BXBX NOVEL Chapter 104 - 101: Black or White? (Please Subscribe!)
On the scorching sand dunes, Bi Fang lay on his back, his chest heaving
violently.
His back was still aching faintly.
That was really close!
It was a good thing he opened his chute at three hundred and fifty meters, otherwise he would’ve been totally screwed!
But Bi Fang wasn’t afraid, he was prepared for the possibility of mishaps. What kind of adventure would it be without any surprises?
Sand and dust filled the sky.
Bi Fang lay on the ground for a solid three minutes until a gust of wind blew sand into his mouth.
“Ugh!”
“Ptooey!”
Bi Fang suddenly sat up, coughing a couple of times to spit out the sand in his mouth.
[Back from the dead!]
[Respawned with full health!]
[The quality of these clothes is pretty good, not even a tear.]
[Professional equipment, you think this is a joke?]
[Master Fang is eternal!]
“What the hell? Cursing me to be single forever again? I’m a steel and straight man. No matter how much you curse, those who can’t have me will never get a girlfriend,” Bi Fang joked after spitting out the sand.
He knew it meant ‘eternal god,’ but every time he saw it, it felt like a curse on
his single status.
After resting, Bi Fang stood up, stripped off his goggles and the parachute pack. These weren’t system equipment and couldn’t be carried around, plus they were too heavy. In the desert terrain, every bit of weight had to be calculated with the utmost precision.
“I won’t be using these pieces of equipment. After all, a parachute has too many uses, so I’ll leave them all here. The guy piloting the helicopter will come down and collect them later.”
[Another small detail for environmental protection]
[Positive energy, bro!]
[Dressed in professional outdoor gear: I won’t use the parachute pack, it has too many functions (funny)]
[Feels like this survival challenge is tougher, it’s the desert after all, nothing but sand.]
[Stop talking, I’m already thirsty]
The drone that fell freely with Bi Fang had been hovering earlier; now it ascended, capturing the endless expanse of the Qaidam Desert.
Like Mohe, it was a monotony of color to the horizon—a blanket of white snow there, and here a sky of yellow sand.
The dry and ancient wind swept across the vast desert, with huge tawny rocks exposed on the surface.
Red gravel and yellowish-green desolation were already considered exotic colors in this barren landscape.
It had been like this for thousands of years: flat, vast, dry, desolate, silent, barren…
It had never changed.
In the distance, the heatwaves were visible to the naked eye, declaring the passion of this land.
Just landed from the cold high sky, Bi Fang hadn’t yet felt the heat. He looked up at the sky and took off his jacket and inner lining.
Different from before, instead of choosing to determine his direction first, Bi Fang went to the shadow of a large rock and plonked himself down.
Under the broken rocks, a shiny black scorpion moved its stinger cautiously, creeping close to the insects in a tuft of grass. Startled by the sudden appearance of this massive object, it quickly scuttled into a crevice to escape.
[???]
[Why’s he sitting down now? Isn’t he going to survive?]
[Feels like the style of this survival challenge is different this time?]
[You’ve changed, Master Fang!]
“What’s the rush?” Bi Fang, quite relaxed, looked up towards the distant sun and said slowly, “Look at the sun, does it look like a good time to travel?”
The drone lifted its camera, and the dazzling sunlight immediately made the audience squint.
Wow, what a huge sun!
“Making a survival plan according to different environments is key to survival. The desert is different from forests and snowy regions. Here, daytime is not a good time to travel; we should move at dusk or dawn.”
“The cool air at night allows you to move more quickly with minimal risk of heatstroke. In hot climate conditions, this decision alone can save your body three liters of water every day.”
“In the desert, survival is not our primary objective because escaping this vast expanse won’t be a short-term task. More importantly, we need to find the source of life, water!”
“So are we just going to sit here?”
“This is getting a bit boring.”
Many in the audience were confused. Even though the skydiving had been thrilling, they couldn’t just stay put right after the start.
“Of course not. It’s only ten in the morning. We should avoid traveling from eleven to four in the afternoon. I’m here to make some preparations!”
In the desert, temperature is undoubtedly the most dangerous enemy.
It can lead to dehydration, heatstroke, and a serious of other serious problems, especially dehydration. If you get dehydrated in the desert, you wouldn’t last many days before being turned into a dried-out husk!
“Most of our body’s water loss occurs through sweating. We should cover as much skin as possible with loose, lightweight clothing. This will ensure you sweat and slow down evaporation, thus reducing water loss.”
“For this reason, it’s better to wear a cotton sweatshirt instead of moisture-wicking fabric, and then cover it with a light windbreaker. As for the color…”
Bi Fang hadn’t finished speaking when he was interrupted by the barrage of comments on the screen.
“I know this one, we should wear light-colored clothes, right?
“Isn’t that obvious? Light colors reflect light, they aren’t hot!”
“Why do I remember people in the desert wearing black clothes?’
“You remembered wrong, Arabs all wear white!”
“You’re all not wrong,” Bi Fang, seeing the commotion in the comments, was somewhat speechless. Why couldn’t they just listen to him finish?
“Actually, what I wanted to say is, if you don’t have specialized equipment, the color doesn’t really matter!”
How could that be possible?
Not only were the audience stunned, but even Yao Jun, who always enjoyed outdoor activities, was puzzled.
How could it not matter?
Don’t Arabs all wear white robes? If it’s all the same, why don’t they wear black?
And black absorbs heat, isn’t that basic physics?
Facing such skepticism, Bi Fang actually nodded. “Who said it doesn’t matter? In reality, if you observe more closely, you would find that residents of the Sinai Desert wear black robes!”
“Back in 1980, the journal Nature published a study on this topic titled ‘Why do Bedouins wear black robes in hot deserts?'”
“The result of the study found that the difference between the two was virtually zero!”
Ah, this.
The previously arguing Shuiyou (online friends/audience) went silent; many viewers were old friends and had no doubts about Bi Fang’s knowledge. Hearing this conclusion, they were already half convinced.
So they’d been arguing all this time for nothing?
Bi Fang paused, seeing that everyone had quieted down, and continued.
“The study found that black clothes indeed absorbed more heat, but it stopped there.”
“In other words, black clothes absorbed extra heat, but by the time it actually came into contact with the skin, that extra heat had dissipated because the robes are loose and easy to move, allowing for air circulation, dispersing the heat.”
-Of course, there’s also a view that the ‘light-colored clothing’ theory ignores a key factor.”
Bi Fang raised a finger, speaking mysteriously, “The heat radiated by the human body!”
“They believe that the heat radiated from the body can also be reflected by light-colored clothing back onto yourself, making you feel hotter. I think this theory is quite good, but it hasn’t been verified on humans, so I don’t know if it’s true or not.”
“Also, if possible, find clothing labeled with UPF, which stands for Ultraviolet Protection Factor, of 30+ in white. This will help prevent sunburn.”
After speaking, Bi Fang took out a thin windbreaker from his bag, put it on, and then took out a cotton T-shirt, also draping it over his face.
He stood up, scouted the distance to determine the direction, and was just about to set off when suddenly, a sound unlike the wind caught everyone’s attention.
What’s that…
The sound of an engine?
Wait, a car engine?
Who would be driving in the desert?
Have I encountered someone so soon?
Bi Fang was a bit stunned.
He had only just begun his survival quest!