Volume Three, Chapter 123: The Sea of Death

Nor could they take the innkeeper’s word entirely on faith. At least, it seemed that fellow merely wanted them to stay so he could earn more spirit crystals.

Clinging to a sliver of hope, the two settled in for the time being.

Yet the moment they did, trouble arrived. The place was remote and lay in the middle of a desert, where there were no vegetables to be found at all.

Besides, those accustomed to traveling through deserts had long since developed their own habits. They all preferred large bowls of wine and great chunks of meat. The braised mutton here was famous far and wide—who would bother eating bland vegetables?

With no other choice, the two brought out their own private stores. Yu Mu had a gourd full of fine wine, while An Shu possessed a large supply of snacks, all of them their favorite things. Thus, their little life was not without its pleasures.

Their peaceful days were finally broken three days later, and with them came a glimmer of hope.

That day, the two had just finished breakfast when they heard a commotion outside.

They hurried out to investigate and saw seven or eight travel-worn people entering the way station.

“It’s him!”

The moment they saw the man at the head of the group, both of them froze. It was none other than Shi Dali, the man who had caused such a disturbance at the teleportation array.

As soon as he entered, he began shouting, “Anyone want to join a group heading to Emerald City? If so, sign up quickly! We leave tomorrow morning. Miss this chance, and there won’t be another!”

The two were overjoyed and immediately raised their hands.

“We want to go.”

Shi Dali looked over their cultivation levels. They were barely acceptable, but more importantly, they had given him a good start. He nodded.

“Good! Welcome, welcome! Anyone else?”

He was still shouting when the innkeeper could take no more. He angrily said, “Who are you to spout such nonsense here? Do you even know what season it is? With your ability, you dare enter the Death Desert?”

“Hmph!”

Shi Dali snorted coldly and released his spiritual power. Everyone cried out in shock.

“Mid-stage Nascent Soul!”

The moment they saw his cultivation, someone immediately called out, “I’m in!”

“Count me in too!”

The innkeeper feared Shi Dali’s strength, but he could not bear to watch the money in his grasp slip away for nothing. Thus, he added, “What good is high cultivation in the desert? The most frightening thing there is getting lost. Do you have a guide?”

Everyone immediately fell silent. Even Yu Mu began to hesitate.

The innkeeper had struck at the heart of the matter. Without a guide, no matter how high one’s cultivation was, failing to find a way out of the desert meant certain death.

Shi Dali burst out laughing.

“If I dare organize this expedition, how could I have failed to make adequate preparations? Take a look at this!”

As he spoke, he pulled a parchment map from his robes and spread it across the table. Everyone crowded around to examine it, and their faces lit up with delight.

“It’s a map of the desert routes! With this, we won’t have to worry about finding our way out. Hahaha…”

“Having a map doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t get lost. The terrain of the desert changes constantly…”

This time, no matter what the innkeeper said, it was useless. No one paid him any attention.

“All right, everyone, make your preparations. We leave tomorrow. You all have sand camels, right? Without them, you won’t make it across this boundless desert.”

“Of course we do. Who doesn’t know that only sand camels can cross a desert? Surely no one plans to walk across it on foot? Hahaha…”

Everyone laughed. Only Yu Mu and An Shu wore long, miserable faces.

The two timidly approached the innkeeper.

“We don’t have a sand camel. Do you happen to have one for sale?”

The innkeeper replied sourly, “No more.”

Yu Mu hurriedly took out more than a dozen spirit crystals.

“Here, take these and buy yourself some wine. If you can help me obtain a sand camel, I’ll pay you double for our room and board.”

Only then did the innkeeper’s expression improve.

“There is one sand camel here. It came down with a serious illness and was abandoned by passing merchants some time ago. If you want to buy it, you may take it.”

Yu Mu was deeply depressed upon hearing this. Why did he always seem to encounter sick animals?

Still, he said, “All right, all right. Could you take me to see it?”

The innkeeper led them to the rear courtyard. There they saw a pale-yellow sand camel lying listlessly on the ground, looking utterly dispirited.

The sand camel was essentially identical to the camels Yu Mu had seen in his former world, except that it was larger and longer. Its greatest difference was that it had six legs, which made it better suited to traveling through the desert.

