Chapter 43: The Descent of Blazing Sands

Nian and He were lost in thought, no longer contending with one another.

Perhaps luck was turning; only a short tea-time later, another exotic beast took the bait.

This creature possessed a bloated body like a hippopotamus, but its limbs were fin-like, and its tail and neck were exceptionally long. In comparison, its head was strangely small.

Such a low-intelligence creature would never let go once it bit the hook; the difficulty of reeling it in was even lower than that of an Earth Dragon.

The only trouble was its massive size; occupying an entire walnut-shaped boat, its weight caused the vessel to rock precariously.

Fortunately, the walnut boat was close to the stone bridge. Over a hundred soldiers gripped the hauling ropes and forcibly pulled it onto the bridge.

Then came the large-scale slaughter.

The crowd scavenged buckets from the city's residences to bleed the two monsters, transporting them bucket by bucket into the temple.

Their bodies were massive, like water tanks; the blood they released was abundant and viscous, sending a pungent, fishy stench into the air.

He Lingchuan stood to the side, sniffing the air, secretly hoping the Grand Flask wouldn't be too picky.

In front of the main hall, the pool water grew increasingly red.

The most gratifying sight was that after pouring in over thirty buckets of beast blood, the surface area of the pool began to expand!

"It's working!" Sun Fuping was overjoyed, his fingers turning white as he gripped the edge of the pool. "Continue, continue!"

Finally, after the last few buckets were poured in, the bloody water barely covered the bottom of the pool, appearing as only a thin layer.

Zeng Feixiong and his subordinates tossed aside their buckets. "And then?"

"Wait!" Sun Fuping stared unblinkingly at the water's surface. "Just wait!"

He Chunhua suddenly remarked, "The wind in the city stopped a long time ago."

Prompted by his words, the others realized—when exactly had the omnipresent cold wind ceased?

The bright moon had vanished behind thick clouds at some unknown point, and everyone felt the light in the city growing increasingly dim.

As soon as the words were spoken, a series of small bubbles rose from the long-still water, creating slight ripples.

"There's a hole underneath..."

Before Zeng Feixiong could finish his question, Sun Fuping hissed a "shh" and raised a hand to silence him.

The vast plaza of the Heaven-Covering Temple was deathly silent; one could hear a pin drop.

This in itself was abnormal.

Another string of small bubbles rose.

Sun Fuping lowered his body, intending to lean in for a closer look, when the water surface made a "splash" sound, and something lunged out, nearly colliding head-on with him!

The others could only see a dark, blurry shadow, but it didn't stop them from crying out in alarm.

Only Nian Songyu, He Chunhua, and the others were able to see clearly in that split second that it was a monster resembling a wolf. Its head, tail, and limbs were canine, but its body was covered in coarse, cracked textures, looking less like animal skin and more like tree bark. Furthermore, its deeply sunken eye sockets contained no eyeballs; instead, they were replaced by points of crimson ghostly fire!

The creature emerged from the water heading straight for Sun Fuping, opening its maw unceremoniously to strike at his throat.

The mouth could gape to a hundred and twenty degrees, looking as though it could swallow a head whole. With the distance between them so short, in the blink of an eye, He Lingchuan thought Sun Fuping would lose his head.

But the State Preceptor was worthy of his title; remaining calm in the face of danger, he thrust his staff directly into the monster's face.

The beast head atop the staff opened its mouth and let out a "whoosh," spitting a ball of crimson flame.

The monster immediately let out a piercing shriek and vanished into ash.

Nian Songyu was startled, then rejoiced, "A vengeful spirit!"

This monster had no physical form; it was a vengeful spirit.

People often assumed that vengeful spirits hid in the shadows of the Dragon-Coiling Desert to bewitch the mind, but the true culprits were the Three-Corpse Insects. This spirit was the first "real deal" they had encountered since stepping into the Dragon-Coiling Desert.

Its appearance actually brought Nian Songyu great joy, for it meant they were heading in the right direction!

Ash dusted Sun Fuping's face, but he had no time to wipe it away before leaning down to observe the water.

He Lingchuan thought maliciously that if he leaned just one inch lower, the next monster to emerge would be right in his face.

By now, the entire pool was bubbling, the bubbles becoming more numerous and dense.

It was as if firewood were burning beneath the surface, and the water was about to boil.

The layers of ripples did not dissipate as they reached the edge of the pool; instead, they grew stronger as they spread outward, eventually turning into waves.

The spray hit the edge of the pool and surged back, further agitating the surface.

The expressions of everyone present darkened.

If a single string of bubbles represented the birth of one monster, then these dense, packed bubbles meant...

Sun Fuping suddenly turned and roared at the crowd, "Take the Soul-Withering Powder and ignite your Life Fires! Quick, quick, quick, quick!"

The roar was bolstered by true power, echoing through the surroundings with a deafening force that betrayed his extreme urgency.

Everyone acted immediately.

Fortunately, the hundred-plus soldiers used earlier for sand-sea fishing had already taken the Soul-Withering Powder; now, Sun Fuping, He Chunhua, and the others only needed to supplement them.

Just as the small pills were swallowed, Sun Fuping commanded urgently, "Hold your breath and stand by the pool! Do not look back! These monsters are much harder to deal with than the Three-Corpse Insects!"

That last sentence sent a chill through everyone's hearts.

Sun Fuping emphasized again, "Hold your breath! Hold it!"

No sooner had he spoken than the water surface suddenly exploded!

The scene was like a volcanic eruption, with the pool surface acting as the vent, and the erupting magma being countless, bizarrely shaped vengeful spirits!

Some looked like humans, some like beasts, some like plants, and some possessed characteristics of all three, making it impossible for the living to discern what their true forms should be.

But so many spirits rushed out that people had no time to observe individuals; they could only see a spectacular plume of black smoke rising into the sky like volcanic ash, spreading in all directions!

Most terrifying of all was that every single spirit opened its mouth to howl—a sound so shrill and piercing, filled with agony and resentment.

Without needing to be told, everyone instinctively covered their ears and clamped their mouths shut.

Yet the sound echoed within everyone's sea of consciousness, shaking their souls and causing dizziness and disorientation.

Most of the emerging spirits flew upward, but a few circled twice above the main hall before flying back down!

No one dared to draw a single breath.

State Preceptor Sun was right; these things appeared far more ruthless than the Three-Corpse Insects.

Three flickers of Life Fire burned on their bodies, and the Soul-Withering Powder did its utmost to conceal the presence of the living.

The ghosts wove through the crowd, but they treated the people as mere clay or wood carvings, drifting away after a moment.

He Lingchuan looked up at the sky and found that the circling ghosts filled the night sky, causing the weather to change rapidly.

The wind began to blow.

Twenty breaths passed.

Forty breaths passed.

With every breath, thousands of spirits erupted; by now, there were tens of thousands, yet the spirits continued to surge in a massive outbreak, showing no sign of slowing down.

The wind outside Dragon-Coiling City grew increasingly powerful, and sand vortices began to form—starting small, growing larger, and finally turning into massive funnels that connected the heavens to the earth.

Aside from the raging sand and the great wind, there seemed to be nothing else in the world.

Though the sand blinded them, everyone had to rub their eyes to witness it.

The season of raging sands had accompanied most people of Blackwater City as they grew up, but how many could witness its true cause with their own eyes?

As time passed, the soldiers' faces grew increasingly flushed, turning a deep, liver-like purple.

(End of Chapter)