong, you shouldn’t go out casually."

"Okay."

The chain clanged loudly in the wind. Seeing that Jiang Si was about to lose her balance, Jiang Linhai and the others immediately pulled the chain back, safely bringing Jiang Si back inside.

Only after the door was closed did Jiang Si belatedly realize that Qin Shen’s stability was truly impressive. In such a strong wind, he acted as if it were nothing.

The sandstorm blew continuously for two days without a break. Their first floor was completely buried by the dust and sand that had blown in.

The villagers who had been resettled waited two days for official supplies, but none came. Finally, unable to bear the hunger, they tied rocks to themselves to venture out and managed to retrieve a little food.

But it was clear the authorities hadn’t anticipated the sandstorm’s ferocity either. The water they had previously hauled back and stored was also running out.

As for the food reserves, they hadn’t even been transported from the original shelter yet.

It was a blessing in disguise that they hadn’t been transported. Otherwise, they would have been completely blown away en route.

Just as everyone was praying for the sandstorm to end, the temperature suddenly plummeted to ten degrees Celsius.

Because of the extreme heat before, most people were wearing only thin clothes. The crowd, huddled in the houses and on the verge of despair, soon began to fight tooth and nail over a single cotton coat or a thin blanket.

When it rains, it pours.

Just as everyone was praying for the sandstorm to end, it started to rain.

Without any warning, a torrential downpour began.

SPLASH. The rushing rain nourished the earth that had been parched for months. The combined effect of the hurricane-force winds and the downpour quickly caused a large amount of water to accumulate.

The rain hammered against the attic, pattering loudly like a volley of bullets.

They had installed waterproof panels during the sandstorm and raised the threshold of the security door, so the water from the roof could drain into the yard.

A night passed, and the house was soaked in muddy sand.

The entire first floor was also taken over by the accumulated water and the mud that had rushed in.

As far as the eye could see, the soft, bubbling, muddy ground looked like a man-eating swamp with its mouth wide open.

Now, they could only stay on the second floor.

Unfortunately, the downpour continued into the evening of the second day, and the waterproof panels stopped working.

Rainwater flowed into the house through cracks in the walls, and containers to catch the water were placed everywhere on the floor.

’At this rate, the water barrels in her space would probably be full in a few days.’

Longquan Village was located on higher ground. The water level was only so high because of the dust and sand left by the sandstorm, which would, to some extent, help them avoid flooding.

Jiang Si observed the rain. As long as the house didn’t collapse, they wouldn’t leave.

Many people couldn’t stand it and ran out, only to quickly retreat back inside.

The ground, like a swamp, would swallow you up to your waist with a single step.

Unless you had a death wish, no one dared to go out.

They could only endure, relying on rainwater to quench their hunger.

Perhaps hope really does appear in desperate situations. As the rain grew heavier and the surroundings turned into a vast ocean, people suddenly spotted fish in the water.

Everyone was ecstatic and hurriedly used all sorts of tools to catch them.

Jiang Si also saw the fish in the water. The moment she dropped her fishing rod in, something viciously bit the hook. It seemed you didn’t even need bait to get a bite.

She thought of the Weasel Crocodile she had killed in the cave, and her heart skipped a beat. She reeled it in for a closer look and sure enough, it was a Weasel Crocodile, weighing over three catties!