The moment An Shu saw it, she cried out, “What? This is the sand camel you’re selling us? It looks as though it won’t survive more than a few days on its own. How could it possibly carry people? This is a complete rip-off!”

The innkeeper curled his lips.

“I told you from the start that it was a sick camel. If it could cross the desert, why would it have been left here? If you don’t want it, then forget it.”

Yu Mu hurriedly said, “We’ll buy it, we’ll buy it. I know a little veterinary medicine. Perhaps I can cure it. Tell me, how much do you want?”

After a round of bargaining, Yu Mu bought the sick camel. The innkeeper left happily with the money, while An Shu watched Yu Mu with eager curiosity, ready to witness his miraculous healing skills.

Who would have thought that Yu Mu merely slapped the sand camel on the rump, dusted his hands, and turned to leave?

“Hey! Weren’t you going to cure it?”

“I was.”

“Then why haven’t you?”

“I already did.”

“What? When? I didn’t see anything!”

“You don’t believe me? Then take a look. Doesn’t it seem much better?”

An Shu turned around and saw that the sand camel had indeed recovered its spirits. Not only had it stood up, but it had also begun devouring its fodder.

“Wow, how amazing! How did you do that? I’m asking you a question. Hey—where did you go?”

When she turned back, Yu Mu had already vanished without a trace.

At dawn the next day, the party assembled early. Including the seven or eight people from Pearl City who refused to endure the humiliation, their group numbered nearly twenty—barely enough to form a party capable of crossing the desert.

Led by Shi Dali, they set off in grand procession.

This desert was truly extraordinary. Its sand was a dark color, and the farther they went, the deeper the hue became. It was called the Sea of Death for another reason as well: dark spiritual energy was extremely dense here, filling the land with an aura of death.

What surprised Yu Mu and An Shu most was the desert’s wildly changing climate.

The difference between day and night was especially astonishing. One moment they were freezing to death; the next, they were sweltering unbearably. More frightening still were the sudden gales that whipped up vast clouds of sand, blotting out both sky and sun.

Because of their elemental affinities, neither of them adapted well to the desert environment. They found the journey intensely uncomfortable. Every moment, they suffered from unbearable hunger and thirst and had to replenish their water frequently to keep from collapsing.

Although they had collected a plentiful supply of water from the river, even that was not enough to sustain such consumption.

The sand camel, however, fared far better than they did. After being nursed back to health for so long, it had completely recovered. The feed originally prepared for the Thousand-Mile Crane happened to be suitable for it as well.

It was far more nutritious than the dry grass eaten by the other sand camels. As a result, it was now the liveliest of them all.

The group rested at sunrise and traveled at sunset. The daytime temperature was simply too high; even cultivators such as themselves could not withstand the scorching heat.

After several days, however, this method of travel became impossible. As they ventured deeper into the desert and the windy season drew near, the sandstorms grew increasingly frequent.

This made gathering water extraordinarily difficult. After losing one of their companions, the people no longer dared go out in search of water on windy days.

As a result, their water reserves were no longer sufficient to carry them across the desert. With no alternative, they had to travel during the day as well, hoping to reduce the time lost along the way.

Yet among the entire group, only Yu Mu and An Shu seemed relatively at ease. They rode together on a single sand camel, while Yu Mu opened his broad hat to shield them both from the blazing sun.

From time to time, An Shu quietly summoned a stream of water to wash their entire bodies, leaving them refreshed and comfortable. Of course, this caused their water reserves to dwindle even faster.

They could only do it in secret. If those who were reluctant even to drink water saw them, they would tear the two of them apart alive.

In this boundless desert, revealing one’s water reserves was even more dangerous than displaying a fortune in public.

After several more days, the situation grew steadily worse. Most of the known water sources in the desert held only limited supplies. Some had already been drained by those who passed through earlier. Now that the windy season had arrived, even the remaining water was either dried up by the wind or buried beneath blowing sand.

All these people were crossing the desert for the first time and had no experience in such matters. As the water became scarce, their tempers grew increasingly unstable.

Irritability and madness began to spread…