I felt such embarrassment, I almost turned my head away to look elsewhere.

But for some inexplicable reason, as I felt the sincerity in her eyes and took in the slightly haggard beauty of her face, I found my sight utterly captivated.

Just as we were locked in that silent study of each other, a sudden, wild shout erupted from downstairs.

It was Da Xiong’s voice, bellowing at the top of his lungs: “Xiao Chuan! Are you upstairs? Get down here quick! There are so many UFOs!”

Hearing him, Liang Qian and I both frowned simultaneously, turning away with a flicker of shared awkwardness.

In that moment, I truly wished I could kill Da Xiong—no, castrate him.

A moment passed, and Da Xiong fell silent. I had no intention of investigating any UFOs, so I turned back to Liang Qian and said, “You… did you have something you wanted to tell me just now?”

Liang Qian turned back to face me, her lips just beginning to part, when Da Xiong shrieked again, “Help! Xiao Chuan, come look! So many UFOs!”

Hearing that sound, which reminded me of a butchered pig, I could only rub my hair in helpless frustration and stand up.

Seeing my reaction, Liang Qian actually managed a faint smile and sighed, “Let’s go see, then.”

I nodded, offered her an arm for support, and we made our way down the stairs.

The moment we stepped clear of the stairwell, we saw Da Xiong and the others standing in the middle of the street, each peering through a pair of binoculars pointed toward the distant sky.

I strode up, snatched the binoculars from Da Xiong’s grip, shoved him aside with my elbow, and took a look myself.

What I saw immediately shocked me.

There were perhaps fifteen or sixteen small, white specks of light suspended in the heavens, remarkably similar to the ones we had observed during the day.

They floated aimlessly like balloons at times, and then, just as suddenly, they would gather, arranging themselves into precise formations—triangles, squares, diamonds—a truly peculiar sight.

What was most unsettling was that the number of white dots kept increasing. Every ten seconds or so, a new white spot would slowly ascend from the ground and merge into the existing aerial assembly.

“Quick! Write down those shapes! Maybe they’re trying to convey a message to Earth!” Kobe said to his girlfriend, Ah Qiu, who was standing nearby.

Ah Qiu stomped her foot slightly and pouted, “Oh, I’m writing, I’m writing! You don’t need to tell me!”

This is so strange, I thought to myself.

Considering the altitude of these unidentified flying objects, our viewing angle, and the distance, it was highly probable that they were appearing directly above that underground pit, just as they had during the day.

Had something we did inside that pit triggered the appearance of these UFOs?

So, I turned to Kobe and asked, “You’ve been studying these things for a while now, haven't you? Have you ever witnessed a scene like this before?”

Kobe nodded. “Of course. More than once. The most recent was during the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown following the 2011 tsunami in Japan. In the two days leading up to the accident, there were numerous UFO sightings reported near several volcanoes around Fukushima. The quantity of UFOs then was far greater than now—they seemed to increase almost every second. We couldn't travel to Japan at the time, but we saw vast amounts of data online, though much of that video evidence was later suppressed.”

At this point, * interjected, “Are you suggesting a major catastrophe is imminent?”

Kobe kept his eyes glued to the binoculars, making notes, and replied, “All I can say is, it’s very possible.”

A silence fell over us. Our entire purpose for descending into that pit was to prevent a disaster, and yet, this phenomenon seemed to symbolize one’s approach. Had our efforts been in vain?

“Don’t listen to him spout nonsense; he’s just a dabbler. I was the one who got him involved with our association back then,” Ah Qiu cut in. “A massive influx of UFOs doesn't always portend disaster. On the contrary, when the Chernobyl nuclear plant was about to explode in 1986, there were also countless UFO sightings. Some people personally witnessed a UFO project a beam of light onto the reactor core, preventing an even greater catastrophe. Did you know? If Chernobyl had fully exploded, the entire Northern Hemisphere would have turned to cosmic dust.”

“What you’re citing is just hearsay, with no photos or video evidence. It doesn’t count,” Kobe shot back.

The two immediately launched into a lively argument.

I managed an awkward smile, realizing that these two knew far more than I’d expected; they were clearly different from the troublesome half-measures I’d encountered before.

Da Xiong then clapped me on the shoulder and asked, “So, are you thinking about going back down there?”

I gave a wry smile. “Unless I discover something is truly wrong, I swear I will never return to that nightmare place again.”

Da Xiong chuckled, “That settles it, then. Let’s just pretend the little green spiky monsters in the pit are lighting Kongming lanterns to celebrate the New Year and ignore them.”

Hearing that, I could only nod in agreement.

added from the side, “We should probably just leave this cursed place quickly, to avoid more speculation.”

Truthfully, something like UFOs wasn't earth-shattering, but it wasn't insignificant either. Many people worldwide claimed to have seen them, and there were even rumors of abductions. But as of now, UFOs had no discernible impact on daily life on Earth; they were merely a subject for amateur astronomers.

Thinking this, my interest waned. I turned the binoculars toward the ground and said, “It’s getting late. Everyone should go back to bed.”

“Wait! It looks like those UFOs are starting to return to base…” Ah Qiu observed from the side.

I raised the binoculars again, scanning the sky, and saw that the objects, now numbering over a hundred, had formed a long line. Beginning from one end, they slowly descended, disappearing below the horizon.

The rest followed suit, dropping one after another, the entire formation resembling a string of pearls whose thread had broken, until they all vanished onto the ground.

As the last of the glowing white objects settled, the night sky regained its tranquility.

It was a moonless night, an unusually overcast sky for Xinjiang, the kind of weather usually reserved for the height of the sandstorms in July and August.

“We’re really lucky,” Kobe remarked with a smile.

“How are we lucky?” Da Xiong asked eagerly.

Kobe pointed upward. “I think there’s going to be a rare light rain over the desert tomorrow.”

“Really? That is so fortunate! A little rain to see us off—that will bring our Xinjiang journey to a perfect close…” Ah Qiu chimed in.

“Hmph, what’s so lucky about rain…” Da Xiong grumbled, clearly unimpressed.

I nudged Da Xiong. “You wouldn’t understand. In the desert regions, rain is called the baptism of the gods; it’s sacred.”

Da Xiong pouted. “Fine, then I’ll wait for the divine baptism too.”

By now, Kobe and his wife had gathered their data and taken their notes to their satisfaction and started packing up to head upstairs.

We followed them up the stairs and returned to our respective rooms to sleep.

Opening my door, I saw my grandfather standing by the window, gazing out at the distant night sky, lost in thought.

Evidently, he, too, had witnessed the UFO phenomenon.

After I entered, I sat down on the **, beginning to untie my shoes.

My grandfather, however, turned to me with a broad, satisfied smile and said, “It’s going to rain in Lop Nur tomorrow.”

Though the statement sounded utterly random, it was true that I hadn't seen my grandfather look genuinely happy in a long time.

I exchanged no further words with him that night, but I could sense that his mood had significantly lightened.

This, in turn, brought me a measure of peace, and I slept soundly.

The next morning, I was awakened by the sound of many people laughing and playing in the street below.

I groggily climbed out of the **, pushed the window open, and saw a light drizzle falling from the sky.

The street was filled with local people dressed in traditional clothing, old and young alike, their faces bright with joy. They were laughing and playing in the rain. While it wasn't the boisterous celebration of a New Year, everyone seemed genuinely happy to be soaked.

It really was raining...

Watching the scene, I couldn't help but smile softly.