Chapter 1203: Setting Foot on the Yellow Sand
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
Only those that came to the west would experience the marvels of nature here. Mo Fan was born in the south., which mainly consisted of mountains with smooth crests. Even after he had traveled around the world, he was still impressed by the spectacular sights before him when he came to the west of his country. He could not help but feel minuscule.
Becoming a Forbidden Mage was the limit for a human, and currently, the strongest power that Mo Fan held was the Demon Element. However, even if he was to demonize, he still felt extremely tiny in this boundless basin in the west.
A force that could destroy mountains was nothing but a tiny little scratch, barely visible in this vast basin. It was not even enough to scratch the itch of the land.
The Taklamakan Desert was located in the middle of the basin. Although the desert was incomparable to the Sahara Desert, to humans, this sand-covered land was a new world full of unfamiliarities, unknowns, and dangers. The demon creatures residing in the desert were the only ones that could survive in the desert for long periods.
“The Taklamakan Desert has a powerful horde of demon creatures. Its population is most likely over a million. In addition to that, there are also seven medium-sized hordes and over thirty small hordes. The total number of demon creatures is immeasurable. The whole desert is densely populated by demon creatures. Our mission is to clear a path to the lake of the desert. According to our information, the lake is a part of an oasis. The military once built a relay station there, but after the terrain of the desert s.h.i.+fted and the whole place was crawling with demon creatures, the original path is now occupied by demon creatures, and it’s not just one or two hordes we are talking about…” Ge Ming reminded the group.
“The relay station and the path leading to it have been buried for eleven years. Apart from the starting point, we will have to explore the area again. We have already come up with a path through simulations developed according to the information gathered by older Hunters,” Lu Fang, who was in charge of navigation, finsihed in a serious voice.
When the group was discussing the ideal path to take, the middle-aged man who seemed a little sloppy sounded surprisingly serious. His eyes were glittering, showing his confidence in his expertise!
“This device will detect the presence of demon creatures within five kilometers of us. We have to bury it into the ground when we reach that huge yellow mountain, and make sure we aren’t surrounded by demon creatures for the next five kilometers,” w.a.n.g Jiuming, the technical specialist, told everyone.
“Alright, let’s make our way to the mountain. One step at a time,” Mo Fan agreed.
Mo Fan did not have much experience with deserts. The only experience he had was the time he almost got lost in the Sahara Desert. As such, Mo Fan and Jiang Shaoxu were still a little intimidated by the thought of traversing a desert. Unfortunately, Mo Fan had a reason to be here, as did Jiang Shaoxu.
The group was walking on foot. They did not have another Summoner among them. The Summoners that Ge Ming knew were all Basic or Intermediate Mages. They could not let a Summoner come along to die just because they did not have a Summoned Beast to carry their belongings!
An Earth Mage was in charge of their belongings. In a place covered in sand like this, the man just needed to keep casting Earth Wave to move their supplies. He did not even need to walk.
Since they were in a desert, the biggest risk was getting lost. As such, they had brought a lot of supplies with them, especially food, medicine, and water.
—
Lingling’s stamina was not as good. Mo Fan had no choice but to carry her on his back. Luckily, she was not heavy at all. She was almost weightless when he was carrying her.
Lingling’s eyes would occasionally flicker with excitement whenever they arrived at a new location. It seemed like there were many places she wanted to go, but the loss of her father had sealed her curiosity of the world away.
“Is their path reliable?” Mo Fan asked Lingling softly.
“So far so good,” Lingling replied.
“What happened to the relay station?” Mo Fan asked.
“I don’t really know. How old do you think I was eleven years ago?” Lingling answered.
“…” Mo Fan rolled his eyes. The knowledge inside Lingling’s little head could easily drown most old professors…
—
The sand started to get thicker as the group ventured further into the desert. The sand was soft at the start, but it started to feel like a strong force was dragging at their legs as their feet sank into the sand. It was extremely difficult to walk on the sand, as it would just wear them out quicker. Together with the heat and the dryness, an ordinary human would be overwhelmed by fatigue in just half an hour.
“Old Tong, it’s fine escorting us here, we’ll continue on ourselves!” Zhang Xiaohou patted the shoulder of the Officer that was escorting them.
“Can…can I go with you all too?” Tong Li said with a troubled face.
“You want to go too?” Zhang Xiaohou was quite surprised.
Tong Li was an Advanced Mage, but his rank was not that high. He was only a Lieutenant, much lower than Zhang Xiaohou. He had grown up in the west, so he was quite familiar with the Tarim Basin and the Taklamakan Desert. When Zhang Xiaohou mentioned he was going to the Taklamakan Desert, Tong Li took the initiative to escort them to the entrance area.
