Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

The desert was icy cold at midnight. It felt like they were walking in a world of ice and snow. Their faces hurt when the wind was blowing on their faces, which had stiffened due to the cold.

The team moved out before daybreak. When the sunlight first appeared, the warmth it brought was extremely comfortable. However, in less than an hour, their bodies were soon complaining about the scorching heat.

It was just how a desert was. They were pleasant places to visit. It was the reason why most Hunters avoided going to deserts!

Lu Fang took out the map. "If we keep heading this direction, we should find a meandering river of sand. We should be close to the relay station once we follow the river to its lower reaches."

It was called a river, but all that was left was a deep ravine. Not a single drop of water was left. In addition to it, the sticky sand was extremely difficult to walk on.

The meandering river of sand was an important landmark for their journey. It took the team quite some time to find it. They almost thought they had lost their direction.

They just needed to follow the river from here on without worrying about if they were heading in the right direction. Unfortunately, the river was not as peaceful as it seemed.

"Did anyone notice that the sand is soft and sticky here? If we were walking slower, our bodies would slowly sink into the sand… it won't be a problem here, but once we reach the lower reaches, the sand there is going to feel like mud in a swamp. We have to move at a certain speed to stop from sinking into the sand," Mo Fan said.

Mo Fan had collected some information about the place, particularly about the meandering sand river.

"Can't we harden the sand?" Wang Jiuming asked, glancing at the Earth Mages on the team.

The Earth Mages shook their heads, "It's very difficult to control the sand here. We can't even use Earth Waves here."

"That's going to be a problem."

"I'm already trotting here, but it still feels like I'm sinking into the sand."

"Let's pick up the pace then."

The team of more than ten people left deep footprints along the river bed. Their legs were soon covered in sand, and the more sand their legs were covered in, the heavier their steps were. It was not much of a hassle for a short period, but the team was running along the river bed for half a day...

"Give me a hand, give me a hand, I'm sinking!" a Hunter in charge of logistics suddenly yelled at the back of the team.

The others looked behind and saw half of the man's legs had already disappeared into the sand. It was as if he had stepped into a pit...

"Laosi (the fourth eldest), what are you doing? Pick up your pace, we'll all sink if we don't maintain our speed!" Ge Ming said.

"I...I...AH! Something is grabbing onto my legs!" Li Sichong suddenly yelled like a drowning man screaming for help.

Li Sichong had sunk into the sand because he was not moving quickly enough. If the others were to slow down, they would sink into the sand too! The sand in the area turned out to be deadly. It would wrap around anything that had sunk into it and hold them in place firmly to stop them from breaking free. The force was comparable to the strength of a Warrior-level creature's jaws. It was the scariest part about the sand river!

"Nothing is grabbing you, you have sunk too much into the sand. Hang in there, I'll pull you out!" Ge Ming maintained his speed and made a u-turn to help the man.

"I'll do it," Mo Fan said.

If they waited until Ge Ming made a u-turn while trying to maintain his speed, Li Sichong's head would be under the sand by then.

"Telekinesis: Invisible Claws!" Mo Fan gathered his focus. The silver energy turned into a huge claw grabbing at Li Sichong's upper body.

"Rise!" Mo Fan dragged the man out of the sand with his will. However, he immediately felt some resistance, preventing him from dragging Li Sichong out with his first attempt. It was a huge shock!

Li Sichong had only sunk halfway into the sand, but the force of the sand grabbing onto him was equivalent to the combined strength of a hundred demon creatures grabbing onto him firmly. Mo Fan initially thought he could easily drag the man out of the sand with his Telekinesis, but it failed!

Mo Fan immediately focused and strengthened his will.

"AHHHH! It hurts!" Li Sichong suddenly screamed out in pain. The expression on his face showed that he was serious.

"Houzi, find a way to scatter the sand!" Mo Fan quickly yelled at Zhang Xiaohou with a grim look.

Zhang Xiaohou immediately realized how serious the situation was. He summoned a gust of wind, blowing him into the air. He then cast the Eyes of the Rock Demon to resist the force of the sand.

Zhang Xiaohou was only aware of how terrifying the sand was after casting the Advanced Earth Spell. He finally understood why the sand was referred to as Man-Eating Sand. It was like each sand particle was alive. They rapidly gathered around anything that had sunk into the sand like starving beasts and held onto it with remarkable strength!

The Man-Eating Sand was pulling Li Sichong down while Mo Fan was trying to drag him out. Mo Fan did not dare apply a stronger force, as it might simply tear Li Sichong in half. The Man-Eating Sand was trickier to deal with than he first thought!

