Li Cu walked closer to the vehicle and saw that all the corpses were curled up at the bottom of the car, completely buried in sand. He looked at the tent fabric hanging around the vehicle: “It seems they used this truck as a wall, creating an angle with this boundary marker, then covered it with a tent to make a campsite.”

“They have a tent, but they didn’t set it up. It seems that the lack of wind here is an illusion; they needed the boundary marker and the truck as windbreaks, indicating that there could be a severe storm here.”

“Then how did they die?” Li Cu asked, a bit puzzled.

Wu Xie speculated, “They must have died trapped. Almost all the corpses are under the truck, maintaining similar postures, indicating they probably perished at the same time. It seems the crisis they faced was very sudden, leaving them no time to set up the tent for protection.”

“Does this indicate anything?”

“It indicates that we must find a way out quickly. Otherwise, if we encounter the same danger, we could end up like them.”

Li Cu turned back to look; Wang Meng was still dazedly basking in the sun by the lake. He wondered if he should switch places with Wang Meng, as being by the water would be more reassuring. However, seeing that both Wang Meng and the lake hadn’t moved, he felt that Wu Xie’s arrangement might have other intentions, so he could only go up to help Wu Xie.

The two of them worked hard for a long time, finally dragging all the corpses out from under the truck and placing them in one spot to examine later. Then Wu Xie began searching the driver’s cabin of the vehicle.

The car’s glass was intact. Wu Xie pulled on the door and exclaimed in surprise, “It’s actually locked; what a habit.”

“Knock on the window and say the police are checking the plates.”

“You don’t understand; in the desert, cars are generally not locked. If they are, it’s usually locked from the inside. Could someone have locked the door from the inside?”

“Maybe the driver had OCD?”

“I’m not in the mood for jokes.” Wu Xie brushed away the sand and white alkali dust from the window and peered inside. After a few glances, he suddenly jumped down and stepped back a few paces. “This is really creepy.”

“What happened now?”

“The driver died inside, and he’s holding something strange in his hands,” Wu Xie said, “scared me.”

“Is this corpse special? Aren’t you good with dead bodies? Why are you scared of this one?”

“He’s not scary; it’s the thing in his hands that’s frightening.” Wu Xie pointed to a dangerous container in the truck bed. “The driver was holding that thing, and it has already been opened.”

“If, as you said, this container holds something very dangerous and has been opened, then he might have died because of a leak from the container. He might have locked the door from the inside before dying, fearing that someone would accidentally open the door.”

“Are you suggesting he committed suicide?”

Wu Xie did not confirm or deny: “Maybe. If the container holds biochemical hazardous material, then by locking the door, he would be committing suicide, making it impossible for anyone else to save him. And the car door has a certain degree of airtightness, which would also prevent other people from being affected.”

He glanced at the door and the car: “But after so many years, the rubber sealing ring has aged and no longer serves its sealing function. We’ve been standing by the car door for so long and haven’t died yet, so it seems whatever is in this container has lost its lethality. Go find a crowbar; I’ll pry the door open.”

“No need, just step aside,” Li Cu said. “I have a way; this kind of lock can’t stop me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I can open this lock. If I pry the door open and damage it, the car door won’t close properly. When we need a more sealed space, we’ll be in trouble. It’s better to keep the door intact.”

“Come on, this lock is completely rusted. How are you going to open it?”

“It’s a mechanical lock; it can’t be too far gone.”

Li Cu was deliberately trying to show off a bit. His father had been a transport driver in the factory and was very familiar with the locks on these liberation vehicles. The little skill he had for opening car locks was learned from his father, but it was a rather singular technique and didn’t mean he could open any lock. Generally, he had no problem with the low-end mechanical locks found in cars, but the more advanced ones were a different story.

He jumped into the car and looked through the window, and indeed saw the body inside. However, the glass was very foggy, making it hard to see the details. He sighed; he used to feel scared at the sight of a corpse, but after seeing so many, he had gotten used to it.

He felt the car lock and twisted the handle a bit, then asked Wu Xie if he had any thin metal wire. Wu Xie took off his keychain, straightened the keyring, and handed it to him. Li Cu poked it into the car lock and suddenly realized something was off: “This door isn’t locked.”

“If it’s not locked, how come it can’t be opened?”

“The lock on this door is broken, and it was broken from the outside. The person inside was locked in the car.”