After a week, Huai Shi finally broke free from the core of the desert. After surviving radioactive dust, quicksand zones, and the Ten Thousand Mile Desert—a land utterly devoid of water sources and plant supplies—he reached the peripheral area on the southern edge of the desert.
The increasing number of abandoned houses and mines along the way proved he was about to re-enter the civilized world. Confirmation also came from the sound of engines at noon outside his temporary tent—so shrill and familiar.
The sound startled Ling HuaiShi from his slumber. Groggily, he climbed up and lifted the door curtain he had fashioned from foil paper.
In fact, apart from the mat beneath him, Huai Shi had constructed the entire frame of the temporary tent using the metal reserves in his saddlebag and his Hand of Confinement.
The tent's surface was canvas. To make it windproof, Huai Shi had also coated it with a layer of tin, making it look peculiar and conspicuous under the sunlight.