When Zhang Xiaohou drove the Man-Eating Sand away with the Eyes of the Rock Demon, Mo Fan immediately took hold of the opportunity and dragged Li Sichong out from the sand.

Crack!

Everyone heard the sound of bones breaking the moment Li Sichong was dragged out of the sand. The man fainted instantly...

"This..."

The team was dumbfounded. No one had expected the ordinary-looking sand to be so deadly. If Mo Fan had not happened to possess the Space Element, they had no idea how they could have dragged Li Sichong out!

"It's only some dislocations, he's fine. The strength of the Man-Eating Sand is over five tons, and the force increases exponentially the further you sink. Make sure you're above the surface at all times. If the force is greater than ten tons, even if I try to drag you out, it will tear your body in half!" Mo Fan told the others.

Everyone had witnessed what happened just then, so none of them dared to doubt Mo Fan's words. They immediately quickened their pace to prevent themselves from sinking into the sand!

---

"Why aren't we there yet? Why do I feel like my legs weigh around five hundred kilograms?" Zheng Tong gasped.

Even maintaining the speed to prevent them from sinking into the sand was costing a lot more stamina than usual. The team would eventually be worn out if they never stopped running. Some were already struggling to keep up.

"Same here, I can't move anymore!" Feishu who had yet to fully recover from his injuries spoke up.

"Aren't we there yet? Leader?"

Ge Ming had a grim face. According to the map, there were still five hours worth of journey left in the river. The team would be in great trouble if someone was already at their limits!

The river was not particularly wide. They only needed to travel around two kilometers to reach the edge. The only problem was... both sides of the sand river were occupied by Sandstorm Demon Locusts, a kind of catastrophic demon creature. They always showed up in tens of thousands, and they did not feed on crops or plants, but living creatures!

These Sandstorm Demon Locusts were a pain to deal with. Once they found their prey, they would pursue it relentlessly. Even if there was another Super Mage on the team, they would still struggle to guarantee the safety of their members. As such, leaving the river bed was not an option. They would just deliver themselves to the Sandstorm Demon Locusts as their lunch!

As a matter of fact, the military had established its base in the Tarim Basin mainly to keep an eye on the Sandstorm Demon Locusts. Every invasion from the Sandstorm Demon Locusts would end up as an S-rank calamity. Many cities in the west had been wiped out by the Sandstorm Demon Locusts over the past few decades. It was basically Hell on Earth, as not a single human, livestock, plant, or even building remained when the Sandstorm Demon Locusts swept past like a gust of wind!

The horde of Sandstorm Demon Locusts had occupied a huge area. The meandering sand river was the only way through it, but it turned out that the team had underestimated the difficulty of traversing it!

"We are all going to die if we keep going. We have to go ashore now," Lu Fang said.

Not everyone had outstanding stamina, like Mo Fan and Zhang Xiaohou. Jiang Shaoxu and Mu Nujiao were struggling to keep up too!

Mo Fan was carrying Lingling in his arms while taking turns carrying Mu Nujiao and Jiang Shaoxu on his back. He was as strong as an ox, mainly because of the passive abilities of his Demon Element. However, some of the aged Hunters were already at their limits!

"Should we just go ashore? I feel like we will be feeding ourselves to the sand if we keep going," Wang Jiuming said.

"Going ashore is even worse. As soon as we set our foot on the shore, the Sandstorm Demon Locusts will immediately notice our presence..."

"Then what are we supposed to do? Are we seriously going to wait for our deaths here!?" someone cried out impatiently.

"We can't afford to provoke the Sandstorm Demon Locusts. Let's take turns laying down a path. It's no use preserving our energy any further. Our first priority is to make it out alive. I'll use my Ice Element and Plant Element to lay down a path, and the Wind Element to speed everyone up..." Mu Nujiao said.

The others looked at Ge Ming.

If they were to use their magic here, it meant they were putting their lives at risk. No one knew if there was a huge battle waiting for them at their destination. How were they supposed to fight if they already used up all their energy?

"It's the only choice we have. Those with the Ice, Earth, and Plant Elements will lay down a path, and those with the Wind Element will speed us up. Quick, don't slow down now. Pick up your pace!" Ge Ming said.

Mu Nujiao began to emit frost. The little ice crystals sprang forward and laid down an icy bridge ahead. Ge Ming led the way and sprinted along the bridge.

"Let's go!" The Hunters sighed, but they had no other choice but to continue on their journey.