Chapter 60: Arrival in the Tang Dynasty

Chen Xuelin was the first to board the vehicle. Upon stepping inside, he was immediately stunned by the scene before him. Aside from the five seats in the front row, the entire rear compartment was crammed with bewildering supplies.

Bags of rice and white flour were stacked neatly, while fuel drums were firmly secured with anti-collision foam. Right beside a pile of medical kits marked with red crosses, there was a stack of bar-shaped objects wrapped in moisture-proof paper. Their peculiar shape and the faint scent of gunpowder made Chen Xuelin's spine instantly stiffen.

Scattered in the aisle were a few lead-sealed iron boxes, stamped with blurred warning labels reading "Flammable and Explosive."

"This is..." He Xu, who followed closely behind, was equally shocked by the interior.

When Yang Fang stepped into the carriage and her gaze swept over the piled grain, flour, and cooking oil, she did not look surprised. However, the moment her eyes touched the iron boxes bearing the bright red "Flammable and Explosive" marks, her breathing hitched noticeably.

Where did he get all these things?

As Yang Fang noticed the boxed pharmaceuticals, the inquiry and doubt in her eyes grew even more intense.

She could not help but recall what Jiang Ye had said earlier that morning.

Could it really be true that they were traveling back to the Tang Dynasty?

As soon as this thought arose, Yang Fang quickly shook the absurd notion out of her mind.

How could something like this possibly be true?

Forget it, let us just wait and see what is actually going on.

Yang Fang noticed that there were five members in the group this time, and one of them was no ordinary person.

Her gaze lingered for a few extra seconds on Wang Zhengqing’s straight posture and the calluses on the web of his hands.

This man possessed a distinct, military-bred aura.

This also caused her tense nerves to relax slightly.

At least within this team, there was someone who looked reliable.

Wang Zhengqing was the last to board the vehicle. His sharp gaze swept across the cabin filled with supplies, landing precisely on the iron boxes. Upon catching sight of those blurred yet vaguely familiar stamped serial numbers, his eyelids twitched violently.

"Hold on tight, everyone." Jiang Ye patted the driver's seat, and the NPC Driver Wang understood instantly, starting the engine.

The Coaster bus drove smoothly into the tunnel, casting shifting lights and shadows from the dim wall lamps across the windows. Wang Zhengqing suddenly straightened his posture. Judging by the length of the tunnel and the speed of the vehicle, they should have exited it long ago; yet the tunnel ahead seemed to stretch on indefinitely, like a bottomless, fathomless abyss.

"Something's wrong!" He had barely spoken when Jiang Ye's voice came from the front: "Everyone grab the handrails!"

Before the words faded, a blinding white light suddenly burst from the end of the tunnel, instantly engulfing the entire carriage.

The light was as searing as staring directly into the midday sun, causing everyone to instinctively squeeze their eyes shut. Before Yang Fang's scream could escape her lips, she felt as though the entire vehicle had been tossed into a washing machine, the spinning, weightless sensation churning violently in her stomach.

"Boom—"

Accompanied by a muffled thud, the violent shaking stopped abruptly.

When everyone tremblingly opened their eyes, what they saw through the windows was no longer the concrete walls of the tunnel, but an endless sea of golden sand. A scorching wave of heat beat against the car body; in the distance, upon a sand dune, a dead Populus euphratica tree cast its twisted silhouette against a blood-red sunset.

"We..." He Xu's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice sounding unnaturally dry. "Did we really reach the Tang Dynasty?"

The five people inside the vehicle widened their eyes in disbelief, staring blankly at the completely unfamiliar landscape outside the window.

On a nearby sand dune, a desert lizard was cautiously eyeing this abruptly materialized steel behemoth, and the sand clinging to its dorsal scales consisted of genuine Western Regions grit.