The Stranded Caravan

Varus left the rune fragments to Azir before leaving with me. If it weren't for the busy schedule, I really wanted to stay in this beautiful town for a few more days.🎀♠ 👌♨

I'm also a little worried. What if Azir and Xerath start a war here? Wouldn't that raze this place to the ground?

In the face of war, all beauty is but a fleeting moment.

Heading north from Garden City leads to Naremajet. Although the road is not smooth, Varus makes it manageable.

Moreover, Ascended have a significant advantage: they don't need to eat, drink, or sleep, and are immortal except when killed by an even more powerful force.

That night I rested directly on his back, Varus tried his best to fly steadily to prevent me from slipping off.

When the first rays of sunlight touched my face in the morning, I rolled over and got up, only to find that I was no longer in the dangerous sand dune area.

"Let's go down and see if any caravans pass by. We haven't eaten anything since yesterday."

"Okay, I don't need to eat anything. I almost forgot about you too."

Varus is a hybrid of a human and a peregrine falcon, possessing extraordinary eyesight that allows it to spot movements on the ground from high in the sky. Upon spotting a caravan, it swooped down.

The caravan members were all startled when a "big bird" suddenly flew down from the sky. When Varus transformed back into human form, they recognized him. Ever since Azir rebuilt Sun City, the news of the Ascended's reappearance had been widely known.

"So you are a celestial being! Please accept our worship." The people were filled with both reverence and fear, and they all knelt down on the ground.

"Get up, my friends are hungry. Did you bring any food?"

"I brought it with me, please wait a moment while I go get it!"

The person who seemed to be the leader ran to the back and soon returned with two vegetable dumplings and a pot of water.

At that moment, I didn't care about the taste anymore and started wolfing it down. When I opened the water bottle to get a drink, I found that it was only a little less than half full.

Water must have been incredibly precious to these desert merchants. Of course, I wasn't just eating and drinking for free. After barely satisfying my thirst and hunger, I pulled out a gold coin and handed it to the leader, who hurriedly waved his hand.

"No, no, you are a friend of the Heavenly God, how could I accept your money?"

"Food and water are very precious to you. I don't have much money with me, so please accept this gold coin. Don't think it's too little."

"Sigh, since that's the case, I'll accept it. Actually, we're not short of money, and we had plenty of food to begin with, but we encountered the Sand Shark Beast a couple of days ago..."

The team leader took the gold coins and told me about what happened two days ago:

His name was Tazan, and he was the leader of this caravan. Their trade route was through a small town north of Naremajet and the Garden City.

The caravan usually traveled between the two places once a month, but this time they encountered a dangerous Sand Shark Beast.

The Sand Shark Beast is a reptile that roams the desert. It lives year-round in the yellow sand underground and emerges from the sand to attack humans or other animals when it wants to hunt.

Their movements are silent, and the only sign before they appear is a row of sharp spines on their backs, like the dorsal fin of a shark, hence the name Sand Shark Beast.

This was an experienced caravan that had encountered Sand Shark Beast before, always managing to escape successfully thanks to their extensive experience. However, this time, their encounter was quite different.

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Sand Shark Beast typically only about four meters long, but this one reached an astonishing ten meters. Its pair of massive lower jaw teeth gleamed like two steel knives, and its carapace was virtually unbreakable.

After their previous attempts to drive it away failed, they began to flee for their lives. However, the massive Desert Giant Beast was not good at running and was immediately bitten in four by the Sand Shark Beast, collapsing to the ground with a thud.

The Desert Giant Beast is the same kind Ryze rode before; it's enormous and looks like a mobile house in the desert.

Normally, small Sand Shark Beast are no match for the massive Desert Giant Beast, but this one is different; not only is it huge, but it also has tremendous attack power.

After the Sand Shark Beast bit and knocked down the Desert Giant Beast, it immediately disemboweled it, attracting a large group of Sand Shark Beast to scramble for the food. The caravan members took this opportunity to escape, as the behemoth, weighing tens of tons, was enough to keep them busy for a while.

The loss of one Desert Giant Beast would have been acceptable, but since food and water were carried on the behemoth's body, their survival was greatly threatened.

Today is the second day of their escape. Even the Shurima are used to their environment, are starting to feel the strain of not eating or drinking.

After listening to Tazan's story, I suddenly felt very guilty because I had just eaten two vegetable dumplings and half a pot of water.

"Was that all the water you had left?"

Tazan nodded. "Yes, but don't worry about it. We can hold out until the next supply point, and that little bit of food and water isn't much of a difference for so many of us."

"Alright then, we're also heading to Naremajet. Since we've eaten your food, we'll escort you there as payment."

"How could I possibly trouble the divine being!" Tazan shook his head vigorously.

Varus was also reluctant to do that. "If we travel with the caravan, it will probably take us ten days to half a month to reach Naremajet. I'll just go directly to their supply depot and bring back some food and water."

"But what if the Sand Shark Beast comes after us?" I was still a little worried.

"Don't worry, gentlemen. Sand Shark Beast rarely chase humans. They burrow back underground once they've eaten their fill. That giant beast is more than enough for them."

Varus was puzzled after hearing this story. "Sand Shark Beast? How come I've lived in Shurima for so many years and have never heard of such a creature?"

"I don't know about this little person; perhaps some kind of animal has mutated."

"Okay, tell me which direction the supply point is, I'll go get some water and food."

"My Lord God, I..."

"Alright, if you don't want to waste my time, hurry up and say it!"

Seeing Varus's anxiety, Tazan had no choice but to reveal the location of the supply point. Perhaps he was wondering why such a proud and legendary Celestial Warrior would be willing to go to such lengths for ordinary people.

Varus took to the air and sped off in the direction Tazan had pointed out, while I stayed with the rest of the caravan for the time being.

Although I can't help them with food, I can still use the Gale Force to cool them down a bit.

These people were surprised to see me summon the cold wind. Shurima is not lacking in powerful and extraordinary people, but it is rare to see someone like me who can change the temperature over a large area.

A little while later, a girl ran up behind me and asked excitedly, "Big brother, are you using Elemental Power?"