Chapter 31: Heart-Confusing Insect

Everything went smoothly, except for a bit of trouble caused when the salted meat chunks thrown by the He father and son were intercepted twice by other Earth Dragons lurking in the sand.

The three Walnut Boats voyaged through the sea of sand at a speed roughly half that of a galloping horse, but they excelled in stability, endurance, and relative safety—

The Walnut Boats occasionally encountered strange and bizarre creatures. Initially, the creatures seemed eager to test their mettle, but the stench of the salted meat was too overwhelming; they lost their courage shortly after, fleeing with such haste they seemed to regret not having more legs, leaving no concern for the humans on the Walnut Boats.

Although most people here grew up on the edges of the desert, none had ever beheld the sea of sand from this perspective; they were all staring in awe.

He Lingchuan murmured, "You can play it like this?"

Sailing through a sea of sand—this was a first in both his lifetimes, truly an eye-opening experience.

The only flaw was the lingering, pervasive stench drifting from ahead, making breathing difficult.

The helmsmen of the three Walnut Boats were cautious, doing their best to avoid the towering dunes.

The more magnificent a dune, the larger its shadow.

And everyone from Blackwater City understood that one must never enter the shadows within the Panlong Desert. The scorching sun, hot winds, thirst, sand bandits, and attacks from exotic beasts—none of these combined were as terrifying as the shadows in the Panlong Desert.

However, no matter how skilled the helmsmen were, after more than an hour, structures began to emerge bit by bit on the distant horizon.

Upon getting closer, one could clearly see dilapidated high walls and city gates.

This was the satellite city located southwest of Panlong City, which had originally served as a strategic flank to the main city.

Of course, it had been abandoned for a hundred years, with only the wind and sand serving as its regular visitors.

Yet the city walls remained high, and the city gates were shrouded in thick shadow.

If one peered inside through the gates, one would find several ruined buildings that refused to be completely swallowed by the yellow sands.

They stood against the light, with shadows omnipresent.

Having reached this point, avoidance was no longer an option; the only way was to pass through the gates and traverse this abandoned city.

Nian Songyu stood on the foremost Walnut Boat, turned around, and blew three long whistles.

This was the signal they had agreed upon at the desert station.

It was time to initiate the next step of the contingency plan.

Standing at the bow, the He father and son shouted to their subordinates, "Ignite the Life Fires!"

Though they said "ignite," everyone actually pulled a small red pill from their robes and swallowed it.

Immediately following, a pungent, spicy sensation surged from their bellies, churning like a stormy sea.

But this burp had to be suppressed; it could not be released.

Everyone felt their eyes burning and noses swelling, mouths watering with acid, while their bodies shuddered with chills. Despite the fierce sunlight overhead, many soldiers began to tremble uncontrollably.

Fortunately, these symptoms subsided after only a dozen breaths.

As people looked at one another, they realized that a faint, ghostly flame had ignited above each person's head and on each of their shoulders.

Most of the flames had a pale green base; some were darker, some brighter, some more yellowish, and some more bluish, but they were all tiny flames about the height of a pinky finger, hovering tremblingly in the air as if they might be extinguished by a single gust of wind.

Yet, even though the desert wind was strong enough to sting one's face, it could not blow out these three ghostly flames.

In fact, once the three fires ignited, everyone felt the ambient temperature around them drop by several degrees, and the blowing heat waves no longer felt so scorching.

This was the Life Fire, also known as the Life Lamp. It usually resides within a human's spiritual hearth, commonly known as the fire of life. As long as the fire burns, the person lives; when the fire dies, the person perishes.

The saying "life is like a lamp being extinguished" originated from this.

Once the Life Fires were lit, the captains of each squad turned their backs to their members and roared, "Do not look back!"

From the three Walnut Boats, the soldiers' synchronized shouts rang out

"Do not look back!"

Three times.

This was a repeated warning to others, and to themselves.

Remember, remember, remember!

He Chunhua stood to the front right of He Lingchuan. The latter asked the former, "Father, do you know your Life Fire is leaning towards yellow?"

Governor He was about to shake his head when he suddenly remembered that such a movement was extremely dangerous. He quickly stilled his head and shot his eldest son a glare: "You brat!"

He Lingchuan grinned. "Just practicing, so we're prepared if we encounter danger later."

In truth, his reasoning was sound.

"Your Life Fire is red within the yellow," He Chunhua smiled. "Being young has its advantages."

The Life Fire provides a direct reflection of the owner's health. The stronger the body and the more vigorous the blood and qi, the deeper the color of the Life Fire.

Youth, after all, possesses a fiery nature.

At this moment, one could no longer turn their head left or right; otherwise, He Lingchuan truly wanted to see what color Nian Songyu's and Grandmaster Sun's Life Fires were.

As the boats reached the foot of the city, He Chunhua took a deep breath and roared, "Don't move, nobody move!"

The same warning came from the other two boats.

The three helmsmen gave one final pull on their poles, directing the Earth Dragons to swim toward the city gates.

The ancient smoke and flames of war, combined with the current erosion of wind and sand, had caused the once-vertical city walls to lean forward even more, looking as if they were on the verge of collapse.

Yet they had stood here for a hundred years, enduring and silent, refusing to yield.

Getting closer and closer, the massive gate opening looked like the silent, gaping maw of a monster. He Lingchuan could even see shallow stains on both sides of the city gate.

Those might have been layers upon layers of repeatedly sprayed blood, once bright red, then turning black and purple, and finally faded of their ferocity under years of wind and sand, leaving only a lingering trace of their former glory.

All clamor and intensity eventually return to stillness.

Darkness fell before their eyes as the Walnut Boats finally entered the shadow beneath the city gates.

A yin energy rushed toward them.

The soldiers had already ignited their Life Fires, allowing them to see wisps of light smoke emerging from the shadows, lunging toward the Walnut Boats.

Only upon closer inspection could they see that these wisps of smoke resembled human silhouettes—they had torsos and limbs, but no faces.

They ignored the Earth Dragons pulling the boats but were intensely curious about everything on the Walnut Boats, including every human and every piece of wood.

In the blink of an eye, four or five wisps of smoke surrounded every person. They drifted before and behind the humans, peering with ill intent. Although they had no eyes, everyone felt as if they were being stared at intensely, causing goosebumps to rise on their skin.

These things were the Three-Corpse Insects!

In the legends of the Panlong Desert, they were the resentful spirits hiding beneath any shadow. Even if a traveler avoided the desert's creatures, once they stepped into the shadow of a dune, they would be invaded.

In fact, humans without an ignited Life Fire could not see these things with the naked eye and thus had no way to defend against them.

After Panlong City vanished, its favorite humans left, so the Three-Corpse Insects turned to invading various other creatures; though it wasn't the original target, they made do. All living things in the desert were affected by them, gradually undergoing strange mutations, such as the Earth Dragons pulling the boats ahead.

Sun Fuping and Nian Songyu were joyful rather than worried. The existence of these things served as indirect proof of the existence of Dafanghu; their trip was not in vain.

In the ears of every soldier, a thin, cutting whispering sound began to rise, as if someone were speaking directly to them.

(End of Chapter)