A thick black smoke shot up into the sky, rapidly rising and spreading in the air. Following closely behind were grayish-white fumes, followed by black-red flames. The flames surged from the mountaintop, soaring dozens of meters into the air, carrying the black smoke as they spread further. 

The erupting lava splashed and fell in all directions, resembling a beautiful fireworks. The fire, thick smoke, and magma continued to expand recklessly, like a demon released from hell after billions of years. It revealed its hideous face, waved its claws, and pounced on the tiny humans without hesitation. 

It was indeed a volcanic eruption. 

For a moment, everyone was stunned. 

“Let’s go, now!” Huo Yishen called out in a deep voice. Jiang Ning woke up in shock and immediately called Doudou and Coke to get into the car and fasten their seat belts. 

Passersby were frightened and rushed to grab cars and flee, but the more anxious they were, the more accidents happened. Several cars collided with each other in a row, and a new tragedy occurred. 

Huo Yishen remained calm and swiftly maneuvered past the accident scene, driving forward safely and swiftly. 

Jiang Ning looked back and saw that the volcanic ash had turned half of the sky black, while the red magma flames danced menacingly. 

This was her first time experiencing a volcanic eruption. Even though she was dozens of kilometers away, she still felt that the air had become hot and oppressive, and the scenery in the distance was constantly twisting and shaking… 

She could still feel the tremors from such a distance, which was enough to show the severity of the volcanic eruption. If the magma was rampant, would the survivors who could only migrate on foot have enough time to escape? 

Jiang Ning took a deep breath, calming herself down and staying alert to her surroundings. 

Both pedestrians and vehicles were evacuating at an accelerated speed, hoping to stay away from the source of the volcanic eruption and avoid experiencing smog again. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw helicopters in the sky, not just one but several. She didn’t know whether they were private or official. 

It seemed that all means of transportation—land, sea, and air—were being utilized. Everyone will demonstrate their resourcefulness just to survive. 

The road was treacherous; it was crowded with cars and people, and accidents occurred frequently. Everyone had to stay alert. 

By dusk, they had only traveled a little over 100 kilometers, with half the journey to Huicheng still ahead—a situation worse than holiday traffic jams on toll-free highways. 

They stopped to rest and attend to urgent needs. 

Amidst the restless crowd outside the car, Jiang Ning quietly ate coarse grain mantou. 

After filling her stomach, she used her binoculars to look towards Fengcheng. 

The afterglow of the setting sun made it hard to see the volcano clearly, but there was a gray area in the sky with streaks, and it was expanding quickly. 

Strange, could volcanic ash disperse so quickly? 

It didn’t quite seem right. Jiang Ning stared carefully at the sky, the setting sun still emitting its golden light, yet there was a shadow rapidly covering it, like a celestial dog swallowing the sun. 

Without blocking the sunset, instead it seemed like the shadow was passing over… 

“Oh my God, what is that!” 

Someone behind her exclaimed in shock, followed by screams. 

Jiang Ning turned to look back, her pupils dilating instantly! 

A massive storm, engulfed in yellow sand, soil, flying rocks, dead branches, swept across the mountains and forests, heading straight towards them. 

A sandstorm, it was a sandstorm! 

Everyone was shocked. This was the southernmost part of the country, not a desert. 

While natural disasters had ravaged the land in recent years, causing rivers to dry up, forests to die, and massive soil erosion, it wasn’t enough to generate a sandstorm. 

Could it be that the sandstorm had swept all the way down from the north and was intending to engulf everything in its path? 

However, they didn’t have time to think. In an instant, a strong wind blew, sand and rocks flew everywhere, and the sky was dark, making it impossible to tell east from west or north from south. 

The refugees ahead on the road were the first to notice the sandstorm. In a panic, they immediately turned their vehicles around, hoping to escape safely before the sandstorm arrived. 

But just as they gripped the steering wheel, a driver behind them mistakenly stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake. Before either side could react, they were engulfed by the sandstorm… 

“Anning,” Huo Yishen’s face turned pale, “Quick, hide!” 

The two were not far away; they quickly ran towards the Hummer. However, in the blink of an eye, the sandstorm came upon them. Instinctively, she lunged forward to embrace Huo Yishen… 

But the strong sandstorm battered her face, carrying coarse sand and flying stones. Jiang Ning’s head suddenly felt heavy, there’s a sharp pain stabbing through like a knife. 

The wind and sand blinded her eyes, and she couldn’t open them at all. 

Her body was suddenly lifted into the air. She subconsciously reached out to grasp the car body, but the car door was blown over by the strong wind and struck her wrist heavily. 

There’s a sudden sensation of her bones breaking, but Jiang Ning bit her lip tightly, refusing to let go even as the sandstorm tossed her body through the air… 

Enduring the pain, she slowly tightened her arms, using her forehead to forcefully support the car door. She awkwardly crawled into the car. “Huo Yishen?” 

The storm howled like a ghost, the moment she opened her mouth, the wind and sand rushed in, quickly drowning her voice. 

Unable to see with her eyes, Jiang Ning could only reach out and touch. When she felt someone in the passenger seat, her heart was relieved, and she quickly slipped into her space. 

With powerful force, the howling wind and the sandstorm vanished in an instant, leaving an eerie silence. 

Jiang Ning grabbed a bottle of water with her consciousness, forcefully twisted it open and gulped down some to clear the sand from her mouth, then endured the pain to wash her eyes… 

“Hiss…” 

Warm liquid slowly trickled down her forehead, presumably from being hit by a flying stone. 

Touching her swollen wrist, which had been struck by the car door, it was already swollen and congested, but luckily not broken, a silver lining in her misfortune. 

“Are you guys okay?” She took out a handkerchief to wipe her face. 

The car was silent. Jiang Ning tried to open her swollen, teary eyes. 

Her vision was blurry, but she could see clearly that the passenger seat was empty; what she had touched earlier was a backpack, which she had placed there herself when she got out of the car to rest. 

The passenger seat was empty, and so was the back row. 

Where was Huo Yishen? 

Where was her dog? 

Jiang Ning panicked instantly, pulling herself and everything out of the space once more. 

As the car emerged, a fierce sandstorm swept in and it instantly lifted the front of the car… 

The storm was too intense; Jiang Ning had no choice but to retreat again. 

Sandstorms usually lasted no more than two to three hours. Huo Yishen was always steady, never fazed by any difficulty. She knew he’d be fine. He must be fine. 

Jiang Ning’s mind was in turmoil, but all she could do was wait for the storm to pass before going out to look for him. 

If she went out now, she wouldn’t know where she and the car would be blown away too. 

She took out her medical supplies. She cleaned and bandaged the cut on her forehead where the flying stone had struck. 

Her wrist, swollen like a pig’s trotter from being hit by the car door, bled from the broken skin. Every slight movement caused excruciating pain. 

Gritting her teeth against the pain, she cleaned the wound thoroughly, applied ice packs after bandaging, took antibiotics and painkillers, and tried to rest with her eyes closed. 

About half an hour later, she changed into a bulletproof vest, wrapped herself in a military coat, and put on a motorcycle helmet. Even if she were blown away by the sandstorm, she shouldn’t die. 

Still uneasy, she threw a coil of steel into the car to add weight. 

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Ning, who was fully armed, left the space again…