The terrain of a desert would s.h.i.+ft gradually. There was a chance that the standard entrance of the desert might have been covered in sand a few months ago. It was one of the reasons why it was extremely difficult to make a safe path across the desert.
“It’s awesome if Lieutenant Tong is willing to come with us!” Ge Ming blurted out, his arms wide open.
The others in the group were not fussy about it, either. Tong Li was a local, and no one was more familiar with the desert than him. They had come well-prepared, but having Tong Li in the group would still save them some trouble.
Mo Fan looked at Tong Li carefully. He could tell that something was bothering Tong Li, yet he did not ask, since the man had no intention of saying anything.
—
When they arrived at the entrance, it was filled up with sand, unlike they were expecting.
If the start of the path already had discrepancies, how could they possibly rely on the information they had? Everyone was grim when they did not find the oasis that was meant to be there!
Not a great start!
“The sand is thinner here, but thicker there. It means there was once an oasis here. Judging from the wind and the rate the sand is stacking up, the entrance is roughly a kilometer ahead,” Tong Li said confidently.
“I’ll go take a look!” Zhang Xiaohou immediately summoned a faint, blue wind and shot into the distance.
Not long afterwards, he reached the place that Tong Li mentioned. He placed his hand on the sand and used his Earth Element to explore the ground beneath.
“Tong Li is right! There are plants under the sand, but they have started to rot,” Zhang Xiaohou said to the group as they caught up with him.
“Being able to tell where the oasis was from the thickness of the sand and the wind… Tong Li, you’re a professional. It’s like we are teaching our grandmother to suck eggs!” Ge Ming complimented him.
The others were impressed too. Tong Li was surely going to save them a lot of trouble!.
“Come, it isn’t safe here. We should be able to see the Big Yellow Mountain if we head this way,” Tong Li said.
—
The Big Yellow Mountain was once a grand and hilly mountain. Sand eventually stacked up around it. Once, someone tried digging through the sand to see the mountain’s true appearance. In the end, they discovered that the sand covering the mountain was at least fifty meters thick. It was shocking, as they could not tell what terrifying creatures would be hiding in sand that was fifty meters thick!
The group arrived successfully at the Big Yellow Mountain. They could not help but feel extremely tiny after seeing the huge mound lying right before them.
The mountain served as the boundary of the Taklamakan Desert. Once they crossed the mountain, they would find themselves in the realm of demon creatures. It had been years since anyone last saw what was behind the Big Yellow Mountain.
The Big Yellow Mountain was occupied by a pack of Sandrock Golems. The group was expecting a battle when they arrived and planned to cross the mountain, but not a single Sandrock Golem had shown up even after they reached the mountain’s waist.
“I didn’t know she was a Psychic Mage. Mo Fan, your friend is pretty impressive,” Ge Ming remarked, looking at Jiang Shaoxu.
“I told you I wasn’t here for a vacation,” Mo Fan shrugged.
Jiang Shaoxu was a professional Psychic Mage. With just a single Spirit Ripple, the Elemental Creatures within a kilometer of the group didn’t bother them.
It was necessary to avoid as many battles as they could when they were wandering in the wild. Unfortunately, Psychic Mages were mostly on two extremes; either they were so weak that the teams would refer to them as psychologists instead of Psychic Mages, or they were so powerful that they would cost more to hire than a Healer, since if there was no fighting, no one would be injured!
Jiang Shaoxu’s Psychic Element was astonis.h.i.+ngly powerful. It allowed the team to cross the Big Yellow Mountain and enter the Taklamakan Desert without a single demon creature hara.s.sing them.
——
After going down the Big Yellow Mountain, the golden-yellow sand of the desert completely filled their view. Its uniformity was a great contrast to the beautiful blue sky, but it was still a spectacular sight to the group!
The endless sand, the vast sky; they would be stuck in this world for the next fifteen days…
The place was separated from the rest of the world. It was mysterious and terrifying!
“We have to be extremely careful with every step we take from here on. w.a.n.g Jiuming, go find a suitable spot to set up the detector,” Ge Ming said.
“Got it!” w.a.n.g Jiuming answered.
“Wait, how long will it take for the detector to scan the area?” Lingling asked.
“Around an hour,” w.a.n.g Jiuming said.
“Can you give me a more specific time?”
“An hour and ten minutes,” w.a.n.g Jiuming was startled. He did not think the little girl would be so serious with the question.
“Help me connect this; I will do a scatter plot,” Lingling handed w.a.n.g Jiuming a tablet computer.
“Alright, pull yourself together, and prepare for a possible fight!” Ge Ming said.