Vifit and the Shadow

An endless desert stretched before them. Black winds swept up, filling the sky with yellow sand.

Amid the rolling dunes, a caravan jingling with camel bells pressed onward against the wind and sand.

Everyone in the caravan had their heads wrapped in scarves. With the sand stinging their eyes, they could barely see the road ahead. But they were all seasoned desert traders; guided by the camel bells, they had no fear of losing their way, only moving somewhat more slowly.

Just then, the wind and sand gradually began to weaken. Yet the leader's expression became even more solemn than before. He shouted to those behind him, "Everyone, stay sharp! This stretch is the most dangerous road we'll encounter in the Returnless Desert. Stay close, and do not get separated!"

Everyone's expressions tightened. They all knew this was the Returnless Desert's infamous region of deathly quicksand. The desert was called Returnless precisely because of these quicksands, their undercurrents lurking everywhere.

Once one fell into the quicksand, there would be no need to think of returning.

Everyone followed the leader with trembling caution, terrified that one wrong step would send them sinking into the quicksand.

But at that moment, a tall, slender man wrapped from head to toe in a black cloak stepped out from the merchant caravan alone. Without once looking back, he slowly headed toward the most dangerous central region of the quicksand.

"Hey! Don't leave the caravan's ten-meter radius, or the consequences will be unimaginable!" the leader shouted anxiously. The man was a traveler they had encountered halfway through the journey. Worried that he would face danger traveling through the desert alone, they had decided to give him a ride.

"Thank you for your hospitality along the way. My journey has come to an end. Now, I need